Going Vegan for at least a week...advice?

Retard Trap-

You are very right about the Estrogen in soy, and how many veg*s use it as a main source of protein. However I do have several objections.

First, no one NEEDS to eat soy. In fact, most of it is very processed, and no good for anyone. I personally eat zero soy, which may surprise people being a vegan.

Second, and this was alluded to above- getting protein is pretty much a non issue. There is no such thing as foods with protein and those without. Everything has protein in it, some more than others. But virtually all foods have enough protein. Eat enough, get (more) than enough protein.

Finally, there is an issue of efficiency in absorption. Protein simply does not turn into muscle. We must breakdown any protein we eat into amino acids, so our body can build them into our own proteins we need. This happens more efficiently with plant proteins.

The whole issue of more protein is better largely stems from several flawed studies around the turn of the century. One being on rats, who did better and grew faster eating meat than vegetables. The problem is that rats grow extremely fast, and as a result need more protein. Rats milk is upwards of 40% protein, so a rat eating plant food with 8%-15% protein would fail. Human milk is under 10% protein (usually 3%-7%), as our growth rate is much slower. Therefore, more protein is not better, but adequate proteins (really amino acids) are needed. Rats may not do so well without highly concentrated sources of proteins, but humans with our lower protein needs can thrive.

It's funny how much the protein "issue" gets brought up, considering how there are countless nutritional needs of the human body. I mean, people don't ask where do you get your riboflavin, or how do you keep your omega-3 to omega-6 ratio in check. Everybody always says how healthy fruits and veggies are, and there is a reason for that. They have everything you need!

ChiTown Hustler wrote:

Weak thread. Let's change it. One letter and you sound WAY cooler:

Going Vegas for at least a week..advice?

Always bet on black.

Not eating processed foods will go a long way no matter if you are a vegan, vegetarian, or if you eat meat. that's pretty much 90% of it. Cereal is a highly processed food that should be avoided as should all soy products unless it is fermented soy.

Most people that are allergic to dairy are allergic to pasteurized or homogenized dairy which destroys the enzymes (specifically lactase which breaks down lactose for you)in milk and denatures the proteins. This is the main reason why people are "allergic" to it. if you are going to drink milk or eat cheese/butter drink and eat raw dairy from grass fed cows. Raw butter is one of the healthiest fats on the planet. If you can't find it then cut out dairy and go with coconut products.

Eggs should be from pasture raised hens which will increase the nutrient value of the eggs especially the amount of omega 3. You can tell the difference between farm raised eggs with their yellow yolk and the deep orange color of pasture raised eggs. Don't worry about cholesterol it's not bad for you, just worry about oxidized cholesterol like that from powdered milk.

Meat should come from grass fed cows if you can find. second best would be organic. Grass fed meat is perfectly healthy for you and make sure you eat the fat with the meat.

Load your vegetables with butter to increase the nutrient uptake from the vegetables.

I don't have a problem with vegans as long as they don't try to push their choices on me or claim they are healthier.

I haven't had a cold or been sick in 7 years and during that time I was partying a lot, running a lot, and eating meat and processed food the whole time and it didn't mess me up so that in and of itself doesn't say much. However, when i switched to soy milk, more grains and carbs and cut out all animal fats I came down with a lot joint problems.

After switching to raw dairy(butter, cheese, milk), grass fed meats, eggs removing processed foods like (bread, pasta, cereal) and replacing them with beans, sweet potatoes or soaked grains, some vegetables, raw nuts, plus a cod liver oil supplement my inflammation levels are way down and knee pain is gone.

The most important thing again in my opinion is to avoid processed foods and if you do that you'll be in much better shape than most of the population.

And I don't have a problem with meat eaters until they try to push their choices on me or claim they are healthier.

Which is, if I'm lucky, only once a week, but usually a lot more than that.

I've been gradually easing into a purely vegan diet myself for health rather than socio-political reasons (although cheese and desserts have been undoing!)

Here's something for the meateaters to chew on:

http://www.thechinastudy.com/about.html

the china study is pretty much straight bs

Omega 3 from flax oil probably isn't very effective, unfortunately. Eat fish, baby

Grouchy Old Man wrote:

the china study is pretty much straight bs

Omega 3 from flax oil probably isn't very effective, unfortunately. Eat fish, baby

Why?

Why?

Soybeans are the most genetically engineered food in the U.S. and the world, closely followed by corn.

to the original poster...go vegan. you will waste away, your energy levels will gradually decrease, your lean body mass will decrease thereby decreasing the burning of fat body mass. you will actually not recover faster from your workouts since REAL proteins and branch chain amino acids are what help your muslces recover. you will be easier to beat in all your races and turn into the anorexic wimp you wish to look like. please, for the sake of all us, go vegan.

one other thing, for those of you that say that plant proteins are better for building lean body mass over animal proteins, i'd like to see a reliable resource. NOT website, but a scientific journal. let's keep it simple here. Want to run faster? Eat a balanced diet of lean meats, vegetables, fruits, variety of extra (good) carbs, and reduce fats. Do your proper resistance training for distance running (which, contrary to popular belief, WILL HELP YOU)and you will have a ripped body and probably be faster than all you vegans. From my experience, vegans are just like any other strong-minded minority group. they think that what they do is the best thing for you with little to know ACTUAL knowledge. they have enough knowledge to make what they are doing sound satisfactory, but in reality they are quite wrong.

Explain why you would want to do any of this? Why would you think that you would trim any fat & recover better with this "plan"?

You ask for Scientific proof (which DOES exist) to give a case for eating a plant based diet. This is completely valid, however just because veganism is different from the way most people eat, does not make the way most people eat correct. It is normal, but normal isn't necessarily better. There is far to much assumed simply because it's "common knowledge".

Other things which are normal today are obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and nearly everyone I know is on prescription medication.

Again, diet is just one component of health, but there is absolutely no detriment (other than social) in eating a plant based diet.

There are body building champions, Ultimate Fighting World Champions, Olympic Track and Field Champions and more who have excelled eating a vegan diet. Not to mention many instrumental figures in science and philosophy.

Additionally, if you want to see proof of EXTREME muscle building look to nature. Even the most muscular humans pale in comparission to gorillas, which have exceptional strength and muscle mass from eating plants.

For over 20 years I've heard people tell me it's unhealthy to eat how I do, yet many people also tell me I'm the healthiest person they know. The only thing which is hard, is constantly hearing others told the same, and them believing it. I know how rooted food is in our emotions and culture, but very few people have a true understanding of nutrition.

If you value your health, you should not go vegan. Nice interview:

http://www.ournaturallife.com/blog/?p=365

and there are plenty of champion athletes across all sports that are not vegans so your proof doesn't really prove anything.

Obesity, heart disease, and diabetes are more likely caused by processed foods than whether or not you eat meat or are a vegetarian or a vegan. Just look at all the fast food and soda fat people consume for the rise in all these diseases. Primitive cultures that have been studied that consumed their traditional foods which most included generous amounts of animal foods had none of these diseases.

Vegans tend to eat less processed food and live a healthier lifestyle than most groups because unless you are choosing to be vegan because of a moral stance against eating animals you are doing it because you want to be healthier.

However, many vegans still eat processed foods like tofu, soymilk, canola oil and crap like that because it's not animal food so it must be okay. Quality counts going both ways. Quality fats are especially important.

There are arguments people can make from both sides. It comes down to personal choice and what you decide is going to be the healthiest choice for you and your family. If you want to try veganism go for it, if it works for you great. if you find it doesn't then try something else.

100 year old world record holder Ruth Frith attributes Her longevity to the fact that she does not eat vegetables.

Seems She has outlived all the vegans.

Tell her your Story.

Seriously who cares?

Your Diet should reflect the life style you lead.

If you do nothing you should eat little. If you do lots of running then the experts tell us we need heaps of carbs for fuel,a good dose of protein for our muscles and a good proportion of fat to keep our brain Healthy.How you achieve that is a personal choice.

The world is full of people who have "miracle" diets to sell.

As runners we do not need them and we should be able to see them as the arseholes they are.

Their motivation is money not health.

Very few of them will support the amount of exercise that we do as Healthy.

They pander to the obese looking for Miracles.

Most of us know better.

"If the furnace is hot enough anything will burn" Ha!

Come on a littl ecommon sense guys!

Eat natural, a little of everything that is good, not overly processed crap

A little meat, that is organic, not all roided up, drugged up, etc. Veggies, fruit, nuts, skip the dairy unless your under 12!

Proof - on the meat Ethiopians, Kenyans, these guys run pretty fast - eat very little meat, LRC has posted many of the studies proving this!

Now get off your sissy asses and start doing two a days, try checking out Boston Billy's 1975 training log for inspiration!

Then and only then will you begin to kick the livin shite out of your 3rd world competition!!!!

let him wrote:

one other thing, for those of you that say that plant proteins are better for building lean body mass over animal proteins, i'd like to see a reliable resource. NOT website, but a scientific journal. let's keep it simple here. Want to run faster? Eat a balanced diet of lean meats, vegetables, fruits, variety of extra (good) carbs, and reduce fats. Do your proper resistance training for distance running (which, contrary to popular belief, WILL HELP YOU)and you will have a ripped body and probably be faster than all you vegans. From my experience, vegans are just like any other strong-minded minority group. they think that what they do is the best thing for you with little to know ACTUAL knowledge. they have enough knowledge to make what they are doing sound satisfactory, but in reality they are quite wrong.

Yeah totally, vegans are all uninformed. They just think "what can I do that is different and difficult, yeah, I will go vegan! Who needs a reason!?!" And then, when they get into a debate with a meat-eater they are ALWAYS punked out because the meat-eater is SO much more informed about the food choices he or she makes and the reasons/philosophy behind them, but the vegan never changes, because there is no knowledge or desire for knowledge about the world or the food system behind what they do, they just did it for no reason! And they NEVER ask the question 'what is the right thing to do?' because who cares? They didn't have a reason to go vegan in the first place, why would that question ever enter their minds? Oh silly vegans...

Dumb vegans

There are many other places to get soy (although I do heed your arguement and get protein from other places; although I am not fully vegan myself.) But I thought I have read that we are actually not omnivores by design and actually suited for a vegetable digestive tract? Anyway, even so, the inhumane treatment of animals nearly warrants a vegan lifestyle, omnivore or not. Runners need mostly carbs anyway.