wanting to go vegetarian

coleiolio wrote:

With less meat, but still a factor in my overall diet I can still progress as a runner?

Sure. The main thing is that you have to have a healthy diet and that has nothing to do with eating meat or not. Learn about how to read food labels and why organic meat might be better for you if you still want to eat meat.

And don't feel overwhelmed by all that information from all sides.

Just ask a lot of questions and do your own thing.

End stage Veganism wrote:

V3gan wrote:

Also worth noting that despite the junk diet, sedentary lifestyle, and unhealthy habits of most Americans, we still live to be 80 on average. Do you really think a well-planned vegan diet is going to leave you worse off than that of most Americans? The fear mongering suggesting that eating plant-based will cause physical and mental degradation is unfounded. If you want to eat healthy without eating meat, you can. But in today's day and age of processed plant-based food alternatives, it's also quite easy to eat an unhealthy vegan diet.

You do realize the average American is already on a plant based diet?

It probably depends what you mean by plant based diet, I guess.

Lot's of rainforest gets cut to make room for soy production to feed the cattle. That's kinda plant based.

Other than that. No, the US is quite meat addicted.

]

Ultramarkus wrote:

coleiolio wrote:

With less meat, but still a factor in my overall diet I can still progress as a runner?

Sure. The main thing is that you have to have a healthy diet and that has nothing to do with eating meat or not. Learn about how to read food labels and why organic meat might be better for you if you still want to eat meat.

And don't feel overwhelmed by all that information from all sides.

Just ask a lot of questions and do your own thing.

Meat isn't the problem. Vegetable oils are.

Michael Pollan wrote:

End stage Veganism wrote:

You do realize the average American is already on a plant based diet?

It probably depends what you mean by plant based diet, I guess.

Lot's of rainforest gets cut to make room for soy production to feed the cattle. That's kinda plant based.

Other than that. No, the US is quite meat addicted.

Average American diet is about 68% plants and 32% animal/animal products. What do you call that?

coleiolio wrote:

Thanks, did it make a negative impact on your training or races?

I think I also had less injuries because I don't eat meat. But I think that is impossible to prove scientifically.

In any case there are plenty of world class athletes out there which did it on a vegetarian or vegan diet.

End stage Veganism wrote:

Average American diet is about 68% plants and 32% animal/animal products. What do you call that?

32% of what? Weight, pieces?

The number is probably right, but the fact is also that these 68% are probably 80% processed crap and not nice fresh vegetables.

coleiolio wrote:

to start this thread off i'm your average highschool runner, in my sophomore year. i've been thinking about this for awhile and have been considering cutting meat out of my diet. i plan to decide fully when school is over, which is in about a month. is there any advice for going vegetarian, or some criticism of why i should not?

(i hope all you trolls have love in your heart!)

Obviously you've got a lot of answers saying yes and no so I'd say it is your own decision to make. Lots of the people here are biased, some have good advice from experience, but it just depends on what works for you.

Id lean towards limiting meat (specifically red meat) intake but not totally outsing it from your diet, especially considering that you are still a growing and highly active sophomore. The occasional (once every 1-3 weeks) grass fed red meat can be good for iron and won't destroy the environment in moderation. I usually have one serving of chicken or sustainably sourced fish every day for the protein, B vitamins, and fatty acids that are less bioavailable in plant sources. I used to eat meat twice a day, but switched one of those meals to plant based and haven't really noticed much of a difference in my performance. I've stayed with it since it's probably slightly better for the environment.

Also, if you're really into the environmental stuff the new york times just wrote a really good article called "Your Questions About Food and Climate Change Answered" that compares the impacts of different levels of meat in ones diet. The difference between a low meat eater and vegetarian is practically nothing, so one can go either way.

Overall, I'd advise moderation. Cutting any food type out of your diet can imbalance your vitamin/mineral intake especially being young. But limiting it can be good. If you are still interested in going vegetarian later as an adult or once meat prices have skyrocketed from lack of production and the high demand of idiots that don't understand that the planet isn't capable of sustaining meat production at the level it is now, you might give it a try then. But, in the end, it's your decision.

Trump steaks wrote:

End stage Veganism wrote:

Average American diet is about 68% plants and 32% animal/animal products. What do you call that?

32% of what? Weight, pieces?

The number is probably right, but the fact is also that these 68% are probably 80% processed crap and not nice fresh vegetables.

Which is probably a good thing since vegetables have way more antinutrents than junk food does.

End stage Veganism wrote:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EfMhBWP11dU

I mean if you want to look like a skeleton, lose your mind, not improve at all in running(just look at how Sage Canaday, Amby Burfoot and Gerry Lindgren improved after college. That's right, they didn't) and many other side effects of not eating a species appropriate diet. By all means, go do your hippy diet.

Showing a photo of Shawn Baker looking like an unhealthy 70 year old is not exactly helping your cause.

old recognizes old wrote:

End stage Veganism wrote:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EfMhBWP11dU

I mean if you want to look like a skeleton, lose your mind, not improve at all in running(just look at how Sage Canaday, Amby Burfoot and Gerry Lindgren improved after college. That's right, they didn't) and many other side effects of not eating a species appropriate diet. By all means, go do your hippy diet.

Showing a photo of Shawn Baker looking like an unhealthy 70 year old is not exactly helping your cause.

This looks like 70?

10 years meat free. Transformation:

https://scontent.fphl2-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/60063322_10157561753714887_23497826205958144_n.jpg?_nc_cat=103&_nc_oc=AQnM8wvBG0bTY5lJKge4wIbCtCC3lMawuY9PgMqBdIm-Lb7LC62XkRuBM6PVG2u9C0w&_nc_ht=scontent.fphl2-1.fna&oh=89db3b656147e24d2de70d9d2fdb22a8&oe=5D715784

Humans are designed to eat animal products. You WILL be deficient in B12, iron, protein, omega 3s, vitamin A, vitamin D, and a host of other nutrients on a plant-based diet.

Transition on meat. From this:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BtYvH8YA_7d/

to this:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EfMhBWP11dU

I mean if you can find a photo where someone looks worse than they do in other photos, that means their diet is of the devil.

On the left is him at 44, on the right is him at 52:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BwQON3egiNW/

Phantasy Star wrote:

Humans are designed to eat animal products. You WILL be deficient in B12, iron, protein, omega 3s, vitamin A, vitamin D, and a host of other nutrients on a plant-based diet.

BS

Veggies are good for you and Phantasy Star wrote:

Phantasy Star wrote:

Humans are designed to eat animal products. You WILL be deficient in B12, iron, protein, omega 3s, vitamin A, vitamin D, and a host of other nutrients on a plant-based diet.

BS

Not BS, humans are not herbivores. Our digestive system is much more similar to carnivores than herbivores. Some facts:

- human stomach ph is very acidic, herbivores have a alkaline stomach ph

- humans do not have a multi chamber stomach or a large hind gut. Meaning we cannot digest a large amount of plant matter. True herbivores can turn poor (poor as in nutrients) plant matter into amino and fatty acids.

We need meat wrote:

- human stomach ph is very acidic, herbivores have a alkaline stomach ph.

No, herbivores do not have alkaline stomach pH. Although a few get up to about or just over 7, most are in the range of 3-5.

Geez. Your lies are just stupid now.

Herbivores do tend to have higher pH than omnivores and carnivores. Has anyone claimed humans are true herbivores and not omnivores?

trying to be more stupid? wrote:

Has anyone claimed humans are true herbivores and not omnivores?

If someone is discussing what one should eat, we should discuss what the species evolved to eat. You wouldn't give a panda bear a diet of eucalypt leaves. And you wouldn't give a koala bear a diet of bamboo. Likewise, humans evolved to eat a specific diet. And by looking at our anatomy, and physiology and comparing to other animals and which ones we are most similar to. We can figure out what we are meant to eat.

We need meat wrote:

If someone is discussing what one should eat, we should discuss what the species evolved to eat. You wouldn't give a panda bear a diet of eucalypt leaves. And you wouldn't give a koala bear a diet of bamboo. Likewise, humans evolved to eat a specific diet. And by looking at our anatomy, and physiology and comparing to other animals and which ones we are most similar to. We can figure out what we are meant to eat.

What's wrong with eating bamboo?