The Vegetarian Myth

[1984]

Thank you for your advice. You might point me towards some of the “solid research” you mention so that I can better understand your point of view.

I am aware that it can be tiring to get a newbie asking questions or giving comments that have been answered and discussed on previous pages; I will do my best with the 40 pages but I don’t promise anything. :D

Yes, the 40 pages of reading can be daunting but as they say 'the devil is in the details'. :) As well, you could also pick up the books mentioned here on the forum: "Vegetarian Myth" by Lierre Keith and "Life Without Bread" by Christian B Allan and Wolfgang Lutz - both are very informative and go well to read with the threads here of the same titles.

When you post your intro, you will be provided a list of links to other recommended reading here as well as the forum guidelines, etc.

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Nienna]

Thank you for your advice. You might point me towards some of the “solid research” you mention so that I can better understand your point of view.

I am aware that it can be tiring to get a newbie asking questions or giving comments that have been answered and discussed on previous pages; I will do my best with the 40 pages but I don’t promise anything. :D

Yes, the 40 pages of reading can be daunting but as they say 'the devil is in the details'. :) As well, you could also pick up the books mentioned here on the forum: "Vegetarian Myth" by Lierre Keith and "Life Without Bread" by Christian B Allan and Wolfgang Lutz - both are very informative and go well to read with the threads here of the same titles.

When you post your intro, you will be provided a list of links to other recommended reading here as well as the forum guidelines, etc.

Welcome to the forum.

Also, if you are really here to learn what we have found, you will want to read Primal Body, Primal Mind by Nora T. Gedgaudas.

 

[Stellaria_graminea]

In our intestines the meat continues its rotting process in 37 degrees C and 100% humidity, creating gasses and toxins that our body has to cope with. Vegetables are broken down trough another process, which is fermentation and does not create toxins during digestion.

This is wrong. Carbohydrates feed bacterias in our intestines, resulting in gas. There's toxins in vegetables.

"The Vegetarian Myth" refers to a lot of relevant research and basic facts, it's really good. It uses logic and facts against the vegetarian myths.

 

[RedFox]

Also, if you are really here to learn what we have found, you will want to read Primal Body, Primal Mind by Nora T. Gedgaudas.

I second that...

I started to drop meat after having troubles digesting red meat, which I loved

...as the book explains why you are having trouble digesting meat - and how you can fix it.

 

[FraterDov]

Great.

Thank you all for your concern and advice. I will look into these books and educate myself on this issue.

I have already found “the vegetarian myth” and “primal body – primal mind” and have begun reading :)

soon to be ...

 

[SeekinTruth]

Hi FraterDov and welcome to the forum. Boy are you misinformed about the way carbs / veg based foods are digested (and a whole lot of it aren't digest AT ALL -- i.e. fiber) and how meat/fat are digested. The Vegetarian Myth is written by Lierre Keith who was a vegan for 20 years until her health collapsed. She researched and was horrified to find out not only all the health claims are totally wrong, but the idea of environment and animal life protection is equally wrong. Agriculture is wholesale ecocide and kills everything on the land -- literally thousands of species of plants AND animals, down to the microbes in the soil -- so that people can eat their grains and other monoculture crops.

You will be glad you got educated to protect your health AND the health of the planet. Because the agriculture based food supply is going to crash in the not too distant future because of the few inches of top soil that makes all of life possible on the planet is pretty much completely eroded due to agriculture. As Lierre Keith say, most vegans/vegetarians have good values -- it's the wrong information that makes them go astray.

 

[primechild]

If everyone could read this book... It was en lighting, horrifying and hilarious. Going to read it again and again. Thank you


Cried when I read "the tress are our parents" (a ha! that's partly why people like the movie Avatar) lol throughout my life I hugged trees in public all the time and have convinced others to do so. I feel better when I talk to them, ask permission and apologize when I have to hurt them. Yes, I'm hypersensitive and working on accepting it.

Laughed at "vegan vs slugs" part. I experienced that with my vegetable garden. lol on being oversensitive she wins. I give the slugs in my garden instant death of concrete and my shoe because homeowners association won't let me have chickens.

Horrified by all the damage caused by Agriculture. Lierre put all the little pieces together so we could finally see the real big picture.

Furious at the what the world does to little girls, women and not even little boys are spared. Read the Endnotes!

Background--
Yikes! First years of life mom made me vegetarian.
At 5 as silly as it may be, I felt the fruits/vegs in the stands being alive. My mom said she had to fight with me so that I would eat. Child silliness again, I felt that if I ate something that was alive, they where going to physically eat me alive too. I felt as if things where eating me, watching and following me around. I must give thanks to the xtians who blocked all horrible stuff in the name of Jesus silliness (or maybe blocking wasn't a good idea, now with EE its coming back, and thanks to Laura, Team & this forum I'm not as afraid)

At 11 yrs vegetarian (no fish no eggs) lasted less than 3 months
At 22 yrs play with diets
+fruitarian - 2 weeks I ate all day non stop mostly fresh, frozen and some canned fruit. My stomach was full of fruit and i still felt hungry. One time I still stuffed my face after stomach mas full and had to throw up. I don't know how people put up with my crazy mood swings. (maybe because boss was born into jainism - they don't kill anything not even a roach or mosquito)

+Next Raw vegetarian - all types of wierd vegs all (no grains) types fruit lol that didn't last a week. It was awful. How can people live that way?

+regular vegetarian - 2 wks lots of soy milk, fake hotdogs and shroom burgers sure tasted good!
Reading RA material and this site on densities, when I rationalized that just be caused I stopped eating one density doesn't mean that the density above wasn't going to stop and 2 up wasn't going to stop either. "this cow only eats dirt and not grass, let's spare this one" Lol
I need "dead cow" NOW! Went to restaurant and ordered the biggest steak medium rare. Later I cried and rationalized that I didn't make the rules of this game and like the Natives I thanked the cow that died and all the people that it took for that meal and ever since then I give thanks in my heart and head.

I give thanks and honor all the beings that died and labored that I may live. May I be nourished that one day I may nourish the earth

 

[Gonzo]

...I thanked the cow that died and all the people that it took for that meal and ever since then I give thanks in my heart and head.

This has also been my practice. I give thanks to the Divine Cosmic Mind for its creation, to the animal and then to all those involved in bringing the animal to me. I then ask the mean sustain and nourish me.

While I'm not certain that such a specific act if gratitude is essential, it helps me connect with all those responsible for feeding me. But I sometimes wonder if I am also performing and act of undoing to assuage a sense of guilt, remnant from my earlier vegetarian days.

Gonzo

 

[findit]

I was reading this article by Gary Dorsch, editor of Global Trends Money Newsletter and thought his comments were appropriate for this thread...
In 2011, 33.5 million cows, 110 million hogs, and 9.3 billion chickens were slaughtered in US processing plants. Each pound of beef requires 6.5 pounds of corn feed. Ethanol producers consume 40% of the corn supply. Because it is a political year, 15 out of 17 Treasury bond dealers expect QE3.
The big picture "Super Commodity Cycle" began 10 yrs ago. The world's population increases 225,000 people a day. By 2030, the world's GDP is expected to double to 130 trillion assuming 3.5 percent annual growth rate. The massive demands by the population will cause shortages causing prices to increase in order to ration food.

 

[Don Genaro]

Another book I think well worth reading in conjunction with the Vegetarian Myth is "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan. You can read the introduction and first chapter here _http://michaelpollan.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/omnivore_excerpt.pdf
Although not a book that gives much in the way of dietary advice I think it really complements TVM because it makes some aspects of it all the more real. It's been a while since I read TVM but I think that this book provides extra shocks in that he takes you on visits to different farms both of the organic type and the industrial type as well as a visit to a CAFO. You get to meet a monoculture corn-grower up close and personal and he also manages to visit Joel Salatin's farm (the one mentioned in TVM).
You may also be in for a bit of a shock when you start to realize how ubiquitous corn has become. In a sense, this book seems like a follow-up to TVM although his writing style is quite different- a good deal more upbeat. I also watched a talk by him last night in which he talks about elements of the book. It was quite interesting too. You can watch it here: _http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFpjskn3_Pc

 

[David Topi]

Agree. I have read both and they are priceless, although for those of us not being american or living there some things are more difficult to understand. I' d love to have the same deep analysis of the spanish food market, for instance, do not know if anybody knows any book about it?

 

[Laura]

Agree. I have read both and they are priceless, although for those of us not being american or living there some things are more difficult to understand. I' d love to have the same deep analysis of the spanish food market, for instance, do not know if anybody knows any book about it?

As far as I could see the short time in Spain, it's pretty good there. All people have to do is cut back on the grains, sugar and dairy, eat up the great meats that are available, the seafood, the side of eggs... Nothing like a big dish of prawns grilled with butter and garlic.

 

[domwatts23]

My girlfriend is a vegetarian. She always was when she was young because of the moral issue. Then she changed due to a protein deficiency but now that she is older she decided last year to go back to it. she feels extremely strongly about it and i desperately want her to be open to changing back; her primary issue in changing back would be how badly all the animals consumed in my country (england) are treated. she is open to new ideas and certainly does listen to me, but has a real issue with the meat produced here and consuming it in general. i am about to buy the vegetarian myth but im not sure if it will change her mind. is there any advice anyone can give me?

 

[Gimpy]

i am about to buy the vegetarian myth but im not sure if it will change her mind. is there any advice anyone can give me?

Be prepared to drop the subject? I'd leave the book around for her to read it if she wants to, but there's no point in trying to forcibly change her mind. It may backfire on you. I know
its tough, but this is something she has to figure out on her own.

 

[dugdeep]

My girlfriend is a vegetarian. She always was when she was young because of the moral issue. Then she changed due to a protein deficiency but now that she is older she decided last year to go back to it. she feels extremely strongly about it and i desperately want her to be open to changing back; her primary issue in changing back would be how badly all the animals consumed in my country (england) are treated. she is open to new ideas and certainly does listen to me, but has a real issue with the meat produced here and consuming it in general. i am about to buy the vegetarian myth but im not sure if it will change her mind. is there any advice anyone can give me?

If her major objection is how horribly the animals are treated for the meat you get, my advice would be to find better meat. Go out to a farm where you can see the animals and how they're treated and order the meat from them. The fact is, your girlfriend is right - the way animals are treated in the factory farming system is absolutely horrific. Eating outside that system is the goal, but that doesn't mean eating a diet that is not appropriate for humans by avoiding meat.