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Vegetarian and vegan food can be excellent. Some of my favorite dishes are vegan, its all in how you cook it. I make an amazing General Tso Tofu, better than any chicken I've had. Also there is a vegan burger I make I got from a recipe from my favorite vegan restaurant that is amazing.
But you also have to remember that veg eating can be unhealthy too. Too much butter, sugar, and salt can make anything taste good. The trick is to make it veg and healthy, and those people that can cook foods like that are the real artists.
I just gave blood a couple days ago and they take a cholesterol reading when they check me in and check my hemoglobin, blood pressure, etc. My cholesterol was higher by 50 points or so, and what's changed? I started eating olive oil again, and very rarely, some cheese or meat again.
And why did I make these changes? Because of hanging out with non-vegan, non-vegetarian friends and bending to peer pressure.
They won't disinherit me if I go back to nicely saying, no thanks, or "well, I understand your point of view, but this is working for me," etc.
But, it just goes to show that I am right in that eating vegan is the right choice for me, and that includes eating low fat vegan and no oil.
Even plant oil, like olive oil is straight fat and studies have shown that it can be detrimental to heart disease in the same way as animal fat. So, no, olive oil isn't good for you. One tablespoon of olive oil takes 40 olives to make, and requires zero energy from your body to digest, with no fiber, etc. And as far as caloric density, it's 4,000 calories per pound vs. 100 calories per pound for vegetables or even around 500 calories per pound for brown rice or potatoes.
So, anyway, I'm going back to being a straight vegan with no oil. It's what works best for me for my health.
Oh, and an aside, which I though was amazing - my hemoglobin is actually higher since I stopped eating meat - for anyone who doesn't know what that is, it's basically iron in my blood. We're always told we need more red meat to increase iron in our blood, but mine is actually higher without any meat products at all, including any dairy or butter, etc. I get more iron by eating spinach, beans, rice, veggies, every day than I did from regularly eating meat, which I was really excited to discover from my blood test.
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