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Actually, that is incorrect on both counts. Vegetarians tend to have lower BMIs (and therefore lower rates of obesity-related diseases) and lower rates of cancer. It's also not any more difficult for vegetarians to be healthy than it is for people who eat meat.
Vegetarians are also proned to all kinds of mineral and nutrient deficiency.
This discussion can get dirty very quickly. Vegetarians are very defensive and over-protective of their lifestyle choices.
I agree that it is very possible to be a healthy vegetarian and even vegan, but I also agree with CPG that it is in fact harder. Many vegetarians struggle to get enough vitamin B12, vit.A and protein. That is just a fact that you can't deny. You need to have a really fulfilling nutrient-dense diet and be very educated to be a vegetarian.
Vegetarians are also proned to all kinds of mineral and nutrient deficiency.
This discussion can get dirty very quickly. Vegetarians are very defensive and over-protective of their lifestyle choices.
I agree that it is very possible to be a healthy vegetarian and even vegan, but I also agree with CPG that it is in fact harder. Many vegetarians struggle to get enough vitamin B12, vit.A and protein. That is just a fact that you can't deny. You need to have a really fulfilling nutrient-dense diet and be very educated to be a vegetarian.
If it was hunting for food, no problem. Kill a deer or wild pig, eat the meat. Makes sense to me. (Although the one time I tasted venison, I didn't like it.)
But I would have huge problems with hunting for sport, for trophies, and with killing non-food animals (like cats, wolves, bears).
For some reason, I have no problem with fishing. But again...I'd flinch at fishing for something like a shark, just so you can say you caught a shark.
you can actually eat bear. A friend of mine's cousin gave him some bear meat and he made BBQ with it in a crock pot. It tasted alot like beef.
Vegetarians are also proned to all kinds of mineral and nutrient deficiency.
This discussion can get dirty very quickly. Vegetarians are very defensive and over-protective of their lifestyle choices.
I agree that it is very possible to be a healthy vegetarian and even vegan, but I also agree with CPG that it is in fact harder. Many vegetarians struggle to get enough vitamin B12, vit.A and protein. That is just a fact that you can't deny. You need to have a really fulfilling nutrient-dense diet and be very educated to be a vegetarian.
Actually, I'm not defensive. I have a professional interest in health and nutrition.
Some vegans and some vegetarians may not get enough of certain vitamins and minerals, but that is a far cry from saying "many." Vegans (who eat no animal products whatsoever--no eggs or dairy) have a higher risk of being deficient in certain nutrients if they don't plan their diets appropriately.
You do have to know what to eat to be healthy, but it's no more difficult than knowing what to eat to be healthy with a diet that includes meat. You just have to learn the different foods the same way meat-eaters have to learn that certain meats are leaner than others. And whether you eat meat or not, you have to know how to prepare it. Vegetables drenched in mayo-based dressings aren't going to be any better for your heart than steak. That's why I posted the link, because the American Dietetic Association explains it.
It's not a vegetarian vs. meat-eater right or wrong kind of thing, because if you want to talk about facts, the fact is that most Americans don't eat enough vegetables or get enough nutrients, period.
Vegetarians are also proned to all kinds of mineral and nutrient deficiency.
This discussion can get dirty very quickly. Vegetarians are very defensive and over-protective of their lifestyle choices.
I agree that it is very possible to be a healthy vegetarian and even vegan, but I also agree with CPG that it is in fact harder. Many vegetarians struggle to get enough vitamin B12, vit.A and protein. That is just a fact that you can't deny. You need to have a really fulfilling nutrient-dense diet and be very educated to be a vegetarian.
Just mix in Brewer's Yeast and you are all good. I've wanted to go Vegan at times. I can't do it. I love eggs and fish too much. The monthly Fillet Mignon can not be given up either.
But Vegans are no crankier than your average Big Mac Eater.
Just mix in Brewer's Yeast and you are all good. I've wanted to go Vegan at times. I can't do it. I love eggs and fish too much. The monthly Fillet Mignon can not be given up either.
But Vegans are no crankier than your average Big Mac Eater.
Don't hate me MM.
Heh, if anything, Big Mac eaters have more to be, ah, backed-up about.
Actually, I'm not defensive. I have a professional interest in health and nutrition.
Some vegans and some vegetarians may not get enough of certain vitamins and minerals, but that is a far cry from saying "many." Vegans (who eat no animal products whatsoever--no eggs or dairy) have a higher risk of being deficient in certain nutrients if they don't plan their diets appropriately.
You do have to know what to eat to be healthy, but it's no more difficult than knowing what to eat to be healthy with a diet that includes meat. You just have to learn the different foods the same way meat-eaters have to learn that certain meats are leaner than others. And whether you eat meat or not, you have to know how to prepare it. Vegetables drenched in mayo-based dressings aren't going to be any better for your heart than steak. That's why I posted the link, because the American Dietetic Association explains it.
It's not a vegetarian vs. meat-eater right or wrong kind of thing, because if you want to talk about facts, the fact is that most Americans don't eat enough vegetables or get enough nutrients, period.
Actually I completely agree with you that most Americans don't eat enough vegetables or consume enough nutrients. I also agree with you that you can be a meat-eater and still be deficient.
The thing is, I have been through many stages of my life. I tried vegan, I tried vegetarian, I tried raw food, anything under the sun. I have done so much reading on this.
I still stand by what I said earlier. I don't mean that many vegetarians ARE deficient, but what I do mean is that many of them have to eat a lot more of nutrient-dense foods to achieve the same result as a meat eater.
If you compare apples to apples and compare an omnivore who eats quality meats in moderation together with lots of vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes...to a vegetarian who also has a very health diet, then an omnivore will have a much easier time to achieve better results.
Vegans have the hardest time though, especially with protein and B12. Foods need to have all the amino acids for the proteins to be digested. The only vegetarian plant based protein that is digestible comes from spirulina.
Well, overall, I'm also not into meat-eaters vs vegetarians debate. So we are on the same page.
I'd say about half of the men I've dated after age 25 had firearms, usually as part of their jobs or because they got the hang of them in the military. My wasband didn't, although he knew how to use them from military service. Current man has a couple, and has to be able to use them for his job.
I did date one hunter, when I was 26. It ended badly. He found me on FB last summer. Okay, whatever, tried the friend thing. Then he started posting photos of the deer he killed. Granted, he was the kind of person who would eat the meat and then use the hide for something--he'd get gloves made, if I recall, so he wasn't what he himself called a "slob hunter." But still. It was an issue in the relationship back then, and seeing it 17 years later nauseated me all over again, so that was the end of that.
Ironically, he was the one who taught me how to shoot. Much to my embarrassment as a liberal (albeit one who tends to get along with Libertarians), I actually belonged to the NRA for a year. Guns still don't bother me. I don't have one, but I'll defend someone's right to own one (within reason, which would veer too far off topic to get into here). My only rule is no guns at the dinner table.
Lmao! This >>>>><<<<<< is me giving you a thumbs up... I won't elaborate why.
Just mix in Brewer's Yeast and you are all good. I've wanted to go Vegan at times. I can't do it. I love eggs and fish too much. The monthly Fillet Mignon can not be given up either.
But Vegans are no crankier than your average Big Mac Eater.
Don't hate me MM.
How can anyone hate you?
The amount of B12 in brewer's yeast is very inconsistent and unreliable.
[mod cut] I've always thought if God didn't want us to eat animals he wouldn't have made them out of meat. I think a lot of people that are against hunting and slaughtering animals for food have their head in the sand. Facts are not going to matter to them because they have a closed mind that is made up, facts will only muddy their thinking. Lewis & Clark nearly starved from lack of game animals when they first ventured through the North West. Today game animals are more pleniful because they have been managed. That management is paid for by hunting licenses and taxes on sporting goods equipment. Without some preditor control game animals again will dwindle to non-existant in some area's. If you think a deer killed by a hunter's bullet is cruel, you wouldn't want to watch a deer brought down and a pack of coyotes, or wolves eaten before it even dies. Nothing is more cruel than nature, whether it is preditors killing an animal or that animal starving to death. There is more to hunting than just the kill. Just the kill is not why most hunters enjoy hunting, and until you are a hunter you have no idea what is on a hunter's mind or in his thoughts. Just like we have no idea what makes anti hunters develop stupid thoughts and ideas, and then voice those thoughts before knowing how foolish they sound to others.
Last edited by yankeegirl313; 03-04-2010 at 03:54 AM..
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JKJK...........but really.
<<<<<< is me giving you a thumbs up... I won't elaborate why. 
