Foodie Talk: Veg

We all have that one vegetarian or vegan friend who talks about their diet constantly. Starts to get annoying right? It feels like their shoving their tofu and bean beliefs down your throat.

There’s often a reason why those who choose not to eat meat or any animal by-products want to share the information they’ve learnt. Once fully understanding the environmental affects, personal benefits and the unsustainability of meat production it becomes impossible to sit comfortably with all that’s on your plate.

What is it?

You’ll likely already have a fair idea of what vegetarianism or veganism is, but they are many of varying options! Labeling yourself often becomes tiresome and limiting, so here’s a vague list of meatless or less meat diets.

The infrequent meat eater: One who’s conscious about meat production and the harmful affects so chooses to limit their consumption of meat. Once a day, once a week, once a month. You create the boundaries!

The Vegetarian/Vegan with Exceptions: One who sticks to a vegetarian/ vegan diet at home but will make exceptions for convenience at group outings, pre-set dinners, restaurants with no healthy alternative options etc.

Pescetarian: Essentially a vegetarian that will still eat fish and other seafood. Often this is used as a transition phase to ensure a healthy diet while limiting meat consumption, others stick to this diet as their chosen option.

Thorough Vegetarian/Vegan: One who maintains their chosen vegetarian or vegan lifestyle without exceptions. Vegetarians wont eat any type of meat (cow, chicken, lamb, fish etc.) While Vegans wont eat any sort of animal by-products such as milk, eggs, cheese as well as non-edible animal by-products like wool, leather, certain soaps, rubber (the list is incredible long!). I suggest familiarizing yourself with animal by-products if veganism is for you!

Veganism: Vegans, as stated above, refrain from eating or purchasing any type of animal made product. Pigs often are the most ‘utilizable’ animal for our everyday production of goods, everything from shoes to valves for human heart surgeries use different parts of a pig. Certain animal made products such as honey fit into a grey area of acceptability.

Raw diet: Follows a vegan unprocessed diet, where all foods are essentially uncooked. The reasoning is because foods cooked above 46o C lose a significant portion of nutrients

But Why Should I?

The reasoning will be different for each person, but generally they stem from similar concerns. That is, meat and meat by-products account for more greenhouse emissions and environmental destruction that all of the transportation sector put together. This indefinably has created an unsustainable “American”-diet, and as more nations adapt to a Western way of living, the rate of unsustainability is increasing to the point where the end is visible. Asides from the global impact, many people are concerned with the unethical treatment of animals and the normalizing of disposable animals, chemicals or antibiotics, caging, and abuse on animals. If those reason don’t speak to you, perhaps the sheer personal health benefits of a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle may perk your interest. Yes, it’s true we do still the proper amount of protein, and no we are not starving all day!

Let’s break it down in the context of eating one burger:

1. In order to raise the cattle a rule of thumb suggest 2 acres for a cow and calf (pair) over the course of 12 months, on an ethical scale. Those 2 acres now eliminate the oxygen once produced by trees/plants in order to raise the cattle. On average 2 trees can produce enough oxygen for a family of four in a year, and 2 acres could house roughly 3000-4000 trees.

2. The amount of water required to produce one burger is 660 gallons, roughly equivalent to 2 months of showering. Often people overlook the water consumption it takes to grow the crops the animals eat as well as hydrate the animals themselves.

3. Growing crops for animal feed is largely responsible for deforestation. The World Bank claims that 91% of the Amazon forest destruction is due to animal agriculture. If deforestation is a concern of yours, remember that it takes 18 times more land to feed a meat eater than a vegan. If world hunger alarms you, think about how if all plant-based crops were used to feed humans and not meat productions, there would be no food crisis in developing nations.

4. The emissions caused by meat productions is significantly higher than the entire transportation sector. The methane gas released from animal waste is much more detrimental to the atmosphere than carbon dioxide caused by cars. In the United States, 7 million pounds of waste is produced by animals for food production every minute!

The environmental benefits of eliminating meat speaks to me the most. For some it is the treatment of animals that is alarming. Many companies refuse to publicise their practices for marketing reasons, or will play with words to convince consumers they are making the best choice. For example, Free Range and Free Run eggs mislead the buying into thinking the chickens have grown up in an open field, free to roam and lay eggs naturally. In reality Free Run hens remain inside an open concept barn with nest, often crammed so tightly they are unable to run regardless, where as Free Range hens have the option to leave the barn and move around outside. Opting out of eating meat and meat by-products remains the safest and easiest way to discourage unethical animal treatment. However, if you do eat meat, purchasing from local producers is often the best way to go! Look for organic symbols and ethically produced logos, and get to know where and who you shop from!

Getting your protein in!

Yes, it’s easy to believe that hardy meat is the only way to get a sufficient amount of protein, but those who argue that have done little research into alternatives. The difference between animal based protein and plant based protein in found in the amino acids. On a general bases animal meat includes all the necessary amino acids, where as individual alternative protein will lack one or two essential amino acids. This is why it is crucial to eat a balanced vegetarian or vegan diet, ensuring throughout the day you are getting all essential amino acids.

However, animal proteins are highly linked to health complications when consumed over many years. The largest risk associated with meat (specifically red meat) are cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancers and osteoporosis. This is because of all the ‘extra’ that is within animal protein.

For example: a 6-oz broil porterhouse steak contains approx. 40 grams of protein. Great. But it also provides 60% of the recommended daily intake of saturated fats (on a 2000 cal. diet).

The following are case study statistics from Harvard.

• There is a 20% increased risk of cardiovascular disease death with a daily addition of 1.5oz of processed red meats. Equivalent to 2 strips of bacon.

• People who begin eating more red meat that their usual intake are at a 50% greater risk of developing Type 2 diabetes within the next 4 years. By substituting one meal with a alternative protein lowers the risk of Type 2 diabetes by 16-35%

• Higher consumption of red meat during adolescence was linked to a greater risk of developing premenopausal breast cancer.

• Women in particular who consume over 96g of protein daily are at a 20% higher risk of breaking their wrist within a 12-year span compared to those of a 68g/daily intake.

That being said, it is important to get familiar with alternative protein sources and know your body well enough to ensure you are getting the right amount of protein and other nutrition on a daily basis. Many local stores supply alternative meat brands such as Yves that prepare burgers, sandwich ‘meat’, hotdogs, ‘chicken’ fingers and so on. Here is an incomplete list vegetarian and vegan (some, but not all) protein sources they are easily found at your local grocery store!

• Almonds, Pumpkin seeds, Flax seeds (1/4 cup) = 8 g

• Peanuts (1/4 cup) = 9 g

• Peanut butter (2 tbsp) = 8 g

• Cashes (1/4/ cup) = 5 g

• Sunflower seeds (1/4 cup) = 6 g

• Tofu (1/2 cup) = 20 g

• Soy milk (1 cup) = 6 – 10 g

• Greek yogurt (1 cup) = 23 g

• Edamame (1/2 cup) = 8 g

• Beans (1/2 cup cooked) = 7- 10 g

• Soy beans (1/2 cup cooked) = 14

• Split peas (1/2 cup cooked) = 8 g

• Whey Protein (1 scoop) = 24 g

• Quinoa (1 cup) = 8 g

• Egg (1) = 6 g

• Milk (1 cup) = 8 g

• Cottage cheese (1/2 cup) = 15 g

• Yogurt (1 cup) = 8-12 g

• Soft cheeses (1 oz) = 6 g

• Medium cheese (1 oz) = 7 - 9 g

Whether you’re newly discovering the benefits of a meatless life style or simply scoping out the scene to see if it is right for you there’s a lot to learn. Ease into it while familiarizing yourself with the vegetarian or vegan culture.

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/protein/

#vegetarian #vegan #protein #health #raw #diet