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Vegan is not a Dirty Word

by jughandle

Do You Believe in God?

I know sometime in your life you’ve run into someone who told you they were, or are, a vegan.  The first time I heard that I replied, I’m a Christian, do you believe in God?  After a lengthy and somewhat embarrassing conversation, I learned that a vegan is some one who does not eat animals or animal products, such as eggs,cheese, butter and milk.  Actually a person who lives a vegan life is someone who chooses not to use any animal products in any way.  Yes, that means no leather belts, shoes, Hyde glue, et al.  People become vegan for many reasons, such as religion, personal beliefs and health.  For the purpose of this blog we will talk about only vegans as far as eating.  With the food supply in the condition it is in, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for we Fat Farmers to eat a more vegan leaning diet.

Natural Antioxidant

Fat Farm Changes

I have a good friend who recently told me about one of his children who has cancer.  Their family is starting to try and eat a vegan diet for health reasons.  I, for one, think this is a good idea if they can do it and I want the Fat Farm to help.  Look for a new tab on the menu bar that will list information about vegan diets.  In the recipe section, look in the vegan recipe section for meals that qualify as vegan.

Health Benefits of Eating Vegan

For you nay-sayers out there here are a few benefits of a vegan diet:

1. Cow and chicken farms that produce milk and eggs operate on a small profit margin.  In order to save money and increase production the cows, sick or not, are all fed antibiotics.  They are also fed hormones to increase production.  Chickens live in very small confined areas and their feed and living area are sprayed with pesticides, insecticides and herbicides to prevent insect infestations.  These chemicals are ingested by the animals and are absolutely stored in their body fat and transferred to their eggs and milk.  If you eat cheese, eggs and or the meat of cows or chickens that are raised in mass production you are also putting these same chemicals in your body.

2. Heart disease is strongly associated with cholesterol which is found for the most part in meat products and eggs.  Studies have shown that by replacing the saturated fat in meat products with unsaturated fats from vegetables lowers the risk of heart attack and death from heart disease in women by as much as 40%.

3. Eating vegan can reduce your risk of certain cancers, kidney and gallstones, diet-related diabetes, high blood pressure and health problems related to obesity.

4.  Eating animal fats has been linked to numerous health problems: heart disease, colon and lung cancer, osteoporosis, diabetes, kidney disease, hypertension and obesity.

5.  Excessive protein intake can lead to colon cancer and osteoporosis

6. Vegan and Vegetarian diets are high in fiber and nutrients and low in fat.  Iodine is best from plant products, selenium comes from Brazil nuts, vitiamn D2 from shitake mushroom and Omega-3 fatty acids from flax-seed oil.

I could go on and on to make my point, but if for some reason you don’t believe me, you can do your own research.  Let me know if I’m wrong. For a list of 57 health benefits of going vegan follow this link.

Down Side

There are down sides to eating vegan.  Some supplements are important to take in order to make sure you get all the vitamins and minerals our body needs.  After all, the human has evolved but is still an omnivore.  Most important is B-12 as well as the other B-complex vitamins.  It is also important to maintain the proper balance of iron, protein, zinc and calcium.  Yes, we can get iron and zinc from whole grains, nuts, seeds and legumes, but protein is found only in low levels.  Calcium is available in greens such as kale, mustard greens, and collard greens.

You will have to plan your meals more carefully, and of course the ultimate downside is having to explain to your host that you don’t eat meat and watch the expression on their face as panic ensues.

Nothing with a Face on it

Before you start telling people that you “don’t eat anything that had a face”, you should start small.  Let’s creep up on this vegan thing, Maybe even just supplement our normal eating with really good vegetable dishes.  I’ll get us started tomorrow.  Carnivores not to worry.  I will continue to post our favorite meat dishes.  Let’s just consider this vegan thing being open minded.

 

Keep on Farming you Fat Farmers – jug

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2 comments

Mittie Wooden August 12, 2011 - 8:55 am

I’d go vegan & Steve would go eat somewhere else. 😉

jughandle August 12, 2011 - 11:39 am

Thanks for your comment Mittie. I’m not suggesting that anyone change anything that they are not comfortable with. I’m not sure I could ever give up cheese and I know I can’t give up eggs. And I’m not giving up pork. I’m posting about vegan cooking to explore the world of vegetable cooking with the hope of finding new and interesting things that might expand our realm of cuisine. This topic is almost as volatile as politics.

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