Why to skip out on the turkey this Thanksgiving
Lizette Cuevas
Issue date: 11/20/09 Section: Lifestyles
Eating consciously just means being aware of how the food is getting to your plate. Tal Ronnen's definition of being "vegan" is "eating everything in the world except animal products. A positive spin, for sure, but this is a positive way to eat." Most if us question the morality of eating animals and many people who feel it's absolutely wrong do it anyway, simply- out of habit. Eating with a clear conscience and feeling good about everything you put in your body can have the power to lighten up your life.
Why Veganism? It is important to help others; the grain fed to livestock could feed at least twice as many hungry people in third-world countries. Weakening the livestock industry by purchasing less or no meat is a step forward to rearranging our resources to save lives. The planet needs our help; factory farming of animals consumes and pollutes huge quantities of water and demands so much feed that it threatens forests. The greenhouse gases from animal emissions are destroying the atmosphere.
Beginning to eat vegan gives you a taste for it, and then there's a good chance that if you do it part-time, you'll want it to go further. So ease in. Even if you cut out animal products just two days a week, you can make a huge difference in your health and the health of our planet. Switching over, even part-time, to vegan eating is about getting acquainted with all the wonderful plant-based proteins available.
Cutting out animal products means eliminating the risk of high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart disease, and several types of cancer. There is a common misconception that meatless meals are short on protein but this couldn't be further from the truth; it is easy to get protein without eating animal products. Most of us eat way more protein than we need anyway. The FDA says we need about 50 grams a day, and many nutrition experts say it's more like 30 grams.
There are many hearty elements in a vegan diet, such as pasta, crusty bread and meaty mushrooms. A lot of people have an image in their heads of plates full of raw vegetables; vegan eating is not that at all. Find inspirations in recipe books, good vegan restaurants and vegan friends. Try something new and have fun with it. Truth is, you will not be starving all the time and it's not boring to eat vegan, as much as people may think.
Why Veganism? It is important to help others; the grain fed to livestock could feed at least twice as many hungry people in third-world countries. Weakening the livestock industry by purchasing less or no meat is a step forward to rearranging our resources to save lives. The planet needs our help; factory farming of animals consumes and pollutes huge quantities of water and demands so much feed that it threatens forests. The greenhouse gases from animal emissions are destroying the atmosphere.
Beginning to eat vegan gives you a taste for it, and then there's a good chance that if you do it part-time, you'll want it to go further. So ease in. Even if you cut out animal products just two days a week, you can make a huge difference in your health and the health of our planet. Switching over, even part-time, to vegan eating is about getting acquainted with all the wonderful plant-based proteins available.
Cutting out animal products means eliminating the risk of high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart disease, and several types of cancer. There is a common misconception that meatless meals are short on protein but this couldn't be further from the truth; it is easy to get protein without eating animal products. Most of us eat way more protein than we need anyway. The FDA says we need about 50 grams a day, and many nutrition experts say it's more like 30 grams.
There are many hearty elements in a vegan diet, such as pasta, crusty bread and meaty mushrooms. A lot of people have an image in their heads of plates full of raw vegetables; vegan eating is not that at all. Find inspirations in recipe books, good vegan restaurants and vegan friends. Try something new and have fun with it. Truth is, you will not be starving all the time and it's not boring to eat vegan, as much as people may think.
Be the first to comment on this story