Do you eat a special diet by choice?

[Becca_Lugosi]

I'm an organic eater.
Not quite vegan, I still adore seafood.

All natural, I live on a farm so a lot of my food is homegrown.

[CrimsonPythonidae]

Originally Posted by Malice In Wonderland

I don't eat any dairy.
It makes my allergies and skin worse.

Me too, people don't believe me when I tell them that though.

I have a question for the vegans . . Actually, should I start a new thread for that? In general?

[Saya]

Originally Posted by CrimsonPythonidae

Me too, people don't believe me when I tell them that though.

I have a question for the vegans . . Actually, should I start a new thread for that? In general?

I can't remember the last time we were anal about staying on topic, and it is topic related. Do what you want to do.

[CrimsonPythonidae]

Well, I'm just curious about the whole vegan thing. How do I word this?
I'll start with: What is it vegans do and do not eat and use? Am I right in the understanding that there is no use of animal products whatsoever?

How is this monitored? I mean, how do you check every single thing before you use/purchase it? What if you don't know?

Are the reasons solely about animal rights/cruelty etc? Where do you find the correct information and how do you avoid dud information?

I don't know if I've asked the right questions or covered everything like I wanted to but it'll do for now I suppose . .

[Saya]

Originally Posted by CrimsonPythonidae

Well, I'm just curious about the whole vegan thing. How do I word this?
I'll start with: What is it vegans do and do not eat and use? Am I right in the understanding that there is no use of animal products whatsoever?

How is this monitored? I mean, how do you check every single thing before you use/purchase it? What if you don't know?

Are the reasons solely about animal rights/cruelty etc? Where do you find the correct information and how do you avoid dud information?

I don't know if I've asked the right questions or covered everything like I wanted to but it'll do for now I suppose . .

Actually I was dreading a "SO HOW DO YOU GET PROTEINZ?!!!!" question XD Vegans avoid animal products completely in diet and as much as possible otherwise (for example, vulcanized rubber tires on cars aren't vegan, but vegans still drive cars). To the best of your ability, so to speak, so if you're a teacher and your school uses crayolas, well, you could try to get them to switch to crayon rocks but otherwise thats that.

I do check everything before I purchase it. If someone says something like "I made this for you" while I do ask them about what's in it I do trust them and will eat it. Same in restaurants, I question them and generally feel safe about the food, in franchises they may have a list of ingredients at the ready, I guess thats a risk of eating out anyway, they may just be spitting in the food and jacking off in the sauce for all I know. As for when I'm grocery shopping, it was kinda annoying at first to have to read everything, but I got a good handle on that now, I email companies if I'm not sure about something, and if I can't pronounce an ingredient I just won't buy it anyway. I cook a lot from scratch now too so that helps immensely.

Now, if I find out that I did use something and it was after all not vegan? Well I do feel bad but thats that, and I'll know for next time. Like for example I recently found out that oil pastels sometimes have animal fats in them, and that was my favourite medium. So now I know better and will find a brand that has no animal in it (it is amazing at what has and sometimes what doesn't have animal in it).

As for animal rights, for me personally it was a choice made from the belief that I cannot justify the fact that animals have to die and be exploited just because I really liked cheese. While I am interested in animal rights and I believe animals do have basic rights I'm not quite the type to go leafleting, if thats what you mean.

I get info on products from the companies themselves and I talk to other vegans about them too.

[TheSomnambulist]

I too am a vegan.

[CrimsonPythonidae]

Originally Posted by Saya

Actually I was dreading a "SO HOW DO YOU GET PROTEINZ?!!!!" question XD Vegans avoid animal products completely in diet and as much as possible otherwise (for example, vulcanized rubber tires on cars aren't vegan, but vegans still drive cars). To the best of your ability, so to speak, so if you're a teacher and your school uses crayolas, well, you could try to get them to switch to crayon rocks but otherwise thats that.

I do check everything before I purchase it. If someone says something like "I made this for you" while I do ask them about what's in it I do trust them and will eat it. Same in restaurants, I question them and generally feel safe about the food, in franchises they may have a list of ingredients at the ready, I guess thats a risk of eating out anyway, they may just be spitting in the food and jacking off in the sauce for all I know. As for when I'm grocery shopping, it was kinda annoying at first to have to read everything, but I got a good handle on that now, I email companies if I'm not sure about something, and if I can't pronounce an ingredient I just won't buy it anyway. I cook a lot from scratch now too so that helps immensely.

Now, if I find out that I did use something and it was after all not vegan? Well I do feel bad but thats that, and I'll know for next time. Like for example I recently found out that oil pastels sometimes have animal fats in them, and that was my favourite medium. So now I know better and will find a brand that has no animal in it (it is amazing at what has and sometimes what doesn't have animal in it).

As for animal rights, for me personally it was a choice made from the belief that I cannot justify the fact that animals have to die and be exploited just because I really liked cheese. While I am interested in animal rights and I believe animals do have basic rights I'm not quite the type to go leafleting, if thats what you mean.

I get info on products from the companies themselves and I talk to other vegans about them too.

Ha, well with regards to the protein I don't know "how I would get them" but I need to get my head around reasons for and how one would manage a vegan lifestyle before I worry about how to balance the diet properly.

So for instance, anything made of leather is an obvious no-go, but crayola? I'm guessing animal fat in those? How do you even think of something like that? There just must be so much to find out that I personally would not think of on a day-to-day basis.

How do you make an adjustment like that to your life? I mean it is essentially a life style, did you have to throw out shoes, furniture etc? (those are the only things I could think of since I'm not clued in to what is made of animals) Did you just one day make that change or gradually adapt your way of life to it?

Now, perhaps the more obvious questions: If someone doesn't eat meat for a long while, then does eat some will it be difficult for the body to digest at all or make you ill? Do I recall you (I think it was you) mentioning something about meat not being too good for the digestive system? And now for everyone's favourite: How do you replace what meat gives you in your diet?

[Saya]

Originally Posted by CrimsonPythonidae

Ha, well with regards to the protein I don't know "how I would get them" but I need to get my head around reasons for and how one would manage a vegan lifestyle before I worry about how to balance the diet properly.

So for instance, anything made of leather is an obvious no-go, but crayola? I'm guessing animal fat in those? How do you even think of something like that? There just must be so much to find out that I personally would not think of on a day-to-day basis.

I didn't know that about crayons, actually, until just a few days ago. You're right, some things you just don't think about, I'm sure I use a lot of stuff in the run of the day that has animal in it and I don't think about it. You just do what you can, the diet is easy enough but other things not so much.

How do you make an adjustment like that to your life? I mean it is essentially a life style, did you have to throw out shoes, furniture etc? (those are the only things I could think of since I'm not clued in to what is made of animals) Did you just one day make that change or gradually adapt your way of life to it?

I didn't throw out my shoes, I still have boots of questionable origin (I'm pretty sure the outside fabric is faux suede but I'm thinking I won't be so lucky about the soles). Money has been insanely tight since summer, hopefully in the next month or two when I get back on my feet I'll be able to order shoes that are certifiably animal free ^_^ Once I do get new boots I'll probably donate the ones I have. It is a big change, getting into the habit about thinking about these things, and no not everything changed overnight, the obvious things were the first to go but yeah things like crayons you just don't know.

Now, perhaps the more obvious questions: If someone doesn't eat meat for a long while, then does eat some will it be difficult for the body to digest at all or make you ill? Do I recall you (I think it was you) mentioning something about meat not being too good for the digestive system? And now for everyone's favourite: How do you replace what meat gives you in your diet?

I have heard from other people that they get sick after accidently eating meat, but others don't, not sure if its in their heads or not to be honest. If you were to go back to an omnivore diet after being vegan? You probably will be constipated for a while or have other similar problems, meat and other animal products have no fiber, so I don't know what that sudden switch would do from a high fiber diet to a low fiber diet. And yeah, red meat has been linked to colon cancer. But other than that there shouldn't be a problem.

As for how to replace what meat gives us, well its not hard at all. I replaced milk with rice milk and thats how I get my omega 3 (which is also found in flax seeds, walnuts and hazelnuts) and my B-12. B-12 is the only vitamin that cannot be found outside of animal products, but can be made synthetically, and thats whats added to things like veggie burgers and soy milk. I suppose I should take a vitamin like I did when I was omnivorous, but I'm fairly certain I'm getting my B-12 no problem. Everything else I can get from plant food.

Originally Posted by Becca_Lugosi

I'm an organic eater.
Not quite vegan, I still adore seafood.

All natural, I live on a farm so a lot of my food is homegrown.

Not nearly vegan at all, you dirty pescetarian you XD

[CrimsonPythonidae]

So you dont need to eat a heap of extra "something" to replace meat? Can you recommend any good websites or books etc? And thanks for the input and answering my questions Saya : )

[Saya]

Originally Posted by CrimsonPythonidae

So you dont need to eat a heap of extra "something" to replace meat? Can you recommend any good websites or books etc? And thanks for the input and answering my questions Saya : )

No problem ^_^

The only book so far that I've read about veganism is Farm Sanctuary by Gene Baur, unfortunately my local bookstores only sell Baur and and Singer books (please don't read Singer, please. Its a world of hypocrisy and headache.) I tried ordering a Francione book the other day but they were going to charge me fifty dollars for it o.O So I might just get a credit card and get it off of amazon or something, along with Vegan Freak by Bob and Jenna Torres. I'm also told that the book "Becoming Vegan" will give you a whack-load of information about nutrition, and also a list of common animal ingredients to avoid.

Anyway, for websites on veganism in general:

http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/
http://www.veganfreak.com (I love their radio show in particular.)

For nutrition:
http://www.vegsoc.org/info/vegan-nutrition.html
http://www.vegansociety.com/food/nutrition/

Recipes:
http://veganjoy.blogspot.com/
http://vegweb.com/
http://www.vegan-food.net/

With recipes however its just as easy to google whatever it is I want to make and the word "vegan", typing "rice crispies vegan recipe" for example came up with a lot of sites and I could compare more easily what would be the easiest recipe.

[Saya]

Ah, also forgot to state that you can "veganize" a lot of baking recipes by subsituting rice/soy milk for real milk, and half a banana for each egg that is called for.

Also another great website about the ethics of veganism is:
http://www.peacefulprairie.org

A very lovely organization that rescues farm animals and gives them a new start on life.

[CrimsonPythonidae]

Cool, that's fantastic Saya, cheers. This info should keep me busy for a while.