Healthiness

I was most surprised to hear that one of my grand-daughters has also become vegetarian, so perhaps it is a case of leading by example.

Direne3 I think aggression goes for many whose way of life is different !!

All this evidence of vegan v omnivore is anecdotal. What is needed is a properly conducted study of the two groups with participants matched for everything but diet.

This article by a nutrition expert says:

‘I don’t think it’s possible to meet nutrient needs on a vegan diet without supplements—and quite a few of them. Vegan diets are low in:
* B12
* Bioavailable iron and zinc
* Choline
* Vitamins A and D
* Calcium
* EPA and DHA’

Also:

‘Vegetarian and vegan diets for children carry significant risks of nutrient deficiencies that can have dire health consequences. (75, 76, 77)’

chriskresser.com/why-you-should-think-twice-about-vegetarian-and-vegan-diets/

I was vegetarian for years but have changed my mind. I feel much better on an omnivorous diet.

My grandson has Chrones disease and since becoming vegan, he has been much better in himself. He is sticking to it as he feels it is lessening the effects of Chrones. That’s all I know about it, whether he is right or not only he will know.

I read an article recently, which needless to say I now can’t find, about a community in the USA where everyone is vegan. They were all healthy and seemed long lived according to the article. I suspect that along with their diet, this community scores highly with people helping each other, being sociable, and having chosen to live there. It wasn’t quite a retirement community but it seemed that there were not many young people living there. I don’t know what supplements, if any, they were taking.

I’m now vegan but trying to eat less meat, and certainly trying not to eat the mass produced factory farmed meat, chickens, food. Apart from the terrible cruelty in these places, I can’t believe that our bodies have evolved to eat such chemically enhanced products.

Here’s a link to good vegan places in the States to eat. Veganism seems to be gaining popularity in some areas if the world!

livability.com/topics/things-to-do/the-8-most-vegan-friendly-cities-in-the-us

Typo alert! I intended to write ... ‘I’m NOT vegan but trying to eat less meat’, etc. ?

I agree about the factory farmed meat, Florence – I don’t eat that either. (It’s just as well that Aldi sell good value free-range chickens.)

I eat less meat, but only organic or close-to-organic and high welfare meat. Apart from any health advantages it is better for the environment and for animal welfare.

I also do not eat chicken or pork when in restaurants, because those are the animals mostly likely to be from low welfare systems. Usually I choose vegetarian dishes.

Here's another report of research into a plant based diet:
www.bmj.com/company/newsroom/plant-based-or-vegan-diet-may-be-best-for-keeping-type-2-diabetes-in-check/

I was most surprised to hear that one of my grand-daughters has also become vegetarian

I could see it coming with my 12 year old granddaughter Direne3 as she gradually cut out the tiny bit of meat she ate . Started refusing mince and would only have chicken, then she stopped eating chicken too . Fortunately she does eat a very healthy vegetarian diet including lots of dairy .

Again, it is not vegan against comparable meat eaters and talks of predominantly plant based diets without giving a definition of what that means.

The researchers point out several caveats to their findings, including the small sample sizes of the studies they reviewed and the reliance of the data on participant recall.

Reason for my surprise gillybob was that she was the last person that I would have expected it of. They live far away and (unlike her much older brother who has often shown an interest in my reasons) she had never shown the slightest inclination. Good on her though, she's stuck with it for many months now. It did amuse us all at the beginning when she asked her mother 'is pork vegetarian' - oh the innocence of young teenagers.

As a (conscience) vegetarian of 30+ years I, like many others, often find myself apologising for any inconvenience to the cook.

As a life long omnivore I have always had meals and days when I consume no meat or animal, not be design, just by choice, Catering for a vegetarian is no different to catering for an omnivore or person who dislikes, for example, tomatoes.

A darn sight easier than coping with the medically attested and 'approved' allergies DGD and DDil unfortunately have. When they are with us all nuts, soya, sesame, mustard and salmon and, for one, fresh fruit, are forbidden. It makes menu planning quite complicated.