My Conscience Choice

People ask me why I'm a vegetarian. Others don't ask anything, but just give me a plastic grin when they discover I don't eat animal flesh or their secretions. Funny. I should be the one giving the frown, but I don't, because that would be unkind.

Because vegetarians seem somewhat alien-like, some think we are shoving our beliefs down their throats whenever we request a veggie burger instead of a slab of cow or pig. I can't speak for all the aliens, but I never want to shove anything down any one's throat. I'll explain my reasons and some facts, and this may make some feel uneasy, but that's only their conscience kicking in, not me.

I haven't always been a vegetarian. Only six months ago did I make the change from allowing my body to be a grave for rotting flesh, to eating what I believe our bodies were created to consume: A plant based diet.

So? Why? The reason I even contemplated such a weird thing is because I had heard that animal flesh and secretions caused inflammation in the body. As a massage therapist and a writer with painful hands and joints and an heiress of all kinds of inflammatory diseases, I decided to research this rumor. Not only did I find this rumor to be fact, I also discovered reasons that rip my heart out and blacken my soul just thinking about them.

Reason 1: Compassion.

Animals want to live. Animals feel pain. Who am I to cause any living being pain and to end their life just so I can have a tasty meal that isn't good for me? Who am I to keep a cow constantly pregnant, living in a pen hooked up to machines to steal her baby's milk so that I can have cheese on my pizza, and then when her life is completely spent and she can no longer stand, haul her off to be slaughtered for my hamburger? Who am I to keep birds locked in tiny cages their entire life with three to five other birds and sear their beaks and talons off so they don't peck themselves to death just so I can have eggs for breakfast? Who am I to 'grow' cows on filthy feed lots to live in their own feces and never frolic in a field? Who am I to mass produce turkeys in inhumane conditions and allow cruel and painful killing techniques? Who am I? I am a human with the conscience and the mind to know right from wrong. I have been given this choice and I choose compassion.

Reason 2: Environment.

This is totally self explanatory. But, just in case it's not, here's a link: Vegan Outreach Environmental and another Vegan Peace Environment and another Vegan Quest and another Wikipedia

Basically, the United Nations says: Save the environment by going vegan.



People are going hungry in the world. Livestock is not. A bit backward, don't you think?

Reason 3: My Health

According to the American Dietetic Association:

"Appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. Well-planned vegetarian diets are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence, and for athletes."*

But wait, there's more.

Carnivores vs. Herbivores

Cancer thrives in acidic conditions. Eating animal products creates an acidic environment in our bodies. A plant based diet (especially raw and unprocessed) creates an alkaline environment in our bodies. Enough said.

Here is a cute little video I saw the other day. I don't necessarily like how they make man look un-smart, but still found it informative.




*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veganism

Want more information?

Watch EARTHLINGS
Read Vegan Freak by Bob & Jenna Torres or The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone

Peace out.

First Four Weeks

Meat has become so important to us that we build all of our meals around it—it’s the main course and we eat it three times a day. It hasn’t always been like this though. Only in the last fifty years has meat become so in demand.

Although the leading health experts believe that going vegetarian is something we can do to better our lives as well as our families’ lives, we each still consume over two-hundred pounds of flesh per year. People wonder why we have so much more cancer, so many more cases of diabetes, more cases of heart disease and stroke, but they don’t correlate these issues with our diet. I’m ashamed of myself, even, for being so ignorant for my entire life.

Exactly four weeks ago, after much investigating, I decided to stop consuming all animal products. Health isn’t the only reason for my decision. The main reason was compassion. It has been much easier than I ever thought it would be. If I hadn’t done the research, and if I didn’t know how our meat is “grown,” it would have been very hard. After all, I was like the cheeseburger queen, and I loved my steak a little bit bloody. Just the thought of eating a steak now makes my stomach seize and makes me gag. Disgusting and wrong.

Compassion toward animals has bled into my compassion toward humans as well. Some of you know that people irritate me. Well, it seems that they don’t irritate me as much lately for some reason. I seem to have a bit of compassion for even the stupid and selfish humans. Very strange indeed. Compassion breeds more compassion. Violence breeds hate and more violence.

People have commented on my appearance. They say that I “look” healthier and want to know what has changed.

Without changing my exercise routine, I’ve lost eight pounds, which is usually impossible for me. All I did differently was cut animal products from my diet. In the next week, I plan on adding yoga, weight lifting and cardio to my life and hope to lose twenty more soon.

Pain is a heredity prerequisite of the women in my family. Although my pain hasn’t diminished completely, it has diminished enough to where I can work without my hands going numb. In the forthcoming weeks, months, and years, I look forward to it diminishing more.

Thanks to my dad, I’ve inherited his low blood pressure (along with his thinning hair—thanks Dad). Before I went vegetarian/vegan, my blood pressure was 119/80 – which is high for me. Today, my blood pressure is 104/70 – which is very normal for me. Yay!

The other day, as I drove to work, a number of cows were released from their pens at a dairy farm. It warmed my heart as I drove by and saw them "frolic" in the green field. I had never seen a cow frolic before. Perhaps I hadn't paid much attention before. Frolicking cows made me smile. I said to myself, "I'm so glad that I don't eat you."

Many of you will think this is just a bunch of “yadayadayada,” but I hope one or two of you will arm yourself with knowledge. Take your life into your own hands by learning about your food. Food is truly medicine and you are indeed what you eat.

If you choose to consume animal products, please do so responsibly. Buy cruelty free, locally raised, organic and free range animals.

Here is a great article with lots of information from the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/weekinreview/27bittman.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

And another article about the health benefits for going vegan:

HTTP://WWW.GOVEG.COM/HEALTHCONCERNS.ASP

And if you only follow the latest trends, here is a list of a few celebrities that are vegetarian and beautiful (which includes Brad Pitt):

http://www.happycow.net/famous_vegetarians.html

Want to read a book or watch a movie?

"Fast Food Nation" and "Food Inc." will get you started.

Be wise, be loving, and be compassionate. As I tell many of my clients who refuse to care for themselves, "Do whatever you want with your body. But remember, you only get one, and they don't sell spare parts."

Angela