Aer you vegetarian or vegan? And why?

[That_one_guy]

I know that many of our Saints were vegetarian or vegan.I am curious as to how many persons in the forums are and why…

 

[noclevername]

I wouldn’t exactly call myself a vegetarian but I rarely eat meat. It’s not that I have problems with it I just forget to eat it a lot. I do find myself eating tofu, rice and beans, eggs and peanut butter when I am feeling like I am missing my protein. I probably could be vegetarian without problems and I might end up there one day. I will admit that i am an animal lover and there is a part of me that has trouble knowing that when I’m eating meat that it was walking around at one point. But I do eat meat on occasion.

But I REFUSE to eat veal. I am very against it because of how those poor calves are raised and how they die.

I do have a good friend who is vegan. His kids are vegetarian. He is vegan because of religious beliefs. (seventh day adventist) I am a cyclist and I do really long races (12 or 24hrs) and when I am racing I have to eat and I have to have protein but I can’t eat meat. He helps me so much with my dietary needs during my races.

 

[damooster]

Earlier this year, I had a funny experience.

I was coming home from work and picked up a steak from the grocery store to cook that night. But when I was getting ready to eat it, I suddenly realized that this was a dead animal I was eating. I got grossed out by this and didn’t eat that night. The next morning, I decided to get some bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits from McDonald’s, but the same thing happened (I was ready to eat it but I got grossed out). This coming from a guy who loves meat.

I ended up not eating meat for about 7 months.

I recently got sick though, and my doctor told me that I should start eating meat again. He told me vegetarianism is not for everyone and showed me pictures of himself when he tried it (his gums got all messed up and he got real sick too).

It’s possible to get most of your protein and vitamins (except for B12) from non-meat products, you just have to know how to do it. You have to mix your proteins, like eat rice and beans in the same day.

I actually felt better as a vegetarian until I got really sick. I am thinking of trying it again since I know more about mixing the foods up.

 

[Guitar]

I’m a vegetarian - an “ideological” one rather than a “physiological” one in that I can eat meat but choose not to.

We are also careful about the source of the eggs, dairy foods and fish we buy. Where we can we avoid by-products such as calf rennet in cheese, animal fats in soap, anything with gelatin in it, etc. We don’t buy fur in any form from anywhere on any product and are reducing our use of leather (and not buying it at all from certain countries).

I don’t believe it is immoral for man to use animals but I choose not support factory farming, long-distance transport of animals, fishing methods that kill birds and dolphins, etc.

When I first went got serious enough to change my spending patterns, there was no choice but go vegetarian. Nowadays with organic meat available (welfare standards built into the certification process) and plenty of places to buy meat raised and killed on smaller farms, I could in theory return to meat-eating. I’ve been perfectly happy and healthy for so long without it, though, that for me there is no justification for killing animals, no matter how well-raised, for food. I simply don’t need to do it and so prefer not to. (In spite of all the helpful people who say, “oh I went vegetarian and got really sick so I had to go back to eating meat so you’d be much better off, you know” … to which I ask, “how much research did you do first and what actually did you eat at the time?” and usually find someone with a less-than-stellar diet to start with who just dropped the meat out, kept eating everything that was left and wondered why they didn’t feel so good and found “vegetarian food” boring.)

Veganism is the logical extension of where I’m headed. Sometime people find great glee in finding a few inconsistencies in your vegetarian lifestyle, as if finding some little chink and crying, “Aha! Fraud!” negates all of the other things you do to reduce your impact on the planet. There are still some things in life we are looking for ways to do without, I will admit, but full-bottle veganism would be a bit of a hurdle for me. Cheese would be the real killer for us!

These are just my views for my own life. I don’t go round evangelising, but in turn I expect others to respect my views and not try to force unacceptable food on me. I will eat meat rather than embarrass a host who didn’t know or has forgotten.

And just for the record, there are vegetarians out there who hate tofu and soy milk and I’m one of them. Yurrcch!

EDIT: damooster, I cross-posted with you. Just wanted to say my comment re people getting sick was in no way aimed at you! I was typing it at the same time as you posted just because it is a conversation I’ve had often. We’ve learned to seek nutritionist advice because not even some doctors and nurses know as much about it as they think they do. I’ve even had blood bank nurses tell me the only source of iron is red meat, and that in the last ten years when I thought people would have become better educated.

 

[That_one_guy]

Thank you for responding to my thread.I am a novice vegan.My fiancee has been vegan for over a year and I have for about 6 months.
I have not noticed any ill side effects.She has lost over 40 pounds and is a regular blood donor.
One of my other motives for posting this thread is to maybe share some recipe ideas and also as to how the vegan/vegetarian lifestyle benefits my journey with Jesus in my spiritual growth.
I have tried to start threads in other forums (not necessarily Christian)and have encountered almost violent opposition.
It is not my intent to tell people what the should or should not do,as I know that the Kingdom of God is not about eating and drinking.I am looking for more of a support system.My fiancee is,of course very supportive.But, we don’t know any Catholic vegans or vegetarians.
We made our own vegan turkey loaf and we have all sorts of very tasty dishes.(She is a fabulous cook!)And it helps us in our bonding as we try many ‘experiments’.
Then, there is the ethical treatment of animals issue.

 

[HappyRevert]

I was a vegetarian for quite a few years and then reverted to carnivore because of some health issues (apparently B vitamin issues). However, I maintain that once my kids are grown we’ll probably go back to eating mostly vegetarian (we still eat vegetarian meals, but don’t exclude meat from our diets).

I will say that the vegetarian/vegan meals that we like are ones that are originally vegetarian and not modified (I don’t like the “fake” meats very much). I’ve put a pot pie recipe that we like that’s vegan below if you want it (We still eat it because it is so nice in the winter).

Pie Crust
3 1/2 cups unbleached flour
4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 Tablespoons margarine
1 1/2 cups plain soy milk
1 Tablespoon barley malt

Filling

1 lb. firm tofu
1/4 cup unbleached flour
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup thinly sliced carrots
1/2 cup thinly sliced celery
1 cup coarsely chopped onions
2 cups diced potatoes
3 cups vege stock
1/2 cup peas, fresh or frozen
1 teaspoon sage
1/2 teaspoon thyme
3 Tablespoons unbleached flour
Salt & Pepper to taste

For the pie crust, sift the flour, baking powder, and baking soda together into a bowl. With a pastry blender cut the margarine into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse corn meal. Mix together the soy milk and the barley malt and add to the flour mixture. Stir with a fork for form a stiff dough. Mix with hands if necessary. Divide the dough in half and turn out onto a floured surface. Roll into two crusts.

Press tofu firmly to get rid of excess water. Cut into 1/2 inch cubes. Combine the flour, pepper, garlic powder, and nutritional yeast. Toss the tofu cubes into the mixture to coat them well. Heat the oil in the skillet and saute the tofu until it is browned (I never quite get this step right but it tastes okay anyway - and I skip the nutritional yeast alot). Add the vegetables and 2 3/4 cups of the vege stock. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add the peas, sage and thyme.

In a small bowl whisk together the 3 Tablespoons of flour with the rest of stock. Stir into the vegetables and tofu and simmer until gravy forms.
Pour into unbaked pie shell and place a pie crust layer over the top. Seal the edges of the crust and prick several times with fork. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

 

[That_one_guy]

Thank you ‘Happyrevert’ for your recipe.My fiancee was very excited to see it and we shall try it very soon.
Here is a tasty sammich we like to make. For people who don’t care for tofu or aren’t used to working with it, it’s a good beginner recipe. (There is a trick to tofu, don’t feel bad if it takes time to get used to cooking with it, happy to share tips :console: )

1 block of tofu
chopped celery
chopped green onion
1/2 C. vegenaise or nayonaise
2 T soy sauce
1 T lemon juice

drain tofu thoroughly and freeze overnight.
thaw and squeeze out all water from tofu
crumble into a bowl
add other ingredients and mix

serve as a sammich or on crackers

other things you can add (although not all at the same time necessarily) - this is a very versatile sandwich spread or dip:
kelp, for a fishy-like tuna-ish flavor
vegan chickn or beaf flavoring
pickle relish
chopped walnuts, sunflower seeds, etc.
other chopped veggies like green peppers and onions
mustard
tofutti better than cream cheese
whatever spices or herbs you might like

 

[just_me_1]

I am a vegetarian… except I eat meat.

but seriously, I have noticed this too, and am curious. Fridays during lent about kill me!

 

[raindr0ps]

vegetarian. because I just can’t handle the thought of eating a dead animal… ew.

I do eat meat every once in a rare while though.

 

[cathybramble]

…]

I don’t believe it is immoral for man to use animals but I choose not support factory farming, long-distance transport of animals, fishing methods that kill birds and dolphins, etc.

this describes my take on it…

…]

Veganism is the logical extension of where I’m headed. Sometime people find great glee in finding a few inconsistencies in your vegetarian lifestyle, as if finding some little chink and crying, “Aha! Fraud!” negates all of the other things you do to reduce your impact on the planet. There are still some things in life we are looking for ways to do without, I will admit, but full-bottle veganism would be a bit of a hurdle for me. Cheese would be the real killer for us!

These are just my views for my own life. I don’t go round evangelising, but in turn I expect others to respect my views and not try to force unacceptable food on me. I will eat meat rather than embarrass a host who didn’t know or has forgotten.

And just for the record, there are vegetarians out there who hate tofu and soy milk and I’m one of them. Yurrcch!

EDIT: damooster, I cross-posted with you. Just wanted to say my comment re people getting sick was in no way aimed at you! I was typing it at the same time as you posted just because it is a conversation I’ve had often. We’ve learned to seek nutritionist advice because not even some doctors and nurses know as much about it as they think they do. I’ve even had blood bank nurses tell me the only source of iron is red meat, and that in the last ten years when I thought people would have become better educated.

when i went vegan a year ago, cheese was the last bastion of animal-based foods for me too… most vegan cheeses are abominations to the cheese world - but i am finding some that aren’t bad. i have also found that i have probably been lactose intolerant for some time. no dairy = none of the digestive problems i used to have

personally i respect anyone who cuts back or eliminates meat/dairy for ethical reasons. veganism to me is directly tied to my faith, respect for God’s creation, a humbling of my own life in recognition of the starving nations… reparation for the violence and excess in the world today… so many things. it is refreshing to see so many positive responses to this thread - most catholics i’ve met have been hostile to the whole concept of animal compassion. you guys are awesome

bright blessings to all

 

[Pacbox]

Between food allergies, intolerances, and high school biology, I became a vegetarian over a decade ago. My mother refused to acknowledge it until one of my sisters sort of went vegetarian and then it was okay to mention it but not to cook for it.

I found out at 13 I was lactose intolerant, rather severly so, though I believe there were inklings when I was 7 because I had a hard time finishing my milk with my lunch. There are things that will never be part of my diet ever again and there have been discoveries about other dairy products. I can tolerate white cheeses, especially mozzerrella, so if I use cheese in anything it’s mozzerrella. But that’s rare.

In biology my freshman year, we had to dissect a shark. That put me off eating meat for a while. Then I discovered that I was unable to digest red meat though at the time I thought it was all meat that I couldn’t digest. So for over a decade, I didn’t eat any meat. I did eat fish since I could tolerate that. And tuna is one of my favorite foods. So I ate a lot of soy during that time which resulted in me developing an allergy to it. So I can’t have soy anymore. And I never liked tofu.

And why is it that when you tell people you are vegetarian, they instantly go for the tofu? Or that food should have no flavor?

Earlier this year I discovered that I could eat small amounts of poultry, as long as I don’t have to touch it to cook it. So there goes chicken. Otherwise, it weirds me out. I still eat pretty vegetarian though I do add turkey to supplement my protein intake.

I’ve never gotten sick while being an a vegetarian. I did learn that foods had flavor and not just the flavor “burnt.” (My mother operated under the practice that if it’s burnt, it’s done. Otherwise it needs to cook longer.)

Eating vegetarian takes planning but it is possible. And some budgeting.

Ethically, I don’t like factory farming, raising animals in horrible conditions to die a painful death in unsafe and unsanitary slaughterhouses that aren’t as regulated as they should be. Plus, we don’t need as much meat as we think we do. Meat is necessary in helping the development and growth of certain physiologocal elements but not something we need all the time.

 

[Guitar]

And why is it that when you tell people you are vegetarian, they instantly go for the tofu?

Brother, I hear ya. I can’t count the number of times people have very kindly really knocked themselves out to prepare a special meal for us as vegetarian guests without it ever entering their heads to ask us whether we eat the stuff. We don’t. We hate it. I can’t even swallow it. And because we don’t have it in the house, it never occurs to me to tell non-veg hosts that we don’t eat it. At the local laksa house I have ordering down to a fine art - “vegetarian laksa please, NO TOFU”.

No offense intended to anyone that likes tofu - for me it’s a texture thing based on early childhood food traumas that I won’t go into here.

But hey, tofu is only the new nutmeat. 25 years ago, every non-vegetarian in the world “knew” that vegatarians all ate nutmeat breakfast, lunch and dinner. Nutmeat is awful. (IMHO!) It seemed very hard at the time for people to understand that we didn’t eat a meat-eater’s diet with the meat bits replaced with a meat substitute, we ate a vegetarian diet instead.

 

[jfallaw]

I try to be vegetarian (though I love a good steak and beer lol, so it’s hard sometimes) for health reasons. It is medical fact that a vegetarian diet is about 1,000 times healthier than a meat-based diet. Our digestive tracts are long, like herbivores, which allows the tougher fibers and grains to be broken down fully, but also allows the poisons in meat to be absorbed. Carnivores have very short digestive tracts that quickly pass the meat so that poisons are not taken in.

 

[Pacbox]

Brother, I hear ya. …

Just so you know, it’s sister, not brother. Honest mistake, I understand.

Though my mother did once make a tofu cheesecake that didn’t turn out too bad. I was the only one who ate it though. Tasted like maple syrup, the cheap imitation stuff.

 

[Guitar]

Just so you know, it’s sister, not brother. Honest mistake, I understand.

Got it.

I have a friend who sounds a bit like you. She would be a vegetarian as we are, for the same reasons regardless, but with lactose intolerance and other allergies on top of it she is kinda vegan by default. As is yet another friend with Type 1 diabetes, lactose intolerance and coeliac disease …she found that eating Indian/Malaysian food with special GI rice made the difference between hating the sight of food and having a bearable diet.

 

[saieditor]

I know that many of our Saints were vegetarian or vegan.I am curious as to how many persons in the forums are and why…

I have been vegetarian for nearly 20 years. I am now vegan, in that I do not partake of ovo-lacto foods, eggs and dairy products, although I have a small amount of milk in my coffee. I found out recently that eggs make me bad-tempered, so eggs are off the diet (they were never in there much, anyway).

I also follow a diet for vegetarian diabetics, as I occasionally lose energy if there are too many sugar-strings in the food consumed and so I do not eat much of sweets or chocolate! 50/50 is out for me!

I follow a philosophy that says, inter-alia:

• the body both converts food into energy and extracts nutrients which are taken up; the finest part of the food is delivered to the mind;
• anything taken in by the five senses is food for the mind, so be careful what you talk about or see while you are eating; that energy/vibration is consumed along with the food;
• thought goes onto food while it is being prepared. (I proved this to myself one day when I was preparing a meal for a cat. I paused and filled the food with love and light, and a 14 year old cat, after eating it, jumped around and chased its tail like a one-year-old!)
• So, I am very careful what I think about while I am preparing a meal. In fact, I silently chant prayers while I am cooking; when I eat, I find that the prayers will start automatically within me whilst I am consuming it.
• In large part, I also follow the Ayurvedic designations of food; some food produces lethargy (tamasic); some foods produce excitement and high energy (rajasic) and other foods are pure and induce peace and serenity (sathwic).
• Alcohol pollutes and ferments the food in the stomach. The mass of food is excreted largely unprocessed, within 24 hours.

Food is important, you are what you eat, and food (along with how you eat it) can and does influence your devotional practices.

You see many human beings in everyday life. In some spiritual disciplines, there are distinctions made about persons.

• Some know what the right thing is and do that, they are human beings in human form.
• Some know what the right thing is and DONT do that; they are human beings in form only. We may call these people demonic, they are demons in human form.
• Some know what the right thing is and DON’T CARE, they will do what they like unto their heart’s content. They are human beings in form only, and in fact are animals in human form. They act like animals, they think like animals, pusue sex with persistence and vigilence WORSE than that of animals ~ for animals have a reason and a season ~ they go on heat and off heat ~ and are generally possessed, shall we say, by the enemies of man, the seven deadly sins.

WHAT contributes to that? May we come to the conclusion that animal behaviour by human beings and disregard of human values, spiritual values is caused by eating the flesh of animals? You may consider and decide for yourself.

 

[Fidelia]

I try to be vegetarian (though I love a good steak and beer lol, so it’s hard sometimes) for health reasons. It is medical fact that a vegetarian diet is about 1,000 times healthier than a meat-based diet. Our digestive tracts are long, like herbivores, which allows the tougher fibers and grains to be broken down fully, but also allows the poisons in meat to be absorbed. Carnivores have very short digestive tracts that quickly pass the meat so that poisons are not taken in.

Our teeth and jaw structure also resembles that of herbivores much moreso than carnivores. And our bodies process plant protein better than animal protein.

I’m vegetarian for ethical reasons, and also health conscious. When I went veg, I also began eating healthier in general, less junk food, no soda, etc.

It is a healthier diet for our bodies, but it is probably best to make the change gradually (that’s what I did) and make sure you are eating healthy. It’s good to no longer consume the harmful aspects of meat, but there are nutrients that your body was getting from it that you do need to make sure you replace.
Contrary to what many people think, protein is not the biggest issue (though of course it is important). It’s important to be getting the B vitamins and Iron (especially menstruating women).

 

[saieditor]

It’s good to no longer consume the harmful aspects of meat, but there are nutrients that your body was getting from it that you do need to make sure you replace.
Contrary to what many people think, protein is not the biggest issue (though of course it is important). It’s important to be getting the B vitamins and Iron (especially menstruating women).

You most certainly are right here about needing to replace nutrients. B12 is one vitamin that needs to be added to the diet; It can be done by way of B12 tablets (any multivitamin that has quantities of B12) or by inclusion of legumes and pod bearing foods such as peas, or lentil, or chickpeas.

 

[Just_wondering]

I have eaten some awesome vegetarian and vegan food in my time, although I’m not vegetarian or vegan myself. I grew up on a farm, and I like my dairy products and meat - although I can certainly enjoy food without meat or animal products as well.

For those of you who hate tofu, if it’s not an allergy, you really should try eating tofu in Asia. It tastes so much better here - it’s really good. I think it’s because tofu isn’t used as a meat substitute, but is served as a food in its own right. I hated tofu in Canada - now that I’ve had it in Korea, it’s one of my favourite foods.

 

[cathybramble]

You most certainly are right here about needing to replace nutrients. B12 is one vitamin that needs to be added to the diet; It can be done by way of B12 tablets (any multivitamin that has quantities of B12) or by inclusion of legumes and pod bearing foods such as peas, or lentil, or chickpeas.

i have heard also that nutritional yeast is another source of B12. i think most soy milk is now fortified with it, and of course LOTS of people (omni and veggi alike) take multivitamins.

for me, B12 is an excellent justification for the occasional rock star energy drink i enjoy :bounce: