My family has given up all meat and dairy products (with the exception of eggs and fish, which may or may not be removed eventually).
I'm actually really excited about this change and I've learned a lot from reading about milk and it's effect on our bodies.
Let's see what happens.
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21 comments:
Hahaha
Round 2!!
This one is for real.
The family is in on it this time so I'll actually have food to eat. And because there is no dairy involved I can't just rely on cheese at all, which means... GASP! I'll have to actually eat VEGGIES! AHHH!
To answer the first question: I will not need a B12 supplement because the vitamin is found in fish which I will continue to eat in moderation. The family will also continue to eat eggs because it is almost impossible to get away from them.
As for the motivation: From everything I've read, the vegan lifestyle is one of the most proven methods of weight loss. While drastic, it really isn't so much as just getting away from foods that I shouldn't be eating anyway. These are my personal understandings of my personal switch. My family is switching as a whole for weight loss issues and the recent discovery that both my mother and sister are indeed lactose intolerant.
As for the eating of animals... I don't feel like it's wrong of us at all. The animals were put on this earth for us to look after and if we see fit, to consume. Where I begin to have an issue is with what we've seen fit to put into our own bodies, like the hormones found in meats and especially in dairy. I also feel that maybe as a human race we have taken meat to a point that it was never intended for... thousands of years ago when God created the earth and said we are lords over the animals and that we could eat them, I don't think mass production of those animals was ever intended, and thusly I don't think the human body was ever designed to have meat with every single that we eat.
As for dairy... The amount of negative things that I continue to read about the mass consumption of dairy products is kind of scary, but I don't really feel like repeating a bunch of info that one can read anywhere.
Now, I will not be encouraging anyone else to adopt the lifestyle. I will not be handing out peta fliers or dressing up as a blood covered Jesus. When I go to Italy I will be eating plenty of Gelato, when I go to Texas I will be having plenty of barbecue and when Thanksgiving comes round I'm going to have some turkey. This is more about a lifestyle change with some exceptions. The truth of the matter is is that some of the best things on this earth are delicious comfort foods and meals from around the globe. I don't wanna miss out. Only get one life right?
I would indeed love to try the wii fit. Looks like a lot of fun!
Who eats massive amounts of dairy products? That sounds sick.
Just stir fry your veggies, they are sooooooo good. Don't buy them stir fried, really stir fry them.
After hitting 180 lbs I decided to reform my eating habits. Cut out a lot of fast food, cut out most sweets, cut out fried food and cut down portion size. I don't really exercise and I've dropped 10 lbs in 6-8 months. I'll probably never buy into dietary restrictions like vegetarianism and just stick to being smart about what I eat.
Paddy - Your nickname used to be (and still is in some regards) Milky, because of your undying love for milk. LOL.
But really think about how much stuff dairy is in. For most people a sandwich has some sort of cheese on it. For breakfast your cereal is floating in milk. For dinner we have pastas that are covered and or filled with cheese. For dessert we have ice cream with whipped cream or chocolates on top.
I've come to find out that dairy is in pretty much everything. From the butter that is used to produce thousands of dishes to the milk that we wash it down with, it isn't that unheard of to eat a large amount of dairy in a day... even if we don't realize it.
My nickname is Milky b/c my 7th grade friend flipped the w in my last name upside down. Not because I have an undying love for milk. However, I will admit that milk is good for you and good tasting.
But really, who has those exact meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? Most of the time, I don't even eat breakfast. And even if you did, that is not massive amounts of dairy products.
I'm not trying to call your new plan stupid or senseless, but it just bugs me when people put a label on what everyone eats all the time.
When you say "the effects of milk" I'm assuming you mean negative effects right? (because why else would you be cutting out dairy?) You mean the hormones and other additives right?
Indeed Trento.
what kind of negative effects are there from too much dairy consumption?
(To anyone who reads this post and doesn't like what I say DO NOT be offended. I am not going to YOU to post or say this you are coming to ME. I am NOT trying to "convert" anyone to a dairy free lifestyle. It is YOUR choice. Just a small disclaimer to cover my butt.)
It's linked to a whole lot:
Allergies, Diabetes, Ear Infections, Heart Disease, Breast Cancer, Osteoporosis, Prostate Cancer, Colic in babies, Autism, Obesity and acne are some of the more prevalent ailments that a high dairy diet can result in.
An article that's pretty eye opening.
http://www.notmilk.com/deb/100498.html
Osteoporosis - Milk Myth #1: Milk Helps Build Strong Bones
American parents pass this myth on to their children, and misguided nutritionists reinforce it. Actually, milk and other dairy products weaken the bones and accelerate osteoporosis. That's right, consumption of milk causes the very condition it's advertised to prevent.
As I'll explain in the next story, osteoporosis results from calcium loss, not insufficient calcium intake. And dairy products, because of their high protein content, promote calcium loss. Studies examining the incidence of osteoporosis have found that high consumption of dairy products is associated with high rates of osteoporosis. If you want strong bones, don't drink milk.
Milk Myth #3: Milk is Necessary for Growing Children
Oh really? Here are three reasons kids and milk don't mix. First, milk is the leading cause of iron-deficiency anemia in infants, and, in fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics now discourages giving children milk before their first birthday. Second, it has been shown that milk consumption in childhood contributes to the development of Type-I diabetes. Certain proteins in milk resemble molecules on the beta cells of the pancreas that secrete insulin. In some cases, the immune system makes antibodies to the milk protein that mistakenly attack and destroy the beta cells.
Third, milk allergies are very common in children and cause sinus problems, diarrhea, constipation and fatigue. They are a leading cause of the chronic ear infections that plague up to 40% of all children under the age of six. Milk allergies are also linked to behavior problems in children and to the disturbing rise of childhood asthma. (Milk allergies are equally common in adults and produce similar symptoms.) Even so august an authority on children as the late Dr. Benjamin Spock changed his recommendations in his later years and discouraged giving children milk.
MILK MYTH #4: Milk is Pure and Wholesome
As if milk weren't bad enough already, the chemical giant, Monsanto Company, and the FDA have made it far worse. In 1994 the FDA approved the use of recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbST), a genetically engineered hormone from Monsanto that increases milk production in cows by 10-25%. Milk from cows treated with rbST contains elevated levels of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), one of the most powerful growth factors ever identified.
IGF-I occurs naturally in both cows and humans and, in a fluke of nature, is identical between these two species. While IGF-I doesn't cause cancer, it definitely stimulates its growth. Recent studies have found a seven-fold increase in the risk of breast cancer in women with the highest IGF-I levels, and a four-fold increase in prostate cancer in men with the highest levels. Not only does rbST elevate your exposure to these growth factors, it also increases infections of the cow's udders. Therefore, cows treated with rbST are given more antibiotics, so higher traces of these drugs, as well as pus and bacteria from infected udders, are found in their milk.
Breast Cancer-
http://www.vegsource.com/harris/b_cancer.htm
Fat-
http://www.milksucks.com/fat.asp
That's just some of the stuff.
The more I read the less I'm interested in consuming this garb.
interesting...
maybe i'll cut out the milk for a while and see if it gets rid of this runny nose of mine.
You should try it.
I have severe psoriasis of the scalp and since having cut dairy my scalp is getting better by the day.
Do I have a dairy allergy? Probably.
Just wanted to address "Myth" 1 and 3 (what was #2?). Calcium is pretty darn important to the body. We need about 1g a day to maintain bone mass or else the body starts to grab it from the bones and teeth. We actually need more calcium as we get older. Here's a good little abstract from an American Academy of Pediatrics article:
http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;104/5/1152
And just more general information on calcium (notice list of references is almost as long as the article itself):
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/calcium-000290.htm
And just flipping through that NOTMILK site, I wouldn't be willing to believe anything on a website that I couldn't site in a college level research article. The lack of references on the pages I saw raises huge red flags.
Any sources from the FDA or National Cancer Institute or any accredited university on the milk->cancer relationship? I like facts and well researched scientific articles and so far none of this cuts it for me.
I don't know that the FDA would ever release anything negative about milk consumption due to the governments close ties to dairy lobbyists. I know that isn't a great excuse but I'm still looking for other articles.
I'm not going to find anything.
Milk has only come under fire within the last 10-12 years so NON GOVERNMENT research of it is limited. Any other research I was able to find, mentions in articles, New England Jornal of medicine and other such sources, did not provide links to their research and or required an expensive subscription to access.
The reason why I emphasize non-government is because any government research done for an industry that gives it millions of dollars a year is going to be of extreme bias to the industry.
Oh well, I'll just have to wait until more conclusive evidence comes up.
"The reason why I emphasize non-government is because any government research done for an industry that gives it millions of dollars a year is going to be of extreme bias to the industry."
And research on "milksucks" or "notmilk" isn't biased?
No, but the government would be self defeating if it was accepting money from and working with dairy lobbies while at the same time telling the general public not to consume any dairy products.
Why would they do that?
The [websites] would be self defeating if it was [named milksucks.com] while at the same time telling the general public[ ]to consume[ ]dairy products.
The article doesn't make sense contextually because the hormone in question was not put to use in cows until 1994. The article was written in 1990.
I don't know why you keep saying hush money and all of that stuff. The industries that those lobbies represent pour millions of tax dollars back into the government every year. That's what I'm talking about. Not some sort of under the table business.
I just think that the government would rather turn a blind eye on some things rather than hurt it's best customers. If something was making me a lot of money, I certainly would not say anything to make people use less of it.
What about the continued use of tabacco in this country despite the hundreds of thousands of deaths it causes? MONEY. The tabacco industry pays too much in taxes for the federal government to seriously consider prohibiting the manufacture and sale of tabacco. I'm arguing on this principle on a smaller scale.
I'm kind of over this debate. Really.
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