Any of you who personally know me, know that I’m very interested in nutrition.
We’re a vegetarian household, but before you jump to conclusions about what it all means, let me say a couple of things.
1) We don’t believe that it’s for everyone, and we’re not pushy about the whole thing.
2) We acknowledge that something will almost inevitably have died to get the food we eat to our plate (even if it’s not meat itself). Pesticides, deforestation to make way for agricultural land, etc etc … all kill animals.
3) Our moral standpoint that it’s not necessary to intentionally take life from another in order for us to live. That being said, in the lifestyle we’ve chosen (self-sufficiency), if something threatens our food supply, we will deal with it (as humanely as possible … just ask all the ground hogs and raccoons who now live in the wild land/nature reserve behind the local WalMart!!!).
4) Following on from 3, no, we aren’t vegetarians who eat chicken or fish!!
5) While we don’t claim to be vegan, we don’t drink homogenized milk (we buy full fat cream and dilute with water where milk is called upon), we eat cheese (more than we probably should), and we eat eggs.
6) We are of the opinions that Vegetarians/Vegans can have worse nutrition than those who aren’t, despite the perceived health benefits of not eating meat.
I was embroiled in very fervent debate recently surrounding a recent British article which was supporting a diet where the majority of calories are from fat, then from protein, and an absolutely minimal amount from carbohydrates.
The blanket term for this diet is “Paleo” – basically going back to what our [primal/hunter-gatherer] ancestors would have eaten.
As a result of this debate, I have subsequently done quite a lot of research into the topic of carbohydrates, sugar toxicity, carbohydrate intolerance, insulin toxicity, insulin resistance, and the subsequent dreaded diabetes.
Over the following days / weeks, I will continue to try to put my many notes into form that can be followed, supporting whatever I can with clinical research.
While I personally think it’d be great to eat as our ancestors did (meat can be very nutrient dense for its weight), the morals that we’ve chosen prevail, and as a result, we have to look to alternatives to ensure that our bodies are nourished adequately.
So really, this is just a heads-up.
I hope you’ll stay posted for the follow up article(s), and feel free to ask any questions that you might have.
If you feel anything is erroneous, please let me know.