Wesley36

FWIW, this seems germane:
BBC News - Growing appetite for meat 'risks climate targets'

PS FWIW, reducing meat consumption on a broad level is probably more meaningful here than encouraging vegetarianism, simply because it is probably more appealing to more people

ThermionicScott 

Agreed, and that sentiment might help keep this thread alive, too. Meat consumption certainly was sustainable at times in the past, and my girlfriend and I are working toward Michael Pollan's credo of "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants." I like it because it avoids demonizing any type of food, or scolding any particular group of people outright.

elcruxio

Who knows, maybe sometime in the near future we can grow meat like we grow tomatoes in greenhouses. But I bet there will be the naysayers telling us it's not natural/healthy/grass fed/add your preferred adjective

bikeguyinvenice

Can't believe this thread is still going, such a simple question, answered with all I need to know, and a lot of back and fourth between the two factions.

bikebreak

PEOPLE!
IT'S PEOPLE!

Wesley36

Welcome to the Internet

wolfchild

The near future is here now. It's already been done. They call it "in vitro meat'" or "cultured meat"...There you go vegans, no animals were killed, now you can eat meat without feeling guilty and having your ethics violated. Personally I am a naysayer and very skeptical of the long term health effects on human body from this new lab grown meat.

Spld cyclist

Latest article in the Stephan Guyenet series, "Is Meat Unhealthy?" This one looks at the association of body weight with various diets.

Whole Health Source: Is Meat Unhealthy? Part IV

InGrained

Hi I have been a vegan for over six months. I eat a mostly whole foods plant based diet. Healthier than many vegans. After all oreos and cocacola are vegan so just being vegan doesn't mean healthy. I eat vegan for my ethics. I eat whole foods plant based for health. My father is overweight and had 2 heart attacks recently because of his horrible diet. And I had high blood pressure at 21 and suffered from beginning stages of kidney failure. I just don't want that so I try to eat well. I eat mostly rice with different vegetables or legumes, oats with some sort of fruit, pastas, potatoes etc. I use cronometer.com to see the nutrition I get. Protein is never a concern. Iron is always super high. I eat mostly carbohydrates. Another reason to eat cleaner is because eating garbage makes me more sluggish and perform poorly while cycling. My blood pressure is fine, kidneys are back to normal and I feel better. But the diet I had before was horrible. Eating mostly fried chicken, hot pockets, pizza rolls etc. So it's obvious I would feel better after not eating pure junk .

GeorgeBMac

Good for you!
Since I did the same switch (from a high dairy vegetarian diet to a whole food, plant based diet) about a year ago, my cardiologist took me off of the hand full of cardiac meds that I was eating each night... And, I have gone from overweight down well into the 'normal weight' category... I just had all the blood work done in November and it was great! Cholesterol, Sugar, Electrolytes, etc...
.
So, I look better, feel better, and all the tests show that I am better...

The only disadvantage to the (no added fat, no added sugar), whole food, plant based diet is eating away from home -- because 'everybody' dumps in oil and sugar into every meal... Yesterday I had 45 minutes before a 2 hour appointment and I was hungry after a 75 minute ride so I stopped at Pinera's thinking it was the healthiest option available -- the muffin was like eating a bowl of sugar. Yes, it is both tasty and deadly at the same time...
.
Increasingly I am thinking of restaurants the same way I think of drug pushers: They sell a highly satisfying & addictive substance that makes you feel good for a short period of time -- but it will kill you in the end...

mgwilder

So true. It takes a lot of planning and packing my own food for any trip.

And bravo to the both of you.

GeorgeBMac

Yes, but the good news is that it saves a whole lot of money -- along with the belly fat...

But it is definitely more work and less fun: That clump of fat and sugar that Panera's called a 'muffin' was both very easy and very tasty...

InGrained

Love seeing another whole foods plant based vegan here! I'm not terrified of a little extra sugar, but I'm very very wary of added oils. How much and what kinds. I try to keep oils pretty low. I do prefer sugars and fats to come from a whole plant food. But like to keep the fat low. And the great thing is I can eat so much food eating this way. I don't worry about eating too much and I stay extremely lean. Eating out though can be annoying.... I prefer Mexican restaurants since oil is less added when getting rice, beans, peppers, salsa, compared to Asian places.

Spld cyclist

Latest in the "Is Meat Unhealthy?" series by Stephan Guyenet. This one looks at diabetes.

Whole Health Source: Is Meat Unhealthy? Part V

Mark Stone

Good article. Thanks for posting it.