Vegetarians

[Blarg]

There are billions of people who have cultural traditions of vegetarianism going back to antiquity. It can be done successfully. The thing is, Americans tend to do things half-arsed and by whim and preference, not in balance. I've known a number of vegetarians who will decide just to have a half a head of cauliflower for dinner, or a squash. When you make zero attempts at having a balanced meal, of course you will not have a balanced meal, and your chance to lose weight certainly goes way up too. But it doesn't have to be done badly.

[oddjob]

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Guess it all depends on the luck of the draw. The vegetarians I've known have almost all been extremely quiet about it and just minded their own business.

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In all honesty, this type of vegetarian does not bother me at all, however I am extremely bothered by people who try to force their race/religion/political views/sexuality/eating-drinking-drug habits on me.

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more then half of my friends are vegetarians. i probably know 30+ vegetarians, in my town alone. i find quite the opposite to be true. not one of them have ever chastised me for eating meat. it's usually the meat eaters that try to push their meat eating on the vegetarians.

imagine it if from their shoes, when every jerkoff they meet, has to ask them why they don't eat meat, not even fish??? not even chicken?? what, you can't have chicken broth???

got that's annoying to me and i eat meat (used to be vegetarian about 10 years ago, but other reasons then usual)

[Fishwhenican]

I love vegetarians!
I eat them all the time. :-)

Personally I just don't really understand the whole vegetarian thing. I mean we are Omnivores and really should have a diet that has meat in it. But at the same time I really have no problem if someone wants to cut meat out of their diet. That is there choice and they are welcome to it as long as they do not get on a soapbox and start trying to convince me about how we really should not be eating meat.

I wonder, are all PETA members Vegetarians?

[Mrs. Utah]

Quinoa is(or should be) an essential element in a vegan diet.
I have liked it the few times that I have had it, but have not prepared it myself. I found this web site while looking for recipes as I would like to try an use it more.

http://www.quinoa-recipes.com/Quinoa...Is_Quinoa.html

Just food for thought. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[Blarg]

I had it only once or twice, in cold salads with a light vinegar dressing, and it was really great. I'm not a guy who usually thinks all that much of the taste of grains, but I could hardly stay away from the stuff. I'd definitely like to experiment with it.

[jackflashdrive]

Since people asked for a justification for vegetarianism:

I'm a vegetarian and I don't eat dairy products. I have no problem with killing animals and eating them. I do have a problem with the tremendous life-long suffering inflicted on animals in the modern industrial meat industry, which is such that any savings in cost (no matter how slight) justifies any increase in suffering to the animal (no matter how great).

Also I should note that I've known a lot of vegetarians and have not known anyone that still coveted meat after being vegetarian for any length of time (maybe people who enjoy meat too much drop out of the club), nor have I known anyone openly hostile to meat eaters (that would put a person at odds with a huge swath of society).

[Blarg]

I was a vegetarian for about 10 months once, but have gone vegetarian virtually by accident on long periods, too. I lived in a new apartment for about three years before I knew where the meat department was in the grocery store I went to. Didn't plan it that way; it just happened. After a while you do pretty much lose the interest in meat.

I think a big temptation to going back to eating meat is simply being a bad cook, or having to eat the food of someone else who is a bad cook. That's why I'd give someone who was, say, exposed to plenty of food from traditionally vegetarian cultures like some Indian ones a really good chance of sticking to vegetarianism for a long time, but would give someone in America, which has no vegetarian culinary tradition, much lower chances. If you're one of those common doofuses who just eats a head of broccoli for dinner and calls that being a vegetarian, of course you're not gonna last. And for as long as you do, you might get skinny, but your health will probably be poor and you may look and will probably often feel like crap.

The one thing I really missed a lot when vegetarian was cheese. I love it in so many things -- omelettes, pizza, mac'n'cheese, sandwiches, salads, on top of soup or chili, in dips, in salad dressings ... well, you know, cheese is great everywhere. I love the texture of meat, but can get by without the flavor. Never tasting cheese for the rest of my life would just be kind of sad, and I feel the deprivation when I don't have any for too long. With one exception, the vegetarian "cheeses" I've had were somewhere between surprisingly bad and almost foul.

[KurtSF]

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How can you cook anything decent without butter or cheese or eggs? I just don't get it at all.

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Me neither. I go vegan like most people go vegetarian: I get on my high horse and go [vegan/vegetarian], but after a couple weeks/months, damn!, I just gotta have some [cheese/bacon].

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If any of you loungers are vegetarian can you explain if the main issue is animal rights or human health? I've never been clear on this.

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My reasons are myriad, but let's put it this way: I'm a pack a day smoker.

[KurtSF]

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We need a nutritionist here, but my understanding is that non-animal sources, taken invididually, don't have a full complement of amino acids needed for full protein intake. Just eating beans, for example, will make you deficient in some amino acids. Red beans and rice, for example, complement each other in this respect - but even then, the levels of amino acids are not perfect proportions.

The egg, I believe, contains the perfect balance and full complement of amino acids.



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I do watch my protein intake since its not "automatic" as it would be if I ate meat.

Yes, beans and rice are a "complete protein" combination. As is beans and corn. I don't think egg is "complete" on its own, but should be combined with potatoes. I don't know so much about nuts because I'm allergic to them. Its also fortunate that I like tofu.

[diebitter]

I double-checked. Chicken eggs are indeed a very good source of the complete protein compliment for humans.