What are the advantages and disadvantages of being a vegan compared to a vegetarian?!
I've been a vegetarian for a long time, and sometimes think about eliminating dairy and eggs as well, but fear I will get pretein deprived and might miss on some other nutrients found in dairy too!.
What are the benefits and setbacks so I can make an informed decision!?Www@FoodAQ@Com
What are the benefits and setbacks so I can make an informed decision!?Www@FoodAQ@Com
Answers:
My personal pro & con list (it's different for everybody):
CONS:
NON-ACCEPTANCE/IGNORANCE
* people don't understand your choices and try to pick a fight with you
* uninformed people will tell you it's not healthier, that you need meat, where do you get your proteins blah blah blah (like I haven't heard that before!)
* people try to tell you vegetables have feelings too (wtf!?) and make personal attacks on you
* at gatherings of non-veg*ns or when going to their home, they may not take your eating habits seriously
* eating out or at someone else's and you can't always know what goes in the food
If your empathetic to animal's pain, it can make you really sad to know all the suffering they go through, how they're only "born to die" and don't get to live full lives, where if you're a meat eater you can ignore that and just be heartless- that's the #1 con for me- knowing that they suffer and not being able to change it- though being veg*n helps some
* You have to have willpower to say “I can't eat this” and not give into the temptation of eating something non-vegan
PROS:
* I eat lots of yummy food and I never feel deprived
*I don't miss any sweets, I eat Soy Dream, Tofutti ice cream sandwiches and ice cream, sorbet, dark or dairy free chocolate, Pure Decadence (all from the grocery)
* there are meat analogues such as beef or chicken made from wheat gluten or soy that taste really good, as well as soy cheese and soy sour cream, and soy yogurt and soy milk
* Knowing you are not contributing to the suffering of othersWww@FoodAQ@Com
CONS:
NON-ACCEPTANCE/IGNORANCE
* people don't understand your choices and try to pick a fight with you
* uninformed people will tell you it's not healthier, that you need meat, where do you get your proteins blah blah blah (like I haven't heard that before!)
* people try to tell you vegetables have feelings too (wtf!?) and make personal attacks on you
* at gatherings of non-veg*ns or when going to their home, they may not take your eating habits seriously
* eating out or at someone else's and you can't always know what goes in the food
If your empathetic to animal's pain, it can make you really sad to know all the suffering they go through, how they're only "born to die" and don't get to live full lives, where if you're a meat eater you can ignore that and just be heartless- that's the #1 con for me- knowing that they suffer and not being able to change it- though being veg*n helps some
* You have to have willpower to say “I can't eat this” and not give into the temptation of eating something non-vegan
PROS:
* I eat lots of yummy food and I never feel deprived
*I don't miss any sweets, I eat Soy Dream, Tofutti ice cream sandwiches and ice cream, sorbet, dark or dairy free chocolate, Pure Decadence (all from the grocery)
* there are meat analogues such as beef or chicken made from wheat gluten or soy that taste really good, as well as soy cheese and soy sour cream, and soy yogurt and soy milk
* Knowing you are not contributing to the suffering of othersWww@FoodAQ@Com
disadvantages:
less food options, hard to eat out
advantages:
no cholesterol (that's right, bad cholesterol is found ONLY in animal products), lower in fat, the warm fuzzy feeling that comes along with not torturing animals
don't worry about protein!.!.!.!.eat whole grains, dark greens, beans, and nuts and you'll get PLENTY of protein!. you can even add tofu or soy milk if you're into that!.
i drink a fortified soymilk that has calcium, omega 3's, and b12 added into it!.!.!.!.that way i don't have to worry about getting enough of those!.
as far as the "lower IQ" suggested by another poster, I have never seen that statistic!. Veg4Life, please quote your source on that statistic so that the rest of us can view it!.
EDIT- I'm certainly not bent out of shape, I just like to see evidence for statistics like that!. as a doctor you should know that ANY person could be deficient in essential nutrients!.!.!.!.THAT is common sense!. most veg*ns spend a lot of time planning meals and such to ensure that those deficiencies don't happen!. also, my husband is in his final year of medical school and just told me that he's never heard such a thing in his life (he's a meat eater, btw)!.
if you can produce evidence for that statistic i'd be glad to read it!.!.!.!.!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
less food options, hard to eat out
advantages:
no cholesterol (that's right, bad cholesterol is found ONLY in animal products), lower in fat, the warm fuzzy feeling that comes along with not torturing animals
don't worry about protein!.!.!.!.eat whole grains, dark greens, beans, and nuts and you'll get PLENTY of protein!. you can even add tofu or soy milk if you're into that!.
i drink a fortified soymilk that has calcium, omega 3's, and b12 added into it!.!.!.!.that way i don't have to worry about getting enough of those!.
as far as the "lower IQ" suggested by another poster, I have never seen that statistic!. Veg4Life, please quote your source on that statistic so that the rest of us can view it!.
EDIT- I'm certainly not bent out of shape, I just like to see evidence for statistics like that!. as a doctor you should know that ANY person could be deficient in essential nutrients!.!.!.!.THAT is common sense!. most veg*ns spend a lot of time planning meals and such to ensure that those deficiencies don't happen!. also, my husband is in his final year of medical school and just told me that he's never heard such a thing in his life (he's a meat eater, btw)!.
if you can produce evidence for that statistic i'd be glad to read it!.!.!.!.!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
ADVANTAGES:
Dairy and Egg production are extremely intensive, cruel operations!. When you stop eating or reduce your intake of these foods, you know that you are not contributing to animal confinement, suffering, or slaughter!.
Dairy and Eggs have a lot of saturated fat and cholesterol and should be kept to a minimum!. The good thing is that vegan diets are much lower in saturated fat and are completely cholesterol-free!.
As with any intensive farming business, rearing animals for food or clothing is extremely wasteful in terms of resources!. Grains, legumes, and clean water are all used to produce animals!. Instead of eating the animal products like dairy and eggs, we could be eating the foods they eat directly and keep the water for our families and friends!.
DISADVANTAGES:
Vegans are completely misunderstood by most of society!. People are going to think you are hippy, extreme, terrorist, possibly gay, care more about animals than humans, etc!.
It's tough to find substantial menu items!. Many times I end up with a green salad, no cheese, no croutons, with oil and vinegar dressing!. Of course, this doesn't have to be a total disadvantage!.!.!.many Asian, Indian, African, and Middle Eastern cuisines contain items that are vegan or can be easily made vegan!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
Dairy and Egg production are extremely intensive, cruel operations!. When you stop eating or reduce your intake of these foods, you know that you are not contributing to animal confinement, suffering, or slaughter!.
Dairy and Eggs have a lot of saturated fat and cholesterol and should be kept to a minimum!. The good thing is that vegan diets are much lower in saturated fat and are completely cholesterol-free!.
As with any intensive farming business, rearing animals for food or clothing is extremely wasteful in terms of resources!. Grains, legumes, and clean water are all used to produce animals!. Instead of eating the animal products like dairy and eggs, we could be eating the foods they eat directly and keep the water for our families and friends!.
DISADVANTAGES:
Vegans are completely misunderstood by most of society!. People are going to think you are hippy, extreme, terrorist, possibly gay, care more about animals than humans, etc!.
It's tough to find substantial menu items!. Many times I end up with a green salad, no cheese, no croutons, with oil and vinegar dressing!. Of course, this doesn't have to be a total disadvantage!.!.!.many Asian, Indian, African, and Middle Eastern cuisines contain items that are vegan or can be easily made vegan!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
a new statistic has shown, that on average, vegans have an IQ 10 points lower than that of vegetarians!. Which is somewhat disturbing considering the average veg IQ is 105, so that's almost a 10% drop off!.
I suspect it has to do with some vegans not being able to get the amount of protein and b12 their bodies need!.
But if done correctly i don't see any reason why a vegan should not be as smart as anyone else, just have to make sure you are getting all the nutrition you need!.
edit - i'm a doctor, i picked it up in a seminar we had in July, i don't remember the speakers name, but even before that if you would have asked me to choose between vegans and any other dietary group, i would have chosen vegans as having a lower IQ, it's just common sense!.
i was not saying that vegans are inherently stupid!. If you actually read what i said, quite the opposite!. What i said is that it is HARDER for vegans to get some of the necessary things that come more easily in a vegetarian or omnivorous lifestyle so the vegans that do not correctly plan out their meals end up dragging down the IQ of the rest of the group!. No need to get bent out of shape!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
I suspect it has to do with some vegans not being able to get the amount of protein and b12 their bodies need!.
But if done correctly i don't see any reason why a vegan should not be as smart as anyone else, just have to make sure you are getting all the nutrition you need!.
edit - i'm a doctor, i picked it up in a seminar we had in July, i don't remember the speakers name, but even before that if you would have asked me to choose between vegans and any other dietary group, i would have chosen vegans as having a lower IQ, it's just common sense!.
i was not saying that vegans are inherently stupid!. If you actually read what i said, quite the opposite!. What i said is that it is HARDER for vegans to get some of the necessary things that come more easily in a vegetarian or omnivorous lifestyle so the vegans that do not correctly plan out their meals end up dragging down the IQ of the rest of the group!. No need to get bent out of shape!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
well, when your a vegan, you a very restircted in what you eat and wear and touch!.!.!. also, a vegans have a higher rate of malnutrition!.!.!. they need meat! they have to take alot of pills to make up for the lack of meat!. a vegitarian can at least eat eggsWww@FoodAQ@Com