Here is the interesting thing, while there is a perception out there that vegetarians and especially vegans can’t be healthy because they are cutting out almost everything out of their diet, we don’t realize, that the prevalent animal based food sold in grocery stores, whether it is in cans, frozen packages or served in fast food restaurants contains stuff that most people aren’t aware of and that really shouldn’t be allowed to be sold as food. Should antibiotics, for instance, be eaten with every servings of red meat? Not if you want to be able to take antibiotics and have them work when you need them. How about a little arsenic in your chicken nuggets? How does this favorite murder weapon of the Middle Ages and Renaissance finds its way in chicken feed to kill parasites and make chickens grow faster? What about a little mercury in your broiled fish? That can’t be too bad for you, right? Well, if pregnant women are told to abstain from eating more than 2 servings of fish during their pregnancy because of it, it is probably not a good thing to ingest, period. Oceans are polluted and over harvested and we are now paying the price for it. You like milk? You might want to think twice about ingesting growth hormones and anti-depressants which, in turn, are guaranteed to mess up your hormones, whether you are a man or a woman. Do you ever wonder why we have such an epidemic of breast and prostate cancers, infertility and of depression among our population? Everything is connected.
So, the good news is that by eliminating all of these animal products from our diet, We are protecting ourselves and loved ones from all of these harmful chemicals that somehow have found their ways into our kitchens. This is especially vital for children since their bodies are metabolizing everything that they are ingesting. As we get older and are no longer growing, a lot of these chemicals end up stored in our fat cells. Any substance that the body doesn’t know what to do with can result in tumors and cancers, in an attempt to isolate the foreign element it doesn’t know what to do with it.
So, why not avoiding them in the first place? Can you image the savings in health costs alone? If you are still not convinced, there is a great documentary on this topic called Forks over knives. Hear what doctors and surgeons have to say about this. You can also watch the trailer at the end of this article.
So on the one hand, you have meat eaters thinking that vegans are missing out on everything and on the other, you have vegans that have researched what really is in your food supply (because now we have to read all the labels and find out where it comes from!) So now you can chose to eat just what is good for you and leave the rest out. It is a very empowering thing to take control of what you eat because EVERYTHING that you ingest directly impacts your physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. Instead of turning to drugs to alleviate symptoms, how about eating healthy food to build a sound body and mind? This is why I always incorporate the healing virtues of plant food in my cooking classes. The Creator even color coded fruit and vegetables to make it easier for us to know what to eat.
We are truly blessed to live in such an abundant and marvelous world that awaits our discovering.
Don’t you agree?
Check out this great collection of short videos on the subject:
