Where I live (SF Bay Area), I’ve known a lot of young women who purport to be full or part-time vegetarians or vegans. And most of them are perennially sick with colds and other various maladies. I, on the other hand, subsist mainly on steaks and burgers and haven’t have a cold in nearly 3 years. There’s just a tremendous amount of energy and nutrition in meat, and it’s nearly impossible to replicate that in a plant-based diet.
Since retiring from the military in 1999 and with their mandatory must-take-the-flu-shot campaign....I quit flu shots immediately upon retirement. So in 20 years, I’ve had two mild cases of the flu (the 24-hour bug). The previous ten years (with the shot)....two serious bouts with the flu, and a yearly 24-hour bug episode.
I’m like you....I do the beef, pork, chicken and turkey thing. I believe a good portion of my yearly good health leads back to that trend as well. I might go and agree with these people that some meats (hot dogs in particular) probably aren’t that good in your diet. But to suggest a vegan diet is something we should desire? No, that’s a bold lie.
Agree. A lot is known about the nutrition that meat provides and how difficult it is to replicate it if one tries to live on a ‘sustainable’ diet. But as bad as that is, do we really know everything? I doubt it, so yea, you’re rolling the dice on your health if you go veggie. My best friend recently lost his 55 year old brother to leukemia. When he was diagnosed, the first thing his doctor told him to do was to start eating meat again - he had been a veggie for 30 years. Was that the cause? Who knows, but I’d say it’s probably the most likely culprit - and even his doctor pretty much said the same.
Agreed. Though to be safe it’s good to get the old colonoscopy every now and then.
They say eating a lot of meat leads to more polyps and I have had some scary ones.
OF COURSE that doesn’t prove anything and it’s not a controlled study :)
Just never hurts to follow up with things.
I don’t get sick often either and I LOVE my red meat.
And red heads :)
Vegan diets also do not supply enough nutrition during pregnancy. An ovo-lacto vegetarian diet (one with eggs and dairy products, usually as well as fish) is an improvement, but vegetables alone are not enough for the developing fetus. I vaguely recall reading a study a couple of years ago about a connection between vegan mothers and low birthweight babies, who were also later found to have neurological problems.
Human beings are omnivores and we have those ripping teeth for a reason.
And chicken is not a satisfactory solution as the sole source of animal protein because it is low in fat, among other things.
The “fight against red meat” is purely political.
First, my condolences to you for living in the SF Bay Area. Second, I concur with your observations and add that the most sickly looking people I know are vegans and/or marathon runners.
“There’s just a tremendous amount of energy and nutrition in meat”
I remember about forty years ago lots of teens started following some Indian guru around, and living in his “commune”. Kids who finally left were diagnosed with anemia due to his strict vegetarian diet.
I believe these were the ones selling books and haunting the airports begging for money at that time.