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Re: Maria: Re: any vegetarians out there?From: jodi (anonymous@obgyn.net)Mon, 26 Feb 2001 12:54:27 -0600 (CST)
i have been vegetarian for years. ham/pork was always out cuz i hated it. i was never crazy about steak, but i would eat it if forced to. hamburgers and meatloaf, i liked but never yearnd for. chicken and turkey was the same. i went totally veggie partly cuz the meat i liked "best" was chicken... and i love chickens. i couldn't justify EATING them. it's also easier to just call yourself a veggie and avoid the whole issue of avoid meat... it sounds strange, but its true. it's easier to say your a vegetarian than to say you just don't like meat - people take less offenses, it's easier to find menu items that way... this came about when i was visiting a friend for spring break. his family is taiwanese and his mother cooked a LOT... but while most of the food was really good, a lot of it had meat in it and i just couldn't handle eating meat. it seemed less rude and more respectable to say i was vegetarian. i've since come to embrace and identify with the vegetarian lifestyle. i never went vegan - though i tried it for a day - because i really have no internal motivation to do so. i have worked on farms. i have visited farms. i know that a large percentage of the stuff PETA wants you to believe about animals being treated cruely for milk and egg production is bullshit. it's like nazi propaganda in a way... it is written by people who WANT to change your mind. if you are concerned about cruelty, you can buy free range eggs and milk. i do drink soy milk because i like it, but i don't drink it exclusively - it is too expensive. (i find it ironic that you are concerned about giving up veganism because of your budget... in my experience, being vegan is a hell of a lot more expensive than vegetarian or meat eater.) i eat eggs, but not very often - i really don't like them. so i consider(ed) myself a semi lacto-ovo vegetarian. HOWEVER, i am rethinking that more and more now that i have my PCOS diagnosis. given the responses my body seems to have to carbohydrates, and the reactions it causes in me... i do NOT think eating a vegetarian diet is healthier for everyone. maybe it is for some people, but after years of avoiding meat products, i am a great deal more unhealthy than many meat eaters i know. as for the cruelty aspect, i think it is pretty cruel to abuse MYSELF and worsen my PCOS symptoms by eating the way i have been eating. i have always been opposed to low-carb diets since, being in the same boat as you, i felt "what the heck will i EAT?" but the more i look into it, the more i think giving up vegetarianism might be HEALTHIER for me. it's a tough thing to grapple with. i am basing my dietary practices on the Sugar Busters book (which uses the glycemic index to limit foods, and is getting a lot of press on this board currently) and while it looks POSSIBLE to follow such a diet as a vegetarian... i think adding meat will not only make the diet work better, it will give me a heck of a lot more variety. unfortunately, my attempts to reincorparte meat into my diet have been unsuccessful. i went out and bought a bag of frozen chicken breasts and made a chicken salad for myself. a wonderful, low-carb meal, right? but i started wretching as i was eating the chicken... and had to spit it out. now i have 3 pounds minus 1 breast of chicken breasts that i don't know what i am going to do with... and i've been eating lots of tofu & veggie soup. according to one source, though, tofu is a "sort of bad" food to be avoided on a low carb plan. i don't understand this, as it is almost all protein and fat with one gram of carb which is fiber. it's glycemic index is in the 50's, i think. cow's milk and eggs are both OK on a low- glycemic index... making them OK on sugar busters. soy milk, which is lower in carbs, is still a very processed form of the soybean. the soybean has an excellent GI rating... but i am suspiscious of soy milk now!!! there is also, as mentioned, the issue of expense. so... well, i am picking and choosing from various books and trying to create an eating plan that is low-GI and MAINLY vegetarian. my boyfriend said maybe i should have made my debut back into meat eating with seafood, since i have no especial affinity for crabs and lobsters, as i do for chickens. perhaps he's right... so i am going to try to add some seafood. but we'll se how THAT goes... i never thought before i would say a vegetarian diet is wrong. however, my PCOS has made me think it could possibly be wrong for ME... and anyone else with PCOS. think about that, if you are concerned about cruelty... is damaging your health really living a cruelty free life? as i said, though, i am trying to find a way to treat my PCOS and still remain mainly vegetarian. since i do eat eggs and milk, my options are not as limited as yours. however, i am much more open minded now to the possibility of meat and animal products improving my health... and i think perhaps you should examine this perspective as well. there ARE people who have followed a vegan diet and overcome their PCOS problems... one such women wrote a book... but i think it is too much hassel and to much expense to do realistically on a student budget. i am in school myself, so i understand the money problems involved with eating well. sorry i haven't answered your question exactly... but just know you are not the only one suffering with this particular connuundrum. - jodi
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