http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/20100105/dolp…

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/20100105/dolp…

From the Mayo Clinic….

The vegetarian menu emphasizes the food that U.S. dietary guidelines say all Americans should eat regularly — fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans and other legumes.

Vegetarian diets often are lower in calories than the typical American diet. So it's no surprise that on average, vegetarians are thinner than their nonvegetarian peers. And eating a mainly plant-based diet can reduce the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer.

The increasing variety of meat-free options makes the transition to vegetarian easier than ever before. With a little planning, a vegetarian diet can meet all nutritional needs. Important nutrients to include are:

Protein: Eggs, dairy products, soy products, legumes, lentils, nuts, seeds and whole grains fill this important role. Meatless products such as tofu dogs, soy burgers and texturized vegetable protein can be excellent sources of protein. Many meat substitutes, such as tofu and tempeh, are made from soybeans. Soy offers a balance of all essential amino acids, just as meat does. These meat substitutes often are lower in calories and saturated fat than meat.

Calcium: Low-fat dairy and dark green vegetables such as collard greens, kale and broccoli are good sources of calcium. Tofu enriched with calcium and fortified yogurt and juices also are options.

Vitamin B-12: This is found almost exclusively in animal products including milk, eggs and cheese. Vegans — those who eat only plant-based foods — can get B-12 from enriched cereals, fortified soy products or by taking a supplement.

Iron: Dried beans and peas, lentils, enriched cereals, whole-grain products, baked potatoes with skin, dark leafy vegetables and dried fruit are good sources of iron. Eating foods high in vitamin C (strawberries, citrus fruits) along with iron-rich foods can help increase iron absorption.

Zinc: Zinc is found in whole grains, soy products, legumes, nuts, wheat germ, mushrooms and peas. It's also found in dairy foods and eggs.

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Mayo Clinic

Then they kill domestic animals by the billion and eat them. This in turn kills people by the million, because eating all those animals leads to degenerative – and fatal – - health conditions like heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, and cancer.

So then humans spend billions of dollars torturing and killing millions of more animals to look for cures for these diseases.

Elsewhere, millions of other human beings are being killed by hunger and malnutrition because food they could eat is being used to fatten domestic animals.

Meanwhile, few people recognize the absurdity of humans, who kill so easily and violently, and once a year send out cards praying for “Peace on Earth.”

~Revised Preface to Old MacDonald’s Factory Farm by C. David Coates~

Check out this informative and inspiring video on why people choose vegan: http://veganvideo.org/

Also see Gary Yourofsky: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bagt5L9wXGo

Could be, but it just tastes so GOOD!

…maybe just a little less meat because I have to pu at “nix that” on the “no meat”. I do like schnitzel, and, veal is required, so that little calf will just have to be killed, cut up, and, cooked.

yum

Just food for thought.

This post was mentioned on Twitter by TMV: Interview With A Vegan, Part Two: ?

Hello, Dr. E. here. What follows below is Part Two of an earlier Guest Voice i… http://bit.ly/4qyn2Y...

dr.e

As always, you instruct and inspire me. I confess that I am one who has at times allowed the messenger to get in the way of the message. It would be tempting to delete the first sentence of my prior comment, but perhaps its shallowness may prove useful in your point being brought home, and I wilI therefore allow it to stand. Fortunately, there are many messengers, and you are one. On your recommendation I will, though of the wrong gender, read Intimate Nature.

Following up on something Merkin said earlier today, this may be one of those issues where we divert from the fundamental discussion and get side tracked on the tangential, in this case how the message is delivered.

It has been a day of learning and thinking. Thank you for your contribution.

PS – I promise to tell no one that you confessed to stealing the horse.

tidbits

Humans are simply eating other species as other species eat us. Only we are the masters now, where as 25,000 years ago, we were the prey. Unless we discover an intelligent and cultured alien life form resembling herbivore goats, there is no moral implication in eating goats.

After the first post on this topic i began seeking more information and am now reading the book, INTIMATE NATURE: the Bond Between Women and Animals. by Linda Hogan, Deena Metzger and Brenda Peterson. I wished this book was required reading for every person and would highly recommend it for any TMV reader truly interested in this subject. It is an anthology of women like Dr. E. that write with intelligence and compassion with a premise that 'animals are honored co-sharers of the earth. This anthology features orginal stories from First People, essays, meditations and poems by a vast array of women nature writers and field scientists.

This quote comes from the introduction;

” In recent years, according to Earth-time, humans have lost their more intimate relationships with animals as peers, teachers, and kindred allies. For centuries now, male priests, doctors, and scientists have declared animals a territory to be approached with objectivity and detachment. And in the last centuries we have become increasingly separated from animals and the natural world. We have been taught to see them as creatures with no soul, no capacity for pain, emotion, intelligence, or worth. In Claude Bernard’s Physiology, he states that ” A man of science no longer hears the cry of animals, the blood that flows. . .he sees only his ideas.”

I have to stop here for this is a topic of passion for me, it would be so easy to type the entire book out for all to read. I had a horse for a Mom and know a depth of goodness that can be known from other species. For many PETA is a turn off i hope readers do not discount the importance of the subject because of how some of the messengers deliver . And thanks ES, Dr. E and Ms Wosko for clear humane voices that speak for other species.

This that she said hit home with me, “It is not about the oppressor's feelings. It's about the [oppressed's] rights.” Didn't those on trial at Nuremburg complain about about being falsely reviled (they were only following orders was the justification) for their participation in the death camps? Whether that sentiment can be carried beyond oppressed humans to animals is the question.