Wednesday, July 22, 2009

I went vegan last week

I've been a vegetarian for six years. Last week, after a visit with my doctor and a young medical resident, I decided to go vegan. He is a vegetarian, she is a vegan, and the conversation just helped me realize that it's really not that hard. You just have to become more of an educated eater.

The thing is, we have been trying to overcome a particular health issue. My doctor suggested some guided imagery and talk to this little problem to see what it's trying to tell me. Is there something I yet need to do -- diet, sleep, exercise, supplements, medicines, whatever -- that we haven't tried?

So I've been doing that and I've really been drawn back into all the books I read when I first eliminated meat from my diet.

There was one book, The China Study (see the Amazon link at the right), that someone told me about but I had never picked up. It happened to be on the Whole Foods bookshelf where I stopped right after my doctor visit, so I bought it. It was so fascinating, I stayed up late reading it, read it early the next morning, and have read it almost every day since.

I immediately realized that one thing I could do for my health that could impact this health problem is eliminate dairy.

Now, I LOVE milk and real butter. I am a Mormon. What else do we eat for fun but milk and cookies? Hot fudge sundaes? Milk and Mormon brownies? Milk on our morning cereal? I even have milk with my co-workers at Happy Hour. I am a marathon runner. I have whey protein shakes mixed up with milk, that way I make sure to get my protein.

So I thought.

Well, in a nutshell, the link between dairy products and autoimmune disorders is quite plain. The leaching of calcium from your bones to process the animal protein is documented. The sensitivity of many humans to milk is well-known.

So I just plain quit.

It hasn't been easy. You don't realize how much cheese is on everything! We eat at Subway and Atlanta Bread and Panera and Spicy Pickle. Oh, you'll have to hold the cheese. Monday, someone at the office treated us to six pizzas. They got a "vegetarian" one just for me -- a purely cheese pizza. I had to decline and run to the store around the corner for a broccoli salad, four-bean salad, and waldorf salad. (Haven't quite been able to cut out the egg products, mayonnaise, but I'm getting there).

I met a friend and her son for the free day at the Botanical Garden and she packed a lunch for me since I was meeting them directly from my office. She was so kind as to pack a peanut butter sandwich, with slices of cheese and hardboiled eggs. I ate them because what is the point of eating mindfully of the animals if you are not mindful of being kind to the humans, as well?

I eat out a lot just because that's what we do at the office. Twice this last seven days, I've eaten at Sweet Tomatoes. Dang, I need to live closer to Porter Adventist Hospital, they have a terrific vegetarian cafeteria.

There's going to be a bit of stumbling out of the gate. I don't expect to be a purist, at least, not at first. And I simply can't expect my sweet friends and co-workers to know all of my dietary choices as a vegan. They've been really good at handling my being a vegetarian, it might send them right over the edge to try to accommodate my veganism!

The last time I went vegan, it lasted six months. That was out of animal sensitivity. This time, it's about my health. Honestly, that just might be the motivation that makes it stick.

1 comment:

  1. Think about adding kefir to your diet. The cultures 'eats' the lactose so it is not actually mlik anymore or you could grow it on sugar water. It is profoundly good for you & your bod. http://www.kefir.biz/why.htm
    And make sure your Vit D levels stay high.
    Good luck!

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