I'd be vegan if I wasn't gluten, lactose and fructose intolerant. Gluten and fructose make their way into so many processed foods. Best I can do is omit red meat and dairy, that's it. Once upon a time I was more judgemental about what others ate, now all these food intolerances feel as if the universe is giving me a lesson in live and let live. We all do our best. For some folks giving up all animal food products would leave them with a very empty plate, and I'm one of them.
The professor was a little smug when she gave her answer, but there was so much warmth and love in her eyes we were drawn in all the same. "We share so much DNA with our relatives in the animal kingdom, with both the lion and the gazelle. Yet it is the gazelle that must recover strength the fastest after exercise, for her life depends upon it. She must always be ready to run again when the predators come. So it should be obvious that we humans build better muscles and recover faster from exercise when we are vegan. The meat eater is built to feast and be lazy not to keep on chasing, nor run. So enjoy the vegan buffet and embrace your inner gazelle."
"The thing about Jenny," said Max, "is that she never eats fibre at all, not really. So going vegan is a lot tougher for her body than it is for someone who regularly ate lots o fruit and veggies. She can still do it if she wants to, but she needs a careful evolution of her nutrition rather than any sudden change."
What if the heaven of another species included their love of eating humans, especially the tender flesh of the babies cooked in cheese made from the breast milk of the mothers? Surely a heaven for human-kind, a heaven-on-earth, must be wonderful for all creation. It's time to think more broadly of what paradise could be other than through our own limited human vision.
Forty six percent, almost half, of all sea plastics is old fishing gear. This gear is designed to kill marine life. We need to talk about this. There is no safe way to fish and protect dolphins, whales and sharks either. The labels are lies. It's all nuts, but we gotta save them, both because it is the right thing to do and it is the only way to save ourselves. Bottom line, plastic bags are bad, fishing net waste is worse. Vegan, anyone? I haven't been, but I've been heading that way and I think it's time to make that leap.
On celiac diagnosis I was down to eating eggs, dark chocolate and bananas while my gut recovered. Free from oats with water and berries were good, though I later removed the oats too. What I had done was try to become vegan. I'd replaced many naturally gluten free foods with gluten containing foods and it had tipped my body over the edge into a spiral that was taking out my intestines and attacking my central nervous system. As I recovered I could start adding in more foods that were naturally gluten free. I found that with some foods there were brands you could trust to be gluten free and others you could not. Learning this takes a bit of time but once you know things get easier again and normalise, you figure out which brands of chocolate or crisps (chips) are okay. Also, much of the "free from" foods are not free from gluten at all, they may be lower gluten, but I found few to be actually safe for a celiac. Meat and fish are okay if they aren't flavour enhanced or treated with a gluten containing preservative or marinade; again, you get to know what providers you can trust and which you can't. With a bit of research the "food roulette" becomes a steady and healthy diet... a new normal.