Yet another dietary article not in favour of veganism/vegetarianism got flagged. Well done Hacker News.
What is the role of meat in a healthy diet?
41–50 of 93 posts
Re: What is the role of meat in a healthy diet?
#42I stopped eating meat 6 years ago. I miss it, but decided to try going veg-only + eggs/dairy and see how it impacted my life. If I found myself unable to keep up with my exercise routines (bicycling and sporadic weight work), I'd have stopped. But it really didn't affect things, and I find myself unable to justify the cruelty of meat production. One note: I did notice that it's tougher to control carb intake while ea…
With eggs you are probably getting plenty of protein. I have been mostly vegan for a while and I don't think my bike riding has been affected, but I can tell you it definitely affected me when it came to weight lifting. For the first time in my life I just wasn't improving at all from session to session (and this is in the early stages when you just start lifting again after time off when gains come easy). I know the…
> With eggs you are probably getting plenty of protein.
Eggs are between 6-7g of protein each, which isn't a lot.
Depending on your goals, and where you fall between being sedentary and an athlete, you should be aiming for 1.6 g/kg/day and 2.2 g/kg/day [1].
Add to that the satiating affects of protein in a diet, particularly through ghrelin secretion [2], and you've got a stronger incentive to increase your protein intake.
Re: What is the role of meat in a healthy diet?
#43I stopped eating meat 6 years ago. I miss it, but decided to try going veg-only + eggs/dairy and see how it impacted my life. If I found myself unable to keep up with my exercise routines (bicycling and sporadic weight work), I'd have stopped. But it really didn't affect things, and I find myself unable to justify the cruelty of meat production. One note: I did notice that it's tougher to control carb intake while ea…
I'm in the same boat (but vegan). I supplement B12 and iron out of caution, but I am not sure they are even necessary. Just copy what the Indians do; they get by without meat and their diets and classic recipes seem to have evolved recipes that compensate for lack of meat.
If you are male be careful of too much iron, you probably get enough from green leafy vegetables...
Re: What is the role of meat in a healthy diet?
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
>there are some lovely snack bars in the UK called 'nakd' that are cold pressed fruit bars We have these in the US too, they are called Lara bars and RX Bars.
Also know as candy bars!
Better than the typical candy bar. More similar to a serving of dried fruit & nut trail mix.
Re: What is the role of meat in a healthy diet?
#45I stopped eating meat 6 years ago. I miss it, but decided to try going veg-only + eggs/dairy and see how it impacted my life. If I found myself unable to keep up with my exercise routines (bicycling and sporadic weight work), I'd have stopped. But it really didn't affect things, and I find myself unable to justify the cruelty of meat production. One note: I did notice that it's tougher to control carb intake while ea…
The problem with the ethical argument - that meat production is cruel and vegetable production is not - is that it makes all kinds of assumptions about plant anatomy and behavior that may be wrong. In fact, the growing field of plant behavior strongly suggests that those assumptions are wrong. That plants aren't unthinking, unfeeling at all, but every bit as alive and aware of their environment as animals. It's a rea…
I like to think I have an open mind, but this line of reasoning is a non-starter for me. Releasing chemicals upon damage is a far cry (no pun intended) from the anguish and pain a sentient creature is obviously capable of. Plants just do not have the necessary information processing facilities to allow them to suffer. But hell, supposing they did, what could we even do about it? Are we supposed to switch to some sort of enzyme slurry diet produced by nano-machines? I don't even...
Re: What is the role of meat in a healthy diet?
#46[deleted]
Re: What is the role of meat in a healthy diet?
#47I stopped eating meat 6 years ago. I miss it, but decided to try going veg-only + eggs/dairy and see how it impacted my life. If I found myself unable to keep up with my exercise routines (bicycling and sporadic weight work), I'd have stopped. But it really didn't affect things, and I find myself unable to justify the cruelty of meat production. One note: I did notice that it's tougher to control carb intake while ea…
With eggs you are probably getting plenty of protein. I have been mostly vegan for a while and I don't think my bike riding has been affected, but I can tell you it definitely affected me when it came to weight lifting. For the first time in my life I just wasn't improving at all from session to session (and this is in the early stages when you just start lifting again after time off when gains come easy). I know the…
I don't see how getting enough protein on a vegan diet would be a problem, especially when you mention plant-based protein powder. I think healthy calories may be an issue if you don't include nuts and seeds, but as long as you cover your energy needs from vegetable sources you get enough protein and enough of all essential amino acids. You didn't mention this, but protein combination is a myth, and only very few vegetable sources lack certain amino acids. So does some animal sources as well, but that is almost never reported.
You didn't mention this either, but if you want to avoid protein powder, it may be harder to find lean protein sources. I just looked up nuts (peanuts specifically), that have 27% protein but also 51% fat. Chicken breast also has 27% protein, but only 8.7% fat.
I'm not a body builder and haven't investigated how to go about it in detail as a vegan though the full cycle of bulking and shredding, but if you just want to gain strength getting enough calories and protein shouldn't be a problem. I've also read that most body-building magazines completely overestimate how much protein you need, citing numbers four times what sports science says.
You have first-hand experience in this situation and I'm clearly speculating, but perhaps you didn't get enough calories rather than enough protein? Of course it all depends on what you're eating. When some people say vegan food, they mean raw food or mainly vegetables, while others include a lot more legumes, nuts, and seeds.
Re: What is the role of meat in a healthy diet?
#48I stopped eating meat 6 years ago. I miss it, but decided to try going veg-only + eggs/dairy and see how it impacted my life. If I found myself unable to keep up with my exercise routines (bicycling and sporadic weight work), I'd have stopped. But it really didn't affect things, and I find myself unable to justify the cruelty of meat production. One note: I did notice that it's tougher to control carb intake while ea…
The problem with the ethical argument - that meat production is cruel and vegetable production is not - is that it makes all kinds of assumptions about plant anatomy and behavior that may be wrong. In fact, the growing field of plant behavior strongly suggests that those assumptions are wrong. That plants aren't unthinking, unfeeling at all, but every bit as alive and aware of their environment as animals. It's a rea…
I'm mostly for the health and environmental impact, but the ethical side I think has validity too.
Plants have but a resemblance of a nervous system if any, and they don't have a brain.
Does anyone really think that slitting the throat of a cow can be compared to harvesting corn?
I think the ethical argument has a good ground. If it's not necessary at all to have good health to engage in slitting animal throats, shooting male calves at birth for milk, grinding male chicks alive etc. then why keep doing it?
Especially with the impact on climate change of most crops that are mostly meant to feed livestock, the methane produced, the excrements produced, plus it's linked to all sorts of diseases.
So to me, the ethical aspect more than the lives of animals is also about the lives of humans. This abuse of the environment and this diet is causing disease and climate change which is impactful for humans as well.
Re: What is the role of meat in a healthy diet?
#49I stopped eating meat 6 years ago. I miss it, but decided to try going veg-only + eggs/dairy and see how it impacted my life. If I found myself unable to keep up with my exercise routines (bicycling and sporadic weight work), I'd have stopped. But it really didn't affect things, and I find myself unable to justify the cruelty of meat production. One note: I did notice that it's tougher to control carb intake while ea…
I'm in the same boat (but vegan). I supplement B12 and iron out of caution, but I am not sure they are even necessary. Just copy what the Indians do; they get by without meat and their diets and classic recipes seem to have evolved recipes that compensate for lack of meat.
The traditional Indian (largely vegetarian) diets rely heavily on seasonal vegetables, grains (wheat, rice, millets), and legumes. Indian cuisines are such a varied lot that you're likely to find one you enjoy.
In respect to your concern for B12, an Indian Medical Council study from a few years ago found very few cases of clinical B12 deficiency in the country. This, despite the average Indian diet being deficient for B12 by European & American standards. It was one of the reasons for reducing the suggested daily intake for Indians to 1 mg, as recommended by the WHO, substantially lower than in Europe or the US.
Re: What is the role of meat in a healthy diet?
#50I stopped eating meat 6 years ago. I miss it, but decided to try going veg-only + eggs/dairy and see how it impacted my life. If I found myself unable to keep up with my exercise routines (bicycling and sporadic weight work), I'd have stopped. But it really didn't affect things, and I find myself unable to justify the cruelty of meat production. One note: I did notice that it's tougher to control carb intake while ea…
I stopped eating meat ~4 years ago, but still eat eggs and a limited amount of dairy. I occasionally eat fish when abroad or when there's no other healthy option (maybe it happens once every month or two). I haven't seen any impact on my health and I exercise regularly.
Apart from the obvious cruelty / environmental impact etc... What I like about being vegetarian (or mostly veggie) is that I started to eat a lot of different food, a lot of ingredients I would have never touched before. Constraints drive creativity and it's true in the kitchen too.
In a world of food abundance, I enjoy the restrictions of a self-imposed diet. Having those rules helps me eat healthy food.