Anonymous wrote:Veganism sounds extreme, but I believe it is the most healthy diet. I eat vegan foods at home and vegetarian foods outside of the home (so as to minimize the impact on my social life- I don't want to go to dinner at someone's house and quiz them on whether or not they used butter or margerine to cook the meal).
A few things- do some research on dairy in the human diet. Human beings were never intended to consume cow or goat diary products, and our bodies are not designed to consume any dairy products past infancy. We produce lactase in order to digest lactose found in dairy, and our bodies produce less and less lactase as we get older, making it more taxing for our bodies to digest dairy.
Second, unless you are consistently buying the top quality organic meat/dairy/eggs, there are many, many chemicals in our meat and dairy today. Furthermore, factory farming practices cause quality problems to these food products- for example, when chickens are in overcrowded barns, their eggs become covered in feces and urine, which contributes to the transmission of disease. Furthermore, cattle who are fed grain diets are less healthy and more susceptible to disease than cattle who are fed grass diets.
Americans eat plenty of protein and there are many high quality protein sources for vegans or vegetarians. Dairy and meat are usually high-calorie, high-sodium, high-fat foods, and vegans and vegetarians are often substituting healthier plant-based options for protein (i.e., lentils are far healthier than a hamburger).
I do think you and your son should do some research on this, and I think although veganism SOUNDS extreme, it is absolutely a very healthy diet.
+1. Also, dairy farming is really sad. Cows are impregnated every year, with only about 60 days of not being milked. After the birth of a calf, the cow is only allowed to nurse her baby for 1-3 days, after which if the calf is a male then it is usually sold as veal and if female, put on [/b] COW FORMULA[b] and once she reaches 13 months, gets to meet the same fate ass her mother and is impregnated and milked endlessly. I dot understand why humans think we need the milk that is meant for a baby cow. It's not meant for us. And those poor calls don't even get the milk. How bizarre. Unfortunately the dairy industry is so powerful that we have been brainwashed to think that cow milk does our body good. It doesn't. Can you imagine being milked during your pregnancy and then that milk being fed to, I dont know, let's say, a dog. And your baby is taken away and you can't nurse it or bond with it. Ugh.