4 ms·

Going vegetarian is what I did, for moral reasons primarily, but it has lots of health benefits. Assuming that you want to do it properly, that is you want to

by icc97 9y ago

Going vegetarian is what I did, for moral reasons primarily, but it has lots of health benefits. Assuming that you want to do it properly, that is you want to replace meat with various vegetables, nuts, and beans etc that provide protein you automatically increase your intake of healthy foods. You can of course just eat chips, cheese and margerita pizza which won't help. But being vegetarian does open your eyes to a wider variety of food than just meat + x (e,g. buger + fries). Meat is so tasty on it's own that you can ignore other things. By going vegetarian I don't have to count calories, I've actually struggled to keep weight on since going full vegetarian, when I had been gaining weight prior to that. Plus you don't even have to go fully vegetarian, purely just reduce meat intake and up vegetable/bean/nut intake.

treehau5 9y ago
> Plus you don't even have to go fully vegetarian, purely just reduce meat intake and up vegetable/bean/nut intake. Echoing this. Also, Mediterranean diet is still the best diet if not based on current nutritional trends, but also anecdotal evidence (The most places with the highest life expectancies are clustered around the Mediterranean)
mohaine 9y ago
I've seen lots of people try and it does seem to work for weight loss short turn but the effect does not seem to last. At some point you start liking the food and weight comes right back. (ditto for pretty much any special diet) As for the health benefits, I'm not so sure there either. I eat a mostly meat diet and my wife has been vegan for last 10 years and vegetarian for the 15 years before that and my numbers are better pretty much across the board. Sure it seems like a vegetarian diet should be better for you but with nutritional science in the state it is it is hard to know much of anything for sure.
- dario_insane 9y ago
  Consider reading Whole by Campbell and Starch Solution by McDougall. Add How Not To Die by Greger and if you want some more add End of all Diets by Fuhrman. The gist: Limit the fats. If your exercising and/or are at least moderately active, you can have some more nuts and seeds etc. But if you're sitting at the computer all day, limit fats to the absolute minimum. Eat lots of carbs. The body will not turn them into fat. Lot's of studies (100 years+) on this. Just open your eyes and read online and the books I mentioned. Funny example: Oven chips vs french fries. Prefer oven chips with <= 2% fat and your "OK". Steamed potatoes with zero fat are, of course, better in this context. Not saying keto diets (meat based or not, but protein+fat instead of starchy/sugary carbs based) don't work. Just really bad karma with the cruelty against animals in meat farms etc. Not cool. Not cool. Anyway, long term data isn't there yet on keto diets. And generally speaking: The world is getting sicker. And Campbell & Co seem to hint at food - mainly animal products - are the cause. McDougall etc show that the human race survived and thrived on starch. (Low fat! Actually.) Consider this.. Vegetarian or vegan means little. WFPB (whole food plant based) is a better term. And find your sugars and starches under this WFPB umbrella and your good. These foods have only little amount of natural fat. Look at WFPB / 80/10/10 athletes for examples.. Just my two cents..

by icc97 9y ago

treehau5 9y ago

> Plus you don't even have to go fully vegetarian, purely just reduce meat intake and up vegetable/bean/nut intake. Echoing this. Also, Mediterranean diet is still the best diet if not based on current nutritional trends, but also anecdotal evidence (The most places with the highest life expectancies are clustered around the Mediterranean)

mohaine 9y ago

I've seen lots of people try and it does seem to work for weight loss short turn but the effect does not seem to last. At some point you start liking the food and weight comes right back. (ditto for pretty much any special diet) As for the health benefits, I'm not so sure there either. I eat a mostly meat diet and my wife has been vegan for last 10 years and vegetarian for the 15 years before that and my numbers are better pretty much across the board. Sure it seems like a vegetarian diet should be better for you but with nutritional science in the state it is it is hard to know much of anything for sure.

dario_insane 9y ago
Consider reading Whole by Campbell and Starch Solution by McDougall. Add How Not To Die by Greger and if you want some more add End of all Diets by Fuhrman. The gist: Limit the fats. If your exercising and/or are at least moderately active, you can have some more nuts and seeds etc. But if you're sitting at the computer all day, limit fats to the absolute minimum. Eat lots of carbs. The body will not turn them into fat. Lot's of studies (100 years+) on this. Just open your eyes and read online and the books I mentioned. Funny example: Oven chips vs french fries. Prefer oven chips with <= 2% fat and your "OK". Steamed potatoes with zero fat are, of course, better in this context. Not saying keto diets (meat based or not, but protein+fat instead of starchy/sugary carbs based) don't work. Just really bad karma with the cruelty against animals in meat farms etc. Not cool. Not cool. Anyway, long term data isn't there yet on keto diets. And generally speaking: The world is getting sicker. And Campbell & Co seem to hint at food - mainly animal products - are the cause. McDougall etc show that the human race survived and thrived on starch. (Low fat! Actually.) Consider this.. Vegetarian or vegan means little. WFPB (whole food plant based) is a better term. And find your sugars and starches under this WFPB umbrella and your good. These foods have only little amount of natural fat. Look at WFPB / 80/10/10 athletes for examples.. Just my two cents..