5 ms·
That was kind of eye-opening. Not because it shows how bullshit veganism is; I knew that already. But because it reminds me of this friend I have, who is alwa
by araneae 16y ago
That was kind of eye-opening.
Not because it shows how bullshit veganism is; I knew that already.
But because it reminds me of this friend I have, who is always complaining that she feels tired and weak. She goes to the doctor at least monthly, who diagnosis her with some new deficiency. She's always taking some new pill or food type.
I always thought she was a hypochondriac. But it just occurred to me that she might not be, because she's a vegetarian.
- chaitanya 16y ago> because she's a vegetarian. There's a difference between a vegan and a vegetarian: a vegetarian doesn't consume meat, but does consume diary products and eggs (egg-but-not-meat eaters like me are sometimes also known as eggetarians). A vegan, on the other hand, doesn't consume any animal products at all. I have been vegetarian (or rather eggetarian) all my life, and I have had no such problems. Also, I know many vegetarians (lots of them here in India), who face none of these problems. I believe being a vegetarian is a fairly healthy lifestyle. Being a vegan, maybe not.
- araneae 16y agoYes, I know the difference. I was merely saying that her symptoms sound identical to my friend's, that's all. Just like some people seem to be successful as vegans, others may be unsuccessful at being vegetarians.
- numix 16y agoAnd others are unsuccessful at being omnivores. There are a host of other nutrition problems that may be completely unrelated to whether meat is in one's diet. It's not very fair to blame vegetarianism, which is usually considered a pretty safe diet.
- chaitanya 16y agoI have never known anyone who's been unsuccessful at being a vegetarian (and about half my friends and family are vegetarian). Edit: the only time I have known someone switch to a non-veg diet (after becoming an adult) is when they started going to the gym and were keen on building muscle mass.
- araneae 16y agoWell you probably know a different set of people I do. I know quite a few that quit. Of the ones that are current, one is my cousin, but she confessed to me that after last Thanksgiving she bought herself an entire turkey and ate the whole thing in one sitting. Another friend of mine is a veg as well, but she eats one steak per month to prevent anemia. Of the two that are strict non-meat eaters, one is the friend that is always sick all the time, and the other has an underweight BMI. Yay anecdotes!
- chime 16y ago> because she's a vegetarian. 400 million Indians are vegetarian (milk and/or eggs): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetarianism_in_India http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetarianism_in_India and I've been a vegetarian all my life. Last year I ran 50 miles non-stop in Grand Teton at 10,000ft elevation so I can say from personal experience that it is certainly possible to be healthy on a balanced vegetarian diet. I can't say the same about veganism though and it's not popular in India at all: http://business.in.com/article/recliner/being-vegan-in-india/4482/1 http://business.in.com/article/recliner/being-vegan-in-india...
- rtrunck 16y agoI totally agree that it may be possible. But a deeper question is it optimum? We are coders, what could the A/B/C test of Vegan/Vegetarian/Carnivore be? No judgement, just interesting to me.
- riffraff 16y agowhile I agree with your base assumption (living without eating meat is not a health drama) pointing out to vegetarian indians is a fallacy that people should stop making. We have no knowledge of related/correlated facts about those 400M people, so you can _for example_ follow the fallacy and say: Life expectancy in india is lower than the world average and a lot lower than other "poor" countries where vegetarianism is not common, such as north korea, brazil or the palestinian territories. Thus vegetarianism leads to at a shorter life. Proof by underanalyzed example is not a good one.