Are you Vegan, Vegatarian or neither and what are the benefits/drawbacks?

[SiL]

I've only ever eaten it as a meat substitute

[SM]

I just noticed a voting option up there says "vagatarian"...

[Frosty Venom]

I mean most vegan diets are going to be healthier than the amount of meat a lot of people eat.

[SiL]

In that most people in developed nations eat too much meat, sure.

[Valaquen]

I started cutting red meat out of my diet not long ago. As others have said, it's more to do with environmental concerns than my own health. And as I get older the cruelty doled out to animals in the slaughterhouse sickens me more and more, and I'm not so capable of the cognitive dissonance anymore. I cut out a lot of dairy too. The only animal meat I still eat is chicken, which I'm trying to get away from, but I exercise and work out a fair bit and always loved chicken afterwards for muscle building and protein. So chicken is my remaining hurdle.

Adjusting my diet did wonders for my mental health, though. Introducing better food to my diet undoubtedly helped.

[SiL]

"Eat food, not too much, mostly plants" is about the simplest, best dietary advice.

[Deadmeat]

I just noticed a voting option up there says "vagatarian"...

*resists the urge to make a 4th grade level joke*

Adjusting my diet did wonders for my mental health, though. Introducing better food to my diet undoubtedly helped.

Do you think any specific foods have played a part in that? I've tried eating more dried fruits and nuts as well, but I'm not sure they've had any groundbreaking effects.

[Valaquen]

Do you think any specific foods have played a part in that? I've tried eating more dried fruits and nuts as well, but I'm not sure they've had any groundbreaking effects.

I have a nice big smoothie every couple of days loaded with berrries, lettuce, stuff like that (mostly things I couldn't eat solo). Also vegetarian sausages (surprisingly nice!) rice, salads... nothing too revolutionary. I coupled it with daily exercise which probably helps all the more. It also simply takes time for your body to adjust to a different diet. You've probably spent years 'training' it to subsist on a certain diet already. Do you exercise? If your mood is low I'd defnitely recommend taking up that.

[Huggs]

I just noticed a voting option up there says "vagatarian"...

Sounds good, doesn't it?

[Ingwar]

You can say that about literally any diet, though. That's my point. It's not inherently healthier to not eat meat.

Statistically it is. Just check the data.

[Still Collating...]

I'm considering going vegetarian or maybe even vegan at some point, mostly because of the eco friendly part. The second is actually the cost of it all. I love the taste of meat and I know you can have a long healthy life eating quality animal products (eggs, birds, sea food), but it costs a lot more pound for pound in my country to eat meat that isn't processed sh*t compared to fruits, veggies, seeds and nuts. And since I care about my health and am working out more and more each year, I need a good, healthy dose of food. I'll probably never go full vegan because of the inconvenience, but it's not impossible I wont. I'll stick to eggs, fish and milk for a while still I think. 

[Samhain13]

Most of what I eat can be considered "clean" by fitness standards, I eat lots of meat, easiest way to get the amount of protein I want but I also like to eat stuff like cookies and ice cream everyday, pizza every week. I'm aware of how much is my current caloric intake so I don't have to worry about gaining weight at a rate I don't want to.

Current blood work is perfect according to my doctor, I take it every 6 months, only got messed up once during one of the first cutting diets I did, a mixture of inexperience and hurry end up messing my stats. Big caloric deficit will f**k you up. Doesn't matter what kind of stuff you are eating. Huge caloric surplus and deficits are what I consider unhealthy. I have no interest of ever going vegan or vegetarian.

[SiL]

Statistically it is. Just check the data.

The data does not say it's inherently healthier than eating any meat. It does say it's healthier than the typical American diet, which is a very low bar.

[Ingwar]

But the data says that eating a lot (most people eat meat every day which is insane) of red and processed meat increases risk of cancer (like bowel cancer) and heart diseases. Meat you eat is basically stuffed with steroids, antibiotics and other chemicals people consume on daily basics from childhood. Drinking milk (it contains cholesterol) and eating diary products (especially cheese which is insanely fat) isn't healthy either. It causes heart diseases and cancers (prostate and breast cancer).

Cow produces milk for a baby cow not for human beings. Would you consume dog's or cat's milk? You're basically consuming milk (in different forms) from your non-biological mother. Why?

[Local Trouble]

Cow produces milk for a baby cow not for human beings. Would you consume dog's or cat's milk? You're basically consuming milk (in different forms) from your non-biological mother. Why?

Are you suggesting that we should only eat human flesh?