Veganism and Vegetarianism

[cookster]

Is anyone here Vegan or Veg.? I'd imagine some people are mainly because all my friends who are are Tea Lovers . I have decreased meat consumption lately because its healthy(er) and eating meat is violent (to an extent -not calling any meatlovers violent ) and I feel bad for the slaughtered animals.

Actually lets include all different diet. I have a buddy or a few that have tried raw food-ism. Its interesting.

[kodama]

Odd correlation but true here.

I have been Vegetarian without many veg friends/relatives since I was 6 and have reaffirmed that regularly.

[PlantFan]

I consider myself to be primarily vegetarian, although I can't say that I adhere to this all of the time. I do eat fish, eggs, meat and cheese but no other dairy. I avoid red meat and most other meats except for turkey. In the furture I hope to eliminate turkey but I'm sure Thanksgiving will be my weakness.
The only other vegetarians I knew that were tea drinkers were my college roomies. Can't say that I know too many other tea drinkers. I wish I did so we could have tea!

[PlantFan]

"I do eat fish, eggs, meat and cheese but no other dairy."
What?! I do NOT eat meat. Wasn;t that the whole point of this? I don't know what I was thinking. It's been a long week. Sorry.

[rabbit]

I was a vegitarian for awhile, but not because I feel bad for animals... I really don't care what people do to them... I just don't like meat, the smell of it makes me feel ill, and looking at it- it is completely unappetising... not to mention it never really settles well in my stomock, so even though I DO eat it sometimes, I still try to avoid it as much as possible.

[peachaddict]

I'm not a vegetarian, but i'm slowly cutting out the meat. I still eat chicken and turkey, so i'm not vegetarian. I still eat eggs, dairy products, and honey, so i'm not vegan. It is an interesting correlation, although, as Rabbit proves, it's not all because of things one might immediately think of.

[Kestrel]

Em... I'm definately no vegetarian, but I did want to raise my hand on the raw food-ism.

My favorite forms of protein are sashimi and rare steak, cooked 30 seconds on one side and 30 seconds on the other. If not for health issues, I'd eat steak raw.

I'm hypoglycemic (blood sugar issues - mine's always low) and eating a high protein diet makes me feel a lot healthier than one that has a lot of carbs, to the point where I was eating about 18% of my calories per day in protein (115g of protein for 2500 calories).

Meat appeals to me so much because I need protein, and meat, dairy and eggs are the most efficient ways of getting it, but I like it to be as pure and healthy as possible.

I'm also a major fan of raw and steamed veggies and strawberry and tea smoothies.

I'm fortunate that I gave up soda back in high school in favor of drinking tea - the tea is a lot cheaper than spending $2 on Dr. Pepper every day - it adds up, especially for a high school student. These days I can't really drink soda because the sheer amount of sugar causes my blood sugar to spike and then drop a significant amount.

So my other diet oddities are an avoidance of sugar and a major lack of spices, because I'm allergic to pretty much everything commonly used except the flesh of peppers (can't have the seeds), garlic, salt, onion, and saffron.

Adagio's tea has become a constant part of my life in large part because it tastes good, but also because it makes my allergies better. It's also soothing when I'm sick from my allergies and I can't go outside because it's so allergy-aggravating out there.


Hm. Based on what PeachAddict said, does being Vegan mean you don't eat honey?

[LavenderPekoe]

Hm. Based on what PeachAddict said, does being Vegan mean you don't eat honey?

Yes. Vegans don't eat anything that had anything to do with an animal, including being made by one as a by-product.

[klemptor]

I've thought the idea of being vegetarian is appealing. During the week, I generally don't eat meat, but that's not on purpose - it's just because fruit and vegetables are a lot easier to carry around. If I eat meat, it's usually when I go out to eat or on the weekends, when I might make chicken for dinner.

I have to say, though, TB and I just went out to Outback last night and I really did enjoy my nice rare steak!