First, for a little bit of history. A little over a year ago I finally read The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, a book that was recommended to me five years ago when I was writing a research paper on the health benefits of eating organic. The book totally opened my eyes to the disaster that the American food system is and immediately lead me to change certain things in my diet, mainly switching to organic milk, cutting out most processed foods, and intentions of switching to free-range, organic meats. (I lived in Hawaii at the time so it was difficult to find free-range, organic meat.) That book planted the seed in me that something was drastically wrong with the way we eat (at least regarding the way we go about farming the food we eat). But, I wasn't ready to completely overhaul the eating habits I'd been developing since childhood, such as drinking lots of "healthy" calcium-rich skim milk and cheese, and eating lots of "healthy" lean meat, and consuming "healthy protein" in eggs. Plus The Omnivore's Dilemma didn't even suggest how to change eating habits based on the information in the book and certainly didn't push a vegetarian or vegan diet. So I just let the knowledge that I had gained just simmer in the back of my mind while I went on with life.
After having my son in December of 2010, cooking and meal planning got a lot more hectic. Trying to plan, shop for, and cook well-balanced meals with a newborn who demanded constant attention while also attempting to complete the last term of my graduate degree and train for a couple of half marathons was difficult to say the least. So I found that we would typically end up eating something very simple, like a grilled piece of meat, or a simple pasta dish, and I would not have time to get around to rounding out the meal with nutritious vegetable side dishes. I would routinely eat cheese and crackers for lunch because it required no time or effort on my part. I knew for a fact that this hap-hazard way of eating was not healthy and at the time I remembered my friend Sarah saying that she was going vegan for a month and thought that sounded like a pretty good idea to help me get out of my eating rut. But, I didn't think I could go totally vegan, so I just went vegan for dinner and tried a new vegan recipe every night.
At first it was hard. Vegan food doesn't taste the same as the food I was used to- duh! It took a couple of weeks for my taste buds to adjust to more subtle, less rich flavors. But once they did, I actually started enjoying the food I was making full of whole grains and vegetables. Some of the immediate results were surprising to me. I consistently felt full longer. As a breast-feeding mom I would frequently wake up at 3am starving but that stopped immediately when I started eating vegan for dinner even though I wasn't consuming any greater volume of food and in fact was consuming significantly less calories. My vegan dinner even fueled me enough to get through an hour of exercise in the morning before breakfast! I also use to have a problem with frequent headaches which resolved itself immediately.
Other results were slightly more gradual but just as wonderful. I found that after the first couple of weeks I very rarely had food cravings. Previously I would crave a certain food despite not actually being hungry and now I feel satisfied when I'm full without the constant draw to return to the pantry. My complexion also improved (even more so once I eventually completely gave up milk and cheese). And the last few pounds of baby fat came off even though I was still eating tons of carbs and routinely baking yummy vegan desserts!
Due to these surprisingly noticeable results I was interested to learn more about a plant based diet. I also came across a blog a friend of mine had shared titled "I have cancer. And I've never felt better." which regards a cancer patient's transition to a plant based diet and how it has completely halted the spread of cancer and has her feeling great. This had me intrigued to further research the health benefits of a vegan lifestyle. My friend Sarah recommended to me the book Veganist by Kathy Freston which, among other things, outlines the research that has been done regarding the impact of a vegan diet on health. Coming from the perspective of someone who fully believed in the merit of dairy and lean meats, the results of the research I was reading about was mind-blowing to me.
I read Veganist on the plane on the way to and from a summer vacation in Italy. This vacation occurred right after I had finished my month-long "vegan experiment" and though I was still attempting to incorporate some of the things I'd learned during that month, I was pretty much back to my omnivorous ways due to eating out every meal. I was acutely aware of how much worse my body felt after eating what most would consider a "healthy" meal. And that awareness of how what I put in my body affects how I feel, coupled with the knowledge I'd gained from reading The Omnivore's Dilemma and Veganist was enough to put me back on the path to becoming a vegan.
Now I am not totally vegan. I still eat meat and dairy when I go out to eat and if I am at other people's homes. I still want to be able to enjoy traditional holiday foods and family recipes on occasion so I have no intention of becoming a total vegan. But in my everyday life I am choosing a plant-based diet and couldn't be happier about it! For me, the key is to never "forbid" myself from having something. If I really want something that has cheese on it, I'll eat it. The difference is that now I am not addicted to cheese so having a little bit does not make me crave more. I look at animal products how I look at cake, having some now and then isn't bad, it just shouldn't be a main staple of my diet.
People ask me all the time why I changed and there are too many reasons to explain, but it can be summed up in these three points:
1) I feel so much better and healthier when I stick to a plant-based diet
2) The myriad of proven health benefits associated with a plant-based diet
2) I do not want to support the meat and dairy industry (side note: I am okay with killing animals for food... but I'm not okay with abusing them their entire lives.)
I hope this post helps any of you that are interested understand more about why I've chosen to become *mostly* vegan. I know my family is baffled by, and even initially annoyed by, this choice, but I can't ignore everything that I've learned and what my own body is telling me. If anyone reading this is interested in learning more, I highly recommend the books I've mentioned and I'd be happy to pass along some good cookbook and vegan product recommendations as well.
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