Vegan for a Week

It's late. My mind is racing. I just finished watching my DVR recording of Oprah. My hero was on, Michael Pollan. I REALLY, REALLY love everything he has to say. I couldn't wait to share my thoughts {especially since I took notes} on the matter so here they are.

Could you go vegan for a week? I am seriously asking you. I could. It would be hard, but I could. I may hold a vegan-for-a-week contest on here in a few weeks so stay tuned. When I suggested it to my husband he immediately turned me down, but I feel like it would be a good experiment everyone. I'll keep bugging him!

Oprah called this a "radical experiment", that it was. Eating meat is definitely a "hot button" in this country. Meat is tradition, it has a moral and ethical connection. I personally believe that animals are on this earth for our benefit. Our bodies require certain, essential nutrients to grow and thrive properly and many animal products provide those nutrients. It amazes me that we can receive those nutrients from living things that are naturally available. However, our country has developed a system that produces meat {and other "foods"} that go beyond what our bodies actually need.

According to the USDA, Americans consume 10 billion animals per year and 33 million cows per year!! I don't believe that is what our bodies truly need. When it comes to our health, it will not improve if we don't THINK about our food. Michael said, "The health care crisis is a euphemism of the catastrophe that is the American diet." 75% of chronic diseases are linked to diet. The new 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans {which I will be discussing in an upcoming post} states, "Even in the absence of overweight, poor diet and physical inactivity are associated with major causes or morbidity and mortality in the United States." Therefore, being at a healthy weight does not protect you against the consequences of a poor diet.

When Lisa Ling showed us inside Cargill's {the biggest red meat supplier} slaughterhouse, I was actually amazed at how organized and precise it was. Sure, I felt a little bad for the cows but not enough to make me a vegan. What we can learn from that video is to be "more thoughtful meat eaters." Think about how often you eat meat or anything from an animal. Perhaps you can cut back and replace it with more whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.

Later, Kathy Freston took us shopping for vegan food. I wonder how much money that lady spent at Whole Foods, her cart was PACKED?! You must also consider all those meat alternatives she placed in her cart. I don't feel as though many of those products are better for us than free range organic chicken, or low-fat mozzarella cheese. In fact, here is an ingredient label from just the cheese on a Tofurky Pizza:

Filtered water, tapioca and/or arrowroot flours, expeller

pressed canola and/or expeller pressed safflower oil, coconut oil, pea protein, salt, vegan natural flavors, inactive yeast, vegetable glycerin, xanthan gum, vegan lactic acid (derived from sugar), titanium dioxide (a naturally occurring mineral)

One product I did like? Earth Balance. I totally buy that!

Kathy said, "there is a vegan alternative to everything." I don't think that is a good thing. Just like there is a gluten-free alternative to everything, most of those products are processed, packaged food.

At the end of the show, some of the participants of this challenge were sharing success stories. {Kathy was of course pleased because thousands of people are going to buy her book.} One man lost 11 pounds in one week. But, realize this. He did not lose that weight because he went vegan. He lost it because his diet was so bad before and he changed what he was eating to include more whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.

Michael summed up the show with some pretty remarkable quotes {as he always does}. He said, "Meat is not evil. We need to put it in its place and reform the system. Not turn our backs on it." We need to come up with better solutions and that is why Cargill let the Oprah cameras in. They appear to use better methods than other places.

I have said this before, I am not a vegetarian. Minus the one-week challenge that I plan to hold, I will never be vegan. Kathy had mentioned that she has seen enough research to deter her away from animal products with it being higher in saturated fat, etc. But, there is EVEN MORE research regarding the consequences of a highly processed diet. Although Kathy's book does focus on whole foods, it would be easy to ingest too many processed carbohydrates if you don't consume animal products. In my research and in my belief those are much more detrimental to your health than a tender filet Mignon.

Thoughts? Comments? Would you go vegan for a week?

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