A newbie intro

[frostyface]

Hi

I'm 'sticking my toes in the water' here as I'm only just starting on the veggie trail.

Why? - I wish I could tell you that its for moral reasons but it isn't!

The truth is that as I get older I'm concentrating more and more on my health and I feel I would like to get back to a more natural diet. Is a meat free diet natural? I really don't know but Im willing to give it a go.

So my reason for being here is to look for recipe ideas that are healthy and nutritious.

Well here goes .......................

[Pipsqueak]

Hi Frostyface, welcome to the board and congrats on dipping toes in the water..

Is is 'natural' not to eat meat? That's a complicated question, for while - unlike carnivores - we aren't physiologically designed to hunt down our meals (no razor sharp teeth or claws, upright and slow, long intestine) our ancestors are likely to have been scavengers and while the bulk of our foods would have come from vegetable sources (nuts, berries, fruits and roots) we would also have procured a small amount of protein from sources like insects and molluscs.

So it might be a better question to ask is it healthy? Well they've been doing it for hundreds of years (if not more) in India. Indeed many traditional poor rural diets around the world are vegetarian out of either financial need or religious prohibition and if you have seen reports about The China Study, it would seem to indicate that meat heavy western diets contribute to numerous illnesses as well as a reduced lifespan. This documentary film discusses current thinking among a number of US based medical doctors who are advocating vegetarian diets on the basis of research such as The China Study:

Watch Forks Over Knives online - Watch Movies Online, Full Movies, Download

Latest news about health and vegetarianism is that it reduces risk of heart disease by around a third, which considering the numbers involved (both my grandfathers died of heart disease) is a considerable percentage:

BBC News - Vegetarians 'cut heart risk by 32%'

Anyway I hope you enjoy your journey. There's lots of good food to eat and vegetarian cooking can be fun and rewarding too.

[KissMyNutLoaf]

Speaking as a 'meat reducer' myself, I have chosen this route as part of a healthier lifestyle, however, there are moral reasons behind my decision also - the 2 times a week I do eat animal products I have to know that they lived a happy/healthy life. I think that the small premium this adds to my shopping list is totally worth it. I have a belief that free range and organic meat has to be the healthier option also compared to some questionable farming practices that are commonplace these days.

This is also making the transition to being fully veggie somewhat easier too.

[juker]

Speaking as a 'meat reducer' myself, I have chosen this route as part of a healthier lifestyle, however, there are moral reasons behind my decision also - the 2 times a week I do eat animal products I have to know that they lived a happy/healthy life. I think that the small premium this adds to my shopping list is totally worth it. I have a belief that free range and organic meat has to be the healthier option also compared to some questionable farming practices that are commonplace these days.

This is also making the transition to being fully veggie somewhat easier too.

My brother has had to go back to occasional meat on recommendation of his doctor, although he resisted for some time as he had been veggie for about 18 years. He was only able to do it by sticking to meat that he knows has come from animals who have been cared for and treated well