GRardB

I loved the article. Hopefully it changes the mind of people who swear by whey and bash soy. I found a funny reply to a post by this dude who obviously must suffer from some sort of learning disability. I typed in "vegetarian" in T-Nation's search and clicked the first post. One of the replies was: Not to change the subject, but this was funny. BTW, the guy who made the thread wasn't really vegetarian; he said he ate as much fish as he could (what an idiot).

Is it really necessary to work out forearms? I would do it, but I can't find much time in my routine for them. I guess grip strength is important, but I've seen guys with big forearms who say they never work them out, so I assumed that they will just grow since you grip on weights in most exercises?

I agree with Lean and Green. The old ones are probably just as good. I have a Vitamix in my house that we bought for around $400-500 I believe. it's been in my house since I was a little kid (I'm 16 now) and we probably got it before I can even remember. I use it daily and put in everything I can find. My smoothies used to be green, but now they're turning things like purple haha. Never heard of Blendtec, but I love our Vitamix.

I don't think the body can fight off anything, taking that question literally, but I think the body, if healthy, can fight off most things that people suffer from today. Personally, the last time I was sick with anything was over a year ago and I'm not the average person who shields themselves from everything "bad". I mean I wear short-sleeve shirts in 30-40 degree(Fº) weather sometimes, I eat food if other people have bitten in it, I don't use hand-sanitizers or things like that, I don't rinse my fruits/veggies from more than 1 second, etc. I welcome germs because as far as I know, it strengthens your immune system. I think most of us on the forum fight things all the time but don't realize it. I think it's safe to say none of us will ever get things like cancer or any life-threatening disease because of our healthy lifestyles. Or maybe I give too much credit to the human body

Also love it when I'm eating things they find strange and ask to taste it, then they love it and go out and buy some. I haven't met anyone yet that after knowing me for a little while thinks vegans are malnourished, weak, sickly, etc.. They might have before. Man, you've got it lucky. It's probably because I'm still in high school, but almost everybody who eats my food says how ing it smells or tastes, probably because almost all of their diet (literally) consists of things like fast food, packaged snacks (like Rice Crispies, 100 Calorie Packs, etc.), soda, and basically every other terrible excuse for food out there. Kids' diets are so terrible that in my health class, we were forced to draw the food pyramid (and yeah, I had no choice but to put those two terrible groups on it. You guys know) and some kids were asking things like "A carrot is a vegetable right?" or "Is corn a fruit or vegetable?" It got to the point where my teacher said she didn't care if people put vegetables in the fruit section or vice versa. Most people also think I'm malnourished which gets me extremely mad. I have a friend who's about 4'11" and probably not even 100 pounds and she said to me "Don't you need the protein from meat?" or something like that. "Yes, I am underweight and lack muscle at 5'9" and 180lbs. I'll try to get at your level." Meanwhile, I'm bigger than most people she knows. Other people ask how I get vitamins and minerals and crap...as if meat has those things while plants don't? All herbivores must be lacking just about everything at this point. Ehh, I'm done ranting. I just can't take this stuff because kids my age are so hard-headed that when I say "meat is bad for you" they snap back. When I tell them why, they tell me it's not true and that you need the protein and iron, etc. I've given up lol.

I'm glad people have similar experiences. I just hate when people act stupid. I know so many people that say "Oh I know this girl who's a vegetarian but she eats chicken." Ummm...what? I tell them that the girl is NOT a vegetarian if she eats any kind of animal and they're reply is either "But chicken isn't meat, it's poultry," or "No, but she only eats chicken, nothing else." I want to slap people who talk like this. I even had a family member once tell me she knew someone who claimed to be vegetarian but ate chicken, sausage, fish, etc. My relative listed so many meat products that they ate and she goes "but he says he's a vegetarian. Is that true?" WHAT?!?! I hate ignorance....

Well I guess my question more or less is: Do carbs from potatoes turn into fat easier because they're high glycemic, or are they good for you just like every other complex carb food? I'm sure our goals are very different I'm 16, trying to get BIG lol.

I have a question about potatoes. As far as I can remember, they've been referred to as complex carbs, but at the same time they have a high glycemic index. I thought the glycemic index was about how much sugar a food has? People say to eat simple carbs after a workout. Others say eat high glycemic food. Well...potatoes are high glycemic but have complex carbs, right? But then some fruits are low glycemic and have sugar. I don't get it

We've all had the question asked. For you guys, it's "Why are you vegan?" For me, it's "Why are you vegetarian?" I hate answering this question because my views on humans being herbivores would create so many arguments with ignorant people that I just say "My parents were vegetarians so I became one too." It's not even this question that I hate. It's the one that comes after it (if you don't give a very detailed answer). The question is: "What, do you just not like the taste of meat?" I want to just answer "Yes, I hate the taste of every animal product. The taste of chicken, beef, pork, every fish, everything! I hate it! I hate how the gelatin alters the taste of Skittles and Pop Tarts! I hate how McDonald's French fries taste because of those little drops of beef extract! I hate how cookies taste because of that one egg they put in a huge batch! I just cant stand anything made from animals!" But no, because some people would think I'm crazy. I probably wouldn't like meat even if I tried, but the rest has no effect on taste. My question is: Have you ever had this question asked to you before? Also: Do people think before they ask that question? Sort of a rant, but it just gets me mad.

Unsaturated fats are the best for you. These are Omega-3's,6's, and 9's. There are more, but I think these are the main ones that people care about. You get these from nuts, avocados, hemp, flax, açai, olive oil, peanuts, etc. I would stay away from most saturated fat, although I think some is good for you (someone please correct me if I'm wrong). Also, stay away from cheese. I'm a lacto-ovo vegetarian too, but dairy/eggs are terrible for you. I keep my consumption so low that some people think I'm a vegan. I'd recommend the same for you.

I hate BMI. According to it, I'm overweight. I'm not embarrassed to say I do have some excess fat, but overweight? No. BMI doesn't include anything besides your height, weight, and gender. There are so many kids that are my height (5'9") and weigh less than me JUST because of bone density/structure and muscle mass. I just tested my BMI online and it says I'm overweight (I weigh about 180lbs). I know a kid (who I hate) who's about 6'1" and weighs 170lbs, but has so much less muscle than me and such a smaller bone structure it's not even funny, and has a belly, even though he's 6'1" and 170lbs! According to the BMI scale, he's normal weight. That would explain why people make fun of his body, but not mine... I hate BMI

What kind of working out? Cardio or weight-lifting? Also, are you eating right afterwards? I remember last summer when I was doing lots of cardio, if I drank anything besides water afterwards I felt like throwing up but never did. I never knew the cause of it, but I don't think it had any effect on me. Otherwise, I can't really help you out :-\ It could be that you're overworking yourself I think. I know that when I was younger and was put through really tough workouts (whether in phys. ed. or anything else) I would start to cough a lot and feel terrible. Not sure what to make of it. Gerard

As long as you're eating healthy, I don't think it's a problem. These daily values are ridiculous in my opinion. I think in some ways they're a minimum for the average [for lack of a better word] ignorant American. I'm American, so I'm not hating Seriously, though. Most of us here probably get hundreds or over 1000% of the DV for vitamin C just by eating fruits and vegetables. I don't eat as many fruits and vegetables as most people here probably because a lot of my diet is grains/beans, but I still get hundreds% of vitamin C. Probably other vitamins too, but the DV for most things seems so ridiculous to me that I don't even pay attention anymore. Who's to say that every single person, regardless of gender, age, height, muscle size, bodyfat%, genetics, etc. needs the same nutrients? I'm obviously not going to need the same amount of nutrients as the average American couch potato, because I'm an active teenager. I didn't mean to go on a rant, but I honestly think you shouldn't worry too much about it. Although living on a plant-based diet, I wouldn't supplement with anything. Not even B12 (maybe that's just me because one cup of my soy milk has 50%DV for B12, and I definitely get more than 2 cups a day). Just my $.02. Gerard P.S: I think it's safe to say that if most people got exactly 100%DV for every nutrient we're told to get, we'd probably be unhealthy :-\

And the constipated look on the face....or perhaps the, "Oops, I crapped my pants" look. I love that look. Nice muscle too! I think it's the "Oops, I don't get enough fiber in my diet because I eat too much meat" look

Do you also not approve of vegans supplementing B-12? Well I don't supplement separately, I get mine from fortified foods (especially Soy Milk). Although B-12 doesn't come from meat. It comes from bacteria that is found in the wild and destroyed in the process of bringing food to our store shelves. To me, that's a totally different situation. Although...After reading VeganEssentials' post.. This post made some very good points. I started to loosen up on my beliefs and I showed my dad the post to ask for his opinion. We've decided to order some vegan food for our dog and see if he likes it. I'm not sure about vegan treats (although I don't really give him that store-brought crap; my dad does), although we might be on our way to making our dog vegan. I guess it makes sense that an unnatural vegan diet with the right nutrients is better for a dog than an unnatural carnivorous diet with tons of bad meats. I still believe the best diet is the diet that animals instinctively get in the wild, but I now realize that pet food is so much different from that anyway that it doesn't matter whether or not it's vegan, but whether or not it poses any health threat to my doggy I probably won't be posting much in this topic now that I've sort of changed my mind, but I'll still be watching the discussion! It was a fun debate. Gerard

You've brought up some good points about humans being able to adapt. There still is a difference between the scenario of the Inuit people and dogs though. The Inuit live(d?) high up there in the north, where fruits and vegetables aren't as abundant as they are in the opposite direction (except for Antarctica ). Even though Wikipedia says the Inuit were surrounded by an abundance of vegetation, I think it's safe to say there wasn't really an "abundance" the way we think of it. True, the Inuit apparently developed to eat raw meats, but they didn't appear to "thrive" off of it according to some research I just did. I got this from this website. They directly associate the low life expectancy with their meat-rich diet. They also compare their life expectancy to the Maasai in Kenya, who have a meat-rich diet and say that they are similar. So what I'm trying to say is that even though we might technically be omnivores, we really shouldn't be eating any meat. In my opinion, it's purely a survival technique. According to Wikipedia, felines and canines are carnivores. Dogs seem to eat most fruits and some vegetables without any hesitation. In fact, when we're in Michigan on vacation, my dog eats blueberries from the blueberry bushes. To me, this means that dogs are omnivores although they're diet usually consists of meats. My dog once hunted and ate a wild rat in the very same place (I was impressed, since he has extremely stumpy legs and doesn't run as fast as most dogs lmao). I believe dogs should eat some vegetables/fruits since they obviously do, but I wouldn't eliminate meat from their diets. Although I'm not sure if I can say the same about cats. I've never heard of a cat eating raw fruits or veggies (although I could be wrong). Verification or correcting me on this would help a lot. What I'm trying to say is that dogs and cats eat mostly meat in the wild. Humans eat mostly vegetables in the wild. In my opinion, converting a cat or dog's diet into something like ours would be equivalent to converting a human diet to that of a carnivore. The Inuits didn't live to be so old. I can't really back that example up seeing as how your dog is 16 (happy to hear that, most dogs don't live to be that old) and has a vegan diet. Although from what I've been reading, vegan pet food is supplemented with things that they would normally get from meat. Like I said before, that, to me, is the equivalent of supplementing meat with nutrients found in plants, which I don't approve of. I'm liking this debate Gerard

I respect your thoughts on how animals began to eat other animals. It makes sense, but it's safe to say nobody knows why animals eat each other. As for my dog he's a beagle/basset hound. Split right down the middle as far as I know. Got him for free at one of those humane-pound-place-thingies? I forgot what it was called lol.

I wouldn't really consider humans omnivores. Although we can obviously digest meat (although we usually need to cook it first), I think it's safe to say that before any kind of technology, meat was not 20% of our diet. Think about it, can you kill a wild bull (cow) or a wild boar (pig) without the use of any technology? Even if you could, how would you cook it without technology (fire)? I don't believe the first humans had fire, spears, knives, swords, etc. Some make the argument that since most of humanity "evolved" with technology, that determines are diet. Well when do you draw the line? If you're talking about the first humans until now, then yeah, we've spent lots of our lives with technology. But from the beginning of time, from whatever organism our ancestry started from? No way. We haven't had technology for most of our development. http://www.celestialhealing.net/physicalveg3.htm That link shows the many similarities we share with herbivores. I don't think it's fair to compare humans to dogs in terms of diet. Dogs can hunt naturally, they have canine teeth (yes, we have four, but they are so small and inferior compared to most other animals' canine teeth). Dogs are much closer to carnivores in the wild than humans would be. That's just obvious in my opinion. I'd say that any meat humans ate in the wild came from insects, the same as apes and monkeys, which are our closest relatives. Even if we taught them how to hunt, they probably wouldn't eat the raw meat. Cholesterol that our body does not make is bad for us. The saturated fats from meat is bad for us. We don't need any of the nutrients found in meats. Meat takes way longer to digest in humans and causes so many problems that it's obvious we weren't meant to eat it. Maybe a few bugs here or there, but I certainly won't eat any. Dogs don't die earlier from a non-vegan diet. They die earlier from living in an unnatural environment and diet (vegan or non-vegan in my opinion). As for my dog, he's about 9 or 10 (I forget) and he still runs around and acts like a puppy. I guess he's thriving off a meat-based diet? Many dogs die at that age from what I've seen. Still open for debate, not saying I'm right or wrong. Just expressing my opinions. Gerard

So after reading all of these posts (yes, every single one), my views on feeding my dog meat (which I do) has changed, but not much... See, these are my thoughts: I'm really big on the whole natural selection/evolution/survival of the fittest/etc. thing. I always thought that feeding meat to my dog, who in the wild would eat mostly meat, was a logical choice. I didn't know that vegan dog food existed. Although I do agree that dog food is made from terrible things-and probably is not the most nutritious thing for them to eat-it is meat, nonetheless. I don't think dogs should be eating cows, pigs, lamb, or whatever other crap is put in their food, but I think that dogs shouldn't be deprived of meat either. My dog will eat most fruits without hesitation, but vegetables? Most vegetables we ever try to feed him, he will just lick and leave on the floor. As for cats, I've never had any, and probably never will. They're not the same "pack-animal" type pets as dogs usually, which is why I don't like them as much. But that's just me. Anyway, as for their diets, they also eat meat in the wild. Again, obviously not what's put in their foods but I think it's closer than vegetables. Now, I read all the posts, and some say that every necessity that cats and dogs get from meat is made synthetically and put into their food, which makes it healthy. Wouldn't that be the same thing as humans synthetically making vitamins, minerals, and carbs and then putting them into meat so that we could eat them and get a balanced diet? Obviously, this isn't a good idea because humans are herbivores (or possibly omnivores with almost no meat in their diet). My belief is that animals should eat what they were made to eat. Humans should eat vegetation, while dogs and cats eat what they normally would in the wild. I don't agree with what's put into non-vegan pet food, but I think it's probably closer to what they would eat in the wild, not in terms of nutrition, but in terms of where it comes from. What's closer to a rabbit? A cow or a carrot? I'm not saying that a cow and a rabbit are similar in very many ways, but they're both animals. That's just my opinion. PLEASE DON'T ATTACK ME I totally agree with the ethical reasons for making a pet vegan, but I'm not sure if I totally agree with the health beliefs associated with the choice.

I personally don't think you should take it. Why? Well, from what I've read, there haven't been any long-term tests done to find possible side effects. People say that it can't be bad since your body produces it natually. Well testosterone is produced naturally, but steroids can lead to sever problems, right? Creatine and steroids are completely different, I know. I'm not trying to sound or act like I know everything about this stuff, but I would stay away from it. Not only for possible health concerns, but also because it's not a natural way to build muscle. I'm 16 and I've made some pretty good gains without creatine. The best supplement is food. As for protein, I take gemma protein, which comes from peas. Good luck gaining weight, man. It's not easy for most people. Just find a good workout plan, eat A LOT, rest, etc. Peace, Gerard

Check them out! http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/9066/img03681lf0.jpg That was before they were ready for their photoshoot....This is after. http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/9281/img03711zd8.jpg http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/2659/img03721wo6.jpg I got the recipe from About.com I used the second option of baking them, although I made some modifications. I used much less salt I used corn flakes instead of breadcrumbs I put everything except the Soy milk and tofu into a food processor to make a nice coating for the tofu. This is what makes them look, and probably taste, better than the original way. It took me way longer than expected to make them because I found it hard to keep the coating dry so that it could stick to the tofu (if I'm unclear, I can explain it better). Also, is this act of animal torture considered non-vegan? Haha http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/7633/img03731zd8.jpg He's a beagle/basset hound if anyone's wondering.

I see...I'm starting to understand a bit more now. The thing I still don't get is why her doctor claims she needs iron from meat. Even if vegetarians truly got less necessary iron than meat-eaters, the supplementation would definitely make up for it, no? Not really looking for an actual answer or justification; just expressing my thoughts.

UPDATE: My friend's mom says that she doesn't have Sickle Cell Anemia. This makes me wonder what's so hard about getting rid of her Anemia? From what I can understand, Anemia is purely dietary, right? All you would have to do is get enough iron daily and you wouldn't be anemic? I'm confused. Also, I had her read me her iron supplement label. On the front of her bottle is says "325mg" and on the back it says "65mg per tablet." I don't understand the contradiction and also...isn't the %DV for iron 18mg a day? She says she "needs" to take her pills 3 times a day. That would equal 195mg of iron a day, which is like almost 1100% DV? I don't understand. If you were "lacking protein" and needed, let's say 20g a day, wouldn't you just get 20g a day instead of taking supplements to get 220g a day? Or is this not the same scenario? I'm extremely confused lol. Gerard

So I know this girl in high school...she says she's "anemic". She's Italian and takes iron supplements but says "it doesn't do anything" so I'm guessing it's Sickle Cell Anemia and not just Anemia, but she doesn't know. Once she finds out, I'll inform you guys. Here's the thing: She wants to become a vegetarian (or so she says), but her doctor told her she "can't" because she "needs" the iron from meat. I tried convincing her that vegetarians don't lack iron, and used myself as an example. I asked her how I could lack iron if I eat 6-8 times a day, when one of the symptoms of iron deficiency is lack of appetite. Her mom did "research" and "found out" that vegetarianism makes her condition worse, so her mom won't allow her to become a vegetarian. I told her that it wasn't true, but her reply was "y did they say it then on the computer". As you guys can see, she's uncertain because of all the myths out there. So how can I help her out more than I have already? I've tried showing her www.meat.org, scientific evidence on how humans are herbivores, and vegan bodybuilders on this site....nothing seems to be working. Do any of you guys have Sickle Cell? Any advice? Thanks, Gerard

Are you sure that bendable nails means a lack of calcium? I thought it was more genetic... Mine are sort of bendable, I guess? They never break though, even when hit hard. Also, they don't get any harder in the summer, when I'm getting more vitamin D to absorb more calcium. Just wondering...