BE AFRAID. BE VERY AFRAID (OF BEING VEGAN)
Sid Hillman here. I have to write that because it says Stanford as the author, but I've been on this blog for almost a year, so take note, yo. Especially since I've gotten some responses that are directed toward Jeff....
Okee dokee...what's up with the title of this blog? I'll tell you. In fact I'll blog on it. In a way, I'm metablogging. But I digress.
I have been reading up on fear. I see it as so prevalent in the lives of most human beings: fear of the future, fear of dying, fear of success, fear of failure. I most recently read Krishnamurti's 'On Fear.' Why all this reading on fear? Well, as I engage in conversations with people regarding diet, nutrition, the environment, compassion (all things vegan), I notice that even in the face of overwhelming facts, research, and experience, people are still stone-cold afraid of giving up animal protein. There I'll be, healthier than the person I'm having the discussion with, and they'll be absolutely astonished that I'm even able to stand without eating animals. My wife just gave birth to twins two weeks ago--she was vegan the whole way through. Now two weeks afterward, she looks amazing and is only 9 lbs. over what her weight was when we conceived. Her skin, hair, nails etc. are super healthy (i.e. no indications of malnutrition whatsoever). Yet, during the pregnancy, when some people found out she was going to continue to be vegan throughout the pregnancy, they acted like we were taking the hugest risk by doing so.
Here's the dealio on that. EATING ANIMALS IS THE RISKIEST DIET ON EARTH FOR HUMAN BEINGS. Being vegan is natural, easy and super healthy...Now, can you be an unhealthy vegan? Yep, just like you can be an unhealthy animal eater. All things being equal, though, it is much much healthier to not consume animal protein. In my nutritional course I just read recently that mothers who consume dairy while they are breastfeeding are increasing the risk of their children becoming diabetic. Again, not feeding the baby cow's milk, but just breastfeeding the baby while consuming cow's milk. How many mothers have you known who have consumed milk products during pregnancy and breastfeeding? My guess is pretty dang close to 100%. It was estimated in the last issue of VegNews, that the upper level number of vegans in this country is around 744,000. That substantially less than 1% of our population. Meanwhile, cancer, heart disease, diabetes etc. are all on the rise (as is arthritis, osteoporosis etc.). Birth defects are on the rise. Autism is on the rise. Half of all twin pregnancies are born before 34 weeks.
All these things are not because of the .2% of the population. Is it really risky to give up animal protein? Hmmm.