How much of your time do you think about what you’re eating?
Do you ever think about the impact your food choices have on the environment?
One unique challenge I have is that I’m a vegan in the South . While eating a healthy diet has become a lifestyle for me, it’s sometimes viewed as offensive by local restaurateurs. Vegetarian, or even remotely healthy, options are few and far between at the typical “mom and pop” restaurants. Any chains have healthy options ordered so infrequently that when they are ordered oftentimes the ingredients are freezer-burned, expired or out of stock, or the kitchen simply doesn’t know how to prepare them. I could tell you horror stories here, but let’s just clarify: bacon does not count as a vegetable, nor does cheese, and thank you so very much for carefully hiding that pepperoni under the tomatoes on my pizza.
While it may seem like a “first world problem” to be frustrated when served meat, dairy and eggs when they are explicitly stated that I do not want them; I feel like I should give you some background. Whenever I would eat a meal it was “normal” for me to lay in the fetal position on the couch until the heartburn or gas subsided. This made mealtimes stressful and awful. Food was my enemy and I didn’t know how to combat it other than to take a pill. Omitting dairy and meat (and eventually eggs) from my diet was not only necessary; it freed me from feeling like I was trapped by food. I had more energy, heartburn was a thing of the past and I was healthier and lost the weight I had gained in college. Now, I’m not one of those evangelical vegans who will insist that you read Skinny Bitch or become a member of PETA, but I do encourage you to take a good look at what you put into your body. You may be surprised how much your diet really does impact everything about your life.
That old, “You are what you eat,” adage? It’s true.
Think about it: if the foods that you consume contain synthetic dyes, hormones, excessive fats, sugars, salt and preservatives… you’re probably going to end up feeling pretty gross after you eat that meal. Additionally thinking a little bit about where your foods come from (“Did an animal suffer to produce this meal?” or “How far did this have to travel before arriving on my plate?”) makes you a more conscious consumer. So what does this have to do with philosophy?
“Until he extends the circle of his compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace.”
–Albert Schweitzer, French philosopher, physician, and musician (Nobel 1952)
Here are five reasons why being a vegan can clarify your thoughts and allow you to be a better philosopher:
1. A diet with variety will never leave you bored.
According to the Vegetarian Resource Group the key to a healthy vegan diet is variety. Lots of color, lots of sources (grains, fruits, beans, nuts, vegetables, leafy greens) and lots of flavor. Vegans (and omnivores alike) are also encouraged to get ten to fifteen minutes of sun on the hands and face two to three times a week in order to get the requirement of Vitamin D. The sun makes us all a little happier!
2. A vegan diet will allow you to hone your ethical skills.
Ethics are a hugs aspect of considering a vegan diet. If not for the health benefits, choosing a vegan diet can also allow you to formulate ideas and arguments that support and protect all creatures on the planet. Peter Singer’s The Ethics of What We Eat is a primary example of a philosopher examining the ethical dilemma we face with food choices.
3. A vegan diet will allow you to explore the foods and customs of other cultures and countries.
Indian, Afghan, Greek, Thai, Japanese, Ethiopian… all delicious options that have plentiful vegan options. Eating a vegan diet will force you to eat outside your comfort zone and allow you many new experiences, flavors and cultures.
4. You will have more energy and brain-power to devote to thinking.
So-called “brain foods” make up a significant portion of the vegan diet. Brain foods such as:
Nuts, Mushrooms, Onions, Millet, Grapefruit
5. You won’t be alone ordering from the vegan menu.
Many noted philosophers and thinkers (including, but not limited to: Plato, Pythagoras, Ghandi, Tolstoy, Einstein and Leonardo da Vinci) were vegan or vegetarian.
What is the biggest obstacle you face when considering a vegan lifestyle?
From Henry David Thoreau’s Walden:
“One farmer says to me, ‘You cannot live on vegetable food solely, for it furnishes nothing to make bones with’; and so he religiously devotes a part of his day to supplying his system with the raw material of bones; walking all the while he talks behind his oxen, which, with vegetable-made bones, jerk him and his lumbering plow along in spite of every obstacle.”
I just got a great question from someone interested in starting a vegan lifestyle – here’s what I told him:
Hi J,
First off – tofu is delicious if you learn how to cook it well, and really really disgusting if you don’t. If you click on “being vegan in the south” link it links back to my personal blog with a post about what I do when eating out. Some great cookbooks:
Skinny Bitch in the Kitch (Simple recipes and a great starter cookbook – Skinny Bitch is a book that will outline why you should become a vegan, in a not so nice way, but if you’re already headed that direction it may give you some sayings to get stuck in your head when making food choices… but i’ll warn you it’s pretty sensationalist).
Veganomicon (vegan)
The Moosewood Cookbook (flagship vegetarian cookbook)
The Joy of Vegan Baking (for your sweet tooth)
You can also pretty much substitute anything in for “meat, eggs or cheese” in recipes. Eliminating cheese is actually really easy, and you’ll find that with a little added spice or Nutritional Yeast you won’t miss it (or the yucky greasy feeling it leaves you with). Egg substitute (like the one I used in this post – http://honeywithoutflowers.blogspot.com/2012/10/cinnamon-roasted-almonds.html) is inexpensive and easy to use.
I hope that helps!
-L
Seriously, if you ever need any more suggestions let me know! I don’t like to be as vocal about my diet because there are so many evangelical vegans out there, but I’d love to help in any way I can. Good luck!
I am curious about this appeal to vegan food being brain food. Can you give an example if a study or set of studies that support this point?
I ask because (1) I am truly curious and (2) some theories of human evolution credit meat eating for our larger brains (and cognitive benefits thereof). If being vegan is better for our brains, then I wonder how those theories stand up.
Nick, thank you for your comment! In response to your first question “an example of a study” – this site (http://www.onlineuniversity.net/20-foods-that-will-increase-your-studying-effectiveness/) is not a tremendous source itself but appropriately links to other sources for you and explains why eating more of certain foods can help your brain functionality. I teach university courses about healthy study habits and spend a tremendous amount of time discussing diet and its connection with your ability to think and process information. (Thank you for inspiring a future post! I could literally go on for pages on this topic)
(1) This New York Times article (http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/04/17/is-veganism-good-for-everyone/meat-is-brain-food) asks some similar questions that you did, but rather than just send you on your merry way with some links I’ll provide a little summary with my thoughts here. First pay close attention that “only concentrated dietary sources” – which is another way to say “you can get this somewhere else if you eat more of it” – Vitamin D (the sun, fortified orange juice), Vitamin B12 (vitamin supplements, soy-based ‘meat’ substitute products, fortified cereals), Omega-3 fatty acids (flaxseed), heme-iron (this is not in the vegan diet since it is derived from blood, but iron that is consumed can be more easily absorbed by simultaneously consuming vitamin c), and conjugated linoleic acid (a supplement for weight loss that is still under-researched and controversial). It seems the largest opposition to vegan diets is that it’s considered extra work and requires some research; the fact of the matter is that (generally) Americans are not willing to change their lifestyle to maintain their health, they would prefer to pop a pill or have a quick procedure done.
(2) First I’m so happy that you ask this question. As a biologist I also spend a great deal of time considering this topic. When hunting and fishing was a primary source for humans (or human pre-cursers) to get protein this makes your statement accurate – and cognitive ability to develop the agriculture and farming that we currently have and freed our species up to focus on things other than survival, hunting and gathering. However, trade with other countries and the vast wealth of dietary research that’s out there has allowed us to be knowledgeable about the content of our food and has given us the power to design a diet that meets all of our biological (and neurological) needs ourselves. Sure, eating a steak would be easier than combining more ingredients, but the result is the same.
The objective and integrity of this article is questionable. There are many religions, communities, ethnic groups, who lives for 1000s of years old and follow strict veg. diet and are living healthy life. So, the health issue is just an excuse.
Veganism is not a so called religion and hence does not have a handbook like Bible or Quran to define it’s guidelines and/or objective. Veganism comes from human common senses. Veganism is not just compassion or diet or rejecting leather or fur.
For few moments, forget veganism. In the current global situation of highly unbalanced “Consumer and Resource”, looking to the future, the only option you can do is “Consume for need, Not for greed”. Yes, you are right, do not drive your car unless needed, take a walk or put off the AC and light when leaving the room and save power. Imagine, you are stranded in a small island with limited resources. Initially we will survive with fruits. Then you will kill animals to survive. That’s natural. After few years, if you do not have anything left to eat and you have a pet and, you’ll kill your pet and eat, inorder to survive and that’s also natural. But the first day, overlooking all fruits and vegetables, if you look for food and consume to satisfy your taste buds instead of hunger, that’s unnatural. There are many tribes who live in mountains, above 16000 feet, where no vegetable grows. And to survive that temperature and maintain body heat, red meat is necessary for them. That too is natural. In nature, all dies brutally. Deers are eaten alive, Lions, at old age cannot hunt, become weak and lie nearly dead. Then the scavengers like eagles eat them alive. So, cruelty/brutality is not the point. The only point is necessity. When a lion hunts a deer, it’s not a luxury for him. It takes a great pain for him to hunt to arrange his daily food. But when we buy a turkey to have a great feast in the week-end that’s unnecessary luxury.
Now, come back to veganism. It says the same thing; “Consume for need not for greed”. One need to understand that in the current world, we are “Slaves in the hand of Giant Multinationals”. We are just consumers and they control what we think, eat and/or live. There are multi-billion dollar industry and billion people’s daily earning are directly dependent on it. Now it’s a “System” and we are a part of this “System” and are so deeply rooted, physically and mentally that it’s not easy to come out of it. Veganism speaks against this “System” and urges to come out of this slavery system.
Lastly, think twice, what you had done till date, what you can do till you alive? What is your lifetime’s contribution? Just, eat and survive ? After you, does it matter what car you had or how much you saved in bank? Even you grand-children will not remember any of you activity. Contribute something. That’s what Veganism(No matter by what term you call it) urges. It not only for animal right. It’s for all species to survive, It’s for human race to survive. As an individual, veganism is the option that one can do in his lifetime, for our world to survive and be a better place to live in.