Why I Chose a Vegetarian Diet and What I Learned

Some people become a vegetarian or a vegan for different reasons. For health reasons, animal rights, environmental or religious reasons. I became a strict vegetarian or actually a vegan for health reasons in 1990. A strict vegetarian or vegan eats no animal foods. Why I Became a Vegetarian During my teens and early 20s, I was very athletic, playing all kinds of sports, running, jumping on a trampoline and working in jobs that were physical, then I stopped being as active and sat at a desk. Even though I was no longer as active as I used to be, I continued to eat the same foods and amounts. During this time I ate the normal diet of red meat, BBQ, white potatoes and sugary deserts. By the time I was 30, my knees, shoulders and back ached and hurt to the point it was miserable to get out of bed. A friend who was a vegan gave me two books to read. One book was called “12 Days to Dynamic Health” By Dr. John McDougall and the second book was “Confessions of a Kamikaze Cowboy” by Dirk Benedict the macrobiotic diet. Confessions of a Kamikaze Cowboy was written by the actor Dirk Benedict, who played Starbuck on the original Battlestar Galactica and Face on The A-Team, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer and turned to macrobiotics to heal. His book is about his journey of how a macrobiotic diet cured him of this cancer. 12 Days to Dynamic Health was written by Dr. John McDougall who is a renowned doctor, author, vegetarian and has his own health and weight loss clinic. This diet is a strict vegetarian or vegan meal plan you do for 12 days. It will detoxify and clean out all of the past chemicals, meat and poisons you have been eating. His book has real life examples of people who went on this diet and lowered their high blood pressure, got rid of arthritis and were able to either reduce or completely eliminate certain medications for a number of health problems. What I Learned Being a Vegetarian I continued to read other books about a vegetarian diet and macrobiotics and I did believe that the types of food I ate affected how I felt and my health. From the macrobiotic books I learned how healthy miso and brown rice were. From the Dr. McDougall book, I learned how to eat the right foods and feel healthier. Changing to a vegetarian diet wasn’t easy. The McDougal plan allows no animal foods, no caffeine, no sugar and no dairy or cheese. Giving up coffee was hard and the caffeine withdrawal was miserable with the headaches for about a week. Giving up cheese and meat wasn’t easy either. The first week of the McDougall plan was not easy, since getting rid of toxins from your body can actually make you feel worse than before. Some people reported their face breaking out, stomach aches and feeling sick like the flu or a cold. This is normal as your body cleanses out the toxins. I remember stomach aches and being light headed. After 12 days, I did notice my knees didn’t ache anymore and my head was clear. My energy levels climbed dramatically, this could have been because I no longer drank coffee with sugar. Caffeine and sugar can cause your energy levels to surge and then drop back in the afternoon. A vegetarian diet or vegan diet if done healthy and properly will also lower the amount of sodium in your diet, there is not a lot of sodium in healthy food. I checked my blood pressure before I started this diet and throughout the 12 days. I did not have high pressure that would require medication, but it wasn’t perfect either. By the end of two weeks, my blood pressure was a perfect 110/70. I lost body fat, had much more energy and my knees and joints didn’t ache anymore. Continuing the Vegetarian Diet Experiment After several months of this strict vegetarian or vegan diet, I wanted a pizza. I ordered one and the first thing I noticed was how salty it tasted. So salty, it reminded me of a time I was in the ocean and got the salt water in my mouth. The next thing I noticed was how greasy and fatty it tasted. The first couple of bites tasted good and after that I didn’t want anymore. I learned that by changing my diet to a vegan diet, I actually changed my tastes and taste buds. I wondered if adding anything to my diet would make me feel bad again. I started to drink coffee again with sugar and my energy levels dropped dramatically in the afternoon and my knees and body started to ache again. I believe the sugar was a main cause of my aching body. Cheese can also cause inflammation and knees and other joints to ache. I went back to my vegetarian diet and again felt better. Switching Foods to a Vegetarian Diet In 1990, there was not the huge amount of vegan foods that there is today, so eating a vegetarian diet was just beans, grains and a lot of vegetables. Some examples of vegan foods that I ate on a regular basis: Pasta and today whole grain pasta and the pasta sauce had a lot of vegetables and mushrooms. Onion, lettuce and tomato sandwich on whole grain toast with Dijon mustard. Chili without meat, lots of vegetables and different kinds of beans Instead of coffee I drank herbal teas, bancha tea, Teeceno and Postum. Unfortunately, they don’t make Postum anymore. Brown rice and Quinoa Sweet potatoes Bean burritos Cold pasta salads in the summer There are many different foods and combinations you can have and once you change your taste buds, you will enjoy these foods and will not miss the overly salty and fatty foods. Unlike 1990, today there are all kinds of fake hamburgers, sausage, ham and so-called vegan or vegetarian foods. But read the ingredients as many of these foods are becoming more and more like unhealthy processed foods. Adding Meat to my Diet After years of eating a vegetarian or vegan diet, I started reading about omega-3 fatty acids and I realized I might not be getting enough. The macrobiotic diet allows some fish in their diet, so I did start to eat fish again once in a while. Not farmed fish, but wild caught fish. During the winter, I now add some grass-fed beef or buffalo to chili and burritos. What I Learned about Healthy Food and Being a Vegetarian You can change your body, health and how you feel simply by changing your diet. Here is what I learned about being a vegetarian. Eating a vegetarian diet amazingly got rid of my knee pains and all other arthritic joint pains. Eliminating chemical laden processed food and high sodium foods helped me feel much better. My blood pressure lowered to 110/70 My energy level was even and good all day long without the ups and downs. My digestive system worked great If you are trying to lose weight quickly, too many carbs, even healthy carbs can hinder weight loss. Cheese, feedlot red meat, deli meat and sugar can really make you feel terrible. By changing your diet to a vegetarian diet and then modifying your diet slightly can drastically help your feel better, heal medical problems and reduce or eliminate medications you take.