Why do we have this holiday? Nobody knows, and anyone claiming to know is wrong. Let's make today another day to celebrate the empowerment of veganism. Every vegan I have ever met is shocked that he or she once lived as a non-vegan. Everything we once thought about nutrition, animal suffering, and protein was wrong. After all, March is National Nutrition Month, let's relate everything back to this month's theme.
Before becoming a vegan, I had no idea how healthy leafy green vegetables are. Sure, they were a vegetable and they were good for me, but I just thought they were good to eat on occasion. It turns out though, leafy green vegetables are the most nutritious food on the planet.
With a wealth of vitamins, iron, calcium, fiber, and antioxidants, the leafy green vegetables surpass almost every food on the planet. The only thing calories lack are calories, which brings up the question where do we get our calories from?
Starches! Brown rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, oats, and wheat are all rich in calories compared to leafy greens. Before becoming vegan I had no idea it was possible to eat all my food for the day as merely vegetables. Most of my calories came from fatty animal products. With starches I get more than enough calories to cover all my daily needs.
I had no idea what was required to produce animal products before becoming vegan. Tens of billions of animals are killed each year to feed people. This means an untold amount of pain and suffering is brought into this world to make food for humans. There is absolutely no reason this has to be so.
It depresses me that people have no idea what kind of pain it takes to make meat and other animal products. I would strongly recommend the film Eathlings for anyone interested in learning about the issue.
First things first, there is no such thing as a protein deficiency in the Western world. Protein deficiency can only exist due to a lack of calorie consumption. All foods contain proteins, not just meat, milk, and eggs.
I was Wrong about Nutrition
With a wealth of vitamins, iron, calcium, fiber, and antioxidants, the leafy green vegetables surpass almost every food on the planet. The only thing calories lack are calories, which brings up the question where do we get our calories from?
Starches! Brown rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, oats, and wheat are all rich in calories compared to leafy greens. Before becoming vegan I had no idea it was possible to eat all my food for the day as merely vegetables. Most of my calories came from fatty animal products. With starches I get more than enough calories to cover all my daily needs.
I was Wrong about Animal Suffering
It depresses me that people have no idea what kind of pain it takes to make meat and other animal products. I would strongly recommend the film Eathlings for anyone interested in learning about the issue.
I was Wrong about Protein
Vegan diets are absolutely fine when it comes to protein needs that exist. As mentioned, nobody suffers from issues related to a lack of protein except for those not consuming an adequate amount of calories. Furthmore, plant proteins are actually superior to animal proteins.
If you want to stay in the conception that some foods are good for certain things and are other good for others, think of beans. Whole beans are extremely rich in protein compared to many vegetable foods. I highly recommend consuming daily consumption of 1/2 Cup to 1 Cup of beans a day. Along with the protein, beans are rich in fiber and many beans are extremely rich in antioxidants.
By Mat McNeile
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