Got into some back and forth between the carnivores and the vegans, both of which considers the other to be completely wrong, with studies to back up their positions, when I realized that neither I nor any one in my family (with one exception, a nephew with a peanut allergy) has any problems with any kinds of food. We don't get fat, and we don't have allergies. A little depression here and there, but we are very fortunate in this regard. Now every second person is obese, or diabetic, or depressed, or has heart disease. There are skin rashes and arthritis and cancers and irritable bowels. Lactose intolerance, nightshade reactions, and on and on. Any theories why some people can't eat anything and others can eat everything?
You could just use moderation. It doesn't have to be all or nothing. You can still get many of the benefits from a vegetarian diet by just eating smaller portions of meat, and not eating it at every meal, for example. Maybe the best of both worlds.
Allergies are thought to be a response to 'hygeine', though there may be other factors contributing. Most of the problems we see today (obesity, diabetes, etc) are result of our horribly sedentary lifestyle. Add a high fat diet to that mix, and you get what we got. And yes, the fattest people are those who eat the largest amounts of meat and dairy. It's extraordinarily difficult to become obese when you live on rice, vegetables, and fish.
That's basically the traditional Japanese diet, except the fish is often fatty mackerel, and sometimes they'll throw in fried tofu. Maybe an egg thrown in there, but it's not very much egg. A few of the vegetables might be fried with the tiniest bit of oil, but they don't use very much. In very ancient times they subsisted on horse chestnuts, which are pretty starchy but also contain a fairly low amount of fat. Today in Japan they're not very popular but are considered a rare delicacy. In Asia, the fatty cuts of meat are often valued more than the lean cuts, the opposite of America. Though they traditionally keep the portions of meat small because meat was very expensive.
My diet is typically seasfood, brown rice, vegetables, tofu, fruits, berries, and various seeds and nuts. A few times a year I will go hunting (during hunting seasons), and bag a deer, moose, elk, boar, wild goat, bighorn sheep, rabbit, duck, goose, wild turkey (so much better than farmed turkey), and other game animals. This is typically the only meat I eat. But I will use every part of the animal, and make various dishes and cuts, and the meat from my hunts can typically last me 3 or 4 months since I don't eat it all at once. If I get several animals in a year I can make the meet last a 6 months. I do not eat dairy or eggs, or honey. I drink only water, tea, coffee (rarely), juices, and wine. Everyday I will also drink a class of brandy. I very rarely drink beer. I do smoke a pipe and cigars sometimes, but I grow my own, organic tobacco, with no chemicals or additives.
Exactly. And yes, the portions of animal protein are WAY smaller than the standard Western portion. They probably consume about a tenth of the amount that the average American meat eater consumes.
Their meat is always cut up into little pieces and mixed with other ingredients, typically vegetables. American people could learn something.
