ive recently bought and am halfway through "the china study" .. im going to quit meat when im done with it..
but im curious as to what changes physical/psychological i will face when i do..
ive heard that quitting meat makes you weaker, more lethargic and thinnens your hair??
but the book is basically saying meat-is-death.. so which is most valid?
if your a vegatarian.. could you describe any changes you felt in your body and being when you quit meat?
thanks,
I became a vegetarian a little over 4 years ago. It wasn't so much a conscious decision as a physical one. Rather quickly, like over the span of about a month or so, I found myself becoming disgusted and then to the point of nauseated by chicken. I stopped eating it. Then I found the same thing happen with beef and pork and eventually fish. I basically stopped eating all meat by the end of that month. Even the thought of eating meat would, and still does, make my nose wrinkle.
As for weight problems, I'm probably not a good one to ask. I weigh the exact same now as I did in high school (many years and 3 kids years ago). But I never had problems gaining/losing weight. I had my blood drawn and analyzed last year for a physical and I ended up having a higher protein count than my meat eating husband. I never feel weak or lethargic. My hair is as thick and full as it always been. Perhaps you should look at what those claiming this ailments eat before you attribute them to vegetarianism. Being a vegetarian doesn't mean filling up on ice cream, chips and twinkies. You can eat foods without meat and get weak because you still aren't eating healthy. I do eat the 'fake' meat like soy strips or the Quorn products. They have a lot of protein in them. But I also eat a lot of grains (breads, pasta, beans). And I love veggies too. I feel much better physically than I ever did. My whole body feels lighter and cleaner than ever before. Not sure if its related or not, but I also haven't had so much as a stuffy nose in the past 3-4 years. I'm VERY healthy, despite living with and caring for my kids when they come home with colds.
I also read the China Study this past fall and was very impressed with the content, studies and stastical results. I have since become a quasi-vegan as well. I say quasi, because I will consume bread in restaurants, which usually contains one or two eggs. But I don't eat cooked eggs any longer. I use soy milk (Silk is the BEST), vegan butter and soy frozen yogurt/ice cream. I switched to soy milk and other non-dairy products in January. And when I ran out of my soy milk, I used the whole milk that the rest of my family uses. I couldn't drink it. It made me want to gag. I'm assuming my body is telling me that now that its 'clean' it doesn't want that stuff in it anymore, so I'm complying.
Hope that helps!
I finished The China Study about a month ago, and changed to a vegan diet based on the information I read. My diet before was heavily meat and dairy based (although I did switch to soy milk about a year ago anyway), so it was a fairly big change for me. I no longer want meat, and in-fact I find it quite disgusting at times (which makes it much easier not to eat!), but other dairy products (cheese and eggs especially) were the hardest to give up.
I have experienced a few noticable differences in how I feel since the change:
- I'm sleeping better, and more deeply
- I have more energy during the day and my mind seems a bit sharper (most likely helped by better sleep)
- I tend to feel more 'full' after eating less, but I get hungry more often. I now tend to eat smaller portions more often throughout the day
- My hair is still all there ;)
I
know that this is a better diet, and my body is already responding positively. I won't say it's
easy -- especially if you go "all the way" and cut out dairy and any other animal-based foods -- but it's definitely worth it. I'm looking forward to more positive changes in the future. :)
thanks for the very helpful responses :)
could you emphasise the mental changes? ie do you feel more spiritual?? like when you say you feel "lighter" could this be that your vibrational state has increased??
thanks again!
when i stopped eating meat i became more psychic ... had more energy etc..
i think that is a bunch of bull... my opinion is that the insurance companies dont want you to know the truth about not eating meat because they are afraid of losing money ... thats why they dont release ... "government top secret information" about the spiritual world ..
Quotelike when you say you feel "lighter" could this be that your vibrational state has increased??
That isn't what I meant. This was a physical referrel. Basically I don't feel as heavy as I used to before. And I'm not sure how to describe it. It isn't so much about my weight -- that hasn't changed. It's more of an internal feeling. And its weird because I never felt heavy or 'dirty' before I stopped eating meat. I guess my body was in a state that it had always been in and didn't know any better, so I never thought any thing about it. But after dropping meat, I felt physically lighter, cleaner, healthier. And I would never have been able to realize or understand what I'm describing if I hadn't experienced it myself. My only suggestion would be to drop all meat products from your diet for 1 month and see how you feel. You will probably understand what I'm saying after only 2 weeks, but definately within a month.
As for other mental changes, I just feel better about myself. I haven't noticed much difference in that area, barring creativity. I have noticed an increase in my creative ability -- not so much an increase in the quality, but in the thoughts and imagination. I feel more open and aware of things I wasn't really noticing earlier. Not sure if that makes sense or not.
me too novice.. me too :lol:
I went vegan 5 years ago, after a 5 day fast. Before it I left, progressively, meat, fish, eggs and dairy. I must admit that dairy was what I most liked, but it hurt my digestive system even more than meat. I ate a yogurt and it felt like a rock falling down my esophagi.
My mind has passed through different stages since then. It seemed I entered an overall process of detoxification, not only in my intestines, but in my entire life. Everything changed in a few years and my life is now completely distinct.
Anyway think of every step as a new variable to be added to the whole formula. Going veg will help, for sure, but there are more aspects to integrate in your life.
As another folk has said, I also started to repudiate meat and fish after going vegan. And going out with friends can be a problem if the restaurant doesn't show any interest in serving you veg. But it's worth the effort to veganize.
I'm veggie and I noticed that I don't crave meat at all... I went to the best ribs place in town with my family the other night, and I had no urge to consume any of the meat that was served, I just stuck to my veggie burger. I feel much more relaxed, sleep deeper, and feel, again, lighter. Also, ever since I went veggie, i noticed that I feel much purer, which I like...
Going veg is really not that hard when you actually try...