I’m not a small person, so I don’t look that
heavy (I think so anyway), but I am overweight and have developed some
health issues. My cholesterol is up, as is my blood sugar (there’s diabetes in
my family), my back plays up occasionally and I’ve developed sleep apnoea. I
have no intention of becoming a vegetarian, but I can see the writing on the
wall: industrial meat production had gone beyond distasteful and alienating to
become disgusting and dangerous (its link to global warming doesn’t help).
Traditional, natural ingredients are becoming rare, and respectable scientific
studies point towards the health benefits of eating more plant-based foods and
fewer meat-based ones.
For me, the combination of cholesterol, blood
sugar and apnoea was the real trigger. My problems are scary and, according to
my doctor, easily remedied. For the cholesterol, I can take
cholesterol-lowering drugs or eat less meat; for the blood sugar, I must eat
fewer sweets; for the apnoea, I have to lose 15% of my body weight. Everything
points to a simpler style of eating. So I’ve started following a diet that is nearly
“vegan until six”.
Now, until
dinner, I eat almost no animal products and no simple carbohydrates (no white-flour products, junk food, or sugar-heavy
snacks). At dinner, I eat as I always have, sometimes a sizeable meal including
animal products, bread, dessert, a glass of wine or a beer.., or sometimes just
a salad and a bowl of soup. Late night snacking; I’ve switched from
potato-crisps to maize-based crisps (love my Nik Naks). I’m also taking several
long walks each week, going to attempt to be more active in my workplace and
making better use of the gym membership.
Though
few nutritionists would disapprove, this plan may seem counter-intuitive. The opposite schedule
(eating the day’s heaviest meal for lunch or breakfast) may make more sense for
many people, but it suits me. I detest overly prescriptive diets, and the point is to eat more vegetables, fruits,
legumes and wholegrains, and less meat, sugar, junk food and over-refined
carbohydrates, without giving up the foods I love.
I’ve
just started applying this ‘diet’ to my lifestyle from the beginning of this
year, 2012; so it's just been a few days and can’t speak to any personal results or benefits thereof yet. But I’m going to let
you in on the expected results; as related by the author and protagonist of
the program, MARK BITTMAN (aged 57, weak-kneed and weighing in at 97kg):
“My results were striking. I had little trouble eating this way, I began feeling and sleeping better, and I didn't think much about
it for a month or two. It just made sense. A month later, I’d lost 7kg. A month
after that, both my cholesterol and my blood sugar were down, well into the
normal range (my cholesterol went from 240 to 180). My apnoea was gone, and I was sleeping through the night.
Within
four months, I had lost 16kg and weighed less than I had in 30 years. In fact,
of all my diet-related ailments, only my knees didn’t respond. (Oh well, one
does age.) My weight has stabilised, and - perhaps more importantly -
I’m at home with this way of eating. My
doctor was very happy with my progress. (Check with yours first.)
Today I eat about a third as much meat, dairy and even fish as I did a few years ago. (Farmed
fish has many of the same issues as farmed land animals, including antibiotic
use and environmental damage.) I eat few refined carbohydrates. But if there’s
good white bread at dinner, I attack it, and I still have pasta a couple of
times a week. I eat almost no junk food. I eat about three or four times more
plant foods (such as green leafy vegetables) than before; probably 50%
of my kilojoules now come from
non-animal sources.
For
some people, a shift of 10% of kilojoules from animal to plant may feel
significant, though I doubt it. It would be the equivalent of maybe not having
chicken on a Caesar salad at lunch. A person making that kind of shift, along
with cutting way back on junk food and carbohydrates, might still see positive
health changes. But a shift of 50% - replacing half your animal kilojoules with
plant ones - would be a significant change and need a conscious effort.
Let’s
see how it goes – please say a little prayer for my future efforts folks! You’re welcome
to join me. Thanks and God bless ~ SB
Posting on behalf of Martin Harvey:
ReplyDeleteQuote:
In the autumn of 1975, there was a documentary on TV about famine in Ethiopia; people were dying in tens of thousands but they were still exporting food to Britain – to feed farm animals! My wife and I looked at each other and agreed that we did not want to be any part of that so we stopped buying meat. We told our three children what we were doing and why and said they can eat what they like when they are out, but there would be no more meat at home.
As it happened, we were already having two meatless days each week simply because of the expense, so it was not that much of a “sacrifice”. It took us over a year to learn proper vegetarian cooking which is very different to traditional meat cooking but without the meat.
We now have far more variety in our diet than ever we had before and we are healthier. Friends and family who come to stay enjoy their food as much as ever.
The more we learn about modern farming, the more we are convinced that it is unhealthy, unethical and the reverse of all spiritual values. No sentient beings have their lives cut short in fear (and sometimes brutality) that our lives may continue. The sixth commandment says Thou shalt not kill. I apply this to all living creatures, for it supports my spiritual development.
Furthermore, raising animals for slaughter takes up far more ground than growing food for us to eat. I foresee that at some future point, the population of this planet will be forced to stop eating beef, pork and lamb or slowly starve, especially the poorest.
Can you imagine a piece of ground the size of five football pitches? Growing meat on it will feed two people for one year. Growing soya it would feed sixty one!
All power to your dietary change! May it bring you many truly delicious surprises!
Martin
Unquote:
Thanks for your insights Mr Harvey (",)