10 facts about veganism: everything you imagined about vegans, but were embarrassed to check, will be confirmed or denied by a fresh adherent of veganism, who has been diligently studying the topic for a trimester already.
Adda Ald
1. Differentiate between veganism and raw food.
Veganism is the rejection of the products of exploitation of animals (sometimes insects). The term “raw food” speaks for itself, and it does not necessarily exclude animal products.
A raw food diet is dangerous, because it has been little studied – the benefits of veganism have been proven. There are no adequate (that is, sufficiently long and high-quality) studies confirming the benefits of a raw food diet. On the contrary, one of the most authoritative and cited books in favor of veganism is The China Study by Colin Campbell. After analyzing the diet and its impact on health among residents of 66 counties in China for more than 20 years, he concludes that the optimal diet for people is whole plant foods. Moreover, this conclusion is the result not only of a major Chinese program, but also of the entire forty-year practice of medical and biological research by Dr. Campbell, one of the leading experts in the field of biochemistry.
This study is called the largest in science. It is noteworthy that it “broke the brain” not only to hardened meat-eaters around the world, but also to scientific and medical circles in the United States. Still: it pours a heavy bag of stones into the gardens of the meat, dairy, egg industries, the pharmaceutical industry and medicine, which are not at all interested in us, like the Olympic athletes of the ancient world, eating plants.
Now this book is my argument in case of bewilderment on the part of meat-eaters. And the argument, I’ll tell you, is diamond. But if you, having leafed through it, even looking into the sources indicated in the footnotes, still succumb to the alluring aroma of fried flesh – God is with you completely, succumb. In fact, it is necessary to somehow control the population, the Earth is not rubber.
2. Yes, nutrition can really prevent and cure cancer.
And yes, with the help of nutrition, it is true that it is possible to prevent and cure not only the “diseases of the civilized and the rich”, but also cancer. The real reason that prompted Campbell to initiate the 27-year laboratory program was the desire to understand the mechanisms of cancer formation and the relationship of this process with nutrition. Long before that, while participating in a national project to work with malnourished children, he found that those Filipino children whose diet was rich in protein were more likely to develop liver cancer. Further research in this area convinced the scientist that it is possible to stimulate and stop the development of cancer only by changing the level of protein intake, and animal protein plays a decisive role in provoking cancer.
3. No, you do not need to count calories and balance fat / protein / carbohydrates.
Unlike popular diets that abuse the attention of those who want to lose weight or get healthy, healthy eating has only one rule: whole, plant foods. Well, moderation: everything can be both poison and medicine, depending on the dose.
It is not necessary to eat imitations of ordinary food. Even undesirable: mauvais ton. It’s like giving up fur, and at the same time buying an artificial fur coat, but so cleverly forged that the green activists will not notice the substitution and douse you with paint. It’s better to just change the food structure, and then we will be almost like the heroes of “Avatar” (the ones from Pandora), and not “Valli”.
And it’s not expensive! In the future, it is cheaper to eat vegetables than animal products; people all over the world do this for economic reasons or simple need.
4. You can be a fat vegan.
I know people whose body mass index is significantly below normal, but they are omnivores. It is quite possible to be a fat vegan if you lean on fried convenience foods. Which is ethical, but not to yourself, since you will die anyway, and sooner rather than later. As for me, since I am a vegan, and that is the fourth month, my weight has not changed one kilogram.
5. Veganism is not about living longer.
Or not only about it. It is about life, the universe and in general. About the interconnection of everything and everything and about not harming anyone. About freedom and equality. About the lack of exploitation (you don’t like that your boss is cashing in on you, that taxes are evaporated by exhausts from the exhaust pipe of a high-ranking official’s Volkswagen, but you eat broiler chickens and wear the skins of minks killed through the anus? Mmm, smacks of hypocrisy, don’t you think?). About awareness and joy, about the art of living. If I had not become a vegan then, I would have continued to chew fat-free cottage cheese and cheese (fat-free is just tastier, honestly), the romance of the harvest, unexplored fruits and new dishes would have eluded me. My taste has become thinner, I can hear the shades of aromas and enjoy the beauty of food. Purple figs, blue-red freshly squeezed pomegranate juice and purple basil – their shades are deeper than the magenta of the bottomless night sky.
6. If one vegan turned out to be inadequate, this does not mean that everyone is like that, captain.
You do not think that all people are bastards if they are faced with a single unpleasant specimen. Or do you think?
7. If you think that all darkwave musicians are vegans, which makes them despondent, you are unlikely to be right.
The realization that something is fundamentally wrong in the world does not contribute to a state of unclouded happiness, that’s for sure. But ask one of the gloomy people on the subway what determines his or her suffering: you are unlikely to be given veganism as a reason.
Let’s be honest. We all, no matter what problem we are talking about, are tired of whining and want to be constructive. Go vegan.
8. Vegans are full of enlightened people.
Everyone happens, such is life. To some, the thought of harmony with nature and the world may seem naive. What harmony?! they will say. – Outside the window without five minutes the era of cyborgs and space tourism!
Well. Perhaps for these people, the reality of The Fifth Element was a childhood dream. And I understand them: we would have such roads. But then let the carnivores not point their fingers at us, calling us strange, implying their own mental health, because this post-apocalyptic utopia clearly smacks of sadomasochism. It may well be that sadomasochism is normal, because norms are relative. But why then is the refusal to eat corpses, chicken menstruation and baby food for calves called a religion?!
And yes, of course, it encourages CSW. When I feel like a hopeless motherfucker, I can at least console myself with the thought that for some businessmen, life without animal products seems like a feat of willpower – just as it seems to me a sign of courage and independence to start a business, especially in Russia. But in fact, realizing oneself as a part of an infinitely huge organism, one can feel only humility, and not vanity or pride. For Christians, this is another way to bring their lives in line with the Holy Scripture, which says: “Thou shalt not kill”; others have a conscience instead of the Bible.
9. The benefits of veganism were obvious even to Plato and Socrates.
There is nothing new under the sun. In a conversation with Glaucon (Plato, “The State”, Book Two, 372: d), Socrates, with his trademark leading questions, deftly makes him recognize the need for a healthy diet for a healthy society. In a just, or genuine, state, meat, according to Socrates, is not eaten – this is an excess. The menu of a perfect country of animal products only mentions cheese: “It is clear that they will have salt, and olives, and cheese, and leeks, and vegetables, and they will cook some village stew. We will add some delicacies to them: figs, peas, beans; myrtle fruits and beech nuts they will roast on fire and drink wine in moderation. … they will spend their lives in peace and health and, having reached, in all likelihood, a very old age, they will die, bequeathing to their descendants the same way of life. An unhealthy society needs doctors and new territories, which means that taxes on the maintenance of the army and war are inevitable.
10. A person who consciously refused animal products is unlikely to turn off this path.
Except for medical reasons: the Dalai Lama eats meat, he says, the doctors showed him, I don’t know. However, the same Campbell writes in detail about the hypocrisy of medicine.