I'm new and I'm considering going vegan.

[AustynKersey]

I will start by introducing myself. I'm Austyn. I'm 24 years old. I love video games. I'm transgender FTM.

I am considering going vegan because I care about the animals. I do have some hesitations but I'm gonna possibly begin cutting animal products out of my diet slowly. I have a few questions for the vegans here. How do I make sure I'm getting enough protein? What are some vegan foods that mimic the taste of meat? What are some humane ways to control the deer population? (Deer are everywhere in my area)

One more thing. I recently read a non-vegan's claim that humans evolved because our evolutionary ancestors ate meat. Is this true and would you consider this a valid reason to eat meat?

[brimstoneSalad]

Hi Austyn, welcome! It's great that you're compassionate to animals.
Also, lots of videogame fans here.

How do I make sure I'm getting enough protein?

The protein thing is a myth; green veggies have one of the highest protein to calorie ratios there are (they best most common meats too).
All you have to do is avoid the very low protein "junk foods"

You only need around 50 grams of protein a day. You can get that from beans, and most whole grains.

There are two common grains you have to watch out for:

1. White/brown rice. Rice, both white and brown, are low in protein. Don't base your diet on those.
2. White/yellow corn. Like white/brown rice, white and yellow corn is also low in protein. It shouldn't form a major part of your diet.

You can eat a little of those, but try not to eat much of them.

Pretty much any other whole grain will be high in protein.
Black rice. Wild rice. Blue corn. Red corn. Wheat. Oats. Buckwheat. Rye. Barley. Sorghum. Teff.

I literally do not know of any other whole grains aside from brown rice, and white/yellow corn varieties that are low in protein. There might be some, but I haven't found them.

Some processed grains are low in protein. Pearled barley, for example, is a little low in protein, since it has been polished and the nutritious bran has been removed.
White wheat flour is usually OK in terms of protein, but I don't recommend it because it's not very nutritous otherwise.

Generally, stick to whole grains, and avoid too much brown rice or white/yellow corn and you can't go wrong there.

Beans have lots of extra protein in them. Veggies are very high in protein.
Fruit is low in protein, so don't eat too much sweet fruit. Non-sweet fruit is higher in protein.

Anything made from sugar and oil tends to be low in protein. Pretty much, if it's junk food it probably doesn't have much protein in it.

If you eat whole foods, a mix of beans and whole grains and vegetables -- and go easy on the sweet fruit (just a couple a day, don't base your diet on them) -- you will not be low in protein.

You only need 50 grams, but by incorporating beans and green veggies in your diet, it's easy to get 150 grams or more a day.

What are some vegan foods that mimic the taste of meat?

There are what are called "mock meats" that you can buy. It's more about mimicking the texture than the taste.
Seitan is popular. Some are also made from soy.

For taste, they're mainly flavored with savory broths made from soy sauce and spices.

Tofurkey is a popular brand. Most of their products are pretty good.

What are some humane ways to control the deer population? (Deer are everywhere in my area)

First, don't feed them. Some regions also apparently deliberately increase the deer populations by managing the forests to create more clearings for deer to feed.

Second: Why is the population itself a problem?

Usually the issue is with cars and roads, or deer eating trash in suburban areas. It seems to me to be more of cars hitting deer problem when we've built roads dividing forested areas without building proper fences or deer crossings, and people not using suitable trash cans when they live near woods, thus drawing deer into the human environment. There are any number of infrastructure based solutions to that issue to keep deer off roads, and out of human areas.

One more thing. I recently read a non-vegan's claim that humans evolved because our evolutionary ancestors ate meat. Is this true and would you consider this a valid reason to eat meat?

It's wrong on so many different levels.
What the person was probably referring to, ignorantly, was the expensive tissue hypothesis.

http://paleovegan.blogspot.com/2011/11/ ... issue.html

1. The expensive tissue hypothesis never claimed it was meat, just that it was a calorically dense easily digested food. Meat was one option, but it could have also been starchy roots.
2. The expensive tissue hypothesis was wrong after all. It turns out it probably has more to do with our legs giving us efficient locomotion.

Even if it were true, it would not be a valid justification for eating meat today. Whatever the cause, we already evolved. Not doing a thing that was instrumental in our evolution will not cause us to "de-evolve" back into the prior state.

Penguins don't fly. They still have wings. They use them to swim instead. Flight was the cause of them developing wings, but it is not required for them to keep their wings.
The only thing necessary for a species to retain an evolved trait is that the trait not be detrimental to its survival.
If our intelligence were detrimental to individual survival, then and only then might we lose it.

Also, if somebody is trying to make an appeal to nature, it's equally true that we evolved through rape and murder, through tribal warfare pushing our development of intellect and tool usage. Are those good ideas too?

Appeal to nature is a common fallacy: https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/appeal-to-nature
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_nature

Just because we may have done something in the past, or it's seen as "natural" doesn't mean it's good, or right, or morally justified to do it now.
Nature is full of lots of nasty things, and we're well off having developed civilization, law, and morality.

[garrethdsouza]

You can check out this thread: https://theveganatheist.com/forum/viewt ... ips#p10371

Protein requirement is actually one of the easiest things to meet on a vegan diet, beans and lentils are great sources. To make sure you're meeting your rdas for other nutrients you can try using www.cronometer.com for the first few days to get you started on a balanced vegan diet. Once you do go vegan the only nutrient you'll need to supplement is vitamin b12 which is inexpensive but that can be addressed then I guess.

What got you thinking about veganism and how did you become an atheist?

[AustynKersey]

Good news, I found a local store that sales lots of Vegan food. =)

[Lightningman_42]

I literally do not know of any other whole grains aside from brown rice, and white/yellow corn varieties that are low in protein.

Minor quibble here: why did you use the word "literally" in this sentence? Would it ever make any sense to say "I figuratively do not know of any other whole grains..."? If not, and your statement can only be literal (cannot be figurative), then what's the point of even using "literally" within the sentence? As far as I know, the usage of "literally" is only necessary if your statement could have had a figurative meaning in some context, and so you want to make it clear that you did not intend for your statement to have a figurative meaning.

[brimstoneSalad]

Good news, I found a local store that sales lots of Vegan food. =)

That's great! Let us know if you find some mock meats that look interesting, and what you think of them.

Minor quibble here: why did you use the word "literally" in this sentence?

I guess I could have also said "actually" or "honestly" or "seriously"; but would it be not actual, dishonest, or joking?

Sometimes people say "I don't know" when they might actually know one, but can't be bothered to think about it at the moment, or are just exaggerating for effect. I even use "I don't know" casually sometimes, and somebody might correct me and I might go "Oh, right, that one" later -- e.g. something I knew about but didn't think of at the time. Or figuratively in certain contexts "I don't know how you sleep at night"; well, probably by just not thinking about stuff, or not caring; I could make as reasonable a guess as with anybody else.

Every other grain (although I do mean the common usage, as distinct from nuts and legumes) I know the name of is not low in protein. Just rice and corn (aside from specific uncommon varieties, though not all uncommon varieties) are low. And I know the names of quite a few grains. Whenever I learn about a new grain, I'll look into its nutrition.

Low protein grains:
Maize (corn) & Rice (except for specific varieties of both)

High protein grains: Wheat, Barley, Sorghum, Millet, Oats, Rye, Triticale, Buckwheat, Fonio, Quinoa, Teff, Wild rice, Amaranth, Kañiwa, Spelt, Einkorn, Emmer, Durum, Kamut
Wiki links to all of these in more detail: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cereal
I might know some others not listed there, but I doubt it. I only know enough about some of those to know they're high in protein.

It might have more meaning in the context of the extent of my knowledge of grains (which got expanded slightly today).

Provided they are whole grains, and even quite a few in non-whole form, they have suitable levels of protein.

I meant to say 'literally' every one, vs. 'practically' every other grain I know, or every grain on this limited list, or as far as I can be bothered to ponder. Literally, every single one I know of.
I'm almost comfortable enough to say "Literally every single other whole grain on Earth aside from rice and corn". But I won't take that risk just yet.
I mostly just want to make it clear that I'm not exaggerating.

[Lightningman_42]

So then "literally" can be used in contrast to "practically" or to show that you're not exaggerating? I suppose that might be a good reason to use the word. I thought, perhaps mistakenly, that the only useful reason to use "literally" is to mean "not figuratively".

[brimstoneSalad]

So then "literally" can be used in contrast to "practically" or to show that you're not exaggerating? I suppose that might be a good reason to use the word. I thought, perhaps mistakenly, that the only useful reason to use "literally" is to mean "not figuratively".

Yes. Literal suggesting by the letter, no figurative embellishment. Exact.

Literally can also be used for emphasis (if used carefully), which is why its usage has (unfortunately) drifted also into its negation, when used figuratively.
It's OK to use "literally" to simply emphasize something. But when you use it to emphasize something you mean to be figurative, then you've broken English.

lit·er·al·ly
ˈlidərəlē,ˈlitrəlē/
adverb
1. in a literal manner or sense; exactly.
"the driver took it literally when asked to go straight across the traffic circle"
synonyms: exactly, precisely, actually, really, truly; More
informal
2. used for emphasis or to express strong feeling while not being literally true.
"I have received literally thousands of letters"

I only reject the bolded part of the definition, since it negates the first definition, and makes the word useless because there's no way to know which is meant in many cases.
Any other usage for emphasis, provided a thing IS at least literally true, doesn't break English too badly.

[TheVeganAtheist]

Hi AustynKersey, welcome to the forum! great that you decided to join the group.

[Jebus]

Welcome AustynKersey. Great to see that you are interested in veganism. It would probably be the best and most important decision of your life.

What are some humane ways to control the deer population? (Deer are everywhere in my area)

First, don't feed them.

Do you mean that starvation would/should control the population?