Philosophical Vegan Forum

Hey everyone, My name is Jacob. I just thought i'd introduce myself. I've lived in Kentucky, USA all my life but I feel things may change soon. My parents are divorced and are both either remarried or in the process of being remarried. My brother is off to college, and we don't speak much. My Father is a devout catholic(i know what you're thinking, "Ugh", right?) , an ex-US Army Ranger, and I do not speak with him. My Mother is a Registered Nurse, a fellow atheist, And is Married happily to my step-mother, Toni. One of my main interests is the study of foreign languages (I speak English as my first language, if the fact wasn't completely obvious), most specifically Somali, German(Austrian Dialect), and Afrikaans. My best friend in the world is my 2 year old, orange tabby cat,
Simon, whom I rescued from a shelter when he was younger.

What I came to this website for is different though. I wanted to express the severe guilt I have felt in the recent months for my involvement in the mass subjugation, imprisonment, torture, and slaughter of innocent billions of living organisms. I have ingested animal products for as long as I can remember, and for what? The taste? I really, really don't feel right murdering any sentient life form that I don't need to. I even catch spiders and let them out my window, instead of squishing them like a fearful toddler. So why should I be okay with killing a cow or pig, just because I don't witness it's cruel demise or kill it with my own hands? I guess what I really came here for, is help. Help finding ways to correct my diet, become healthier, and exclude myself from the practice of slaughtering masses of animals.

Watkin Tudor Jones - Be kind to animals, They are our friends.

Hey.
Welcome to this forum. I'm german, so whenever you like contact me and we can chat in german.
Just a short question:
even though it may looks obvious... your mum is a lesbian and married to another women right? not just a typo?
dont get me wrong i don't have anything against that! but how did they got married in the us?

to get to your questions about veganism:
well what kind of help do you want?

if you want i can give you my opinion. which is: don't feel sorry for what you have done! you cant undo that! you cant throw these animals up again... but you CAN change your future and as long as you give your very best to live a vegan lifestyle, you really have nothing to be sorry or be shamed about! just keep in mind what "cruel" things you have done and what it made you feel when you realized it so you dont go back!

i can also give you a few advice about your diet.
-dont use many replacements (processed soy) and try to stay away as much as possible from processed foods! (i eat ~300grams of chips every week! so you dont have to be TOO strict! but i eat a very nutritious diet added to that! many fruits! and for main dish:
potatoes rice and beans! those three are very healthy and taste very great! (and the nice part is: they pretty much adapt to the flavours you are using! which enriches the variation in taste! oh and of cause: i eat tomatoes and corn to the beans i eat cucumbers and peppers to rice and whatsoever so i dont eat those "only")

what you have to look at:
*vitamin b12 deficiency! all people can get it! not only vegans! and you do not need any suppliments unless you are deficient! i am not deficient and im 100% vegan ^^ so just get it tested once or twice a year than everything is perfect!
*omega3 fats this is a big problem! because most vegans are not aware of this!
vegans ofthen have 1 : 24 omega3 to omega6 ratio while it sould be at least 1 : 6... ideally it should be 1:1 or 1:2
i like flaxseeds very much! they are so small that you dont even notice them if you put them in your dinner! just one spoon should be nice for the day! i use canola oil as well... i like the taste + it has good omega3 ratio (but not even close to flaxseeds!)
*calcium! while the hype about milk is pretty stupid because it damages the bones there are actually not many fruits and vegtables with much calcium! (i dont eat most of them because they are complicated to make (im lazy ^^) or they dont taste very well...
look here:
https://cronometer.com/
its a very VERY nice site for young vegans (i used it myself to keep track of what im eating!) because it shows you what you are lacking of!


and last but not least: i like that you take spiders outside! im an arachnophobe and if the spider gets to big i have to kill it if noone is around! (if i cant catch it with a glass in 100%) i always say sorry 100times before i kill it and i feel miserable for over an hour after... but i cant do anything else... i just have to think of it "naturally" she was at the wrong time at the wrong spot...
if you want come to me ^_^ in 99% of all spiders they are smaller than 5cm... but as soon as they are getting bigger than that i would have you ^^

Hi Jacob, I'm glad you've joined the forum, and congrats on going vegan!

It's good that you felt guilty about that- it means you're a good person at heart, and now you're changing, which means you're a good person period.

There are healthy vegan diets, and there are unhealthy vegan diets.

Unhealthy vegans usually eat too much junk food, and not enough vegetables.

It's OK to eat some meat replacements if you feel a craving- they can be really helpful in satisfying cravings, instead of eating meat- and every now and then they're OK too, just don't rely on them too much instead of vegetables- they are kind of expensive, and can have a lot of salt and oils in them.

Tempeh is a good whole-food based meat replacement to consider.

You can also learn to make them yourself, cheaper, and healthier at home- that's always a fun project

If you stick to vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and a little bit of fruit (not too much), your diet will be very balanced and full of great vitamins ad minerals.
The only vitamin not in plant foods is B-12, which comes from bacteria.

B-12 is really cheap, though, and it's water soluble meaning taking it won't risk an overdose (you just pee out what you don't need).

Get something like these:

http://www.amazon.com/Deva-Vegan-Vitami ... B001GAOHTS

If you take one every day, that's about $30 a year. But you don't need to take it every day- once every two or three days is fine (your body stores up B-12)- Which makes it about three cents a day.

Meat-eaters should also be taking B-12, since they can get deficient too. It's one of those thing that can't hurt you, and can only help, and moreover is very cheap.

Viktorius_the_Third wrote: *vitamin b12 deficiency! all people can get it! not only vegans! and you do not need any suppliments unless you are deficient! i am not deficient and im 100% vegan ^^ so just get it tested once or twice a year than everything is perfect!

You're right that all people can get it, but don't get tested- that costs more than just taking the vitamins. Also testing can have false results.
Just take the vitamins, it's the safest, healthiest, and cheapest option, which pretty much guarantees that you will never be deficient (the dosage is extremely high- several thousand percent, but it's harmless as I said).

Viktorius_the_Third wrote: *omega3 fats this is a big problem! because most vegans are not aware of this!
vegans ofthen have 1 : 24 omega3 to omega6 ratio while it sould be at least 1 : 6... ideally it should be 1:1 or 1:2
i like flaxseeds very much! they are so small that you dont even notice them if you put them in your dinner! just one spoon should be nice for the day! i use canola oil as well... i like the taste + it has good omega3 ratio (but not even close to flaxseeds!)

Meat eaters have a similar problem, because meat- and all the fried foods people normally eat- also have bad Omega ratios.

As you said, flax seeds are good- but make sure they are ground up, or they just go right through you. Also make sure they are fresh, and were kept refrigerated or frozen. Spoiled flax seeds are no good.

Canola oil is great. Oilive oil is the other good option for cooking, because it is high in monounsaturated fatty acids, and the ratio of Omega 3:6 is only 1:10, which isn't too terrible since it doesn't have much in it.

Viktorius_the_Third wrote: *calcium! while the hype about milk is pretty stupid because it damages the bones there are actually not many fruits and vegtables with much calcium!

Do you mean there ARE many vegetables with a lot of calcium?

Dark leafy greens have a pretty good amount of calcium. Those, particularly cooked, should make up much of the vegetable content of a healthy diet, for calcium, along with other minerals like iron. Dark greens are very rich in all of these things.

Viktorius_the_Third wrote:Hey.
Welcome to this forum. I'm german, so whenever you like contact me and we can chat in german.
Just a short question:
even though it may looks obvious... your mum is a lesbian and married to another women right? not just a typo?
dont get me wrong i don't have anything against that! but how did they got married in the us?

to get to your questions about veganism:
well what kind of help do you want?

if you want i can give you my opinion. which is: don't feel sorry for what you have done! you cant undo that! you cant throw these animals up again... but you CAN change your future and as long as you give your very best to live a vegan lifestyle, you really have nothing to be sorry or be shamed about! just keep in mind what "cruel" things you have done and what it made you feel when you realized it so you dont go back!

i can also give you a few advice about your diet.
-dont use many replacements (processed soy) and try to stay away as much as possible from processed foods! (i eat ~300grams of chips every week! so you dont have to be TOO strict! but i eat a very nutritious diet added to that! many fruits! and for main dish:
potatoes rice and beans! those three are very healthy and taste very great! (and the nice part is: they pretty much adapt to the flavours you are using! which enriches the variation in taste! oh and of cause: i eat tomatoes and corn to the beans i eat cucumbers and peppers to rice and whatsoever so i dont eat those "only")

what you have to look at:
*vitamin b12 deficiency! all people can get it! not only vegans! and you do not need any suppliments unless you are deficient! i am not deficient and im 100% vegan ^^ so just get it tested once or twice a year than everything is perfect!
*omega3 fats this is a big problem! because most vegans are not aware of this!
vegans ofthen have 1 : 24 omega3 to omega6 ratio while it sould be at least 1 : 6... ideally it should be 1:1 or 1:2
i like flaxseeds very much! they are so small that you dont even notice them if you put them in your dinner! just one spoon should be nice for the day! i use canola oil as well... i like the taste + it has good omega3 ratio (but not even close to flaxseeds!)
*calcium! while the hype about milk is pretty stupid because it damages the bones there are actually not many fruits and vegtables with much calcium! (i dont eat most of them because they are complicated to make (im lazy ^^) or they dont taste very well...
look here:
https://cronometer.com/
its a very VERY nice site for young vegans (i used it myself to keep track of what im eating!) because it shows you what you are lacking of!


and last but not least: i like that you take spiders outside! im an arachnophobe and if the spider gets to big i have to kill it if noone is around! (if i cant catch it with a glass in 100%) i always say sorry 100times before i kill it and i feel miserable for over an hour after... but i cant do anything else... i just have to think of it "naturally" she was at the wrong time at the wrong spot...
if you want come to me ^_^ in 99% of all spiders they are smaller than 5cm... but as soon as they are getting bigger than that i would have you ^^

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This actually helped me a lot, already.

Yes, my parents are lesbians, It's alright to ask.
In the USA our federal government recognizes the legal rights of homosexual couples that accompany that of marriage. The backward, borderline southern state that I live in, Kentucky, does not recognize gay marriage at a state government level(our state capitol in Frankfort, Kentucky, USA). Gay couples may go to a state (in our case New York City, New York is where we went, my step mother's hometown) that is okay with marrying homosexuals, get married in that state, and return home, while still being federally recognized as a legal marriage.

onto veganism:
Thank you for all of the tips! I'll definitely end up using the "cronometer", it looks pretty handy. I actually have always liked vegetables, fruits, grains, beans, and the such, I just never considered eating only these things. I feel like I've always been told that meat is good for you and you need it for a healthy diet, but the evidence, as reviewed by me, doesn't show the same result. I am going to be extremely conscientious about what i put into my body from here on out. As for B-12, I take a double dose of my daily vitamin every day, I find that it makes me feel a lot better than when I do not take vitamins.

brimstoneSalad wrote:Hi Jacob, I'm glad you've joined the forum, and congrats on going vegan!

It's good that you felt guilty about that- it means you're a good person at heart, and now you're changing, which means you're a good person period.

There are healthy vegan diets, and there are unhealthy vegan diets.

Unhealthy vegans usually eat too much junk food, and not enough vegetables.

It's OK to eat some meat replacements if you feel a craving- they can be really helpful in satisfying cravings, instead of eating meat- and every now and then they're OK too, just don't rely on them too much instead of vegetables- they are kind of expensive, and can have a lot of salt and oils in them.

Tempeh is a good whole-food based meat replacement to consider.

You can also learn to make them yourself, cheaper, and healthier at home- that's always a fun project

If you stick to vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and a little bit of fruit (not too much), your diet will be very balanced and full of great vitamins ad minerals.
The only vitamin not in plant foods is B-12, which comes from bacteria.

B-12 is really cheap, though, and it's water soluble meaning taking it won't risk an overdose (you just pee out what you don't need).

Get something like these:

http://www.amazon.com/Deva-Vegan-Vitami ... B001GAOHTS

If you take one every day, that's about $30 a year. But you don't need to take it every day- once every two or three days is fine (your body stores up B-12)- Which makes it about three cents a day.

Meat-eaters should also be taking B-12, since they can get deficient too. It's one of those thing that can't hurt you, and can only help, and moreover is very cheap.

Viktorius_the_Third wrote: *vitamin b12 deficiency! all people can get it! not only vegans! and you do not need any suppliments unless you are deficient! i am not deficient and im 100% vegan ^^ so just get it tested once or twice a year than everything is perfect!

You're right that all people can get it, but don't get tested- that costs more than just taking the vitamins. Also testing can have false results.
Just take the vitamins, it's the safest, healthiest, and cheapest option, which pretty much guarantees that you will never be deficient (the dosage is extremely high- several thousand percent, but it's harmless as I said).

Viktorius_the_Third wrote: *omega3 fats this is a big problem! because most vegans are not aware of this!
vegans ofthen have 1 : 24 omega3 to omega6 ratio while it sould be at least 1 : 6... ideally it should be 1:1 or 1:2
i like flaxseeds very much! they are so small that you dont even notice them if you put them in your dinner! just one spoon should be nice for the day! i use canola oil as well... i like the taste + it has good omega3 ratio (but not even close to flaxseeds!)

Meat eaters have a similar problem, because meat- and all the fried foods people normally eat- also have bad Omega ratios.

As you said, flax seeds are good- but make sure they are ground up, or they just go right through you. Also make sure they are fresh, and were kept refrigerated or frozen. Spoiled flax seeds are no good.

Canola oil is great. Oilive oil is the other good option for cooking, because it is high in monounsaturated fatty acids, and the ratio of Omega 3:6 is only 1:10, which isn't too terrible since it doesn't have much in it.

Viktorius_the_Third wrote: *calcium! while the hype about milk is pretty stupid because it damages the bones there are actually not many fruits and vegtables with much calcium!

Do you mean there ARE many vegetables with a lot of calcium?

Dark leafy greens have a pretty good amount of calcium. Those, particularly cooked, should make up much of the vegetable content of a healthy diet, for calcium, along with other minerals like iron. Dark greens are very rich in all of these things.

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Hey, Thank you kindly
I have tried meat replacements before actually, out of curiosity, and I have to say, it's pretty great. I'll try to keep my distance though, oils and salts are no good for my complexion! I haven't heard of Tempeh before, but it looks pretty good from the pictures i see online. I think I'll try to find some around where I am. One of my hobbies is cooking, and it would be great to learn vegan recipes like that!
I take a daily multivitamin that I am almost sure has B-12 in it, but, thank you very much for the link. If my vitamins do not have a sufficient amount, I will definitely purchase supplements. Greens having calcium is good news! I LOVE greens, and I should be able to convince my mother to make her classic collard greens without any pork added. Thanks again!

Welcome Jacob, thank you for sharing your story. You have received a lot of good advice already from some of the other amazing forum members. Take a look here for some links and info that may help:

http://philosophicalvegan.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=9
http://philosophicalvegan.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=80

If you have other questions, please feel free to private message me as well.

TheVeganAtheist wrote:Welcome Jacob, thank you for sharing your story. You have received a lot of good advice already from some of the other amazing forum members. Take a look here for some links and info that may help:

http://philosophicalvegan.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=9
http://philosophicalvegan.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=80

If you have other questions, please feel free to private message me as well.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Thank you! Great to hear from you. This is a cornucopia of information. I'll definitely be back!

Hey, welcome to the forum!
I sometimes ask myself how many animals had to die before I could realise, but it's pointless. You can't change the past, but you can change the future.
To check some recipes and things that help you make the transition to veganism, you can see this other post http://theveganatheist.com/forum/viewto ... ?f=7&t=159.
Regarding supplements, you should inform yourself on how much B12 your supplements of multivitamin contain (it's always best to prevent problems instead of curing them).
I recommend to take 250mcg daily of cyanocobalamin (the most efficient type of B12), or 2500mcg weekly (the math doesn't add up because of how much the body can assume at a time, if you care I can explain). And let's not forget about vitamin D: this is a supplement that everyone should take. Almost everyone is vitam D deficient, especially the elderly ones. 1000 IU daily is enough.
If you eat a healthy diet, you should have no problems. Like brimstoneSalad already said, dark leafy greens are a gold mine, and seeds and fruits are amazing. Try to choose the food that has the highest ratio of omega3/omega6 (a research on Google can find you all the best omega3 foods you can have), and try to eat as little junk food as you can.
For calcium, there are many lists you can find on Google, such as http://www.care2.com/greenliving/25-veg ... tml?page=2, and articles such as this http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/calcium.php are very useful.
This http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/iron.php instead, says it all about iron.
The comsumption of proteins and carbohydrates should change depending on your activity.
All of this is, if you want to be as healthy as you can be.

Jacob,

What vitamin do you take?

The formulation of most vitamins on the market is actually not very good.

thebestofenergy wrote:And let's not forget about vitamin D: this is a supplement that everyone should take. Almost everyone is vitam D deficient, especially the elderly ones. 1000 IU daily is enough.

Oh, yes, particularly during the winter, or if you don't go outside much.

A vitamin D supplement is better than sunlight anyway, due to the whole sunburn and skin cancer thing.

I'm guessing Jacob is taking a multivitamin, which probably contains some, but they tend not to contain very much D or B-12 (which are the two most important things to supplement on).

thebestofenergy wrote:I recommend to take 250mcg daily of cyanocobalamin (the most efficient type of B12), or 2500mcg weekly (the math doesn't add up because of how much the body can assume at a time, if you care I can explain).

Are you sure it's cyanocobalamin? Those are cheaper, but I actually thought methylcobalamin was more efficient.

I actually have one in my mouth right now.