I agree… we don’t have a problem on a large scale. But, it’s not because our rules are so good - it’s because our digestive systems mostly do a radically good job digesting bits of feces, toenails, hair, chemicals of all kinds and whatnot. It’s well known that our meat supply contains all of these things to some degree or another. I used to work in laboratory QC for a veal processing company - there is fecal matter in virtually all the supply. It’s just a matter of whether it’s below acceptable limits. There are just occasional poor souls whose digestive systems miss a trick - then we hear about the sensational case.
I also spent a number of years working in toxicology. For every chemical you know about going into the environment, there are 10’s to hundreds of discrete by-products, some which are EXTREMELY deadly, being produced and discharged with zero regulation. The regulations for these things have to be developed one by one - no entity has the time or resources for this.
Agree, and agree especially. And I’m sure I over-interpreted how you used the word “argumentation”…
When I say there’s no reason to not go PB It’s on the context of the statements made in the video, but even considering the reasons you point I have to say that it’s questionable the “taste” reason once I can have a delicious free of meat and dairy meal and a shitty meal with meat… You have to know how to cook both and chose quality ingredients.
I did adjust my diet somewhat, although it was already a process I’ve started before seeing the movie - but I definitely eat less meat today that I used to 1-2 years ago.
2 observations:
I really notice now the difference in feeling heavy / light after a meal - when I eat meat, I need quite a lot of time to digest it. When I meat a vegetarian meal, I’m ready to train 15 mins after, full throttle
I discovered a lot of very nice meals that don’t include meat
I don’t think I would like to stop eating meat completely - I do enjoy it - I just realized that not every meal has to be meat + carbs + veggies.
Sigma Nutrition Radio just did a bunch of episodes on the vegan diet. They discussed ethics and many things over the last 5 episodes. The last one was really interesting for me:
I’ve been doing a vegetarian diet for about a year now. I do break form and have meat about once a month when I see an interesting dish, but it always ends up feeling very heavy and I go back to vegetarian right after. Overall, I don’t really miss meat. As someone that used to eat it with almost every meal, it’s been a cool experience to see how it’s not the mandatory staple I once thought it was. I do still eat cheese. I think removing dairy from my diet would much harder than removing meat.
Haven’t really noticed any performance gains, and COVID has prevented me from getting the yearly bloodwork I’d normally get to compare whether anything has happened with my vitals.
As someone that didn’t really get bothered by the ethics of meat eating in the past, watching documentaries and shows (Anthony Bourdain) where they show the killing of animals has made me re-think that a bit. It just seems so strange now! I don’t see myself going back to eating meat on a regular basis.
I’m pretty simple- I’ll do a lot of vegetable stir frys and mix it with rice and a sauce of my choosing. It’s amazing the variety of flavors and textures you can get by just changing up the vegetables and sauce. One thing I love about the stir frys is that they are easy to morph into other dishes with the simple addition of a few ingredients. They can easily be topped on a pizza, turned into a curry, made into tacos, etc.
One of my favorite sauces is called Bitchin’ Sauce. You can get it at some more premium grocers, or Costco. It’s an almond base and can make anything taste great!
A couple times a week I will oven roast sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts, cherry tomatoes, and asparagus. Toss with salt, pepper, and olive oil and bake on 400 degrees for 25 minutes and you have some delicious, healthy carbs to fuel your workout.
You can google recipes to your hearts content, and there are all kinds of things that vary from simple to fancy, authentic/traditional vegan, meat mimicking, etc. I’ve personally found loading up on the vegetables I like (both fresh and frozen) and kinda winging it has worked well for me. I enjoy cooking, but most nights after work and training I just don’t have the energy to spend an hour + on conjuring up something fancy.
I think individual slaughter like Parts Unknown (which I’m assuming is what you mean), while gory & too much for me to stomach, is probably the most ethical… certainly compared to massive slaughterhouses. Like Ned Stark said, he who passes the sentence (“I want meat”) should carry it out.
Looking at when this thread was started - means I’ve been predominantly plant based for over a year now. Happy to field any questions or share recipes/experiences. It’s not been a perfect journey but have no plans to go back (was already predominantly vege).
I watched Game Changers and did a LOT of reading and researching from loads of different sources and decided to try a month of vegan eating back in June. I wasn’t sure if it would work for me as a very keen foodie and chef with a particular love of BBQ, but thought it would at least be a good fun experiment and worth a try during lockdown…
Frankly I couldn’t believe the almost immediate impact it had on how I felt. Recovery from long hard rides was better than I’d ever experienced in almost 20 years of riding and I was coming home from century rides, showering and feeling like I wanted to go ride again! That feeling hasn’t gone away since either. At 50 I now feel like I have more energy that I can ever remember.
So my wife and I are now 100% committed to plant based and she has even gone further and really adopted the full vegan approach to all products - clothes, cosmetics etc etc. I’ve really enjoyed the learning curve of re-learning how to cook and new ideas and recipes, and frankly I just cant see any reason I’d go back to including animal products. We also grow vast amounts of fruit and veg ourselves so have also realised the dream of being able to grow a very high % of what we eat, with a few notable exceptions due to the UK climate of course!
Oh yes, I also lost body fat, pushed up my FTP and started getting asked by fellow riders to ‘slow down a bit please…’
Besides all the health improvements i’ve noticed from over a year going on a whole plant based food diet (dont really like the vegan word) there’s also another good reason to stop eating animal food. This planet already had its best days for human to live in. We’ve got to reverse the way we live in it.
Also at 2 years now, predominently plant based in diet but was mostly veggie/flex before. Wasn’t a hard transition.
A few observations
Nothing to add on whether it’s really shifted the needle on fitness. Impossible to say - was already fit and pretty healthy before. It’s not really been a game changer for me on that front. Have also seen my routine, like many, ripped up with COVID.
Had a few moments of extreme lethargy over the last couple of years but no causation with diet - what with spending a lot of time indoors & lockdowns. Take a daily suplement & eat loads of fruit and veggies now. Still learning about new foods too - which is part of the reason for being ‘restrictive’.
Have been racing snake thin all my life, currently 8-9% body fat and having no issue with adding strength training into my routine and adding some bulk.
It’s been the best couple of years for trying new amazing foods. It’s very easy to eat plant based in London.
