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Post by horse656 on Nov 30, 2010 18:07:24 GMT -5
I'm just wondering if it would seem hypocrite-ish if i went vegetarian. considering i feed meat to my ferrets.... i know its better for them.
but I'm considering going vegetarian, as it's healthier and the animals that get slaughtered for the meat, but would it really do a difference(environment or for the animals) , since i feed meat to my babies?
and any tips for going vegetarian, and staying away from meat? as i've eaten meat my whole life....
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Post by sunnyberra on Nov 30, 2010 18:14:46 GMT -5
I don't have any tips, but I don't see where you'd be a hypocrite. You're feeding a diet that is suitable to the species. Ferrets need meat. Humans don't. A vegetarian diet would be suitable to you, whereas it would be detrimental to an obligate carnivore. Both ways, you're going with what is healthy and natural as long as it's balanced (well, we're omnivores, so our bases are covered, ha), and there's nothing hypocrital about that, at least to my way of thinking. I don't know if I said that coherently. But basically, if that's the diet you want, go for it! There's no reason to feel like you can't
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Post by bluemoose on Nov 30, 2010 18:32:15 GMT -5
In my opinion, what would be wrong is to force a carnivorous animal to eat a diet that's damaging to it's health. I feel vegetarians who force their cat, dog, or ferret to also eat vegetarian are extremely immature (or just uneducated). You can't force an animal to be something it's not and it's wrong to try.
If you want to be a vegetarian, go for it. It would still make a difference for the environment because that's one less person eating meat. Just make sure you balance the diet correctly (just like with ferrets!) or it won't be any healthier. Personally I don't view eating meat as unhealthy necessarily. Sure if the only meat you eat is hamburgers then yes, it's not a health diet. Or if you eat nothing but meat your diet won't be balanced. But you can eat an unhealthy vegetarian diet as well. To me, a healthy diet is more about what form the food is in (ie grilled fish vs fish sticks, steamed vegetables vs fried), balance, and portion control than whether or not you're a vegetarian.
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Post by horse656 on Nov 30, 2010 18:33:45 GMT -5
yes. that made sense. thank you oh no, I'm going to keep feeding my babies meat, i see they need it, but i don't. yes, i am definitely going to be doing some research. oh no, i don't deem meat unhealthy, it's just that i don't exactly eat healthy now, so i want to eat healthy and I'm actually really disgusted that people can treat animals that way in the slaughter houses.
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Post by sherrylynne on Nov 30, 2010 19:45:30 GMT -5
We have had some vegetarians on here before. So no- not hypocritical at all
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Post by 3kaw on Nov 30, 2010 20:28:11 GMT -5
I've been vegetarian on and off since i was in my teens (not going to say how long that really is!) Each time i switched was for different reasons, some health reasons some not. Personally I've really never much liked meat, as in the taste, and it will turn my stomach to cook certain things, then i can't eat what I've cooked I always go back to it cause i feel better off meat then i do when i eat meat, and do believe that humans eat far to much meat. More then our bodies can properly use. Right now I'm eating meat again, ( likely 3 days a week in some fashion) mostly cause i had to go off gluten and most protein substitutes have gluten in them. The meat that i do eat is free range hormone free, and humanly slaughtered. I'm lucky that there are two butcher shops not far from here that offer this, and price is somewhat reasonable. I feed my animals according to what they are meant to eat, right now we have dogs and ferrets. The dogs get about 70% raw and 30% dry dog food that has no filler/wheat etc in it. The ferrets are converting still lol It's tough at times to go veg, it takes more planning and can be near impossible to eat out (healthily... if thats a word ). It's worth a try to see if you feel different/better on it. Though you should give it a good go, as in a few months to know for sure. Good luck! Have fun with it!!
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Post by katt on Nov 30, 2010 22:02:55 GMT -5
Honestly, unless you research for months first, I would advise against vegetarianism. We are omnivores and we need the animal protein. Too many people do not do the vegetarian diet correctly and are far, far less health than if they would eat even just a little meat. There are many vitamins and especially amino acids that your body NEEDS to maintain proper function, that we get from meat. You have to have an extraordinarily wide variety of greens and nuts and other foods for a vegetarian diet to even remotely be healthy. It can be done, but it is rarely ever done properly. Some people do it completely wrong and end up with major health issues, some people do it only a little wrong..and the health issues build without their knowledge until later they all of a sudden have some issue. Vitamin deficiencies are a huge issue. I don't know. Limiting meat would be better IMO than going strict vegetarian. At least eat fish! Honestly though, it is hard to get the proper balance for your body without at least a little meat. If you are looking for health reasons, I would instead just try to eat more of a Mediterranean style diet. Eat less meat, but not no meat, and more greens, veggies, fruits, nuts, and fish. Then when you do eat meat, eat lean meat (though you DO need a little fat, but the Omega-3'sa on the fish will be really key there) like turkey. I don't have an issue with vegetarianism, but I would never do it and personally feel (no offense) that it is rather silly because 99% of vegetarians are actually less healthy in the long run due to not getting the proper balance of nutrients. Just as ferrets are carnivores, and iguanas are herbivores, we are omnivores - our bodies are designed to live off of a diet of animal protein and vegetable matter. Just personal opinion. And no, I don't think that you would be a hypocrite for doing it. You WOULD be a hypocrite for forcing a vegetarian diet on your carnivores and saying it is "healthier." (I believe there was a thread on that topic recently lmao)
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Post by 1 on Dec 1, 2010 0:14:29 GMT -5
I can't tell you how often I wish I can go on a specheal diet, it works like this, 1 what ever I catch in a healthy land. 2 Don't you dare complain about what I eat unless it would kill me. . I hear its easier to just have a privet butcher who won't torcher the animal, pump it with salt water to make it heaver, pump steroids in it to force it to grow more meat and give men women's breast if they eat enough, send in only stupid health inspectors, or even sell it anyway if a human falls in the hamburger grinder and just call it a pork burger. I can see where your going with this .
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Post by 1 on Dec 1, 2010 0:15:20 GMT -5
And yes, thats why some of us feed ferrets home raised life stalk like mice and guinys.
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Post by bluemoose on Dec 1, 2010 5:11:51 GMT -5
Honestly, unless you research for months first, I would advise against vegetarianism. We are omnivores and we need the animal protein. Too many people do not do the vegetarian diet correctly and are far, far less health than if they would eat even just a little meat. There are many vitamins and especially amino acids that your body NEEDS to maintain proper function, that we get from meat. You have to have an extraordinarily wide variety of greens and nuts and other foods for a vegetarian diet to even remotely be healthy. It can be done, but it is rarely ever done properly. Some people do it completely wrong and end up with major health issues, some people do it only a little wrong..and the health issues build without their knowledge until later they all of a sudden have some issue. Vitamin deficiencies are a huge issue. I don't know. Limiting meat would be better IMO than going strict vegetarian. At least eat fish! Honestly though, it is hard to get the proper balance for your body without at least a little meat. If you are looking for health reasons, I would instead just try to eat more of a Mediterranean style diet. Eat less meat, but not no meat, and more greens, veggies, fruits, nuts, and fish. Then when you do eat meat, eat lean meat (though you DO need a little fat, but the Omega-3'sa on the fish will be really key there) like turkey. I don't have an issue with vegetarianism, but I would never do it and personally feel (no offense) that it is rather silly because 99% of vegetarians are actually less healthy in the long run due to not getting the proper balance of nutrients. Just as ferrets are carnivores, and iguanas are herbivores, we are omnivores - our bodies are designed to live off of a diet of animal protein and vegetable matter. Just personal opinion. And no, I don't think that you would be a hypocrite for doing it. You WOULD be a hypocrite for forcing a vegetarian diet on your carnivores and saying it is "healthier." (I believe there was a thread on that topic recently lmao) I would have to disagree. I agree that many vegetarians don't balance their diet correctly but I don't think it's any more than the number of non-vegetarians who eat an unbalanced diet. Yes, you need to do some research to ensure you're eating foods to supply all the nutrients found in meat but months of research? Maybe for veganism but a balanced vegetarian diet isn't all that complicated. I would definitely disagree that 99% of vegetarians are less healthy than meat eaters. Many of the people who become vegetarians do it specifically for health reasons so they're more likely to research a proper diet than the average non-vegetarian. National Geographic Magazine did an article on longevity several years back and one of the three societies (for lack of a better word) they focused on were Seventh Day Adventists (a branch of Christianity). Adventists are health conscious and careful about what we put into our bodies because we believe our bodies are the temple of God. We're known for being vegetarian and have actually developed many varieties of vegetarian meat products. Not every Adventist is vegetarian of course (I'm not but I do eat as much veggie meat as I do real meat which means I eat less meat than the average American) but the SDA lifestyle does promote longevity. Aside from vegetarianism, we advocate refraining from substances like tabacco and alcohol which of course helps promote a long life. I live in a large SDA community and it's not uncommon to hear about so-and-so in the church celebrating their 100+ birthday. Anyway, short point of a long post, I believe vegetarianism can be very healthy if done correctly just as non-vegetarianism can be very healthy. There's nothing in meat that can't be found somewhere else if you look for it.
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Post by 1 on Dec 1, 2010 12:22:37 GMT -5
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Post by rarnold18 on Dec 1, 2010 14:36:23 GMT -5
^ yup that was my thread, it was about a CL posting where the people were looking for a new home for their vegitarian poodle or poodle mix...ugh!
I think it's a personal choice, obviously, if you were to go veg. I have a friend whose a veggie and does it for health reasons (she allergic to just about everything!) she's been a veg for a long time and even the smell of raw meat now makes her stomach turn. She does love her soy meats, the fake chicken and such, but I can't say that overall she's any healthier than I am. Her weight has fluctuated about 40-50 lbs alone this year and can go from a size 4 to a 12... I'm sure a lot of her problems is her allergies because she's the most allergic to food colorings red 40, yellow 5 blue whatever and will go into anaphalxis (sp?) right now she's doing the elimination diet and she's only allowed certian fruits and veggies and very limited protiens, I think the only protien shes allowed to eat that she will eat is almonds and the serving size is 13 of them...I question the diet, just doesn't seem balanced or healthy... but no if you decided to go veggie you wouldn't be a hippocrite for feeding your fuzz raw....
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Post by horse656 on Dec 1, 2010 17:43:42 GMT -5
thanks for all of your input. I've checked out a few websites and have the information down and have notes also(the nerd of me is coming in ), i believe I'm also going to the doctors soon, so i can discuss this with my Dr. I'm gathering recipes that sounds interesting and am going to be trying them out. i am also going to be eating milk/eggs and products from the animals just not eating the animals. i might eat fish once in awhile, but I'll have to think about it,
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Post by katt on Dec 1, 2010 22:36:09 GMT -5
I would have to disagree. I agree that many vegetarians don't balance their diet correctly but I don't think it's any more than the number of non-vegetarians who eat an unbalanced diet. Yes, you need to do some research to ensure you're eating foods to supply all the nutrients found in meat but months of research? Maybe for veganism but a balanced vegetarian diet isn't all that complicated. I would definitely disagree that 99% of vegetarians are less healthy than meat eaters. Many of the people who become vegetarians do it specifically for health reasons so they're more likely to research a proper diet than the average non-vegetarian. National Geographic Magazine did an article on longevity several years back and one of the three societies (for lack of a better word) they focused on were Seventh Day Adventists (a branch of Christianity). Adventists are health conscious and careful about what we put into our bodies because we believe our bodies are the temple of God. We're known for being vegetarian and have actually developed many varieties of vegetarian meat products. Not every Adventist is vegetarian of course (I'm not but I do eat as much veggie meat as I do real meat which means I eat less meat than the average American) but the SDA lifestyle does promote longevity. Aside from vegetarianism, we advocate refraining from substances like tabacco and alcohol which of course helps promote a long life. I live in a large SDA community and it's not uncommon to hear about so-and-so in the church celebrating their 100+ birthday. Anyway, short point of a long post, I believe vegetarianism can be very healthy if done correctly just as non-vegetarianism can be very healthy. There's nothing in meat that can't be found somewhere else if you look for it. Yes, I do see your points. I guess in my head I was thinking more about Vegan diets than Vegetarian, but I still think that most vegetarians don't blance their diet properly. And I still believe that Most people do not do their research and balance things correctly when doing a vegetarian diet. But yes, I should have been more clear (I apologize) I do agree 500% that that is the case for most diets. Atkins diet for example (don't get me started on that one lol I DO have an issue with that diet as your brain literally cannot run on any other energy source other than carbohydrates and I have yet to see someone do that diet properly - properly being the key word lol). I also agree that Vegan is much worse than vegetarian. I work at a Fitness Studio that really focuses on holistic heath and we get a some people who do things right - and a lot of people who try to be vegetarian and just looks all pale and sickly and unhealthy because they don't balance their diet and are depriving their bodies of protein and several important vitamins. Veganism is way worse for sure though - that really requires a LOT of research IMO. I also agree (as stated in original post) that limiting meat is definitely a good thing, but I think it is healthier to get at least some meat. Again, I don't have an issue with vegetarianism, but I hate seeing all these people trying to do it and ending up all sickly looking. If you do your research and balance everything, then more power to you! Oh and as an added PS, people who change to a vegetarian diet for specific health reasons is, in my opinion, a different issue than the average person who changes their diet as they usually have (or should have) a doctor to help them along and such with regards to designing their diet around their health issue, and are more likely (still not guaranteed though) to have a better balance.
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Post by bluemoose on Dec 1, 2010 23:40:17 GMT -5
I would agree that a little meat makes the diet much easier to balance and that yes, a doctor's help is always a good idea. And it's probably true that many people assume cutting meat out of the diet and leaving everything else the same will automatically make them healthier which of course it won't. I guess I just assume that with a wealth of information on the internet literally at one's fingertips, people would do some research. But then I have to remind myself that most people can't be bothered. And yes, the Atkins diet is ridiculous. People can be such sheeple
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