In my opinion, vegetarianism is a rapidly expanding diet trend, and like most other trends it is supported by a long list of celebrity advocates.
Celebrities have some kind of power over the consumer markets and tend to influence the decisions people make. Katy Perry is noted for her "cute, girly, vintage" style, and next thing you know, every teenaged girl is sporting the same style. Jessica Biel is seen practising yoga on the beach, and the relaxing meditation method becomes the "hottest" exercise.
You get the point, celebrities do something, and we mimic it.
Becoming vegetarian is one of those things that celebrities do and the public expresses an interest. We have a strange inclination to follow the choices made by our favourite celebs. It's almost as though they promote these trends, such as becoming vegetarian, just by doing it.
Celebrities have the ability to bring issues into the spotlight and generate public discussion. When we hear that a well-known celebrity has recently adopted a vegetarian lifestyle we wonder why and we want to know more about their decision.
This interest leads to increased focus on vegetarianism and oftentimes leads to some celeb fans making the decision to adopt this lifestyle for themselves.
Here is a list of just a few celebrity vegetarians:
Pamela Anderson
Russell Brand
Ellen DeGeneres
Paul McCartney
Ozzy Osbourne
Natalie Portman
Prince
Alicia Silverstone
Tuesday, 19 March 2013
Wednesday, 13 March 2013
Opposing Diets
As a vegetarian I do not have many relationships with others
like myself. All of my closest friends
and family are omnivores, so meat is always present.
In some cases I would imagine this could cause
problems. Living in a house full of
hard-core meat-eaters when you can’t stand the thought of eating animals can be
a major issue for some vegetarians.
Trying to sustain a vegetarian lifestyle when you can’t eat any of the
groceries brought into the house is also a frustration. Refusing to eat something that has come in
contact with meat in any way, but someone else is cooking your meal …
Yes, there are many difficulties being the only vegetarian
in a group.
My boyfriend is a dedicated
meat-eater. The guy eats meat every day
and more than just once. He loves his
steaks and chicken wings and burgers; all things that I find absolutely
repulsive. In addition, he practically
refuses to eat vegetables, which are what constitute about 90% of my diet.
So, how do on earth do we manage
to make meals together??
We have managed to find a common
ground – pizza!
Pizza is one of the greatest foods
for people with opposing dietary preferences.
The base is the same, but you have total freedom with the toppings. Plus, pizzas very easily divide into equal
parts, so I can load up my side with peppers, tomatoes, olives and mushrooms,
and my boyfriend can put as much pepperoni as he wants on his side.
Check out our work of art!
Sunday, 3 March 2013
More on Protein
Just in case you didn't feel
satisfied by the information in my last post, I thought I would provide a more
detailed account on vegetarian/vegan friendly protein sources.
The soybean is an important
protein in any meat-free diet. Soybeans
contain all essential amino acids – there are 10 – and provide a respective
amount of protein to the human body.
Soybeans can be consumed in their
original form, and actually make a great addition to your favourite trail-mix,
but they can also be found in a wide variety of soy-based products. Soy milk, tofu, veggie burgers and dogs are
only a few of the products available to vegetarians and vegans. The soybeans are miraculous in that the many
different forms take on a variety of flavours guaranteed to satisfy a range of
tastes.
Aside from soybeans,
vegetarian/vegan protein comes from sources such as:
Grain: barley, brown rice,
buckwheat, oatmeal, quinoa, rye, wild rice
Vegetables: artichokes, beets,
broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, eggplant, green peas, kale, lettuce, mushrooms,
onions, potatoes, spinach, watercress, zucchini … to name a few
Fruit: apples, bananas, melons,
grapefruit, peaches, pears, pineapple
Nuts and Seeds: almonds, cashews,
hemp seeds, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts
And the list goes on. So, as you can see, there are a wide range of
proteins available to those who chose not to eat meat. These options offer a variety of textures and
tastes of which you’ll surely never be bored.
Oh, and one last thing, to further
support my previous claim that people tend to think we need more protein than
is necessary, The Happy Cow says that “we need only 2.5 – 10% of our calories
from protein, and ALL vegetables offer us more than that.”
Labels:
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Vegetarian
Thursday, 28 February 2013
“But where do you get your protein?”
Non-vegetarians have a tendency to
think that if you don’t eat meat than you must not have any protein in your
diet. This is completely untrue as there
are a number of non-meat, or plant based, proteins which provide the same
nutritional value as meat.
“Proteins are made up of amino acids, of which there are 20,
and eight of these need to be supplied by diet” (Graimes, 2010). A food that contains eight amino acids is
called a ‘complete’ protein – it is a high quality protein. For vegetarians the complete proteins are
eggs, dairy products and soya beans.
Other sources of protein, such as nuts, legumes, pasta, potatoes and rice,
do not contain all eight amino acids and are therefore considered ‘incomplete’
proteins. A balanced combination of
‘incomplete’ proteins can have similar benefits as a ‘complete’ protein.
I find non-vegetarians are overly concerned with the amount
of protein in a diet and they have this unfounded idea that large quantities of
protein are essential to good health.
However, in reality, most people consume more protein than they
need.
In her book on vegetarian diet and health, Nicola Graimes
says that protein deficiency is basically unheard of and, in fact, “an excess
of protein can be detrimental, rather than beneficial to health.” Graimes explains that high-protein foods,
which are a source of fat, often leach calcium from the body and thus increase
the risk of bone disease such as osteoporosis.
So, to sum things up on the protein issue, yes, there are
alternatives to meat protein, and no, you do not NEED meat to survive.
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