Since the topic rears it's head fairly regularly on here, I figured I'd re-post this great article I just found.

http://www.washingtonpost...story.html

Though former president Bill Clinton isn’t technically a vegan, his embrace last year of ...d” diet with “no meat” and “no dairy” — and his accompanying 24-pound weight loss — made headlines for a small but growing movement. After all, only 3.2 percent of Americans are vegetarian, and just .5 percent fly the vegan flag, eschewing all animal products and byproducts in their kitchens and closets.

But is veganism healthy? Emasculating? Difficult? Let’s get the skinny on this unusual lifestyle.

1. Vegans have trouble getting enough protein.

“Where do you get your protein?” is probably the top question vegans get. But protein doesn’t have to come from animals. Plant protein is neither incomplete nor inadequate — and it’s high-fiber, lo...terol-free. Animal protein, which does not contain fiber, is high in fat and cholesterol, and it is associated with increased risk of heart disease, loss of calcium from bones and poorer kidney function.

Nutritionists agree that adults who consume about 2,000 calories per day should get about 50 grams of protein. What’s a vegan to do? Well, a half-cup of chickpeas contains 6 grams of protein. A half-cup of firm tofu contains 20 grams. A veggie burger has about 15 grams. We can get to 50 grams pretty quickly without meatloaf or bacon.

Any vegan diet that includes a variety of plant foods provides all the protein an individual needs. This is true for adults, teens and, according to pediatrician Benjamin Spock, even children. As nutritionists Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina explain in “Becoming Vegan,” the answer to that often-asked question is: “from all of the whole plants I eat.”

2. Vegans have countless rules about what can be eaten.

To vegans, it appears that meat-eaters are the ones with lots of rules. In the United States, people eat cows but not horses, and chickens but not cats. But among Hindus in India, cows are verboten, and in the Philippines and Korea, Lassie is on the menu. Some religions forbid eating pigs, while others don’t. In the face of these varying, often contradictory norms, vegans have only one rule: We don’t intentionally eat, use or wear anything from an animal — whether meat, leather, eggs, milk, wool, silk or honey.

If veganism seems to need an instruction manual, it’s because dead animals turn up in unexpected places. Most marshmallows contain gelatin, derived from animal bones. So do gelcaps and photographic film. Hostess fruit pies (but not Little Debbie’s) are made with beef fat. Dryer sheets have animal fat, too. Toothpaste may contain bone meal. And shampoo may have egg protein.

Sure, the list seems to go on and on. But at your chain supermarket, more products than ever are vegan-friendly. In 2011, it’s not hard to live up to veganism’s one simple ideal: trying to do the least harm possible.

3. Veganism is emasculating — real men eat meat.

In 1990, I wrote a book called “The Sexual Politics of Meat” to dissect the idea that eating animal flesh makes someone strong and virile. The myth gained steam in the 1960s when anthropologists Desmond Morris and Robert Ardrey attributed the advancement of civilization to “man the hunter.” Today, cultural messages — from Burger King’s “I am M...d campaign to a Hummer commercial implying that a guy who buys tofu must “restore the balance” by buying a huge car — reinforce this myth. Even Michael Pollan, who details a boar hunt in “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” falls prey to the idea that men must fell prey: “Walking with a loaded rifle in an unfamiliar forest bristling with the signs of your prey is thrilling.” For vegans, this cartoonish hunter porn is ridiculous. What Pollan sees as a dilemma, we welcome as a decision.

But if real men once ate meat, it’s not so any longer. Olympic track legend (and New Jersey state Senate hopeful) Carl Lewis is a vegan. Former heavyweight boxing champ Mike Tyson is a vegan. Outkast’s Andre 3000 is a vegan. In Austin, a group of firefighters went vegan. But beyond the famous names who have embraced veganism for ethical or health reasons is the incontrovertible fact that eating meat doesn’t increase libido or fertility — and a vegan diet doesn’t diminish them.

4. Vegans care more about animals than humans.

Veganism is a social-justice movement that includes concern for animals but also many issues that affect humans. The food choices vegans make address the environmental costs of meat and dairy production, heart disease, public health crises tied to obesity, and, as Eric Schlosser pointed out in “Fast Food Nation,” poor conditions in slaughterhouses, where workers suffer more injuries than in any other industry. In fact, eating vegan one day a week lowers your carbon footprint more than eating local every day of the week.

The economic cost of systemic animal cruelty transcends shocking undercover footage taken at factory farms. Eating grain-fed cattle helps push corn prices up; high prices contributed to 2008’s food riots in Haiti, Bangladesh, Egypt and elsewhere around the world. Industrialized meat production allows infectious bacteria such as salmonella to sneak into our food supply. And treating a generation raised on cheap Big Macs will prove a fiscal challenge to Medicaid.

Caring about animals means caring about people, too.

5. It’s expensive and inconvenient to be a vegan.

Try veganism for a day and see what happens. Is it so difficult to substitute marinara sauce for meat sauce? To get a pizza loaded with veggies instead of cheese and meat? To fix a big salad and add garbanzo beans to it instead of turkey? To order a vegan dish at any of the ethnic restaurants rich with vegan foods — Ethiopian, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese and Italian?

One reason Patti Breitman and I wrote “How to Eat Like a Vege... Be One” was to show people how easy it is to be a vegan. If you’re used to a steady diet of beef, chicken and pork, veganism can expand your options. You’ll start discovering the variety of ways to prepare tofu, seitan, tempeh and textured vegetable protein — along with more greens, grains and beans. In some parts of the country, some of these products might be harder to find than hamburger patties or sirloin steak, but they’re not necessarily more expensive. And if they are, they may save medical costs in the long run.

Non-vegans think change is hard. Not changing is even harder.

I remember a few years ago, when I decided to go RAW vegan. Everybody told me that I was nuts and that I would be undernourished and sick.

In reality, I felt more alive than I had ever felt. It was invigerating and I always had energy. After about 2 months of doing it, I realized that if what everyone was saying was true, I should be sick or dying, but instead I was vital and alive.

The only problem was that I couldn't consume enough food on a raw diet. I mean, I needed to lose weight, but I want to aim for 1.5 to 2 pounds a week, but was instead losing about a pound every two days--and this was pigging my face out.

I was drinking RAW vegan chocolate milkshakes every day without guilt.

THe difference between a RAW vegan chocolate shake and a real milk shake

is that a RAW vegan chocolate shake loads you up with nutrients.

The recipe:

In a blender:

1 frozen banana chopped up into little pieces

1 teaspoon of cocoa powder (Raw preferably)

1/4 cup--just a small amount of coconut water

vanilla (to taste)

blend.

You'll end up with the most delicious chocolate shake ever.

It's a myth that veganism limits your taste options to the point of being

unsatisfactory--it doesn't.

/\ That sounds delicious.

I like to mix up almond milk with a scoop of hemp milk coconut lime ice cream and throw in a shitload of fresh fruit, strawberries, pineapple, mango, peach, etc - throw it all in the blender and it's delicious!

SagsWay2low said:

I remember a few years ago, when I decided to go RAW vegan. Everybody told me that I was nuts and that I would be undernourished and sick.

In reality, I felt more alive than I had ever felt. It was invigerating and I always had energy. After about 2 months of doing it, I realized that if what everyone was saying was true, I should be sick or dying, but instead I was vital and alive.

The only problem was that I couldn't consume enough food on a raw diet. I mean, I needed to lose weight, but I want to aim for 1.5 to 2 pounds a week, but was instead losing about a pound every two days--and this was pigging my face out.

I was drinking RAW vegan chocolate milkshakes every day without guilt.

THe difference between a RAW vegan chocolate shake and a real milk shake

is that a RAW vegan chocolate shake loads you up with nutrients.

The recipe:

In a blender:

1 frozen banana chopped up into little pieces

1 teaspoon of cocoa powder (Raw preferably)

1/4 cup--just a small amount of coconut water

vanilla (to taste)

blend.

You'll end up with the most delicious chocolate shake ever.

It's a myth that veganism limits your taste options to the point of being

unsatisfactory--it doesn't.

I agree that when you open your palate you find some of the most healthy and delicious things. Becoming vegan will force you to do this.

ZombieKitten said:

6. Vegans don't swallow Myth or not?

7. All vegan women have saggy tits and hairy legs.

Myth. ...not all.

johnart said:

ZombieKitten said:

johnart said:

7. All vegan women have saggy tits and hairy legs.

Myth. ...not all.

So you are basically saying A vegan woman would never need to swallow because shes so unattractive she's probably still a virgin?

Oh, God, no. Show me a saggy-titted, hairy-legged wretch of a woman and I'll show you a hundred straight men ready to bang her despite it all.

I don't get it. So will a a saggy-titted, hairy-legged wretch of a vegan woman bang a hundred men or swallow them?

You people are so confusing.

SagsWay2low said:

I remember a few years ago, when I decided to go RAW vegan. Everybody told me that I was nuts and that I would be undernourished and sick.

In reality, I felt more alive than I had ever felt. It was invigerating and I always had energy. After about 2 months of doing it, I realized that if what everyone was saying was true, I should be sick or dying, but instead I was vital and alive.

The only problem was that I couldn't consume enough food on a raw diet. I mean, I needed to lose weight, but I want to aim for 1.5 to 2 pounds a week, but was instead losing about a pound every two days--and this was pigging my face out.

I was drinking RAW vegan chocolate milkshakes every day without guilt.

THe difference between a RAW vegan chocolate shake and a real milk shake

is that a RAW vegan chocolate shake loads you up with nutrients.

The recipe:

In a blender:

1 frozen banana chopped up into little pieces

1 teaspoon of cocoa powder (Raw preferably)

1/4 cup--just a small amount of coconut water

vanilla (to taste)

blend.

You'll end up with the most delicious chocolate shake ever.

It's a myth that veganism limits your taste options to the point of being

unsatisfactory--it doesn't.

These things are linked. Starvation causes the body to release adrenaline - which can cause you to feel energetic to the point of euphoria.

It's all fun and games - until you burn out your adrenal glands.

SagsWay2low said:

I remember a few years ago, when I decided to go RAW vegan. Everybody told me that I was nuts and that I would be undernourished and sick.

In reality, I felt more alive than I had ever felt. It was invigerating and I always had energy. After about 2 months of doing it, I realized that if what everyone was saying was true, I should be sick or dying, but instead I was vital and alive.

The only problem was that I couldn't consume enough food on a raw diet. I mean, I needed to lose weight, but I want to aim for 1.5 to 2 pounds a week, but was instead losing about a pound every two days--and this was pigging my face out.

I was drinking RAW vegan chocolate milkshakes every day without guilt.

THe difference between a RAW vegan chocolate shake and a real milk shake

is that a RAW vegan chocolate shake loads you up with nutrients.

The recipe:

In a blender:

1 frozen banana chopped up into little pieces

1 teaspoon of cocoa powder (Raw preferably)

1/4 cup--just a small amount of coconut water

vanilla (to taste)

blend.

You'll end up with the most delicious chocolate shake ever.

It's a myth that veganism limits your taste options to the point of being

unsatisfactory--it doesn't.

i was inspired by you actually. i went raw for about half a month. it was awesome currently im just a lacto vegetarian

Efan said:

ZombieKitten said:

johnart said: So you are basically saying A vegan woman would never need to swallow because shes so unattractive she's probably still a virgin?

Oh, God, no. Show me a saggy-titted, hairy-legged wretch of a woman and I'll show you a hundred straight men ready to bang her despite it all.

Ain't that the sad truth.

I mean, different strokes and yay for them and all that jazz!

ZombieKitten said:

johnart said:

7. All vegan women have saggy tits and hairy legs.

Myth. ...not all.

So you are basically saying A vegan woman would never need to swallow because shes so unattractive she's probably still a virgin?

Now, that's just stereotyping.

Why does she have to be a virgin. She could be a lesbian.

johnart said:

ZombieKitten said:

johnart said: So you are basically saying A vegan woman would never need to swallow because shes so unattractive she's probably still a virgin?

Now, that's just stereotyping.

Why does she have to be a virgin. She could be a lesbian.

Genesia said:

ZombieKitten said:

Genesia said:

same thing

should we pole all lesbians now just to c if they r virgins????

physco185 said:

My only issue with vegans is that they refuse to eat cheese or drink milk

that's ridiculous...

Genesia said:

physco185 said:

should we pole all lesbians now just to c if they r virgins????

If you "pole" them, they definitely won't be virgins.

Or lesbians.

=0P

I'm Hispanic.

It's against our genetic makeup to be a vegan.

Without deep-fried animal protein, I think that my DNA would de-evolve into that of a salamander or something.

PurpleJedi said:

I'm Hispanic.

It's against our genetic makeup to be a vegan.

Without deep-fried animal protein, I think that my DNA would de-evolve into that of a salamander or something.

im hispanic and semi vegan. its really not that hard.

PurpleJedi said:

I'm Hispanic.

It's against our genetic makeup to be a vegan.

Without deep-fried animal protein, I think that my DNA would de-evolve into that of a salamander or something.

Ditto: my heritage also demands that I feed it animal protein...[Pilipino, German, Spanish, French]..I know, it's a cop out , but I really do become dangerously anemic (sic?) ....

[Edited 4/22/11 10:40am]

baroque said:

PurpleJedi said:

I'm Hispanic.

It's against our genetic makeup to be a vegan.

Without deep-fried animal protein, I think that my DNA would de-evolve into that of a salamander or something.

im hispanic and semi vegan. its really not that hard.

I'm sorry...but if you don't have some chicharrón lurking in your bloodstream, then you are no longer a Hispanic.

Hand in your Spic card please.

PurpleJedi said:

baroque said:

im hispanic and semi vegan. its really not that hard.

I'm sorry...but if you don't have some chicharrón lurking in your bloodstream, then you are no longer a Hispanic.

Hand in your Spic card please.

lol im pre hispanic now! i resort to the food that my ancestors ate before dominated by the spanish!

baroque said:

PurpleJedi said:

I'm sorry...but if you don't have some chicharrón lurking in your bloodstream, then you are no longer a Hispanic.

Hand in your Spic card please.

lol im pre hispanic now! i resort to the food that my ancestors ate before dominated by the spanish!

Uhm...then you'd be enjoying some good old fashioned Cuy (Guinea Pig) and Guajolote (turkey) along with the fish, snails, grubs, beetles and mosquito eggs.

PurpleJedi said:

baroque said:

lol im pre hispanic now! i resort to the food that my ancestors ate before dominated by the spanish!

Uhm...then you'd be enjoying some good old fashioned Cuy (Guinea Pig) and Guajolote (turkey) along with the fish, snails, grubs, beetles and mosquito eggs.

errr...uh...*handing over spic card to you* however i am willing in the future to try insects they are much healthier than meat.

Do vegans take supplements like creatine?

ms whistle's a vegan. this thread is funny. the only thing i can tell you is that it's a drag going out for dinner with her and watching the wait staff deal with her fussy orders. makes me want to hide under the table every time.

I'm writing a thesis on how meat consumption facilitated the enlargement of human brains throughout the course of human evolution. I hope the person who will mark it is not vegan

LightOfArt said:

I'm writing a thesis on how meat consumption facilitated the enlargement of human brains throughout the course of human evolution. I hope the person who will mark it is not vegan

If you attend a major university in the United States, your thesis will probably be considered hate speech.