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Why Am I A Vegetarian ?!?!

I don’t eat anything with a face!!! That’s what I tell people if they offer me some meat to eat. I’m a vegetarian. A VEGAN, actually. (Pronounced VEE-GAN) The difference is that a vegan doesn’t consume meat or ANY other animal products, such as dairy or eggs. I usually just say “ I don’t eat anything with a face”. It’s kind of funny, and if I say anything else, it sounds like a religion or people think I only eat grass, twigs, and mulch or something. It’s hard to be PERFECT about it because there are so many good foods that have eggs and dairy in them. I don’t abstain from eating meat for any particular religious, moral or ethical reasons, mainly HEALTH reasons. I don’t think animal products are healthy for human consumption. I’ve been a vegan since 1995.

*********A LITTLE HISTORY **********

I’ve been into weightlifting for many years. Along with that, I’ve studied a lot of stuff on nutrition. It all never really “sat right”. I mean, one week eggs were bad for you, the next week eggs are good for you. After reading dozens of magazine articles, there were so many contradictions that I didn’t know WHAT to believe. One day my sister insisted on me reading this book called “Fit For Life” by Harvey and Marilyn Diamond. It blew my mind !! It just seem to “sit right”. It put me on the path for seeking more answers. Then I was talking to a woman who told me to read “God’s Way To Ultimate Health” by George Malkmus. THAT book TOTALLY blew my mind !!! I couldn’t BELIEVE how much sense it made !!!!!! After that, I’ve done a TON of other research and reading. Whenever I research something, I ALWAYS get as many sources as possible to discern the truth. I do not want to be deceived. I DO feel like I HAVE been deceived for all these years, though. Listening to what the so called “EXPERTS” say what I must eat to be healthy. Well, like I said, it changes every other week !!

**********THE AWFUL TRUTH*************

Why are WE the only species that drinks another species breast milk !?!? Sound weird? It’s true. If you rode down an old country road and saw a guy laying down nursing on a cow, wouldn’t you think it to be odd?? Well, most people do it all the time. Cow’s milk was designed to nurse a baby cow until it was grown enough to eat grass. After that time, it is weaned and NEVER returns to nurse off of it’s mother. Cow’s milk wasn’t made for humans. The so called “EXPERTS” tell you that you need to “get milk” and drink it to get your calcium to build strong bones. What they DON’T tell you is that any calcium that is in the milk becomes unusable by the body once the milk under goes the pasteurization process, as well as any protein that was in the milk. Also, the animal protein that is in the milk actually DESTROYS human bones. Milk doesn’t BUILD bones, it causes them to ROT!! The human body seeks to maintain a proper Ph balance. When we consume any animal source proteins, the body has to create much more acid to break down the protein. When you force the body into an overly acidic environment, it forces itself to get back to the proper Ph balance. It does this by leaching calcium from your bones for an alkaline base to bring down the acidity. It EATS your BONES !! Also, Cancer THRIVES in an acidic environment. What about fish and seafood? It is STILL flesh and STILL creates allot of ACID. Many of the “EXPERTS” talk about how important it is to get all the proper vitamins and minerals. What they DON’T tell you is that you also need ENZYMES. These are only found in fresh, raw fruits and vegetables. The typical over-the-counter type vitamin and mineral is usually comprised of man-made materials which the body cannot assimilate. Think about it, you can’t just go in the yard and eat a handful of dirt and expect to get your nutrition. Plants draw the minerals out of the soil and attach enzymes to them to make them able to be used by your body. Meat is the WORST thing you can put into your body!! We weren’t designed to be OMNIVORES and just supposed to eat whatever we can fit into our mouths. Our digestive systems suggest that were designed for a strictly plant based diet, probably more towards a mainly FRUIT based diet. Compare our digestive tracts to those of known carnivorous animals. The human digestive tract is many feet in length and riddled with curves, creases, crevasses, and pockets , seemingly designed to keep food in there for an extended period of time to withdraw as much of the nutrition as possible. Carnivorous animals systems are relatively short, straight and smooth, designed to expel waste fairly quickly. When a human consumes animal products, it sits in the digestive system and actually ROTS and PUTRIFIES. Why do you think that there is such a high rate of prostate and colon cancer in the USA ? Other cultures that don’t consume any meat do not have any incidences of these diseases. Where do you see any other species COOKING their food?? We are the ONLY one that COOKS it’s food. Cooking virtually DESTROYS any nutrition that was even IN the food. Cooked food has also been seen to increase white blood cell count indicating that the body sees it as a foreign or toxic substance. Before a carnivore consumes its kill, does it COOK IT ? No, it eats it raw ! It has the help of the live enzymes in the raw meat to help break down the food for the body. What about protein? The “EXPERTS” say we need allot of protein or we will just DIE ! Ok, we talked about the damaging aspects of ANIMAL proteins, what about ANY protein? Don’t we NEED protein?? It’s not the PROTEIN we need, it’s the AMINO ACIDS. Amino acids are the building blocks of the body, BUT the body makes many on it’s OWN and those that it doesn’t can be found in virtually ALL raw fruits and vegetables !! Look at gorillas. They are HUGE and STRONG!! All they eat are raw fruits. The “EXPERTS” tell us to eat cow’s meat for protein. Well, where do the COWS get THEIR protein !?!?! They get amino acids from the GRASS they eat ! When humans eat cow’s meat, they are getting SECOND HAND amino acids. Secondly, any amino acids that were left IN the food, are destroyed by COOKING IT making it unusable by your body!! Does any of this make sense so far?? I even HATE to mention all the hormones and antibiotics in animal products. Cows have an estrogen based growth hormone used on them to produce faster growth and a greater volume of milk production. Do you ever wonder why girls are hitting puberty much earlier? How about why women have such problems with PMS, breast cancer, and menopause? The female, human body isn’t made to take in all that extra estrogen. The animals aren’t in the best of health, either. I went to my friend’s house in Pennsylvania once. She lived near a cattle farm. The cows were all crowded together and were fed a mixture of old cereal from a local breakfast cereal factory and CHICKEN MANURE !!!!! I have read that this is common across most cattle farms. I have also read that there are large amounts of PUS found in the cow’s milk because they are not healthy. Where do you think THAT ends up?? Right in your COFFEE and breakfast cereal!! Of course, most of it is destroyed by pasteurization, so it is DEAD PUS. Sugar is also very unhealthy. It has been shown to suppress the immune system, even with the intake of only small amounts. Table salt, or sodium chloride, is a man made substance that the body also treats as a toxic substance. Why do you think it has been know to cause water retention? Because the body retains water to dilute the blood to try and keep it from entering the cells. White flour is bad as well. It is processed and every bit of fiber and nutrition is removed and then it is bleached. White flour and water make PASTE. What do you think that does to the inside of your BODY?!?!

*******A BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE********

What does the Bible say about what we should eat and what our diet should be? Look at the very first book of the Bible, Genesis. "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground -everything that has breath in it- I give every green plant for food. And it was so." (Genesis 1:29-30 NIV) This is how GOD ordained the PERFECT diet would be. Notice GOD doesn’t mention eating flesh at all. This verse seems to imply that God originally intended humans to be raw fruitarians and animals to be vegetation eaters. It wasn’t until AFTER The Flood of Noah, that God allowed meat to be eaten. God says in Genesis 9:3-4 “Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. ‘But you must not eat meat with the lifeblood still in it.’” So we can see that God gave us animals for food, but it wasn’t how He ORIGINALLY intended things to be. So why did He end up saying we can eat animals? Well, one theory is that He ALLOWED it to contribute to the shortening of man’s lifespan. We know that meat and animal products are not very healthy. We read in Genesis 6:3 “Then THE LORD said, ‘My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is immortal, his days will be a hundred and twenty years.” Does the Bible support this theory? Notice that after that decree, man’s lifespan seems to drop off considerably from an average age of 912 years before the flood to 110 years after the flood. We can read in some recent records of the oldest people who have ever lived have died around 110 years old. I have also read that they have consumed a mostly fruit and vegetable diet. The average age of man man to die is MUCH younger than that. We can also read later on in the Bible that God DID put restrictions on the eating of certain animal foods, though. What about Peter’s vision in Acts 10 9-16? Look at the context !! God is using a VISION of the UNCLEAN foods of the Old Testament as an ILLUSTRATION to tell Peter to bring the Gospel to the “unclean” Gentiles !! It is a VISION and we MUST pay attention to CONTEXT !! But Jesus Himself at fish, didn’t He ?? As far as this goes, one theory is that Jesus didn’t come to change the social structure, diets, or lifestyles that existed at that time. He came to prove He was the Messiah and to redeem Humankind. He didn’t even condemn slavery while He was here, never mind try to change DIET AND LIFESTYLE !!! I think we all know NOW that Jesus doesn’t appear to be PRO-slavery, right?? What about all the places in the Bible that mentions meat? Many times when the Bible DOES mention “meat”, the word LITERALLY means “food” or “nourishment”. Not to mention, even the meat that they DID eat at that time was free from hormones, much lower in fat, and raised on fresh grass and not CHICKEN MANURE like the meat of today is !!! *******WHY DO CHRISTIANS GET SICK ?????******* If Christians are SUPPOSED to be “God’s People” and God is SUPPOSED to take care of them, why do they get sick? Well, God has set certain laws in order that apply to EVERYONE !! If a Christian jumped off a cliff, would gravity not allow them to be dashed to the ground ?? Well, if Christians fill their bodies with the same animal products and over processed, dead foods that everyone else is clogging their bodies with, they will reap the same woes. America is the most overfed, overweight and under nourished country of the world. Just look around ! Chances are you know someone that has/had cancer. We have the highest rate of degenerative diseases in the world. Just look at the statistics for yourself. Poorer countries that eat mostly fruits and vegetables, don’t have even CLOSE to the amount of degenerative disease as America has! They may have problems due to unclean conditions, but not all the cancers and diseases related to DIET. God’s Word says “My people perish from lack of knowledge.” (Hosea 4:6) In this case, the knowledge of how to eat properly !!! We complain and whine to God when we are sick and cry “why me” and maybe even BLAME God. Sometimes in God’s grace, mercy, and love He chooses to heal us, even when we bring it upon ourselves by eating terribly all of our lives. He knows we are dust, though. Our appetite wants what it wants when it wants it. Again, we can serve our appetite, or God. I’m preaching to MYSELF, too!! We can eat junk all the time because we like the taste of it, or we can be the good steward God calls us to be and treat our body like the Temple of the Holy Spirit and give it more of the proper nourishment that it really needs !! It’s our decision. But like all sin, we shouldn’t complain to God when we sow the wind and find that we reap the whirlwind in the end.

********IN CONCLUSION*********

I know it’s hard to think about changing our diets. We all have our favorite foods. We love to eat. It is one of the last “acceptable” indulgences. I found it very easy to give up meat, milk, eggs and cheese!! I didn’t eat allot of meat, but I drank a TON of milk!! I drank about a gallon a day. Not to mention all the ice cream I was eating. Now I drink soy milk and use soy products, which I like even BETTER than milk and dairy! The problem I have is with all the processed foods like cookies, cakes, and goodies with white sugar and flour, and the milk and eggs that are IN them!! It’s difficult and it takes discipline. I used to have really bad allergy problems. When I cut WAAAY back on animal products, my allergy and sinus problems became 95% better! Also, I wasn’t sick as much in the winter. I notice if I go through a spell where I am particularly disciplined, I feel so much better overall, and have much more energy. When I am doing really poorly, ESPECIALLY around the Holidays, I notice how awful I feel. I felt tired, listless and just plain lousy. If you are eating animal products NOW, give them up for a week or two and THEN go back and eat them. See how you feel. When ever I do that, it feels just like I have a hangover!! My head, stomach, and body are all messed up! Why shouldn’t it be !?!? You body is trying to rid it self of toxic substances, just like alcohol! I believe EVERYONE is “lactose intolerant”. Our bodies are an INCREDIBLE CREATION!! They have the capability to adapt to all kinds of adverse circumstances. Just because you may not FEEL sick when you consume animal products NOW, abstain from them for a week or so and then resume eating them and see how you feel after your body has had a chance to cleanse itself!! I am NOT perfect !!! I have MY weaknesses, too! I LOVE to eat and to try new foods! Eating is such a SOCIAL event, too. BONDING !! Look at the people of the Bible. How celebratory it was to “break bread” together!! What do most people do when they get together? EAT!!!! But since I have read all of this and thought that it made much more sense to me than the “normal” stuff I was reading, I strive to do better. I keep reaching toward the goal. What goal?? Picture a spectrum. On ONE side is cooked meat, what I believe is the worst substance you can put into your body. Near that end are also animal products and processed foods. At the OTHER end are fresh, raw, organic fruits. What I believe is the BEST thing to put into your body. I try to reach this end of the scale, but it doesn’t always happen that way. For instance, WHEAT flour is better than WHITE flour, but it still ISN’T a raw fruit but it IS step in the right direction. Do you see what I mean? Again, I am just sharing my thoughts, not bashing. There is ALWAYS another side of the story and most times people only get one side rammed down their throats. In this case, all the so called government “experts” telling us how and what to eat. I hate the thought of being deceived and the thought of others being deceived. Ultimately, it is everyone’s individual decision, though. I just want people to have the means to make a wise decisions for themselves! So this little article was just to share my personal thought, views and reasons for being a vegan. I tried to squeeze allot of little “factoids” in here to get your mind churning. There is A LOT more information out there on the web and in books for you to read up more on your own. I have included some links here of some sites to get you started. There’s ALLOT of good info on these sites, but you have to be discerning. Some sites get into new age and the whole “ animals have rights” arguments, which I totally disagree with. I believe that we are stewards to care for the animals, but they are nowhere NEAR the level of importance that GOD places on PEOPLE! So exercise caution and discernment while surfing through the sights.Let me know what you think of my article and how the links are. I’d love to hear any thoughts anyone has about any of this.