Comments on: Reflections on three months of being vegan (well, actually, non-dairy vegetarian)

By: Ratha

Ratha — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 09:11:19 +0000

The dairy in soy cheese is casein, the primary milk protein. It’s pretty special stuff, used for opaque white in watercolor paint, I believe it can be made into glue, and it is responsible for the way cheese melts. Vegan soy or rice cheese just doesn’t melt like dairy cheese does, and casein is why. A possible negative with casein is that it has been found to metabolize into a molecule that strongly resembles an opiate. There is disagreement over whether this substance actually affects humans like an opiate (e.g.: does it get out of the intestine into the bloodstream? does it cross the blood brain barrier?) but it has been hypothesized that milk protein acting like opiates could have a natural function by facilitating mother-infant bonding. Anyway, I went on a gluten-free, casein-free diet a few years ago and I really thought I felt higher energy and clearer headed as a result, but it was difficult enough to maintain the diet that I gave up. Well, I don’t know if this information has anything to do with milk products causing congestion for you, but if you are interested, try wikipedia for ‘casein’ and ‘casomorphin’ or this article is interesting reading: http://membres.lycos.fr/xbeluga/originsofagriculture.html

By: scwizard

scwizard — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 03:48:47 +0000

Once I stopped bombarding my taste buds with synthetic crap, I started being able to actually enjoy the flavors of all this natural food.
I bombard my tastebuds with synthetic crap all the time (I don’t have as much choice in the matter as I’d like), and I LOVE the taste of natural fruits and vegetables.
However different people are different, I know a lot of people who prefer synthetic crap for some reason. I can’t help thinking though that the only reason they do is because they haven’t had a good apple, just bad apples. But then I’m like “want to try one of these apples, I got it from the farmer’s market, it’s fucking delicious” and they’re like “no thanks” and I’m like “???”

By: Julia

Julia — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 18:09:26 +0000

There’s a protein found in milk that some people have problems with, casein. Watch out for that word on labels now!

By: Ellen Naylor

Ellen Naylor — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 16:10:39 +0000

Your post hit a note with me, as I need to do a body cleanse. Dairy is not my friend either, especially milk which I gave up years ago. Cheese is much harder, but it’s going to go away again. I find that the brown/wild rice blends are very satisfying with a bowl of veggies. If you get good quality veggies they don’t need a lot of spice. Last night I did a veggie stir fry and forgot the salt and pepper, but did include lots of garlic. It was way OK. BTW we love Pamela’s pancake mix, which is rice flour based. Instead of water use, soy/rice or almond milk. We add bananas, blueberries and nuts…yummy. Let us know how you do with raw foods. I find I need the heat during the winter.

By: Megan M.

Megan M. — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 13:02:37 +0000

Once I stopped bombarding my taste buds with synthetic crap, I started being able to actually enjoy the flavors of all this natural food.

WORD.

@Joely — same here. The idea of eating bread/wheat/grains is really ugh, unappetizing to me now (in addition to sometimes causing me actual horrible arthritis pain, HA!) so even if it weren’t for other effects, I’m not sure I can really imagine eating it. This goes for a lot of “normal” foods for me now.

By: Joely Black

Joely Black — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 12:00:40 +0000

I found the same lightness when I quit eating heavy carbohydrates. I’m curious to see what happens as you try out only eating raw.

By: James | Dancing Geek

James | Dancing Geek — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 21:56:11 +0000

“I used to be The Vegetarian Who Doesn’t Eat Vegetables™” – hehe, immediately made me think of The Little Train that Could!

Thanks for writing about your transition. After reading various experiments of Steve Pavlina’s I’ve been intrigued as to how to survive on a diet with less gunk (which seems odd, because, well, it is, but gunk is what we learn). I’ve started eating peppers raw and loving them, which seems totally odd to me, along with getting more fruit and veg. It’s not a major lifestyle change (that wouldn’t work, yet) but knowing that it’s odd for a self-proclaimed vegetarian to be able to do that, that it takes time for these things to kick, it makes me feel less of a fraud. So thanks. :)

By: Justin

Justin — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 21:14:45 +0000

I’m getting on a pescatarian thing right now, experimenting with diet to see what actually makes me feel, you know, right. It’s interesting to read your adventure and I definitely am interested in the raw food journey!

Playing with your food is fun.