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Originally Posted by luciferase75
There are 2 main kingdoms from which we derive food. Plantae and Animalia.
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A very good point, but you will find that humans eat a far more diversified selection from the prior kingdom than they do the latter. And most eat a much larger proportion of their daily consumption from it as well.
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Vegetarians eat one of them. Omnivores eat from both, so it actually is eating from one food source. There is a difference only in perspective. One could argue that vegetarians eat fungi as well, but that is really just nitpicking because the nutritional value is low and the percentage of consumption is low as well.
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If it's one source, then it is certainly a varied and far-reaching one. You'd have a better time living off of the plantae kingdom than you would the animalia kingdom, exclusively. This means the food derived from the latter kingdom is more "expendable" from a generalists perspective. Hunter gatherer societies had often relied more on the gatherer aspect than they did the hunter aspect. (So is my understanding.)
Also, fungus is actually quite full of nutrients. Cremini mushrooms alone contain rich sources of vitamins and minerals, including selenium, copper, potassium, zinc, and several B vitamins, not to mention a modest amount of protein. We would all do much better by eating more mushrooms.
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Don't get me wrong, I would say eating animals only, as a carnivore, would also be one food source. And in my opinion, both are equally unhealthy.
I do agree on the american diet issue. I really agree after I just ate a handful of halloween candy....ugh.
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No worries, I didn't get you wrong. I just wanted to establish that our dependency for nutrients is more on plants than it is on animals.
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I've already touched on my issues with not eating meat at a personal level. We do not need eggs. We do not need dairy either, but it does seem to help women not break like a wineglass when they get older.
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Interesting point. Did you know that in many Third World countries, osteoporosis is almost unheard of? These are places where dairy consumption is next to nothing compared to ours--literally. For most people, the prime source of calcium isn't milk or other dairy. Milk is actually often supplemented with calcium. Also, high-protein diets encourage calcium loss. If I recall, this is related to the metabolism of nitrogen, a byproduct of protein synthesis. North American diets are typically too high in protein.
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Of course there are supplements that can have this effect as well, but in my life the ability to stay off of pills is very nice. I hate taking pills of any sort because I always forget until the day is halfway over, or when I go to bed...LOL. I'll never forget to eat though, so if I can get all that I need through diet, why not just do that?
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Ironically, vegans can often be less dependent on supplements than omnivores (namely, North American omnivores) because they consume more nutrients from their diets naturally by consuming their calories from whole foods rather than processed foods and meat. Meat, despite it being rich in protein and some vitamins and minerals such as zinc, B vitamins, and iron, actually isn't that nutrient dense otherwise. Replace the calories you consume in meat with plant-based alternatives and suddenly you get a boost in a wide variety of other nutrients that were otherwise non-existent. B-12 is probably the only major issue for vegans, but only because of the issue of pesticides and our need to wash produce to a pristine standard. Otherwise B-12 is abundant in soil. Omnivores supplement for B-12 by eating meat...animals eat B-12 from the soil--that's where it comes from.
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I don't want to say that you can't pull vegan/veggie diets off, I know you can and several people here have proven that, but for me it is not practical. For my wife is it not practical, either.
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Again, it comes down to choice. You've made your choice. Whether or not it is impossible for your wife to thrive as a vegan--due to her situation--is another issue.
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I would like to know, of the vegetarians here, how many take a daily or weekly supplement? What is your calcium source? Iron? Everyone has something different they prefer. I am not trying to seed a debate, I am honestly curious.
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My main supplement is a multivitamin, which I would take regardless of whether or not I consumed meat and dairy. My main source of calcium, beyond that, is from fortified soy milk (just as cow's milk is fortified) and dark green vegetables, sesame seeds, and somewhat from mushrooms, molasses, citrus and other sources. My iron, besides from multivitamins, comes from soy product fortification in addition to molasses, sesame and pumpkin seeds, lentils, beans, and, to a lesser extent, a wide number of other vegetables and grains. Actually iron is more concentrated in the first few items in this list than it is in beef and other meats, but that's a good thing because it isn't in as absorbent a form. This is why vegans need to eat more iron than the average person. But this is fine, because much of what vegans eat is dense in nutrients, both iron and otherwise--plus vitamin C helps absorption...vegans typically eat a more than ample amounts of vitamin C.