The Herbal Remedy Wife’s Thoughts on Veganism

First of all, what is a vegan diet? In a nutshell it’s a plant-based diet that includes no beef, no chicken, no pork, no seafood, no dairy, and definitely not these lovely chicks that were hatched from a carton of eggs using an incubator. 


Let me start by saying that I am not a vegan - at least not a pure vegan. I did attempt to be a hard core vegan for several months, but it is really challenging to swim against mainstream society - and it's even harder to find tasty vegan cookies. 


Now I would describe myself as more an aspiring vegan, or an every other Wednesday kind of vegan. 


During my exploration with veganism I've discovered that it is probably the best diet for your health, your conscious, and it is the best thing for our planet; knowing this makes me feel great - even if I'm only 97% vegan. 

Honestly, The Skeptical Husband and I had never considered why we eat an animal-based diet, and we never considered how it might affect our health and the health of the planet. Then we made the brilliant mistake of attending a lecture by Will Tuttle, author of The World Peace Diet, and we were forced to think about these things. 


Standing before us was a lean, articulate man who looked half his age talking about his journey to veganism. He spoke of how people are socially programmed to eat meat from birth. He talked about the health consequences of a meat-based diet (diabetes and heart disease to name a few).  He shared how thousands of gallons of water are used to raise one pound of meat and how animals are tortured and enslaved during their short lives in order to feed our meat hungry culture. He promised his book would lay out even more arguments against eating the standard American diet.

Following the lecture The Skeptical Husband surprisingly lined up to buy an autographed copy of the book. I looked at him and said, “You know what’s gonna happen if I read that,” and sure enough less than a week later I was a vegan. As the holidays drew near my resolve weakened and the Skeptical Husband was happy that I was willing to compromise and eat a pescatarian diet (a seafood consuming vegetarian). To be honest, showing up to family dinner to find that there was nothing for me to eat but lettuce leaves was starting to wear on me.

I think everyone should explore veganism and the ideas behind it at some point during their lifetime. And the sooner the better! There are a number of great books and movies to educate and motivate you and I’ll let them do the convincing. So if you’re ready, I highly recommend the following:

The World Peace Diet by Will M. Tuttle
         * The Skeptical Husband is reading this now and will post his review in a few days.

Forks Over Knives  Starring T. Colin Campbell, Caldwell B. Esselstyn Jr

The Engine 2 Diet by Rip Esselstyn

The China Study by Thomas M. Campbell II

The Kind Life website: http://www.thekindlife.com

PETA: http://www.peta.org/living/vegetarian-living/free-vegetarian-starter-kit.aspx