Els Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 (edited) The poster I quoted said 'fast food', not 'meat'. The meat used in fast food is no different from the meat you get from your store, the high class restaurant next door or the chicken breast in your Weight Watchers meal. Now we've gotten that out of the way - meat being 'pumped full of antibiotics'. http://healthyanimals.org/pdfs/myth_v_fact.pdf may provide some interesting light reading. If you prefer heavier stuff, go to the journals quoted. Here's something you may not have realized - if all meat is being 'pumped full of antibiotics' (which must also be passed on in active form via the oral-fecal route and able to be absorbed and metabolized by humans to actually have any effect), the antibiotics that we do use would be phasing out far, far quicker than they already are. You don't just INGEST active antibiotics for years and years without it showing. Both on an individual and societal level. Yes, there are farmers who get away with not following proper laws as to antibiotic (and, more worrisome, hormone) administration to their livestock. But for every farmer who does so, there is likely to be a farmer to is also getting away with the use of illegal pesticides and herbicides for his produce. So really, the scales are about equal there - being a vegan does not spare you from that. Now that we've gotten THAT out of the way - organic food. It must just be the cynic in me, but it amuses me how people attribute so much flak to Big Pharma but willingly lap up all the 'organic' stuff being sold. An organic farm business is a business like any other. If you don't trust normal farmers to follow the laws governing antibiotic and pesticide use, and you don't trust the health industry that is passing those laws to ensure that our health and safety is being protected by them, why are you trusting an organic food company to be producing what it claims to be producing? Edited February 17, 2012 by Elswyth
Emilia Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 The poster I quoted said 'fast food', not 'meat'. The meat used in fast food is no different from the meat you get from your store, the high class restaurant next door or the chicken breast in your Weight Watchers meal. Now we've gotten that out of the way - meat being 'pumped full of antibiotics'. http://healthyanimals.org/pdfs/myth_v_fact.pdf may provide some interesting light reading. If you prefer heavier stuff, go to the journals quoted. Here's something you may not have realized - if all meat is being 'pumped full of antibiotics' (which must also be passed on in active form via the oral-fecal route and able to be absorbed and metabolized by humans to actually have any effect), the antibiotics that we do use would be phasing out far, far quicker than they already are. You don't just INGEST active antibiotics for years and years without it showing. Both on an individual and societal level. Yes, there are farmers who get away with not following proper laws as to antibiotic (and, more worrisome, hormone) administration to their livestock. But for every farmer who does so, there is likely to be a farmer to is also getting away with the use of illegal pesticides and herbicides for his produce. So really, the scales are about equal there - being a vegan does not spare you from that. Now that we've gotten THAT out of the way - organic food. It must just be the cynic in me, but it amuses me how people attribute so much flak to Big Pharma but willingly lap up all the 'organic' stuff being sold. An organic farm business is a business like any other. If you don't trust normal farmers to follow the laws governing antibiotic and pesticide use, and you don't trust the health industry that is passing those laws to ensure that our health and safety is being protected by them, why are you trusting an organic food company to be producing what it claims to be producing? I think the idea is that if you buy your own meat you have more control over what the source is - assuming you go beyond supermarket shopping. Quite simple really.
Disenchantedly Yours Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 Would you date someone who trained much more than you and ate vegetarian and not drank very much? No, I wouldn't date a health freak myself. Someone HEALTHY, yes. Someone that worked out and ate right and didn't drink too much, sure. But not someone that was very stringent and self contained. That wouldn't be a good choice for me.
zengirl Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 Unless you actually get organic, local food that you know the source (good sources are not available everywhere either), the meat you eat (in the U.S. at least) probably has plenty of questionable hormones and chemicals in it. As do many of the veggies and fruits. Such is life in a modern society. To the question at hand, I am so glad hubby is not an anything "freak." I've been a vegetarian and I actually eat fairly healthy (though I do drink wine and beer and prefer my exercising be done outside of the gym) but I think people who take anything to the extreme are unattractive, especially if they enforce their extreme views on others. So. . . it depends on how 'health freak' the person is.
Els Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 I think the idea is that if you buy your own meat you have more control over what the source is - assuming you go beyond supermarket shopping. Quite simple really. Agreed. But how does that refute any of my points (that refutes the poster I quoted and the vegan vs non-vegan debate)?
EasyHeart Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 I tend to avoid people who are "freaks" about anything. But I also tend to avoid dating people with unhealthy lifestyles. It doesn't matter if you're only dating a few weeks or months, but if you actually want to have a relationship then you need to have similar lifestyles. You're going to be cooking together A LOT, so if you eat completely different foods, that means you're going to have to cook two different meals every time you eat together. That's going to cause a lot of strain. I've never dated a vegetarian and I'm not sure I could. I eat lots of vegetables, but I eat even more MEAT. It wouldn't bother me if my GF didn't want to eat meat, so long as she didn't try to stop me from doing so. Most vegetarians I've met tend to be preachy, lecture everyone around them about the evils of meat and scream and gag and make faces if anyone around them eats meat. I can't deal with those people at all. Of course, by this definition, I guess I AM pretty much a health freak! It depends on what extent you are a health freak.... - no gluten, red meat, carbs after lunch, chemicals, table sugar, or anything but CLEAN food....I guess I'll just have to let my Freak Flag fly!!!
Author Permenthri Posted February 20, 2012 Author Posted February 20, 2012 We don't actually know if the OP is talking about someone who is a vegetarian for health reasons. I am vegetarian for spiritual reasons (Hindu)
Author Permenthri Posted February 20, 2012 Author Posted February 20, 2012 It depends. I was once a health freak, and never thought I would date someone unlike me.. It depends on what extent you are a health freak.... - no gluten, red meat, carbs after lunch, chemicals, table sugar, or anything but CLEAN food... - or just eat everything in moderation, not fussing about chemicals and added sugar, but like to work out a lot and be active, without banning or shunning food too much. I did not think I would date someone unlike me, until I met my boyfriend. I avoided grains,d airy, tried the paleo diet, even a raw vegan diet at once stage...... My boyfriend was the polar opposite. Thank god i was open minded enough to at least see him. It turns out, that as long as he has an interest in being fit and healthy, it is fine if he is not as anal as I am. I am not like I was: I eat pasta because I love it, lots of cheese, and I eat what I want: hwoever, I try to eat what I know is good for me about 80% of the time.. ok ok, prob 70% atm lol... " health freak:" is actually a broad term. SOme people consider avoiding too many carbs, thinking about what to eat to best fuel a workout, and eating junk in moderation whilst also going to the gym 3 days a wee, is a health freak. Where as there are people even more extreme, like I WAS, who think ecen eating added chemicals and added sugar are bad, and that cave man style eating is the most natural and ideal best, and think u should work out 5 days a week. U will learn to like your partners interests and way of life, IF u are a strong enough match on other fronts. I adapted to my boyfriend and he to me, because we fell in love, and it ended up not being a deal breaker. However, being on the other side once, I can see how a person would outright refuse to date a person, who ate and lived in a way that was so grossely against their strong healthy principals. I am passionate about health, but I am not extreme about it... basically, as long as someone is interesated in being out doors and active, and actualyl PREFERs that way of life (rather than sitting on the couch as much as possible), then I am not too phased if they are more lose with their diet. I did not think I was a health freak. My roommates think I am a health freak and that is why I am not succeeding in dating.
EasyHeart Posted February 20, 2012 Posted February 20, 2012 I am vegetarian for spiritual reasons (Hindu)In that case, you're not a freak at all. You've just made a spiritual decision and anyone who dates you is going to have to respect that. Some guys will be turned off by it, but some won't. And it will likely limit your options if you live in an area that doesn't have a large Hindu population, but all of us have to deal with limits in finding people to date. All of us have to live our lives and fit dating and our partners into our lives. If they don't fit, then we have to decide whether we want to change or if we're just incompatible. I certainly wouldn't change my spiritual/religious/philosophic beliefs just to get more dates.
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