While teaching my current retreat here in Seminarhaus Engl, Bavaria, I had a 1-1 with a woman in her 20s who faces daily a challenging health issue with remarkable fortitude. We spoke about the importance of a vegan diet for the welfare of animals and for health. I appreciated her dedication to a plant-based diet. She inspired this blog I wrote soon after.
A healthy plant-based diet offers the greatest contribution to health, energy and peace of mind in relationship to our physical life.
I appeal to as many as possible who eat animals, birds, fish and dairy products to develop a plant-based diet.
Your primary motive might be out of compassion for animals, birds and fish or to live a healthy lifestyle or a combination of both.
Try a plant-based diet for 40 Days and 40 Nights. Don’t put it off.
Stop making excuses. Make the change.
The Meat and Dairy industry spend vast sums of money trying to persuade you of shortcomings in a vegan diet. They feel threatened as people change to a plant-based diet. Their dismissal of a vegan diet is fake news, a social myth and corrupt marketing. There is nothing missing in the diet and much to benefit from.
Food scientists warn us about the lack of vitamin B12 in a vegan diet. You must take vitamin B12 supplements the Food Industry tell us because B12 is not found in a plant-based diet. The certain scientists then recommend eating beef, liver, chicken, trout, salmon etc as the best source of B12 or daily B12 tablets.
These scientists tell us Vitamin B12 form red blood cells and DNA. They say it is essential for the development of brain and nerve cells. B12 sounds like it is truly indispensable for body, brain and mind.
You will find vitamin B12 in fortified cereals, plant-based milk, bananas, spinach, beetroot, potatoes, mushrooms and alfalfa. Organic foods or fruit and veg bought loose in the local market/shops sound preferable to packaged supermarket food. Do a Google search. Plenty of information is available.
A friend told me that B12 is produced by microorganisms that live in the soil. She wrote that many vegetables sold are “totally cleaned from every tiny bit of soil.”
If you have any ongoing health issues or concerns, then definitely check out the best diet including B12. B12 deficiency shows in tiredness, weakness, constipation, headaches and feeling faint. These same symptoms can show due to other factors.
It seems our plant-based diet provides us, who live in good health, with B12, so we do not become weak and mentally tired despite not taking supplements.
Eating animals, birds and fish supports the violence of the abattoir, the concentration camp conditions of factory farms for animals and birds. Free range animals and birds face the death sentence as the farmers pack them off in trucks. UK government figures show more than 28 million farm animals were killed for meat in 2019 – an increase of 5.4 per cent in two years.
Creatures are sensitive. They have the consciousness of little babies or little children. They know love, kindness, fear and terror.
Fish feel too.
There are sea fish, which humans eat alive such as crab, oysters, baby shrimp and baby octopus. Oysters are eaten live. Some creatures are boiled alive such as lobsters.
It is not surprising that plastic in the seas and plastic packaging has now entered the human blood stream. Humans then consume the same fish.
Fish suffer in the seas and rives owing to plastic, oil and waste infecting them. They suffer when pulled out of the sea.
Laws need to be passed ban all forms of cruelty to animals, birds and fish and ban the use of plastic or start with a ban on single use plastic include plastic used for all drinks and food items.
A vegan diet makes a significant contribution to minimising the risk of gallstones, kidney stones, stiff joints, excess cholesterol, heart disease, blood pressure, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and more.
Vegan diet to Reduce Emissions
One of the major causes of harmful emissions generating an overheating earth comes from methane gas in agriculture, landfills, coalmining and certain industrial processes. A plant-based diet using substitutes for meat saves 11 times more carbon dioxide than electric cars and seven times more than ecofriendly buildings. New buildings and all forms of public and private transport on our roads, on the sea and in the air, require maximum energy efficiency and be ecofriendly before authorisation.
Fruits and Vegetables
Rich in antioxidants, a diet of fruit and veg, can stabilise molecules in the body. Called free radicals, such molecules can trigger inflammation and damage cells.
Remember to eat a range of colourful fruit and vegetables to absorb the most nutrients. Experience the benefit of broccoli, spinach, lettuce, kale and cabbage – green vegetables.
Grains
Eat whole grains, such as whole grain oats, whole wheat, brown rice, quinoa and other whole grains as they are higher in nutrients and fibre than refined grains, such as white rice etc. The food industry will add sugar and saturated fats to refined grains. Remember to read the label on the food item if you are not sure.
Eat peas, beans, lentils, red kidney beans, black-eyes peace.
Known as legumes, these foods provide us with an excellent source of protein to develop muscle fitness, especially when accompanied with exercise. The food items are virtually fat free and contain antioxidants.
Magnesium, iron, zinc and potassium support our immune systems and wellness with our heart.
Nuts
You will find monounsaturated fat in nuts, which protect the heart. Enjoy pine nuts, pistachios, hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds. Remember nuts are high in calories.
Protein
You will find all your protein needs in tofu, tempeh, lentils and more.
Olive Oil
Use olive oil for salads and cooking Do not have too high a flame for cooking. Olive oil is another healthy monounsaturated fat. It is a fat so do not use in excess. Second to olive oil is coconut oil.
Citrus Fruits
Citrus fruits — like oranges, grapefruits and limes — are rich in vitamin C. Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries have an anti-inflammatory effect on joins.
Food to Avoid
Avoid meat, birds, fish, processed, fried foods, dairy products. Minimal use of sugar, salt and fat.
Exercise
Support your vegan diet with regular exercise. Exercise stretches all parts of the body for a deep inflow of oxygen to contribute to fitness and well-being.
Remember your health. Remember animals, birds and fish. Remember your environment.
The grubby Food Industry is out of touch with the health needs of its customers so the industry adds excessive amounts of sugar, salt, fat and chemicals to encourage addiction in food and drinks.
A plant-based diet is the first step.
Overcome resistance. Start today.
Plant-based diet is cheaper than buying meat and fish. cooked at home, processed or sold at cloned fast-food places.
PS. In my view, you can still regard yourself as a vegan if you have a centimetre of cow’s milk in a cup of tea, use honey to sweeten food and drink, eat a biscuit, wear leather shoes, a belt, use a leather wallet or purse. Very strict vegetarians would disagree.
Photo: Taken at home preparing an oat latte for a friend and myself.