>From:    Snowlight <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: Veggies & Assumptions
>
>I was a vegetarian for 13 years.  It is a misconception that vegetarians
are
>healthier than anyone else because we assume that the diet is based on
>vegetables.  In this day and age, unfortunately it is not something we
can
>assume.  Veggies can eat anything that doesn't have meat or meat
derivatives
>in it.  With the selections in the typical food market, this means items
>like cookies, candy, boxed macaroni and cheese can all be consumed.
... [snip]
>Snowlight
>

This is a really good point, and I wanted to clarify a couple of little
points (after reading my last post it seemed a little harsher than I had
intended).

I did assume that healthy vegetarians were eating mostly paleo veggies,
and what wasn't strict paleo was still healthy by other standards
(legumes, whole grains).  Lacto-vegetarians also eat eggs and low-fat
diary.  Of course, these are only considered healthy by mainstreamers,
not the strict paleo folks.  Obviously, anyone eating cookies and other
treats will experience declining health if they really over do it.

But similarly to the cookie thing, if the amounts of other "non-paleo"
foods are kept reasonably low I believe they have much more potential as
part of a healthy diet.  For example, cookies are plainly bad news for
nutrition, but whole grain bread or some lentil soup does have quite a
few good nutrients (I won't get into the nutrient blocking arguments).
Especially if the calories are low and the nutrition high then the food
seems alot less damaging than, say twinkies or an equally empty food.

Of course, the real paradox that paleo vegetarians get into is getting
enough protein.  Now, if you eat alot of legumes and grains you will get
enough protein, but will really start violating the potential for paleo
dieting benefit.

This was my problem, although I never really went all vegetarian.  In
fact, I am following a paleo diet (very little grains, almost no legumes,
absolutely no dairy, etc) than I ever have.  I find fish, poultry and egg
whites to work for me, mostly, although red meat once a week seems fine
too (plus some nuts every day).

Anyway, my main point was this:  everyone stands to benefit from the
nutritional knowledge that this list and paleo dieting in general has to
offer.  We should be happy to provide people with information without
stomping all over their toes and telling them they are bad (for eating
this or that) when it is not completely clear that exclusion is the best
option for everyone.

James Crocker
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"Taking a new step...is what people fear most."
 - Dostoyevski
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