Are you a VEGAN?

Funny you should ask that. I turned vegetarian in June 2001 and in 2004 went vegan (not just a vegan diet, but a vegan lifestyle). However not long after that I was diagnosed with CD/DH and my world went into a tail spin and I went back to being vegetarian and then slid back into eating meat and well.........that's when LUPUS found me. Unable to think straight I tried my best to eat a Gluten Free Vegetarian Diet (sans the dairy because of a lifelong allergy to it so that would mean I was eating eggs and goat milk products and honey).

Actually I was feeling quite sorry of myself and that is what caused the down word spiral in my life. But since finding Raw Foods I have found a new appreciation for the old me and my old lifestyle (as short as it was). So YES as of last week when I finally decided it was time, I am a VEGAN.

But being a VEGAN is a lifestyle, not a diet. While, the term vegetarian generally refers only to what one eats and does not pertain to any other aspect of one's life. The impetus for becoming a vegetarian may be based on ethical, religious, health, environmental, or economic concerns, or any combination of these. The motivation for becoming VEGAN however, is fundamentally rooted in a compelling set of ethical values and beliefs.

Vegans make a conscious effort to avoid all forms of animal exploitation, harm, and cruelty to animals regardless of any perceived "value" to society. This includes abstinence from all animal based food products including, but not limited to: animal and fish flesh, all dairy products including milk, yogurt, cheese, butter & ghee, gelatin, honey and hundreds of others. This also includes abstinence from apparels containing animal-derived ingredients like leather, silk, and furs and/or consumer and household products (matches, photographs) including those that have been tested on animals like : soaps, shampoos, cosmetics.

Truly we have been sold a bill of goods by the cattle, chicken, dairy and pig farmers telling use we NEED meat for protein when in fact it has been proven time and again that we need COMPLETE PROTEIN, not that form animals (which, by the way, doesn't break down in our intestinal tract and ferment like we need our food to in order to break down the amino acids and turn our food into complete proteins).

Still not convinced? You can also test yourself to see if you could BENEFIT from being a Vegan (click here). And check back in a few days to browse my side bar where you will find All Things Vegan added to it! I will try my best to provide great resources for you to educate yourself and post a few articles here in the days to come to as well.