Are any of you...

[beansmama]

vegetarians?

I'm just curious. I've been a veggie for nearly a decade, dc's are both veggies (well, ds is only 10 mo's, lol, so I suppose he doesn't count!) and dh is a veggie...but only because it's his new years resolution...he fully intends on eating meat come next year! :P

Is it possible to eat a 'traditional' food diet sans meat?

I'd appreciate any and all info! Thanks

[snguyen]

Not a chance, meat is way too beloved in our household. But I had a subscription to Vegetarian Times for three years because most of the recipes make great side dishes.

Look to Asia for the closest thing to traditional vegetarian diets, Buddhists and South Asians in particular. However, I don't think there has ever been a vegan traditional diet in the history of the world, if you were to wonder to that extent.

[Magelet]

I'm not a veggie, I wouldn't do well on it at all.

It's possible that there were some traditional groups who were ovo-lacto or ovo-lacto pesce?, but that doesn't seem likely. If you are raising chickens or goats or cows or sheep or whatever for their milk, it seems likely (though not necessarily true) that they also ate the meat of those animals when they were old.

I think it's possible (I don't personally think it's likely, but I could be wrong) some people might do really well/their best on an excellent ovo lacto diet. Definitely not on vegan, I think that veganism quickly depleates your body, and if you don't feel the effects, your children will down the line, and drastically. Humans can't get by without animal protein of some sort (whether meat or eggs or dairy) for an extended period without suffering damage. (For that matter, neither can plants. Either they get meat/manure/feathers/animal products and decaying plants (both, not either or), or they get dinosaur bones, or they run out of nutrients.) I think that if you also ate fish (I realize that isn't true vegetarianism) that most people could do fairly well.

That said, I think that even as a vegetarian (or vegan), you should utilise TF methods of preparation, it will certainly benefit you, even if you might not acheive your highest health potential. Really, who does? TF might take you a step closer, but it won't "get" you "there" I'm not sure there is a there.

For instance, if you don't eat mineral rich bone broths, it's all the more important that you reduce phytic acid, (which depleates minerals), and soaking for 12-24 hours with acid or lemon juice really isn't going to cut it (see the latest wise traditions). Probably a soaking culture for rice, maybe adding a bit of rye sourdough starter (high in phytase, the enzyme which breaks down phytates) to oatmeal as it soaks (which has no phytase, but does have phytates), possibly sprouting and long fermentation of grains would be better. Making mineral rich veggie broths and using them liberally might not be as good as bone broth, but it's certainly important. Choosing small scale, possibly biodynamic farmers, people who feed the soil, to improve the minerals in your veggies, pastured eggs and dairy, so that all of your animal protein has the best possible nutrients.

Eating fermented veggies like sourkrauts will be super helpful to a veggie as well. Etc.

HTH.

[Smokering]

You can certainly do things like fermenting veggies. Assuming you're OK with eggs and dairy, you can make plenty of nutrient-dense meals (eggs fried in coconut oil for breakfast, not puffed-grain cereal), use raw/cultured milk, kefir and so on. NT also says that fish roe is very nutritious - it's eggs, so technically OK for vegetarians, right?

[Koalamom]

I have gone back and forth from meat to veggie, and my health was the worst when eating TF high meat. We are allergic to eggs and dairy so that leaves being vegan basically except for the occasional salmon, liver or chicken.

But then I hear that others feel very different, so it is not a one size fits all diet.

We do consume alot of non animal product superfoods that are very traditional. I still wish that buckets of bone broth worked for us, FCLO, sourdough breads, eggs, kefir, veggie ferments, but we don't do well on any of them. I guess I am meant to be a vegan even though I don't want to be.

[mbravebird]

I think you could get really inspired by fermenting vegetables and soaking grains and upping your traditional fats. All three of those things give such nutritional benefits! Fermenting veggies increases the vitamin C, minerals, and gives you more beneficial bacteria per bite than a bottle of probiotics! Soaking or sprouting grains not only makes minerals and nutrients more available in the grains, but prevents the unsoaked grain from inhibiting minerals and nutrients in other things you eat, too -- so that's a biggie. Eating more virgin coconut oil and palm oil, both traditional fats as long as they're in their extra-virgin form, will have a positive impact on your immunity, glandular function, nutrient/mineral absorption, and more.

And if you can do eggs and dairy, there's a whole other world of that -- pastured vs. grain-fed, raw vs. pasteurized, and cultured dairy.

You can definitely use a lot of TF on a veggie diet, and benefit hugely from it. You'll just have to be patient with hearing about meat a lot while you're on the board.

Welcome!

[JMJ]

There's one other vegetarian I've seen who hangs out here, but most of us eat meat. Animal fat (even if from only eggs and whole milk) is generally considered an essential element of a TF diet. Jenny from the Nourished Kitchen is pretty inclusive and has some great recipes. See her recent post about TF and Vegans.

[FairyRae]

Google green smoothie girl--I *believe* she purports a type of TF veganism and may have some helpful info. I think the benefits of traditional foods--fermented goodies, food prep methods, etc, are highly beneficial whether you eat meat or not. My own personal 12 years of vegetarianism (which were in no way TF) did a big number on my own health, and the health of my son, and eating lots of meat and animal protein/fat based meals has helped us w/ lots of healing. Vegetarianism does not work for me personally, but I think moving towards a TF diet in any way, shape or form would be beneficial to everyone's health--with or without meat. (Although some of the most healing foods like bone broth and liver are definitely NOT vegetarian! )

HTH!!