From Carnivore to Vegan Overnight
I’ve mentioned before that I have become a vegan. It’s now had such an impact on my life that I’m going to write a whole post explaining why on earth I’d become a vegan, and why I’ll be a vegan for life.
First, I should say that the term “vegan” isn’t great. It’s usually associated with freakshows who are so against killing animals that they won’t wear leather. While I’m not going to frequent cockfights or go hunting, I have no problem with animals being killed. I like leather stuff, and animals dying is part of life with or without humans.
Another problem with the term “vegan” is that many vegans eat an unhealthy diet. They cut out meat, but don’t add vegetables in their place, so they tend to eat a lot of refined grains. Doing that is more unhealthy than just eating meat.
I used to be a huge fan of meat. I would eat at Whole foods every day, and would get either a turkey sandwich or grilled salmon. At home I would drink milk and eat huge quantities of yogurt.
Then one day my friend Hayden loaned me the book The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health. I wasn’t particularly interested in the book as I had no desire to cut out meat. I thought that lean meats were perfectly healthy, and that anyone who disagreed was a hippie.
Just to be clear - I was against veganism on principle and was not considering switching to it. Evan always ate vegetarian when we’d have lunch together and I would make fun of her for being a vegetarian. I don’t want people to get the impression that I am some sort of hippie, or someone prone to being influenced easily.
I read The China Study in one night, and it was fascinating. It’s written by one of the scientists who led the most in depth nutrition study ever. He himself was born on a farm and was an avid carnivore. Over 80,000 people were studied, and the researchers discovered that animal products were absolutely responsible for causing cancer, heart attacks, diabetes, and basically anything else that people in first world countries die of. I started the book as a skeptic and finished it as a believer. I am now totally confident that eating a diet with little/no meat and lots of vegetables will significantly increase anyone’s overall health and life expectancy.
I thought that switching to being a vegan would be difficult, but I got lucky. I found a restaurant in Austin called Casa de Luz. I can not possibly say enough good things about Casa de Luz. They serve perfectly balanced vegan meals using in season and mostly local produce. 99% of what they cook is organic, and it is so delicious that a lot of my meat eating friends like to go as well. Best of all, you can eat as much as you want. Because it’s a non profit, meals are extremely cheap, only $12 including soup, salad, hot and cold tea, and of course the entree and several side dishes.
I now eat at Casa de Luz at least once every single day, and find it to be the most pleasant eating experience I could possibly imagine.
For two months I ate totally vegan without a single exception. My skin cleared up completely and I lost more weight. I’m not happy about the 10-15 pounds I’ve lost, but it is mostly fat. I dropped the initial weight quickly, but since then have plateaued. After a week or so I never desired, let alone craved, meat. As time passed it seemed less appetizing.
At the end of two months I had a cruise which I planned before going vegan. Because 5% of my diet can be meat, I reserve that time for when I’m traveling since being vegan and traveling is very inconvenient. I decided that for the cruise I would eat whatever I wanted with reckless abandon.
Shortly after getting on the cruise I ate some bread with butter. I won’t lie to you - it was delicious. I ate beef, chicken, and fish.
The dishes were good, but commercial food has a secret.
Food preparers have found there are certain tastes that make us think food tastes good. These are primarily salty, sweet, and fatty. As if it’s a cold war arms race, every food manufacturer adds massive amounts of these flavors to their products so that consumers will continue to buy them. The problem is that we adapt to these new levels, which drown out other more subtle flavors, and we must continue to eat similar foods to appease our tastebuds.
When you eat less processed more natural foods, your taste buds adjust, and foods develop an incredible complexity to them. The food on the cruise was pleasurable to eat, but seemed boring to me - each dish was a blast of fat, salt, or sugar.
I felt seasick on the ship, which was odd. I’ve never felt seasick before, even on a small boat in a very rocky ocean. On day five I was sick of eating the unhealthy food and I tried to eat the most healthy offerings the ship had (not too great). The next day I wasn’t seasick anymore - I never was… my stomach was just revolting at the processed food.
When the ship finally reached the shore again we drove the four hours from Houston to Austin and immediately went to Casa de Luz before we even went home. The food was so delicious that I had three plates of it. When I left I was happy and felt fantastic. I was worried that I would crave the meat and unhealthy food, but it was the exact opposite - I knew for sure that I would never go back.
To wrap this up, there are a couple things about my transition to veganism that I really want to stress :
I don’t expect many people to do it, but I really hope that people consider trying a vegan diet out. If you’re going to do it, you should first read “The China Study” and possibly Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever. Each of these books precipitated a lasting instant overnight change in my motivation and diet.
Next, scope out some restaurants. Find one that has a lot of different vegan dishes and doesn’t use any refined sugars or flours. If you’re serious about trying to be vegan, I will even help you find them. In Austin your best bets are Casa de Luz and Mother’s (try the tempeh enchiladas!). If you don’t have some good restaurants to go to, you probably won’t actually switch. If you like to cook, get some vegan cookbooks. I’d recommend doing the restaurant thing first so that it’s as easy as possible.
Commit to trying it for 45 days. I am convinced that anyone who does it for 45 days will never go back. The desire for animals products completely disappears and is replaced with a mild revulsion for them. This is a very short period of your life that could easily have a huge effect and help you live for decades longer. I consider it to be one of the best choices I’ve ever made, along with the earlier choice to cut out processed and unhealthy foods.
(4 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
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December 15th, 2006 at 2:34 am
$12 for a meal isn’t anywhere close to “extremely cheap”.
If it was $4 for a meal, then the “extremely cheap” label would be appropriate. As it stands, $12 for a meal on a daily basis - prepared without any costly meat - leans more towards “absurdly expensive”.
December 15th, 2006 at 7:48 am
Sugar is the big diet problem in society for me. Breakfast cereal often 40% sugar, Ketchup 25% sugar. 1 can well know soda…10 tea spoons sugar! The sugar that is refined into processed foods is a crime…both my parents developed type 2 diabetes, so I’ve been proactive and cut sugar from my diet. Even “low fat” processed food substitutes have it…they may be low fat but are made to taste decent by compensating with loads of sugar instead…no wonder people can’t make diets work.
December 15th, 2006 at 10:38 am
I completely disagree. Find me any other restaurant where you can get a drink, soup, and salad in addition to all the food you can eat for $12 including tax. You also don’t have to tip at casa, but you do have to bus your own table, so if that bothers you, you can take that out of the equation.
December 15th, 2006 at 1:42 pm
Hey Tynan, you might want to check out this article: http://www.westonaprice.org/bookreviews/chinastudy.html. What Dr. Campbell failed to mention in his book was that carbohydrates, fiber and plant protein were a far stronger indicator of cancer than animal protein and fat.
December 15th, 2006 at 3:00 pm
There is an overwhelming abundance of information, some based in statistical evidence, some based in ‘diet guru’ theory, that would tout the benefits of almost any diet imaginable. I recently saw one ‘healthy fast food diet’ that showed people how to eat at Mickey Ds everyday without becoming a fatass. Super gross.
Regardless, one would be hard pressed to come up with a good reason not to eat a diet full of fresh, local foods and avoid processed, sodium-and-sugar filled crap. I’ve been eating a vegetarian diet with very few animal products for about a decade and can’t say enough great things about it. You get to enjoy so many more fantastically delish things, and fresh, vegan ingredients are surprisingly inexpensive. Plus (and we all know that this is the really important part), I live in Texas and I know about 147 fat people. Not one of them is vegan.
Factory farming, environmental damage, and the need to find sustainable food sources for an increasingly hungry world population should be enough to make anyone with a conscience pay attention to what they put in their mouths. For some more reasons to go veg, check out:
http://www.geocities.com/~newliberty/robbins.htm
December 15th, 2006 at 4:15 pm
Why did you count 147 people. Must of been a side effect of polyphasic sleep. I’ve read up on some of your stuff and you have nice ideas, live life to the fullest by having adventures. I would love to do stuff like you but school is bogging me down (you should give a story in your school days). Today I haven’t actually had meat and I would like to eat fresher food but it’s not as easy to come by so probably not gonna happen
December 16th, 2006 at 12:54 am
http://health.yahoo.com/news/170005;_ylt=Ar0jfBmeU1ChT3MmcszYXz0Yu7cF
to go along with that, this is an article stating that according to studies people that don’t eat meat have higher IQs among other benefits…go veggies!
December 16th, 2006 at 3:24 am
hey tynan,
stumbled across your blog in relation to raw food.. interesting to read about your food experiences. i really admire that you don’t drink, smoke or ingest medicines, and try to eat a really healthy fresh diet. i myself do all those things including yoga, regular exercise, spiritual work and have just started going raw (after being vegetarian then vegan).
however, i read about your pickup artist days and although i know this is what has made you somewhat of a name, i’m confused! what is so great about being able to pick up girls? i personally would never date a guy that i met at a random bar, it’s so.. creepy. it just does not seem like a good place for a relationship to start. i don’t know anyone with a long lasting happy relationship who met at a bar. honestly.
unless your definition of “pick up” just means knowing how to talk to women in any situation. although personally i think that just involves being happy with yourself and having respect for other people- you don’t need a course or a seminar or some pick up artist to tell you that. you seem like a well balanced, self confident and respectful person as it is!
just seems like those two parts of your life are quite contradictory to each other. i know you are only searching for happiness and love, and i just think that working on yourself like you are will bring that to you in good time.
meanwhile, keep up the brilliant blog
m
December 16th, 2006 at 10:13 am
“unless your definition of “pick up” just means knowing how to talk to women in any situation. although personally i think that just involves being happy with yourself and having respect for other people”
precisement.
December 16th, 2006 at 10:20 am
This just in…we really are smarter!
http://health.yahoo.com/news/170005;_ylt=Ar0jfBmeU1ChT3MmcszYXz0Yu7cF
December 17th, 2006 at 12:25 am
hey magnus,
thank you for your understanding of my viewpoint. i love how to managed to express it with one word (even though it isn’t technically a ‘word’ hehe)! this is a talent i am attempting to master.
i wandered over to your site and tapping.com, interesting stuff, especially since just today i was dealing with negative beliefs (as i do most days).
we do have this way of drawing experiences and people to ourselves in order to accept ourselves and from there, improve and change.
ta!
peace and love
miin
December 17th, 2006 at 5:55 pm
From Carnivore to Vegan Overnight…
From carnivore to vegan overnight…
December 20th, 2006 at 2:50 pm
Ty,
I think you have a gift for inspiration. Maybe you should be an inspirational blogger. OH! Look. You are one. I guess what hooked me about your blog was our shared quest for continuous self improvement. I’m happy you’ve found a new inspiration. Because it inspires me to be a better person in the same way that a knight on a quest is driven by the company of his peers on the same quest.
Have you tried a truly healthy diet consisting of a balanced portion of meat, vegetables and grains. And THEN testing your Vegan diet? Comparing the unhealthy cruise food (one of the main reasons I’ll likely never be found on a mass marketed cruise ship) to healthy Vegan cuisine is probably not the most balanced test of your newfound Veganism.
I don’t think it matters if you eat meat or not as long as you have a consistent supply of protein in your diet. We both have relatively fast metabolisms and protein is what we’re designed to burn. It burns slow and gives a constant state of energy versus the spikes and troughs of carbs.
Evan and Kelsey,
Ever hear of backwoods rednecks going vegan or veggie? Me either. It’s because they see meat as something you *get* to eat when you can afford it. So, urban intellectuals are usually the only people who even consider a vegan or veggie diet on philosophical grounds alone. So, that fact is bound to scew the IQ data on who eats what. The only real way to test IQ based on diet would be to take a sample population of a uniform diet, change the diet of a sample and test that sample population against the control group. That way the independent variable is the diet and is completely controlled.
So, vegetarians as a population are very likely more intelligent that the larger, general meat eating population…yes. But are they more intelligent because of their diet or are they more intelligent because its mostly above average IQs that decide to change their diet based on philosophy or longevity concerns? Who knows… No study on that, yet.
Back to Ty,
I have a friend who is a very talented jewelry designer. I talked with her about your hat desire and she’s willing to work with you. She already works with swarovski crystal and precious stones of all kinds. She’s excited about the uniqueness of the project. Just let me know if you want an intro.
Joshua
December 20th, 2006 at 9:27 pm
Hey Tynan, enjoying your blog. I went vegan after reading the china study from 9/1 to 11/1 of this year. After the 2 month trial I began to feel weaker and weaker every single day that I would attend martial arts. I’m assuming it was from a lack of protein. I switched over to the ‘American’ diet, which I can’t say anything good about really. I will be doing another vegan trial soon with more of a well-balanced diet.
Btw, it was interesting to find your site. It began for me and my friends with sosuave.com and we’ve digested many books and articles from that time. It has been an interesting experience here in the new jersey new york area for us.
December 28th, 2006 at 6:38 am
I was really surprised that you mentioned a non-profit restaurant because i’ve been wanting to start a non-profit restaurant but I didn’t know such a thing already existed somewhere. I’m going to take a closer look at their site. I already saw that they aren’t solely a restaurant but also a center for ‘integral studies’, I’ve heard this term before by they seem to be using it with a different meaning as a sort of hollistic living.
Anyway my idea for the non-profit restaurant was more than just one restaurant, a chain of restaurants. I figure eating is so important that it is much better to operate restaurants as non-profits. I thought of two types which work symbiotically. One which is the health and cheap restaurant attempts to bring health food to everyone’s budget, while the other type, Luxiourious healthy dining would be more expensive but still competitive with other high quality restaurants, but, being non-profit the profits would spill over to run the rest of the chain, especially the low-cost restaurants, which I would expect to run at slightly below break-even levels.
Will probably be some time before I get this of the ground. But I’m going to start writing up business proposals for this to see if I can get some sponsorship.
Anyway, as to eating Vegan, I’ve tried it once, half-hartedly and gave up quickly, but I’m willing to give it another shot (once I return from my extended holidays), I just need to make sure my food is balanced enough.
January 11th, 2007 at 6:38 pm
>
Right on. I know what you mean. I had the same experience when I went back to San Antonio on Holiday. My mother loaded the house with traditional Christmas holiday food. uggh. It was a struggle. Next time I’m in Texas I’m gonna visit Casa de Luz.
I’m not vegan, but have a plant based diet. I have guidelines; not rules to what I eat. (My only rule is completely self-centered - what intuitively works best for me.) This includes when I eat out or at a friends house, I’m not afraid to order regular food from the menu (I will take the lesser of the enemies, though). Ie. My diet does not control me or inconvenience me too much.
For the most part though, I’ve cut out almost all processed foods and most sugar, salt and high starches. I still eat a modest amount of selected organic lean meats and egg whites, but a large portion of my diet is somewhat raw (if cooked, low heat and I never use microwaves) fruits, veggies, whole wheat and nuts (almonds, chashews, walnuts, & macadamia). Sometimes I supplement some meals with some protein powder - whey and soy. Other supplements I take are pharmaceutical grade Omega 3s and multivitamins.
Additionally, since I’ve started my quest for healthier eating over the past few years, I’m extremely happy with my new cooking abilities.
btw, another author that talks a lot about animal products=cancer is, though strongly biased, John Robbins. (To name a few of the other many people that have had a large impact on my diet and the way I see diet is Barry Sears ‘The Zone’, Deepak Choprah and, well, you Ty. Cheers)
Right now, I’m excited to start a new book originally written in the 1930’s by a dentist that traveled the globe examining the natural -pre-western civilization- diets of indigineous tribes.
http://www.amazon.com/Nutrition-Physical-Degeneration-Weston-Andrew/dp/0879838167/sr=1-1/qid=1168558658/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-7067382-2985506?ie=UTF8&s=books
January 27th, 2007 at 9:11 am
vierstein…i’m wondering what part of the country you live in. i live in NC where southern bbq and fried chicken reign. however, i was a vegetarian for 12 years and just recently switched to veganism. My family and I have had an idea for years to open a vegetarian restaurant…especially a “fast-food” style restaurant that could become a chain. anyway, never thought about the non-profit idea before i read your entry. now i am on a mission to research this idea and make it a reality! thanks.
January 29th, 2007 at 7:36 pm
I used to believe Veganism was stupid too. I remember when I was little during Easter and you couldnt eat meat on every Friday. I was going crazy trying to figure out what to eat that didnt involve any meat!
But now, as Im older Im begining to see the benefits for vegetarianism and Veganism.
Did you know sooner or later we will all need to be vegetarians anyway? The economic costs of what we are doing is astronomical. I did a course on this at my universaity and it basically takes four thousand pounds of wheat to bring a cow from childhood to adult hood where it weighs only 500 pounds, including the parts that arent usually eaten (hooves, intestines, ect). If I rememeber correctly it takes 50-100 (forgot which) gallons of water to create one sports bottle of water. That isnt just the water it involves transportation and manufacturing the plastic for the bottle and paper for the label and such but its just crazy!
I gotta read the China study. However I dont want to read it until I can actually start on the diet and being where I am with no health food stores, no vegan restraunts, and being a college guy I cant really commit to the lifestyle yet.
July 26th, 2007 at 9:30 pm
martial arts uniform…
…
August 22nd, 2008 at 2:03 am
You’ve convinced me.
I am on the road right now (have been for 2 months, will be for at least another 2) and so it will be difficult to make the sudden switch, but that is what I am going to do.
Well, I am going to Burning Man (with an early pass) tomorrow morning, so I don’t think I am going to rethink 10 days of food for the desert in the next 8 hours…but when I get back, its a go.
Being on the road, it makes it difficult to read the book you read for myself (which I would prefer before making a radical decision…check it out for myself), but since your thought process reminds me a lot of my own, I’m going to take it on your word for now.
You’d better be right!