Bix (Fanatic Cook), who knows her nutrition*, has been writing about the dangers of a high protein diet (here, for example). Recently, she posted the protein breakdown of a typical vegan diet, and that sparked an interesting discussion. Here’s my question to my readers, which I posed to Bix: don’t vegans have to be careful to balance their diet in order to avoid deficiencies of essential amino acids?
The answer might surprise you.
***
When I woke up at 6:30, Karen was asleep in a peculiar position. Her breathing was so shallow and quiet, I couldn’t hear anything, and I couldn’t see her chest rise.
An hour later, her position had not changed.
(If I were the prick I sometimes claim to be, I would have taken a picture. Hmm. Does this mean I’m actually not the prick I claim to be?)
Sometimes, I touch her to make sure she’s warm, or to feel her chest rise, but often this wakes her up. Is this paranoia a hazard of my profession? A result of my discomfort at all the pain meds she has to take? An inevitable byproduct of our early years together, when her health was even more dicey?
In any case, two hours later, she’s snoring softly (purring, like some of my patients say) and her arms are in a different position. Phew.
***
Day Two of my more-or-less vegan diet. I don’t know how long this will last, but my gut does feel better. Lately, I’ve been having more and more indigestion with meat — beef, especially, which my body seems to think is Milk of Magnesia. But at some level, this is also an intellectual pursuit. I’m asking myself: what would it be like to not eat a steady diet of crap?
I’m going to miss the pork rinds and Cheeze Whiz.
D.
*From her Blogger User Profile: “MPH with concentration in Human Clinical Nutrition, Certificate in Integrative Medicine, BS in Nutrition and Biochemistry.”
What, you don’t have a stethoscope?
You could also use the old test that doctors used: hold a spoon up in front of her nose. That’s a no-touch method of checking to see if she’s breathing.
About the vegan diet, I have a colleague in my department who has a student who is strict vegan. The kids were complaining about his “gas problem”, so she bought him Beano.
The page is interesting and worthwhile but it’s the least appetizing page devoted to food, ever.
I stopped eating beef years ago. A few times over the years I’ve had things with beef – taken a bite, then realized what it was kind of situations – and was sick to my stomach every time thereafter. It made me wonder if it was just me, or if perhaps there’s some ‘tolerance’ or ‘capability’ or something that humans build up in order to digest beef which I had lost.
I checked out that sample vegan meal plan and think it’s the kind of thing I could do once in awhile (a meal or a day’s worth of meals), but I definitely don’t have the drive to eat that way all of the time. For instance, there’s things on that menu I can’t stand (oatmeal, raisins, squash) which would have me looking for substitute items. All of the work involved in researching substitutes, and further substitutes for the substitutes when there are things among those items I can’t stand, would wear me down and make me feel like a slave to food.
I know all of the arguments about changing habits and how once something is a habit it doesn’t seem like so much work, but that transitional period until things are a habit is a real bitch.
Reading that over, it sounds like I’m saying I’m not up to making a big change to my eating habits out of sheer laziness. Sad to say, that just may be the bottom line. I just don’t like cooking enough to experiment and figure out likes and dislikes by trial and error; I can barely stand it with the things I already know I like. Smaller changes are in my purview, though, and I think I may do some further research and see where that leads.
Dean: it’s in the office. What would I do with it at home, listen to the ferrets? . . . Although that would be cool.
Sis: make sure no one smuggles matches into that classroom 🙂
Kate: Bix used to have her recipes on the sidebar. Good recipes, too — I still use her recipe for scampi. I’m not sure why she pulled that sidebar.
There are jillions of blogs that focus on the Joy of Stuffing Your Face, but very few that focus on health aspects of food, and fewer still that do it with any scientific credibility. That’s why I like Bix’s blog.
fiveandfour: there’s a simple solution to your problem. Change the proportions of what you eat, but don’t change the recipes. Eat less meat, more of the fruit and vegetable items.
My problem was, I was eating foods which were unhealthy in any proportion.
lol, please explain to me how one can :snore softly” lol, man u have a way with words i simply adore. and i wrote about china today
That was interesting to read. I have to admit, though, while the idea of vegetarianism is appealing, I like meat way too much. I’m a tried-and-true omnivore, thank you very much. 🙂
As for the “checking for breathing” thing — I also learned in a First Aid course (if I remember correctly) that you can also lick the back of your hand and hold it up near the person’s nose and mouth. You’ll be able to feel even the slightest breath that way. Completely touchless, too.
Well, not that it has anything to do with your topic, but Mike says Bix’s solution for cantaloupe (1:1 vinegar:water, spray and let sit for a few minutes) won’t do squat about e coli–better than plain water but not a whole lot.
Although, when I push him on what’ll work, he says “it all fucking depends on amount and time, for god’s sake. Ya just wanna reduce the number of pathogens.” But he sez much better to wash the cantaloupe skin with soap and water.
(Mike and e coli are old, old friends. He worked with them for more’n a decade.)
I am doing sort of a vegetarian thing and don’t usually eat meat in the morning or at work (occasionally the Califorinia roll sushi hooks me in, but I wonder how much real fish there is in the fish cake sticks in the center). Yesterday my husband did his first bar-b-que of the season and I didn’t resist the grilled delights (he doesn’t grill veggies or anything – it’s all meat, much of it wrapped with bacon and/or stuffed with cheese). Much unpleasantness (for all parties) ensued and the three-year old is quite expressive about his disapproval of “the stink in the house”. So, clearly the system is no longer able to deal with lots of meat.
I eat fruits, vegetables, some nuts, some grains, and some dairy. And lots of bran. Love bran cereal (I get the sticks, which sort of look like shredded cardboard) with skim milk. Not losing any weight, but at least my cholesterol went down.
I’m doing the veg thing, partly for my health, partly because I’m not a fan of killing animals, and partly because eating meat is much worse for the environment. Not eating fish because of the overfishing problem. Lots of guilt and angst can be easily resolved with a relatively minor dietary shift – for me at least.
You’re trying a vegan diet, Doug? Hm. You must have had a particular motivation?
That protein-in-a-potato post was an education for me too.
(For anyone who has a problem with gas, vegan or not, you might want to try a probiotic. The blends of bacteria they use can produce less gas.)
Yeah, well, we’ll see how long it lasts this time. I’ve been having more indigestion lately and it seems to be connected to meat and fat. I’m curious to see what happens if I do a major dietary shift. Will I feel better? More energy, less energy? But your posts were the final goad, I’ll admit 🙂
I hope it helps. I’ll try to stop by to see how it’s going.
I’ve thought about going vegan, but I love the taste and smell of meat too much. There is the issue of animal cruelty that I often think about though. I wish there was a great deal less suffering for animals in this world. To know that I contribute to that bothers me.
I know about checking for body warmth or looking for breathing with my husband. I’ve done that with him on several occasions because he was sleeping too deeply. I have that fear of waking up beside him to find he’s passed away right next to me. One of my greatest fears.