I realized something this weekend. I am no longer a vegan. I’m a happy flexitarian. To tell you the truth, I was always a flexitarian in the sense that even when I was mostly a vegetarian I understood the necessity of including protein in my diet. Not only did I combine my grains and legumes and nuts in order to ingest whole proteins, I ate eggs, unfertilized, and dairy- mostly yogurt.
What began as primarily a vegan diet back when I was 14 years old morphed into a diet that included eggs and dairy and then morphed again into a diet that included fish and some poultry after I had children. (Although my son was more or less a vegetarian when he was little, my second child, my older daughter, has always been a carnivore, pure and simple. Then again, like my son, my younger daughter has been mostly vegetarian all her life.)
However over the past few years we’ve all become flexitarians.
I believe it’s for the better. I’ve upped my protein and fat intake- including grass-fed beef in my diet along with the occasional free-range chicken or turkey and some fish. I’ve dramatically decreased my carb intake - even my intake of whole grains. The truth is, aside from these stupid bouts of pneumonia, I’ve never felt better. I’ve dropped from a size 10 to a size 6. My HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol) level is off the charts high, my triglycerides negligible, my blood sugar perfect.
I haven’t eliminated carbs altogether, don’t misunderstand. I’m a legume lover, a stirry peanut butter eater, and a fan of whole grain breads. I’m not a ideologue. Never was. Forgive me if I sound preachy… I don’t mean to preach. But I had an epiphany this weekend.
To be a vegan is to eat a primarily carb-based diet. The inn where we stayed boasts a first rate vegan restaurant. Thus every meal consisted of carbs and vegetables, some fruits. No dairy, no eggs, no protein aside from grain-based protein and the protein found in raw nuts and legumes.
To be a vegan, especially a gluten-free raw foods vegan, means spending a whole lot of time thinking about food, preparing food, and yes, eating in order to get enough calories and nutrients. We humans are not gorillas, a vegetarian species which must spend most of its time eating and digesting fibrous vegetable matter.
Example:
Savory Grilled Polenta with Cashew Cream - breakfast.
Two hours after eating half (because I just couldn’t eat more than half) the above vegan grain/nut based breakfast- grilled polenta with kale and cashew cream- in the middle of a four hour hour hike I became so hypoglycemic I wasn’t certain I’d make it back to the car. It was a most unpleasant sensation. As soon as we could we drove into town to buy something with protein- a few packs of string cheese and blue-cheese stuffed olives which I stuffed into my mouth at the speed of light.
My gourmet vegan dinner consisted of whole grain phyllo strudel filled with grated root vegetables and seaweed over a beet-wasabi reduction. My husband ordered a Beggar’s Purse- a mushroom filled whole grain phyllo pocket served with roasted root vegetables. Yes, everything was well-seasoned and quite tasty. But I was hungry two hours after eating.
Here’s the deal. Well, I have several deals- one of which is the fact that I was a vegetarian hypocrite. Didn’t eat meat but loved me a nice pair of leather boots or a sweet leather purse.
I don’t believe in relying upon raw nuts and raw nut milk for a few reasons. First and foremost raw nuts are hard to digest. I don’t know about you but they do a number on my digestive system. Second raw nuts, especially cashews, contain natural toxins which are removed by toasting, steaming or sprouting- which in turn increases the bioavailability of the nutrients in nuts and seeds. In other words by toasting, roasting, steaming or sprouting nuts and seeds you get more bang for your buck.
All this is not to say I can’t make a meal out of vegetables. Here is what I ate for supper last night:
Lightly steamed asparagus with an olive oil vinaigrette and shaved Parmesan.
So I killed a bunch of birds with one stone - a green vegetable, a fat which helps me to absorb the nutrients contained in that green vegetable, and a small but satisfying serving of cheese- a wonderful protein. Food of the Gods.
Over the next few weeks I’ll be discussing a flexitarian pantry. Stuff I need to be a healthy flexitarian.
In the meantime, here’s your Tuesday Treat. One of my easiest suppers: Baked Eggs over Greens.
I pick several cups of greens from my garden- spinach, kale, chard or arugula, depending upon what I have. I chop the greens and blanch them just until they are just tender. Drain and squeeze all the liquid from the greens. Place the greens in the bottom of a buttered baking dish. Break two eggs right over the greens.
Free range eggs on blanched chard.
Cover the eggs with cream.
Whole cream poured over eggs and chard.
Top with grated Parmesan cheese, fresh ground black pepper and a few pinches of nutmeg.
Cover with Parmesan cheese, pepper and nutmeg.
Bake 15-20 minutes, until eggs are set, at 350′. Makes for a truly satisfying meal.
Yummy!
To be honest, the book that changed all our lives and our eating habits— and I can’t recommend this book enough— is Catching Fire, How Cooking Made Us Human, by Richard Wrangham.
I don’t think I could ever be a vegetarian, certainly not a vegan. I loves my cheese. But I think I should reduce my carbs. Not today, though.
I love my cheese too, Greta. Having been a vegan I can say it does get complicated.
Well you know me and my food, and while I don’;t mind the odd vegetarian meal full blown vegetarianism or vegan has never really appealed, mind you with whatever is going on with me at the moment is making me not eat very much at all.
AND it was nice to see asparagus without the TOMATO SAUCE …… and the eggs looked fantastic
I expect every person needs to spend some time figuring out what works best for them. For myself, that’s eliminating a growing list of foods that my body refuses to digest. And enjoying the ones I can. But the eggs do look delicious!
I think being flexible is an ideal eating pattern. It makes sense, it’s usually cheaper and healthier too. I try to eat local and seasonal whenever possible.
I love this post! It’s incredible… I think we all spend a lot of time thinking about food, especially if we’re trying a new way of eating, whether by necessity or just curiosity. I know I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about food. Over the last years I’ve switched my family to a mostly whole food way of eating. Cutting out boxes and cartons as much as possible, buying local and organic meats and dairy and produce, drastically reducing how much we eat out and making sure it’s not fast food when we do. I love to cook and when doing this kind of eating, it’s a damn good thing because it takes a great deal of prep time. We have a lot of whole grains, always a lot of beans, a little more pasta than we should but not as much bread as we used to. Natural sweetners except for my husband who is borderline diabetic and he uses Splenda. I don’t like it, but he can’t stand Stevia or Truvia.
I think it’s awesome that you’re finding flexibility to be key. I look forward to reading more!
Lissa
Thanks for the wonderful comment, Lissa. I feel like eating whole food is the way to go - not taking supplements, not eating processed food. It doesn’t even have to be organic. Just the whole food. Yes, processed foods are cheaper and easier, but in the long run I do believe they contribute to our obesity crisis and cause significant health issues. I don’t blame your husband - artificial sweeteners do have a distinct chemical taste.
We decided it was worth it to spend the money on grassfed beef, free range chicken, wild caught fish, local eggs and local non-homogenized milk. We might not eat out much and we don’t go to movie theaters, but we don’t mind the trade-off.
I’m a total bean-lover!
We try to eat local too, Kat. Since some fruits aren’t available in the winter I buy loads in the summer and freeze berries, peaches, plums on cookie sheets then toss them into bags. Works well!
Yes, Anny, true. I am a firm believer in avoiding processed foods as much as possible - those loaded with carbs and sugars and hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fats.
Tom, you are the perfect cook! I’d never cook again if I was married to you. ‘Oscar’ just recently graduated to making toast.
Oh yeah, I’ve been eating my asparagus without ketchup lately.
That egg recipe looks DELICIOUS!!!!!!! I’m going to try it. I love adding spinach or dark greens into my recipes.
YUM!
I know. Me too, Penny. Lightly cooked greens. Love ‘em!
You’re such an inventive cook. I hardly ever eat cream or anything with any fat. Cheese is a memory.
Hey Steph - I got over my fear of fat and I’m better off.
I get hungry just reading your posts.
I loved Catching Fire… Fascinating theories about how we became human and some pretty good evidence to back it up. I must say I was a bit disconcerted by his theory as to why women cook for men. I mean, okay, it’s makes sense, but it lifted my feminist hackles just a tad. I want someone to cook for me!
After reading about the raw food trends, I had to go look up the paleo-diet and raw food-tarians. I still don’t get why anyone thinks it’s a good idea basing a diet on people with a 35 year lifespan and teeth worn to nubs from excessive chewing. Huh.
Excellent post, as usual.
Thanks, Jaye. Yes, Catching Fire is an eye-opening book/theory. And I agree - don’t want to grind my teeth down to nubs! Yeah, that particular chapter got my feminist hackles up as well, but it did make sense.
I suck! Just sayin! (As I pull a steak outta the freezer!) >^<
Yeah, go on, eat your steak! I’m not anti-steak, believe me!
I’m just too lazy for these healthy diets!