Ok, all of you non-meateating people - I need your help please!

Crystalina wrote: Ok, I watched Oprah yesterday and totally got sick to my stomach when I found out that the only way to digest meat is for it to rot in your body first. It takes about 3 days to digest a steak. I told DH that I can't even stand to have rotten meat in the fridge let alone in my body. He has no problem with it but I need to find an alternative to meat for me and the kids. Evan already hates meat and will not eat it unless it's chicken. He won't touch beef so he will be totally happy for me to not cook it anymore. What is good? I know eggs but since they are considered meat they may have to rot also. Peanuts...but I cannot put nuts on their plate for dinner. Children services will surely not approve. So please give me something equivalent to meat but will not have to rot and fester in order to be digested. Have I said yet?

cameragirl21 replied: yeah, Crystal, I don't know about the rotting but I've known that meat takes 3 days to digest since long before I turned vegetarian...that is why it's so filling in terms of filling you up so you're not hungry...it takes forever to pass through your body and bear in mind that a vegetarian can typically smell meat on a person b/c it's rotting in their body and we're very sensitive to that kind of smell b/c we're not used to it.
I eat a lot of fruits and veggies, salads, and of course, pasta, pizza, and sweets. I should mention that I do eat fish, mostly sushi, so I am technically considered a pesco-vegetarian (one who only eats fish and no other animals) and fish is a great substitute and is much easier for the body to digest.
Also, soy products are now made to cover everything--ribs, hot dogs, buffalo wings, ground beef, burgers, chicken patties, chicken nuggets, you name it.
Also, eggs and dairy are NOT meat, they digest normally and don't rot, they are just considered animal products b/c they come from animals.
Grains are good too--beans, rice, quinoa, etc.
Welcome to the world of vegetarianism, I promise once you're used to it you'll love it and wish you'd done it sooner...I've been a veg for nearly 14 years and I still wish I'd just started that way at birth, or better yet, prenatally....

Crystalina replied: I've had rice and corn since yesterday afternoon...and a twix bar . It will be very hard to get rid of the meat but the thought of it having to rot and then absorb into your body that way is just way to gross for me. I love meat too. I've never been a steak eater and cannot have a huge chunk of meat just put on my plate. It has to be like a burger or something on bread. I can't even do cubed steak chunks even though I make them for the family. That's just too much meat for me. I'm definatley going to give it a try and just think of the rotting meat the next time I want to eat meat. I have nothing agianst eating the animal. I have a cow in my freezer right now but the whole rotting thing....ewww. I can't do that.

cameragirl21 replied: oh God, a cow in your freezer...not a good visual for me.
lol, the lady that provides me with exotic animals to photograph (the tigers, lion and lynx you see in my slideshow) has all sorts of animals and she plays that joke on me all the time...she'll call me to invite me to dinner and say, "well, i'm in my barn now, looking at my cow and thinking maybe we'll have steak for dinner."
oh God, no matter how many times she says it, i just can't get over the ewww factor...so much so that everytime she says it i ask over and over if she'll ever eat any of her animals and no matter how many times she says no....

Nina J replied: Just make sure you and the kids get plenty of food with the nutrients meat provides. When I became a vegetarian I looked on google for good foods to eat

Hillbilly Housewife replied:

I don't eat lots of meat to begin with... but now, I think the meat I do eat will definiltely go down in amount... ewwwww!!!!!!!!!

I do eat lots of dried beans... well I don't eat them dry, I soak them and cook them...but I buy them dry... and grow them to eat fresh too, but there's not nearly enough to keep us supplied.

I eat pasta, veggies, fruits, cereals, bread, fish and crustaceans, and of course junk food...

No matter what though... I do love a good BigMac now and then.

amymom replied: Ok So there are some things I am just better left not knowing.

MyBrownEyedBoy replied: I got this at www.madsci.org


I think I'll go with this fellow's view of things. Humans were hunter/gatherers for thousands of years. Our digestive tracts are well accustomed to eating meat and well equipped. For what it's worth, I googled the meat rots thing. The websites that promote that point of view seem to be herbal/holistic and not too scientific.

MM'sMama replied: That's not a fun thought at all!!!

ediep replied: well, I am not a vegetarian completely, but I don't eat mammals....no pork, veal, beef, or any other meat like that. I do eat turkey, chicken, and fish.

I never cook red meat, DH eats it only when we are out or if he decides to grill a hamburger.

We eat a lot of chicken, turkey burgers, rice and beans. grilled chicken salad, pasta, turkey meatballs, chicken fajitas, turkey chilie, pasta with beans,

Crystalina replied:
Well, I don't know what type of doctor this guy was or if he promoted one certain type of thing. He was on Oprah on Monday for the entire hour talking about this type of stuff. When it came to the steak dinner he said it takes about 3 days to leave the body because it first has to rot and be absorbed that way. He sounded believable and hey...he was on Oprah so it has to be fact. I would love to believe the man in your post but now I'm even more confused. I will have to hit the pavement and find out what's up. I'd hate to give up my meat and I'm starting to get cranky. I've been living on cheese sandwiches. I really need to get to the store but it's soooo nasty out.

Boo&BugsMom replied: More than just meat takes that long to digest you know.

PrairieMom replied: essentially the body digests food by breaking down its chemical components the same way that nature would "rot " a food. I would think that a carrott would have to "rot" just the same as meat, just a little faster. BUt, I'm no expert.

Cece00 replied:
Yep...the body breaks down food the same...all types of food.

~Roo'sMama~ replied:
ITA. The word rot makes it sound a lot grosser than it is - to me the thought of any rotten food - meat or not - hanging around in my digestive system for a few days sounds yucky but that's the way it works!

Ellie replied: I eat meat but not very often. I love Morningstar Farms stuff. And I eat a lot of black beans.

My favorite are the "buffalo wings"
http://www.morningstarfarms.com/cgi-bin/br...=317&company=23

cameragirl21 replied: Ellie, I'm a big fan of MF's buffalo wings also...your post actually made me hungry b/c i haven't eaten them in so long!
my mom says that soy (which is what MF products are made of) causes infertility, which kind of freaks me out, have you heard anything like that?
The thing is that soy has naturally occurring estrogen, and women who eat it often say that it makes their cycle longer, even after just one serving. I'm on the pill so I don't have that problem but I'm wondering if soy, which like I said has naturally occurring estrogen just acts like the pill and causes infertility in the sense that it makes it hard to conceive when you eat it OR if it actually causes longterm/permanent infertility as my mom says she heard.
do you know anything about that?
it's a big part of the reason I haven't had "buffalo wings" in so long....

Hillbilly Housewife replied: Interesting about soy!!! I'll have to research that!

Hillbilly Housewife replied: Interesting... here's part of an article I found: http://www.healingdaily.com/detoxification-diet/soy.htm

Just because tofu is of vegetable origin does not necessarily make it healthy.

Health-conscious Americans believe in the benefits of tofu, infant formula and other food products made from soybeans and soy extract. But their assumption is now being called into question by Jill Schneider, associate professor of biological sciences at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

In a study of hamsters completed under Schneider's direction, it was recently found that a component of soy beans - isoflavones - significantly accelerated the onset of puberty in the rodents.

These findings, which are similar to the results reported by labs which have experimented with rats, might be relevant to humans, Schneider says. She points out that many babies who are allergic to cow's milk are fed soy-based formulas which contain isoflavones. Isoflavones, she says, can act like estrogen, a natural hormone important in the development of both male and female humans.

It is child abuse to feed a baby soy formula. A baby fed soy will receive, through the phytoestrogens, the equivalent of approximately 5 birth control pills per day! The damage is incalculable.

cameragirl21 replied: omg, Rocky, I had no idea it was that bad...that is frightening!
so much for "buffalo wings".....

MyBrownEyedBoy replied: Keep in mind it said the findings "might" be relevant to humans. Not that they certainly are.

Ellie replied: I've never heard anything about it. But I'm reading articles online and I can't find anything as "harsh" as that article. Mostly they say that they don't have any proof it effects fertility but that if you are having trouble conceiving, you might try to eleminate soy.

I don't eat that much soy but I drink soy milk exclusively. I cannot stand the taste of real milk. Which makes no sense considering how much I love all other dairy products!

cameragirl21 replied: oh God, I LOVE milk, drink it everyday.
i don't think it's very good for you though, so if you don't like it then more power to you.