Nutrition, and with emphasis on vegetarian, vegan diets

I was going to reply to F's comment on my previous post with a comment. But then I decided it merited a whole post. Now, this post requires some disclaimers. So here they are:

• I don't judge anyone on selecting a diet that works for their nutritional needs, morals, etc. I do judge people who then advocate their diet as the solution for everyone.
• I'm not a nutritionist, nor have I heavily perused scientific nutritional sources.
• Therefore, most of my opinions on the subject are secondhand. The main sources my opinions developed from are: my mother, the films Supersize Me and Fat Head, the TV show Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, thepaleodiet.com, westonaprice.com, and healthkicker.com (a xanga health blog).
• I have diet needs given me by my doctor; I require a high-protein/low-carb diet (note: not NO-carb).
• I have food preferences: most notably, I hate most legumes and most nuts. And the ones I don't hate, I barely like. I listen to my food preferences, because...
• I believe enjoying food is an important part of its consumption. Which means that while I greatly respect people who achieve diet results with structure (e.g. counting calories), I honestly can't do this because it 'takes the fun out' and makes me miserable.

My conclusion: the only way I can stick to a diet that makes my body happy (and I can feel it!) is to eat meat on a regular basis. It also becomes happy when I eat vegetables: tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, mushrooms, bok choy, peas, green beans, onions, carrots.... It becomes noticeably less happy when I have more than a little grains/starches. This usually happens when I'm stressed or busy and end up eating out/eating frozen a lot :\

I eat meat because I have good reasons I should and I don't have good a reason not to. My reasons I should are that one, it is delicious, and two, that it's basically incontrovertible that our paleolithic ancestors hunted and ate meat; it is a dense source of nutrients my body has evolved to use. It is a good source of protein, which has been recommended to me as a fuel; and it works. I eat red meat, chicken, fish, eggs.

I have heard reasons not to, don't get me wrong; however, I have never found any of them terribly strong. A common one is the 'moral' argument: how dare we kill poor little innocent animals to satisfy our bloody uncivilized tongues? (Alternatively, it's a boycott of the meat industry due to the conditions). Well, to the first question, I say, "How animal-centric!" I can take that argument one step further and ask why we must kill poor carrots and potatoes and beets in order to eat them. Basically, until we can synthesize sunlight into human energy, we'll have to kill something to eat it; and I don't rightly care if it's a plant or an animal. As long as it's not Soylent Green (which is people, by the way). Furthermore, the livestock we eat has been bred over millenia specifically for that purpose--there's no such thing as a wild Angus! These animals would not be alive were it not for our food needs; so really, I'm just giving them a chance at life. Finally, the 'conditions' argument. I actually agree with the principle of this one; there are better ways to raise animals for meat than in tiny enclosures; I'm sure they turn out more nutritious as well. Someday, when I am rich, I will support that industry. Until then...

I've also heard that veganism is more 'energy efficient' because it doesn't 'waste' energy as animal body heat. However, I've heard a counterargument that much of the world's pastureland can't be used for farmland anyway...so until someone figures this out decisively and lets me know, I'll keep eating my cow. [Related argument: heard that switching the whole world to organic farmland would also interfere with feeding the whole world due to lower yields as a result of pest activity. I could believe that.] Furthermore, a problem with being concerned about feeding the whole world is distribution/entitlement. People in some parts of the world don't have access to food not because they have no money but because there is no good market in the area to connect sellers and buyers! [see PBS WideAngle: The Market Maker.]

Since vegetarians and vegans are eschewing a common source of nourishment of our predecessors, I believe it takes a lot more effort, structure, and monitoring of the diet to make sure the right nutrients are received. Furthermore, a few nutrients are not available from 'allowed' sources (particularly for vegans) and must be taken from a supplement...which can be either animal-derived or synthetic.... (B12 is a common example.) As mentioned above, I feel trapped by schedules and lists and calculations when it comes to eating. Eating is fun! It's tasty! We should eat freely!

Based on advice from my mother, Jamie Oliver, and other sources, I confidently say that cooking and eating at home is important to a good diet. I think this should have been higher up on the list. Regardless, it's much easier to keep foods you are trying to limit out of your house and keep foods you are trying to focus on more accessible. I have eliminated grains as a necessary part of my meal by doing this (:)) I still eat grains, but I get a lot of them when I eat out (as a busy non-morning-person grad student, this happens a bit...), or when I don't have time to cook so I reach for frozen pizza. Minimizing those is the next step...I used to have bread or pasta or rice with basically every meal, and now I don't believe we need that much! (see: Paleo Diet). I'm now content with a piece of meat/chicken/fish and two or more types of vegetables prepared accordingly. If I eat that kind of dinner several days in a row I feel supergood :)

Via Fat Head and one of my friends, it has been floating around that veganism can lead to or exacerbate depression (maybe that B12 deficiency?)...I don't really want to mess with that.

I think I'm ready for final thoughts. There might be a lot of them.

• My mom once told me that she thinks a reason people lose weight on different diets is that they start watching what they eat, and that does it. I think I agree with that...it's awareness that wins that fight, not any particular prohibition.
• In fact, basing a diet of complete prohibition of something you like is probably the best way to fail.
• There's a lot of conflicting nutritional information out there; I've come to the conclusion that the science of nutrition doesn't actually have a solution for this particular problem yet. There's no universal diet plan for higher energy, better focus, clearer skin, healthier weight, etc. Everyone just experiments until they find the one that works for them...and then they advocate it to anyone who will listen, saying it's the only one that works. That diet isn't necessarily better than another; it just fit this person the best.
• I have no problem with vegetarianism and veganism...I dislike it being preached, I especially dislike it being preached as a 'healthy' lifestyle. I don't believe it is, because of the amount of grains that usually end up being consumed; especially true for me, given my needs and my preferences.

So, F, I would love to hear about your path to vegetarianism, perhaps you would like to refute some of my points...I will probably end up sticking with idolizing the Paleo diet and ultimately doing my own thing...