Is Stating You’re Vegan Elitist?

At dinner the other night I was asked if I was vegetarian and I said, “actually, I am vegan.” During a conversation the next day, it came up that the way I stated that I am vegan, came off as elitist. Am I caught up in my ego? Or am I just proud that I have chosen a healthier lifestyle?

I am in fact, letting people know that I have chosen to be compassionate to all creatures and to my body.

Following a plant based diet is the ideal way to eat for your health. We need to be conscious and aware of our choices. The quality of nutrients we put into our bodies determines the quality of our lives. There are vegans who eat soy based meat analogs, use a lot of soymilk and consume a lot of bread and sweets at the exclusion of vegetables and fruits and are therefore not consuming a healthy vegan diet. Just saying you’re vegan and not eating healthy is not truly being vegan.

Here is an exert from my book, Feed Your Body, Feed Your Soul:

“When you evolve, so does your desire to nourish your body on all levels. The junk foods you once desired, will no longer be fulfilling and will make you feel disconnected from your awakened self. Food is one of the paths to spiritual enlightenment, we need to nourish ourselves with living foods that are not heavy, overly spicy, too sweet, salty, fatty, and full of fear (meat), to not anchor you down but to help your spirit soar. When you overeat you are suppressing your emotions by stuffing yourself and pushing the emotions down, as opposed to dealing with them when they are at the surface. Eating living foods supplies you with all the nutrients your body requires and your body will in turn be able to release toxins stored in your body fat, balance your blood sugar, which will balance your mood, and clear up brain fog so you can see things more clearly as they are, without distortion.”

There is a pervasive indoctrination on the other side of the fence; the meat and dairy industry would like you to believe that you can’t survive without consuming meat and dairy; you won’t have strong bones without milk and dairy and it is manlier to eat steak and meat.
Just the opposite is true.

Where do cows get calcium from?

Plants absorb calcium and other minerals from the soil through their roots. As the plant grows the calcium is in the plant at the root and in the stem and then in the fruit or vegetable. The cow eats grass and other calcium rich plants. Plants are the source of calcium and minerals that build strong bones for us and for the largest animals on this earth.

Eating a plant based diet with fruits and vegetables will give you all the calcium you need. The problem is holding onto that calcium. When you eat cheese, dairy products of any kind, animal proteins, coffee, and other acidic foods, your body uses calcium to buffer the acids and you lose calcium.

Is eating meat linked with manhood, power, and virility?

Eating animal foods causes a fatty sludge to build up in your blood, which sticks to the sides of your arteries and restricts the flow of blood and oxygen throughout your body. If you deprive your brain of oxygen, you get a stroke. If you deprive your heart of oxygen, you get a heart attack. If you deprive your tissues and cells of oxygen, you are setting yourself up for cancer, not to mention that your body must spend the next five hours cleaning up the mess you made by eating meat. One more thing—your clogged blood vessels can now cause impotence.

Sound manly? Celery and beets work like Viagra, they have vasodilation properties bringing more blood flow and oxygen to your organs, so eating more celery and beets would be manlier!

People tend to get uncomfortable and often feel threatened when they hear that you are choosing to not eat dairy, fish, meat, eggs or anything that comes from an animal. My experience has been that people try to find holes in it or cracks in the foundation of my beliefs. It’s funny how everyone becomes a nutritionist when you tell them you don’t eat meat. Or better yet, they know someone who was vegan but got really sick and now feels better eating meat. The question that always came up was ‘how do you get your protein’? We have been brainwashed and led to believe that protein is only found in the meat from animals.

First of all, animal proteins are acid forming, which can create inflammation and cause tissue breakdown, which is the opposite of what most people think. Animal protein must first be broken down (hydrolyzed) into simple amino acids before the body can use it. This lengthy process robs the body of vital energy and that is why most people are tired after eating a steak. Plant proteins are simple structures of amino acids, which require less energy. When protein gets broken down it creates sulfuric and phosphoric acids, which are highly toxic and damaging to our tissues.

We end up using electrolytes to convert these acids into salts (ionization) to neutralize their effects. Carbohydrates and fats create lactic and acetic acids, which require the same process but are not as damaging. That is why it is important to replenish your electrolytes daily. Some of the final digestive processes to breakdown meat result in the production of uric acid, which is abrasive and irritating and inflames and damages tissues.

The more meat you consume the more your immune system has to work and the more parasites you invite to grow within your body. Bacteria and parasites, viruses, worms and flukes, feed on waste from animal protein digestion. Meat can also become impacted on your intestinal walls, causing your intestinal lining to decay with it. Because of the acidic content, too much meat protein has been linked to colon cancer and heart disease. Sound sexy?

Animals are fed growth hormones, antibiotics, pesticides, and herbicides. Every time you consume meat, you are consuming everything that the animal has eaten and felt, including the fear of being slaughtered.

What do wild horses, gorillas or elephants eat? They are herbivores, and their diet is a hundred percent grass and vegetable matter and they are definitely not lacking in strength.

Most people are unaware or choose to ignore the violence required to obtain animal foods, from both factory farms and family farms. Most people only see the meat packaged at the grocery store and are in denial. Animals are tortured, treated inhumanly and then slaughtered.

The production of beef and other animal protein consumes huge amounts of natural resources such as water, fossil fuels and topsoil, while polluting our water and air. In fact, switching to a plant-based diet from a meat-eating diet is the single most important move you can make to help the environment.

If stating I’m vegan sounds elitist, well maybe I am just proud to know that I am aware and making a conscious choice to follow a healthier path both physically and spiritually.

Watch the movie Earthlings and decide for yourself.