After a day without eating a piece of meat or a slice of fish, I wanted to write down a review of the last 24 hours in order to tell you how I had managed to survive my meat/fish-free diet, and at the same time sharing with you the health benefits of vegetarianism. Then, I took a quarter of a second to step back and I told myself that it was a little bit premature and that I did not have that legitimacy yet. But it was such a feat for me that... I was all in joy, I know it may look ridiculous, but mentally, I had made this first step and I saw that it was not that hard. I had enough protein that day and I was able to do it without having indirectly slain the throat of a hen. I was happy.
In the article entitled "the veggie temptation", I shared with you my desire to stop eating meat, but I forgot to mention the profound reason why. I will not pretend to be the guy with a big heart, animal lover and a big supporter of the animal cause. Although, of course, livestock living condition and animal welfare do concern me. The reason to adopt a more planted-based diet is a little more egocentric. I vaguely told you that this transition is just another step in a more global anti-aging process...
At first glance, the relationship is not really obvious and do not count on me to get you a study corroborating the link between plant-based nutrition and longer life expectancy. No, I am too much of a critic to blindly believe "scientists" probably paid by lobbies of the agrifood and pharmaceutical industries to make us believe anything with the sole purpose of selling more and more.
This decision has been taken almost naturally. I'm not going to talk about my high-protein diet, but are you familiar with the principles of the acid-base balance? Without going into details, it is a human body function that aims to regulate the plasma pH (blood). Even if the direct link between diet and this balance is not scientifically established, it seems obvious to me that our diet plays a role in it... if only minimally.
Everything we ingest, drink, smoke affects our metabolism, our blood. The example of alcohol speaks enough for itself. In addition, all foods and beverages that we consume have a value that determines its acid or alkaline nature. We will not use the pH scale, which measures the acidity or the alkalinity of a solution (Liquid), but the PRAL index (Potential Renal Acid Load), which is often used in the dietetics field. If this index is positive, the food in question is acidifying our body; if it is negative, it is alkalizing.
Have you ever felt heartburn or acid reflux? This is likely to be due to an excessive consumption of sour foods. These are just normal self-preservation reactions in order to keep the pH of your plasma at a quite neutral level. To do this, your kidneys will have to work hard. In fact, your organism will do everything possible to fight this acidosis, searching first in your diet and then throughout your entire body for alkaline nutrients and minerals to degrade in order to maintain your plasma pH. That may cause the degradation of your bone structure. Osteoporosis bitch! Never neglect the importance of a varied and balanced diet.
Moreover, to break any preconception, it is not the taste of a food that gives it its acidic or alkaline character. Lemon juice, for example, has an acidic pH (less than 7). However, its PRAL index is -2.4, so it helps to alkalize the body. Juggling between these two scales can disrupt understanding, I can admit that. So, just keep in mind, that the majority of fruits, vegetables as well as juices, sparkling waters, spices and herbs are alkalizing. All fish, meat, cereals, dairy products, alcohols are acidifying.
Now that this acid-base balance has no secrets for you, let's go back to the reasons for my dietary transition. For years, I have eaten a lot of meat and eggs as part of my high protein diet. Naturally, I needed to significantly increase my vegetable intake to counterbalance the acidity of animal protein. Yummy vegetables for breakfast... It sounds appetizing huh? Not really... I sometimes forgot to eat vegetables in the morning.
My breakfast eggs, then began their acidifying effects as soon as the digestion process started. I then had to act fast, go to the gym, practice physical activity so that this annoyance dissipates quickly... Often in the evening; I needed to take a walk after eating to be able to find sleep. Sometimes, we are stuck in a certain routine that slowly kills us while thinking that it is perfectly normal. We do things mechanically without thinking, reproducing the same patterns, because our habits are comforting.
"You could have taken a Maalox asshole!" Nah, but you stay polite my friend... I firmly believe that physical and mental little wound or fatigue is just a way for your body to manifest that something is wrong in how you treat it. We must be attentive to all these signals. When you have a headache and you jump on a pill of aspirin thinking you have made the right move, you just have temporarily silenced your body, and you've lost a chance to find the cause and also the opportunity to solve this problem.
I have always preferred to cure myself without the use of drugs as much as possible. Over the last fifteen years, I may have taken... Two paracetamols and deux anti diarrhea tablets. Although I did not take any medication for these chronic acidities, it did not mean that I listened to my body. However, I only noticed that after my diet transition. Overall, the foods I eat today are much less acidifying than when I was a carnivore and these problems are just bad memories.
I made the decision to listen to my body and change my diet to remove the heartburn and improve my physical well-being. This is one of the two main reasons that pushed me towards vegetarianism.
The second reason, but just as important, is psychic, my mental well-being. For years, scandals about animal welfare, breeding and slaughtering conditions have regularly appeared in the media, and especially in social media. Just like you, I'm shocked and offended when I look at those images, but that feeling slowly disappeared as soon as I scrolled down and came across a video of cats or puppies and that feeling was replaced with a more enjoyable one. My indignations were ephemerals.
But somehow all these images and videos remain stuck somewhere in my subconscious, because the animal cause matters to me. In my opinion, this cause is an essential link in the fight against overproduction, pollution of soil and water... And it also carries with it the protection of the environment, the preservation of biodiversity, and the concern of “eating better” and raises the question of the use and ingestion of pesticides and other chemicals and the harm induced to human health. The animal cause is closely connected to mankind.
In short, standing for the animal cause is one of those fair causes that deserve support, because modern production methods are unethical and cruel... Well, that's what my brain had not ceased whispering at my ears at each of my meals, and I used to eat meat three to four times a day... It's hard to be serene on a daily basis with that burden... I reckon, I'm a fragile person. My body and my mind followed different paths, and I think this schizophrenia is a great source of stress and anxiety. If body and mind are in conflict, I think we must always choose mind, because a peaceful mind can help you sleep at night. I had to synchronize these two parts of me in order to find some inner peace.
I am getting talkative; I wanted to make a vegetarian transition 3 months review, but I do not have much to say. Except for four meals, I respected my decision and stick to my choice. The dietary change is quite easy when you know why you are doing it. I just have one regret, not having done this transition earlier in my life. For the moment, I still consume eggs and dairy products, but my subconscious must certainly be stronger than my love for cheese, it is not impossible that in the near future, I will also cut all animal products...
That will be all for this week, I leave you on these last paragraphs which sounds like a guru’s speech about human well-being, a bliss and serenity salesman. We'll meet again very soon, be safe until then and above all listen to the whispers of your body and your mind.
Kitofoto