Nymphalidae: Preach it. Psuedoscience and it’s evil twin Mad Science (I made it in the lab! Let’s put it in food! Why? Because we can make more money!) are the banes of our society. Neither of them give people the tools (or the foods) they need to eat well and stay healthy, and it’s a damn shame. It should just not be this difficult for humans to feed themselves.

I have a problem with people pushing pseudo-science to make money. Veganism is fine, but many of these diet plans and “health foods” and whatnot are just bullshit. I’m not any kind of nutritionist (she said, eating Oreos), but I do know that the chlorophyll in wheatgrass isn’t likely to do anything for those of us who don’t photosynthesize.

Heh. Or that eating an Oreo will make you a diabetic. The other problem with this is that it obscures some of the political aspects of veganism that are both right on and much easier to defend without resorting to flat-out lies about dietary threats.

The problem is, we don’t educate people well enough to protect them from bullshit. Some people simply lack the mental capacity for skepticism, but some are so open-minded all their brains have fallen out. As such, large numbers of people pay money to astrologers, faith healers, and other purveyers of bullshit.

I think, too, that consumerism teaches a kind of uncritical desperation–to women about their bodies in particular. You are a failure, and you need this, which will make you a success. After a couple decades of that, Gee, maybe I shouldn’t ever eat refined sugar again becomes reflexive.

The problem is, we don’t educate people well enough to protect them from bullshit. Some people simply lack the mental capacity for skepticism, but some are so open-minded all their brains have fallen out. As such, large numbers of people pay money to astrologers, faith healers, and other purveyers of bullshit.

I can’t say I care for soy yogurt, though. Doesn’t taste right.

Well, it’s not the yogurt in and of itself, it’s the bacteria in the yogurt that do good things for the hoo-hah. Which also makes yogurt digestible even for the lactose intolerant.

Right. I just have no idea how that works in the vegan equivalent of yogurt. Can the same cultures do the same things to soy?

I’m interested in the fact that they singled out yogurt as a Very Bad Food. If I had to cut back to only one animal product, I’m thinking yogurt would have to be it, because it’s so good for you. Seriously, just a little bit cures digestion problems and keeps the Organ That Shall Not Be Named By Dr. Mike Adams in good working order.

I have no idea whether there’s any soy-based equivalent for keeping the ol’ hoo ha in good working order, but yeah. To be fair, it wasn’t yogurt so much as everything that comes out of a cow. But yogurt was included and mentioned.

And do feel free to write novels here in comments. I’m more of a harm-reduction veggie, so it’s interesting to hear.

Nick: Good on you (and good to hear from you). I know a few people, actually, who’ve managed to fit veganism and vegetarianism into recovery plans. Like other ryan said, there are opportunities for feasting. I’ve made some inroads towards healthy-foody eating; my gut feeling is that any broad restriction would (a) be a great opportunity to start hating myself and (b) make it far too easy for me to simply deprive myself of nourishment. Doesn’t seem like such a good idea for now.

I started off on a no-protein diet, as a punishment for myself because I couldn’t bring myself to cut a chunk of flesh from my hips. I was aware enough to realise that no-protein would weaken me to the point of hospitalisation in a very short time, so I managed to convince myself that no-animal would be a better challenge. I learned a lot about food and nutrition, and when I was ready, went back to being an omnivore.