Vegetarian

[zhan zhuang]

I'm a vegetarian. I have been for 1 year. I meditate twice (sometimes up to 4 times) daily and do daily qigong. I also train bodybuilding and kung fu. Since becoming vegetarian, let me share with you what has happened to me.

My mind has become clear. I have much greater control over my emotions. My insides feel so pure. I have become much more intelligent. I get on better with other people and I am much more tolerant than i've ever been. I come up with ideas all the time which I never would have had 1 year ago. I also feel I understand philosophy and religious texts much better. I used to have episodes of depression. Now I have none. My willpower has increased 100 fold.

Now, for the bad side. I have become much weaker. My joints constantly click and are painful (knees, shoulders, wrist). I have become very, very stiff despite frequent training. My muscles are weak and stiff. My skin has become very bad. My eyes are constantly dry. People tell me that I look pale. I experience numbness in parts of my body. Sometimes 1 or 2 fingers will go numb for an hour or even more, no matter how much i shake or whatever. There are more, worse problems, which I will not go into.

After going to a Chinese doctor, he said that I have deficient kidney yin. The problem is, tofu, vegetables, and almost all food vegetarians eat are considered yin. We are supposed to eat a variety of yin and yang. Without eating any yang foods, the fire does not rise up, and not enough blood is produced. I am now on herbal remedy to cure this, but the doctor said unless i eat red meat it will keep coming back. So now i'm in a dilema considering whether to eat meat again or not.

Advice would be appreciated very much.

[scramasax57]

it seems to me like those positive effects you mentioned were more psychosomatic than anything else. because you believed your new diet wold have good effects, your mind created them. just eat small amounts of meat; you don't need to become a full-blooded carnivore, which is just as bad as eating no meat at all.

[Inga]

g'day zhan zhuang, welcome to the forum. i have been a vegetarian a long time, and have not experienced any of the emotional and physical extremes you mention. you did not say whether you began training and learning qigong/kung fu at the same time you changed you diet, or if you were already established with these pursuits. it's possible there may be a link there. i have to be careful to eat well, and frequently to have the energy to train. you may wish to take further medical advice, but i suspect that you will find that it is impossible to get a consensus on whether eating meat is good for you are not. you've already been advised that not eating meat is bad for you. others on this forum (on previous threads) have stated categorically that eating meat is bad for you. by all means collect as much advice as you want, but you will have to decide what is right for you. if you don't have any issues with eating meat, then why give it up? if you truly don't want to eat it anymore, then work hard to get a balanced diet which does not leave you feeling run down.

[joeblast]

I remember Dr Yang saying in one of his books that the enzymes the body uses to process animal proteins are slightly different than vegetable proteins. By that rationale a sudden transition away from animal proteins would produce undesireable results - I watched it happen to my drummer in an old band - he tried going veggie, but came from a diet that was high in animal proteins with little vegetable proteins. He ended up with some protein deficiency and got sick, doc told him to start eating meat again, then he returned to normal.

[Inga]

Yes, I got sick when I went from a omnivore to a vegetarian, I came down with glandular fever (mono). Once I got a bit more serious about it, read more and understood what I was doing I was fine. I was a vegetarian for many years and have recently returned to meat as I found with my training levels I was not getting enough fuel. I felt well before, but I feel even better now having reintroduced extra protein. It's working very well for me. I am still not really going for much red meat, more chicken, ham and such. I never totally gave up fish, which I am not overly fond of, but try and consume on the basis it is good for you. I think I need to eat more fish too. But, one step at a time. I still have not experienced any of the physical or emotional extremes described by zhan zhuang.

[SunTzu]

**Inga, eating fish is good for the brain, because the fat of fish resembles that of our brain a lot.**

I am certainly not an expert on this nor am I a veggie, but I have merely read some texts on it because it simply interests me.

My view on becoming a veggie is that you should do it gradually so your body can become used to the change in diet. I also read that -in this instance regarding fasting- but I guess it also has similar effects on diet-change, is that after fasting it's dangerous for you to immediately start eating everything again. I am merely guessing but it could be that, that's (one of) the reason(s) some people get sick when turning veggie. It has IMO a lot to do with personal consuming lifestyle of each individual, and when that pattern is suddenly changed, I believe your body is getting "beaten up" by that.

just my 2 satang

[Inga]

SunTzu, cheers for your two satang. Right, that's it, I'm eating more fish, because my brain needs all the help it can get :)

Interesting point on the body being "beaten up". There is no doubt I was using more energy than I was putting in. Getting mono made things even worse, I fell in weight to 105lbs, it was awful! I was so weak, it was a nightmare. I had to work to put the weight back on, made even harder by well meaning "jokes" from friends about how "lucky" I was. I certainly did not feel lucky, I felt ill and frail. But eventually I got back up to 115lbs, in time I got to 120lb. I am hoping to make some weight gain with the reintroduction of meat to the diet. I am sure one can maintain a healthy vegetarian diet (I managed for years), but I am finding my current personal needs seem to require meat in some quantity.

[SunTzu]

Inga, please consider to read "Food for spirit" in the link provided below here.

Taijiworld

I found it highly valuable for anyone trying to watch their diet.