My vegan journey wasn’t perfect of course, there were hiccups along the way like the usual I thought it doesn’t have milk in it or I overlooked what’s on the label and what not but that’s ok, mistakes happen. The first 6 months of me being vegan weren’t as hard as I thought since I have been vegetarian pretty much half of my life. I noticed that just months of being vegan my happy hormones are much more prevalent as opposed to before, I'm always feeling down and low with all the crying bouts which are most common for people with Hypothyroidism. Being Vegan has also helped me control my weight gain without much exercise otherwise I would've doubled my weight by now since I get tired pretty easily when I work out.
But, before you read on let me just say that being Vegan will not reverse whatever symptoms you have from a pre-existing medical condition, it will just reduce the symptoms.
Effects of Going Vegan.
Better immune system. During the first six months of being vegan, I noticed that I have been catching a cold quite frequently which I think is a way for my body to tell me that I am detoxing. At first, I was adamant that eating only veggies is working because why am I getting sick a lot? But, past the sixth-month mark, I no longer get sick even without taking multivitamins! I thought it was just a coincidence or the weather but my sister experienced the same and we started going vegan on the exact same date last year. Yes, we are still in awe even up to now, never underestimate the power of superfoods like vegetables!
Good for reproductive health. I know this might be a little TMI but I guess it won't hurt to state a fact which might help other ladies as well. My menstrual cycle has been irregular for the past few years before I went vegan which is, of course, common for individuals suffering from an auto-immune disease like myself. But, in just three months of being vegan, the problem went away as if it never happened. I now have my period on a regular basis without skipping a single month.
Lucid dreaming. I also noticed that I dream a lot since I took the vegan route and surprisingly I can remember them vividly the next day. According to vegans the reason being is because once you have become a vegan you no longer consume foods which causes inflammation in the body and meat is inflammatory as it affects the body just hours after consumption (please read here) which means going vegan will bring about good blood flow in your entire body. More fresh food results in more mental energy as well.
These bodily changes made me ponder, If only I ceased consuming meat earlier I could’ve eluded losing a gall bladder or having my thyroid scarred (RAI). I strongly attest that going vegan is not just good for the health but in oh so many ways. However, going vegan is not a magic pill which will make everything better and the sickness will go away as there are illnesses that are irrevocable.
Compassion. I am not writing this blog to inoculate people to go vegan because it is not just a diet in my opinion but more of a lifestyle as it is very holistic. Its scope covers a lot of areas which includes Compassion towards the voiceless animals in slaughterhouses. If you want to see how much strife animals in slaughterhouses go through every single day please check out PETA’s Instagram account. Just watching a video of an animal dying a painful death will break you what more listen to their wails and screams in farms where they don’t belong. Would you eat your dog or cat? Then why eat a chicken, pig or cow? They are all living beings who feel pain and get scared, they also cry when it’s their turn to die and they did not even do anything wrong to deserve such fate. Just talking about these things based on what I have seen online and read about, the animals in dairy farms, slaughterhouses, experiment labs & even zoos, these are more than enough to break my heart in gazillion pieces. I have always been an animal lover since I was a kid and animals always have a soft spot in my heart that I cannot bear a sight of a cow-drawn caravans which purpose is to sell merchandise/peddlers, or horse-drawn carriages (calesa here in the PH) to give tourists that local vibe while the horses risk their lives of getting hit by a speeding car/vehicle and trust me incidents like these have graced local newspapers before. I just can’t let this cruelty go on anymore and I know I have the power to do something and I must make a move no matter how small I am in this vast universe at least in my own right, I hope, I can save a poor, helpless, and defenseless animal from a holocaust-like situation.
Care for the planet/Awareness. Being vegan is also intertwined with having a great deal of care for our heaving planet by spreading awareness, to stop eating animal meat so fields won’t be converted to slaughterhouses and poultry farms because heaps of water is being used to clean animal waste and tons of food to feed them so they become fat for human consumption instead of feeding the starving kids of Africa and the rest of the world.
Health. Eating animal meat has no nutritional benefit to be honest because it is nothing but animal carcass rotting in our stomach and too much consumption of such is doomed to make an individual a perfect fit for coronary diseases because animal fat blocks the arteries, preventing blood flow in the body which leads to a heart attack or stroke. Have you watched this documentary called What The Health on Netflix? There was this woman suffering from obesity, could barely breathe, takes ample of pills every single day to ease her suffering but to no avail, she’s not getting any better until she ceased eating meat that's when the huge change started happening. She got rid of her oxygen tank and expensive pills just weeks (not months) take note of going on a plant-based diet. Just to also add, cholesterol usually from animal meat and dairy is the main source of Diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure just to state a few. Let me just mention as well that drinking Cow's milk is proven to make one more susceptible to Osteoporosis as opposed to what the world made us believe that animal milk is the only source of Calcium. Studies also showed that countries with high demand for animal milk also have a higher rate of patients suffering from Osteoporosis. Let's not forget as well that baby cows are snatched away from their mothers just so humans can have our dose of fresh milk.
Care for the planet/Awareness. Being vegan is also intertwined with having a great deal of care for our heaving planet by spreading awareness, to stop eating animal meat so fields won’t be converted to slaughterhouses and poultry farms because heaps of water is being used to clean animal waste and tons of food to feed them so they become fat for human consumption instead of feeding the starving kids of Africa and the rest of the world.
Health. Eating animal meat has no nutritional benefit to be honest because it is nothing but animal carcass rotting in our stomach and too much consumption of such is doomed to make an individual a perfect fit for coronary diseases because animal fat blocks the arteries, preventing blood flow in the body which leads to a heart attack or stroke. Have you watched this documentary called What The Health on Netflix? There was this woman suffering from obesity, could barely breathe, takes ample of pills every single day to ease her suffering but to no avail, she’s not getting any better until she ceased eating meat that's when the huge change started happening. She got rid of her oxygen tank and expensive pills just weeks (not months) take note of going on a plant-based diet. Just to also add, cholesterol usually from animal meat and dairy is the main source of Diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure just to state a few. Let me just mention as well that drinking Cow's milk is proven to make one more susceptible to Osteoporosis as opposed to what the world made us believe that animal milk is the only source of Calcium. Studies also showed that countries with high demand for animal milk also have a higher rate of patients suffering from Osteoporosis. Let's not forget as well that baby cows are snatched away from their mothers just so humans can have our dose of fresh milk.
How to make the switch; Animal products & by-products
Baby steps because you cannot go vegan overnight and as I mentioned it is a lifestyle more than a diet. Going vegan means you have to not just stop eating animal meat/consume dairy products but you will also cease supporting anything that uses animals in their products (because believe me they always get hurt) such as silk, fur, leather, wool, cashmere, mink eyelashes, gelatin & honey just to name a few (yes they all come from animals), Zoos/shows which uses animals to entertain because it defeats the purpose of going vegan let's take Germany for instance, they now uses holographic images of animals in their shows instead of live animals because why in the first place?
ethical vegan.
You cannot not eat animals yet pay for businesses that are involved in causing harm and pain to animals. It's like you fuel a car to run and money from spectators or circus-goers fuels their show to go on and use animals such as Tigers, Bears just to site a few aside from they are denied their right to freely live in their natural habitat. These animals belong in the wild and not in the circus, they definitely aren't meant to do tricks. Animals performing in a circus or any show per se isn't normal because this alone is already an absolute example of power abuse towards the meek and the helpless. Who would stand up for them?
Last but not least, vegans condone makeup products that do animal-testing that's why we go for cruelty-free makeup. I am glad that more and more make-up brands are already looking for cruelty-free ways to test their products because it's never ok to use animals, they are not things. Rabbits are the most commonly tested in laboratories so just imagine how heart painful it is for them and how bewildered they are. My family cared for Rabbits, Hamsters, Guinea Pigs, a monkey, a talking Mynah, dogs, cats even a baby hawk my Dad took home to foster when I was a kid and I'm telling you Rabbits are the most trusting and sensitive, they can even die from a simple And bite. 😩 So, always look for the bunny logo and please bear these animals in mind before you consider purchasing a make-up brand. And oh just an FYI, make up products that are being sold in China are definitely not cruelty-free because animal testing is required for foreign cosmetic companies there. List of Cruelty-free Make Up Brands
Transition. When my sister and I started our vegan journey we had nothing but fruits and vegetables and purposely avoided any vegan alternatives to meat because we thought that’ll defeat the purpose. I mean, how can we train ourselves from not eating meat if we will still look for something more like it not that it’s a bad thing. There's nothing wrong with vegan substitutes it's just that it'll be harder to make the switch if you will always look for something meaty. If you're a transitioning vegan it's best to train yourself with nothing but fresh produce and trust me it'll be a whole lot easier to forget about meat because this way you will be humbled and thank the earth for producing plants. We only tried those faux meat/soy protein during our 8th month as far as I can remember not out of necessity but curiosity and we’re proud to say that we were able to easily adjust with just nothing but fresh green and leafy fruits and vegetables for longer than half a year and we can live without anything faux. We enjoyed the transition really because we were compelled to become creative when it comes to cooking our next meal since we have to make the most out of every vegetable we have in the fridge aside from it's really cost effective!
To continue on with your vegan journey you have to resist all the tempting foods/obstacles along the way and avoid detours because it's never going to work if you will keep on putting it on hold, all I can say is just do it! As for my motivation, I often tell myself I am going vegan for the animals, for my health and for all its worth every time I crave for ice cream. I want to be able to look my pets in the eye and be able to promise them I won't betray any of their kind anymore.
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Vegan Sisig from The Vegan Grocer PH
for P275/pack (Brand: The Good
Choices)
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On Vegan food. Most people have this common misconception that once you go vegan you will lose weight. To debunk that it is somehow and somewhat true for common sense reason-- going vegan will limit your food selections because almost every food has either milk or dairy content such as pastries, ice cream, bread, coffee latté, even those easy to cook pancit canton (contains eggs) and casein in 3-in-1 coffee (from animal fat)!However, there are always vegan alternatives/substitutes to pretty much everything non-vegan say for example the existence of soy protein/faux meat, vegan butter, Vegannaise or vegan mayonnaise, plant based milk such as Almond or Soy and so on and so forth. Recently my sister and I went to the outskirts of Brgy. Addition Hills in Mandaluyong (C.M. Recto St.,) to indulge a little and try The Vegan Grocer’s vegan alternatives to meat. We bought a couple of their cold cuts, Vegan Sisig and Longganisa just to try ‘em and you could barely tell the difference really so why not go for cruelty-free meat right if it tastes the same anyway? Their Vegannaise also tastes like it’s non-vegan counterpart except it was much smoother and was way less salty without compromising its taste. I have always noticed that the non-vegan mayo gives me palpitations and heartburns because of its fat content so it was really an advantage for me to totally eradicate poultry from my diet since it contains eggs. Do you know that male baby chickens are sent to the grinder or suffocate in garbage bags because they cannot produce eggs? That’s just one of the many reasons why I went vegan aside from the yolk on one large egg contains roughly 186 milligrams of cholesterol!
Speaking of indulgence, I am glad that there are quite a few non-dairy ice creams sprouting in the market nowadays which gives us, vegans, the reason to celebrate! There’s Super Scoops Ice Cream, Ambassador Ice Cream (3/F Megamall Building D, the video below 👇🏻) and SO Delicious just to name a few. And oh, I also saw that those lactating cookies being sold online are also vegan.
Accidentally Vegan Supermarket Food List
I am not trying to come clean because I myself used to consume meat since childhood and did not make the conscious effort until last year to totally eradicate meat/dairy from my diet and I say it’s never too late for anything. My Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy cost me a hefty P85K with my health insurance and Radioactive Iodine (Radioiodine) for my Thyroid cost me P16K five years ago excluding the medications thereafter which seems a lot for healthcare. The amount of money we spend for healthcare is huge enough to buy us a load if not a truck full of vegetables and spare more animals that are sentenced to die (considering they are not even criminals) just because we, humans, only think about what’s palatable or delectable.
Don’t get me wrong, I totally understand that not everyone can go vegan because some are allergic to soy or cannot live without animal meat as their main source of protein according to them and they don't feel full, etcetera. I am just wondering myself how come there are many vegan triathletes out there and how come the biggest and strongest animals are vegans such as Elephants, Giraffes to name a few even a Brontosaurus was a vegan colossus! I used to have the same mentality before I went vegan that animals exist to answer man's insatiable demand for texture in their food being animal meat and I am forever sorry for that. I realized how selfish of me to only think of myself throughout those years and all the suffering I may have caused them and this is the only way I could pay them back, compassion. I am also making extra efforts now to live sustainably by getting rid of plastics and anything non-biodegradable because of the harm and threat it poses to marine life. More and more sea creatures (Turtles mostly) get tangled up in bits of plastics that humans left behind in our ocean and animals sometimes cannot discern between what's food from what's not thus eat them only to die from indigestion or much worse suffocation from plastics around their neck. It's about time to not only think about our welfare but the welfare of other living beings we share our planet with, they also deserve to live here, let's not make this world suffocating for them by treating them as our inferior because God created us all to co-exist. They are part of-of our ecosystem for a reason.
Don’t get me wrong, I totally understand that not everyone can go vegan because some are allergic to soy or cannot live without animal meat as their main source of protein according to them and they don't feel full, etcetera. I am just wondering myself how come there are many vegan triathletes out there and how come the biggest and strongest animals are vegans such as Elephants, Giraffes to name a few even a Brontosaurus was a vegan colossus! I used to have the same mentality before I went vegan that animals exist to answer man's insatiable demand for texture in their food being animal meat and I am forever sorry for that. I realized how selfish of me to only think of myself throughout those years and all the suffering I may have caused them and this is the only way I could pay them back, compassion. I am also making extra efforts now to live sustainably by getting rid of plastics and anything non-biodegradable because of the harm and threat it poses to marine life. More and more sea creatures (Turtles mostly) get tangled up in bits of plastics that humans left behind in our ocean and animals sometimes cannot discern between what's food from what's not thus eat them only to die from indigestion or much worse suffocation from plastics around their neck. It's about time to not only think about our welfare but the welfare of other living beings we share our planet with, they also deserve to live here, let's not make this world suffocating for them by treating them as our inferior because God created us all to co-exist. They are part of-of our ecosystem for a reason.
Let's bear in mind that as we get older it’s payback time and whatever we eat affects our health as it’s all in the gut, maybe not now but later in life. Say my Dad for example, he’s a lavish meat eater since I was a kid and he’s been diabetic for more than 10 years now (and no it's not hereditary in his case) and he still hasn’t stopped eating animal meat despite my sister and I’s strong resolve for him to totally switch to a plant-based diet but he wouldn’t budge. He’s already had a benign tumor on the lower part of his intestines back when I was still in college and thank God after the operation he did not suffer any more complications nor underwent chemo except he had to wear a stoma bag for the rest of his life and to date there’s a possibility he’ll be a candidate for Coronary Angioplasty. So what’s my point really? The solution is plain and simple, lifestyle change and diet. Diet being a sub-category when we talk about lifestyle as it plays a major role if one wants to get better. However, if the person herself/himself is not willing no one else will do it for them. We only have one body and one planet, let’s be kind to it and to other living beings we co-exist with. I am not writing this post to judge anyone by the way because awareness and realization start from within and if I change your mind just by reading this blog well and good, I salute you and welcome to the club! Here's your Vegan starter kit
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xoxo
Philly Jeane
Philly Jeane
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