Is anyone here vegan?

got it. will do.

I do like to bow, though. It speaks to a well distilled expression of appreciation in me.

Probably a past life in Asia?

Meat gives me intense IBS, sometime I can be ill for a fortnight, I can't seem to digest it and it's painful to pass. I had a homeopathic treatment and almost the first thing that happened was I went right off meat and the smell of cooking fish started making me feel really sick.

I have a similar reaction to coconut fat too, I'm alright with coconut milk, but the stuff they sell for making pastry and it's use in vegan "cheeses" and other products sets me off with IBS.

The oddest thing about it is the attitude of other people, especially people my age, they get really hostile towards me, especially men, until they find out that I can't digest it and I'm not being "woke or namby pamby", I've been told I'm a 'natural vegetarian' and the whole attitude changes.

I'm vegan. I feel healthier, I'm being kinder to animals and I'm far less likely to get food poisoning now - my main reason for trying vegan food in the first place. 

I do feel healthier though. Meat was making me feel extremely unwell at times and triggered my IBS which vegan food does not. 

Welcome here, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. 

Greetings, all. This is my first post on the forum.

I've been a vegan for more than 25 years. I sought to remove myself from being a participant in the commodification and suffering of animals.   I have, on numerous occasions, contacted food manufacturers to request that products be reformulated so as to become suitable for vegans. An example of success in this regard is Soreen Malt Loaf.

A little more about me: A chap in his fifties, I was found to be autistic three years ago. I have acute hearing, am irritated / distressed by certain sounds (for example: motor vehicle engines idling, pressure washers, loaf-blowers, and the sudden or repetitious barking of dogs). I find it almost impossible to go to sleep unless it is quiet, and I struggle, at times, with OCD. I am unhappy with much that is prevalent in society and, as have many other autistic folk, struggled, at times, to 'fit in' with others. I find 'small talk' to be fake and unsatisfying and have a tendency to answer truthfully.

I look forward to corresponding with members of the forum in due course.

YES - this is PRECISELY what happens when we medicate our meat!!

We are not worthy!

oh FFS.....NEVER bow to an asshat like me!   It just so happens, that on this point (reduced to a few words = if you pump the animals that you choose to eat with medicine and hormones, it will FU the average human body)....I feel we are one and the same.  Admittedly, we do seem to be that way on many subjects.....so I do consider you #sis.  But please, a reciprocal salute = OK, a bow = awkward!

I'm not to sure about weight gain and breast size, mine stayed pretty much the same size whatever my weight. Not everyone gains or loses weight in the same places, you'd think people would slowly gain weight all over, but they don't and nor do they lose equally either. I think people's overall diet has changed, less fresh food, more takeaways and ready meals that are full of ingredients you'd have to go to a chemical supply company to find, rather than the average supermarket.

I don't agree with you about increased sexualisation either, when I was a teenager in the 1970's there were judgements made about your intelligence and sexual availibility. Whilst some things have become more sexualised, you don't get the overt sexism and sexualisation of women in programs like The Benny Hill Show, or the Carry On films, where being blonde and busty was openly showed as lacking intelligence and being sexually available. When I was at school having  an A cup was normal and being a B cup or bigger was a sign of being a "slag", not that it was anything you could help, they just grow.

I think there are other ways in which ever younger children are becoming sexualised, mostly via the media, but then you've always had that dichotomy about innocence and sexuality, especially when it comes to sexual abuse and rape. A girl who develops physically at a young age, something she has no control over, becomes a target for predators whereas her less developed peers will be left alone for a few years. Physical maturity dosen't mean emotional maturity and many girls have to "grow up to soon" because of pressures beyond their control.

Overall I'm glad that women are more confident in their bodies and feel able to be uncovered, I just wish it were the same for those who don't wish to uncover.

<bowing> thanks #bro.

Yes! For anyone who's interesting in giving veganism a try, the Vegan Society offers some great resources and tips:

https://www.vegansociety.com/go-vegan/take-vegan-pledge 

TheCatWoman said:

I think the over use of hormones is also responsible for the rise in breast size in human women

Another probable major contributor is the rise of obesity across the population. i know from first hand experience with my wife that when she has a longish period of increased weight, there is a quite identifiable increase in breast size.

The health implications are quite easy to corrolate as you point out and this has been a major driver in a sustained, healthier living plan she has been on for a few years now.

TheCatWoman said:

There's also a social issue about larger breast sizes and perceptions of intelligence and sexual availability.

I think this is more of a reflextion of societies increased sexualisation of nearly everything but a reduction in inhibitions is certainly puting breasts out there much more whether for a fashion choice or to attract attention.

I think the over use of hormones is also responsible for the rise in breast size in human women. It was rare to find anyone who was a D cup 40 years ago, now it's a common size and sizes are getting larger all the time. There's health implications for have breasts that are very big too, such as damage to the neck and upper back from the weight of them, as many women who have large breasts will have small bones. There's also a social issue about larger breast sizes and perceptions of intelligence and sexual availability.

I have problems with things like spirulina and other marine sources, they give me a really bad botty.

Wise, informed Uhane.  I salute you.

thank you dear Debbie!

Great Website!

FYI

Compassion in World Farming:

https://www.ciwf.org.uk/

There is also the link these days to the over use of hormones and antibiotics that industrially husbanded animals endure. Not to mention the diets they are forced to eat. Looking into this issue is and knowing about it is one of my special interests.

It has been proven that this rising use of hormones on the cows also correlates with the rise in the earlier and earlier onset of menses on humans. This is one of the elephants in the room these days, The room seems to have acquired a lot of elephants these days.

[raises hand]. when i was in my late teens and macrobiotics was becoming more widely known we were all talking about and getting into food as an energy delivery systems. One thing we spoke of a lot about was the life and happiness and/or the heartbreak and distress animals felt at being deprived of a happy free life and the trauma of captivity, sickness, mistreatment and an often terrifying death. We spoke a great deal about how the cells of the creatures people ate carried those sensations as imprints and the person eating them would also take that on.

After an operation I began to eat 4 eggs a week. I make sure the chickens are happy and can actually visit them. I also make sure they are not fertilized.

I will now also eat some goat cheese if I know the animals and see they are happy gals.

I switched to only organic meat for a few months and even only ate grass fed beef and lamb for a while which technically by some standards are the healthiest meats you can eat due to the Omega 3 ratio and how natural the animals' diets are. However, there are other issues with meat I think like the protein in them is harder for the body to digest than plant protein. People can become diabetic or get heart problems from eating too much meat, especially red meat, even if what they eat is overally very healthy.