New Vegan
Posted by jrunner on Oct 13, 2008 · Member since Oct 2008 · 1 posts
Hello,
I have just decided to eat a vegan diet and transform my lifestyle to vegan. Of course everyone I talk to who is not vegan or vegetarian has opinions on why I'm making a bad decision. The latest was a friend telling me that Seitan and Soy are extremely toxic to the body. Does anyone have any input for me?
Thanks!
Hi there! Welcome! There are tons and tons of threads on here about being a new vegan (just search for "new vegan" and find a bunch!). Soy and seitan are not toxic to the body (they are common in Asian diets, which are some of the healthiest diets around). Highly processed soy/seitan aren't great for you, but highly processed anything isn't great for you. Your friend is uninformed about that, but most people are unfamilar with vegan and vegetarian foods and unfamiliar=bad.
You'll find that many people try to hassle you about your choices. It's hard to feel so defensive all the time, but just come here and vent and realize that it's ultimately your choice and no one else's. If you have specific questions, let us know! We're a fairly diverse group of vegans/vegetarians/pescetarians with a wide range of experiences :)
Welcome to veganism and congratulations on your decision!
People will tell you all sorts of things that conflict with your decision to eat ethically and healthfully, but a lot of what they say is typical of omnivores who feel threatened by your choice. The meat industry has a lot of power and money that goes into making people think that alternatives to their "commodity" are bad. But you can just tell them that they are misinformed, and in fact, meat is toxic to the body. Whole soy products such as edamame and tempeh are very good for you, but of course, like anything, they shouldn't be the only thing you eat. More processed soy is not as great, just like anything else processed isn't so great, but in moderation it's fine. Seitan is wheat gluten, and some people have gluten sensitivites, so they probably shouldn't eat it, but otherwise it's fine. I hope this helps!
Ignore people like that. Glueten can be an allergan, but you'd know by now if you have a gluten intolerance, so enjoy your seitan!!
Japanese people gobble up tofu and have for centuries.....are they immune to the toxicities?
Good luck! Sooner or later people will accept this part of you and it won't be a big deal.
I limit my tofu and seitan consumption to a couple times a week at most.... mostly so i get a well rounded diet. Too much of ANYTHING can be bad for you. Most people are simply ill-informed. My father thinks men shouldn't eat tofu because is has estrogenic properties. He says, and I quote "That....tofu stuff has female hormones in it. Men can't have that....it just ain't right. That'll mess with a man..."
:-D
I have never met a man who has had his maleness trivialized by the "evils" of tofu.
welcome! ignore ignorance, ive never been healthier in all my life, love the vegan diet!!!
You will feel so great after a couple of weeks of eating vegan food you won't care what people have to say. Just do what makes YOU feel good!!
Yay, another vegan! It's relatively new to me, too (a year and a bit). I love vegan food, and I don't regret my decision one bit. The only thing I lack is IRL vegan peeps to cook/talk with, but VegWeb makes up for that in spades. :D
Let me add my 'Welcome.' And what, pray tell, made you decide to go veg?
Welcome new vegan! I am an old vegan of 30 years now and am still going strong so don't listen to all the warnings. It more true that meat eating is the diet to be afraid of today and their is LOTS of evidence about the dangers of eating that stuff.