Interpreting the good will of an Ex-Vegan (1)

Albert Einstein became
a vegetarian two years before
he passed away.

I have a friend whom I have known for quite a while
and who has been a vegetarian for 4-5 years and 
recently became a vegan.

This friend of mine is a special one,
as he started his veg path since secondary school days
and with that type of supposedly-less-supportive environment
during school days,
he persisted his ideal; -- that is very admirable.

We had  some email communication recently
and he told me that he had been reading a book from a former vegan
advising against 100% full veg.
And hence he became a bit confused
especially when he felt a bit weak after going vegan for a few months,
suspecting if his condition corresponds with the ex-vegs' experience.

He pointed out a few issues raised by the ex-vegan author
to convince that some components from the plant-based diet could be bad:

E.g.1. Unsaturated fats (from plants) are bad,  because is more reactive than saturated fats (from animals), causing cancer and damages blood vessels.

-- base on the statement above, vegetarians/vegans would have naturally and constantly
been exposed to high amount of bad fats.
>> This hold some truth to some extent. But it's not a complete story.

>> Many people nowadays have been serious mistakened
that all plant fats are good and all animal fats are bad.
Now there are some people who go to the other extreme
to twist the whole story around claiming animal fats is healthier than plant fats.
Both are not completely correct.

>> As mentioned in previous blog series "The Fats of Life",
Plant fat is not always good fat, because once high-temperature-heated,
the unsaturated fats in plant will become damaged and cause health problems.
Most of the plant-based cooking oils sold out there
are already deep-fried before packaging (to preserve for a longer time).
Hence, it seems like taking plant oil nowadays is worse than
consuming animal fats (if moderately heated).

>> The point the ex-vegan author was trying to advise was
to remind vegetarians/vegans to choose quality plant oil and avoid high-heat treatment.

>>When plant fats are consumed in natural form (ie direct from food) or cold pressed form,
plant fats are definitely better than animal fats (Why? Please see "The Fats of Life").

>>The whole issue lies on the correct way of consuming fats,
nothing to do with a vegetarian diet.


With metta,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com




{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}