
Substituting healthy plant proteins for red meat lowers risk for heart disease - hhs
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/substituting-healthy-plant-proteins-for-red-meat-lowers-risk-for-heart-disease/
======
skilled
Over the last 5 years I have transitioned to an entirely plant-based diet and
can't imagine ever going back. My entire life experience has changed
dramatically in the form of mental clarity, sustained energy, and absence of
cravings.

Sugar simply disappeared from my life and I haven't looked back, although it
took a while for that to happen. Likewise, I eat cooked meals twice a week at
most.

Most of my meals consist of raw food like vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds. I
supplement things like flaxseed oil for omega fatty acids, and rely on plants
such as wheatgrass, moringa leaf and turmeric for micronutrients.

Hemp protein has been one of my recent favorites, literal jet fuel for your
body!

~~~
krageon
When I last tried it, the core trouble of a diet like this (to me) was
increased cost. Like the other extreme (eating basically only meat), an
atypical diet means you need to dip into uncommon ingredients in order to end
up with a balanced diet (for plant matter, getting the vitamins you normally
get from meat can be challenging - especially to your wallet).

How did you solve this? If you did not, what would you estimate the percentage
increase of your food spending to be? Can you give some insight into what part
of the world you are (Africa/Asia/Europe/North America/South America or
something of that granularity is fine), if you are comfortable with doing so?

~~~
skilled
I think this (cost) is the biggest "roadblock" most people see when thinking
about a plant-based diet. I currently live in Asia, but travel back and forth
between Europe every few months.

One of the ways I solved this is by being comfortable to have meals that
consist of nothing but raw food. So, raw nuts, raw vegetables and fruit, and
legumes whenever I desire. But I also try to look at it realistically. For
example, a tub of Kale Powder (120g) will set me back around 20USD. But, how
likely am I to consume that tub in one day? In fact, it will last me for up to
4 weeks. The same goes for 350 grams of Hemp Protein. It's 20USD but I'm going
to be having that over a period of at least 2 weeks.

One difference between Asia and Europe is that in Asia I can get a much bigger
variety of fruit, which is generally my go-to food besides everything else.
But even then, I never leave the supermarket having spent more than 30USD for
4-5 days worth of food.

If I had to be specific, for the entirety of a whole month I'll be spending
about 250-300USD on food. I'm honestly not familiar with other diets and not
sure how much they can run up over a month. What I do know is that I _never_
have any leftovers. Everything gets consumed one way or another.

~~~
krageon
I think for my location (Europe, mainly) that is a fairly typical amount of
spending for a month of food. However, I spend that for roughly two people and
from the times I've had to buy food in Asia (admittedly some years ago) it is
quite a lot cheaper than it would be here.

That would put it at maybe twice as expensive (or even slightly more) as a
non-restricted diet. Is that a fair assessment?

~~~
skilled
It depends on the way you look at it. I'm living a minimalistic lifestyle
where food is actually my number one expense month to month. When I'm back in
Europe, I never spend more than 150USD on food, not only because my options
are oftentimes limited, but also because I get to pay the "local" price.

A lot of the popular Asian hotspots have gotten clever over the years, and are
no longer afraid to charge foreigners an enormous premium. In the last year
alone, I have had to walk away from numerous local sellers because they've
gotten extremely greedy and won't accept any bargaining. If you know the local
language, it helps a little.

I think if you're serious about making the switch, you first have to look at
what you're eating right now. Is it healthy? Is it environmentally friendly?
Does it make you feel good? What will you eat instead of meat? Do you even
need dairy in your life or are you consuming it out of habit?

When I first started out I had no idea what I was doing, and I sort of winged
it. But, gradually, I have learned to appreciate the many different varieties
to food that I would have otherwise replaced with a slab of steak or a chicken
breast.

------
kk58
South Indian vegetarian diet is primarily vegan.

Major source of protein is lentils and beans. Micronutrients are provided by
eating a wide variety of vegetables, leaves and roots

~~~
sridca
> South Indian vegetarian diet is primarily vegan.

Please don't spread misinformation.

I'm a South Indian (Tamilian specifically) and we consume a lot of milk, curd,
eggs on daily basis with meat and seafood (goat, chicken, vanjaram, crab,
prawn, etc.) on at least weekly basis.

It is only a subset of Indian population categorically known to belong to the
"Brahmin caste" that tend to be vegetarians. Otherwise we South Indians
generally enjoy eating meat; it is being limited only due to economic reasons
(for Brahmins the reasons are religious taste--they consider meat
"repugnant"\--yet they consume dairy).

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamil_cuisine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamil_cuisine)

[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-
india-43581122](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-43581122)

~~~
kk58
Read the sentence I wrote "the south Indian vegetarian diet" is "primarily
vegan".

It naturally follows if you eat meat your diet isn't vegetarian. Compres?

If you're Tamil as you claim to be then you'd know the Tamil word for
vegetarianism is "saivam" referring to saiva pillai community

Hope this helps.

In North india banias, jains, several kayastha communities are vegetarian and
several brahmin communities are non vegetarian.

So when you say that the subset of Indian population that is vegetarian is
only brahmin you are factually incorrect.

Please go easy on the hate. Bigotry isn't cool.

Peace!

~~~
sridca
> Read the sentence I wrote "the south Indian vegetarian diet" is "primarily
> vegan".

The subset of South Indians on a vegetarian diet are not "primarily vegan" as
they consume a lot of milk and curd on daily basis (and eggs and fish if any
of them are wont to).

> If you're Tamil as you claim to be then you'd know the Tamil word for
> vegetarianism is "saivam" referring to saiva pillai community

The existence of a Tamil word for vegetarianism referring to some community
does not automatically prove that the subset of South Indians on a vegetarian
diet are "primarily vegan" any more than the existence of a Tamil word for
non-vegetarianism ("asaivam") indicates anything of that nature.

> Please go easy on the hate. Bigotry isn't cool.

Since when did pointing out the facts of the matter, so as to prevent the
spread of ignorance, come to mean bigotry?

------
sridca
I'm pretty sure in the vast majority of these "red meat" studies they don't
differentiate between a steak bought raw at the butchers and a hot dog. I
would bet that if there was a study on the difference between good quality
steak vs processed garbage like hot dogs and spam, the results would be
different.

Sadly most people will uncritically gulp up these "studies" in order to
justify their being influenced to going vegetarian or vegan. One could argue
that the authors themselves are working under such confirmation bias.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLk5AAKRem8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLk5AAKRem8)

------
sridca
Actual Paper:

    
    
        Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials of Red 
        Meat Consumption in Comparison With Various 
        Comparison Diets on Cardiovascular Risk Factors
    

They did not actually measure heart disease; they just measured risk factors
believed to correlate with it. The meaning of these findings depends on how
you interpret the risk factors, which is much weaker than the title of this
thread.

