Physical appearance is definitely a driving factor of what we do… all the crazy diets we try, the lotions and potions we lather on our bodies, the exercise machines we use, the facelifts, tummy tucks, and supplements that are supposed to do this or that. We literally spend billions of dollars on ourselves to attain good looks. This certainly seems to be the case, but then if it is, how do we explain the obesity epidemic that is growing by leaps and bounds every year.
Now don’t get me wrong. I use lotions and creams that say they take the wrinkles away. I don’t see the wrinkles leaving but I keep using the creams anyway. But, no diets, facelifts and the like. I am a vegan, I am very healthy, maintain my weight, have plenty of energy, no diseases, no high blood pressure or cholesterol and I am quickly approaching 78 years of age. I love to eat and am able to eat as much as I want to. I exercise daily and feel wonderful.
There has been such confusion about so many things having to do with what we eat. Are we getting enough protein? What in the world should we eat? How much is enough? What do you eat as a vegan? and it goes on and on. The science is so profound telling us that a plant based diet is healthy and that we should stay away from animal products. Perhaps there will come a day when we are not gorging ourselves on fat and sugar, a day that we know we look good and are not rushing to doctors for the next set of pills or some another operation.
We need to become conscious eaters. We need to be thinking about our planet, our animals and how they are treated and we need to start taking care of ourselves and of our children. What is best for us? How can we avoid most major diseases? How can we keep our weight where we want it? How can we keep our skin looking youthful. When can we ask the question, “Do I look good” and the answer will be a resounding “YES.”
I grew up like most of us eating meat and potatoes with a few vegetables thrown in and a salad once in awhile. I loved to go down to the local drive-in and order a hamburger and a milkshake. I was raised to think that milk was manna from Heaven. I couldn’t wait until New Year’s Eve when we had a Prime Rib dinner. Later, when I lived with my German father I was given German food to eat. One of my favorite dishes was Steak Tartar. Nice raw prime hamburger mixed with some spices and capers and served with a raw egg yolk on top. I know…none of us would dream of eating raw hamburger today for fear of dropping over dead or worse.
As soon as I went away to college and could eat whatever I wanted to eat I found that nice greasy tacos were simply delicious. I didn’t know a thing about diet and really didn’t care. I also believed the FDA when reading advertisements about this or that supplement or cure all. I thought that if I took lots and lots of supplements I would prevent any illness that came my way. This didn’t quite work out as evidenced by a time I was in Germany and a flu was going around. I caught it big time and thought I was going to die. I had several colds during the year and had horrible allergies. I would sneeze and sneeze, my eyes would itch, my nose would run and I was absolutely miserable. This happened twice a year. It happened until I was in my early 40′s and started getting more and more interested in what really would keep me healthy and how to prevent such things as allergies.
I found out that if I gave up dairy products my allergies would vanish! They did. I was still eating steaks from time to time giving no thought at all of what the animals were going through so that I could eat a piece of their meat. I did learn at that time what happened to veal and stopped eating it immediately. I think I had my head in the sand as far as the other animals went. It’s very easy to not do something about an action if we simply don’t think about it. We humans are experts at rationalization!
In the mid to late 70′s I was living in Puerto Rico with my family, surrounded by people who were vegetarians or vegans (although I had never heard the term, vegan) and the lifestyles of our friends obviously worked. No one was sick and everyone was filled with energy. One of our friends had a little baby and oh my goodness…what a healthy gorgeous child she was. We did eat fish and shellfish especially since we were divers and this put a lot of food on the table, but our main diet was rice, beans, vegetables and fruits. We had to drive about 28 miles to Mayaguez one way in order to go to the 7th Day Adventist Center where we could buy brown rice. During this time occasionally our daughter would ask for a steak. When she did we would go and buy her one and that would last for another couple of months. Also during this time many people came to us to find out how we maintained our health. We were more than happy to share this information.
Coming back to the U.S. we relied primarily on plant foods, grains, nuts and seeds. but did occasionally eat animal products. When I ate anything resembling an animal I really didn’t feel good and swore I would’t do it again. I did stop eating animal products several years ago. I had managed to get high blood pressure, my cholesterol was high and the doctors wanted me on statin drugs. I took these drugs very briefly, read more and quit taking them. I still had high blood pressure and pretty high cholesterol. Then a friend of mine suggested I read The China Study. I did. The book made all kinds of sense to me and that was the end of me eating any animal products.
My reasons for this were several, my health being my first concern and secondly, over the past several years I have learned how our animals suffer so that we can eat them. I know deep in my heart that we just don’t need to do this. It’s wrong. In fact the evidence is overwhelming telling us we do not need to eat animal products. They cause us untold problems such as heart disease, several types of cancer, osteoporosis, allergies, and I could go on and on.
The peer reviewed science is there and more and more evidence is coming to light every day. We do not need to eat animals. When we stop we will be a great deal healthier. Our skin will be youthful, our weight will be as it should be, our eyes will not deterioriate so quickly, we will have strong bones, tons of energy and we can avoid many diseases such as heart disease and many types of cancer.
There are several benefits that I havn’t mentioned such as no constipation. I know that people can go for weeks without a bowel movement. That’s scary!!! My system works like a charm every day. I know many people that have had some type of acne and when going onto a plant based diet the acne has gone away. I know my brain is working just fine and I suffer from no osteoporosis at all. My bones are strong, I havn’t changed my lenses in over 5 years, my energy is great and people can’t believe I’m as old as I am.
Won’t you join me? I will be happy to help you get on a path to a healthy lifestyle eating a varied plant based diet, losing weight natually and keeping it off, feeling great and looking great. You are welcome to drop me a line at jpercious@gmail.com. I would love to help you get on the path to a healthy you, a looking good you and a you that says to yourself when asked “How do I look” the answer is, “spectacular!”
