Vegetarian men: Seen as less manly, but more ethical. Your thoughts?

[Ultralight]

I am a non-thin vegetarian. (That got corrected to “mom-thin”, which is funnier and accurate.)

i have two non-thin vegan kids in my classes. You can get fat on cashew “ice cream” and egg free pasta just fine.

When I was a vegan in college (four years) I was thin like 1970s David Bowie on cocaine! But I was not just vegan but whole foods vegan.

I know obese vegans. CL, you make the good point that unhealthy vegan foods will make a person fat.

Wonder bread is vegan!

[Rogar]

There's no substitute for a smart diet what ever a person's diet preferences and no substitute for genetic propensities. Being vegetarian doesn't automatically imply being slimmer any more than being a carnivore automatically imply being fat.

I'm holding to the theory that on the whole vegetarians are generally thinner if a person goes beyond a few person experiences without a larger sample size, but it's probably not quibbling over. We make our choices and I have my stories, too. However, it might be that they are just more conscience of what they eat and other healthy habits rather than diet.

[Zoe Girl]

I think a lot of vegetarians eat a lot more vegetables in general, in a form that is healthy. I was a junk food vegetarian awhile between 16 and 20. Super thin and not healthy. Then I went to eating a lot of vegetables and healthier food. When i ate meat for many years when my kids were growing up I still ate a lot more vegetables compared to others.

[jp1]

So my strongest reaction was “you make chapatis?! Like, from scratch?!”

He also does origami!

[Ultralight]

I think a lot of vegetarians eat a lot more vegetables in general, in a form that is healthy. I was a junk food vegetarian awhile between 16 and 20. Super thin and not healthy. Then I went to eating a lot of vegetables and healthier food. When i ate meat for many years when my kids were growing up I still ate a lot more vegetables compared to others.

Yes, I think you are correct that most vegetarians eat more veggies than SAD (Standard American Diet) folks.

I also think that many health conscious people become vegetarians. So they are probably eating more salads because of their natural inclinations too.

Apparently vegetarians are more likely to be depressed too. Carnies and Omnis love to mention this. (Jane? I just queued you up!).

But my money is on the likelihood that vegetarians tend to be:
-Smarter
-More empathetic
-More critical-thinkers

So they become vegetarians because they see and feel the problems in the world clearly and they want to disengage from participating in them.

[Chicken lady]

The problems in the world are depressing.

also, personal experience - dealing with both - anemia looks a lot like depression.

[Zoe Girl]

The anemia thing, I have been anemic a few times. Once was so serious I had enough red blood cells but they were deformed due to lack of iron. I took 2 iron pills a day for a month to feel better. I was exhausted! I didn't notice a difference in my regular depression however, just super tired. One pregnancy I had great iron because I was very intentional about my diet. I put in lots of kale and combined foods for iron absorption. The iron pills made me so sick that time I had to adust.

I became vegetarian the first time (lasted for 16 years) because I didn't want to eat anything I didn't think I could kill myself. I also was aware of the environmental impact. When I got questioned by my family I said I was balancing out their meat consumption. When I ate meat it was in about 50% of my meals, mostly to keep from making multiple meals for the kids and myself or make it easier to eat with other people.

[ApatheticNoMore]

I did become more depressed as a vegetarian, I guess you could say I'm often a bit dysthymic anyway, but this was more than that, it was full-blown depression, which I actually have a fair amount of natural resistance to, it takes a lot to push me into it.

However I was young then (which may have made me more prone to depression - was 20 something), and more I wasn't eating enough, and got too thin as well - not good. I could have been anemic, I've never been tested, I eat meat now and am pretty resistant to full blown depression. So just watch your mood and if it's getting worse and worse and it's not caused by way more than the usual stressors (a bunch of people you love die in a short period of time, you are unemployed way too long etc. - this is just life being depressing) you could try changing your diet. If vegetarianism works for you then keep on keeping on.

[Tybee]

It really does seem that there is no one size fits all diet, regardless of stereotypes about diet, weight, vegetarianism, Paleo, etc.

[Rogar]

It really does seem that there is no one size fits all diet, regardless of stereotypes about diet, weight, vegetarianism, Paleo, etc.

Health-wise there seems to be experts who claim the benefits of some distinctly different diets, with the Michael Pollen style seeming to be a happy sensible medium with less extremes. When it comes to environmental impacts and humanitarian issues around industrial animal husbandry, the issues seem to be a little more clear cut.

I think the correct term for a person who recognizes the havoc industrial farming plays with the planet, and the humanitarian issues, but eats meat with abandon on the plate is cognitive dissonance.