1. Dairy cows and egg-laying hens are abused just as bad, if not worse, than animals raised for meat. Contrary to popular belief, cows can only produce milk when they are pregnant/soon after birth..so they are constantly artificially inseminated to keep the flow goin. Also, cows are not milked by hand- rather, their teats are being sucked/pinched/damaged by milking machines that cause lacerations, bleeding, and wounds that are nearly impossible to heal, since these cows are milked multiple times a day (like that run-on sentence??)
Egg-laying hens are kept in battery cages (cage free eggs my ass- if it says 'cage-free' it means they're all stuck in a pen together, with just as small of an area to live and lay their eggs). All of these hens cannot even open their wings or walk around. They lay nearly 300 eggs a year, which leaves their fragile bodies completely depleted. After 1 year of egg-laying, these hens are considered 'taxed' and are sent to slaughter. NOT COOL.
2. Dairy is YUCKY! Dairy has been linked to causing/flare ups of allergies, aiding in tumor growth, and of course, weight gain. You think about how human's breast feed...our babies are supposed to gain 25ish lbs in the course of 2 years, and then we stop giving them breast milk. Yet we consume another animal's milk that's meant for calves to gain 2000lbs in 2 years? Not only is that outrageously fattening, but humans lose over 90% of the dairy-digestive enzyme by the time we turn 4 years old. What about osteoporosis? While cow's milk does contain calcium, our bodies are not naturally made to consume it- leading to the release of more calcium than we actually consumed in the first place. In reality, dairy causes osteoporosis! Many other nutritious foods contain plenty of calcium that our bodies are made to use/digest, such as almonds, soybeans, collard greens, and sesame seeds! And how about those delicious eggs? While eggs do contain a few vitamins, human bodies have an extremely difficult time obtaining and using vitamins/minerals/protein/calcium/etc from animals and animal products. Also, 1 egg contains nearly 60% of the 'daily recommended' amount of cholesterol. This may not be a big deal for you fellow 24 year olds out there, but who really eats just 1 egg? Eggs are also used in many baked items like breads and pastas...so even if you cut out actual eggs completely, there's a solid chance that you are still ingesting much more than your cholesterol intake for the day in eggs alone.
3. I have to admit, after becoming a vegetarian, I have leaned on dairy a bit more than I had in the past- mostly to get that 'super full' feeling I lacked from meat. I'm not sure if it is a direct correlation between that or not, but over the past several months, my body has just not taken to dairy very well. I will get super bloated (I look about 4 months pregnant, if I suck in), really...umm...farty, terrible stomach pains, and if I ate cheese for dinner or before bed, I'd always get nightmares. If dairy makes me sick this often, I may as well cut it out completely.
There are so many more interesting (and horrifying) facts about factory farms, dairy animals, dairy in general, but I'll spare you for now. I am very enthusiastic and motivated about my vegan journey! I have officially started to completely cut dairy out of my diet on January 3rd! Here are a few things I have discovered/experienced in the last week~
1. There is dairy in SO MANY THINGS! I must read my nutrition labels very carefully before I put something in my cart. Even in many 'dairy-free' things, there can be things like casein in them (which is actually latin for cheese..wtf!), so I need to watch out more than ever before!
2. I have had a few slip ups in the last week..mostly with cheese. Honestly, cheese is by far the hardest thing to give up. It's so addicting and filling and tasty...whenever I get hungry, that is automatically what I crave. I didn't realize how often I ate cheese until I gave it up. I have been mindful of keeping almonds or cheerios around in case I get those pangs of hunger. I just have to remember that these cravings will pass and that in the near future, I won't even want to eat cheese!
3. I won't get into the details, but my body is going through a type of a detox right now...so, certain things may not be as straight forward as they usually are...
4. I have been discovering many more vegan recipes and foods that are vegan that I already eat! Which brings me to some of the new foods that Josh and I have made recently! :)
Peach and blueberry crumble
Double chocolate brownies
Seitan Piccata with white wine and capers
Quinoa with pine nuts and basil
Vegan lasagna (this was before we added the rice cheese on top..I just forgot to take another picture!)
These are just some of the recipes we have tried out recently!! Josh is so thoughtful and great (as usual!) and got me a camera for Christmas...so I will DEFINITELY be taking pictures of each yummy dish that is created and share them with you!
If you have read this far, thank you so much for sticking with me through this long entry! I hope that I have been able to give you a better understanding of my vegan journey. If any of you have tried going vegan, or are vegans yourselves, I'd love to hear about it! How was starting out? How did you fight cravings? What do your family/friends think of it? Even if you are not vegan or vegetarian, you can still have fun trying out delicious recipes like these and discovering the many many many different veggies and substitutes you can use in your diet! :) I am very enthusiastic and passionate about becoming a vegan. I'm looking forward to sharing more about my changes, challenges, & discoveries with you! Thanks so much for reading :)
xoxo
<33holly
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