Why we should eat meat. By a former vegan.

I can already feel that I’m about to stir up the pot with this post. As a former vegan, I know why. I was a hard-core vegan advocate, like hard hard. I preached veganism as the only source of true health and demonized anything that had to do with animals (in the food sense). Before we get into the post I want to make it clear that I’m only referring to health in this post. Regarding animal cruelty – yes, being vegan is the better option. So what changed? What made this vegan babe crave the meat again? That’s what she said…

Baby steps. It all started with eggs.

After about 5 years into being completely vegan (being vegetarian about 4 years before that) and consuming whole foods such as beans, lentils, vegetables, rice, and potatoes I started to feel like “something” was missing. I couldn’t really pinpoint exactly what this something was but I found myself thinking about omelets and scrambled eggs in a way I’ve never thought about eggs before…So after a mental battle between myself, I went to the store and got myself some eggs. What happened when I ate that bad boy? Nothing. It was good. Like actually good, and as I continued to incorporate eggs into my diet again I could feel this “something” started to go away.

Eggs are the healthiest food on the planet.

Or at least one of the healthiest foods. Eggs are a natures protein bar packed with vitamin A, B, omega 3, and cholesterol which isn’t a bad thing! It’s 2021, can we please stop demonizing cholesterol as the root of all evil?! Sure if you’re blood is made with only cholesterol, maybe not optimal, but cholesterol itself is extremely important for our body to make vitamin D and A. Eggs are also very versatile food that we can find in the sneakiest of things. Pasta, bread, vegetarian meat alternatives, sauces, fried stuff, the list goes on. Without eggs, in your diet, you have to remove even more things than “just the eggs”.

why we should eat meat.

Omega 3 from fish.

The natural second step was to get fishy. Not that I had to, more that I started to crave it. A nice salmon was literally screaming my name. Fish and seafood, in general, are healthy sources of protein and essential fatty acids such as omega 3 which can be hard to get on a vegan diet. Even though walnuts, flax seeds, and chia seeds contain a fair amount of omega 3 you will need to eat a lot more of it to hit your targets. Omega 3 is essential for your brain, skin, and reproductive health. Looking at other types of fish such as cod and tuna, we are getting a lot of good quality protein for a little to no fat.

The fishy thing about fish though is that we want to be kind to our oceans and not promote overfishing. There’s also a discussion about our fish containing mercury and other toxins. It’s all about quality. And maybe not eating fish all day every day. It should be an addition to your meal, not your staple.

Let’s get real about protein.

Okay guys, let’s talk about protein. We can’t shut up about it. No matter if you’re a gym rat or someone just trying to be healthy, we always come back to get in enough protein. But why is protein so important? Protein is the building block of literally everything in our body. Muscles? Protein. Hair, skin, and nails? Protein. Our DNA? Protein. Quick protein lesson. Our body is capable of making 11 out of the 20 amino acids by itself. The remaining 9 amino acids we have to get through our diet. Foods that contain all these 9 amino acids are called complete proteins.

Everything we eat has protein from spinach to chicken breast, even though they contain different amounts and especially different qualities of protein. Animal protein such as chicken, meat, eggs, dairy, and fish all make up a complete protein by themselves. Plant proteins such as beans and lentils are incomplete proteins meaning they don’t contain these 9 amino acids by themselves. To make a vegan protein complete they need to be combined with another incomplete protein such as rice, bread, or potatoes. Of course, you can still get enough protein from a vegan diet but it needs more planning and could potentially also lead to a higher calorie and carb consumption just to hit your targets. I still eat my beans, trust me! But I don’t make them my source of protein anymore.

Get cheesy for your gut.

Dairy was the hardest thing to start eating and I didn’t for the longest time just because it grossed me out. I’m also still a bit conflicted if I believe it’s that healthy for us, but after doing research I do believe that good quality dairy is very much beneficial to us. Natural sources such as greek yogurt and aged cheeses are extremely good for our gut. The fermentation process of these dairy sources packs with so many healthy gut bacteria and protein. The French do know something about finishing the meals with bread and cheese. Butter from grass-fed beef also contains a bunch of retinol (vitamin a) which is a vitamin the body can’t make by itself.

why we should eat meat.

Whole Foods.

Don’t get me wrong, I still preach whole foods with all my heart. Fruit, vegetables, and legumes are still the biggest staple of my diet but I’ve also started to incorporate more animal products with my meals. We need to eat vegan food way more than we do today, especially in the western world where we are deficient in so much fiber that it’s scary.

Change the way we eat meat.

The most important thing in this the animal perspective, and here we can’t argue that being vegan is much more animal friendly. Mass production of meet is wrong on all levels and nothing I support. When I do eat meat, it’s usually when I’m out at dinners and I make sure it’s good quality and locally sourced. At home I eat meat with my vegetables and not vegetables with my meat. I also make sure to get plenty of meat that isn’t from an animal source. What? Nothing.

Sources

https://www.piedmont.org/living-better/what-is-a-complete-protein

https://medlineplus.gov/cholesterol.html

Hack your hormones

Hack your mood

Alrighty guys. It’s that time of the year when everyone is trying to squeeze out every ounce of summer. Days are becoming darker, and it’s just about time for the real darkness to arrive (especially if you live up here in the north). If you weren’t looking for a relationship before, you’re definitely looking to lock someone down, as cuffing season is upon us. The shift from summer to fall can be hectic, especially for our mood. Feeling sad? Anxious? A bit blue maybe? In this post, we’ll learn about how to hack your mood to become your best self as we enter the darker half of the year.

Happy hormones.

Our mood is a tricky thing. It can go up and down for the most random of reasons and sometimes it can feel like our mood is in control of us, not the other way around. When we talk about mood we need to understand that it’s our sweet hormones who are living it up and cause us to feel all range of emotions. Hormones are essentially the messengers of the body. Some of them tell us to feel hunger, some tell us to feel full, and some of them – the happy hormones tell us to feel happy.

happy hormones

Serotonin

The crowned king of “happy hormones”. Serotonin is literally called the happy hormone and plays a role in regulating our sleep, appetite, and digestion. Fun fact, 90% of our serotonin production takes place in the gut. When we have a good balance of serotonin bouncing around we feel happier, less anxious, calmer, and more focused.

Natural ways to improve serotonin is to:

  • Exercise. When we exercise our serotonin levels go loco due to the BDNF activity in the brain. This activity creates a protein that makes us feel pretty sweet and saucy inside.
  • Get more sunlight. That the sun makes us happier isn’t really news, and it’s wise to try to catch some rays whenever the sun wants to play.
  • Eat foods high in tryptophan. Trypto- what now? Tryptophan is an amino acid that produces serotonin. With low, or no tryptophans we can’t fully make serotonin which is why it’s important to eat this bad boy every day, since our body can’t make tryptophan by itself. Foods with high amounts of tryptophans are eggs, poultry, spinach, salmon, seeds, and nuts.

Dopamine

Ever felt low? Lacking motivation? And just not excited for things? Dopamine, and more specifically the lack of it might be the blame. When we get a rush of dopamine we feel pleasure and reward, which is why we continue to indulge in behaviors that produce dopamine. This can obviously be either good or bad habits depending on what we are doing.

We want to increase dopamine naturally, and here are some ways to make that happen:

  • Exercise. Yes, once again exercise tops the charts for producing feel-good hormones. Dopamine is not the exception.
  • Complete tasks. You know that rush of accomplishment you feel when you complete a task or project? That’s dopamine. To stick something out and actually finish it is a great way to not only increase dopamine but to build good habits of showing up for yourself.
  • Listen to some bangers. Music can have this beautiful effect on us where we get a sudden rush of joy when that beat hits. What happens is a sweet release of dopamine.
  • Healthy diet. Diet does play a big role in dopamine production and especially getting enough protein and amino acids in the form of tyrosine which can be found in protein-rich foods such as meat, eggs, fish, and chicken. Taking care of your gut by giving it plenty of probiotic foods such as yogurt and fermented food is also a good way to keep dopamine production high.
  • Sleep. Can’t escape sleep. We need it for plenty of things and dopamine is one of them.
happy hormones

Oxytocin

Love is in the air! But not if you’re lacking oxytocin. This hormone is known as the “love hormone” released when we experience belonging, touch, and yea love in general. Oxytocin is especially important for reproductive health and plays a role in childbirth. It’s s also responsible for the feeling of attachment between a mother and child during breastfeeding. Females tend to have a higher level of oxytocin and a reason why we easier form attachments to partners, children, or even pets.

  • Sex. It ain’t called the love hormone for no reason and sex is a sure way to boost those oxytocin levels.
  • Help others. To do acts of kindness makes our oxytocin levels go through the roof. There is indeed no selfless deed because even helping others will make you feel good.
  • Pet an animal. If you don’t have a partner to cuddle up with your furry friend will do just fine. Petting a dog, having a purring cat in your lap, or looking at an adorable bunny eating a carrot will all boost your oxytocin.
  • Good food. Foodgasms are a thing and they also increase oxytocin. Even better if you cook and eat together with someone you care about.

Endorphins

Last, but definitely not least we have endorphins, the hormone responsible to decrease pain and discomfort and make us superhuman for a while. You know that feeling of hyper-focus you get in a stressful situation? Or how you’re able to get up and walk after spraining your ankle? It’s all thanks to endorphins. You don’t need to be Edward Cullen to put a dent in cars, you just need a shit load of endorphins.

Endorphins also give us a lot of pleasure and you could call it the body’s own morphine, which is why we want to make sure to increase it as often as possible in natural ways.

  • Exercise. We can’t escape exercise. It’s simple just good for us on so many levels!
  • Laugh. When I say laugh, I mean laugh. Like from the bottom of your stomach, so much that it hurts! Laugh loud and often.
  • Dark chocolate and spicy food. Like we need another reason to indulge in some chocolate? Sign me up! Both chocolate and spicy food have a positive effect on our endorphins.
happy hormones

Take away

Happy hormones. They might have different names and act in slightly different ways, but the take-home is that they all act to serve the same purpose, and can be attained in similar ways. As the fall and darkness are approaching we should be mindful about getting daily sunlight, exercise, healthy food, and social interactions to feel like awesome sauce. To be honest, this should be a mantra all year round!

Sources

https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/serotonin

https://www.insider.com/how-to-increase-serotonin

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/how-to-increase-dopamine

https://www.verywellmind.com/natural-ways-to-increase-your-dopamine-levels-5120223

https://www.yourhormones.info/hormones/oxytocin/

Let’s add a bit of spice.

There’s two types of people. The ones who thinks too much pepper makes a dish spicy and the ones who need literal tears to form when eating a meal. Besides adding spice and flavor, spices packs a lot of healthy vitamins and minerals. And it’s about time you start adding more spices into your meals.For flavor and for health.

What is a spice?

Okay, we all know what a spice is. It’s that magic you sprinkle on top of your food to create a flavor explosion. Spices are vegetable substances in whole, ground, or broken form. Vegetables such as onions and garlic would also classify as a spice since it adds flavor to a dish.

Healthiest spices in the world

Turmeric

The gold of spices turmeric does not only give a yellow stain to literally anything it touches but it’s also packed with antioxidants and fights inflammation. What makes turmeric so great is the substance curcumin. Turmeric has a subtle taste and when mixed in curries and stews together with other flavors you can barely taste it all. Make sure to add black pepper together with turmeric for better absorption of curcumin in the body.

Spices

Cayennepepper

Being in the chili pepper family. Cayenne pepper packs a lot of spice and also the substance capsaicin. This substance helps decrease pain, both internal and external. A lot of pain relief creams contain capsaicin, and when eaten it can help reduce joint and nerve pain.

Cinnamon

The perfect companion to your bun, the missing piece to your apple pie, and the flavor that makes up Christmas. Cinnamon isn’t only sweet, tasty, and acts as a fun challenge but it’s also a miracle spice for heart health. This jolly spices keeps blood sugars in place and lowers blood pressure by regulating LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol).

Cinnamon also has the rep of being a diabetic’s best friend, as it controls insulin levels and blood sugar. Of course, we can all enjoy these delicious benefits of cinnamon.

Spices

Ginger

Ginger shots are not trendy for nothing. Even though ginger shots are watered down with apple juice and other shit, the ginger itself provides a lot of healthy benefits. It’s anti-inflammatory, helps with headaches and nausea, lowers blood sugars, and some cases claim that it can slow down the growth of cancer cells. This still needs more research, but hey, still worth a mention right?

Garlic

Keeps the vampires at bay and any form of human interaction because of the lovely smell. Besides the vamp scare and the bad breath, garlic is a very healthy spice. Let’s call it spice since we usually add it for flavor. Garlic is great for improving your immune system, lower blood pressure, and packs a lot of antioxidants. Some people can experience allergies or intolerance towards garlic, but if you’re not one of them go crazy!

Sources

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/5-spices-with-healthy-benefits

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/health-benefits-cinnamon/amp