The FastDay Forum

I caught the last half hour. I'm with @nursebean good balance and @Stowergate portion size. That is how I was brought up despite Mum serving up a completely different diet for Dad (like he was served as a child). Interestingly my 95 year old Lancashire father has eaten, bacon, black pudding, sausages, meat, pork pies, potatoes, crisps, chips, lots of salt, sweet things in abundance - and minimal veg. He is still going strong, not overweight, or ill but happy. So, I say go with what feels right and listen to your body?

[carorees]

Part 2 tonight looks at the environmental impact of eating meat.

BBC2 9pm

Now that does interest me @carorees, I might watch part 2.

@coffeetime I'm with you. The thought of meat, let alone the smell or watching somebody gluttonize themselves on it is not appealing. I did notice with interest that he said experts opinions varied along with what they ate. I'm sure the vegos will be looking for meat to be the bad guy (I am! and the meat eaters looking for all the good bits...iron, B 12 etc (get Spiralina).

I'm 25 years a vego and tried to eat flesh about 4 years ago. Tried bacon, vomited...Tried fish n chips, thinking it would be innocuous, vomited. Gave away any idea of being anything other than a vegetarian foodie

MM should have eaten meat (processed or not) without carb laden buns and chips. A burger has a very different effect on the body than steak and vegetables. I wonder whether his bread intake increased with the increase in meat. This might be why he's put on weight. I was disappointed after the first episode. Have yet to see what the second brings.

In a perverse sort of way @GMH you are lucky that the most primitive mechanisms of your body are in tune with your ethical principles. If I could convince myself that I could find a low carb vegan diet that would give me all the nutrients I need but was not based on grains I would love to try it, but I get hung up on how absorbable some vitamins/minerals/fats really are from plant sources.

@barbarita well I'm not vegan tho that may come as I have seen first hand new born cows ripped from their mothers (mothers crying all night in distress), for the milk. But I take my health very seriously, so when I met a vegetarian 20+ years ago who had permanent nerve damage to her feet (no feeling, so no driving, falling over when walking etc) all from B12 deficiency, I make sure I am tested every year...has always been perfect. I also researched iron and discovered at the same time that cooking with an iron skillet puts iron into your system, I started using that too. My iron has always been brilliant (my brother-in-law is a hematologist and once told me I had the iron levels of a 25yr old...I was about 50). So I get blood tests annually and have never had a problem, I intermittently take spiralina, eat heaps of Silverbeet, rocket, spinach etc. So I guess if u want to be a healthy vego you have to keep an eye on things. The big difference between what you might currently eat, would be 70gms of meat...and maybe add a greater amount of green leafy veg and or Spuralina. But I do believe it's all about what is in your mind, to me decaying animal flesh is about as appetising as dog poo now that'll keep you off your food on a fast day

@Gmh, I've read that Spiralina is not a good source of B12, it has been tested and shown to be inadequate. I take a vitamin supplement I get from the Vegan Society which provides all of the B12 I need, although if you are not a vegan you should be OK. I'm not a vegan but eat mostly vegan foods.

I watched the first one, there was quite a lot of information to pack into an hour, but he was relatively even handed. I did think that the sides he ate with the meat were not very nice, and may have added to his weight gain.

I don't think I'm really designed for meat, I thought I was a fussy eater as a child/teen, but later on I discovered it was just the meat I didn't really like. Some of the shots of the meat in the programme made me feel a bit nauseous.

I take B12 and iron supplements, I haven't been anaemic, but just a bit on the low side for giving blood; I've been told that this could be as much due to my running as my vegetarian diet.

Looking forward to part 2.

Finally got round to watching episode one yesterday whilst on a flight accompanied by the acrid smell of microwaved plastic wrapped bacon sandwiches in the cabin. I remembered why I was vegan and am seriously considering going back to it after watching.