letter received November 18, 2007 

 

I am writing to commend you on what I think is THE best vegan site out there!  I love the layout of your site, especially how you ask the question "why vegan?".  I have been vegan for 36 years, since I was 12 years old........but I actually began to "think" about what I was eating at 10.  At 12, I started to "resist" what I was taught, and conditioned to believe, that meat was necessary to sustain life.  I am 48 years old and back then I did not have the resources available today to find information and support, such as your website provides.  I began my journey to veganism with only the knowledge in my heart that I could not eat something that once lived and breathed, loved and suffered, just as myself.

It has been a long and tough journey, not only to educate myself on how to eat, but moreso to be accepted by my family and friends as a "thinking, compassionate" person, and not someone who has lost their mind!

My journey has brought me to a place where I feel total well being, mentally and physically.  I am lean and strong and never get sick (5'6", 115 lbs).  I have had 7 healthy children (all near or over 10 lbs!) which for me, says something positive about a vegan diet too. 

I am now about 75% raw, and eat only fresh food (nothing processed or from a can) I do not eat anything that resembles/imitates meat, so no soy meat products, soy cheese, etc.  I eat mainly beans, nuts, seeds, vegetables, grains, fruits. 

Veganism for me is so much more than what I eat though, it is a philosophy, a lifestyle, a way of viewing the world around me, a spiritual thing, a love of life, a feeling of peace and contentment in my heart knowing that I do not participate in the murder of animals to sustain me.

I will always "be" so grateful that I was blessed with the mind to "think", and the spirit to "resist" and and the heart to "be" me. a vegan.

Keep up the great work on Vegan Underground!!  You have done a wonderful job.

Susan

excess fat can cause up to a third of all cases, study says, putting lifestyle choices on par with quitting smoking
written by: Martin mittelstaedt
source: Globe and Mail

read the full report: food, nutrition, physical activity, and the prevention of cancer: a global perspective

The most comprehensive study ever undertaken on the association between cancer and obesity concludes that excess body fat triggers many types of the disease, as does the consumption of even moderate amounts of alcohol, red meats and processed meats.

The study, released yesterday in Washington by the American Institute for Cancer Research and the World Cancer Research Fund, shows food, nutrition and lack of exercise appear critical in causing many cases - perhaps up to one-third - of all cancers. That means controllable lifestyle factors associated with diet and weight have about the same impact on cancer rates as smoking.

"The most striking finding in the report is that excess body fat increases risk for numerous cancers," said Phillip James, one of the study's authors and chairman of the British-based International Obesity Taskforce.

The international team of medical experts, which conducted an exhaustive, five-year review of more than 7,000 research papers that investigated whether food, nutrition or lack of physical exercise had an impact on cancer incidence, made 10 recommendations for preventing the disease. They include eating diets containing large quantities of vegetables and fruits and, most important, staying as thin as possible within the normal range of a person's body weight.

"Cancer is preventable. There are changes you can make in your daily life that will reduce your chances of developing cancer," Dr. James said. "Let's get more vegetables, fruits. ... Let's get off our backsides, however and whenever we can."

 

sources: Wikipedia, PetaKids 

 

Carmine—also called Crimson Lake, Cochineal, Natural Red 4, C.I. 75470 or E120, is a pigment of a bright red color obtained from the carminic acid produced by some scale insects, such as the cochineal and the Polish cochineal, and is used as a general term for a particularly deep red color.

 

Casein—whey’s cousin, casein is made from curdled milk.

Gelatin—a protein made by boiling skin, tendons, ligaments, hoofs and bones from domesticated cows, pigs and horses.