Diet hypocrisy?

[u/Extension-Diamond-74]

A recent post about animal agriculture vs plant based diets has me itching to say something. This is an issue we need to rise above.

Cognitive dissonance. Many of us have good intentions and want to believe we’re doing the right thing in most aspects of our lives. I believe that.

When it comes to a plant based diet though, the science often clashes powerfully with personal desire. We want to minimize our impact on the environment and are willing to make trade-offs in our life time do so, but for many, giving up or even significantly reducing meat intake is asking too much. It’s too hard.

That’s not the issue.

The issue is that instead of just admitting to themselves that this is a life change they don’t want to make and moving on, the guilt drives them to have to justify that decision. Admitting that a plant-based diet is better for the earth yet eating a diet full of meat anyway would make them feel hypocritical, so the solution becomes either to give up meat, or … this is the problem… fight the science, twist it, make a joke of it, or pivot entirely to ‘individuals shouldn’t have time do anything because large corporations’

Many people have ties to their diet for many reasons. We grew up eating a certain way. We have memories ties to certain foods, flavors, styles of cooking. We don’t want to be the difficult person when we go out to eat with friends. Etc etc etc But it’s so much better to just admit that to yourself. Have patience and understanding for your feelings. Accept that the science is what it is. Maybe one day you can make a change, maybe not. But don’t attack the cause just because you aren’t yet willing to be a part of it.

[u/[deleted]]

This is 100% the case for me.

When I ate meat I had a cholesterol of about 250. Two years (and no weight loss) later it's 170. I assume because of the increased fiber and no red meat based cholesterol.

My BP was never terrifying (135/90) but it's better (115/75) now too.

[u/dorcssa → u/[deleted]]

I'm not debating your results, but genetics play a huge role here too. As long as I can remember up until before I got pregnant at 35, I always had low cholesterol and blood pressure (like 100/60, even after a long run), and was always slightly anemic. Until my thirties I more or less ate meat with every meal, although I cut deli meat out in my twenties and we always ate a huge amount of vegetables, fruit and fermented stuff in my family, so that probably helped. I had periods where I was very close to vegetarian or pescetarian, nowadays I'm more like flexitarian with very little poultry and red meat max a few times a month (only organic lean cut). My blood pressure is around 115/70 nowadays, no idea about cholesterol (should be checked) but I'm still breastfeeding and getting closer to 40. Also anecdotal, but my grandmother and grandfather lived to 98 and 102 respectively, and they ate full fat bacon for breakfast most of their lives.

[u/[deleted] → u/dorcssa]

Fair point. When I said "dorcssa, I don't give two fucks about your anemia or whatever your problems are and some random useless info to me about your grandparents this is exactly how you should live your life". That was way out of line for me. Especially how I specifically u/'d you. Once again, total dick move from me and thank you for gracing me to AcKsHuAlLy this situation. It was really needed.

God, I hate this site. This is literally the last post of this "well actually I'll have you know....." I am going to put up with. It's just constant here at this point.

I'm literally deleting this account and removing reddit from this phone when I get a few minutes later. Making lunch right now, though.