Being a vegetarian is more than just being a non-meat eater

My friend B mentioned an interesting story the other day when we were talking about food. She said she knew someone who was a vegetarian but not in a good shape. Instead of eating meat, she ate lots of sweet food to curb her craving, but still she was proud of the fact that she was a vegetarian.

I also know some vegetarians who do not fit into our general image of a fit vegetarian. Except not eating meat, they do not watch their carbohydrate intake, nor are they physically active. Although by definition, a vegetarian means a non-meat eater, and there is no restriction or requirement on life style, I would use the word with caution. Because I, probably like most people, add extra expectations to vegetarians. When hearing the word, I tend to think this person cares about health, so he or she made the choice to stop eating meat.
 

I asked several vegetarian friends of mine why they became vegetarians. The answers usually fall into three categories, health concern, moral concern or natural disgust of meat. It seems reasonable that if your argument of being a vegetarian does not include health, you do not have to be physically fit in order to proudly being a vegetarian. Therefore, I have no ground to blame unhealthy vegetarians because their choice was not based on health.
 

However, I do think there are people who would like to become vegetarian to improve their health, but they might be misled by the media or any other information sources. They equal no meat consumption to being fitness. They cut meat out from their diet but add excessive sugar and fat in. They live with the illusion that they are very healthy but in fact they might be worse off.
 

In contrast, meat eaters with healthy life styles can be seen everywhere. They prove the notion that being healthy means a balanced life in diet and exercise. I do not have any personal preference over meat or no meat, and I know I do not crave for meat. Nevertheless, when I see meat cooked in a special and alluring way, often in ethnic food recipes, I cannot resist it. Once again, I hope to emphasize that it is not much about what you eat, but how much you eat and what your physical activity level is.
 

Another trend in health-centric population is about eating organically. Organic food itself is a huge topic which many professionals are discussing all the time. I will talk about this issue in later articles. What I want to mention here is the similar mistake some people make as some vegetarian, including me. They arbitrarily associate organic ingredients to healthy food. To them, the label “organic” means “healthy-no-doubt”, and means no matter how much you consume, it will always do good to your body.
 

Sometimes I think the food industry overuses and misuses the word “organic”. It is a very smart and rewarding commercializing strategy though. But pay attention to the gimmicks! I cannot help laughing when I see “organic ice cream or chocolate” or read “organic cane sugar” on the package. Do people really think junk food with organic ingredients becomes healthy food?
 

Another joke I heard is manufacturers are considering frying potato chips in olive oil to make them healthier. Do you think highly processed food with all organic ingredients is still organic? I think “organic” itself should have another deeper layer of meaning, which is natural and least processed.
 

As pharmacologist usually say, all drugs are poisons and it all depends on the dose. I think the same rule applies to food too. If you overeat, food becomes poison.

Why do I want to write something about food and health?

During my 23-year-living in China, I had never questioned the problem of the food I consumed. Of course, China has been having food safety issues for years, but the problem I am talking about here is related to the healthiness of the food.

I ate healthily. I have to give credit to my mom, who always forced me to eat vegetables I hated, carrots, spinach, bok choy, ect, and who sometimes stopped me from eating more than three medium pieces of meat. I love all kinds of fruits. I love snacking too. Dove was my favorite chocolate, Oreo my favorite cookie, and Pringles my favorite potato chip. I still remember I was begging my parents to take me to KFC since it opened its first restaurant in my city when I was 10. If I was only allowed to pick one single item from the menu, can you guess my choice? Free ketchups.

I thought I was strong and healthy, but here was the funny fact: I had been one of the fattest students in primary school, middle school and college. My parents, relatives and classmates made fun of me because of my chubby face and belly. To give you a better idea of my body shape, I weigh only 10 pounds less now and my friends here say I am skinny.

I was fine with their stupid jokes and attributed the overweight to my genetics and inactivity. In fact, I did not blame the food for it because I ate vegetables and fruits for the most part of my diet. Also, most kids had the same eating habit as I did and they were perfectly in shape, so it could not be the problem of the food.

At the age of 23, I came to U.S. As a warning, my mom admonished me that I should always cook by myself and restrict dining-out and snacking. I did what she told me to, only if her definition of snacks did not include potato chips, ice cream, cheese cake, pizza or coke.

My weight skyrocketed. I could not resist the temptation of the delicious food. At that time, I did not know anything about nutrition facts or ingredients. I bought under two conditions, cheap and pleasant-tasting. I realized the obvious change happened on my body. It was when I seriously warned myself of the danger of obesity.

I decided to change my lifestyle. I started exercising regularly, paying attention to the calorie intake, reading books about food industry and sharing my opinions about living a healthy life with friends. I want to cite some of the words from my Chinese friends in order to give a comparison and a glimpse on food in both countries.

“Potato chips, pizza and coke are like pig feed. They fatten me so easily.”

“No matter how much I ate in China, I never gain weight. Here, the fat on my belly never goes away.”

“Deserts and candies here are really sweet. They gave my teeth big problems.”

“I don’t understand why people here have such a high intolerance to sugar.”

“Everything here is bigger than in China, chunks of meat, snack packages, strawberries, plates, cars...”

I would like to add one more thing to the “bigger list,” processed food industry.

I agree that culture, customs and habits contribute to the distinct life styles I have seen and experienced in both countries. But there must be something else actually aggravating the health problems. To my limited knowledge, I think that is industrialization.

Although I see global firms have extended their reach to every corner China, and fast food restaurants and junk food are everywhere, fresh produce from farmers markets scattered in almost every neighborhood is still the core of family meals. Going to market everyday is a deep-rooted concept in traditional families. Nonetheless, I am afraid the young generation will gradually lose this tradition because of the stressful work schedule. Grocery shopping once a week and buying everything from the supermarket is the trend people are adapting to in mega cities. It will be sad to see the inevitable coming of the highly-processed-food era.

In short, to answer the question of the title, I hope to share some of my knowledge, experience and thoughts about food and health issues, either for the sake of raising awareness of obesity epidemic, or just for talking about nonsense for fun.