Image by Jovan J via Flickr
Rachel Young | Staff Writer
opinion@fiusm.com
The simple act of walking into a Whole Foods Market, or any organic market for that matter, makes one feel healthier already. It must be something in the air. The newest trend amongst us is the one luring us to these markets for green juices, vegan chocolate and fruits so expensive you’ll fall right out of your chair.
I applaud the widespread efforts to make toward a healthier lifestyle, but why the sudden concern? And why have I met more vegetarians and vegans in the past year than I ever have? It’s almost as if the majority of people are taking part in the healthy movement to be a part of the trend; which wouldn’t surprise me.
Trends come and go and for the most part, we always look back on them and realize we could have put more thought into our actions. This organic health kick that everyone has been on is one to question.
Yes, we’ve all seen Food, Inc. and we all stray away from McDonald’s anything unless it’s completely necessary, but why don’t more people question the organic food industry? Not only is the organic community put on a pedestal for being “fresh” and “clean,” but the vegetarian and vegan lifestyles are also glorified.
There are some nutrients we need and cannot get by simply eating vegetables and meat substitutes. Sure, vegetarians and vegans make up for their lack of calcium and iron by taking supplemental vitamins, but that can’t be enough.
According to research conducted at Brown University, vegetarians are at a lower risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, obesity and hypertension, among others. The problem with this vegetarianism and veganism becoming a fad, if you will, is that people aren’t really educated on the issue, and as a result don’t go about the lifestyle change the right way.
Just like there are unhealthy commercial food eating people, there are healthy commercial food eating people. The same goes for vegetarians. I can attest to this because I myself was an unhealthy vegetarian.
This lifestyle change is one that requires a lot of discipline and tends to work better when you live with people who are also vegetarian. The first two months of my vegetarian endeavor were glorious and invigorating. I shopped at Whole Foods, made a range of colorful salads, and took my five vitamins every morning.
I’m not going to lie; it felt a little empowering to be able to say I was a vegetarian. It wasn’t until I started to get lazy with my cooking, I caught a bad cold and to top it off my Abuelita came to visit from Panama.
So I knew there would be some sort of meat I wouldn’t be able to resist at every meal, and who could say no to that adorable four foot ten inches ball of happiness? After consulting with my doctor, she advised me to go back to my previous eating habits until I felt better and then take it from there.
Like I said before, the lifestyle isn’t for everyone. A vegetarian could be as unhealthy as someone who downs a Big Mac within minutes. The idea of eating clean should not automatically mean adopting vegetarianism into your diet. Moral of the story: do your research before you go on posting pictures of your green kale smoothie along with the recipe.
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