[Jim Gagnepain]

A friend of mine, in his early 50s was just treated with angioplasty, after feeling faint on a number of occassions, and finally experiencing symptoms of a stroke. On the surface, he appeared to be in good shape, with weight that was under control. His life has now changed to a more sedentary lifestyle, taking prescribed medication.

So what was he eating for lunch the other day - chicken fried steak. People continue to eat this garbage, and then rely on drugs to get them through their lives. Many of the elderly that I know are on Lipitor or other "Statin" medication, with it's side affects, which include stomach pain, constipation, arthritis, and more serious affects, such as neuromuscular degeneration. And they continue to eat the American "garbage" diet - hamburgers, prime rib, fried chicken, etc. The doctors usually prescribe other drugs to alleviate the side affects.

I've included a poll. Do you think this pharmaceutical circle is necessary for Americans to live long lives, regardless of diet, exercise, and lifestyle? I've intentionally excluded responses that can be construed as - "it depends on the person", because that can be said about everybody. This is a "general response", in relation to the American Western Diet as a whole.

 

[isowish]

wth is "chicken fried steak"?!

 

[Amy SF]

Quote:

Originally Posted by isowish

wth is "chicken fried steak"?!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_fried_steak

I actually liked it when I was an omni. I wonder if it's possible to have a vegan version.

And where's the poll?

 

[isowish]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amy SF

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_fried_steak

I actually liked it when I was an omni. I wonder if it's possible to have a vegan version.

And where's the poll?

oh, good. That's not as scary as I expected. I kinda thought it was going to be something terrifying like a whole chicken stuffed with steak and then deep fried in batter.

 

[Spidergrrl]

AmySF you beat me to it! I was about to post a link. My dad LOVED this. Until i became vegan I used to eat one once a year on his birthday as a memorial. I discovered that it was actually the milk gravy I liked so much so now I make my own with soy milk and have it over biscuits (scones) on his birthday instead.

 

[TinaNJ]

It is steak breaded and fried like chicken and then usually topped with a thick gravy...Ugh!! Even if it wasn't meat it would still be heart attack on a plate!! I know how it is to see people so obviously killing themselves with food. My mom is on 2 different types of blood pressure medication, cholesterol meds, and going to a chiropractor for her weight related back problems. Every doctor has told her to eat less meat and cheese and lose 30 lbs and she will be the picture of health but she just can't give up her steak and cheese

Amazing how some people will just ignore fact because of what they are more comfortable doing.

 

[4EverGrounded]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amy SF

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_fried_steak

I actually liked it when I was an omni. I wonder if it's possible to have a vegan version.

And where's the poll?

If you had seitan... and that seitan was cut somewhat thinly enough to sub for the steak, it might work.

And if you put that coated and fried seitan steak with some good vegan white gravy (and maybe some biscuits, too) you'd have some good eatin' on your hands, right there.

 

[bronzebed]

JG-i know what ya mean. My husband is 27 and has very bad cholesterol levels. While high cholesterol runs in his family, his eating habbits are just horrible. The doctor gave him 3 months to lower his cholestrol or he will have to start taking drugs. For the first month, he decided to go vegetarian. He was absolutely misserable and decided that he will eat whatever he wants because he would rather live on drugs all of his life and enjoy his food than make some changes. He is a meat addicted and eats the grossist of all meats you can imagine. I often get sick just watching him eat and it makes me sad to see what he is doing to himself. The only postive thing is that he will eat what i cook for him, so i try to make it that we eat in more so that his diet is a little better. I usually make things like vegetable and tofu stirfry and encourage him to eat and drink more soy.

 

[Jim Gagnepain]

Darn, the poll timed out on me. You have to enter the Options within 5 minutes, and I went over. Hopefully it's OK now.

 

[Spidergrrl]

I googled vegan country fried tofu recipe and came up with lots of potential recipes for making a vegan one. But the real one---heart attack on a plate.

 

[4EverGrounded]

bbtt - people don't realise they have to change their diets too because doctors rarely, if at all cover that part with the patient.

Case in point: my mother had a [major] heart attack earlier this year. They put her on all kinds of heart meds, blood pressure meds, the works. To date, she has not had ONE appointment with ANY nutritionist to change her diet or get advice on what she should/should not be eating.

I've told her time and again that she really should change the way she's eating so the meds won't have to work so hard to help her, but she's convinced that her little pills are all she really needs. After all, a doctor gave them to her and who is she to "argue" with the doctor?

Moreover to that, most of the doctors I've met will even tell you to your face that your diet has NOTHING to do with your overall health nor will it truely reduce risks of certain things. As long as there's a pill for it, there's no real sense in offering something as "unreliable" and "unproven" as food for medicine (the implication in not so many words from the docs I've met).

Sorry for the rant, but this a subject that ticks me off on so many levels.

 

[Tymps]

All this talk of seitan...

I think anyone who has had/in danger of needing a angioplasty/bypass surgery/heart condition/high cholesterol/atherosclerosis/whatever should be reffered (doctor's orders!) to a registered dietician. Their doctor should have them write out their food intake for three days and take it with them when they see the RD. Then, the RD can make suggestions on how to change their (presumably) crappy eating and exercise habits. Assuming they stick to the diet, if that doesn't work after a month or 2, then medication can be considered. Pills should be a last resort. However, with high cholesterol, there are some people who have high choesterol even while they eat healthfully.

A lot of people don't know what healthy eating is. They can't imagine a meal without meat, and breakfast really isn't breakfast without 4 strips of bacon, 3 sausage patties, and 3 fried eggs. They wake up in the morning and think "Heck, 2 doughnuts aren't going to hurt!" then lunch comes around and "Well, McDonald's is right down the street. The Super Duper Big Mac can't be THAT unhealthy, right? People eat them all the time." Then dinner time rolls around and they're too tired to do anything but order a pizza. With extra cheese and pepperoni, oh and extra sausage too!

 

[Christopher Jon]

A guy I work with was recently diagnosed with diabetes and was quite worried about it especially since he has a 1 year old baby girl.

So I forwarded the recent study that showed that a vegan diet can lower blood sugar levels dramatically and can even get patients off insulin.

His response, basically, was: veganism?? Are you nuts??

 

[bronzebed]

4EverGrounded-I agree with you. I think medication is a crutch and often people don't realize that it will not completely work alone. Also, I think doctors push drugs way too much instead of focusing on what really needs to be done to improve their health. A while back, I read that doctors have to take a minimal amount of nutrition classes if it is required at all. That combined with the actual amount of time spent with a patient, doesn't really help anyone.

i hope you can get through to your mother.

 

[TinaNJ]

It's like those ads for weight loss pills that have in fine print "results when combined with proper diet and exercise". So in other words, if I changed my lifestyle habits my poor health will improve!! Well gee, why not just change the lifestyle and skip the pills with a 5 minute long list of side effects - oh wait, lifestyle change takes time, determination and commitment and we want magic beans in our society. Damn, guess I will just pop a few more pills and order up another plate of nachos!

 

[Fyvel]

Yes, I believe that diet and lifestyle have a major impact on health ( but as a recently graduated dietitian - yay me- I'm obviously biased

).

I have seen so many people on medication for their cholesterol. I've seen so many people resistant to changing their diet because taking a pill is easier. There is a series of stages people go through when making changes in their lives, and these people are in what we call the "precontemplation" stage, or in other words, they're not even thinking about it. And it's sad, but that's their perogative

I am happy to say that my mom decided to give a vegetarian diet an attempt when her cholesterol levels were creeping slowly upwards every time they were checked (and as an omni she ate very healthy). A few months later her cholesterol had dropped and now she's sold on it

 

[starseed13]

Most people dont want to give up the foods they love for the sake of their health. I find this is true especially in older folks, who have been eating that way their entire lives. My grandparents on my fathers side were meat and potato eating people all their lives, and both of them only quit smoking once they were older (in their late 50's or 60's Im not sure). He had a bunch of strokes and was disabled because of them and then had another stroke that killed him a few years later. A few years after that my grandma died of ovarian cancer.

My grandparents on my moms side take somewhat better care of themselves and they are in their late eighties. They are still not health freaks or anything but it makes a difference, you can tell.

However even with all we know about health now it seems a lot of people dont really seem to care. I am somewhat of a health food nut but most of my friends eat nothing but burgers and candy and soda and dont care what it will do to them. It seems most people just feel like "your gonna die anyway". They might feel differently when they are in their 50's and in miserable health.

Personally I love learning about health and nutrition and treating my body like a temple. I dont find it very restrictive at all, it makes my life more enjoyable. Im glad Ive had the horrible experiances Ive had with doctors and western medicine and pharmacuticals, they got me started on this path that has helped me so much.

-not that I dont enjoy the occasional "bad" meal, but its about the good outweighing the bad I think.

 

[Fyvel]

what most people who eat poorly don't realize is how much of an impact their diet and lifestyle can have on how they feel. They eat poorly and feel sluggish all of the time and don't have the energy for anything. It's not until they get to the point where they make changes that they realize how much better they feel with proper diet and exercise. I've seen so many people a few weeks after making small changes (just cutting out soda and replacing it with water, for example) that tell me how amazing they feel. It's too bad so many people don't even give it a shot :/

 

[rabid_child]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amy SF

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_fried_steak

I actually liked it when I was an omni. I wonder if it's possible to have a vegan version.

And where's the poll?

I have a recipe for Chicken Fried Tofu (contains no chicken). Let me know if you'd like the recipe. lol.

 

[catswym]

i think pharmaceuticals are necessary for longer (average) life.

antibiotics, insulin, vaccines are just some of the most obvious examples i can think of for this.

that does not mean i don't also think people could do their health good and reduce the number of medications they are on by improving lifestyle factors.