Exploring Thought #10 - My Personal Experience With Veganism

Episode #10 My Personal Experience with Veganism

I have now been vegan for around seven years and I wanted to say a lil something about my personal experience with veganism.
To start I would say that I still feel like going vegan has been one of the most important decisions of my life.

Ever since I was pretty young I've been very focused on love and morality in certain ways.
I was even a vegetarian for a while when I discovered that a certain kind of food I liked that I was eating was made of an animal similar to my "pet" dog friend, I'm guessing that was when I was somewhere around ten years old

I eventually lost sight of those values at some point and gave into eating meat due to the problems that arose from being in a poor family and needing to share food with family...
And, then when Earthlings came out I saw that and went vegetarian again I'm guessing around my young twenties or late teens and maintained it for a year or two if I remember correctly...
Before I lost it again due to basically the same reasons... Plus... Laziness I guess because I was old enough at that point to um change if I really like really committed myself to it.
But, for whatever reason I still kind of just kept eating with the family instead of making a strong conviction.

Then... I met her. A stunningly beautiful woman who actually messaged me first on the dating sites and I won't say her name because I'm not sure she would want to be named.
She was vegetarian at the time, and she never tried to force her ideas on me.

I just started buying plant meals when around her to not offend her and then during one adventure in Sedona we were out in nature and she said "Hi" to a fly that was buzzing around and treated it like a friend.
It broke my heart open in a good way.
It's amazing how much change such a simple thing can cause... A simple "Hi" to a fly, changed my life dramatically.

It really humbled me because so many people I've known would just try to swat it and kill it... Including myself at the time.
I didn't become vegan right away after that, it still took me a while...
Around another year I think? But, after a while it kept soaking in more and more and I realized I wanted to emulate that "love" which she displayed and be kinder to animals as well.

Then when I started actually studying it I was just blown away over and over again by how much sense it made and I got really passionate about it.
I dove deep into the subject for years to try to find the truth to the extent I could.

I feel like my health improved in numerous ways and sometimes in significant manner.
And, it's one of the best feelings in the world to know that when I eat food these days that I'm not directly eating the corpses, body parts and fluids of abused and exploited animals.

For a long time I have believed strongly in human rights and have spent so much time in that area that I feel like that helped me transition and it ended up eventually not being so difficult to extend similar respect to the animals.

It was a lil weird to me before I went vegan though, I was like how do you give rights to an animal if we can't really communicate...?
I figured it out though and realized you don't have to be able to communicate with them to just show some basic respect and love for their existence as much as you reasonably can.

I think I may have eventually ended up becoming vegan anyways because I used to be vegetarian and it became such a hot topic in the world later on to the point these days almost everyone knows what veganism is and many hate vegans as well...

So I think if it came up that I would have been pretty sympathetic and receptive to such ideas... However, I don't know for sure...
Maybe I would have been one of those Alex Jones type of "veganism is the NWO" conspiracy theorists, lol.

Whatever the case... That woman, my friend...
Was really the catalyst that changed my view on things in a more permanent manner and I'm so incredibly grateful for her and will always love her and now I do my best to not harm others if I can help it...
Even the scarier ones like spiders and such.

I feel it has deepened my understanding of love and my ability to love to try to extend my love to those that weren't so "easy" to love and I now consider all of the animals to be my friends.
I don't want to harm them or contribute to their abuse and exploitation if I can avoid it.

I feel so much more in alignment with my principles and what I believe in and I think there's more to it than just that...
And that perhaps there's some truth to the saying of "we are what we eat" and if we eat suffering and death and pain and blood and flesh and all that, then...
That might make us a bit more angry and agitated and stressed and fearful than if we are eating edible plants which don't appear to have sentient consciousness or the same kinds of hormones as humans/animals.

I seem to remember reading about some studies which showed that dogs behavior changed based on their diet.
And to my knowledge based on the evidence I've seen dogs are omnivorous and can survive off either plants or animal products/flesh etc just like humans...
And... When they were fed plant based diets they became less aggressive and more friendly than the dogs which were fed meat.

So, I think that even in more than the spiritual/psychological sense, that there is also very possibly even a direct biological effect from consuming animal products which lead to different mental states.
Some people might fear that and want to retain their more carnal and violent mindsets and I'm not saying that's wrong per se... I used to think very similarly and I don't know what's true.

However, I personally kind of feel like it makes more sense that we are evolving to be MORE loving, compassionate, and honorable and for me personally in my own life I feel I've been to sort of overly aggressive, angry, mean, etc...
So for me I feel I have benefited in recent years by working on becoming more calm, relaxed and peaceful in a variety of ways.

That doesn't mean I won't defend myself, or anything like that... I still believe in self defense and the defense of others.
I think it actually helps me to be more focused in my own mind on the reality of a situation since emotions like anger can cause confusion or distraction or worse.

Realizing such kinds of things I used to intentionally try to anger my opponents when playing video games or sports knowing that it might throw them off their game.
If you're too easily angered, you're too easily controlled and led and guided by those who can anger you. So, needless to say I don't see it as the horrible thing some seem to.

Not only has my physical health improved in numerous ways...
I feel like I can communicate and express myself with words at an even higher level than I could before and I've heard many others echo similar sentiments after they went plant based.
It's additionally cheaper to eat this way, the food tastes way better in my opinion, I've learned about a lot of new foods and how to cook new foods... There's been so many plusses I'm likely leaving out a bunch.

But, let me mention a few of the negative issues I had.

The first problem I had was with oral health.
However, I already had that issue before I became vegan so... I can't necessarily attribute it directly from changing my diet and I'm not sure if it got any worse when I switched, but...

It got to the point where I had difficulty eating certain cold or sugary foods or drinking certain sugary drinks and for a while I wasn't sure what to do...
I did some research and tried some common things like coconut oil and some of those things helped, but it wasn't until I tried some aloe vera juice and swished it in my mouth every day that I started to really heal a lot!

I started out swishing the aloe vera in my mouth for a long time when I did it, sometimes 20 to 30 minutes or more a day and eventually worked down to where I was only doing it for 5 or 10 minutes a day.
After that I was able to eat and drink pretty much all the previous stuff that I had problems with again.

To be clear, it's not like I can eat as much sugary stuff as I want and never have any problems, I still have some sensitivities every once and a while...
So when that happens I cut down on whatever is triggering it and I moderate and try not to over do it, but it's still been a clear and majorly significant improvement and I believe it could be possible to improve even more.

Another thing I've been doing recently is using sea salt and swishing in a similar way as the aloe vera stuff.
And that's been very helpful as well as I've read that it can help with some of the mineral issues and the strength of your teeth and such!
These days I feel my oral health is better than it was before I went vegan, and I know a lot of other vegans who have reported oral or dental problems so I wish I could somehow share this with them if they haven't tried it yet.

And, I realize that maybe it won't work for everyone! But, perhaps there are some other plant or mineral solutions or other kinds of solutions out there for some of the common or not so common issues people report...?

My next issue was with indigestion for lack of a better word.
For the first like four or five years I didn't have a problem and then I think it was after I ate this really cheap box of chilli flavored ramens and it threw my digestion out of whack...
Or it could have been some of the fermenting I was experimenting with.

At least those are my theories, it could have been something else as well... But, anyways...
I struggled with a lot of farting and burping for a while and somewhat recently around half a year ago it got to an extreme level where I had some actual physical health problems associated with such.

I was eating a bunch of processed vegan junk food, like mixing all different things and eating large quantities and also listening to music really loud and staring at the computer screen too much and probably other detrimental things...
And, I had started having some kind of almost seizure like experiences when I was laying on my back and about to fall asleep...
And felt occasionally triggered in the daytime as well when I was overwhelming my senses and I couldn't listen to music as loud and felt a bit "slow" and it was difficult to think clearly sort of like the "brain fog" some have reported.

It was getting pretty bad and I wasn't feeling well and my father suggested I try apple cider vinegar, I didn't expect it to work...
But, wow it worked so incredibly well for me I was feeling so good I was dancing within like 20 mins of taking it!

The way I used the Apple Cider Vinegar was by taking about a tablespoon diluted in a cup of water at least an hour before eating and then I would brush my teeth afterwards because it can be a bit acidic.
I did it every day for the first month or more and then eventually started doing it every other day then every couple days and then every week or so and now sometimes it's like every month or more or so.

I also read that some doctor theorized that it can help with digestion and to stabilize blood sugar levels
And that the vinegar can control and slow the rate at which the stomach empties and how much sugar hits the bloodstream, but when I read that he said more research is still needed to verify such.

Whatever the case in regard to the science and all that... It's made a major difference for me.
Now my farting and burping are back to normal and I don't feel brain fog like I did and have more energy and at least for the time being it seems to have solved my issues with indigestion.

I realize some people have trouble with the diet aspect, but it seems to work for me after finding those couple solutions I mentioned and I've felt healthier and had my blood tested and I wasn't deficient in anything.
There's also countless other people likely millions who don't seem to have a problem going back thousands of years into history.

I know some who've been vegan for over 30 to 50 years or more or who were born vegan and have been that way their whole lives and many of these people are extremely healthy even into old age!
Not to mention our closest animal ancestor eats 99% plants, and who knows why that other 1% is there, maybe they get confused or sick and do weird things... I saw a sick animal out in the wilderness doing similar.
Plus some studies have shown our paleo ancestors also ate around 99% plants, but now all of a sudden some are going carnivore and eating 100% meat?

I don't know what the truth is and kinda feel like humanity has amnesia, though I genuinely tried to figure it out for myself and maybe some people do need some animal products for their health...
I doubt it... Especially since it seems like all of the essential nutrients originate in plants or the soil first... But, I try to stay open minded.
For me, so far I haven't needed such and feel better without such.

There's been so many world famous record holding athletes of all different kinds, some of the strongest, fastest and most endurance based humans...
And some of the smartest geniuses in the history of the world and also some of those who for their political or religious views changed the world in monumental ways were vegan or vegetarian.

We may still be a minority, however... We are in good company when it comes to how many incredible human beings throughout history have chosen to try to do their best to show love and respect to the other animals.

For the people who have problems with the diet, I can't help but feel like there might be some kind of solution out there waiting to be discovered...
For me if I didn't somehow find aloe vera, and apple cider vinegar in relation to the two problems I had, I might have been another one of those disgruntled vegans who gave up and then blames veganism for things.

I tend to think many of the issues people have with a vegan diet have to do with gut bacteria and how their bodies have been adapted over time to eat certain foods because they ate them regularly for so long in their lives...
But, I admit I don't know everything and it may be true that some people do genuinely need to eat animal products for their health...
I haven't seen 100% proof, yet I try to stay open minded and challenge even my own deeply held beliefs.

I really doubt I will ever go back to consuming animal products, but... If I felt like my health was at stake and that I really needed it for my health, then... I most likely would.
I think survival is important and a form of self love and I would most likely try to survive in that way if I felt there was no other choice.

I've done years of research to come to my personal conclusions or belief system and to me it looks like our physical biology is more suited to edible plants.
And, if we have the choice... Why not choose the choice of compassion and love and letting the animals be free to live their natural lives?

I've also debated the subject for years and have heard just about every argument you can imagine and I still feel pretty strongly about my beliefs.

A few other points I'd like to make really quick are that based on the research I've done it appears as if veganic farming wastes a lot less water, land and other resources.
Plus permaculture food jungles or forest gardens are also similar and also much superior than "modern" farming techniques in certain very meaningful ways and I think that's where more people will move towards in the future.

I've seen information that suggests millions of people are starving each year because their governments are exporting their food to feed our livestock animals...
And I've seen estimates that it would take like 4 whole planets to be able to feed our population an animal product based diet, whereas if we simply stopped eating cows alone we could probably end world hunger.

There was also a study done by the FBI that showed that pretty much all forms of crime increased when a new slaughterhouse went into a neighborhood.
Additionally there are many testimonials from former slaughterhouse workers who claimed that it really messed up their minds to be killing so many animals all day.
Some claim that such makes them violent towards others or suicidal and some of them even develop a condition called PITS which is similar to PTSD and stands for Perpetration-Induced Traumatic Stress.

PITS differs from PTSD in the sense that one feels guilty or stressed about the harm or trauma they have personally caused to others.
Also, I think many if not most vegans who really research what's going on end up developing some form of PTSD or depression or other mental health issues for seeing just how cruel and barbaric things are in the world.

Furthermore...
Some information I've seen even suggests that our extreme lack of respect and destruction of the environment in relation to overfishing and clearing forests for livestock farming...
Could in numerous different ways end up leading to our very own species becoming extinct.

When I first became vegan I was devastated by so much of what I learned and almost became misanthropic for a bit and was one of those "extreme" and "nasty" vegans.
In accordance with that I remember reading a study which suggested vegans were one of the most hated groups in the world.

Which is weird because they're trying to be more compassionate and extend their umbrella of love even further than what is common.
Though, when you've seen the horrors of what humans do to animals and then try to express that and almost no one seems to care and almost everyone gets defensive and insulting or worse, I can see why many vegans get so jaded.

After a while I realized that the core essence of veganism by modern definition of attempting to do the least amount of harm includes humans as well! So, I really focused on applying that same kind of love for humans too!
I was also discovering things like non violent communication and rediscovering or improving my understanding of love, forgiveness, acceptance and other principles or qualities like those.

It all managed to come together almost like a puzzle and these things all sort of fit and complemented each other.
I was able to largely break free from the overwhelming hate and despair and communicate with more love and kindness. Oh and...
I'm not claiming to be perfect or even close and I doubt anyone is, but... We do our best and that's one of the main ideas of modern veganism... To do your best to cause the least amount of harm to others within reason.

If you think about it, how many people can really argue with that kind of logic if they are coming from a point of "true" compassion?
You would think that just about anyone who still has enough love in their heart would want to cause the least amount of harm to others within reason, especially if that harm involves enslavement, rape, murder and sometimes torture.

However, so many people seem to disregard all of that extremely vicious, ruthless and violent treatment of other beings...
Because those other beings look different and can't speak the same language or because people have been doing it for a long time so they just kind of think it's normal I guess...
Though, if we look at our own species in regard to how women and other ethnicities have been treated...
We should by now hopefully realize that it shouldn't matter how long something has been done or what language you speak or what you look like and that we all deserve love and respect.

There are some historical quotes from famous people alluding to the idea that if we stopped unjustly harming the non human animals in such ways...
That we would also stop going to war with each other and doing so many of the other messed up things we do to each other.
When I think about this, I'm not sure it's that simple... But, then I think back to how I became a vegan by that woman saying "hi" to the fly.
Imagine... If everyone was so loving that they wouldn't even swat a fly? If they couldn't even swat a fly how could they let politicians send them off to drop bombs on people or to kill and harm each other in other significant ways?

I think it's worth mentioning that the original definition of veganism does appear to be based upon a "plant based diet".
However, the more modern popularly accepted definition is along the lines of an attempt to do the least amount of harm within reason to animals.
Yet, humans are also technically animals both by linguistic definition and based on the modern scientific understanding.

The word "animal" in etymological history essentially originated from "soul"...
In light of that I think it can be very helpful if we try to learn to look at all humans and animals as other souls or spirits and that they all deserve love and respect.
Even the scary ones or the teeny tiny little ones, the ants and bugs... I do my best to try to not step on them when I go walking or to harm them in other ways if I can avoid it!

Since the definition can be so broad that it can be applied to humans...
It then to me echoes or is extremely similar to other concepts I love like anarchism or voluntarism.
And then if I consider those ideas like anarchism and voluntarism in regard to respecting animals in a similar manner it really starts to click more than ever.

To me all those words kind of imply a philosophy of doing your best to let others be free and the word free is related to "love".
So... To me these words like veganism, anarchism, voluntarism are kind of like other words for "love".

For anyone who is curious in regard to my personal "diet" I have gravitated towards more of a starch based diet, though there are MANY different beliefs about what is most ideal or most healthy.
Some people eat just fruit, some try to balance things, others eat mono-diets of just one single kind of plant food like potatoes for example and nothing else.
There's so many different ideas also in regard to how many times one should eat a day and when one should eat and who knows what the full truth is in regard to that.
Though, I read somewhere that our ancestors possibly evolved towards starch and it's worked really well for me, but I'm open to trying other stuff in the future.
I eat some junk food too, though I try to keep it healthy for the most part.

There's so much more I could say, though I'm trying to avoid really long episodes and I'll probably make another podcast or multiple about veganism in the future.
But, I think I'm going to end it here for now... Thank you for listening or reading if you did and I hope everything is going as good as possible for you. :) <3

Now that I've shared my thoughts, I encourage you to share your thoughts if you want to.
Feel free to drop a comment on whichever social media is best for you or you can send an email to exploringthoughtpodcast@gmail.com
I'll do my best to respond if it's reasonable for me to do so and if I have the time and am able to.
Thank you for your time and bye until next time!