Final analysis Part II of II: How the 7-day gluten free vegan experiment went

Continuing from Part I of my final analysis of the "Great Food Reboot Experiment"

• Being gluten-free vegan or raw is much easier when you go food shopping at Whole Foods, shop at farmer's markets and cook at home. Once you have to eat out, it's a whole other ball game. Eating out was a much bigger challenge than I realized, and it makes you really see just how much we Americans eat dairy, eggs, meat, and wheat. It's almost everything. I realized too, just how much I am spoiled living in the Bay Area.  My folks live 70 miles away in a suburb and it would be an utter painful and time-consuming experience to try and be gluten-free vegan where they live. Seriously, I had a really hard time trying to find foods to eat that were gluten-free, vegan, and quick to make. At home, not a problem. In the suburbs, fu-git-about-it.

• Because I’m Asian, I went seeking for vegan Asian cookbooks and found very few. I did not find any raw Asian cookbooks. If anyone knows of either, please let me know. As far as Filipino food, I only found a handful of vegan friendly recipes and most of them were about eggplant. Tofu and soy are not widely used in the Philippines. And culturally, those who eat meat and seafood are viewed as well-off because meats tend to be expensive. If you only eat rice, veggies and fruits, it is assumed you are poor, so by association, people eat as much meat as possible to show that they are doing well in life. This is the case in many countries that are not as abundant as the US. So, I wonder how US vegans deal with this kind of situation when they visit foreign countries where meats & seafood are seen as a delicacy and special food. For example, it could take someone a whole week of work to afford just one chicken, but they spend the money to make you a special dish because they view you as an honored guest. Do you refuse to eat this dish and explain to them your moral issues around animals even though you know they spent a week’s worth of pay to make this just for you, or do you eat the dish because it is better to honor the respect they are showing you and avoid the risk of offending and hurting their feelings? Personally, I would eat the chicken dish because it’s far more important to me to see these people happy and show them I am extremely appreciative of the sacrifice they made for my eating pleasure. I’ve been to countries before and eaten things I have no idea what it was but ate it anyway because I knew the dinner was a special event for the host. I know it's tricky, so I'm curious how others have handled that type of situation.

• One of the most exciting things about this experiment is that I saw a whole slew of new food product opportunities. My creative brain just got rolling on ideas of new things to make that are gluten-free, vegan friendly, and tasty because what I found was okay but not much. That just means there's room for more.
  

• In less than 2 weeks, I noticed a significant difference in how my body felt. I'm definitely less bloated and gassy. My palate has also become quite particular to the fresh and organic foods. I'm telling you that once you start cleaning up your eating, you can't go back. You really feel just how sick those processed foods, and artificial additives make you feel.

• Going forward, I'm going to continue to go dairy and egg free until the end of the month to see how much better (or not) I feel. I'm also going to limit my gluten intake to only 2-3 meals a week. I'm definitely excited to be eating the meats and seafood again. I can see the moral and spiritual reasons to avoid meat, but for me, I see no physical health reason to not eat meat. Overall, the meats I normally eat are high quality like grass fed beef, free range chicken, and wild seafood. I also don't really eat that much meat as a whole. The meats and seafood are also the best source of protein for me because of allergies I cannot eat any beans in the Lima, Pinto, and Kidney family, nor do I like to eat soy. I'll eat some, but not often and definitely not a lot. The other veg protein sources are just not enough for my body. I tried before including this time and it just does not make me feel good especially on days when I workout. Also, I cannot go to my Filipino occasions and not eat the dishes which all have some form of meat or seafood, or use chicken stock.

In conclusion, doing this experiment was really fun, and highly educational. I'd recommend it to anyone who's thinking about doing it. The more I learn about vegan and raw foods, the more I am impressed with how creative these folks are when it comes to veggies and fruits.

When you start eating more "alive" veggies and fruits, and whole grains, and legumes, your palate really adapts pretty quickly and you feel the good feelings right away. I've even learned how steaming your veggies two less minutes can even change the taste of them. There is no need to cover it with sauces and dressings to get some flavor.

Now, I'm wondering what other food experiments I could do. If you got any ideas or have done any yourself, please let me know!

Comments

[Emily]

For the vegans in other countries thing, living in Japan I can tell you most of my friends who have come here have had a hard enough time being vegetarian, let alone vegan. And when you go to visit families and friends I just think it is so disrespectful to balk at the food they've taken great care to prepare (often overly worrying over your palate to begin with) that if you haven't warned them in advance you should just smile as you chew that beef out of gratitude for what it symbolizes to your hosts.

That said though, as you commented in your previous entry, I think veganism can be very socially isolating and I've had a lot of aggravation with friends attitudes about veganism destroying our friendships. On the other hand, I know a lot of cool vegans too so it doesn't have to be isolating, you know?

[charlotte]

You make a lot of great points! As a vegetarian (and close to vegan) for many years, I have a policy that "people come first" all the time. This applies to when I travel in foreign countries (I ate rabbit head -aaagggh- in the campo in Spain and just smiled and told my hosts how wonderful it was) as well as at home (I eat my grandmother's bicuits whenever she makes them for me even though I don't do white flour, sugar, & shortening because it means so much to her. Plus I only see her about every 5 years!).

Need a new food experiment? Try Intermittent Fasting! I LOVE it.

[Lou]

I'm half-Pakistani and a vegetarian, but when I'm in Pakistan there is no way I'd ever turn down a chicken dish my family made me, its incredibly insulting. It's not necessarily the animal I'm opposed to eating, it's the inhumane treatment of most animals in America. In other countries you see the animals you are going to eat, they're usualy pretty happy, healthy, and not injeceted with anything crazy, and that would make me feel better.

[taste memory girl]

I've been on the 70/30 (70% raw & 30% cooked yet healthy w. lots of fresh veggies minus the processed stuff) since January 2008 and have lost 10 lbs. and still counting down! I agree that the 'detox' is so helpful for the palate + bod + mind!

I am of Asian descent as well and finding + developing good combos are the key.

Have you looked at Ani Phyo's website? she is raw and asian and yummy cooking!

[Karen]

I would also encourage that you try sticking to a wheat-free diet. I have been doing this on and off for years (it is tough to maintain when at friends' houses, in foreign countries, or super busy and unable to plan meals) and I really feel the difference.

[Emily W]

I'm very much an omnivore, but when I was first in Chile several vegetarian/vegan friends took different approaches to food. Most tried to eat veg as much as possible but would eat meat depending on the situation - ie. if it was some major cultural experience or was going to be horribly rude - and one friend who was vegetarian for moral reasons just decided to forget about it for 6 months.

One girl, however, threw a fit one night when we were out in the country, in a tiny town, and this man had rented us a room and invited us to have dinner in his home - really a very special experience. When the soup came out with chicken in it, she starting flapping her hands at her plate and saying loudly "no meat, no chicken, only rice!" It was embarrassing for the rest of us, but she didn't seem to understand that in Chile few people are vegetarian, and this man had almost certainly never met anyone who didn't eat chicken! If you really can't eat something, at least decline graciously, but overall I think if you're traveling part of experiencing the other culture is eating things you might not at home.

[Siren]

So you are saying that when it is served to you, you are going to eat the stewed monkey brains, yak's testicles, the eyeball soup and the snake surprise right?

And if someone served you baby kitten you'd dig right in right??

So you'd watch them bash the kitten over it's head, skin it and skewer it and flame-broil it for you and that you'd eat it with a big ole smile on your face and tell them the broiled kitten is fantastic, right Steph?

Good to know...

[Stephanie Quilao]

Siren I can appreciate that people have different views on food, but every decision that people make is based on the context of the situation. In other countries, people have very different views about animals and how they treat them. And yes, in some places the only meat they can get is snake. Animal testicles are considered delicacies in some places. I think the point is not to judge other people's foods just because they are different than what Americans eat.

And agreed there are places that also are inhumane and cruel when it comes to certain delicacies like eating live monkey brains. That I would not eat because it's pointless killing of the animal.

On another hand, let's take a buffalo as an example. The Native Americans would use the entire animal for food, clothing, shelter and other things. Killing elephants just for its tusks is not right. But if you are killing the elephant and it can feed a village, then ok.

Tripe is basically cow stomach, but millions of Asians eat it every day. So are we to condemn their food choice because they eat cow guts or chicken feet? No.

I first consider how the animal was killed, what it was used for, and yes, I've tried things that I wouldn't normally eat because my host (whom I trust) was gracious to take the time and love to make us a wonderful meal.

There is perspective and balance.

[KTB]

Stephanie, I second your point about perspective and balance. My younger sister spent most of last summer travelling through Eastern Europe and observed that many of those cultures have no concept of vegan/vegetarian diet restrictions. She and I are both omnivores, and she realized that, for the most part, being vegan/veggie is largely an American phenomenon.

Having recently read "The Omnivore's Dilemma," I understand that America's relationship with food is largely unhealthy. On the flip side, I am lucky to live in a place with farmers' markets almost every day of the week and local places to shop. While I'm nowhere near your level, I'm trying to make small changes to get better, like buying local as much as possible.

Maybe that could be your next experiment: being a locavore!

[Siren]

Honestly I wasn't trying to say it's wrong for people to eat meat. I don't feel that way. I'm vegetarian for health reasons (every other person in my family has heart disease, high blood pressure and a myriad of ther issues).

Basically my point was that some people see eating chickens as pointless the same way you see eating monkey brains as pointless. Look at it from the vegetarians perspective if you can: If there is other food to be had, even just an apple, they'd rather have just the apple than the dead animal. They don't have to eat something if they don't agree with it. Just as you wouldn't eat the monkey brains, they will decline the chicken leg. The parallel is there.

And yes many cultures eat meat only and see nothing wrong with it. Some cultures also make women wear burkas, walk 3 feet behind men with there eyes downcast or beat them to death in the street for not abiding those rules. It doesn't make it ok does it? Well they would argue with you on it, I assure you.

And the host serving monkey brains maybe just as insulted as the host serving chicken if a person chose not to eat it. So are you not wrong for refusing the monkey brains but the vegetarian wrong is wrong for refusing chicken? Your morals are more correct than their morals is what you are saying?

Just because it's done that way doesn't mean we have to like, accept or abide it if we are against the behavior. Your opinion as to what is ok, good and decent is not the same as someone else's opinion as to the same.

Personally I wouldn't go to those countries where burkas were required just as I wouldn't go to one where meat was the only food source - I research things like that first.

Furthermore, if I insulted someone by refusing to walk 3 feet behind them...I wouldn't care.

Just try and understand though. See it through their perspective for some vegetarians eating meat is like dining at an autopsy table. Cameron Diaz likened eating pig to eating her niece since pigs are smarter than 3 year old human children. So for many vegetarians, if they insult someone by not eating meat, they don't care. They see the animal's life as worth it. Some see eating meat as disgusting as canabalism.