The African American Vegetarian

Becoming a Vegetarian was one of the most important decisions that I've ever made. Full-disclosure; I would have to say that I'm 95% vegetarian. I have not eaten red meat or (most) poultry etc. in a number of years and have not eaten pork since I was around 13 years old. Except for fish, which I do plan to eat for the rest of my life. In my research I see that there is yet another 'title' for this, which is called being 'Pescetarian' ... I believe no matter what label we use, there is nothing new about 'super-foods', proteins, eating vegetables, catching fish or any of it....One of the only reasons that 'some' of the human race started to eat land-animals in the first place, was back when cave-people and others that lived in places covered in snow, where berries and vegetables were scarce and killing mammals was the only way for them to survive. I should add that it is recorded in 'His-story' that those humans didn't have a very long lifetime...having a diet that consisted mostly of raw meat certainly couldn't have been healthy for a body! We definitely have evolved since those times -- now everyone could survive on a vegetarian diet if they chose. However I do feel very differently about humans & eating fish ... let me explain ...

Humans and Fish (aka Seafood) We Have a History

The harvesting and eating of fish are ancient practices that were shared by many humans, no matter where they were located on the earth and is recorded in all of our 'histories', from the indigenous peoples of the Americas, the Egyptians, Israelites, the peoples of Greece, to China & Japan and I believe any others that lived near rivers and other bodies of water. Today's arguments of ethics haven't always played a roll in our human decisions about our sustenance ... for one, plants, fish or any other animals that we consumed weren't cruelly raised in confinement factory farms and fed diets of harmful disease-causing chemicals that are completely terrible for us humans! That issue (saved for a later blog) aside, I hear many people say, "I could never give up meat!" What many people don't realize is that over time the body's unnatural craving for mammal and poultry meat disappears, and that you will get sick from beef, pork or chicken if eaten again after a long period of time without it. It's happened to me on a few occasions in my life where I mistakenly ate pork and was very sick from it. It's because most farmed-animal flesh is filled with toxins, uric acid and fecal bacteria. When healthy, I believe that the human body would always reject these meats. But we start feeding it to our little ones almost as soon as they can eat, as we all have been convinced that it is our natural and normal way. But consider this, do animals have to cook their meat in order to not get sick and season it so it can taste good to them? Would a human baby kill and eat raw a live chicken out of instinct the same as a baby lion would? No. Here's another thing to think about -- can we eat raw fish and seafood if it's healthy and clean and not get sick? Yes. Do we always have to season fish and seafood for it to taste good? No. Are there the same health risks from eating healthy, fresh fish as there are from eating farmed-animals? No.

Water makes up 71% of the earth, and 55 - 75% of our human-bodies, (depending on age, weight and gender) ... Fish are from the water and have been a great water soluble source of nutrition since the beginnings of many of the peoples of earth's recorded histories ... So for those reasons and because they really taste good ... I'll always eat fish.

Recipe (Courtesy of Tori Avey) - Suggested by Redness Kim Hayes

Falafel

I'm so happy that people are reading the blog and happier still to know that it is helping ... and still happier yet that some of you are sharing your go-to recipe's with me and asking if I'd like to share in the blog ... I'm over-Joyed by this ... I started this blog so that we could help each other and that's what were doing....yaaaay!!

It's a very long description so I'll share the ingredients and the link to the full recipe at the end.

Description

Learn to make chickpea falafel the traditional way with multiple variations. Includes recipe, how to video and photo tutorial.

Ingredients

1 lb dry chickpeas/garbanzo beans - you must start with dry, do NOT substitute canned, they will not work!

1 small onion, roughly chopped

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

3-5 cloves garlic (I prefer roasted garlic cloves)

1 1/2 tbsp flour or chickpea flour

1 3/4 tsp salt

2 tsp cumin1 tsp ground coriander

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Pinch of ground cardamom

Vegetable oil for frying - grapeseed, sunflower, avocado, canola, and peanut oils all work well Click Here For Full Recipe, Video & Photos

Author: Tori Avey

Photo: Courtesy of author

#vegetarian #food #plantbased #healthyfood #foodie #love #healthy #fitness #health #organic #healthylifestyle #gym #homemade #nutrition #vegetables #veggie #delicious #foodstagram

That's it for this week. It's just about making a decision to improve your health and possibly extend your life. No judgements, no preconceived expectations of what others expect of us, just us deciding I want to live differently for me.

Next Issue: Water, Exercise, Rest, Salt, Fat + more

All information presented in this blog is provided for informational purposes only, and is mostly based on my own opinions and beliefs + some Google searching, Wikipedia and other sources that I name and place links to finding out more about them. This information should not be used as a substitute or replacement for advice, diagnosis or treatment from your healthcare provider.