Hi, guys!

I returned to my ovolactovegetarian ways ("ichthy" in there somewhere would suggest seafood, I think, but so far, despite fresh tuna in the house, I've abstained...) about a week and a half ago. I had been vegetarian awhile back, but wavered after awhile. It's a REALLY LONG story (spanning some ten years), so I'm not going into details here. The point is... I'm heading back in the direction I was going so long ago.

I haven't given up dairy products just yet, although I don't eat much of them. I'm not yet vegan, although I expect to evolve to that point eventually.

Basically, I look at vegan as the goal. Actually, I look even beyond that -- to me, the only food we could eat which would satisfy the "thou shalt not kill" ideal would be fruit. Whether or not the human body can operate that way is unknown to me, but it's something I'm going to try -- eventually. The question of whether or not the seeds are also to be eaten is something I'll have to fathom later. (If the bean or seed hasn't sprouted yet, would eating it be killing it?)

My hypothesis is that the only reason we need so many different substances to fuel our bodies is because we eat so many different substances... This would wind up being one of "life's little ironies" if true. Fruits contain their own enzymes which help us digest them, right? Raw foods contain enzymes which make digestion easier, right? Cooked foods have had those enzymes destroyed (largely), making it much harder to digest, right? So we need lots of other material to help us break up the foods we eat which lack these enzymes, right? Our bodies have to manufacture substances to break down the foods we've eaten, and they require more energy to be able to do that... It's like a vicious cycle.

What if the only reason human bodies can be infected with parasites is because of karma and/or the Golden Rule? If you're willing to eat another creature, then other creatures can eat you... alive... Far-fetched, I know, but it makes for some interesting thinking.

I know (of) one woman who used to eat absolutely nothing but turkey meat for years. (I don't know what she drank, if anything besides water...) She didn't take vitamins or supplements. She certainly didn't eat any vegetables or fruit. She did not have a menstrual cycle at all. Somehow, she managed to survive years of this. I won't say she had "no problems", but she wasn't terminally ill or even visibly sick as a result of it.

So... I think the goal of moving to fruit only is possible. Now... in truth, I'd much rather survive on water, minerals, air, and/or sunshine (i.e. the four ancient "elements"! Woo hoo!), but I like being ambulatory, and I'm rather attached to my body at the moment, so going vegetable or spiritual isn't in the cards. *grin* And fruit tastes good.

BUT... I'm doing it one step at a time -- one change at a time, when I decide I'm ready for it. The most recent change was to stop consuming animal parts -- i.e. animal tissue. Milk (products) and (chicken) eggs are still "legal" for me, but they will be phased out in time, likely taking most baked goods out of the picture, too, leaving me with nothing but veggies and fruits. Eventually, I'll move on to cutting out vegetables and seeing if I can subsist solely on fruit. From there... if I could just get some copper to replace some of the iron in my hemoglobin, then I'd have chlorophyll... Maybe some of these glands that are "unused" or that we don't understand yet will play a role... *grin*

Well, we'll see.

=-John-=