Hi, vegetarian nutrition-researcher here!

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ThatNerdyScienceGirl
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Hi, vegetarian nutrition-researcher here!

Post by ThatNerdyScienceGirl »

I love vegan foods and think veganism is awesome, but at least for now I am fine with being a lacto-vegetarian who sometimes eats fish. So I guess I am pescaterian, but I don't eat fish more than once or twice a week, so I just count myself as a vegetarian. I don't eat eggs, mainly because I don't like them, and I am trying to reduce my intake of dairy, but I like my occasional Parmesan cheese and mozzarella sandwich slices, and have not yet found a good vegan alternative. I don't use wool, fur, leather, silk, or the like.

I do run a website under the same name as my username where I try to talk about evidence-based nutrition science. I love nutrition, fitness, and health, and love to research as much as I can.

I am here to find like-minded people. I hope the fact that I am not an ethical vegetarian is ok, I tend to be more evidence-based than anything else.

TL;DR; hi
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TheVeganAtheist
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Re: Hi, vegetarian nutrition-researcher here!

Post by TheVeganAtheist »

Hi ThatNerdyScienceGirl, welcome to the forum. Just curious about your thoughts on heavy metals found in fish? What about consuming cholesterol from eggs and dairy?
Do you find the forum to be quiet and inactive?
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EquALLity
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Re: Hi, vegetarian nutrition-researcher here!

Post by EquALLity »

Hi, welcome to the forum! :D
ThatNerdyScienceGirl wrote:I love vegan foods and think veganism is awesome, but at least for now I am fine with being a lacto-vegetarian who sometimes eats fish. So I guess I am pescaterian, but I don't eat fish more than once or twice a week, so I just count myself as a vegetarian.
I don't think you should do that. There's already a lot of confusion with vegetarianism and fish, and doing that promotes it. And because of those misconceptions, vegetarians are fed fish.
Why not just identify as pescatarian?

Oooh, I see you have an article on Dr. Greger on your website: http://thatnerdysciencegirl.com/2015/11 ... tionfacts/
In the article, you wrote:Michael Greger is a well know Vegan god among the plant-eating rascals who not only want to justify veganism scientifically
As if it can't be justified scientifically? :?
I'd think it's a joke, but I'm not sure based on the rest of your article.

But then, you just said veganism is awesome...
ThatNerdyScienceGirl wrote:I am here to find like-minded people. I hope the fact that I am not an ethical vegetarian is ok, I tend to be more evidence-based than anything else.
Well, it makes for interesting discussion to disagree on things. We actually wish we had more people who disagree with us on here.
We only get theists like once every four months or so, and for the most part, they aren't very active.

Is that an implication that ethical vegetarianism isn't evidence based?
"I am not a Marxist." -Karl Marx
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ThatNerdyScienceGirl
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Re: Hi, vegetarian nutrition-researcher here!

Post by ThatNerdyScienceGirl »

TheVeganAtheist wrote:Hi ThatNerdyScienceGirl, welcome to the forum. Just curious about your thoughts on heavy metals found in fish? What about consuming cholesterol from eggs and dairy?
Heavy metals are not good, but as we all should know, it is the dose that makes the poison. I eat very small amounts of fish like Tilapia, which are low in Mercury, so there should not be an issue there. I might stop fish anyways, as I don't really like the taste, even if they are known to have some beneficial effects.

I don't eat eggs because they taste bad, but I do believe both are high in saturated fat which is why I limit my intake. I am not too sure at the moment what to think about Cholesterol, however. The 2015 dietary guidelines did say:
Previously, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommended that cholesterol intake be limited to no more than 300 mg/day. The 2015 DGAC will not bring forward this recommendation because available evidence shows no appreciable relationship between consumption of dietary cholesterol and serum cholesterol, consistent with the conclusions of the AHA/ACC report. Cholesterol is not a nutrient of concern for overconsumption.
(http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/201 ... mittee.pdf)

Although I am still not comfortable with high cholesterol intake as it seems to be related to high saturated fat intake, which is still not good for you. So... yeah...

Besides, in terms of overall health, a lacto-ovo vegetarian is still a TON more healthy than the consumer of the average american diet. Right now I am not on the question for the most healthy diet ever, just a healthier one than what I once had, and I believe I succeeded.
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ThatNerdyScienceGirl
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Re: Hi, vegetarian nutrition-researcher here!

Post by ThatNerdyScienceGirl »

EquALLity wrote:Hi, welcome to the forum! :D
ThatNerdyScienceGirl wrote:I love vegan foods and think veganism is awesome, but at least for now I am fine with being a lacto-vegetarian who sometimes eats fish. So I guess I am pescaterian, but I don't eat fish more than once or twice a week, so I just count myself as a vegetarian.
I don't think you should do that. There's already a lot of confusion with vegetarianism and fish, and doing that promotes it. And because of those misconceptions, vegetarians are fed fish.
Why not just identify as pescatarian?

Oooh, I see you have an article on Dr. Greger on your website: http://thatnerdysciencegirl.com/2015/11 ... tionfacts/
In the article, you wrote:Michael Greger is a well know Vegan god among the plant-eating rascals who not only want to justify veganism scientifically
As if it can't be justified scientifically? :?
I'd think it's a joke, but I'm not sure based on the rest of your article.

But then, you just said veganism is awesome...
ThatNerdyScienceGirl wrote:I am here to find like-minded people. I hope the fact that I am not an ethical vegetarian is ok, I tend to be more evidence-based than anything else.
Well, it makes for interesting discussion to disagree on things. We actually wish we had more people who disagree with us on here.
We only get theists like once every four months or so, and for the most part, they aren't very active.

Is that an implication that ethical vegetarianism isn't evidence based?
Oh no, Ethical Vegetarians CAN be perfectly evidence-based, the sad thing is though, many are not. Like with most groups, misinformation tends to be accepted more often than facts, especially when it comes to emotional appeal over the cold hard facts of a case, I mean, just look at every civil rights movement ever. Many have lots of real issues and good facts, and then you have a bunch of proponants who believe made up poppycock or otherwise useless information in order to make their case stronger (Think "Hitler was a vegetarian!!!" as "evidence" against vegetarianism. Or Ancedotes as evidence for Homeopathy.)

I don't wish to be highly argumentative or anything, and civil debate seems awesome! And to be honest, no, I don't like Greger. The same way I don't like AuthorityNutrition, or NaturalNews, or PETA, or any group that has legitimate reason to lie about, miscontrue, or ignore facts in order to fit their beliefs. I am an atheist, I tend to take that skepticism in most parts of my life. I would not trust a christian site's view on atheism, so I would not trust a vegan's view on carnism unless backed by tons of credible scientific sources, and even then, I'd rather just link to the sources. Although there ARE some vegans or scientists that I trust, such as Aaron Carroll, even if he can be wrong sometimes as well.

I am just here for discussion and friendship ^_^ I hope to be welcome
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Jebus
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Re: Hi, vegetarian nutrition-researcher here!

Post by Jebus »

Welcome to the community. If you are a nutritional researcher I think you should be careful about basing your knowledge on dietary guidelines. Once you have a close look at the research you will notice the discrepancy between the two.
How to become vegan in 4.5 hours:
1.Watch Forks over Knives (Health)
2.Watch Cowspiracy (Environment)
3. Watch Earthlings (Ethics)
Congratulations, unless you are a complete idiot you are now a vegan.
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ThatNerdyScienceGirl
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Re: Hi, vegetarian nutrition-researcher here!

Post by ThatNerdyScienceGirl »

Jebus wrote:Welcome to the community. If you are a nutritional researcher I think you should be careful about basing your knowledge on dietary guidelines. Once you have a close look at the research you will notice the discrepancy between the two.
I realize being skeptical is important, but these guidelines were agreed upon by The American Heart Association (AHA) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC). In a report checked by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services.

Even the Center for Disease Control (CDC) states:
"Recently, dietary guidelines moved away from limiting cholesterol intake in the diet, and this has resulted in confusion. The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee recommended removing dietary cholesterol as a “nutrient of concern” because, it turns out saturated fat, rather than dietary cholesterol, is the main contributor to blood cholesterol levels. It is extremely clear that low lipid density protein, or “bad,” cholesterol (LDL-C), in the blood is a significant risk factor for heart disease and stroke, the leading causes of death among Americans. This message was lost in the dietary cholesterol discussion as seen by news headlines and fellow clinicians’ anecdotes." (http://blogs.cdc.gov/publichealthmatter ... e-need-it/)
I am not a nutritionist nor do I have a masters or high degree in nutrition science. I am not a dietitian or a medical specialist. But as of right now, I trust the CDC, USDA, ACC, AHA, and the Department of Health and Human Services over my own judgement as a freelance researcher.

Thankyou for the welcome ^_^
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ThatNerdyScienceGirl
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Re: Hi, vegetarian nutrition-researcher here!

Post by ThatNerdyScienceGirl »

EquALLity wrote:Hi, welcome to the forum! :D
ThatNerdyScienceGirl wrote:I love vegan foods and think veganism is awesome, but at least for now I am fine with being a lacto-vegetarian who sometimes eats fish. So I guess I am pescaterian, but I don't eat fish more than once or twice a week, so I just count myself as a vegetarian.
I don't think you should do that. There's already a lot of confusion with vegetarianism and fish, and doing that promotes it. And because of those misconceptions, vegetarians are fed fish.
Why not just identify as pescatarian?
Also, just to clear something up, I have only been eating fish for about a week. It's an experimental diet choice that I am trying out, just to see how I will like it. I've been lacto-vegetarian since April of this year, and I continue to decrease my animal product consumption. Although i don't know if I will ever be vegan.

I probably won't continue with eating fish, mainly because I don't really like fish. Also, the infrequency in which I eat fish anyways it probably has little to no real effects on my health anyways.
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Jebus
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Re: Hi, vegetarian nutrition-researcher here!

Post by Jebus »

ThatNerdyScienceGirl wrote:I trust the CDC, USDA, ACC, AHA, and the Department of Health and Human Services over my own judgement as a freelance researcher.
The reason I don't always trust them is that their recommendations are often based on what they think is health wise realistically attainable for a person rather than what the research has taught them about optimal health.
How to become vegan in 4.5 hours:
1.Watch Forks over Knives (Health)
2.Watch Cowspiracy (Environment)
3. Watch Earthlings (Ethics)
Congratulations, unless you are a complete idiot you are now a vegan.
GardenFood
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Re: Hi, vegetarian nutrition-researcher here!

Post by GardenFood »

Hi there,

I'm vegan, for health reasons, and I agree Dr. Gregor is sometimes biased. However, considering the amount of non-vegan (carnivore) nutritionist researchers and dietitians who are completely biased towards meat eating even when the evidence is against them (like when WHO recently acknowledged that processed meat causes cancer ...), I think some vegan bias is sometimes a fresh breeze. You will always be slightly biased towards your own beliefs, however the amount of carnist people who are still speak louder than people like Dr. Gregor in their bias.

I am a dietitian myself, I see this bias in practice all the time against being a vegan/vegetarian DESPITE the fact that the DAA (in my case, as I am Australian) acknowledges vegan/vegetarian diets as healthy. So it goes both ways.
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