Today’s post is extra special. Today’s post is the last Ubervegan post. Yup, the last one. I’m not quitting, or changing my diet, it’s just that I have nothing more to really add every month other than “I ate the odd food here or there”. And, I’m not going to turn this ‘series’ into a “How to cook and eat vegan” type of series, there are enough of those online.
For the last ubervegan post, I thought it fitting if I answered some of the main questions I get from people. So I conducted a self-interview:
1. How does your “ubervegan” lifestyle differ from a “vegan” lifestyle, aren’t they practically the same?
Well, although the differences between both seem small, they are quiet drastic. Unlike a regular vegan, on top of not consuming meat and dairy products, I don’t consume
- white flour,
- white rice,
- white potatoes,
- alcohol,
- and artificial sugar.
2. You said these changes were quiet drastic, how drastic are they really?
Okay, let’s list the number of things in this world that contain artificial sugar:
- 99.9% of drinks,
- 99.9% of all non fruit based desserts,
- 99.9% of all breads,
- get the picture?
And do you know how hard it is to find bread made from 100% whole grains? Or a restaurant that serves rice that’s not white? Speaking of restaurants, you might as well eliminate all of them from your life. I’ve only found one or two restaurant that actually caters to all the ubervegan needs.
3. If it’s so hard, why do you do it?
To be healthy of course. In developed nations most deaths are, one way or the other, attributed to the consumption of sugar and tobacco. Seriously look it up. I began all this by becoming vegan, but unlike most I also realized that white bread and sugar related products would eventually take a toll on me, a toll that’s far worse than that of meat and/or dairy.
Sugars and white breads are actually why most doctors don’t see a difference between a vegan’s health and a carnivore’s health. Believe me, they play that big of a role to your general health.
4. So, you don’t do it for the animals?
That’s a good side benefit of this whole thing; nature has been horribly mistreated by us humans. But my main goal with this dietary lifestyle is to be healthy. We have to realize that although animals are horribly mistreated by humans everyday, humans are treated far worse by other humans every minute.
Before I go door to door preaching about ending cruelty towards animals, I would advocate the ending of cruelty towards others. I’d rather we start there; ending human suffering.
I would actually applaud you if you consumed meat and/or dairy but cut all sugars from your life. If you did that you’d be far healthier than most vegans and vegetarians.
5. Wait, did you just tell people to eat meat and dairy?
Not really. I’m just saying that in a developed nation consuming sugar is as bad (or worse) for your health as consuming meat and/or dairy.
Something most vegans and vegetarians don’t realize is that it is a privilege to not have to consume meat and dairy. I grew up in a developing nation so I can personally tell you, there (Rwanda) we treated meat with far more respect than we do here in North America. There we didn’t have the privilege of saying no to meat, it was barely around!
A lot of people travel and say that they’ll continue being hardcore vegans while abroad, only to realize that the only thing around them is meat, dairy, white rice, white potatoes, etc. Why would you starve yourself? To prove that you’re better than someone else? I just don’t see the reasoning behind dying of hunger because you consider yourself a vegetarian or vegan.
Realize that it’s a privilege to not have to consume meat and/or dairy, and still be able to live a happy and healthy life. There’s a ton of people out there that would kill to have the opportunity you have.
6. So, do you occasionally defer from your ubervegan diet?
Yes, when I have no other options. And, only when I have no other options. I’ve found myself in situations where I would have to eat something with sugar, white flour, white rice, or to starve myself for the entire day. What do you think I did? Not eat? Isn’t self starvation worse than me consuming artificial sugar or white rice?
Something I did learn early on is that one can take this ‘loophole’ far beyond what is necessary (like I did). Don’t fool yourself by telling yourself that you’re going to starve if you don’t eat this or that, when there’s a perfectly good batch of fresh vegetables and fruits nearby. In the long run, you fool no one and only hurt yourself.
7. You keep saying artificial sugar, why?
Well, artificial sugar is the real killer. Natural sugars, not so much.
Let’s get it clear, everything you consume gets turned into sugar by your body. What artificial sugar does though is trick your body. It’s already preprocessed (as is flour), so your body becomes confused as to how it should handle it, process it again? Confused your body naturally processes it again, resulting in a spike in your sugar levels, and from there one, the dangers begin.
You can consume sugar replacements like Stevia though. But you shouldn’t need to. The best types of sugars to consume are those naturally found in vegetables and fruits.
8. Do you have anything else to add?
Yes! You want to know why you can’t resist sugars and fats? Because we were built not to resist them. See, a long, long time ago as cave-people, sugars and fats was pretty hard to come by. So when you did end up finding some, it was the best fucking day of your life. Naturally, this love of sugars and fats got passed down to us, even though it’s all around us.
And big businesses know about this love of ours, they aren’t necessarily stupid. They are greedy though, which is why they introduced sugars and fats to practically everything they make and sell. They know we can’t resist it.
9. Good interview, any parting words?
Here are the previous posts I’ve written on my Ubervegan diet, hope you enjoy them:
- “Ubervegan” Lifestyle Begins: A Brief Look At Madness
- Ubervegan Lifestyle Week #1: Life With A Hint Of Carefree Madness
- Ubervegan Lifestyle Update #1: Abuse Taken Too Far
- Ubervegan Lifestyle Update #2: The Setting Of A Habit
If you need any help with your Ubervegan diet, ask me anytime. I’ll be glad to help. And as Tynan told me (the person who I discovered this diet from),
Don’t associate food with fun.
Think about it.
photo credit: waldopics