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Showing posts from February, 2014

What does it mean to be vegan? — Beyond Veganism

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Vegans are sometimes responsible for more animal exploitation than omnivores. This is a conclusion I've come to after a lot of years as a vegan, befriending many vegans, and doing a lot of research. What does vegan mean? Many vegans define their lifestyle choice as “not supporting the exploitation of animals.” This extends to not wearing silk, wool or fur, not eating honey, dairy, eggs, fish or meat, and not purchasing products tested on animals. (“Vegetarian” only implies not eating meat.) What is the value system that leads one to be vegan? The heart of veganism is “do no harm.” Yet this sound and compassionate core value is often corrupted. Many vegans think of it more as, “inflict no pain, and be not party to inflicting pain.” This distinction leads to a lot of misunderstanding and confused value systems. Should vegans worry about hurting plants? They should, yes. Yet by arguing that plants don't feel pain (because they lack a nervous sys

What causes cellulite? Toilet seats?!

Toilet seats cause cellulite. Its a radical conclusion, I know. Stick with me for a few minutes and I'll explain. I've been under-muscled almost my entire life due to a series of childhood illnesses and toxin exposures. Where your body doesn't have enough muscle, it likes to have some fat. Its inefficient, and even dangerous, for your body to have neither much muscle or much fat. Muscle and fat serve as a place to store glycogen (bound up glucose that you use for energy), and as a place to store toxins that you don't currently have the means to excrete from your body. As a result, my lack of muscle has meant a thick layer of fat. While most people called me "average" in size even at my highest weight (153 lbs), I was a mass of fat. I was very weak, and increasingly covered in cellulite as I "grew up". Like most Americans, I was more concerned about the unseemly cellulite than my lack of muscle. I tried creams and lotions. I made