the people's republic of sole

I have been thinking a lot recently about the diets of modern people, and about how they are seemingly unmoored from any sort of traditional idea of a food chain. For the most part, we eat almost everything on the planet: mammals, fish, amphibians, insects, tubers, seeds, legumes, fruits, vegetables, and so on. No species has as varied a diet as we.

Our opulence means that we basically get to decide what -- and when -- we eat, rather than being forced into a particular niche, like most other living things on this planet are.

Being that we've all just had a little brussels sprouts discussion, I'm wondering: how do you decide what to eat? How much do you eat for pleasure? How much do you eat for health?

What does your ideal diet accomplish? Do you consider things like longevity when you are deciding what foods to eat? Do you avoid certain things because you think they are unhealthy? Do you include certain things because you think they are healthy? What does "healthy" even mean to you?

For example, I've been trying recently to increase the amount of fat in my diet and lower the amount of carbohydrates, chiefly by limiting the amount of grains I eat (wheat, corn, etc) and avoiding foods with added sugar.

There's a lot of very compelling research out there about the human digestive system just really not being very well-equipped to gluten. 83% of people display an allergic response in the gut to wheat gluten.

Another interesting thing I've been reading about is how glucose is used throughout the body, but how fructose is basically shunted directly into the liver to be processed; basically, fructose is really bad for you in large quantities. Your liver can deal with the fructose it gets from whole foods (fruits, carrots etc) but it gets overloaded when you add sugar-enhanced foods on top of that stuff, and starts immediately converting it to dangerous forms of fats.

I don't really know, philosophically, what I want my health goal to be. If some food promised that I'd live to be 110 eating it, I'd hesitate to take that offer, because I'm not sure I want to see what the earth is like 80 years from now. I know I don't want to be fat while I'm here, and that I want to feel good while I'm here. I wasn't fat eating gluten, though, and I can't say that I felt bad. Maybe I hope to uncover ways to feel even better.

Anyone else think about this stuff, or tool around with their diets?

That's basically the idea behind the book Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Polland (which I recommend, good reading).

Well I'm vegetarian so that limits what I eat, but aside from that I just eat whatever I want. On the whole I say I eat fairly healthy, but there's nothing that I specifically make an effort to eat or anything that I specifically make an effort to stay away from. Keeping things varied is something I try to do, both to keep my palate happy and to make sure I'm getting a good mix of various vitamins and minerals.

you left out fungi. neither plant nor animal.

most meals involve some combination of rice, eggs, vegetables, tuna. i like to make something of my own from simple ingredients so that i have a better idea of what i'm really eating. i like sandwiches. i think the sandwich is such a clever invention and that the making of sandwiches is an underrated art.

i don't eat a lot of meat, but i do like to try new animals from time to time just so that i can say i ate one. horses, dogs, frogs, rabbits. this part of my diet is purely for vanity, which is deplorable. it's something i'm simultaneously proud and ashamed of.

i drink tea all day, partly for the nebulous health benefits, partly because i'm english. healthy means to me being able to run around and play basketball without problems, to not be tired all the time or feel sick.

i like sprouts and when they are on special offer after christmas i buy loads of them. money plays a big role in what i do and do not eat, as i imagine it does for most people. and ethics too--free range eggs, fair trade tea etc.

Some combination of:

*All sorts of Tapwater.

*homemade trail mix throughout the day (peanuts/cashews, raisins/craisins, m&m's/chocolate chips)

*Breakfast: oatmeal with chunky PB and honey, coffee, banana -OR- Fried Egg with some kind of cheese, Jalapenos, tomato and turkey on an english muffin --OR Fried No-Yolk Egg Noodles, seasoned, with an egg. Couple times a week, a homemade fruit smoothie, usually strawberry, banana, blueberries, etc. Sometimes I be eating Foule, a middle eastern breakfast dish of fava beans, onions, tomato, Jalepenos, garlic, whatever. It's delicious and very filling.

*Lunch: Some kind of sandwich (usually turkey, grilled chicken, tuna, egg salad, sometimes just a veggie sammich), or pizza, a heap of spinach with olive and vinegar and onions/jalapenosk/ red pepper or whatever's in the house. Sometimes hummus, veggies and pita.

*Dinner: Rice and Beans, Chicken, sometimes pork chops, bean/veggie/sometimes chicken tacos, Pizza, Fried Eggplant thingies, Potato soup is a recent obsession of mine. I usually make it vegetarian, but sometimes will throw bacon or ham in it.

*Beer (Guinness, Killians, Founders, Sierra Nevada)

btw I feel great.
Probably due to fucking training 10-30 hours a week.

but do you love any physical challenge?

shitloads of fruits, veggies and nuts/seeds. all types. lean vegan protein (tempeh and tofu mostly). i eat loads of home made smoothies and hooked up salads. im trying to cook my food less and less these days. its funny to me how often ive been accused of being a rabbit.

i am really trying to eat locally food that i produce. in the summer/fall/spring my veggie intake is comprised mostly of seasonal vegetables, and whatever i can't eat i freeze/can to have for winter. this winter i am building a greenhouse. the only real hole in my diet as far as what i am producing on my own is legumes and grains. i have never had success growing grains, like quinuoa and even after covering every fence in my yard with anasazi beans i wasnt able to produce more than 3 meals worth of beans. sometimes i wonder if i should just stop being vegan and get some chickens and eat eggs, but the idea repulses me, even though i fucking love hanging out with chickens.

What is the worst part of the idea to you? My parents got chickens two winters ago, after never having done anything like that... they LOVE those chickens now. They get eggs every day, and endless entertainment from the chickens, which spent most of the time just scratching around and being hilarious. They built them their own coop next to the house.

Anyone who has the space and freedom to have chickens, I definitely recommend doing it. Sole, I think I remember that your backyard is totally fenced in... that's key. My parents' only problem is that their house is bordered by tons of woods, so they have to stress about protecting them from hawks and stuff. Otherwise they've been a joy.

And the eggs are so delicious, and you know EXACTLY what goes into their diets, so you know they're nutritious... no one can tell me those chickens are unhappy in the slightest...

Yeah, I can't really imagine vegans being opposed to eating eggs if they came from chickens they were keeping as pets. I think every vegan I know either owns a dog or a cat, so if cats and dogs just happened to lay eggs they'd just throw them away? None of the possible reasons I can think of for being vegan apply to that case.

Chickens are pretty easy to take care of as long as you keep your garden fenced/protected, and you don't mind them shitting everywhere.

I follow an ovo-lacto vegetarian diet. I mostly eat at my workplace's eatery, so I'll have whatever they've got. Sometimes the vegetarian food there is lacking in protein, but otherwise is ok.

At home I try to eat locally and seasonally. In the summertime it's a lot of different salads, capsicums, zucchinis, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower etc. In the winter this is more difficult, then I lean towards cabbage (+sauerkraut), carrots and other root vegetables. Pretty basic stuff, simple healthy meals.

I try to get my protein different nuts, lentils, soy in different forms, sometimes hemp and lupin beans (yeah, it's like 50% protein).

I do fuckin' train a lot also, so pretty often I drink a milk-based protein shake or something to get the needed proteins.


The ideal meal is both very enjoyable and very healthy, like the chanterelle and zucchini pizza we did on Sunday! Usually I lean towards healthy, I think... not a huge amount of fat, no industrial foods, enough proteins and enough vitamins. I definitely do include some stuff in my diet because I think it's healthy. I would'nt have any lupin flour in my shakes or yoghurt if I didn't think it's good for me.

I've been living in vietnam the past few months and I think the diet here is pretty good. All sorts of rice and rice products. Tea and good coffee. Bahn Mi, Pho, and lots of rice and noodle dishes with lots of veggies and not too much meat. I've been avoiding fried food and generally I feel pretty good about my cheap ass vietnamese food diet.

I was vegetarian for 11 years. for roughly a year within that span, I was vegan. Must have been that Bay Area influence. Nowadays, I eat everything. Just has to be tasty. I love putting meals together. Making dinner is literally the most relaxing part of the day for me. Here's what I fucks with:

homemade queso fresco:



that I put on carne asada tacos:



and I put it on enchiladas caseras (with lime soaked onions and cilantro):



I'm a big fan of making pad thai at home too:



one of my favorite dishes to make is shredded seitan with green beans and shallots in a mustard sauce. This is always awesome:



Potato-Leek soup with fiddleheads:



Beef Brocolli is the shiznit...



Maple glazed tempeh and avocado salad with fresh lemon vinaigrette...



Brown rice bowl with lemongrass, tofu, lime soaked carrots and fiddleheads.



I eat meat now, but I also fucks with tempeh, seitan, tofu, etc. and I like soaking ingredients in lime juice, because lime juice is the shit.

I wonder how you can go from being vegetarian to eating meat again...
You must've had very different reasons for not eating flesh than I do.

I've been vegetarian for about 10 years now and feel better about the diet every day. Can't really see this changing.