So I have previously put up a post kind of explaining why I am vegan.
What started off as an ethical issue about the plight of bobby calves and the cruelty involved in the dairy industry soon became a health issue. I researched becoming vegan before I took the plunge and found out that there is a lot of iodine in dairy products, which is bad for me because I was Hyperthyroid (thyroid gland was over-active and produced too much iodine and poisoned my body).
On MANY occasions I asked general practitioners, dieticians, and endocrinologists if there was ANYTHING I could do in my diet to help my thyroid. All everyone told me was "Keep away from iodine which is found in iodised salt and seafood, other than that there is nothing you can do." Which turns out is BULLSHIT!!!
THERE IS A TON OF IODINE IN DAIRY!!!! Something I had to find out on my own about 5 years AFTER diagnosis!
Well, since I I became vegan (and quit smoking and stopped drinking Coke) I have only improved both my physical and emotional well being. I have lost a guilt that I had for a very long time, but was never able to figure out what this guilt actually was.
I have now lost 13kg.
But the most impressive, amazing, exciting part of it all is that I have lost my Hyperthyroidism!!
This of course was my overall (short-term) vegan goal, proving that I could cure myself of a disease that not only makes me very heat intolerant, an insomniac, depressed, anxious, hyperactive, soooo hungry, gives me heart palpations, forces me to be on 2 different kinds of medications, but also stops me from falling pregnant, goal number 2!
Very quickly after becoming vegan I felt there was no need for me to take my medication any more, so I weaned off, maybe a little quicker than I should have, but I had done it once before, so felt confident in what I was doing. Very quickly I started feeling better and non-symptomatic so I was extremely happy, yet nervous. I was nervous that it would only be a matter of time before I entered a state of total thyrotoxicosis.
I went to my endocrinologist a couple of weeks ago and not only did she agree with me that cutting out dairy was a good thing to do as she knew it wasn't good for somebody like me (another doc, some "wonderful" fertility specialist told me I had to go on the Atkins diet, fuck that!), but she RAN SOME TESTS!! A completely amazing and novel idea, I thought!
You see I have had MANY blood tests over the last 5 years, but it turns out, according to my medical history, that it has been a VERY long time since I have actually been attended too in a thorough manner.
Well when the results came back she informed me that not only am I not sick any more, but that I am in REMISSION! Far better than I expected, I knew I wasn't sick, but I didn't realise how not sick I actually was/am. I was blown away and so incredibly happy! Knowing that I had done the right thing, all by myself was amazing! I am still waiting for a couple of other bloods to come back to find out why I haven't fallen pregnant after NINETEEN months of trying, another thing no doctor seemed to give a rats arse about "Your young, don't worry about it....." FFS how long did they want to let me go before taking a little bit of fucking blood to see if I actually even fucking ovulate?!! (a story for another time).
So in summary, I am happy, healthy, lighter, and getting lighter all the time, thrilled that I have found a doctor that actually seems to give a fucking shit about my health, and I've done it all by myself after getting sick of nobody caring (or at least that's how it seemed).
Oh, and I use WAY too many exclamation marks!!!
BUT PLEASE DO NOT JUST STOP ANY MEDICAL TREATMENT AND TRY A "NATURAL" TREATMENT FOR ANY HEALTH PROBLEM WITHOUT PRIOR CONSULTING MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS, AND DOING A LOT OF RESEARCH FIRST!
They might rip us off, give us the shits and leave us feeling bewildered and confused by not answering our questions or just see a disease and not a person from time to time, but they are the ones who went to med school, not us!
~SJ xo
Showing posts with label Thyroid. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thyroid. Show all posts
Monday, 8 August 2011
Thursday, 26 May 2011
Why am I vegan?
I was asked recently how chocolate can be seen as animal cruelty.
Well this is actually the catalyst for my being vegan.I could write a massive essay here, but I'll try to keep it concise.
Just so you know, I wasn't raised vegan, I became vegan February 10th 2011. My favourite foods included roast pork, McDonald's, OMG I LOVED McDonald's (and it shows!), KFC and DAIRY! Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate, full cream milk by the litre, CHEESE, oh how I LOVED CHEESE!!!
So, this is why chocolate is bad. Apart from the usual reasons of fat, sugar and empty calories,
chocolate that contains dairy products, or anything else made from or containing dairy for that matter is, to vegans, a cruel product. This is due to the abhorrent conditions in which the cows are kept.
Female cows are kept in a near constant state of pregnancy so as to be able to produce milk. Baby male (bobby) calves are then taken from their mothers usually within 12-24 hours of birth. They are then transported to be slaughtered within their first week of life. They are usually starved and deprived of fluids for transport so as to not make a mess for the truck driver. The bobby calves can be transported for a couple of days and in all weather conditions which means they can literally bake in heat and freeze in cold, even to the extent that their skin freezes to the sides of the trucks.
This causes excruciating injuries and even amputations in the efforts to pry them lose! Many die in transport from the conditions, injuries or starvation.
After getting to their destination, the slaughter house, they are kept in horrible conditions, tied up, for as long as 4 months, so as they can not exercise or develop their muscles. This ensures they will become tender veal. Yep, veal is a waste product of the dairy industry!
And what happens to the mothers? They are connected to the electric milkers in stalls where they can't turn around or lie down. The calf that they gave birth to will not get more than a couple of feeds from the milk that was produced for them to drink, instead it is stolen and bottled for human consumption! And on top of all that the mother and the calf experience horrible mourning and distress caused by the separation.
And why have I said that male calves are a WASTE PRODUCT of the dairy industry? Easy! They can't get pregnant and produce milk, therefore rubbish a.k.a. veal!
Now, just like humans and other mammals it is only necessary for a mother cow to produce milk for her infant to grow, to give nutrients and antibodies for that infant's survival and to get them through the most important growth period of their lives! After a young mammal has weaned from it's mother her milk dries up and is not produced, ever again, unless she gives birth to anymore young. This is why it is so unnatural for a cow to be milked. The only milking ANY animal requires is from the young she is supporting.
"Cow's milk, by design, grows a 90 pound calf into a 2000 pound cow over the course of two years. It allows calves to double their birth weight in forty seven days and leaves their four stomachs feeling full" From Skinny Bitch, 2005, page 56.
Why is this significant? It is to demonstrate how fatty the milk is and to show the nutrients required to grow a cow is taken and given to humans, this starts to make the mind boggle!
After learning some of these facts I started doing a lot of, continuing, research, and I also found that dairy products contain a fairly high amount of Iodine. Why is this bad? Well, the good news it that it's not bad for everybody. But, it is to me as I have Hyperthyroidism (over-active thyroid), and too much Iodine is harmful to me and my thyroid. I was on medication, but for the last month I haven't been taking it. I just may have healed my thyroid, naturally.
I do NOT, however, recommend stopping any medical treatment without previously consulting a physician. I didn't, but I have a great understanding of my autoimmune disease and my body, so I was not hesitant in weaning off my medication. And I am ecstatic to report I feel completely fine!!
So what started as an animal cruelty issue for me turned into a health issue, and this is, in a round about way, why I'm vegan and chocolate is animal cruelty.
I have, however, only gleamed over the tip of the dairy industry iceberg and not even looked at the diseases, antibiotics, chemicals, hormones, addictive properties, pus and mucous in milk. Nor Have I looked at any other animal products, for that I'll ask you to refer to my previous post Food for thought... and get you thinking about watching Earthlings.
So now I've made your head hurt thinking about the implications of consuming dairy. Well that's exactly what made me turn vegan! Now I'm not trying to turn the whole world vegan (even though it would be nice) but, I am trying to get people to think about where their food, clothes, shoes, couches, bedding etc come from.
-SJ xo
Some great websites:
Animals Australia
Animals Australia - Bobby Calves
Against Animal Cruelty Tasmania
Against Animal Cruelty Tasmania - Dairy Industry
Earthlings
Brightside Farm Sanctuary
Edgar's Mission
Skinny Bitch
The Veganist; Kathy Freston
Well this is actually the catalyst for my being vegan.I could write a massive essay here, but I'll try to keep it concise.
Just so you know, I wasn't raised vegan, I became vegan February 10th 2011. My favourite foods included roast pork, McDonald's, OMG I LOVED McDonald's (and it shows!), KFC and DAIRY! Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate, full cream milk by the litre, CHEESE, oh how I LOVED CHEESE!!!
So, this is why chocolate is bad. Apart from the usual reasons of fat, sugar and empty calories,
chocolate that contains dairy products, or anything else made from or containing dairy for that matter is, to vegans, a cruel product. This is due to the abhorrent conditions in which the cows are kept.
Female cows are kept in a near constant state of pregnancy so as to be able to produce milk. Baby male (bobby) calves are then taken from their mothers usually within 12-24 hours of birth. They are then transported to be slaughtered within their first week of life. They are usually starved and deprived of fluids for transport so as to not make a mess for the truck driver. The bobby calves can be transported for a couple of days and in all weather conditions which means they can literally bake in heat and freeze in cold, even to the extent that their skin freezes to the sides of the trucks.
This causes excruciating injuries and even amputations in the efforts to pry them lose! Many die in transport from the conditions, injuries or starvation.
After getting to their destination, the slaughter house, they are kept in horrible conditions, tied up, for as long as 4 months, so as they can not exercise or develop their muscles. This ensures they will become tender veal. Yep, veal is a waste product of the dairy industry!
And what happens to the mothers? They are connected to the electric milkers in stalls where they can't turn around or lie down. The calf that they gave birth to will not get more than a couple of feeds from the milk that was produced for them to drink, instead it is stolen and bottled for human consumption! And on top of all that the mother and the calf experience horrible mourning and distress caused by the separation.
And why have I said that male calves are a WASTE PRODUCT of the dairy industry? Easy! They can't get pregnant and produce milk, therefore rubbish a.k.a. veal!
 |
| These 3 calves were rescued recently from the dairy industry, you can read about them here: http://www.animalsaustralia.org/features/three-lucky-calves-their-story.php?page=3 |
Now, just like humans and other mammals it is only necessary for a mother cow to produce milk for her infant to grow, to give nutrients and antibodies for that infant's survival and to get them through the most important growth period of their lives! After a young mammal has weaned from it's mother her milk dries up and is not produced, ever again, unless she gives birth to anymore young. This is why it is so unnatural for a cow to be milked. The only milking ANY animal requires is from the young she is supporting.
"Cow's milk, by design, grows a 90 pound calf into a 2000 pound cow over the course of two years. It allows calves to double their birth weight in forty seven days and leaves their four stomachs feeling full" From Skinny Bitch, 2005, page 56.
Why is this significant? It is to demonstrate how fatty the milk is and to show the nutrients required to grow a cow is taken and given to humans, this starts to make the mind boggle!
After learning some of these facts I started doing a lot of, continuing, research, and I also found that dairy products contain a fairly high amount of Iodine. Why is this bad? Well, the good news it that it's not bad for everybody. But, it is to me as I have Hyperthyroidism (over-active thyroid), and too much Iodine is harmful to me and my thyroid. I was on medication, but for the last month I haven't been taking it. I just may have healed my thyroid, naturally.
I do NOT, however, recommend stopping any medical treatment without previously consulting a physician. I didn't, but I have a great understanding of my autoimmune disease and my body, so I was not hesitant in weaning off my medication. And I am ecstatic to report I feel completely fine!!
So what started as an animal cruelty issue for me turned into a health issue, and this is, in a round about way, why I'm vegan and chocolate is animal cruelty.
I have, however, only gleamed over the tip of the dairy industry iceberg and not even looked at the diseases, antibiotics, chemicals, hormones, addictive properties, pus and mucous in milk. Nor Have I looked at any other animal products, for that I'll ask you to refer to my previous post Food for thought... and get you thinking about watching Earthlings.
So now I've made your head hurt thinking about the implications of consuming dairy. Well that's exactly what made me turn vegan! Now I'm not trying to turn the whole world vegan (even though it would be nice) but, I am trying to get people to think about where their food, clothes, shoes, couches, bedding etc come from.
-SJ xo
Some great websites:
Animals Australia
Animals Australia - Bobby Calves
Against Animal Cruelty Tasmania
Against Animal Cruelty Tasmania - Dairy Industry
Earthlings
Brightside Farm Sanctuary
Edgar's Mission
Skinny Bitch
The Veganist; Kathy Freston
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