Baaaphomet's profile

More About Me

Reasons why I prefer to eat vegetarian or vegan:

When I first started reading about veganism, I was interested because of my chronic illness. I have dysautonomia, a group of poorly understood diseases that affect the autonomic nervous system; and although there's a lot that doctors still don't understand about these conditions, the medical community has determined food can be a trigger, increasing symptoms, causing flare-ups and lowering the over all quality of life. However, every doctor has a different opinion on what foods are bad for people with dysautonomia. Everyone's a little bit different, with their own set of sensitivities, so I was encouraged to figure it out for myself. After months of chronicling what I ate, how much I ate and how I felt afterwards, it became apparent that animal products were causing me a lot of problems. It wasn't until after this journey that I started learning more about veganism, and the many reasons that people go vegan. In the beginning, I was doing it purely for the health benefits, but now it's about much more than that. I'm appalled by how cruel and destructive animal agriculture is; how these things are hidden and how veganism is systematically stigmatized just so those practices can continue, even at the expense of our planet's progressive deterioration.

I joined HappyCow Members Community because:

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Here are some places I've been that I liked... and places that I would like to visit one day:

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Some of my favorite veg*n foods include:

My gumbo and chili are my absolute favorites recipes! They're both healthful vegan meals that even manage to enrapture my pickiest meat-loving carnist friends. I like to think of them as my secret weapon because they always throw doubtful omnivores off their guard and make them second guess all that "vegans eat rabbit food" nonsense. The chili is LOADED with spinach (I've cooked it with up to 16oz!!) and great for busy summers because it's full of iron, magnesium, and protein. PM for the recipe. :)

Here are some books, movies, magazines, and my favorites that I would recommend to other HappyCow members:

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) is an animated movie from Hayao Miyazaki that I think any conservationist will enjoy, especially if you're someone who is into art and storytelling. The animation is beautiful, the world is engaging, and the story is touching. Bring tissues. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2003), Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), and Jurassic Park (1993) are some other favorites of mine, but have nothing to do with veganism. :)