Hacker News Reader

>I'm really into bodybuilding but the human body simply can't recover unless it eats beef/salmon/eggs/chicken/etc at least one or more times per week, especially after the minor injuries that inevitably come with lifting weights.

Is that so? How would you explain bodybuilders like these?

https://www.menshealth.com/fitness/a19535559/vegan-bodybuild...

I don't know about these guys specifically but a lot of "vegan bodybuilders" are recent converts jumping on the bandwagon. That said I know longstanding / lifetime vegans and vegetarians who are into weightlifting and they get on just fine.

I'm not even close to a vegan or vegetarian, but your claims are just not true. There are a plethora of other sources of food sources for "recovery". There are quite a few vegan bodybuilders. There are even Vegan NFL players and MMA fighters, both of whom require far more in the way of "recovery" than a bodybuilder.

I lift HIT for BB. You might give Elmhurst's nut milks and protein shakes a try. Peanut protein is extremely comparable to meat protein. Veganism isnt unrealistic - it is just not a walk in the park unless you can afford to buy nice products like these peanut protein shakes and drink 8 of them a day.

Proper veganism for lazy hackers like us, that BB, is expensive. You and me both know we arent going to eat a plate of chewy mushy beans. Find the products that work for you. Elmhurst is basically my go-to for most of my protein.

https://elmhurst1925.com/shop/protein-shakes.html

Ya the funny thing is that I've tried to be a vegetarian as much as possible over 15 years with a 5 year break in the middle. The very best post-workout meal I ever found is a large burrito made of something like:

* 1 can of pinquitos or pinto beans

* 1 can of garbanzo beans (optional)

* 2-3 flour tortillas

* 1/2 onion

* 1/2 green pepper

* cheddar cheese

* 1/2 avocado or about a dozen black olives

* salsa

* lettuce (optional)

Then eat it in a giant bowl with 8-16 oz of milk.

This all worked great until the last year or so as I've developed some leaky gut issues due to a sensitivity to peanuts after living on PB&J sandwiches for a year after the housing crash. I think the sensitivity may have transferred to beans recently, causing a legume/nightshade sensitivity to my gut flora or intestinal lining. Could just be due to middle age though.

Anyway, I switched to almond butter, laid off the beans for a couple of months, ate L-glutamine and licorice root capsules, and am 85% back to normal. No acne but some digestive issues still.

A vegetarian diet helps you pack on pounds like a gorilla, but can make it tricky to get the "dry" look of classic bodybuilders from the 70s that ate 1-2 pounds of beef per day and did steroids. Also I know very few vegetarians that made it longer than about 3 years. It's doable but takes discipline to eat enough variety and get enough micro nutrients. Inflammation is a big problem with legumes, but it's also a problem with high animal protein diets. Like anything, balance is best, but for ethical reasons I prefer to eat as little meat as possible. Hope this helps someone.

I guess we aren't much alike. I've always been a skinny guy, its hard for me to eat a lot. Without cheeses, I have a tough time packing on weight. Thats why I like shakes, its much easier to down a shake than eat a meal. But I'll concede that solid foods are probably better for gut health.

Rice and pea protein tends to be extremely gritty due to the husks, so I am not a big fan of it. These peanut shakes are lifesavers for me, although its probably a tenuous plan to rely on a single product to maintain veganism? :-/

Micro nutrients aren't a huge deal if you take quality supps like Life Extensions Mix. Greens+ Wild Berries is also a great complete nutrient supp.

Id also recommend eating a few tablespoons of bee pollen granules. They actually have a surprisingly high amount of protein and micronutrients.

I have logos for a startup I was working on called Roylent, which would basically be a protein shake made purely from bee products, bee pollen, honey, propolis, and royal jelly.

Unfortunately I never completed it but I do think it could be a good product for vegans that are ok with non-lethal products that work with animals rather than against them. Bees are awesome. :-)

>for example the desertification in the west is due to cow and sheep ranching

No, the west was a desert long before ranching. I'm not sure what you meant here but I think you'll need to be a bit more specific or provide a reference to what you're talking about.

In fairness, it's not well known - but - you are actually the one that's wrong in this case. The loss of biodiversity is pretty staggering in the west, especially in the high desert country of the northwest in states like Idaho, Oregon and Washington.

It's not so much about precipitation but loss of biodiversity. For example where I was born, there was a 10 foot tall sagebrush forest covering most of southern Idaho a century ago. There were streams every few miles with more than enough fish and wildlife to support thousands of Native Americans. That's all been replaced with cheatgrass as far as the eye can see and a 5-10 foot drop in the water table so all high desert streams are essentially gone and the area can no longer support life. Rodents, cats and even people have contracted the plague:

https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/elmore-county-plague-c...

This was mostly due to widespread cattle and sheep grazing on public lands. Livestock ate all of the native vegetation so the topsoil ran off:

https://www.uexpress.com/new-republic/2015/2/6/the-cowboy-an...

Many groups like the Snake River Alliance and Idaho Conservation League work to reduce overgrazing but in conservative states like Idaho it's a constant battle with state and local governments. The BLM tends to cater more to ranchers and big agribusiness companies like Simplot than to conservationists.

I could write for pages about this but will just leave this link as a starting point:

https://www.google.com/search?q=idaho+high+desert+conservati...