When discussing veganism, I promise you someone will pull the cheese card
(Let us call this someone Johnny.) A typical conversation usually goes something like this:
Me: It really isn’t difficult. I know it sounds extreme, but I promise you anyone can maintain a vegan diet.
Johnny: Yea, I would really like to be vegan, but I just could never give up cheese. I love cheese way too much. I’m like addicted!
Well Johnny, you are not alone. Most people do indeed feel like they could never give up that coagulated animal secretion. (Wait, that isn’t supposed to sound offensive, just specific!) And I understand, I really do. In fact, it was the cheese factor that kept me firmly rooted in vegetarian land for fifteen years instead of embarking in the wonderful world of veganism. You could be home in front of the fridge, at an event, or out with friends and some type of cheese would be there. You couldn’t help yourself, you could not keep your hand for reaching for it. You gave in to the cheese. And this should not be surprising. After all, cheese is addictive. That’s right folks. Let us go to the biology behind it all. First of all, cheese is a coagulation of casein. For those of you new to the lingo, casein is the animal protein found in milk. It also happens to contain casomorphins, which have about one tenth the opiate strength of morphine (there are plenty of studies working with casein as an addictive substance and you can read more about in Dr. Neal Barnard’s article)!
This shouldn’t be surprising if you stop and think about it. Remember that milk is supposed to be that perfect life-giving liquid gold, given from mother to child, cow to calf. Newborns are supposed to want milk, and a little narcotics ensure that they keep coming back for more. It is perfect in that way–for babies and calves. The first perplexing variable is much of modern society’s decision to drink milk past the age of weaning. We no longer need that perfect (for infants) arrangement of fats, carbs, etc. We can chew our food; we can digest more complex types of food; we have teeth for goodness sake!
More perplexing is the decision to rely on another specie’s milk in our adulthood! Wait what?! Humans are the only species to drink the milk from another species. When I was studying in London, many people’s panties were in a bunch over a local ice cream shop, the Icecreamists, offering human milk ice cream. Now you probably wrinkled your nose as you read that last sentence–what, human milk ice cream? Yes. It seems strange doesn’t it? Yet every day humans buy gallons of milk and ice cream and pounds of cheese made from cow’s milk.
If, at this point, you still do not think this is all a strange perversion of nature, let us look to the biology of milk production. For humans, a woman produces milk when she needs to use the milk to nourish her offspring, that is, when she is pregnant and/or has just given birth. But wait, this is the same for cows. They only produce milk when they have given birth to their calf. Then the baby is weened, the calf is weened (as they move on to actually eating/chewing foods), and the milk production slows and stops. Is this not nature telling us that there is a time for milk to be consumed? I think yes. Of course, the dairy industry warps and twists this cycle, causing the milk you consume today to be plagued with hormones, pus, blood, etc….but alas, that is a story for another day.
So Johnny, I agree cheese is addictive. In fact, it is more addictive than milk because it has a higher concentration of casein. But, I promise you that you can overcome this addiction. I gave it up cold tofurkey and, almost a year later, I can look back and realize that, just like any other addiction, overcoming it first starts with admitting you have an addiction. Say it with me now…
Johnny: Hello, my name is Johnny and I am addicted to cheese.
The next step is to find a delicious replacement. If you view veganism as giving things up, you will probably have a negative perception of the entire eating experience. Instead, think of the new types of foods you will try, the new flavors and textures. And you can rest assured that when you eat this food, it isn’t trying to manipulate your brain into the slippery slopes of mindless addiction. Personally, I replaced cheese with avocado. It has that indulgent fatty quality we sometimes crave, but a healthy fat! And, best of all, I didn’t steal it from some baby calf somewhere and it isn’t killing the environment in the process. Win win!
Simple Guac that will knock your socks off! (no need to worry about measurements, taste it as you go!)
–Start with a ripe avocado (or two if you are sharing!) cut it in half, scoop out the goods and mash it up in a bowl (you can leave it chunky if you so desire). Squeeze in some lime juice, add in chopped tomatoes, onion (diced really fine) and a bit of chopped cilantro. Add just a teensy pinch of salt to taste. (optional ingredient -> roasted garlic!)
Enjoy (on veggie burgers, with chips and salsa, on a salad, just straight from the bowl…you get the picture)!!!
Okay dears, I hope this post starts to turn some cogs in those amazing brains of yours. My advice is to always step back and think about what you are doing, why do you accept your habits? Is it because everyone else is doing it? And, like your mother I say, if everyone else jumps off a bridge, would you? Probably not. So, just because everyone else is addicted, question your own addiction!
Have a happy and healthy day!
~Molly Armstrong
