Powered By Produce

It seems that many vegetarians (myself included*) struggle to make the leap to veganism because of one thing: cheese.

I’ve found that most vegetarians agree that eggs are as easy to drop as the meat. And non-cheese dairy has plenty of not just adequate, but downright tasty subsitutes (butter, ice cream, yogurt, sour cream, cream cheese, milk, and even grated parmesan). But cheese seems to be the vegan Achilles heel. What is it about this stuff that causes some of the healthiest eaters and some of the most outspoken animal rights advocates to declare, “I could NEVER give up cheese!”

For a lot of people we’ve talked to, cheese is the lone item that often still has its hooks in them. So many people have complained to us about how hard it was to give up cheese that we almost felt like we needed to set up some kind of support group in the basement of an area church where we served burnt coffee (with soy creamer) and let people talk about how many days cheese-clean they’ve been.

-From the book Vegan Freak: Being Vegan In a Non-Vegan World

Part of the answer lies in the addictive qualities of cheese. Yes, that’s right, cheese is addictive. It’s not like you’re going to go into seizures or begin vomiting when you give up cheese, but certainly the opiate qualities of cheese help to explain what makes it so hard for people to stop.

The principle protein in milk is casein. (Casein makes up 80 – 86% of the proteins in cow milk and 60% – 65% of the proteins in human milk). When we digest casein, something called casomorphins are formed. And these casomorphins have an opioid effect on us (similar to morphine but with one-tenth the power). In other words, it makes us feel good.

Cheese is produced by curdling the milk (by adding rennet, an enzyme produced in mammalian stomachs to digest mother’s milk, which “digests” the milk into cheese – um, gross!). The curds become cheese and the whey (liquid) is discarded. Doing this causes the casein concentration to be much higher in cheese than in milk. This is why Dr. Neal Barnard refers to cheese as “dairy crack.”

But wait, there’s more. Cheese also contains an amphetamine-like chemical, phenylethylamine (also found in chocolate) which is often called an aphrodisiac because it “arouses the pleasure areas of the brain,” and is even used as an anti-depressant because of its mood-elevating qualities.

Evolutionarily, these chemicals are probably present to create a positive association between the baby and its mother and her milk (that’s just a theory). But today, humans consume more cow’s milk than calves do and average cheese consumption in the US has tripled from 1970 to 2008, from 11 pounds per year to 33 pounds per year, per person.

Not to mention that dairy farmers and the USDA are loving this constant growth in sales. In fact, they love it so much that the USDA spends $140 million annually on marketing cheese and making slick deals with companies like Domino’s Pizza and Taco Bell to double the amount of cheese in their products. These deals result in even more cheese sales and even larger waistlines. (Average weight for American females increased from 140 pounds in 1960 to 164 pounds in 2002. Males increased from 166 to 191 pounds.)

With opiates and the US government against us, what’s an aspiring vegan to do?

For starters, because of the addictive quality of cheese, trying to wean yourself off dairy-crack isn’t the right approach because the cravings will continue (you don’t wean a drug addict off heroin in rehab, you remove it cold-turkey). Dr. Neal Barnard recommends making a commitment to go dairy-free for just three weeks. He asserts that this is enough time for your cravings to subside.

To help you through your three week withdrawal period, I’ve created this list of disgusting cheese facts** that you should bookmark and read anytime you have a cheese craving. (You’re welcome.)

• Cheese is made from milk, and milk contains pus and blood. Animals that are continually milked day after day develop infections and sores on their udders resulting in blood and pus in the milk. You may comfort yourself by thinking that the dairy is pasteurized, but while the pasteruization will protect you from becoming ill, you are still eating pus and blood. As Vegan Freak puts it, “Look at it like this: you could stick a dog turd in an autoclave and render it biologically harmless with significant pressure and heat. Yet, we’re willing to wager that you’d not be anxious to eat it unless you have some very strange proclivities indeed.”
• In order for mammals to produce milk, they must become pregnant. Dairy cows are continually re-impregnated through artificial insemination within 2-3 months of having their previous calf. Naturally, a cow would nurse her calf for 9 months to 1 year, but the dairy industry removes the calf from the mother after only a few days, so that the milk that was meant to nourish her baby can be made into cheese for you. Separation of calf from mother is extremely traumatic. Both the cow and calf bellow and show obvious signs of distress when they are separated, often continuing for several days, leaving those within earshot in no doubt that it is a harrowing experience for both.
• The calf that was taken from its mother is slaughtered for veal. (Yes, the dairy industry fuels the veal industry.)
• Many cows are physically exhausted after 2-3 lactation periods, at which point they are sent to slaughter and end up in “low quality” beef products like ground beef, canned goods, and baby food. If you think no animals are being slaughtered as a result of dairy, you are completely wrong.
• Cheese isn’t just a disaster for the cows, it’s also a disaster for you. One cup of diced cheddar has a whopping 532 calories, 385 of which come from fat. That includes 28 grams of saturated fat, which is 139% the recommended total daily value. To all that fat, you can add 139 mg of cholesterol and 820 mg of sodium.
• And forget about being vegan – many cheeses aren’t even vegetarian. Rennet, which is used to curdle the milk into cheese is a stomach enzyme scraped from the stomachs of slaughtered cows. (Vegetarian rennets do exist – synthesized in a lab, no doubt – but it is difficult to to know which cheeses use which kind.)
• A single dairy cow produces about 120 pounds of manure per day, which is equivalent to the waste produced by 20–40 people. That means California’s 1.4 million dairy cows produce as much waste as 28–56 million people. Millions of gallons of liquefied feces and urine seep into the environment contaminating rivers and groundwater, killing millions of fish, and delivering antibiotics and hormones into our water sources.

Dropping cheese from your diet should just be a natural extension of dropping the meat because whatever reasons you have for giving up meat hold true for giving up cheese (animal welfare, health, environment). To quote No Meat Athlete, “All it takes to stop completely is a decision.”

—–

*In order to be fully honest, I must confess:

I eat strictly vegan at home, but I’ll sometimes eat vegetarian when eating out or at other people’s homes.

At restaurants, I choose a vegan option if there is one, or I’ll request simple modifications to veganize a dish (I’ll have the chalupa, hold the cheese), but sometimes there isn’t a straightforward vegan option and I’ll choose a vegetarian one instead. (While Austin is extremely vegetarian-friendly, it’s not entirely vegan-friendly.) I also do not scrutinize waiters about ingredients (do you use butter or margarine?). And, I hate to admit it, but I occasionally order items knowing full well that they contain dairy (ahem, desserts).

At friends’ and family’s houses, I’m simply not comfortable asking them to prepare me a vegan meal. I find that people are extremely willing to make me vegetarian meals, as this is a request that everyone understands and respects. But once the word “vegan” comes out, I can immediately sense their intimidation. Even though veganism is only 2 ingredients away from vegetarianism (dairy and eggs), people interpret it as “extreme” and quickly become overwhelmed by the idea of being able to make a vegan meal. So it’s my personal decision (at least for now) to request vegetarian, rather than vegan meals, if I am a guest.

For me, this results in about 2 or 3 non-vegan meals a week. It’s something I’m not especially proud of, but it’s what works for me and my lifestyle at the moment.

**Most of the bulleted facts are from here or here.

____________________

Breakfast: Bean and potato taco from the cafeteria at work

Lunch: Veggie Max sub from Subway
Dinner: Sloppy Joes with Meatless Crumbles and Manwich

Related Posts:

• Why Are Vegetarians So Depressing?
• This Is Your Milk On Drugs
• Be Careful What You Fish For