When someone asks me what for heaven’s sake I eat if I eat no animal products, I sometimes say: lettuce — lots of it. And on Shabbat and Festivals a carrot on top.
I mean, it’s not fair to them because they really have no idea, but I sometimes get a bit tired from people who refuse to think outside of their own little box. Often I add: vegans may eat all fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, seeds, herbs, roots and fungi.
Do you know how much that is? You know how many delicious roots they sell for food? And grains and grain produce? Do you know how many sorts of beans and legumes there are? And seeds and herbs? And how many combinations you can make with them, one tastier than the next?
If it’s so tasty, salt is often unnecessary. Bread and porridge yes, but I now don’t salt my pasta or veggie soups anymore. There is enough taste in real food. Yes, when you cook white rice or white pasta, you’re in trouble. Take the original whole variety and even herbs are seldom needed.
Yes, Jews who do not eat legumes on Pesach do have a problem. Also bread en other grain products are out (pasta, wheat-meat (saitan), etc.). Rabbis have said that those vegans may eat legumes because they have no alternatives. That is not true. For protein there are still all the tree nuts of the world. And quinoa and matzoth have protein too. (Did you know that “Shmurah Matzoth” are wholewheat?)
One of the sources of carnivores’ lack of understanding is that meat / fish / cheese and egg eaters see these dishes as the “main course” and the rest as “side dishes.” It’s like declaring part of your garden “weeds” so that you can hate and destroy them. “What a beautiful bed of flowers.” “No, those are weeds.” “O.”
It took me over five years of eating a vegan diet until I realized that I don’t divide food up into side dishes and protein-rich main courses. Rather: we need as food: fibers, things that taste good, protein, starches, fats, vitamins and trace elements, and essential fats and amino-acids. Well, different foods might have one or more of those components. Beans have fibers, protein and starch. Fruits have fibers, potassium and vitamins. How different from: meat for protein, fat for fat, starch for calories, salad for fibers and vitamins and sauces, gravy and dressings for taste.
We do not need alcohol, caffeine, refined produce, white flour, or worthless non-foods with good taste. Why the latter not? Because if you eat from Nature’s richness, good taste comes with it built-in. Last Shabbat, I was someone’s guest. He had cooked veggies in aluminum foil in the oven. Unbelievable! All the taste stayed in. Everything really tasted as if otherwise their tastes had been watered down!
So, I’m at a wedding party and the waiter says: We have no vegan meals. I say: Impossible. The law in Israel says that every restaurant must have vegetarian and vegan dishes. But we don’t. So I ask: Do you serve potatoes and other roots without meaty dressings? Vegan! Eggplant with techina? Vegan! Beans dishes without meat? Vegan! Mushrooms? Vegan! Salads without egg-mayo, fish or meat? Vegan! Wholegrain bread? Most likely vegan! Fruits and nuts? Vegan! I tell you: you can’t eat it all — so much.
Strict vegans must take supplements. That’s not because we really need animal produce. Rather, the present diet of vegans AND animal eaters are deficient — sometimes in different ways.
- Vitamin B12. You must take this. The human body has a reserve of years of this vitamin – that’s how vial this is – and we don’t need a lot but without it we die. Don’t play around with this. No plant need this / has this and no animal can go without. Then where does it come from? From bacteria in intestines if the soil the animal eats from has enough cobalt (a metal ion). Some animal intestines are such that they can absorb the B12 that’s made in them. However, in many animals the B12 is excreted rather than absorbed. So modern people and clean stable animals need supplementation because they do not eat enough feces. When we get older, B12 is harder to absorb, so we need more of it. You can’t overdose on this.
- Vitamin D. No human food has enough Vitamin D. It is added to cow milk products. Take Vitamin D. Never leave home without it. You probably only get enough of this (made in the skin from sun light) if you have a dark skin, live in the tropics and walk around half undressed hours a day — but then you’ll die from skin cancer. This is a very important vitamin. Don’t go easy on it. You can’t overdose on this.
- Iodine. Does not seem enough in most diets. In many countries, salt is supplemented with iodine. If you have no such foods, you might need it added. However, too much of this is not healthy, so wait and see.
- Lysine. A vegan who eats plenty of beans and grains will generally get enough protein, although it might be hard to get enough of the essential amino-acide lysine.
- Calcium. Seems no problem if you eat enough and varied vegan foods.
- Iron. If you eat enough and varied, you probably will get enough of this. However, the vegan variants are a bit harder to absorb than the animal-originated Iron. Yet, you do not want an iron poisoning, so play it cool.
- Omega-3 fatty acids. Regular medicine does not acknowledge a need for this. I would say: take it so that they won’t tell you in 40 years: too bad you never took this.
- And now the most important supplement:
Do not live (rather: die) by proclamation. Don’t declare that your diet is healthy because you want it to be. Rather, let your family doc order a whole battery of lab tests to check if all is really fine. Then you can learn if you need to eat more of certain stuff or need to supplement.
To be continued …. Next time I will review: Types of vegans, Jewish religious articles and principles, Being vegan is not good for everyone, and Good reasons for being a vegan.
Shabbat shalom
MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. *
As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. *
This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Of the 15 (!) books he has in mind, the next two are about homosexuality in Judaism and new rabbinics. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2600 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog that also may contain updates to Times of Israel posts, to which one may subscribe, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. *
He's getting ready to publicize books on: "Free Will, "Judaism and Homosexuality, "His parents in the Holocaust, "Judaism, "A New Torah Translation and "A New Hebrew Grammar, "Co-Counseling, "Vegan Facts, "Immortality, and more. *
Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He agrees that in a post-truth world, that's irrelevant, but then this is for the record. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. *
Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. *
Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. *
He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. *
He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. *
He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. *
His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. His posts are spell, grammar, and style polished by AI, but all written by himself. *
To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. *
His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1
