There are some things I hear repeatedly by people when I tell them I am mostly vegan, a bit vegetarian (no milk but some cheese) and focused on raw food. Because we’ve all been taught that for protein, we need dairy and meat, and most of us were brought up primarily on cooked and processed foods, we don’t think about the bioavailability of the vitamins, the minerals, the protein or that cooking anything above 118 Fahrenheit, cooks the enzymes out as well as much of the vitamins. This doesn’t always mean for you, that you must never eat cooked food again, or ever touch meat. What I am encouraging is for you to try segueing into a more plant-centric diet, and reduce the cooked foods so that at least 1/2 of your meals are raw. Buy only organic or wild produce, grow your own wherever possible and grow a variety of sprouts and eat them daily. Below is a link with great information and links to purchase some tested and reviewed by me sprouting options. Now, about protein – typical 4oz chicken breast has 28 grams of protein. Sprouted Lentils (4oz) have 25g. We are not living in the same world we had in the 1950’s. Our world is entirely polluted. It needs our help to reduce meat consumption because the land used causes soil erosion and the water used is wasteful. The feces, chemicals and all else utilised by factory farming methods is destroying our planet. Even if you do not care that the animals are mistreated, abused, sick, and very unhappy living unnaturally in cramped quarters, not allowed to be themselves at all, think about the unhappiness you are ingesting along with the chemicals and other crap given to the poor creature. It is not a healthy way for any and all concerned. So if you eat meat, go organic, do your level best to buy meat from more humane sources and reduce consumption to 2 days per week or one day. My husband and I had ‘meat friday’ a few years back where that was our one day each week to enjoy a nice steak etc. Now I let him eat the steak knowing I am causing less harm to others and myself. I have been on this track since February, reducing/eliminating sugars, meat, dairy, growing my own sprouts and I fit far better in my clothes and people keep telling me my skin tone is fabulous and that I have lost weight. But I can tell you that I have gotten healthier, stronger, more resilient.