Eating a burger every once in awhile won’t kill you, as long as you don’t overdo it. In my recent observations, I feel as if more and more people are becoming vegan or at least some form of vegetarian.

A lot of my friends that I hang out with during lunch or in classes are vegan, while the other half are meat eaters or vegetarians of some form, pescetarians for example (eating fish instead of meat). And while the controversy about these forms of diets grow more and more as research and studies are done, I feel as if more and more people are becoming vegans.

Consuming meats can be fine, just not too often since recent studies have found out that cooking meat at higher temperatures can eventually lead to growth of cancer tumors.

Food should be enjoyed, and in order to do that, you need to consume tasty food. Generally, foods higher in rich fats or sugar tend to release dopamine in your brain, which is your brain’s reward system, which makes you feel good and happy. For example, red meats, which is high in rich fats. However, foods high in fat and sugar are never good to consume too often and a regular balance will keep your brain levels in check, especially since binge-eating is becoming a more recognized eating disorder, just like anorexia or bulimia, which can be linked to mental health.

People should not be defined by what they eat. For example, lactose intolerant people cannot consume the sugar in dairy, which makes them gaseous, bloated, abdominally cramped within 30 minutes to 2 hours, so in that case, I can understand why they would be vegan. People with Celiac disease have their small intestine linings damaged when they eat foods with gluten. Again, I can understand if they take up a gluten-free diet.

For me, I used to love dairy when I was younger, but now as I slowly consume less and less of it over the last few years, I’m starting to feel some symptoms as if I’m becoming lactose intolerant, which means if I am, then I’m going to have to take dairy out of my diet completely.

I’ve always loved fruit and a good majority of vegetables, just not onions or eggplant or zucchini, but for me, those are the top three I extremely dislike. I’ve eaten a wide variety of different meats, but I’m trying to consume less and stick to more fruits and vegetables as a healthier option.

However, I am a junk food addict and love sweets and all that bad stuff. For me, it’s been a struggle with my sugar teeth (not just one tooth) and in trying to contain it, but like I said, I’m trying to eat healthier.

Not everyone eats healthy, but I think that it is important to have the bare minimum of proper nutrients in order to keep your body healthy.

Overall, what we eat shouldn’t define us as what we call ourselves, but rather, we should be accepting of whatever diet we choose to do and how we make the most of it by eating what we feel is right for our bodies and what we are willing to put into them.

by CHRISTINA VASKILENKO