How can I become a vegetarian without my family knowing?

• I'm trying to become a vegetarian, but my entire family are meat-eaters. I asked them their opinion on it (they don't know that I am) and they gave me all these reasons why it's bad: God put us at the top of the food chain for a reason, it's not healthy, I'm too skinny as it is, ect. They're completely against it. How can I be a vegetarian without them knowing? Thanks in advance!!

• Answer:

  You need to educate yourself on the health risks of meat, and the health benefits of being a vegetarian. One great place to start is the book "The China Study" (also a website http://www.thechinastudy.com), which talks about the connection between nutrition and heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Knowledge is power. When they tell you how bad vegetarianism is bad, remain respectful and ask them to explain what they know to you. Then, when they tell you that God intended us to eat meat by putting us at the top of the food chain, politely & respectfully ask them why Adam and Eve never ate meat? Why was there no death before sin entered this world? And why eating meat was not permitted by God until after Noah's flood. Over 1,000 years had gone by before God permitted eating meat. Vegetables were not even part of the diet; only fruits, nuts, and grains. Vegetables and meat was added after the flood; and only clean meat (no pork, no camel, no catfish, no dog, etc) (remember that God told Noah that 2 of each unclean and 7 of each clean animal would be on the ark -- long before the Jews existed) And when they tell you that vegetarianism is unhealthy, ask them why? What is unhealthy about it. Again, ask in sincerity and with respect. When they tell you that you cannot get enough protein, then politely tell them where vegetarians do get their protein. Ask them how huge animals, such as elephants, get their protein when they eat absolutely no meat. Explain how too much protein, especially animal protein, robs the bones of calcium. Explain how meat has no fiber (we need this), and has (oxidized) cholesterol (opens risk of cancer). You get the idea. Once you've educated yourself, you can discuss it intelligently and respectfully; then you can explain that you want to be as healthy as possible, and would prefer a vegetarian diet. Who knows, they might decide to join you in your vegetarian diet. Daniel and his companions faced this very problem. They were taken into Babylonian captivity. The king recognized the wisdom that Daniel and his friends had, and decided to make them wise men in his kingdom. Naturally, the king wanted them to have the best he had to offer so that they would be wise; therefore, the king ordered that they eat the same food that the king himself ate. However, Daniel and his friends knew better, and decided to remain faithful to the diet God wanted for them. The problem was, that if they looked unhealthy and their mental ability was diminished, then the king (who was very notorious for his ruthlessness) would have the man in charge of their care brutally killed (I doubt your parents would do this to you!). So, when Daniel requested a special diet for himself and his friends, the man in charge of their care initially refused, saying that if the king found out then the king would kill him, and he was not willing to take that risk. So, Daniel proposed a test, to try the special diet for 10 days, and if they were found to be unhealthy, then they'd go with the king's diet. The man in charge of their care agreed, and gave them their special diet for 10 days. At the end of the 10 days, here is what happened: And at the end of ten days their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king’s delicacies. Thus the steward took away their portion of delicacies and the wine that they were to drink, and gave them vegetables. -- Daniel 1:15-16 They were absolutely more healthy than those who ate the king's food. And what about their wisdom? Now at the end of the days, when the king had said that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. Then the king interviewed them, and among them all none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; therefore they served before the king. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in all his realm. Thus Daniel continued until the first year of King Cyrus. -- Daniel 1:18-21 Not only were they healthier, but 10 times wiser. Daniel and his friends became very well respected by King Nebuchadnezzar.