"I have been a vegetarian most of my life and a vegan for over 10 years. I eat no animal products and practically no commercially produced food containing saturated vegetable fats. My diet, for years, consists of what you would call ‘health foods.’ I eat (and always have) the ‘anti-cholesterol foods’ like oats and exercise regularly. Yet my cholesterol just goes up (in fact, before I became vegan, it was lower) … But I do know for sure that if I were eating the ‘traditional’ diet with meat and dairy and eggs and processed foods, I would be a SICK person by now. I hate to even imagine the state I’d be in!!!"