Reactions to veganism
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boydivision wrote: »If you feel tired or hungry on a vegan diet you are simply not eating enough. If you find getting protein hard you need to eat more protein rich foods, it's not that hard in my opinion.
I have to disagree here. Some people's bodies really just can't handle being 100% vegan. I'd have almost nothing to eat. I have to stay away from starchy carbs because of PCOS, I have to stay away from too many vegetables and fruits because of an autoimmune problem (I'm not allowed above a certain level of vitamin C and iron) and I'm either allergic to or do not like pretty much all vegan protein sources.0 -
I worked with a woman from India who was a very strict vegetarian (no idea if she was vegan, but I think not .. ), and the only time I even became aware of it was when we were at lunch in the company cafe, and the person preparing the food cut her sandwich using the same knife that had just been used to cut my turkey sandwich - without wiping the knife off in between. She nicely explained her problem and asked that her sandwich be remade. Before that moment I didn't know she was a strict vegetarian.
To be honest, I don't actually know if I know any vegans. Its never come up. And the woman above is my only confirmed vegetarian.
I find the vitriol goes the other way: When I'm out with a group (generally this happens with a group of guys) and order a salad or other non-meat dish, someone will invariably say "Dude, are you not hungry, or are you some kind of vegetarian" with some tone or attitude .. its THESE people who end up getting preached at when they do that to an actual vegetarian.
I'm nodding, because I ran into that on another forum a LOT. Vegetarians (I am an ovo-lacto) having a conversation, and omnivores would just come in and start -- with disparagement -- pushing the idea of eating "big steaks and fried chicken" and the like.
It goes both ways, and I've seen it here on MFP. I've seen a vegan spout off in an omnivore discussion, and I've seen an omnivore spout off in a vegan discussion. I told both of them off because I'm bishy like that.
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Here's my take. Keep in mind that this is all just based on what I've noticed from my own experience.
There are two main camps of reasoning among vegans.
The first camp is the group who eats vegan due to moral reasons (we shouldn't kill or take advantage of animals so don't eat anything that comes from animals). Within this group there are two sub-groups: those who choose to eat vegan quietly and leave everyone else alone and those who wear t-shirts proclaiming that cheeseburgers are murder (evangelical vegans).
The first I can get along with just fine as long as I don't have to bend over backwards to make sure we have plenty of options for them when I throw a party.
The evangelical vegans get on my nerves. Don't try to give me a guilt trip for eating a diet consistent with my biological design. Stop shouting in Chipotle and disturbing my lunch. Go protest against all the coyotes killing all the bunnies because they're killing for their food too.
The second camp is the group who eats vegan because they perceive it as healthy.
This group just makes me shake my head. They've bought into a media-propagated notion that plant-based diets are healthier so vegans are surely all skinny/fit/trim/healthy. Unfortunately, there's no science based research to indicate that a vegan diet is in any way healthier than a typical, well-balanced diet.
So...here's why I personally will never entertain the idea of living a vegan lifestyle.
Due to the lack of evidence that it is any healthier than the way I currently eat, it is not worth the trouble to do it for "health reasons." The social impact alone dissuades me (same with gluten-free diets, etc., where there's an ongoing dialogue of "sorry, I can't. I'll eat at home and maybe come over later" or "excuse me, waiter, does this contain any...?"). As for moral reasons, I just simply don't even begin to agree with the moral conclusions drawn here so there's no reason for me to adjust my diet to accommodate it. That would be like fasting for Ramadan even though I'm a Christian.
All that said...if you choose to eat vegan for moral reasons but are willing to accept that I don't agree with that same moral code, knock yourself out. Come on over to my place and I'll throw a tofu burger on the grill for you. We'll laugh together at the people who think switching to vegan will erase their love handles.0 -
Carlos_421 wrote: »Here's my take. Keep in mind that this is all just based on what I've noticed from my own experience.
There are two main camps of reasoning among vegans.
The first camp is the group who eats vegan due to moral reasons (we shouldn't kill or take advantage of animals so don't eat anything that comes from animals). Within this group there are two sub-groups: those who choose to eat vegan quietly and leave everyone else alone and those who wear t-shirts proclaiming that cheeseburgers are murder (evangelical vegans).
The first I can get along with just fine as long as I don't have to bend over backwards to make sure we have plenty of options for them when I throw a party.
The evangelical vegans get on my nerves. Don't try to give me a guilt trip for eating a diet consistent with my biological design. Stop shouting in Chipotle and disturbing my lunch. Go protest against all the coyotes killing all the bunnies because they're killing for their food too.
The second camp is the group who eats vegan because they perceive it as healthy.
This group just makes me shake my head. They've bought into a media-propagated notion that plant-based diets are healthier so vegans are surely all skinny/fit/trim/healthy. Unfortunately, there's no science based research to indicate that a vegan diet in any healthier than a typical, well-balanced diet.
So...here's why I personally will never entertain the idea of living a vegan lifestyle.
Due to the lack of evidence that it is any healthier than the way I currently eat, it is not worth the trouble to do it for "health reasons." The social impact alone dissuades me (same with gluten-free diets, etc., where there's an ongoing dialogue of "sorry, I can't. I'll eat at home and maybe come over later" or "excuse me, waiter, does this contain any...?"). As for moral reasons, I just simply don't even begin to agree with the moral conclusions drawn here so there's no reason for me to adjust my diet to accommodate it. That would be like fasting for Ramadan even though I'm a Christian.
All that said...if you choose to eat vegan for moral reasons but are willing to accept that I don't agree with that same moral code, knock yourself out. Come on over to my place and I'll throw a tofu burger on the grill for you. We'll laugh together at the people who think switching to vegan will erase their love handles.
+1
Agree with all of this.0 -
boydivision wrote: »I've been asked "where do you get your protein????" and "what do you eat then???" both quite annoying! But I'm happy to explain it and people usually understand. Most people for example do not realise there is protein in potatoes and mushrooms.
I think you need to do a lot of research before going vegan. I did and I feel I'm eating correctly and I've never felt better after 5 weeks of being vegan now. If you feel tired or hungry on a vegan diet you are simply not eating enough. If you find getting protein hard you need to eat more protein rich foods, it's not that hard in my opinion.
@boydivision I'm glad you posted... I'm looking forward now to doing some research on what foods have more protein etc. in them. I never gave much thought to mushrooms etc. having protein looks like I have much to learn and am looking forward to it.
Thanks for helping me open my eyes! 0 -
I once went to a very nice restaurant and asked the waitress what she recommended. Her answer was "it's all shiit to me, I'm vegan". lol. She didn't last the night.
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MarziPanda95 wrote: »Carlos_421 wrote: »Here's my take. Keep in mind that this is all just based on what I've noticed from my own experience.
There are two main camps of reasoning among vegans.
The first camp is the group who eats vegan due to moral reasons (we shouldn't kill or take advantage of animals so don't eat anything that comes from animals). Within this group there are two sub-groups: those who choose to eat vegan quietly and leave everyone else alone and those who wear t-shirts proclaiming that cheeseburgers are murder (evangelical vegans).
The first I can get along with just fine as long as I don't have to bend over backwards to make sure we have plenty of options for them when I throw a party.
The evangelical vegans get on my nerves. Don't try to give me a guilt trip for eating a diet consistent with my biological design. Stop shouting in Chipotle and disturbing my lunch. Go protest against all the coyotes killing all the bunnies because they're killing for their food too.
The second camp is the group who eats vegan because they perceive it as healthy.
This group just makes me shake my head. They've bought into a media-propagated notion that plant-based diets are healthier so vegans are surely all skinny/fit/trim/healthy. Unfortunately, there's no science based research to indicate that a vegan diet in any healthier than a typical, well-balanced diet.
So...here's why I personally will never entertain the idea of living a vegan lifestyle.
Due to the lack of evidence that it is any healthier than the way I currently eat, it is not worth the trouble to do it for "health reasons." The social impact alone dissuades me (same with gluten-free diets, etc., where there's an ongoing dialogue of "sorry, I can't. I'll eat at home and maybe come over later" or "excuse me, waiter, does this contain any...?"). As for moral reasons, I just simply don't even begin to agree with the moral conclusions drawn here so there's no reason for me to adjust my diet to accommodate it. That would be like fasting for Ramadan even though I'm a Christian.
All that said...if you choose to eat vegan for moral reasons but are willing to accept that I don't agree with that same moral code, knock yourself out. Come on over to my place and I'll throw a tofu burger on the grill for you. We'll laugh together at the people who think switching to vegan will erase their love handles.
+1
Agree with all of this.
Well, except for the science. There is evidence that a plant based diet beat a SAD in reduced health risks. Several papers have been published on this. Is the reduction related to diet, weight, co-factors? I don't know, or care enough to investigate.
The risk profile improvement isn't worth it for me. But it is reported.0 -
Doesn't everything beat a SAD?0
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EvgeniZyntx wrote: »MarziPanda95 wrote: »Carlos_421 wrote: »Here's my take. Keep in mind that this is all just based on what I've noticed from my own experience.
There are two main camps of reasoning among vegans.
The first camp is the group who eats vegan due to moral reasons (we shouldn't kill or take advantage of animals so don't eat anything that comes from animals). Within this group there are two sub-groups: those who choose to eat vegan quietly and leave everyone else alone and those who wear t-shirts proclaiming that cheeseburgers are murder (evangelical vegans).
The first I can get along with just fine as long as I don't have to bend over backwards to make sure we have plenty of options for them when I throw a party.
The evangelical vegans get on my nerves. Don't try to give me a guilt trip for eating a diet consistent with my biological design. Stop shouting in Chipotle and disturbing my lunch. Go protest against all the coyotes killing all the bunnies because they're killing for their food too.
The second camp is the group who eats vegan because they perceive it as healthy.
This group just makes me shake my head. They've bought into a media-propagated notion that plant-based diets are healthier so vegans are surely all skinny/fit/trim/healthy. Unfortunately, there's no science based research to indicate that a vegan diet in any healthier than a typical, well-balanced diet.
So...here's why I personally will never entertain the idea of living a vegan lifestyle.
Due to the lack of evidence that it is any healthier than the way I currently eat, it is not worth the trouble to do it for "health reasons." The social impact alone dissuades me (same with gluten-free diets, etc., where there's an ongoing dialogue of "sorry, I can't. I'll eat at home and maybe come over later" or "excuse me, waiter, does this contain any...?"). As for moral reasons, I just simply don't even begin to agree with the moral conclusions drawn here so there's no reason for me to adjust my diet to accommodate it. That would be like fasting for Ramadan even though I'm a Christian.
All that said...if you choose to eat vegan for moral reasons but are willing to accept that I don't agree with that same moral code, knock yourself out. Come on over to my place and I'll throw a tofu burger on the grill for you. We'll laugh together at the people who think switching to vegan will erase their love handles.
+1
Agree with all of this.
Well, except for the science. There is evidence that a plant based diet beat a SAD in reduced health risks. Several papers have been published on this. Is the reduction related to diet, weight, co-factors? I don't know, or care enough to investigate.
The risk profile improvement isn't worth it for me. But it is reported.
If you compare a diet full of sugar, processed food, fast food, trans fats, etc., to a diet full of real, whole, plant foods, the WFPB diet is going to come out looking pretty good. However, real, whole, plant foods + meat, fish, and poultry comes out even better.
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One of the dr's I work for is vegan. He ALWAYS comments about how my lunch is "still kicking" or "breathing".... I totally caught him eating bacon bits on his salad one day. He felt really bad when I pointed it out, said he thought it was paprika. Yeah...... mmk
pretty sure most bacon bits brands (like McCormick) are actually vegan... LOL funny if he didn't realize that and was trying to be sneaky about eating meat!0 -
One of the dr's I work for is vegan. He ALWAYS comments about how my lunch is "still kicking" or "breathing".... I totally caught him eating bacon bits on his salad one day. He felt really bad when I pointed it out, said he thought it was paprika. Yeah...... mmk
pretty sure most bacon bits brands (like McCormick) are actually vegan... LOL funny if he didn't realize that and was trying to be sneaky about eating meat!
First ingredient in my Hormel bacon bits is Bacon. However the McCormick one does say "Bacon flavored bits and pieces" and is indeed made from soy and other vegan ingredients. Interesting!
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Well this has turned into a vegan-bashing thread! Well done people.0
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I get the "what DO you eat?" a lot.
My boyfriend never really liked meat. By the time he was 8 he was a vegetarian. He loves cheese though, so he'd never become a vegan. And that's okay!
Since I was a kid I was disgusted by the smell and taste of ground beef. Always hated it. I was always playing with my food to remove the grisel (grissel? Grissle?) and bones and anything dark. Ribs? Oh hell no. I also never realized it (mostly because of my narcissistic parents, but that's totally off topic,) but I'm lactose intolerant! Always have been! It got steadily worse as time went on. And eggs? Hated them. The smell of cooking eggs literally made me vomit as a child.
I dunno, I never went vegan for moral reasons. I'm not even technically vegan I don't think because there are egg whites in my organic coconut milk conditioner. Anyways, for some of us, we simply get sick or get tired of playing around with meat and animal products. I've certainly never been overweight, but if you saw the way I ate sushi and pho you'd understand how I got my chubby little tummy!0 -
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Not a vegan, but a vegetarian: I've had a friend confess to me that he felt "weird" eating meat around me without me trying to make him feel bad about it. He was mostly joking, but I know what he meant. It makes me, personally, feel bad, which doesn't affect anyone else.
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Well this thread kind of makes me sad.. i am vegan, however hardly anyone in my life aside from immediate family and close friends know about it, because people are always so incredibly insensitive and rudely judgemental towards it that i try not to tell people..
Actually, the times it does come up in conversation, is normally because other people will bring it up, and they ask questions, and then i guess they seem to think that my personal choice is a judgement of their choice because they start to get really defensive about their meat-eating, even if i try to make it clear that it doesn't bother me that other people eat meat because it's their choice and it's none of my business. Yet some people still preach on and on about how necessary meat is, or say how it must be so much more expensive to eat vegan or how it must be so much more time consuming or how it must be such a "pain". but nope. removing animal products actually made my grocery bill cheaper, making vegan dishes takes the same amount of time as non-vegan dishes (often actually less time once i got accustomed to it), and overall i feel a lot better eating this way so it is quite the opposite of a "pain".
sorry this sort of turned out a bit rant-ish.
But most people after initially finding out are very fine with it and it is all okay. it is mostly just strangers and acquaintances who tend to react in more judgemental ways, probably because they do not know me and have this whole pre-conceived idea of vegans being weird and pushy about it.
anyhow. We should all just get along and be understanding that different people eat different things. 0 -
scarlinger2 wrote: »But most people after initially finding out are very fine with it and it is all okay. it is mostly just strangers and acquaintances who tend to react in more judgemental ways, probably because they do not know me and have this whole pre-conceived idea of vegans being weird and pushy about it.
anyhow. We should all just get along and be understanding that different people eat different things.
I absolutely agree. Most people I've known who are vegan are perfectly ok that my dietary choices do not mesh with theirs (with one notable and very unpleasant exception). Unfortunately, just as with paleo, keto, gluten-free, low-carb, beta-alpha-ketone free, etc, a few over-eager evangelists or outright zealots give a bad impression.
And...whenever someone tells me they're vegan...I keep going back to this...
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scarlinger2 wrote: »Well this thread kind of makes me sad.. i am vegan, however hardly anyone in my life aside from immediate family and close friends know about it, because people are always so incredibly insensitive and rudely judgemental towards it that i try not to tell people..
Actually, the times it does come up in conversation, is normally because other people will bring it up, and they ask questions, and then i guess they seem to think that my personal choice is a judgement of their choice because they start to get really defensive about their meat-eating, even if i try to make it clear that it doesn't bother me that other people eat meat because it's their choice and it's none of my business. Yet some people still preach on and on about how necessary meat is, or say how it must be so much more expensive to eat vegan or how it must be so much more time consuming or how it must be such a "pain". but nope. removing animal products actually made my grocery bill cheaper, making vegan dishes takes the same amount of time as non-vegan dishes (often actually less time once i got accustomed to it), and overall i feel a lot better eating this way so it is quite the opposite of a "pain".
sorry this sort of turned out a bit rant-ish.
But most people after initially finding out are very fine with it and it is all okay. it is mostly just strangers and acquaintances who tend to react in more judgemental ways, probably because they do not know me and have this whole pre-conceived idea of vegans being weird and pushy about it.
anyhow. We should all just get along and be understanding that different people eat different things.
You sound like an awesome person. There are obnoxious people on both sides of the food spectrum. I wish more vegans were like you though- not preaching their lifestyle. And I wish your friends respected your choice as much a a you do theirs.
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I'm a vegan. Add me 0
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I am a lactose intolerant vegetarian. Basically I do eat vegan quite a bit, and I dont buy beauty products tested on animals, or laundry stuff. I also dont buy leather/silk or wool.
Sometimes honey, egg, and fish(!) sneak in to my diet, but I am trying to live as vegan as I can.0
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