Vegan diet Vs non-Vegan diet.

allanrjudge

I was a Vegan for 7 months last year. I went vegan after watching Earthlings.
I intentionally lost 3 stone whilst also doing P90x. I started eating meat again in about February of this year and immediately started feeling very bloated and have piled on 10lbs. I started consuming animal products again because i'm around people who eat a lot of chocolate and I couldn't resist and knew eating dairy is as bad as eating meat, as far as how the animals are treated, so it was hypocritcal to consume dairy and not eat meat, i'm a massive meat lover.
I'm just explaining a bit of my situation before I get onto the topic of this thread.

Is it possible to live a healthy life, long term, on a vegan diet? You hear so much conflicting information it's hard to know what to believe. Since i've started eating meat again it's just not sitting right with me, once the blinkers have been removed and you see a piece of bacon as the flesh of a dead pig it's hard to ever enjoy it again.

I'm on the fence and I think the thing that will sway me to either become vegan again or carry on eating animal products is having some evidence based facts on which is healthier. I've googled and googled, watched Youtube videos and every time I sway one way, I seemsomething else that makes me sway another. But the fact is i've piled weight on and I feel bloated - this isn't a fair test though because i've started binging again.

I would appreciate some input?

isulo_kura

I've been a vegan for 20 years. Even the American diatetic association say a vegan diet is suitable for all stages of life. The only thing not readily available on a vegan or vegetarian diet is vitamin b12 which is easy to get via fortified foods or a supplement. You though can have an unhealthy vegan diet the same way you can have an unhealthy one with animal products.

PeachyCarol

I am not a vegan, but I have some on my friends list. Your primary reason for becoming a vegan should be your ethical concerns. As far as how healthy it is? It will be as healthy as the effort you put into making it so. Oreos and potato chips are vegan, but so are tempeh and spinach.

You might want to do some research on how to have balanced nutrition as a vegan, and maybe transition first to vegetarianism, then to veganism while you're doing it.

bpetrosky

If you want to be vegan for ethical reasons, that's fabulous, vaya con dios.

However, for health reasons, you can be as unhealthy on a vegan diet as you can be in any other way of eating. You can gain weight or not as well. As long as you get your nutritional needs satisfied eating vegan, you'll be fine. Since you are a meat lover, you would have to make a lot of adjustments adapting to that style of eating.

Some vegan proponents try to make it out to be inherently healthier as part of the evangelism, but it's part of the propaganda that ignores any evidence to the contrary.

RodaRose

allanrjudge wrote: »

I was a Vegan for 7 months last year. I went vegan after watching Earthlings.
I intentionally lost 3 stone whilst also doing P90x. I started eating meat again in about February of this year and immediately started feeling very bloated and have piled on 10lbs. I started consuming animal products again because i'm around people who eat a lot of chocolate and I couldn't resist and knew eating dairy is as bad as eating meat, as far as how the animals are treated, so it was hypocritcal to consume dairy and not eat meat, i'm a massive meat lover.
I'm just explaining a bit of my situation before I get onto the topic of this thread.

Is it possible to live a healthy life, long term, on a vegan diet? You hear so much conflicting information it's hard to know what to believe. Since i've started eating meat again it's just not sitting right with me, once the blinkers have been removed and you see a piece of bacon as the flesh of a dead pig it's hard to ever enjoy it again.

I'm on the fence and I think the thing that will sway me to either become vegan again or carry on eating animal products is having some evidence based facts on which is healthier. I've googled and googled, watched Youtube videos and every time I sway one way, I seemsomething else that makes me sway another. But the fact is i've piled weight on and I feel bloated - this isn't a fair test though because i've started binging again.

I would appreciate some input?

Choosing what to eat or how to your life is not all or nothing. Real life is complicated and messy. A person could eat chocolate that contains milk and not eat other animal products.

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teanahk

Maybe somewhere in between would work for you? Eat a vegan/vegetarian diet most meals/days with a few meat meals/days? Sort of the opposite of meatless Mondays.

Would you feel better about it if you got humanely raised meat from local farms?

As already mentioned, healthy vegan/vegetarian is possible, just make sure you get a b12 supplement and don't eat french fries all day

TheDevastator

I'd say raw vegan is about as healthy as you can get if you eat lots of dark leafy greens, fruits and vegetables. For me I can't afford/stand eating all fruits and vegetables so I eat local meat and eggs. I'm on sort of a Paleo diet currently.

rbiss

It is absolutely possible to be healthy with a vegan diet. There are competitive endurance athletes and competitive bodybuilders who are vegan. If this is important to you, you just need to watch watch you eat. Protein is not hard to come by, but I know when I get busy I eat all carbs. Also, vitamin D and Vitamin B12 should probably be supplemented. B12 is in algae (spirulina I think) and the body can make D, but I have found it unrealistic to not use supplements (and I am a vegetarian). I love reading Vegan Health and Fitness magazine. All vegan athletes just doing their thing.

There is a CSA (community supported agriculture) farm by my house and they also sell humanely raised and butchered chicken/other meat and eggs. Maybe you have a CSA near you?

rbiss

Also there is plenty of chocolate that is made without milk. At the grocery store just look at the dark chocolate. I'm into dog rescues and there is a site called Rescue Chocolate that is vegan and amazing and supports rescues.

geministyle

I'm pleasantly surprised by how civil and mature this thread is. You all have restored my faith in humanity.

I get the ethical reasons for not eating factory farmed meat, and do try to make informed choices. I also don't eat a ton of wheat products, and figure I am saving rodents that way. (they get killed during harvest). It's what feels right for me and my heart.

I also agree with others here that a vegan diet isn't necessarily healthy and a meat-eating diet unhealthy. Just focus on real whole foods and supplement appropriately.

Now please excuse me while I enjoy some carnitas tacos ...

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pollypocket1021

It is completely understandable that meat would be a shock to your system after going that long without it. If you ultimately decide to make it a regular part of your diet again, your body will adjust and it will handle meat just fine.

Lots of people on here have lost weight with meat and others without. Personally, I'm one of the former.

I think this topic is very emotionally charged and that makes it hard to get factual information about long terms health benefits. But if you FEEL ok as a vegan or vegetarian, I doubt it's hurting you.

FitForL1fe

the weight gain has nothing to do with what you ate

and everything to do with how much you ate

both the bloated feeling and the weight gain would be from being in too high a caloric surplus

ahkennett

allanrjudge wrote: »

I'm on the fence and I think the thing that will sway me to either become vegan again or carry on eating animal products is having some evidence based facts on which is healthier.

It's going to be basically impossible to find this. It is relatively easy to eat healthfully on either type of diet, and even easier to eat poorly on either type of diet.

Your best bet -- in terms of nutrition, pleasing your palate, and living with your own ethical views -- may be to eat largely vegan with a very small amount of meat and animal products added for variety. You can source your meats/animal products from operations that are more in line with your ethical views -- find small local producers who raise/slaughter humanely, look for meats that tend to be produced more in line with these views (I've read that lamb production tends to be more humane, because the meat production decreases under the more maligned factory farming techniques), etc.

allanrjudge

Thank you so much for all this great advice. I forgot i'd made this thread as it was late last night when I made it.

The life not being black and white comment really rimgs true because i'm bad for being like that. I either want to be a vegan or a meat eater, but maybe I could just eat fish and the odd chicken breast.

Thank you again it's very much appreciated.