sick less as a vegan?

la_vie_est_belle_

I used to be vegan but am probably going to go back to it because I'm tired of being sick! I notice when I eat animal products I easily catch colds and flus. Do any vegans out there rarely get sick? Because that's how I was when I was vegan

climbing_trees

I have the opposite thing happening to me!
Since phasing out dairy and eggs, I've gotten sick so much less often.

However my diet is composed of mostly fruits and vegetables. Lots of vitamins.
Perhaps visit your doctor to rule out any deficiencies.

Make sure to get enough sleep too!

aldousmom

I never get colds! and have no issues with allergies anymore, either. When I was omni (and thought I was eating healthy), i would get colds, strep, stomach viruses....all.the.time. well, with the same frequency as other people I knew, so I thought that was normal. I get NOTHING now. some of my friends got a stomach virus recently, the kind w/ the vomiting that lasts 2-3 days and while I got a little crampy tummy, NOTHING ELSE HAPPENED!! and I was so paranoid.

Now, I'm whole foods plant based vegan, no added oil (theoretically....ha ha ha), which has been the best thing I've ever done. If you're going back, there are a lot of books out now that are a great help, many with menus in them. The Starch Solution and The McDougall program are old, but still good, but now there's a new FOK book, and a Campbell Plan (from the china study) out or coming out.

Good luck in whatever you decide.

aldousmom

I have the opposite thing happening to me!
Since phasing out dairy and eggs, I've gotten sick so much less often.

However my diet is composed of mostly fruits and vegetables. Lots of vitamins.
Perhaps visit your doctor to rule out any deficiencies.

Make sure to get enough sleep too!

how is this the opposite of her experience? I might have missed something.

climbing_trees

I have the opposite thing happening to me!
Since phasing out dairy and eggs, I've gotten sick so much less often.

However my diet is composed of mostly fruits and vegetables. Lots of vitamins.
Perhaps visit your doctor to rule out any deficiencies.

Make sure to get enough sleep too!

how is this the opposite of her experience? I might have missed something.

Being vegan made OP sick, but it has made me healthy. So, opposites~

eleqtriq

Being vegan made OP sick, but it has made me healthy. So, opposites~

I think you read that wrong She said she is going BACK to veganism BECAUSE she's been getting sick.


But yeah, I have yet to catch a cold since turning vegan almost three years ago. Allergies are nearly gone, too. Used to be months of stuffy noses and a few weeks of pure tortuous cold-like symptoms. Now, it's like a day and a half of a minor runny nose.

I should note I also live in one of the worse pollen and air pollution areas in the nation, too.

mollyann34

Totally! My whole family doesn't get sick (very rare if ever). My toddler has NEVER been sick and he's always been vegan

I used to get sick constantly... now just the occasional sinus head cold. It's amazing.

aedreana

I don't think that being a vegan is why I am so healthy. These are what I believe to be the keys to excellent health:

1) I avoid contact with people who are ill.
2) I use a lot of rubbing alcohol to disinfect my hands.
3) I always am careful to clean under my fingernails well. Even so, I never bite my nails.
4) I clean off (with alcohol, or dish detergent and water) merchandise that I bring into the house such as bottles of alcohol, packages of trash bags, etc.
5) I am scrupulous about food safety.
6) I don't drink alcohol, and take no drug except aspirin. I have never been drunk or high, ever.
7) I take time getting out of bed. I don't jump up suddenly.
8) I don't try to read while riding in a car. I don't ride in planes, boats, carnival rides, or even swing on playground swings.
9) If I feel the slightest bit icky, which is almost never, I stay in bed and do not eat or drink anything, not even water.
10)I make certain I get plenty of sleep, often 12 hours or more.

eleqtriq

I don't think that being a vegan is why I am so healthy. These are what I believe to be the keys to excellent health:

1) I avoid contact with people who are ill.
2) I use a lot of rubbing alcohol to disinfect my hands.
3) I always am careful to clean under my fingernails well. Even so, I never bite my nails.
4) I clean off (with alcohol, or dish detergent and water) merchandise that I bring into the house such as bottles of alcohol, packages of trash bags, etc.
5) I am scrupulous about food safety.
6) I don't drink alcohol, and take no drug except aspirin. I have never been drunk or high, ever.
7) I take time getting out of bed. I don't jump up suddenly.
8) I don't try to read while riding in a car. I don't ride in planes, boats, carnival rides, or even swing on playground swings.
9) If I feel the slightest bit icky, which is almost never, I stay in bed and do not eat or drink anything, not even water.
10)I make certain I get plenty of sleep, often 12 hours or more.

I do #1 the best I can. I wash my hands a lot similar to #2 because I have to touch other people's keyboards during the course of my day (ewww), and that also impacts #1.

#5, sure.

Other than that, I don't do much else of those. Seemingly we get the same results.

brevislux

Yeah definitely! And same for my OH.

Lard_Vader

I never get sick. In fact, it's probably been about 5+ years since I have been to my family doctor. I get annual blood & lab work done and usually my health is off charts (so much they usually don't know how to respond to my condition).

I attribute my health to my diet and training. I think both compliment each other. I don't think I'd have less than 10% body fat by my diet alone, however add long distance training to that (with either cycling 200+ or running 60+ miles a week) and it seems to be the healthiest solution.

Granted, not everyone can devote the time (or I prefer to say be as disciplined), but I wouldn't expect you be omitted from sickness by diet alone.

live2dream

When I first went vegan, my body went through a detox and had to cleanse out all the toxins (via colds, rashes, etc) Then I didn't get sick for 3 years until like a month ago, I was under a lot of stress (which lowers your immune system) and ate a bunch of vegan junk food like doughnuts (sugar is also an immune suppressor) and ended up with my first cold in forever! It was strange, but I was able to zap it pretty quickly by eating high raw vegan with lots of fruits. My body also can't handle gluten and I have reactions when I do eat it occasionally. Other than that, I feel healthier than I ever have! Before I went vegan, I had colds and flus multiple times a year.

eleqtriq

I'm being tested right now. Son brought home a horrible cold from school and my wife got sick.

I'm still feeling fine, though!

kemlis

I haven't been fully vegan for more than a couple of months. Before that I ate eggs and dairy sporadically, but rarely. Since going vegan I've been sick less often and less intensively. However, I attribute most of my resistance to regular exercise and good hand-hygiene. That said, I'm not germaphobic and I sometimes intentionally let some "dirt" into my system.
The last time I was sick, I had a sore throat for 3 days, an uncomfortable feeling for 2 and a runny nose for 1,5.
I don't think I've ever been on antibiotics!

Journey0912

I find that since I've been a vegan I don't get all the every day sickies that everyone around me always gets. While everyone at my office was sick and coughing and sneezing all over the place and touching all of the office equipment etc., I was the only one that didn't get sick. When my family members get sick I don't get sick either. I attribute it to the high amounts of vitamins and minerals I get from all the fresh fruits and veggies I eat.

It helps too though that when all the others around me are sick I'm extra attentive to cleaning and wiping down EVERYTHING with sanitizing wipes and spraying things with Lysol especially doorknobs, refrigerator & microwave handles, light switches, TV remote controls, telephones, and at the office all of the same, including all keyboards, calculators, telephones, buttons on the copy machine, etc. I'm also an avid hand-washer and I keep hand sanitizer on my desk, around my house, around the office, in my purse and in my car (to use at the bank, grocery store, gas station, etc.) It all may sound a bit excessive but apparently the pros outweigh the cons and it's certainly all worth it to stay healthy!! :happy:

highcarbveganzombie

I haven't had a flu shot in 16 years and I think I've had one (small) cold. I have a friend and her, her husband and two kids are constantly sick and are big meat eaters. I'm around them a lot and never catch anything... she kind of hates me for it. LOL. I tell her go vegan but she won't do it. Bummer.