Should I Vegan? Broad topic.

wassergottin

I was vegan for eight years before switching back to eating meats. I'm fairly lactose-intolerant, so not eating dairy wasn't a big deal for me. Giving up steak was, since I lived in Texas when I started and the beef available to me was very humanely treated.

I did end up gaining weight, and whilst I felt "lighter" I lost a lot of my strength. I feel a bit healthier now that I'm eating meat again, and trust me, I was eating a very well balanced vegan diet. Some people do very well on a vegan diet, and others don't have the body to handle it. My body doesn't process non-animal based fats and proteins as efficiently. It took me a long time to get over myself and my feelings of failure to eat a piece of chicken again, and it took me over a year to be able to physically stomach beef again. I still love vegan foods, but I go out of my way to support local farmers who grow multiple crops and raise rare breeds of livestock (humanely). I also found that when I went vegan I used grains as a crutch for my diet moreso than when I wasn't vegan.

Just my two cents. I hope whatever you choose works for your body!

shano25

You can definitely overeat as a vegan and it's not going to be some magical cure all weight loss trick. However, health and environment-wise, it's a great thing.

I've been near vegan - I can give up dairy but I just can't give up eggs. My advice is to start slow - do the research and try different vegan options to see what you like. Because there are a lot of good vegan alternatives out there...and a lot of gross vegan alternatives. It might be discouraging if you dive right in and don't like any of the options you are choosing and then you might overeat on other things.

I would suggest reading books written by Brendan Brazier. He's an endurance athlete and a vegan. They way I see it is, if he can win a 50km marathon and eat a plant-based diet, he's got it figured out.

Akimajuktuq

There is a widespread assumption that veganism is more "ethical" and has the least environmental impacts of all possible eating plans. I would suggest that you do some research and also consider the views, and published material, of vegans who are no longer vegans due to a variety of reasons. Research topics such as agricultural practices of mono-cultured crops (past, present, variety of methods, politics; also what it takes to replicate the nutrient cycle when animals are removed from farming-soil is alive and must eat), anthropology (esp medical observations on how changing diet affects aboriginal peoples, none of which are, or ever have been, vegan), physiology, health, food politics, globalization, hydrology/watershed management, etc.

While it is my opinion that animals have to be part of a healthy agricultural system and are essential to diet (I live with Inuit so I might know a thing or two about whether eating animals is natural or healthy) I do NOT agree that animals should ever be mistreated. The current system of removing animals from the fields and to confine them on factory farms is completely unacceptable. We must make ethical choices about the animals that we do eat; for our health and also for preserving healthy ecosystems (on farms and in the wilderness).

Re: veganism: been there, done it. It was neither healthy, "ethical", or better for the environment.

All life matters, whether it has a face or not (think soil organisms! and the creatures in waterways that suffer agricultural run-off) . Grain production for us AND animals, neither of which should really be eating mono-cultured grain, is what is destroying what little arable land is left. Petroleum products and sewage sludge are now what we are using to prop up a broken nutrient cycle: how ethical and sustainable is that?

How ethical and sustainable is wearing synthetic materials (usually made from petroleum products AKA oil) that are made in a factory (toxic emissions) and take ages to decompose? I'm not saying stop wearing synthetics, but just give some thought about natural materials versus synthetic.

Energizer06

Wife was a vegan for a couple of years and I a lacto-ova veggie. In all honesty....you have to be able and willing to cook your own meals...everyday. If you get alot of take out or go out for dinner often, you may want to reconsider. We love to cook and rarely eat out, so it fit our lifestyle well. However, after 2 years we started to order take out more often (mostly chinese and Thai) and our sodium intake skyrocketed. We also have small children and we did not expect them to only eat vegan or veggie, so cooking multiple meals did take alot of our time.

What I learned from the 2 years as a veggie: I enjoy many more veggies than I used too. Tofu is my friend. I tend to eat more veggies with every meal.

My advice: Give it a shot, if you don't care for the lifestyle, switch back. No Harm, no foul!

junipearl

Vegetables have all the protein you need. And you can skip the eventual heart attack or stroke when you reach your senior years.

Tobacco = / = meat


And veggies aren't going to net me 180+ grams of protein per day........There's a reason there isn't an abundance of vegan bodybuilders or elite level athletes who are vegans........


I'll gladly take the potential health risks that come along with enjoying the foods I love and being able to meet my current fitness goals.

false. a lot of endurance athletes have switched to vegetarian or vegan lifestyles and actually find that they are more successful on that kind of diet.
not to mention a lot of vegans make the choice for ethical reasons, so your argument of "enjoying the foods you love" and "meeting your fitness goals" is selfish and non-persuasive. be willfully ignorant all you want - we are masters at this as human beings - but do not speak as though what you are saying is fact when you refuse to improve your knowledge on the subject.

junipearl

woops; i have a hard time not getting heated. *backs out of thread slowly*

belgerian

Why would you do that? Chicken, pork and Beef are delicious.

I watched a documentary depicting the treatment of livestock, and the conditions that they are subjected to. I just got sick over it. I may not end up being vegan for long, and I am certainly not starting today. But it gave me some serious "food" for thought.

If this is your reason you can buy your meat locally and probably even get a tour of the farm, we have several local owned and operated farms in our area and they treat their livestock respectfully. (as much as you can considering your gonna slaughter them for the meat). I personally dont eat alot of meat anymore just becouse I dont maybe once a month or something close to it but I like my Fage 2% yogurt and my 1 cup of milk in my whey chocolate protein shake in the morning.

SteveJWatson

Well it's easy to still overeat and have a vegan diet. If you overindulge, it will not give you anymore restrictions than you have now. You can easily overeat on vegan food and there is lots of vegan junk food like oreos, chips, sodas, ect. If you are hoping that the restrictions of a vegan diet will help you meet your goals without addressing your issues of over eating then I wouldn't suggest trying to go vegan for that goal.

This.

Be a vegan because you want to be a vegan, not because you think you'll lose weight.

poedunk65

Read Forks Over KNives

rainbowbow

I have been a vegetarian my entire life. I tried to go vegan for a month last year.... yeah.... no. I can't do it.... why? Because, cheese, most breads, most premade products, and milk.

I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT ICE CREAM!

Oh yeah, i forgot to add. I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. Likely due to the fact that it is practically impossible to get the high amounts of protein i needed without using soy. And high amounts of soy over extended periods of time can cause thyroid problems. WHOOPEY!!!!

Now i couldn't even be vegan if i tried. I can't hit my protein without dairy products.

SteveJWatson

Why would you do that? Chicken, pork and Beef are delicious.

I watched a documentary depicting the treatment of livestock, and the conditions that they are subjected to. I just got sick over it. I may not end up being vegan for long, and I am certainly not starting today. But it gave me some serious "food" for thought.

If this is your reason you can buy your meat locally and probably even get a tour of the farm, we have several local owned and operated farms in our area and they treat their livestock respectfully. (as much as you can considering your gonna slaughter them for the meat).

Also: this. I farm livestock ad I like to think I give them a life that approximates their 'natural' existence (although obviously I treat them when they get sick etc). Nothing against Vegans, mind. I have no problem with death but I don't mind if others do,possibly because I deal with it regularly and I can understand people can find it upsetting.

caitlinsaur

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-7663/8-tips-for-losing-weight-on-a-vegan-diet.html

That might give you an idea of what to avoid if you go vegan.

I've been vegan for over a year, but I haven't had too much luck with weight loss because I love french fries and wine.
I feel better and am happier/healthier overall. Just remember that meat/dairy free products don't mean "healthy". You will (in theory) cut down your fat intake, though.

Good luck!

Querian

I read The China Study about a year ago, maybe more, and have been slowly removing animal products from my diet. I am vegetarian during the week and I would estimate 50-75% of all my meals are vegan. What I find to be the most important thing is to eat a WHOLE FOODS PLANT BASED diet. That means lots of fruits and vegetable and minimal processed foods.

In college I was a junk-food vegetarian and basically lived on white bread, pastas and cheese. It was not a healthy choice and I eventually went back to eating meat. I am much healthier and happier now eating fruits and veggies and whole grains and beans and legumes. I like to cook so that isn't an issue for me, plus it's really not as hard as some people say to eat well.

There are a lot of reasons to go vegan and health is just one of them. I would continue with your research and maybe try The 30 Day Vegan Challenge which you can find online. I haven't done it but I listen to the podcast by the author and I do plan to try it sometime. Or, if you want to be more like me gradually work more vegan items into your meals and see where you end up. For me it started with meatless Mondays and now if I do eat meat I only eat it on weekends, and not much of it at that. Maybe I will be vegan some day, maybe not, but I do think the research is overwhelming that a whole foods plant based diet is the healthiest way to go.

PS - I've also been listening to Rich Roll's new podcast lately who is a vegan ultra athlete (i.e. 5 ironman distance triathalons in 5 days) and he has a lot of other vegan athletes on his podcast (plus others who live a different lifestyle) so he is very interesting to listen to in terms of elite athletes and vegan nutrition. Very inspirational, too.

SteveJWatson

There are a lot of reasons to go vegan and health is just one of them. I would continue with your research and maybe try The 30 Day Vegan Challenge which you can find online. I haven't done it but I listen to the podcast by the author and I do plan to try it sometime. Or, if you want to be more like me gradually work more vegan items into your meals and see where you end up. For me it started with meatless Mondays and now if I do eat meat I only eat it on weekends, and not much of it at that. Maybe I will be vegan some day, maybe not, but I do think the research is overwhelming that a whole foods plant based diet is the healthiest way to go.

I would say there are plenty of good reasons to go vegan, but health is not one of them - it is perfectly possible to be an unhealthy vegan or a healthy one, just as it is possible to be a healthy or unhealthy meat eater.

gooseberrypink

Chocolate is delicious. Meat is just kinda there for a lot of us. As for a lack of athletes being vegan, vegans compose a very small portion of the population in general, so that accounts for a big reason for that. Star running back Arian Foster is a vegan.

It's worth a try if you feel called to it. Do your research. Don't plan on it being a magical weight loss cure. I've known obese vegans. And don't feel like a failure if it's not for you.

tomatini

I've been vegan for a few years and I think it is sustainable as a lifestyle and diet. I do have some issues regarding impulse control in general, which is why I'm overweight, but not when it comes to eating animal products. I have very strong negative feelings about factory farming so I have no trouble turning down meat and dairy.

As others have said, a vegan diet is not a magic cure-all for a bad diet and bad habits. It is obviously very easy to overeat or eat junk food on ANY diet, veganism included. If you find yourself drawn to veganism for reasons other than just weight loss (like having an objection to animal cruelty) then it is certainly worth investigating. I would start by reading up on vegan nutriton ("Vegan For Life" by Jack Norris and Virginia Messina is a good, easy to understand book on the subject). Next I would pick up some vegan cookbooks or look at vegan blogs and learn how to cook recipes from them! Being vegan is much easier in general if you know how to cook for yourself, and while storebought vegan foods are more common these days, they tend to be heavily processed and full of sodium.

You may have to pay attention closely to some of your nutrients, but honestly, it's not difficult, especially with the trackers on MFP. It is totally possible to get most nutrients (B12 being the main exception) from diet alone, and getting enough protein has never been a problem for me so you can have great success with that as well if you're mindful of it.

If you're looking for vegans or almost-vegans on MFP, there are a bunch in the Happy Herbivores group: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/45-happy-herbivores

kmcosgrove115

I went whole food, plant strong a month ago and feel amazing - it is surprisingly easy and great recipes come from the Happy Herbivore cookbooks, Engine 2 or Forks Over Knives - plant strong means no meat, no dairy and no oil so sort of hard core If you need support, let me know - watch Forks Over Knives on Netflix - changed my life!

kimazoo

I love my vegan lifestyle. As with most things, you can be unhealthy and be vegan. However, I think it's easier to eat healthy vegan. If you tend to over eat or binge, you can over eat on fruits and veggies which have far less calories than let's say ice cream or candy bars. Eating lots of fruits and veggies and whole grains will keep you full. I really do feel like I'm eating all day long with my plant-based/whole foods diet.

My husband and I started eating vegan Jan 2012 and have never felt better or healthier. We both have a ton of energy. We rarely get sick and when we do, it's not as intense as those around us. We dropped a good 10 pounds in the first week (we cut out all processed foods including soda and sweets) without exercise or anything. My husband was pre-diabetic, had borderline high-cholesterol, and his blood pressure was also borderline high. He hasn't had to take any meds and after turning to a vegan diet, his numbers went back to normal. I was having lots of pain in my body (fibro issues), my heat was racing a lot, migraine headaches, and I was experiencing skin issues. Everything went back to normal for me after being on a vegan diet for 3 weeks. I'm not saying everyone will have the same results but I do know we did. Being pain free is a huge motivator for me!

There are a ton of vegan support groups on MFP that are full of great encouragers. I'd suggest joining a few of them as well as looking at some of our food journals for food/menu ideas.

Wade406

A vegan diet is superior for health. This is well established. Another comprehensive study of diet is/has been conducted by Loma Linda University. It is the Adventist Study.

You can learn more about some of the key things learned from these studies here:
http://www.llu.edu/assets/publichealth/adventist-health-studies/documents/ahs-overview.pdf
and here:
http://www.llu.edu/assets/publichealth/adventist-health-studies/documents/adventist-quality-life.pdf
and here:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2677008/?tool=pubmed

Luvmyhubby222

I would agree to spend some time on Happy Herbivores. A lot of meat eaters have the usual knee jerk responses to this issue, and many of them are wrong. Those of us who have been vegan for any amount of time have usually done quite a bit of research about the relevant topics (animal treatment, health benefits/risks, cost efficacy, environmental impact etc). As you educate yourself more and more, it becomes pretty obvious that there are more reasons to go plant based than the fleeting and selfish "meat is yummy" argument. If you put them in a pro vs con argument, the choice becomes crystal clear. Friend me/message me anytime with questions. Good luck!