Added benefits of eating vegan

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  • now_or_never13
    now_or_never13 Posts: 1,575 Member
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    Certainly not trying to convince people who want to go vegan not to, but the health benefits aren't exclusive to veganism. Since I started eating better and cutting out sugar, I've had so much energy, my anemia went away (I think this was from starting to eat chicken and fish though-- I used to not eat meat) and my skin and hair are looking fantastic. Again, not trying to talk anyone out of going vegan-- just letting people know that overall better eating habits will do wonders for you.

    It all depends on what you eat... whether you are vegetarian, vegan or you eat a diet full of meat. All of these diets can be healthy should you do things correctly.

    I feel so much better since I stopped eating meat.
  • stephgas
    stephgas Posts: 159 Member
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    to the OP, i'd speak with your doctor or a nutritionist about eating a vegetarian diet. i addressed my concerns with my GP and he had some great information for me. and remember that most of what you find on the internet isn't true. someone linked to an 'article' earlier in the thread about why not to eat vegetarian, and it's not a reputable source at all. it's a personal experience, just like what i could tell you about my experiences. if you really want to discover scientific benefits of a vegetarian diet, i suggest looking for peer reviewed medical journals (your local librarian should be able to help with that).
  • THExNEKOxCHAN
    THExNEKOxCHAN Posts: 134 Member
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    There are *benefits* to being vegan?

    Well, if you're not looking for the easily digestible and vital nutrients that can only be found in animal foods, sure, you can think like that...
  • fitfreakymom
    fitfreakymom Posts: 1,400 Member
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    anybody had daiya cheese?
  • Lecterman
    Lecterman Posts: 97 Member
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    Honestly, it's very hard to eat enough protein without touching meat.

    Sorry, but this is totally false
  • Rage_Phish
    Rage_Phish Posts: 1,507 Member
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    Not to mention mfp is a health/fitness site so most vegans here probably make better food choices than your non-health conscious ones. You can eat crap on any kind of diet. Paleo, vegan whatever.

    This is exactly what I was talking about. I never said vegans made horrible health choices, I merely said I was tired of the daily preachy posts.

    You automatically assume that because I am not vegan, I am automatically making terrible decisions with my diet. Here is what I ate/will eat today:

    Skyr made from free range/grass fed/hormone free milk
    2 prunes

    Grilled hormone-free/free range chicken
    Sweat potato
    Steamed broccoli

    Almonds

    Skyr

    Apple

    Braised spinach
    Sunchokes
    2 eggs from free range/hormone free chickens

    Yes, obviously I am making horrible decisions with my health.

    I am offended by the assumption that if you don't eat vegan then you aren't eating healthy. That's coming from someone who has excluded an essential macro from their diet and replaced it with foods that damage the cut. Many vegans have very high intake of carbohydrates and eventually end up with insulin resistance, high cortisol levels and miss essential vitamins like B12.

    Each to their own but don't judge others for their choices. I choose to eat Paleo, it's solved many problems for me and I truly believe this is the only way of achieving optimal health.

    This is my journey! Find your own path but let others have their journey. Citing research is pointless, we can all find research to support our own beliefs.

    Reading comprehension
  • benol1
    benol1 Posts: 867 Member
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    I read this article the other day and its great to see that vegan eating is way more than just weight loss. These are real people that experienced a lot of unexpected health benefits, no scientific analysis or studies in this article, just regular people and real results.

    I am very supportive of vegetarianism and veganism, however, I have a real problem with the statement above.

    Remember, a claim made without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.
    In my opinion, it is better to cite the findings from peer-reviewed academic literature rather than an article that is sympathetic to one's own views and opinions by selective reporting of anecdotes.
    kind regards,

    Ben
  • honeyandmilk
    honeyandmilk Posts: 160 Member
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    I didn't stop eating meat to lose weight, and it frustrates me that so many people on these forums jump on the bandwagon because they think it'll magically make them lose weight and become healthy.
  • honeyandmilk
    honeyandmilk Posts: 160 Member
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    anybody had daiya cheese?

    Yeah, it's the best cheese substitute out there. It melts well, tastes good and is slightly greasy like real cheese.
  • zilea
    zilea Posts: 31 Member
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    I don't honestly like vegan cheeses much. This has been the toughest part of eating vegan for me. I recently started making a very simple cheese that kind of has the texture of goat cheese that is sooooo good, though! I just mix a carton of pre-soaked raw cashews in the food processor with a little canola oil, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and whatever dried herbs I have around, like sage, thyme, etc. Then I scoop it onto a plate, shape it into a square or a log, and let it chill in the refrigerator for at least three hours before using. It's great as a spread or mixed in with veggies or rice.
  • tina711x
    tina711x Posts: 51
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    being "vegan" wont help you lost weight at all. I had a teacher that was a vegetarian and he weighed about 300lbs. alot of people think that if your vegetarian or vegan that you will automatically become skinny but thats not true. a lot of times, people overeat because there not getting the right nutrients (protein, calcium), that you would get from a normal diet. Just like how if you dont drink enough water you eat more because your really thirsty and your body creates a small amount of water from breaking up food through hydrolysis. If anyone really wanted to be a vegetarian, you would have to work really hard at getting all of the amino acids that your body can not make by itself through complementary proteins and you would still be off a few. Eggs have all of the essential amino acids, and every vitamin and mineral except vitamin c. chicken, steak, turkey, fish all have all of the essential amino acids in a very small serving as opposed to huge peice of bread with beans and other various food you would have to eat as a vegetarian just to get the same amount of protein from meat. They are Essential because your body can't make them on it's own, it has to be ingested through diet
  • dgljones
    dgljones Posts: 89
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    being "vegan" wont help you lost weight at all. I had a teacher that was a vegetarian and he weighed about 300lbs. alot of people think that if your vegetarian or vegan that you will automatically become skinny but thats not true. a lot of times, people overeat because there not getting the right nutrients (protein, calcium), that you would get from a normal diet. Just like how if you dont drink enough water you eat more because your really thirsty and your body creates a small amount of water from breaking up food through hydrolysis. If anyone really wanted to be a vegetarian, you would have to work really hard at getting all of the amino acids that your body can not make by itself through complementary proteins and you would still be off a few. Eggs have all of the essential amino acids, and every vitamin and mineral except vitamin c. chicken, steak, turkey, fish all have all of the essential amino acids in a very small serving as opposed to huge peice of bread with beans and other various food you would have to eat as a vegetarian just to get the same amount of protein from meat. They are Essential because your body can't make them on it's own, it has to be ingested through diet

    That would be great information if there was no such thing as a complete protein that was not from an animal product, but there are. Quinoa, Tempeh, Tofu off the top of my head. And your theory also seems to somehow suggest that eating wide and varied foods is a bad thing. But anyway...
    Everyone should have their own journey to find what is the right diet for them. It shouldn't be about 'what will make me lose x pounds', but more what diet is something I am comfortable eating for the rest of my life and helps me achieve my health goals. Once you have found it then great, I am not sure why people want to bad mouth others whose journey lead them somewhere else or attack it as a form of evangelizing 'their' diet.
    There really isn't one right way of eating for 100% of the population.
  • glynfreeman
    glynfreeman Posts: 8 Member
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    Try reading Rich Rolls finding ultra and tap into his podcasts. I love my meat too much to follow but its inspiring and shoots down any argument about not being able to get all your macros from vegan.
  • tina711x
    tina711x Posts: 51
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    yeah i said through complementary proteins... did you read what i wrote? i.e. beans on whole grain toast.. they each have different amino acids in them.. i didnt say you couldn't, but that its much easier to have 4 oz of poultry, fish, eggs, or lean meat then to plan out completementary proteins every day.. and you are ingesting more calories by having complementary proteins vs having a small serving of meat. point being - if someone wants to be vegetarian or vegan just to loose weight, they would be better off not doing it. but if it is someones way of life that they choose, its alott of work to make sure your getting all of the protein/calcium that you need by not eating meat or dairy. also more expensive.
  • tina711x
    tina711x Posts: 51
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    and its not a "theory" its scientific fact, im a nurse. theres people on here that really want to loose weight and think that becomming a vegetarian will make them loose weight faster -not true. and also if your not extremely knowledgable about what you are eating when cutting out large groups of food you can become malnourished/anemic.
  • redraidergirl2009
    redraidergirl2009 Posts: 2,560 Member
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    yeah i said through complementary proteins... did you read what i wrote? i.e. beans on whole grain toast.. they each have different amino acids in them.. i didnt say you couldn't, but that its much easier to have 4 oz of poultry, fish, eggs, or lean meat then to plan out completementary proteins every day.. and you are ingesting more calories by having complementary proteins vs having a small serving of meat. point being - if someone wants to be vegetarian or vegan just to loose weight, they would be better off not doing it. but if it is someones way of life that they choose, its alott of work to make sure your getting all of the protein/calcium that you need by not eating meat or dairy. also more expensive.

    how is it more expensive than a traditional diet?
  • ldrosophila
    ldrosophila Posts: 7,512 Member
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    I didn't stop eating meat to lose weight, and it frustrates me that so many people on these forums jump on the bandwagon because they think it'll magically make them lose weight and become healthy.

    I completely agree with you. I have much respect for anyone who has become a vegan for ethical reasons. I knew a vegan once who said she did it to lessen suffering. I respected her and would often ask her for vegan recipes. I see it as similar to someone who is practicing kosher there are bigger moral reasons. However, the vegan lose weight bandwagon is just ridiculous and I can bet that in 5-10years we will see these bandwagoners coming down with some serious vitamin deficencies. If your doing it to get a thigh gap then thats just silly.
  • redraidergirl2009
    redraidergirl2009 Posts: 2,560 Member
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    . If anyone really wanted to be a vegetarian, you would have to work really hard at getting all of the amino acids that your body can not make by itself through complementary proteins and you would still be off a few. Eggs have all of the essential amino acids, and every vitamin and mineral except vitamin c. chicken, steak, turkey, fish all have all of the essential amino acids in a very small serving as opposed to huge peice of bread with beans and other various food you would have to eat as a vegetarian just to get the same amount of protein from meat. They are Essential because your body can't make them on it's own, it has to be ingested through diet

    It's pretty easy to get protein as a vegetarian and vegan. Qunioa and soy are "complete" proteins. It used to be thought that vegetarians needed to combine proteins at EACH meal but that's been disproven. As long as one has a varied diet, such as eating proteins from difference sources all day, that is not necessary.

    For example one could have a smoothies at breakfast with protein. Mine is a soy protein.
    Lunch one could have salad with some nuts and various veggies, all of which have protein.
    Dinner could be a whole grain wrap with beans and veggies-proteins there.
    Snacks could be nuts, seeds, fruits, ect....all of which have protein.
  • dgljones
    dgljones Posts: 89
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    yeah i said through complementary proteins... did you read what i wrote?

    You are missing what I wrote. Tempeh, for instance, is a complete protein the same as a piece of meat. It does not need to be complimented with another protein, it contains all aminos, the same as a piece of beef.
    Also, complimentary proteins do not need to be eaten together as part of a meal. The can be consumed at different meals in the same day, some research suggests even within a 48 hour period, but I digress.
    The basic point, there are non animal proteins that are complete proteins that on their own provide all the amino acids. That is what I was pointing out was erroneous in your original post.
  • tina711x
    tina711x Posts: 51
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    im not talking to people that are already vegan or vegetarian im talking to people that on this website trying to become healthy/ loose weight and are looking at the "health benefits of becoming vegan" and thinking if they just stop eating meat they will majically become skinny. and damn for someone who doesnt eat red meat you sure are pretty vicious. chill out and eat a burger.. you know you want to..
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