pros and cons of eating vegan?

My migraines are gone, my skin cleared up, my joint pain is gone.

Your getting carbs and sugar from fruit it's not "bad".


Ask yourself this though is this a lifestyle you can commit to; or are you doing for weight loss only?

Why are you doing vegan? If it's just because you think it's "healthy"...well, pretty much any dietary lifestyle can be as healthy as you make it. I know some vegetarians that eat very healthy and others that eat crap. Just because you don't eat meat doesn't necessarily mean "healthy"...in fact, it means you have to go the extra mile to be healthy and get the proper nutrients in your diet...because getting adequate protein while eating vegetarian and vegan is pretty tough to do, particularly as many vegetarian proteins are incomplete chains.

I'm not trying to discourage you from being vegan necessarily...but it should be sustainable long term for you. And, if your mind set is meat = not healthy, then that isn't a very good mind set and you're probably doing it for the wrong reasons. Most vegetarians and vegans I know live the lifestyle more because they have moral issues with how meat is processed, etc.

It's very easy and very healthy..but done right. A little research is important.

For example, I start my day with an amazing shake of a great vegan protein powder, amla, raw cocoa, flax seed and then add cherries, blueberries, kale and ginger.

For lunch I might have a bean and kale stew with a small sandwich of hummus, lettuce, tomato, avocado on protein grain bread.

I snack on walnuts, pecans, strawberries and if I am dancing a lot I might have peanut butter on toast before classes.

For dinner I might have a cheseless home made pizza on wholewhet crust with kale, garlic, peppers, mushrooms, tempeh, nutritional yeast with walnuts, fresh tomato and a salad.

It is not hard...there is loads of variety and if you eat well, you will totally get enought protein. It's a fallacy in our culture that we need to eat giant amounts of protein anyhow.

Fruit is great for you..you don't need to limit it. It had fibre and this site doesn't seem to take that into consideration.
I dance over nine hours a week, hike and am very active and never have any trouble with energy and rarely get sick.
Feel free to friend me if you need advice.

It's wonderful to be vegan for health and for the earth Well done and keep it up.

I would use the bathroom like 5 times a day and had major gas at all times. But I was getting in a bunch of veggies.
If you can eat that way go for it. You can get creative with some of the ways you cook things too because you sort of have to if you miss meat and cheese (which is why I couldn't keep it up)

Biggest con and 100% reason I won't go vegan.

No bacon.

I'm trying to eat vegan, at least for most of the day. I'm finding it difficult to get protein into my diet, and with all the fruit I've been eating, my sugar levels on MFP are very high. I thought veganism was supposed to be super healthy, but I keep on going over on my carbs and sugar. But I'm way under for my calorie count. Help!

If anyone is a successful vegan, any tips or stories would be great

OK, before you transition into something, I would THINK that anyone would DO RESEARCH! Like, what are the BEST Sources of Protein and where are they located; Best Sources of Calcium, B-12 Sources, what are Micro Nutrients and best sources, what does heating food do to it, how much raw and cooked food do I want to eat...DO some WORK for Yourself or you will ALWAYS be going with "the next best thing" in the wind. RESEARCH!!!

Reduced saturated fats. Dairy products and meats contain a large amount of saturated fats. By reducing the amount of saturated fats from your diet, you’ll improve your health tremendously, especially when it comes to cardiovascular health.

*Cardiovascular disease. Eating nuts and whole grains, while eliminating dairy products and meat, will improve your cardiovascular health. A British study indicates that a vegan diet reduces the risk for heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. Vegan diets go far in preventing heart attack and stroke.

*Cholesterol. Eliminating any food that comes from an animal and you will eliminate all dietary cholesterol from your diet. Your heart will thank you for that.

*Blood pressure. A diet rich in whole grains is beneficial to your health in many ways, including lowering high blood pressure.
Type 2 diabetes. Not only is a vegan diet a weapon against Type 2 diabetes, it is also "easier to follow than the standard diet recommended by the American Diabetic Association." Read more about it here.

*Prostate cancer. A major study showed that men in the early stages of prostate cancer who switched to a vegan diet either stopped the progress of the cancer or may have even reversed the illness.

*Colon cancer. Eating a diet consisting of whole grains, along with fresh fruits and vegetables, can greatly reduce your chances of colon cancer.

*Breast cancer. Countries where women eat very little meat and animal products have a much lower rate of breast cancer than do the women in countries that consume more animal products.

*Macular degeneration. Diets with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, especially leafy greens, carrots, pumpkin, and sweet potatoes, can help prevent the onset of age-related macular degeneration.

*Cataracts. Much the same way macular degeneration is headed off by a vegan diet, cataracts are also thought to be prevented through the intake of the same fruits and vegetables. Produce high in antioxidants are also believed to help prevent cataracts.

*Arthritis. Eliminating dairy consumption has long been connected with alleviating arthritis symptoms, but a new study indicates that a combination of gluten-free and vegan diet is very promising for improving the health of those suffering from rheumatoid arthritis.

*Osteoporosis. Bone health depends on a balance of neither too much or too little protein, adequate calcium intake, high potassium, and low sodium. With a healthy vegan diet, all four of these points set a perfect scenario for preventing osteoporosis.

There are 57 benefits listed here: http://www.nursingdegree.net/blog/19/57-health-benefits-of-going-vegan/
I have been vegan since January 2011 and started the whole vegetarian thing October 2008. Eating a healthy vegan diet can be VERY beneficial

They might have something against that, unless you're talking metaphorical.

Cannibalism is typically frowned upon though.

Pro: Good protein
Con: Getting thrown in jail for eating a vegan

^^ This

But seriously...
Pros: healthier, balanced diet, knowing everything that goes into your mouth (hehehe get our mind out of the gutter)
Cons: have to meal plan, cook a lot and hard to eat out

There are plenty of ways to get more than protein

Another pro: cholesterol free diet (which can help reduce heart disease chances)....

You can get protein on a vegan diet, it's just if you want to have a high protein diet, you will be eating a lot of processed products. I think the best protein sources are tempeh, sprouted tofu, boca burgers, gimme lean products (if you can eat wheat gluten that is).... I also recommend protein shakes- you can get rice, soy, or hemp. I am focused on weight lifting so the hard part is getting the protein.

The only con is that the sources of protein are limited- especially if you are trying to have a higher protein to carb balance in your diet. Vegan cheese (daiya) and vegan yogurt has lower protein than dairy. Dairy ice cream has more protein.

If you aren't worried about protein, I don't think there is a con to being vegan. Just take your vitamins and enjoy lots of yummy food.

(I am not vegan, but I tend to eat mostly vegan, bake vegan, cook vegan, etc. I was vegan for 11 years).

There are many converted vegans who have published their experiences with the lifestyle. It might be useful to read some of their experiences. One common theme of the experiences that I have read is that they insisted that they were healthy even while their health (including mental health) was deteriorating drastically. Some of these vegans damaged their health permanently.

There are challenges with it both from a dietary standpoint and environmental/ethical standpoint. There is absolutely no way to for us to live without consuming other living organisms. (Plants are alive too and actually have complex behaviour.) Intensive modern grain agriculture (fed to animals and humans-healthy for neither) is extremely destructive to soil organisms and aquatic ecosystems. Animals must be a part of agriculture or the nutrient cycle is disrupted (replaced with petrochemical fertilizers) and topsoil is lost rapidly. Personally, I'd rather have cow dung on my veggies than industrial sludge-but that's just me. Based on my research/experience, I think grain agriculture is what is unethical.

However, it helps to have some experience with the natural world and knowledge of how food gets on one's plate to actually understand what the heck I am trying to say.

Edit: I see the cholesterol/saturated fat/heart disease myth is alive and well in this thread. So sad.

Unless you have food allergies or sensitivities, there is no health related to reason to choose a vegan diet. It's not super healthy! It's unnatural and likely to inhibit both fat loss and muscle building due to the lack of high quality protein. Epidemiology does not show that vegetarians or vegans live longer than the rest of us.

Yes, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, etc are all super healthy and you should eat lots of them. But just because they're good for you does not mean that meat is has to be unhealthy. If you want to be healthy, eat healthy foods. That should include at least 5 (but preferably 9) servings of fruits and veggies per day. You also need plenty of protein, and your best sources of protein are animal sources. There are numerous healthy non vegan options that include a long list of lean meats, dairy, and eggs.

If you want to be a vegan or a vegetarian for some moral or ethical reason, there are many pros. If you want to be a vegetarian or a vegan because your doctor has said you need to be for your health, there are many pros. If you are doing it to try to lose weight, and that is your main or only reason, you will likely not stick with it and will not find improved health from going vegan. There's tons of delicious, highly caloric foods widely available that vegans can eat.

If you have reasons that will help you stick with it, go for it and you'll find tons of ways to eat healthfully as a vegan. I'm very happy as a vegan, but weight loss isn't part of the equation for me (as a reason for being vegan). If it were, I'd probably eat all the foods all the time. (I knew someone who was a vegan for her health. What that really meant was eating vegan foods unless something too tasty to resist came along, which likely defeated the purpose for her anyway.)

Unless you have food allergies or sensitivities, there is no health related to reason to choose a vegan diet. It's not super healthy! It's unnatural and likely to inhibit both fat loss and muscle building due to the lack of high quality protein. Epidemiology does not show that vegetarians or vegans live longer than the rest of us.

if you do it right, it is absolutely super healthy.

also of note, you can build plenty of muscle and stay extremely trim vegan. i've always, always, always been at my healthiest vegan. of course, there are unhealthy vegans, but i mean, c'mon, anyone can eat wrong... if all you eat are vegan cookies, yea, you're not going to get healthy.