pros and cons of eating vegan?

Mark Bittman is launching his new book Vb6 (Vegan before 6) which may offer some ideas and a healthy approach toward veganism. It's a eat vegan before 6pm plan (2/3rds of the time). Good recipes, too.

I am a Prescitarian (sp always bad at it xD). I went this way because I couldn't live without my seafood or eggs. I do have to eat beef (yuck!) because I need high amounts of iron because I am badly Anemic and pills won't cut it ( doctors orders). I went vegetarian for 2 years, then started having issues and got a huge blood panel and stuff done by my doctor to find out what was going on. Come to find out I was Anemic badly, Vitamin D deficient and a small list of other things. Mind you I know it was probably my weight and certain bad things I ate. But I am sure a lot of it was because my body wasn't getting enough of what I needed when I went Vegetarian. I did my research before doing it and must have not been doing enough of the right stuff to keep my body happy and healthy. So I just added seafood in here and there along with eggs.. I hardly do dairy and when I do its when I go to others houses and can't avoid what they already made with dairy for food. I do eat as small of a portion as I can as I am VERY lactose and just yeah that's no fun at all >_<! But being vegan is HARD!! but very rewarding from what I can see from some of my vegan friends. I would so do it if I could but doctor doesn't recommend at this time, till I get some of my other issues figured out. I trust my doctor and my body. SO maybe see your doctor and talk over with them about what your seeking in the lifestyle change, who knows maybe you should be a vegetarian other than a Vegan ! Also like someone said any carbs or sugar from fruit is not bad! its healthy sugar and carbs, not the processed crap from boxed foods and such.. So breath and enjoy your food without problem !!

I am a vegan and I am only going to say one thing: DO YOUR RESEARCH!

I'm trying to eat vegan, at least for most of the day.

Soo, what are you eating the rest of the day?

Try not to focus on what you are going over. Realistically vegan diets are low in calories and you will lose weight. Most americans think they need way more protein than is necessary. In actuality the protein you get from most vegetables is enough for your body to thrive.

Well I'd have to disagree with you there. A typical American diet is very high in carbs and too low in protein. Plant proteins tend to be much lower quality than animal proteins in terms of building muscle.

Some of the pros are you can usually eat until you are satisfied without going over your calories.

Well that just depends on food choices. I personally think it's very easy to overeat bread, crackers, cereal, etc. Whereas overeating chicken breast, salmon, and 1% cottage cheese are pretty tough.

Oreos are vegan.

BONE CHAR

Go with Newman-O's

Well sure. But a vegan diet is not necessarily healthy anymore than any other diet is.

but that's true of anything.

a vegan diet can easily be full nutrient, get protein from a wide variety of sources, and effectively removes cholesterol as a health issue. and sure, if you're not careful you can miss out on something, but that's just as true of a meat-based diet.

one thing vegan does have going for it is that in order to be vegan, you're going to have to:
1) actively read and research ingredients on all items
2) care about what you intake

that combination tends to lead towards healthier living.

you also naturally avoid all the hormones and other chemicals injected into factory farm animals.

because let's be real here - most meat eaters aren't sourcing their meats. and if you're not doing that, then yes, it could be argued vegans avoid a whole slew of issues naturally. now, if you hunt down your own animals from the forest, more power to you, but that's not how most meat-eaters eat.