Vegan???

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  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    kikicooks wrote: »
    Sorry, maybe the word unhealthy was wrong, but some said it was hard to get all your nutrients as a vegan and dont go vegan for nutrition, do it for the animals.

    People say to go vegan for the animals because there is no evidence that people will be healthier if they eliminate animal products from their diet.

    There is a lot of evidence that doing things like eating more vegetables, getting enough fiber, etc will improve health for many people. But these things can be done by non-vegans. The likely reason why some people feel better when they eliminate animal products from their diet is because they happen to be implementing changes that would be beneficial for anyone.

    This is largely what I have found over the years of being here and working with people. I can't tell you how many different types of diets "improve energy... sleep... clear up skin... etc.." . Well, I am not surprised for several reasons; 1. power of the mind (this is huge. If you feel you are making a good change, your body will response), 2. eating more foods that are nutrient dense, and 3. people tend to become more active which increases energy.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited March 2017
    kikicooks wrote: »
    Sorry, maybe the word unhealthy was wrong, but some said it was hard to get all your nutrients as a vegan and dont go vegan for nutrition, do it for the animals.

    Did you read my posts like that? That's not what I was saying.

    What I was saying is that being vegan is not nutritionally superior, not that it can't be a good choice from a nutrition perspective. I do think that supplementing is needed (B12 and omega 3s -- I don't think the usual plant sources are complete and you can supplement with an algae option), but that doesn't mean it's hard. I also think one would do better to watch protein some and for me (as someone who hasn't done it long enough to have it down) it was challenging to hit my protein goals, but I think it probably gets a lot easier.
  • lynnsyoung164
    lynnsyoung164 Posts: 20 Member
    rsipock wrote: »
    I've been off-and-on vegan most my life. I just ended a 6-year stint and I have a few words of advice.

    First of all, it is not rocket-science; don't overthink it. You used to eat steak and potatoes. Now you're gonna eat black beans and potatoes.

    Veganism is about what you don't eat; your health is about what you do eat. Many vegans have crappy health because they eat a lot of bread, pasta, and processed foods. It is vegan, but it is still crap. Don't eat crap. If it has a list of ingredients, don't eat it. Look at the side of a bean or a head of cabbage. Do you see a list of ingredients? No. That's good. Look at a box of Annie's macaroni and cheese. Look at all those ingredients. That's bad.

    When I meal planned, I provided myself with vegetables and with protein. Don't worry about carbs; you're gonna get carbs in your protein. My favorite protein sources were dried pulses (beans, lentils), seeds (pumpkin, hemp, chia, sunflower), seitan (gluten flour that you make into patties and boil), and occasionally some grains like amaranth, millet, and barley. You can supplement with pea protein powder.

    I don't give a damn about animals; I have always been a vegan because I enjoy the challenge. So have fun and to that end I would suggest staying off the internet as much as possible. There is so much static and misdirection. People will tell you that you have to do this, or that, or that veganism is unnatural, or that veganism is the way we were meant to eat, blah, blah, blah.

    You'll be okay if you make your own food (invest in a pressure cooker for the beans), eat as much variety as possible, and stay away from soy

    Totally agree and great advice. Other people can eat filthy animals if they want. I could care less.(joke) He is right, though, it is not difficult to do so ignore negativity and see for yourself. Beans, quinoa, lentils, etc are staples but you'll learn as you go which is normal so don't stress about it, just enjoy. My added advice is to pick out only two different veggies and two different fruits for the week and switch it up to different ones each week after that (dont go crazy trying to get so many at once). And being open to try new things, experiment and learn is important. You'll be amazed how much variety there is. Soy products and processed vegan food is more for treats when you crave something. Youtube videos for vegan meals are inspiring and give tou great ideas. Think about what you will crave the most and see if that really turns out to be true. I thought I'd crave steak but turns out i craved Bologne most of all. Go figure. I went vegan to lower my cholesterol and it worked for me. I wish you tons of happiness!
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