Pros & Cons

Not vegan but my ex is.
Pros: animal welfare; potential for being healthier; potential for weight loss.
Cons: difficulty in finding vegan options when dining out; assuming that all vegan food intake will be healthier than a non-vegan diet; potential for nutrient deficiencies.

ETA: Of course there are plenty of examples of healthy vegans and unhealthy vegans. Mark Bittman made a major improvement in his health by going part time vegan. His book is VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00. Works for some, not everyone.

TheWJordinWJordin wrote: »

I can't imagine giving up meat FOR LIFE.

Weird. Life (as experienced by other individuals) is exactly why I gave meat up.

With the assumption that the vegan diet vs. not vegan diet is one where you are making mostly your own food (as opposed to buying a lot of processed foods, for example)...

Pros -
-does not support unethical treatment of animals.
- can be a very healthy diet in terms of increased produce in the diet (although this can be done without veganism as well).
- For any with inflammation problems, increase of produce and herbs and nuts can really impact inflammation in a positive way due to bioflavonoids in plant products.

Cons -
- can be challenging when eating away from home
-per calorie, vegan diet is more expensive. Ex: 100 g tofu is 76 calories. 100 g ground beef is 332 calories. When we're trying to lose weight, it's not a bad thing that you can more easily get lower calories food with a vegan diet. But once you hit a maintenance diet, it's good to remember that the cost will be more for the same calories.



And...considerations, maybe? -
- you need a healthy gut to be a vegan and succeed. One example of why: many plant foods have increased amounts of things like oxalates, which bind together with some of the plant's nutrients, like iron and calcium, for example. To properly have access to these nutrients, we have gut bacteria break it down and 'eat' the oxalates, thus freeing the nutrients in question. The problem is that while a lot of bacteria CAN break down oxalates, they'll do it only when there is nothing much else to eat. Only one type of bacteria that we know of preferentially consumes oxalates (Oxalobacter formigenes), and if you don't have a healthy enough gut to have this...you can actually have some trouble access a lot of the iron rich vegan sources. From what I've read, there are a number of nutrients like this, where you need to be healthy BEFORE you start eating them, for the body to properly be able to break down and digest them.

- I have seen many discussions of the impact meat eating can have on the environment in terms of the animals themselves. But it's worth exploring the impact eating plants has on the environment too, actually. Much of the more frequently consumed foods I have seen in the vegan diet (like nuts, as an example) are plants that are really not good for the environment the way we raise them (in large monocultures, in places that may not have the ecosystem to support such large crops). Almonds are a great example - California grows something like 80% of the WORLD'S almonds. It uses an ungodly amount of water to do so, year round, in a state where droughts have been terrible for years now.

If you are considering veganism that takes bees and honey into consideration, it may be important to you to know that Almonds trees, and pretty much anything from an orchard, must utilize what are essentially rent-a-bees where hives are shipped from orchard to orchard and end up in conditions that are pretty bad for the bees and may be contributing to some of problems bees have been having lately around the country. The reason we even have rent-a-bees is because the orchards are so large that you can't have a local bee population that will pollinate THEM, but still have enough food around for the bees to eat the rest of the year, the way we farm nowadays. Not to mention pesticides used on our produce (even organic pest control agents, these days), anti-fungal and anti-sprouting agents, antibiotics being sprayed on fruit tree blossoms like pears and apples, and the list goes on.

NOT trying to say that the concerns about the impact of raising animals for food are not valid, because they are, but I would recommend that if you decide to go vegan, and if part of the reason is a concern for environmental impact, that you check out what plant food you decide to eat as carefully as you checked out environmental impact of raising farm animals, you know?

The only pros & cons that I think are actually related to it being vegan vs. not vegan, as opposed to other changes that could be made within either diet:

Pro for veganism: you think eating or using animal products is unethical and want to avoid that harm.

Con for veganism: you really like meat, eggs, or dairy (or leather or wool or whatever else you'd have to give up) and would miss them.

Ultimately, our pros and cons don't matter unless you are undecided and want an ethical debate (in which case this is in the wrong section). What matters is what you think about the ethical issues, how you would feel about the change in diet, what your conscience is telling you.

If the question is about nutrition, both veganism and non veganism can be very healthful, very unhealthful, and somewhere in the middle, depending on the diet. Both can work well for weight loss, so long as you eat a diet that for you is sustainable. Going from meat eating to vegan is a pretty drastic change, so I'd start by eating a healthful non vegan diet, lots of vegetables with many meals based around non animal sources of protein, and perhaps starting with a period of vegetarianism first. But it all depends on your reasons.

maximo727 wrote: »

nowine4me wrote: »

A few questions first... are you already vegetarian? Are you considering the change for health or ethical reasons?

I'm still eating both, meats and veggies, it's just that I hit a plateau in my diet and was wondering if going vegan will increase my chances in losing more weight , and starting a healthier lifestyle.

There's plenty of overweight vegans/plant based eaters, and there's also sick/unhealthy vegans/plant based eaters. Weight loss/maintenance comes down to being at the correct calorie balance for your goals and this can be accomplished regardless of what you eat. A healthier lifestyle can also look different for different people-generally speaking though the biggies would be to not be a smoker, moderate alcohol, be active and then eat a balanced diet, which again will vary between people.

If you're interested in shaking it up-the DASH diet is highly recommended by the medical community, or the Mediterranean diet is another woe that's highly recommended. If you're leaning towards a plant based diet then why not focus on adding veggies, fruit, whole grains, nuts and seeds, beans etc. No need to cut out a bunch of stuff that you enjoy eating though-you'll find that you'll naturally start reducing some things, as you add things to your diet.