Should I Become a Vegan?

I personally really like being a vegan. It forces me to really plan and examine my diet and therefore I have consumed more fruits and vegetables than I ever have before. It is totally up to you though, if you have the time, the commitment and the patience it is truely rewarding. Also, over time, you stop craving the things you once did. Truely a magical experience and I will never go back

Things to watch out for. I tried to become vegan & I lasted about 3 months. Weight loss was nominal and I actually had some digestion issues with an increase in fiber. I would get really stressed out when it came to shopping and I actually spent more money making sure I had all my bases covered. In the end being vegan wasn't for me, I started eating more meat, but don't have it for every meal and I try to get my meat organic. There are a lot of great vegan recipes to incorporate in your daily regimen without having to go full fledged vegan. Or try a juice feast or going vegan for a week to incorporate the benefits. Happy researching!

I've been vegan for about 6 months now. I haven't lost a lot of weight, but I *HAVE* been able -with my doctor's blessing and surprise - reversed my diabetes and gone off of all meds. I've also got very shiny hair, strong nails, my 57 year-old skin looks amazing, and I'm sleeping through the night without any night sweats. THAT is awesome for a woman of my age.

It's a lot of work and planning. As someone said 'French fries and ketchup are vegan". So are chips.

As I did more and more research, it did become as much about the health of the animals and of the planet, as it was about my own, but I really try not to be too sanctimonious about it... but it sure is hard once you know what you didn't know before...

Good luck with whatever choice you make.

everyone is a vegan wen their born until they have sex. i read about surgery to make woman vegans again but their not real vegans again

+1 :drinker:

Well, if you're mostly eating veggie/vegan foods now, just keep eating them. You don't necessarily need the label, do you? And even being vegan, I am sure you still need to watch your calories/fat intake, just as you would with a full food diet.

turkey, fish, seafood or chicken

You just listed some of the healthiest foods there are. All of those have great benefits for your body. If you aren't eating those because you think they are unhealthy, what DO you eat?

Being a vegan is no healthier than not, when eaten in moderation. Makes it easier to get protein too if you eat the meat.

If you like meat, and you dont have any issues, whether ethical or biological, then there is no reason to go vegan.

THIS^^ There is no reason to choose vegan over omnivorous except any ethical reasons one might have. It's not healthier, and makes it a lot more difficult to get all needed nutrients. You have to be VERY dedicated to be a healthy vegan.

I like veggie burgers and stuff like that too - but they are LOADED with sodium, which is not good for you so I don't know that it's any healthier than just eating some fish or meat.....

and that's a pretty major lifestyle change - especially when you've only been thinking about it for the last day or so - and doing it not to gain back weight - definitely not a good reason. I think learning how to eat right is part of the lifestyle change that will keep the weight off..... this does NOT mean cutting out meat (and switching to so called healthy veggie burgers that are reallly no more healthy than meat).....

The biggest problem with the average American's diet is processed food, and imitation meats made from soy and other vegetable products are some of the most highly processed foods that exist. These products are NOT healthy and if a vegetarian or vegan diet is mostly based on these it's as unhealthy as the omnivore junk food junkie's diet. Lean organic meat is much healthier.

For those who are not familiar with what the term vegan means -- it simply means a person who does not consume any animal products what so ever.

So it's not someone from the same planet as Spock?? :laugh: :laugh: :noway:

Spock is from Vulvan, not Vega.

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: This made me laugh so much harder than it should have.

I meant Vulcan

I would say it's a bad idea for anyone, even people opposed to eating animals for ethical reasons. If you're concerned about ethical treatment for animals, there are plenty of organic, humane local farms in most places that don't treat their livestock like...well, livestock. I personally tried doing a vegan diet, and although I was doing my best to get adequate proteins, vitamins, minerals, etc, I still felt sick, tired, and weak all the time. I couldn't do it for very long and I wouldn't recommend anyone try it honestly. It's not worth it.

Now I just do what I can when I can and only buy organic or locally farmed meats / dairy. It's not always viable, but hey, I'm human and I do what I am financially capable of given my family's income. Being vegan is extremely hard for most people. If you have the money to buy only organic and only locally farmed / organic meat / dairy - you should do that instead I think. Much better for the animals and for your local farmers. And, much healthier for you!

Just to clarify, there are plenty of vegans (in fact most who follow it based in its original premise) who don't eat animals for more than welfare reasons. Please don't assume that all who abstain from eating animals for ethical reasons do so only because of modern industrial farm animal production, though there are plenty of veg*ns who do. Some people believe it is wrong to consume or otherwise exploit animals for any reason.

^^^This. I hesitate to even post this because because I don't want to get in to some big veg*n debate- but some of us were vegetarians since before factory farming became a hip issue. I was first a vegetarian at 3y/o when I befriended a chicken at the farm down the road from my house, only to make the mental connection between my buddy chicken and dinner chicken. As most toddler's convictions go, it didn't last long, but when I was 11 I made the switch permanently.

P.S.I think someone already alluded to this, but there's some really messed up stuff that goes on at "organic" dairy and meat farms. If you have ethical issues with meat/dairy, the organic seal means virtually nothing.

It all depends who is caring for the animals. Factory farming or 'organic' farming doesn't mean anything if the people working there aren't doing things correctly. There are plenty of factory farms who treat their animals good and I'm sure organic farms as well and visa versa. Just depends on the individuals who are there and just as in any profession and in life in general you're going have some who aren't so nice and some who are.

I tried for almost two years to maintain a more-or-less strict Vegan lifestyle, starting out primarily for dietary reasons, but morphing into more of an animal welfare/ethical rationale. Let me tell you, maintaining a Vegan lifestyle is hard work. It's almost a full time job. I found myself agonizing over the fact that my cars (both purchased before my new-found lifestyle) both featured leather upholstery. Needless to say, my shoes, belts, a couple of my jackets, my wallet, untold other small items around the house, were all made of leather. What started as a dietary choice became political and ethical, and ultimately, untenable. I'm not about to give my shoes, belts, jackets, cars and my wallet a "decent burial". I did replace my wallet after it wore out with a cool camo wallet I found at the Miramar Base Exchange while visiting my daughter and her family, though.

So, one might say that I've failed in my Vegan quest.

I still refuse to eat meat (including, of course, fish). I do my best to avoid dairy and eggs, but these staples are contained in most processed foods you buy in the store. If I go out to eat, I will not freak out if my salad contains bits of cheese or egg. It's too much trouble to keep sending things back to the kitchen. (And who knows what happens to your meal back there when you do that, anyway?)

I draw the line at eating dead animals. The thought leaves me feeling ill. I don't think I will ever eat flesh again. But that's just me.

Bottom line: Don't choose a Vegan or Vegetarian lifestyle to lose weight. There are easier ways to balance your diet than eliminating all animal products. On the other hand, if you are concerned with animal welfare issues, I encourage you to consider trying the Vegan lifestyle.

I've been vegetarian for 30 years and vegan off an on. I'm pretty solidly vegan now. I think it's the healthiest way to eat in the world.

If you're saying that in vegan vs omnivorous, vegan is always healthier, you're plain and simple wrong. I can eat a totally vegan junk food diet and a totally healthy diet including animal products. YOUR diet may be healthy, but there's nothing intrinsically more healthy about simply being vegan.

I was a Vegetarian for over a year and Vegan for 6 months of that.

One day I was out with my BF and a friend. We went out for ribs. I became a Vegetarian that day after seeing the huge pile of bones in the middle of the table. It grossed me out and I couldn't even smell meat after that without getting sick. Then I started doing research. After that I became Vegan for ethical reasons.

It was the hardest 6 months of my life. I ended up divorced. I believe that was part of it. He resented me because of it. He would cook greasy sausages without a lid and expect me to clean up the grease off the floor, etc. But that's another story.

Being Vegan is healthy as long as you keep your diet balanced.

Oh, and one day I craved a steak and went to Outback. It was over. Poor cow!

Ive been vegan and vegetarian and now I try to moderate the animal products I eat. While i was strict vegan, I don think I researched enough on how to supplement nutrients and therefore I didnt lose any weight. I felt great at the start, it was a great cleanse of my system. I think its a great idea for anyone to limit the amount of animal products and processed foods they put in their body and that should be the main motivator, if anything. For me, I find that if I dont eat enough protein, I will not lose weight and i dont have any energy. I found that I was eating too much soy product in order to get the protein I needed to maintain. Its for that reason I started eating small amounts of meat again and dairy. I hope you find what works for you the best.

Further, I would recommend the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine site (www.pcrm.org) for a plethora of completed research.

If you're interested in info from a fanatical animal rights group that seeks to remove eggs, milk, meat and seafood from the American diet, and to eliminate the use of animals in scientific research, that's the best place to go to.

Well...parden me for pointing out that I've read a lot of "I thinks" in this thread. Those that claim meat is necessary for a balanced diet are full of, well, blarney! They are not taking all the hormones and antibiotics used in the meat industry, nor the fact that many of the so called "organic" raised animals are still sent to the same slaughterhouses into account. Additionally, you would not believe the junk that is contained in animal feed. There is excellent, and scientifically cited, research in support of a vegan diet and would recommend you do your own research before making a decision. If you're up for some reading, I recommend The China Study. Further, I would recommend the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine site (www.pcrm.org) for a plethora of completed research.

Well, I took the time to check out thePCRM's website. I didn't find any peer-reviewed research there. What do you mean by "scientifically cited?" Usually, valid scientific findings are published in established journals that are peer-reviewed. You know, like "Nature" or "The New England Journal of Medicine?" Everything there is self-published. As for the China Study, it appears not have been published in a peer reviewed journal either, and it's website appears mostly to be trying to sell books. One quote in particular caught my attention; "Drawing on the project findings in rural China, but going far beyond those findings, The China Study details the connection between nutrition and heart disease, diabetes and cancer." Ordinarily it's not considered scientifically valid to "go beyond" your experimental results.

This simply isn't "proof" of anything.

Any diet can be unhealthy

Veg*n and meat eaters and both can be snobby and defensive about their preferred diet.

Also, you don’t need animal products to reach your iron and b-12 needs. B-12 comes from the soil and veg*n can supplement or just sprinkle delicious nutritional yeast flakes on food. Iron is NOT hard to obtain on a vegan diet….tis a myth. I am just addressing what I have read in this thread.

My 2 cents.

Well, to sum up, the OP, after considering it for all of 2 days, is planning to become vegan because it's better for maintaining weight. It's non-trivial to get adequate nutrition on a vegan diet, and simply BEING vegan doesn't make it healthier than a diet including meat. The OP can just as easily maintain weight on a healthy omnivorous diet, and choosing vegan because you believe it's automatically healthier or easier to maintain weight on, is simply not valid. I've seen two "snobby and defensive" vegans on this thread. I haven't seen any "snobby and defensive" omnivores. Why? Omnivores KNOW an omnivorous OR vegan diet can be healthy OR unhealthy. The two vegans mentioned don't seem to know it's possible to have an unhealthy vegan diet and/or a healthy omnivorous diet.

BTW, BOTH of these studies seem to disagree with you on B12. They both seem to indicate that vegans CAN get enough B12 but only through supplementation. One also indicates possible deficiencies of Vitamin D and calcium barring supplementation.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22493163
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19279075

My only point here is that the OP needs to do a lot of research before embarking on this dramatically different (for the OP) way of eating, to ensure proper nutrition. Two days consideration isn't enough.