No longer a Vegan after 11 years

When I went back to Uni one of the units, I took was environmental politics. It had a massive impact on me and changed the way I lived, forever.
In the first months I didn’t eat for weeks,I didn’t buy any clothes, makeup, cleaning products, and so on. It made me so depressed. From there I moved to being a veggie. I too have digestive problems I progressed into a vegan diet. I became so ill, I had terrible joint pain, tiredness, dizziness, low mood, headaches and so on. I actually collapsed, my doctor said I wasn’t absorbing vitamins and I was very vitamin and mineral deficient. I was told at the hospital a vegan diet wasn’t always a healthy one. I went back to adding milk, cheese and eggs to my diet. I went back to good health in about 9 months.
I know someone who switched to a vegan diet after having a stoke and reports to never being so well. Lots of people in my dance class follow it and seems fine but I just think it doesn’t suit everyone. If you have digestive problems you may have to take medication that makes it difficult to absorb different vitamins and veganism can exasperate that.

As a vegetarian for the last 40 years, I think we all make our own choices as to where our boundaries lie. I would find veganism very difficult and restricting. I don’t think I would have enough confidence in my nutritional knowledge to bring up a child on either a vegetarian or vegan diet.
My lovely GD is vegetarian until it comes to KFC or McDonalds!

I firmly believe that an omnivorous diet is best for most of us unless we have problems with particular foods such as wheat, dairy or shelfish. Humans have evolved as omnivores, so our digestive systems can provide the best nutrition for us if we ingest a wide and varied diet.
Following a more restricted diet involves a lot more effort to get all the nutrients we need and many people just don't have the knowledge to achieve that, particularly for children.
I do appreciate that some people can achieve this though.

I am pleased for your improved health Vumbal. I genuinely wonder what was missing from your vegan diet that had an effect after so long? Have you found out?

I was vegetarian for 33 years before going vegan 4 years ago. I'm 62, take a daily multi vit - on no other medication - and healthy. I get my B12 directly from my diet and not via an animal who produces it from theirs.

Veganism is a personal choice. I never understand why vegans come in for such criticism because we choose not to take part in the cruel meat and dairy industries. Believe me, I've heard all the arguments. I also wonder if 'animal lovers' who are carnivores truly know what happens in the process of getting their food to their tables - and I don't just mean the end process.

We do other things to reduce our carbon footprint too - drive electric (which is also heavily criticised), recycle etc. Every little helps.

Each to their own and as I said originally - glad you feel better Vumbal.

So you dislike vegans because you think they think they are better than you? Strange.
All those arguments about neanderthals and teeth are ridiculous. Ever looked at gorilla’s teeth? Wonder how many using that argument really follow a neanderthal diet ? Killing their own prey and eating basic fruit etc.
People who really believe cows and pigs lead happy lives should watch Cowspiracy and Forks over Knives on Netflix.

Following my cancer "journey", I took the advice of my clinical dietician.
No meat, no dairy.
This means I eat eggs and a small amount of fish, as well as all things vegan.
I feel very well.
Adam Day's article assumes that animals would still be bred for meat, if the majority of the population turned vegan. Idiot.

I have been vegetarian for about years. I don’t smoke or drink. My doctor is very pleased with my life style and says if everyone adopted this lifestyle he would be out of a job. By the by, vegetarian women don’t experience the ill effects of menopause. In cultures where the diet is mainly plant based, the ‘change of life’ isn’t an issue for women.

Throughout my long life I have had a varied healthy diet without additives. Was advised to eat red meat because of anaemia and oily fish to relieve osteoporosis. Don’t eat sweets apart from dark chocolate. I still cook my own meals and bread even though it is an effort but it does give me something to do. Am shocked at the lists of chemicals listed on the packets of supermarket foods.
Both my niece and granddaughter were vegetarians until they had children and are now just on varied diets.o

And my last visit to the doctors a few weeks ago, I was advised to eat plenty of meat and fish.

Really it is all about BALANCE.

We need a variety of foods to sustain our health so going down one exclusive route is very questionable.

I am not very good at labels as they tend to restrict growth but surely it is common sense to eat meat protein, veg protein, carbohydrates in a variety of forms and leaving out anything that is Processed and not in big quantities?

And please do not get me started on the damage this Vegan fad will impose on the efficacy of the soil in which we grow crops. And no matter how hard we try we cannot grow hot country fruit and veg.

Have any of you seen the enormous swathes of plastic that cover Iberian grown crops - lettuce, tomatoes etc? Not just a few hundred hectares either. Ghastly and so unhealthy.

NO BALANCE

I agree with a lot in this post jainansworth as in most things in life the answer lies in the middle ground and moderation

How are vegans to blame for imported tomatoes? 60% of food is imported including meat and fish from the other side of the world.

Every body's body has their own general and specific food requirements. "One man's food is another's poison"

Fkexitarian seems to be a healthy option for many.

Being vegan was a choice I made and like some it didn't work out for me. I respect that everyone will be taking a different approach to their life and health. To be truthful I'm envious of those who are able to eat whatever and whenever they like with no consequence. But the path I'm now on seems to be working.

PS We all need a lil' helper - mine is chocolate - love the stuff. Probably not a good health choice

Georgesgran

Pedant warning!
It’s bugged me for ages when people say they’re vegan when what they are doing is following a vegan diet. As I understand it - a true vegan doesn’t use, wear, or consume anything from fish/animal/bird sources?

Yes, that is no wool, leather, skin, fur, honey et . It is difficult as cars tend to have leather seats. No quite sure what vegans did for clothes before the invention of nylon etc. Will have to ask my daughter. She has been vegetarian then vegan most of her life and has been a successful athlete and now runs marathons, she is careful what she eats.

It is a way of life not a diet.

My niece recently announced that she is a non-binaryvore. This evidently allows her group to claim they are vegan or carnivore depending on the day and the company they are in.
I pointed out that that made her omnivore, but she said no, because on vegan days they don’t eat or wear animal products.
She’s promised to let me know which she is when they visit next month (Covid permitting). Such fun!

Linda MCartney was vegetarian - it didn’t prevent her dying from cancer, the guy who started the jogging for health empire died young. If you read with an open mind, you will see that a number of the afflictions associated with ’bad diet’ eg. dairy, red meat, cheese, pastry etc. etc are based on research of reasearches on dodgy scientific premises. Clinical trials are of limited value because we cannot know if diet, as opposed to genetic predisposition, is the cause of an individual’s death. The probable answer is in variety and moderation.

Georgesgran

Pedant warning!
It’s bugged me for ages when people say they’re vegan when what they are doing is following a vegan diet. As I understand it - a true vegan doesn’t use, wear, or consume anything from fish/animal/bird sources?

yes I understand this too....no honey, no products where bees are used for controlled pollination....there are other issues too. Some vegan products, notable avocado are notoriously bad for the planet.
I am another person who cannot be vegan or even veggie due to digestive issues. I have tried but cannot do it.

Another ex-vegetarian here. I became chronically ill after 5 years as one. After giving up on the NHS, I saw a functional medicine doctor who told me that some people are just genetically not suited to being vegetarians and need a little meat. He said two small portions of high welfare meat per meat should be enough and it was. For me it's about cutting down on meat - some people have it EVERY day and with every meal. Some people can't choose a sandwich without having meat on it. if we all had a minimum of 2 meat free days a week, that would enormously reduce the amount of meat eaten (and reduce the carbon footprint of those animals) without having to give up completely. These days I do 2 days meat, 2 days fish, and 3 days veggie, which keeps me feeling well. And, yes, as a veggie I used to get very depressed - which fish oil supplements got rid of within a couple of weeks.

Not sure if this is relevant, but why do so many restaurants assume that if you are vegetarian or vegan, you must love nuts and seeds. I am allergic (EpiPen) to nuts and many seeds and as a vegetarian it can be very tricky for me to eat out!

Tictacnana I totally agree. I had no menopausal symptoms. It wasn't until many years later that I discovered why...I had been veggie since I was 28.

Sorry to disagree with the poster who said vegetarians don't suffer with the menopause - I have two close friends, one of whom has been a vegetarian since her teens and the other was a vegetarian most of her life and latterly vegan, and both suffered horrendous menopausal symptoms. It may well be the case that many don't - but it's completely untrue to say that all vegetarians will sail through menopause unaffected.

There is no carbon footprint for pasture fed animals. It’s mass indoor intensive farming that is a culprit and is also IMO very cruel. Not only that but unnatural. Feeding cows a diet of pellets made from dead animals resulted in BSE. Cows are herbivores and shouldn’t be fed in this way. Anyone who eats meat should make sure it’s pasture fed.

Alison333

Not sure if this is relevant, but why do so many restaurants assume that if you are vegetarian or vegan, you must love nuts and seeds. I am allergic (EpiPen) to nuts and many seeds and as a vegetarian it can be very tricky for me to eat out!

Almost impossible. I’ve been put in hospital by undisclosed nut milk on one occasion and nut “flour” used for thickening in soup on another.

I don’t quite know why it’s such a blind spot in vegan/vegetarian cafes. It’s like we don’t have to think about what’s in our food because we’re healthy??