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I was vegetarian for 2 years (not for health reasons, I wanted to help the environment). During these 2 years, I was the healthiest I had ever been. I felt GREAT. I am 5’9 (F), and when I was vegetarian, I fluctuated between 145-155 lbs. I felt energized, happy, and I felt very satisfied with my diet. I was mindful of my protein intake (eating a lot of eggs, lentils, protein shakes, protein bars, greek yogurt, nuts) and I also made sure to take a multivitamin with B12. My doctor never had any complaints about my vegetarian diet and said that my health was great. If you have any other questions or need tips, just shoot me a message
Sure you can be healthy. Just make sure to hit protein targets consistently, because that’s where most fail, and keep tabs on your micronutrients, supplementing where low and you should thrive.
Also, be aware that the bioavailability of plant protein is lower than that of animal protein in general, you you will also need to consume more to get an equivalent benefit.
There are too many studies to link showing the benefits of a vegetarian diet. May reduce your risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and more.
Anecdotal responses about autoimmune disorders or whatever are just that, anecdotes. You can’t know if that person was going to get it or not regardless, and if it was maybe delayed or not as bad. But we do know when we look at large scale studies with millions of people, this type of approach is equal if not likely better for you (and absolutely better for the planet, that is undeniable).
Now the caveat of course is that a vegetarian or plant exclusive (vegan) diet does require a little bit of extra thought. There are specific nutrients of concern, including protein, calcium, iron and vitamin B12, to name a few. These are all quite easy to get, but if you don’t pay attention to what you’re eating, there are risks over time.
Tons of great resources online to help guide you, but yes, this can be a great positive impact on your health.
Most ex vegans didn’t follow the dietary guidelines and went raw fruitarian or some other dumb route. Dietary organizations around the world agree vegan diets can meet all dietary needs and likely reduce risk of disease
Your mother is wrong. That happens sometimes.
The specific idea that a vegan diet would give you an autoimmune disorder… is quite frankly absurd, to me. Here’s a good explanation of how the immune system works in general, but basically, an autoimmune disease happens when:
>Autoimmune disease happens when the body’s natural defense system can’t tell the difference between your own cells and foreign cells, causing the body to mistakenly attack normal cells.
In order for a vegan diet to cause autoimmune disease… one of the plants you’re eating, would have to look so much like human cells, that the immune system gets confused and mistakes the two for one another.
That’s… not a thing. In fact, the opposite is true; there’s a certain kind of tick called the lone star tick whose bite can give you a red meat allergy. Why? Because your immune system detects a protein in the tick’s saliva and learns to fight it off… but the protein is really similar to one in red meat, so your immune system ends up in a state where it thinks the red meat you eat is an invader.
A lone star tick bite doesn’t give you a cabbage allergy because cabbages are more different from ticks than red meat is. And the thing is? Autoimmune disorders can develop later in life, but also eating meat isn’t going to prevent that. If there’s a highly allergenic plant that can mess with your immune system, it’s going to do that whether you’re an omnivore or not.
I’ve been vegan for over 8 years and my only minor deficiency I once had was D3, but I’m a ginger from Western Europe who loathes the sun. Lol.
The only thing you should supplement is B12, but that is not exclusively a vegan ‘problem’. Livestock is literally injected with B12. A supplement is fine.
People on exvegan are full of shit. It’s a circlejerk of people who were never vegan in the first place (they were plantbased), and 90% of what I see they hardly even knew what they were eating. Lacking protein. Lacking fats. Lacking carbs. Lacking calories in general. Many seem to suffer from what I call Miley Cyrus syndrome aka using veganism as a scapegoat for whatever issue they come across.
Honest to god, veganism is easy. The vegan diet is easier. Just eat balanced meals and eat enough.
Been a accidental vegetarian for awhile, meats too pricy for me. I live off Greek yogurts and nuts mostly. Quite the bachelor lifestyle. Supplement with vitamins and stuff the body needs though so I’m not drained. Feelin great down 80 and still got my 270 gravity fighting muscles.
Two of my best friends are vegan - they’re also incredibly unhealthy from what I’ve seen/heard. But they also are the types of vegans to eat a shit ton of processed fake meats/cheeses and sub animal products with a shit ton of wheat and sugar.
Another vegan friend looks super fit and pretty good for his age. He eats a fairly balanced diet full of natural foods.
I have a carnivore friend who is probably the most unhealthy of everyone I know. I have another who seems in amazing shape.
You’ll find loads of research to support all sorts of diets. It can be overwhelming.
Ethically and physically, most meat didn’t agree with me growing up. Neither did going vegan (especially with a gluten sensitivity). I found a nice healthy balance for me and am now pescatarian with a focus on whole natural foods (I ‘cheat’ often, life is about balance). I’ve done this for 15 years and besides having to add B12 and D3 (mainly due to winters in Canada, not diet), I’m in good shape.
Not sure my point here except find what works for you. Being in the middle my hardcore carnivore friends tease me and my vegan friends tease me. But a pescatarian diet is what works for me.
I think it makes the most sense to clarify what you mean by “healthy “. Healthy is a term that when by itself, is meaningless. Healthy in comparison to something; so what are you comparing to what?Similar example is “good “.
This is the thing… it can do health wonders for you or can wreck your body.
It depends on a few factors including but not limited to:
Can you have a healthy vegan life? Absolutely. It takes care and planning but it can be done.
Can you have a healthy carnivore life? Absolutely, it takes care and planning but can be done.
Is it easier to be an omnivore because you have more food options, sure.
Are some people’s bodies not well suited to one or more of the options above? Yep.
It’s all about being intentional with what you eat, tracking your body metrics when you make big changes, and making changes if things are moving in the wrong direction.
You got this! Be careful but do what speaks to you.
Yes. I’ve been WFPB for over 18 months now. I am healthier now than at any point in my life. Pick just about any measure - objective or subjective - and I’m in a better place. When I track my nutrient intake, I get virtually everything I need from my diet, with some supplementation… some would take that as proof that you can’t be healthy on this diet. The thing is, every dietary pattern is deficient in some respect. Eat alot of meat and you get no fiber, that kind of thing. And what I found is that my current dietary pattern has fewer deficiencies than what I had before. I’ve taken to fitting in specific foods to fill in some gaps here and there, but that has always been true. Even people who believe they’re getting enough of a nutrient because they eat x aren’t generally getting enough. For example, B12 is a big issue… but not JUST for folks eating plant-based. There’s a reason the US government recommends that everyone over the age of 50 supplements B12 (absorption through meat isn’t great, even if you’re young and healthy, but as you age your ability to absorb it from meat starts to drop). Or what about omega-3s? Many would argue ‘but I eat fish!’ That’s great. How often? Are you eating it ENOUGH to get all the EPA/DHA you need? Most people aren’t. And like I said, don’t get me started on fiber. The US government recommends around 30 grams per day (which is actually low), but the average American is getting barely half that. You want a sense of just how important fiber is go read “Fiber Fueled”.
In terms of my overall health, my cholesterol fell (from 193 overall, 124 LDL, to 157 and 89 respectively). My BP fell (last doctor’s visit it was 110/70). My energy level improved - my energy level has gotten crazy. My stamina improved. My work-out recovery time dropped to just about zero. I’ve been building muscle. If all of that isn’t a testament to the nutritive power of this diet, I don’t know what is.
In terms of immune issue… that’s interesting. I have an immune response called Behcet’s. Horrible disease. I HAD been getting regular outbreaks (every few months). I haven’t had a single sign of an outbreak since eating this way. The disease seems to have gone into full remission (and, yes, there IS scientific evidence that this isn’t anecdotal). So, no, you don’t need to eat meat/eggs/milk to be healthy. There are some people who don’t thrive on this type of diet, but you won’t know if you do or not unless you give it a go.
BTW here is a preliminary study that looked at Butyrate supplementation for people with my disease:
https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.120.317789
Basically folks with my disease are deficient in a couple important pro-biotics that are responsible for producing butyrate (a very beneficial short-chain fatty acid). So they supplemented them with butyrate and saw this:
“In conclusion, this proof-of-concept trial shows for the first time that 2 butyrate-enriched diets modulate blood redox status and promote fibrin degradation, which is impaired by a neutrophil-dependent mechanism (via ROS) in BS.1 Although disease activity significantly improved, a 3-month butyrate-enriched diet did not affect GM composition and SCFAs production,5 suggesting that longer nutritional interventions are needed for scratching microbial resilience.”
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Bolding is mine. Yes, they didn’t detect increases in these two pro-biotics, increasing butyrate in the body DID lead to reduced symptoms of the disease. How do you get our microbiota that produced butyrate to grow? By feeding it the appropriate pre-biotics - aka, fiber. Granted, this study didn’t look at that, and they are commissioning a new study to see what happens when you change dietary patterns to these microbiota.
It all depends on where you live.
I’d never be able to go vegetarian where I live now in Southern Ontario (there’s a grocery price spike going on right now), but I was accidentally a vegetarian in BC due to availability of delicious foods. If I were middle class I’d probably be able to get away with a vegetarian diet here, but where I grew up (The NWT) you can’t grow enough veggies to have a sustainable vegetarian diet unless you are rich.
Meeting people who have had successful vegetarian diets I can say from experience that 1, you cannot engage in that diet if you are below the poverty line. 2, you cannot compare your own diet to another vegetarian’s diet.
There are essential nutrients that can only be found in plants, and surprisingly all essential nutrients meaning we are unable to naturally biosynthesize. with our Endo cannabinoid system are sourced in plants. Some nutrients are found in other sources, such as meat and mushrooms, but all essential nutrients such as minerals, vitamins, fats, proteins, and carbohydrates can be found in plants.
hemp seed being number one staple food for humans.
I’ve been vegan for years and doing even better now than when I ate meat! Your mom is giving you stereotypical reasons why it’s not healthy and that’s just not factual! Watch a documentary like forks over knives, what the health, or game changers. Read about the health benefits of vegetarianism/veganism and you’ll be able to prove every reason why your mom thinks it’s bad as wrong
being only a vegetarian is fine. you miss out on the most convenient source of pretty much every single essential nutrient, but as long as you have plenty of non-meat animal products you’re fine
as a vegan on the other hand it’s so inconvenient to meet nutritional needs I’d say it’s pretty much impossible. there are so many nutrients which are quite inconvenient to obtain in the necessary amounts from non-animal sources
I’ve been vegetarian for almost a year. I ate eggs, milk products and all kind of vegetables.I had to stop because I was very low in iron.I felt very weak and my doctor advised me to eat meat again.This was my experience.I still think eating meat every day is needed.
You’ll have deficiencies eating 100% vegetarian, and you’ll have deficiencies eating 100% carnivore.
You can take vitamin supplements, or just eat meat once a day or every other day to satiate your needs.
Are you going vegetarian for ethical reasons or health reasons?
Nutrition Concerns and health effects of vegetarian diet
You are missing on b12 and creatine mostly. You can easily and cheaply supplement that.
The other problem is protein. Don’t worry about the myth of protein combining, but try to hit the total protein goal daily. This can easily be achieved by having medium protein foods with every meal (4x a day)
You have to be more careful with what you eat if you don’t include animals in your diet. If you go full vegan you have to be much much more careful because your protein sources will be less bioavailable and you are going to really struggle with getting enough B12, calcium, iron, and zinc. This doesn’t mean you will be unhealthy, it means you have to pay more attention to nutrition.
Do you eat fish? Fish gets you all of the nutrients that you can find in meat & eggs. Smaller fish (sardines, shellfish etc) & farmed fish are ethical choices if your meat avoidance is due to ethical reasons.