so, eating? Anyone else a Vegan? not judging other diets

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While I was on a gurney in the ER during a heart attack in '99, a nurse asked what I had eaten for dinner. Cutting chili dogs and various other things from my diet immediately after that was not a problem, and now I am motivated to also stick to what I am continuing to learn.


Understood, and Dr. Ornish does not hold Dr. Esselstyn's hard line there:

The matter of endothelial function is crucial for someone such as myself, and even fish get their Omegas from plants, I have heard. In my own case, I add flax seed meal to my morning oatmeal and I am looking for a nutritionist, nurse, doctor or anyone else who can help me be sure I do not do anything foolish here.

I've been vegetarian for years now and I love it. I also rarely eat any dairy products, but I do have eggs every now and then, since I now buy free range direct from our local farmers market.

I'd wanted to go vegetarian since childhood, so I was so excited when I finally did it. My main reason was for my own personal ethical reasons, as an animal lover. But the more I did it, the more interested I became in the health benefits too, so that's now another motivating factor for me. It took some time to learn what to eat to ensure I get all the nutrients I needed, but I really enjoy learning about healthy living so it was fun.

But as others have said here, I know that what's right for me may not be right for someone else, so I don't judge anyone for eating meat. Everyone has their own path to follow in life. But for me, I really love being vegetarian and my health has definitely improved.

I think that fat or carbohydrate is good/bad stuff is in general nonsense. In general healthy eating is about receiving the daily supply of nutrition AND energy that you need. So its not about "This or that I am forbidden to eat and I need to avoid it by all means." but about: What should I eat today, so I get an healthy nutrition AND my calorie supply. Calories are not evil in themselves, its what keeps us running and working. ^^ There is nothing bad about an avocado, as long as its fitting in your nutrition/calorie plan ^^ (And yop, a mini-amount of fat is useful, because certain vitamins get better digested with a bit of fat. So nothing bad about some drops of oil to add in your salad, as long as we are talking about drops and not "draining in mayonnaise" ^^.)

In a normal daily meal plan, as long as you avoid all kind of junk food/sweeties/chips, there is normally no prob with eating once a day as well something that has a bit more fat or carbohydrates, in the opposite you will mostly need it. Simply care about the balance: Avocado or nuts = much energy, but as well much nutrition. While eating as example some pure fat or pure sugar candies offers you much energy, but rather zero useful nutrition. So when eating 1000 calories of such stuff on a day, the problem is simply, that its get harder to get your needed daily healthy nutrition, when you still have to care to eat 100% of your daily nutrition, but have only 50% of your energy amount left to eat.

But normally if you avoid all that stuff like soda pops ... you can eat easily two light meals (each about 500 calories) and a more "heavier" meal a day. (about 1000 calories)

I've found that eating several small meals per day rather than a fewer larger ones, keeps me more level headed with consistent energy.

I'm vegetarian. I aspire to veganism but don't stick to it all of the time. It's hard to at the moment, when I live with my family and my family are not vegan, and there are often no vegan options.

I am sorry people made fun of you and my intent was not to ridicule your diet but please understand that I have both diabetes type 2 and celiac disease in my family. For many years I was almost bed bound with CFS type symptoms and it was the paleo diet that reversed that and brought me back to life. The diet is lower in carbs than a vegan diet and omits gluten grains as well. This is significant given the celiac disease and diabetes my family are stricken with. There are some people who cannot consume a vegan diet due to health problems (such as autoimmune disorders) that prevent them from doing so. In their case the paleo diet is a good option and it is used to treat diabetes in some European countries and is also beneficial for those with celiac due to it removing gluten and lactose (another substance they can struggle with) from their diet.

I won't comment further but in all fairness it is not always about ridiculing someone, sometimes what is a healthy diet for one is not a healthy diet for another. We all have genetic differences that contribute to what we need as individuals diet wise. I would quite frankly be unwell on a vegan diet due to its reliance on carbs and grains.

I know this because every time I put grains back in I start getting sick again. There is no way I could get the nutrients I need in my diet without fortified cereals or grains if I ever went vegan.

Besides my brain works more optimally on protein and fats than on carbs...carbs just give me brain fog and make me sleep lots.

Also I am a bit allergic to soya.

I am Vegan and I don't eat soy and I have eaten a diet that is quite high in protein, to say only meat can get you high protein is to lie about the Vegan diet.

also this is the second time the paleo diet has been preached here so I will go ahead with my statemnt about it

the diet people go on and CALL paleo has zero to do with what people did 20,000+ years ago

back then you had to run your animal down and club it, I am certain you do not do that, you meat is factory farmed and that means it is full of hormones and anti-biotics - all of which are far less healthy and do harm that the meat 20,000 years ago did not wild meat from back then was far purer and the exercise gotten in getting it fixed much of the problems receive about the excess cholesterol

any people who have problems with a vegan diet are just like people with problems on standard diets, not eating a balanced diet, you want minerals and vitamins eat plenty of every color of vegetable and fruit

you want omegas - get Flax or Chia

add healthy fats as your body needs to create its own cholesterol for proper nerve function, things like avocado and olives are great for this

for protein - nuts, legumes, all varieties of beans

of course if all you eat is McDonald's fries and fast food "vegan" options you will be unhealthy or GMO anything, just do it right and you will be fine

What is up with these endless assumptions that veganism requires massive amounts of carbs, and is therefore unhealthy? Some people may eat too much carbs, but that is not a requirement of veganism. Too many carbs are too many carbs, whether consumed by a vegan, a vegetarian, a pescatarian, or someone on an omnivorous diet.

Also, there is a difference between the carbs in veggies, fruits, and legumes, whole grains, and refined grains, so I don't even know what people are talking about when they talk about vegans eating too many carbs.

this is the point I have been trying to make

people who refuse to eat healthy or have bad habits are going to keep them no matter what book they read or particular diet they change to

if you keep going to fast food or packaged/processed but choose the items that fit your "magic" diet of the moment you will still be unhealthy

the key is to eat healthy choices and balance no matter what version of diet you are on.

I have been a vegetarian for quite awhile and the only thing I experience is getting small sores in my mouth from time to time from not eating animal flesh. This is quickly rectified by taking amino acid supplements which I do regularly now. I feel this is a small price to pay for not eating animal flesh. I have not had a physical checkup since I stopped eating meat but I can only imagine my overall health has improved.

you must not be eating the right vegetable proteins then or you have a malabsorption problem, I have been complete vegan for quite a while and have fewer deficiencies than when I ate meat, I even now am NOT anemic even though when I ate meat I WAS anemic.

I have a question for vegans. Do you take vitamin B12 supplements? Is it necessary?
I'm not a vegetarian but I eat loads of vegetables and fruits everyday but also take all kinds of vitamins because I'm paranoid I'm not getting enough.
So I was just wondering what your take on the claim that vegans have to take vitamin B12 supplements. Do you think you need it?

Thanks for the info Give Peace a Chance

I use a sublingual tablet I first heard about several years ago, but I let my wife be the one deciding its necessity for me:
http://www.trivita.com/superboffer/ingredients.aspx

Thank you for your reply. You're lucky to have someone who looks out for you.

I'm vegetarian, not vegan, but I do need to take multivitamins on occasion. I take one or two tablets a month, not every day; if I forget, I start wanting to eat ice for some reason.