A Vegan Diet is Not Healthy

April 12, 2012

I’m mentally preparing myself for this one. Because it’s inevitable I’ll receive at least a few heated comments on this post. But that’s the cool thing – you can say whatever you’d like in your comment, the same way I can post whatever I’d like on my blog. So just keep that in mind if you don’t agree with what I have to say. And do try to be at least semi-courteous. You may or may not want to speak your thoughts to my face, but do remember that we are all people here, not just some nameless, faceless computer bots with gravatars.

So veganism. Generally defined as a diet and lifestyle which includes no animal products or animal by-products whatsoever. No meat, dairy, eggs, honey, etc.

I want to make two main points here about why I believe a vegan diet is not a healthy one long term. I’m not here to debate the ethics or morality of eating animals. Full disclosure: I am an omnivore. I eat meat. And I don’t believe it is cruel to do so. But that’s because I also believe all animals should be raised in an environment conducive to their health and well-being, i.e. not CAFO operations or battery cages.

I don’t believe a vegan diet or lifestyle is ecologically sustainable, either. If you want to delve more into that, I highly recommend reading Folks, This Ain’t Normal by Polyface farmer Joel Salatin. Life changing book.

So point number one about a vegan diet:

If You Don’t Do it Right, Don’t Do it at All

Did you notice that cheese puffs or white bread aren’t animal products? Do you know some vegans or vegetarians who are more like carb-etarians or junk-ans? Just because you don’t eat red meat or cow’s milk doesn’t mean you are automatically healthier. (By the way, the vast majority of all those ‘scientific’ studies that say red meat causes cancer were done using CAFO beef. Of course animals kept in confinement standing knee deep in their own poop, and being pumped full of hormones and antibiotics, and being fed a completely abnormal diet of corn and candy wrappers will produce some nasty meat that can absolutely cause disease in your body. Same thing goes for pasteurized cow’s milk. But I digress . . . )

Here’s the deal – when done right, a vegan diet makes a fantastic detox diet in the short term. Scads of people have switched from a junk food diet of processed and fast food, replaced it with a vegan diet full of raw vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, and legumes and have seen their health improve drastically. All those foods are incredibly healthy superfoods! And the vast majority of people in the Western world would do well to abide by that sort of a diet for a few weeks or months.

But (and this brings me to my next point) a long-term vegan diet is not a wise way to go. Many people (like John Nicholson) find their health deteriorating at a rapid rate when following a vegan diet.

A Vegan Diet is Not Nourishing

This is so fascinating to me. Did you know that without plenty of healthy fats in your diet, you are not able to assimilate and absorb the nutrients in fruits and vegetables? This means you can eat kale and bell peppers until you are green in the face, but if you’re not consuming enough healthy saturated fat, it’s like you didn’t even need to bother.

And where do you find these healthy fats? Sure, you get them from coconut, avocado, almonds, and olive oil, but these sources are not always in season, not always convenient to purchase in your area, and are not always present in your diet in a high enough quantity on a given day to meet your body’s requirements to function properly. After all, 60% of your brain and nervous system are made of fat. We need fat for proper brain function, nerve signal transmission, and hormone balance!

But butter from grass-fed, pastured cows is rich in saturated fats, vitamin A, buytric acid, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA – a powerful cancer fighter), and lauric acid. Grass-fed, pastured beef itself is also rich in these same nutrients, as well as being a fantastic source of protein, amino acids, and vitamin B12 – which vegans must take as a supplement (a required nutrient our bodies don’t create – we must get it from animal sources).

Omnivores Healthier Than Vegetarians in Indigenous Cultures

I read an awesome anecdote about my main man Weston A. Price over on The Healthy Home Economist’s blog (she wrote a great article about how 75% of vegetarians return to eating meat). The study Price documented is very telling about how a vegetarian or vegan diet is unsuited for humans. Here she is in her words:

Dr. Price traveled the world in the 1920′s and 1930′s visiting 14 isolated cultures in the process. During this adventure which he documented in great detail with amazing pictures in his masterpiece Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, Dr. Price concluded that while the diets of these natives varied widely, nutrient dense animal foods high in the fat soluble vitamins A, D, and K (also known as Activator X) were the common denominator. Consumption of these animal foods were revered in these communities as they bestowed vibrant health, ease of fertility, healthy children, and high resistance to chronic and infectious disease.

This discovery was a disappointment to Dr. Price who had expected to find the vegetarian cultures to be the healthiest cultures of all. But, the vegetarian cultures he examined displayed more degeneration than the omnivore cultures which surprised him given that these vegetarian cultures did indeed have superior health than the Americans of his day.

A sad commentary on the state of health in the Western world with our plastic, packaged, chemical-filled foods, but a true insight into the path to optimal health – it includes animal foods!

If you are looking for quality sources of sustainably raised beef & dairy, check your local farmer’s market (find one near you on the Local Harvest website) or have it shipped to your door from Beyond Organic.

I also want to highlight an absolutely beautiful, almost poetic look at this topic from Kristen of Food Renegade. Her post, Why I’m Not a Vegan, spoke volumes to me about this issue. I think you’ll find it well worth reading.

What has been your experience with a vegan or vegetarian diet?

This post is linked to Simple Lives Thursday, Fight Back Friday, Sunday School

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Cookie Monster
March 6, 2013 at 9:45 am

So my diet can prevent and help reverse cancer… can stop heart disease… Vegans have the lowest rate for obesity and diabetes then people with any other diet. I don’t care to argue much, it’s just fact. People have their own opinions, but fact stands up to anything and everything. Do the research.
despairing vegan
March 8, 2013 at 5:52 am

Oh my goodness.

Sorry I’ve got to this thread a bit late but I’ve seen/heard this type of discussion so many times it makes me want to hit my head on something.

I’ve been a vegan for a year and a half. I’m not glowing with superhuman health, but I’m not frail and feeble either. Each to their own, and I think your attitude to what you eat – healthily or unhealthily – is much more important than whether you include dairy or meat or neither.

All you meateaters, please stop vegan-bashing – we’re not all self-righteous anaemic hippies living off buckwheat and tofu and judging the world from the sofa because we don’t have the energy to get off it.

And all you vegans, please stop saying things like “if you eat a corpse you will inhale all the hate and death and it will strangle your intestines with bad karma” because of course no-one will take you seriously.

And anyway, I thought the original debate was which diet is healthier, not who can concoct the most pseudo-moral standpoint.
Mister Boobman
March 8, 2013 at 4:42 pm

This is so simple. Anyone who takes care of their health will be healthy. You can be vegan and be unhealthy, you can eat animal products and live healthy over 100 years.
But sad truth is almost everyone eats processed food, and almost no one is physically active enough.

You think you’re healthy for cutting meat from your diet? Man, that makes NO SENSE. It’s hilarious someone can think that, ever heard of logic??
THINK. If cutting meat is so important, how about try not exercising, smoking, eating too much salt and sugar, processed food, having a stressful job, etc. And see if not eating meat makes that much of a difference.

Please…

Just for the record, being extra-thing is not being healthy. It’s being too obese and sedentary what kills you. Studies suggest even being chubby might be better for you than being super slim. Google it if you’re interested, is all over the web.

But long story short, people just love trends. Why do people always fall for the “Oh, this must be the answer!”
The answer is simple and it’s fool proof, you just need some balls to do it. And it’s not just a miracle diet, because even though diet is very important, there is more to health than what you eat or not eat. In case you forgot it’s very important being physically, mentally and socially active and avoiding stress, breathing fresh air toxin free, of course not smoking, and moderate alcohol consumption. Also being hydrated throughout the day. And when it comes to diet, you think cutting meat is important? it probably doesn’t even makes a difference. But I can guarantee you something that does make a difference: how about getting adequate calorie consumption; low sodium and low sugar (no processed food); EATING THE RECOMMENDED AMOUNT OF VEGETABLES <– very few people do this, unless they're vegans or vegetarians; eating healthy fats, getting enough fibers, complex carbohydrates, quality protein, B12, etc etc. All that makes a huge difference. If you do all this and don't have a long life (and you don't get hit by a truck or some other accident) then being vegan wasn't going to help, TRUST ME.
And what's funny about some of the studies vegetarians vs omnivorous, is that vegetarians choose a healthy lifestyle (hello? BIAS) and not to mention because of it, you can add a tendency to exercise more, and many other factors regarding health, that favors probability and makes those studies so bogus.

Get real people!
EmelineEcologie
March 12, 2013 at 5:06 pm

I’m french so excuse-me if I make mistakes.
I just want to add three things :

1) Yes, human ate meat for a long time but, then, they didn’t have an alternative and the animals were killed in the wild. They were not parked like objects or jewish people during the war.
2) Would you be able to kill the animal you’re gonna eat? To look at him and listen to him while he’s dying?
3) If slaughterhouses’s walls were made of glass, everyone would be vegan.
1. HungryAllTheTime
  March 13, 2013 at 8:53 pm
  
  First off, modern slaughter houses use methods that are quick to end the life of the animal..
  You won’t hear animals suffering or dying in there.. The noises you here in there from the animals are the exact same noises you will hear in a farm’s barn..
  
  I’m a hunter, so yes, I do kill animals that I eat.. I also slaughter them myself..
  Sure, some people have a weak stomach and pass out at the sight of blood, (even their own).
  But they still eat meat..
  
  On a side note, I would like to add that it is true that environmental human evolution plays a large part in your natural dietary needs.. And since I, like my ancestors, come from a temperate climate, my body needs a good balance of meat and vegetables..
  Most of the time my body will tell me what it needs in the form of craving.. Craving is not a want unless it’s brought on by seeing a food ad on TV or while you’re at the market shopping on an empty stomach, then everything looks good..
  I’m talking about the craving you get just out of the blue.. When you’re sitting there reading a book or playing a game and all the sudden something specific just sounds delicious to you..
  In my case, sometimes I crave only a meat product and other times I only crave fruits or vegetables..
  I may not even be hungry at the time these cravings hit, but I don’t ignore what my body is telling me..
  And just as I have cravings, I also have days I don’t really feel hungry at all and eat less.. Of course I have those days where I feel like my belly can’t get full fast enough..
  
  We are omnivores, there’s no getting around that scientific fact no matter what you try to say.. Veganism is a lifestyle choice, and I have no problem with people that choose this lifestyle unless you’re the type that try to force your view on me and others, then I refer to you as “angry vegans”..
  As for me, I will continue to listen to my body and continue to live just like every one of our ancestors did..
  
  Just for fun:
  I read earlier in this thread that someone said vegan is more like a religion..
  I find it ironic that some religious cults have been recorded as taking meat out of the diets of their members to more easily brainwash them..
  1. Sissi
    October 1, 2014 at 4:43 pm
    
    “modern slaughter houses use methods that are quick to end the life of the animal..
    You won’t hear animals suffering or dying in there”
    Oh, please…. you can’t be serious?!
Dave
March 17, 2013 at 12:08 am

Sorry, Lori. I’ll need to debate your statements. Feel free to reply. “A vegan diet is not healthy”. Wrong. A well planned vegan diet is far healthier than any other, short term or long term. The protein composing the flesh of animals, fish and fowl, was built up in the respective bodies from the live, organic atoms in the raw food they were nourished with. Such flesh, of course, is a complete protein. Before the body can digest such protein, however, it must break it down not only into the original amino acids, but also into the original atoms in order that it may build up its own protein from these original atoms and primary amino acids. In the first place the meat is poisoned when the animal is slaughtered, because of the poisons through the terrified fear of the killing. In the second place such meat is a dead product deteriorating every second after the death of the animal. In addition, the meat and amino acids are still further destroyed by the heat in cooking. All RAW vegetables and fruits contain the necessary atoms from which amino acids are formed in the system. The human body cannot utilize for constructive purposes flesh products of any kind in the form of “complete proteins,” but it can gather from the fresh vegetables and their juices, when these are fresh and properly made, the finest atoms from which to construct its own vital amino acids and protein. The eating of meat, or any flesh products or extracts, in the very nature of things, results in the accumulation of excessive amounts of acid. The most damaging is uric acid which the muscles absorb like a sponge absorbs water. As soon as the accumulation of this uric acid has reached the saturation point, it crystallizes, and the uric acid crystals form which result in many forms of disease.

I’ve been studying health and nutrition for many years, and I can assure you that an acidic state in the blood is one of the primary causes of all disease. The high content of uric acid is one of the primary reasons for anything from atherosclerosis (and therefore high cholesterol), to hypertension, arthritis and gout, diabetes, cancer, kidney stones and renal failure, and virtually any other disease. We need to to alkaline for good health. We humans do not secrete the enzyme that digests uric acid (uricase), so it’s absorbed into the bloodstream where the problems start. A raw food vegan diet is by far the healthiest, as it not only supplies a a much healthier protein, but it supplies live enzymes which digest food for us, while we take full advantage of our own pancreatic enzymes to help repair and build strong tissue, arteries, bones and organs. I teach many people in the “health field”, as most medical professionals are clueless about nutrition. I have talked to scores of biologists, chemists, doctors (including gastroenterologists and endocrinologists), and tons of naturopaths. The fats you speak of are toxic to humans. Healthy fats for humans are in nuts and seeds. Raw unrefined coconut oil is one of the healthiest fats we can consume, not animal fat. Have you ever seen a blood sample of a daily meat eater after the lipid rises to the top? It’s drastically different than one of a healthy raw vegan.

Vitamin B12 we must get from animal sources? Not true. B12 is a bacteria that lives in soil. When we eat raw, organic veggies and fruits that have grown in this soil, and we lightly wash the food, the base of the food is covered in B12. This is absorbed through the walls of the small intestine at a much higher rate than the very hard to break down meat products. And, the high acid content of meat and dairy also lead to a weaker lining of the stomach, where the parietal cells secrete a protein called Intrinsic factor, which is essential for the utilization of B12 in the small intestine. Alkaline foods like raw veggies and fruit provide and optimal state of health to the lining of the stomach.

This is only some of the reason why a raw vegan diet is much healthier than a diet including meat & dairy. I can easily supply more if needed
1. David
  September 19, 2013 at 10:21 am
  
  Well said! Good to read a little sanity in this thread!
Dave
March 17, 2013 at 1:27 am

I need to also comment on the absurdity of the people who say we are “omnivores, like it or not”. We are behavioral omnivores, we are not anatomical omnivores. I challenge anyone to debate me on that. We carry the gene that holds the uricase enzyme (which suggests that we may have been anatomically designed to digest meat at one time, but we are not now). We do not secrete the enzyme. If we were anatomical omnivores, we would secrete it, just like ALL anatomical omnivores do. Before anyone goes throwing out “but chimps eat meat” comments, they do that sporadically throughout two months of the dry season (when fruit, nuts, and seeds are scarce) as a survival tactic. Meat or insects make up only 1.4% of their diet (as proven by Jane Goodall). And, the their feces show undigested meat. When they do eat meat, they put the meat between leaves and chew, extracting the juices. These sandwiches are then, most commonly, discarded and not actually swallowed at all. I suggest Jane Goodall’s findings to learn the truth.
All anatomical omnivores secrete 10-12 times more HCL in the stomach to digest meat. To be precise, the pH in carnivores and omnivores with food in their stomachs is less than or equal to about 1.0. For humans, on the other hand, pH ranges from 2.0-4.5 with food in the stomach. This is a huge difference. We don’t digest meat like they do.
“But, what about the anthropologists? They know more than you”. Anthropologists who understand nutrition all agree one two things. One, the Australopithecus era was the first sign of consumption of animal products, and it seems that hominids were strictly fruit eaters (frugivores) before hand. The Ice Age hit, and the Australopithecus ate the leftover marrow (it seems from tools discovered) that large predatory carnivores killed and ate. This was a survival tactic, as plant foods were scarce. Discovery of skeletal remains also show signs of degenerative disease in the joints (just as meat does to us now). Jump ahead to Homo Erectus into the Homo Sapien eras, where scavenging is recorded, but hunting is very questionable. The other thing nutritionally educated anthropologists agree that development of larger brains occurred over such a long period of time that starch must have played a large role in that, suggesting that it may have been more due to starch and less due to meat, or maybe not meat at all.
Lastly, I read in a comment here “I read earlier in this thread that someone said vegan is more like a religion. I find it ironic that some religious cults have been recorded as taking meat out of the diets of their members to more easily brainwash them”.
This kind of comment is comical. The meat and dairy industry is huge money and power in this country (in this world), and lies to people to no end to get people to eat their products, even though it all causes disease. The “cult” is the people who back the corporations, when we live in a society of corporatism. Please get educated, people
Jennifer
March 18, 2013 at 1:06 am

As soon as you produce some proof of being a nutritionist, I will take what you wrote seriously. I’d advise others do the same.
1. Mike
  April 5, 2013 at 10:15 am
  
  Do you only take advice from trained professionals in life? Did you consult a professional writer before putting this comment here?
Sabrina
March 19, 2013 at 3:43 pm

Bullshit! I have been vegan for about 7 years and when I decided to become one I studied a lot on the matter. Sorry but I can say that everything you said is not true, you didn’t research enough and the only documentation you bring is a research done almost 1 century ago! Come on, try some more. You are right on one thing, you have the right to say whatever you want, but I hope that nobody is so lazy to believe you blind folded.
Lola
March 19, 2013 at 8:18 pm

In my experience as a Vegan of 4 1/2 years, I’ve never felt better in my life. I’m surprised by some of the statements here, because they have not been my experience. I was vegetarian for 9 years before becoming Vegan, and still felt the same as I had my entire life before hand. But I literally feel more “alive” than I ever did before. For me and the Vegans I’ve met, Veganism has transformed our lives and given us both the energy to function at our peak, as well as a set of principles that make me feel invigourated.

I couldn’t recommend this lifestyle more!
Holly Berrie
March 21, 2013 at 3:25 am

First I’d like to say that from a sustainability angle the earth can’t handle growing crops for everyone. To keep it short just check out the destruction agriculture causes. For successful agriculture we need grazers. (You can google the why of it) Agriculture is every bit as destructive as the livestock industry. It is a combination of the two that is successful. Think crop rotation, fertilizer,and soil retention. Second: I always hear that more people could be fed from the grain we feed the livestock. This is true. However we cannot thrive on grain alone and it’s only fed to livestock because it is cheap and plentiful. Cows and chickens should not be fed grain. It is fed to them (along with growth hormones) to produce larger animals more quickly and to increase milk and egg production. This creates an unnatural rate of cell growth and lower amounts of the fats we need and higher amounts of fats we don’t. Our current livestock practices need to be eliminated. Cows eat grasses. Grasses need to be used in crop rotation to keep the soil from becoming depleted. Manure helps to keep soil balanced as well. Chickens help to keep soil aerated and lowers pest populations. These animals are healthy to eat. As are the vegetables grown without heavy synthetic fertilizer use. These fertilizers are huge factors in pollution and fossil fuel use. This is how nature works. And it’s the only way to make our food sustainable. Third: Humans CAN eat raw meat and fish. The risk of E. Coli and salmonella is hight precisely because our livestock is fed, treated and handled poorly. People eat raw and undercooked meat all over the world. And fish too. Fourth: A human’s intestines are not as long as an herbivore’s since herbivores have very long digestive tracts because it takes a long time to FULLY digest raw fruits and vegetables. Think corn poop. It’s not how quickly it’s digested that matters but how thoroughly. Neither is the human digestive tract as short as a carnivore’s. Carnivores digest huge amounts of protein quickly and only need a short digestive tract. Interesting observation: carnivores are lean and fast animals whereas herbivores tend to be slower and heavier. Omnivores(like humans) have a digestive tract somewhere in the middle and can be either lean or fat. Fifth: In regard to the comment about Dr. Price’s study on primarily meat eating cultures eating small amounts of meat; it is simply not true. The healthiest cultures ate mostly meat and fish. The most remarkably healthy ate almost nothing but meat, fish and shellfish. And finally, from an animal rights perspective people need to realize that in nature animals relationships are inter-related. Even with plants. Plants need animal products. Animals need plant products. Taking into account that two-thirds of the earth cannot be used for farming and that the temperate zones are productive for only a short portion of the year, veganism on a global scale would be a horror for all non-human animals. Humans would use the land for a huge variety of crops. (We would have to to have a balanced diet) The animals would have to be kept out of OUR food supply. Burrowing animals would likely be poisoned. The remaining animals would be left without habitat and food. Horribly cruel. And we’re not talking just grain fields, but huge tracts of land for mostly mono crop vegetables which require space and enormous amounts of water. The animals would suffer horribly. Nature shows us how the balance works. If you go against nature(which is a complex web of life)the earth will be uninhabitable for many many years before it brings itself back into a natural balance. Who knows how much will be lost in the process?
Cameo
March 23, 2013 at 6:48 pm

OK folks. Without rewriting history or debating right and wrong here is my experience of attempting to be a Vegetarian for a 10 year period. I consumed large salads of organic spinach and various lettuce types. I never ate fried foods nor junk foods (chips,etc.) nor red meat but I would have chicken (broiled) and/or tuna/shrimp. I never drank cow milk or cheese. However, I began to lose my hair; it becoming thinner and thinner each passing year. My fingernails began to thicken and had white spots and grew “oddly”. Then, in y 50’s I was told I had thinning bones from lack of vitamin D. I added Coconut Milk, 1 oz. of cheese daily, 1 organic egg, 1 oz. of chicken in my salads; and maintained eating lots of spinach/lettuce/tom etc.
My hair is thicker and nails better. I’m doing Yoga to strengthen my bones. I was not getting enough protein/D vitamin. This matter of eating properly is complex and if you don’t want a “walker” or a “cane” in your future: LEARN WHAT WORKS FOR YOUR BODY.
sherria
March 31, 2013 at 4:27 pm

Several recent studies found human DNA in meat (in Africa). As a Vegan, I may run into a less than sweet apple or a overly ripen tomato but I don’t think I have to worry about ingesting a mouthful of human DNA. You can keep telling yourselves that dairy and meat are necessities for a good healthly diet but I’ll pass, thank you.
Ann
April 1, 2013 at 12:26 pm

I just began a vegan diet about 3 weeks ago, so I am constantly researching the healthiest ways to proceed. I can say that I feel fantastic (so far)! As far as the statement about not having access to healthy fats year-round, I’m a little confused- I can’t remember ever going to the grocery store and not being able to buy olive oil, avocados, almonds, walnuts, pine nuts, etc. I eat these things very often because their creamy texture has replaced things like cheese and mayonnaise for me. SO, why would I need to eat meat or dairy for healthy fats?

P.S. Great site over all, so glad I found it!
Aïssata
April 2, 2013 at 10:53 am

Og course, there´s millions of healthy vegans, and a lot of Investigatios proof that, but your opinion ir more importante than the cientific investigation
Joseph
April 4, 2013 at 4:22 pm

I think the whole thing is just a overly exaggerated B.S and that we Humans always in search of challenging ourselves to seek something other than what we currently have or used to. We humans are Omnivores or Hybrid in today’s term. We consume plants to supply our nutrients but at the same time our body requires Proteins and nutrients that is highly available in Animals. I can only support those whom are sensitive to animal products or religious reasons other than that, it is nothing but…..
1. Bridget
  April 12, 2013 at 1:11 am
  
  Did you know that carnivores have short, smooth digestive tracts while herbivores have long, bumpy ones?
  Actually, here’s a list of reasons that show we’re herbivores: http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/09/are-humans-carnivores-or-herbivores-2/
  
  Yes, humans can digest meat. We’re easily the most adaptable animal on this planet. Eating meat is a survival mechanism, as is consuming dairy. Dairy is obviously super unnatural, being breast milk for calves and hard to digest. We can eat only plants and be perfectly healthy, so why keep being cruel?
Mike
April 5, 2013 at 10:06 am

As a recovering vegan I can relate and tell you from personal experience that the vegan diet almost killed me. I was vegan for over 5 years and I was inches from death, and didn’t even know. My parents finally convinced me to go back to vegetarian, and within a year I felt a million times better. Keep in mind this was not some “trend” for me. I was in my 20’s and was doing it for moral/personal reasons. I had already been a vegetarian for over 5 years. A vegan diet cannot sustain life without the use of multiple supplements, and then what’s the point really? (plus a crap load of supplements have gelatin in them and the vegans don’t even realize). If you say you are vegan you have to give up a lot. Most ‘vegans’ don’t realize that a clarifying agent used in almost 80% of alcohols is not vegan, or that the little bit of leather on your shoe is not vegan, or using any animal for personal gain… etc.

I slowly reintroduced non vegan, but still vegetarian items back into my diet. Being over 6 feet tall, 119 pounds was a bit too thin if you ask me, since veganism I have gained back 60 pounds and am at an ideal weight. Now I still live as cruelty free as possible without jeopardizing my own life. I am healthier than ever and I have to be honest I 100% do not believe in a pure vegan diet.

Also, the culture as a whole seems to snub those around them, its a ‘holier than thou’ attitude that most vegans have and it is so contradictory to living cruelty free (as humans are also animals, why would you be cruel to them but not a cow??)

Anyway. Thanks for this post, I enjoyed reading it and thought it was very well done.
1. Jodie
  June 4, 2013 at 7:49 am
  
  What was it in particular that nearly killed you?
  
  Also, I understand why so many people feel that vegans have bad attitudes, too many vegans just don’t have the right frame of mind, & can be rude & agressive, however the same can be said for many omni’s too.
  I really want to point out that part of living vegan for me is that is is good for other people as well. Looking at the amount of resources designated for raising animals for food is ridiculous, said resources could be used to help people in need. The waste & pollution generated by animal industries is also phenomenal, & causes significant damage to the environment, which is an issue for absolutely everyone.
Sam
April 8, 2013 at 3:36 pm

Thanks for the article. It just reminded me to take my B12 vitamin :) I don’t mind what others eat. I do know that it is hard to argue that broccoli and kale cause cardiovascular disease and cancer. With that being said when a piece of literature is presented to me that a plant-based diet is detrimental to my health THEN I will consider supplementing my diet with meat. UNTIL then I will continue with my greens, legumes, cruciferous veggies, whole grains, and seeds. I don’t mind at all supplementing my diet with a harmless B12 vitamin. You can supplement your omnivorous diet with heart meds and other medications used to combat the effects of the diet you choose.
Taylor
April 8, 2013 at 7:17 pm

One thing that you didn’t mention was that all animal products contain the protein casein, which promotes tumor growth. Many cultures that have low heart disease and cancer rates eat almost entirely plants. If you don’t believe me look at Dr. Campbell’s China Study or watch the documentary Forks Over Knives. Many of the things you are saying are not true about a vegan diet not having enough nutrition.
camilla
April 10, 2013 at 8:42 am

Fascinating that someone who claims to love cooking and baking obviously doesn´t know enough about how to get the nutrients that person need. For every “vegan” that presents the kind of inaccuracies that you do, there are 150 vegans who live full, happy and well nourished lives for as long as they live (and as I´m sure you know, even if you for some self serving reason chose to ignore it, we tend to live a lot longer than the general population).

The flaw is with you, not with veganism.
Matt
April 13, 2013 at 9:43 pm

People that mindlessly eat meat without ever contemplating exactly what they are doing always feel contempt against vegans. I think it is because subconsciencely they feel guilt.

Why do you meat eaters care? Worry about your own footprints.
1. Steve
  April 16, 2013 at 10:52 am
  
  Right on!
Steve
April 16, 2013 at 10:51 am

There are a million different nutritional theories out there, and they are mostly meaningless. I ignore them all, and prefer to look at the data. There are way too many vegans living long healthy lives for us to say that vegan diet is unhealthy. There are also way too many meat eaters out there living long healthy lives for us to say that eating meat is unhealthy. Clearly no matter which decision you make, you need to be smart eat wholesome foods and stay away from nasty processed foods. What pushed me towards vegan diet is my love for animals. I choose not to eat them.
Edma
April 16, 2013 at 11:50 pm

Yikes, I’ve been a vegan for 80 years. Born a vegan, always a vegan. A lot of my meat eating friends are in the hospital right now. How sad.
Valry
April 16, 2013 at 11:56 pm

I like how everyone will believe the story of one person who failed at the vegan diet while there are millions of unhealthy meat eating people clogging up hospitals around the world. 70% of diseases derive from food. 80% of the world eats meat. Think about this one more time people.
James
April 21, 2013 at 7:48 am

I despair at the lot of you. I eat a balanced diet, cut out the excess sugar (which I’d be inclined to believe is the real problem) and feel fine. Great, in fact, after spending the first 20 years of my life riddled with all kinds of nastiness from eczema to chronic stomach woes to hypoglycemic attacks to panic attacks and plenty more besides. Do what’s right for YOU and your health… and if you’re following a diet for ethical reasons, have some respect for the decisions of those who live (and eat) differently, as I do for you and yours.