A Vegan Diet is Not Healthy
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
Comments are closed.
Memy
April 21, 2013 at 10:29 amI love how saying what people WANT to hear instead of saying what they NEED to hear sells so well. If you want a best seller, write a book called “The Bacon and Cheese Diet: Eat all you want, loose weight and improve your skin!” Somewhere, one individual may actually have tried this. It doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. STATISTICALLY, a vegan or even vegetarian diet is better for you than a meat diet. But if you hate beans, Are too lazy to cook whole grains, shun tofu, loathe Kale and get tummy aches when you eat fruit, then you will be unhealthy as a vegan. If you are thoughtful about your nutrients and eat a large variety of non-animal food,you can make it work well.Oh…and Oreos are vegan. If you eat just these, you will become a mal-nourished, dead person. If you eat just apples, same thing. Just meat, same thing. If you eat food, get your blood work done periodically to ensure you are getting what you need and avoiding what you don’t need. It’s just common sense.
oOoOO
April 21, 2013 at 1:14 pmAhh, statistics. Something that you should always trust 100% because they’d never lie or cherry pick or misconstrue facts.
Germ
April 29, 2013 at 3:11 amI was raised an omnivore and plan to keep it that way, i will reinforce the same lifestyle to my children, if they to convert later, they are free to do it so… Most vegan comments i read have to do to abolish suffering of animals, etc rather than health itself…If i live a shorter or longer than your life well good for you..we all gotta die someday, make your stay worth it.
Nikki
May 3, 2013 at 11:17 amJust a bunch of meat eating people justifying their cruel and deadly lifestyle. People need to use FACTS. Vegetarianism/veganism isn’t a belief, its the natural way that humans are supposed to live. http://www.peta.org/living/vegetarian-living/the-natural-human-diet.aspx Vitamin B12 is not only from ANIMAL sources, as is said in this article with no backing. Plenty of foods are fortified with B12 nowadays, take almond milk for example. Don’t put things in your blog that aren’t true. That is seriously the most annoying thing, you are spreading ignorance.
Joe
May 5, 2013 at 1:15 pmQuoting from PETA isn’t going to win you any points. They have an agenda to push and aren’t above twisting facts and outright lying to get their way.
Veganism: Another Jewish Scam | Mímisbrunnr
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nikki
May 4, 2013 at 11:46 amVegetarians aren’t pretentious. It’s the same way with religion. How can you share your way of life with someone without having them question you? You site another blog. Facts are all that matter, unfortunately people will believe whatever they read on the internet. Find sources to fit your argument and voila, uniting people against something factual.
Amber
May 9, 2013 at 12:11 amAs a vegan I am glad to know that I am on the right side of history. One day, the uneducated, misinformed and ignorant will seek the truth. Until then enjoy being fat, America! (I’d attempt to make a logical argument but after reading this post there really is no point). I’ll be sleeping well tonight knowing my body is not a graveyard.
double d
February 1, 2014 at 3:39 amWell, Americans are fat because of over consumption of starches, grains, and sugars primarily. And yes McDonalds, Taco Bell, Wendy’s, Chili’s, any chain ever basically. An American who eats mostly veggies/fruits, a few eggs, a little pastured meat and moves there body are often quite healthy. I was a vegan once. I quickly became anemic and fat. Once I started eating meat again I lost 15lbs and my energy went through the roof. Of course, I knew what kinds of meats to eat.
Josie
May 13, 2013 at 8:10 amAs a gardener, I can see that plants react to certain stimulus such as human touch. On a deeper level, I feel their presence and life around me. As a human, I eat the stuff I grow. At the same time, I honour the life I take because it gives me life. I don’t have a problem with meat eaters so long as they respect the life they take and take it in a respectful way. Many vegetarians and vegans glaze over the fact that plant life is also life. Like meat eaters, you accept a hierarchy of life and pick your poison so to speak. You take life when you eat life. This is the circle of life in my belief system.
There are probably health benefits on either side of the argument however what is sad is the us versus them mentality. Vegan, vegetarian, ovo-lactose blah blah blah, meateater, carnivore, omnivore. These divisions are all nonsense. We are human beings. Eat because you have to and drop the moral proclamations. Treat the life form you slaughter with care and acknowledge that ALL LIFE has value. When you yourself as a part of the circle of life you become truly humbled and these divisions begin to fall away.
Peace
Veganism: Another Scam | Mímisbrunnr
May 22, 2013 at 11:53 am[…] https://www.laurelofleaves.com/2012/04/a-vegan-diet-is-not-healthy/ […]
KC
May 24, 2013 at 4:58 pmVegans are like scary salad missionaries – their beliefs are the only ones that exist and are true so if you disagree they will get all worked up and lecture you on why they are right and everybody else is wrong. No matter what you say they will not budge and then won’t stop until they have tried every way to convince you to follow in their vegan ways. Also, being vegan gives you crazy awesome superpowers that make you a far better and more entitled person than the fools that eat meat so it allows you to be a self-absorbed concieted bitch. Scientists are now doing studies demonstrating that trees are able to “communicate” so I am waiting for all the vegans to rally and decide plants have feelings too and that they can’t eat them anymore. The only positive thing that could come out of that is a very swift extinction of vegans.
So Vegans, I just want to ask: HOW MANY PLANTS HAD TO DIE FOR THAT SALAD?!?
:)
Michelle
November 25, 2013 at 4:33 pmMore plants die when you consume meat than when I eat a salad (what did that animal eat?…plants). So ignorant, self-justifing, meat eaters, I need to ask; “HOW MANY PLANTS HAD TO DIE FOR THAT STEAK?!?”. Also i’m not vegan for animals, I don’t cry for anything that never feared death, i’m vegan because it’s a heathier way of life.
Zuzana
May 25, 2013 at 2:26 pmI soo wanna go Vegan, for my health, for Animals, for Planet for Future. Damn it. I wanna be hooked on veggies, fruits and other earthly products :P
Carlton
May 29, 2013 at 10:02 amMy spouse and I stumbled over here different web page and thought I may as
well check things out. I like what I see so now i’m following you. Look forward to going over your web page yet again.
ExLibertas
June 3, 2013 at 11:39 pmIf you do your research before switching to a vegan diet you’d realize that the ONLY thing that a vegan diet does not provide is vitamin B12 (a bacterial extract that’s available through food supplements). Everything else (vitamin D, iron, protein, fat, you name it) can be obtained from non-animal products in the optimal amount your body requires without it being an issue in any way IF DONE RIGHT! ie. as long as you eat a BALANCED vegan diet (fruit, vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts, etc.) – other than B12 a vegan diet has ALL the nutrients your body needs.
If you’re talking about health, you should research the scientific literature. There are meta-analyses (analyses which sum up hundreds of different studies from different cultures, lifestyles, diets, ages, etc. and include hundreds of thousands of participants surveyed over decades) that show a vegan diet and a vegan+fish diet are optimal for our health (vegans have lower rates of many cancers, lower chance of stroke or heart disease, less type 2 diabetes, and so on than meat-eaters).
On top of that, you get the benefit of not being involved in the process of exploitation, cruelty, torture and slaughter of animals. Which is a big plus. (the question whether it is “natural” to torture or slaughter someone is idiotic. Our ancestors were constantly involved in tribal warfare, where on average 1 in 4 people were killed. By these standards ANYTHING is “natural”).
Now, personally, I’ve been on a vegan diet for the past year and a half now. I did my research (I found out some interesting tidbits such as the fact that iron that’s obtained from vegetables – unlike from meat – will only be absorbed at 60% if you drink tea or coffee at the same time, so you just have to be smart about what you eat), I do blood tests occasionally to see if I’m on the right track (my cholesterol went from 210 to 155, with the ratio of “bad” to “good” cholesterol going from 4 to 2.5 – which is considered “ideal.” On top of that, my B12, which was already quite low (around 200) before the vegan diet is now above average, around 850, thanks to the supplements). I feel great, I can run faster and longer distances, and I lift heavier weights and exercise more vigorously with no problem whatsoever. I also don’t miss meat in the slightest.
Kristian
July 20, 2013 at 5:15 pmJust incase you have missed it.
http://drmcdougall.com/misc/2007nl/nov/b12.htm
Jodie
June 4, 2013 at 7:19 amObserving human health over several decades clearly shows that as our consumption of animal products has increased, human health has decreased, & problems like diabetes, cancer, obesity, heart attack, etc are getting out of control.
If you really want to know what animal products do for the human body, I highly recommend reading ‘The China Study’ (&/or watch ‘Forks over knives’), it is the largest, most concise scientific study ever carried out on human diet, & it shows, without any doubt that the higher a persons diet is in animal products, the more susceptible they are to a vast number of deseases, & the shorter their life span, whereas the complete opposite is true for a plant based diet.
I researched for a number of years before I made the choice to adopt a vegan lifestyle, & I do find it frustrating to see posts like this, when it is clear that the subject has not been thoroughly researched by the author, or the majority of the people commenting.
I do request that people please watch ‘Forks over knives’, Gary Yourofsky’s speech (easy to find on Youtube) & a speech given by Dr John Mcdougall called The perils of dairy (also easily found on Youtube)
As for ‘humane slaughter’, this is something people trick themselves into believing. If you would not send your family pet to the same fate, why should it be ok for any other animal, it’s all in your head. Try killing all the animals you eat yourself, then tell me how natural it feels. I think you need to check out some google images, & video footage from inside slaughterhouses…
Thanks for reading :)
ExLibertas
June 4, 2013 at 6:18 pmInstead of relying on studies that are almost a hundred years old, how about a study of 70,000 people that was released… yesterday:
In one of the largest studies to date, researchers from Loma Linda University in California report that vegetarians outlast meat-eaters.
Among a group of 70,000 participants, researchers determined that vegetarians had a 12% (!!!) lower risk of death compared to non-vegetarians. The effect held true for other specific vegetarian diets, according to the study, which is published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine. For instance, vegans also had a lower risk of death compared to non-vegetarians.
http://healthland.time.com/2013/06/04/vegetarians-may-live-longer/?iid=ent-main-mostpop2
Rhal
June 6, 2013 at 5:55 amMost Vegetarians/Vegans are kind and benevolent people to other like minded people, not omnivores. I often find them very judgemental towards other lifestyles.
For the people who like the take on people not being meat eaters because of no canine teeth, like one person stated on this forum ( by the way dogs are hunters, witch is not the same as being omnivore.) Humans are more like apes and primates, our teeth and hands are very suitable for grabbing insects, eggs and small animals. Don’t need specialized teeth for that and no ability to run at great speeds and the like. I eat a mostly vegetable based diet with nuts and seeds, all the fruit I like and little meat or fish, the latter in the order of about 50 grams a day. I never felt and looked better!
The occasional ‘junk day’ has no effect on me, so no need to be to strict about it. Light up people and let’s stop kicking one’s skull in because we believe to know the truth.
Peace!
Ryuukun
July 9, 2013 at 2:18 pmWould be nice if we could stop hating each other, but as long as people think they know the absoloute truth they will never accept other opinions. At least that goes for most vegans that discuss veganism online. Many vegans are nice and accepting people but the people online are beasts whose best arguments are “I’m thin and you’re not thefore I’m right” and similar dumb arguments. They start calling other names when they lose arguments and are overall very poorly educated even about their own diet. These people shed an enormously bad light on the vegan community and thus this conflict between vegans and the rest of the world started.
Citcat
June 7, 2013 at 1:55 amOh,
What haven’t it done for me.
-Healthier
-Lighter
-Bringing me closer to understanding the celebration of life
Not to kill for pleasure have changed the way I relate to other beings walking, crawling of swimming around me.
I am sorry to read your closed minded thoughts and want to take your hand and show you how pleasant life can be as a slaughter-less individual with great respect for anyone’s mother, father, sister or brother no matter what species you belong to.
Critique on your statements on several occasions
…not always present in your diet in a high enough quantity on a given day…
Well I don’t now where you live where you cannot access for example coconut oil. If you were to cut out the ‘healthy’ pig fat you eat, you might find yourself using more HEALTHY oils (Coconut, Flax, Avocado, and the list goes on.)
Society as we know it today from a developed country has changes since the 1930’s and have a look around you to seek the real truth about a healthy diet.
I wish you good luck in finding yourself embracing a wholesome well rounded vegan diet
Zach Bonvallat
June 9, 2013 at 12:37 amYou make some valid points but I must say that in doing a Vegan diet the right way AKA (not eating junk food) you can actually live a healthy life.
Some things I agree with:
1. If you don’t do it right don’t do it at all. – Before making any changes in your life you should learn about it and know what you are doing.
2. You need fat to absorb certain nutrients. – This is a well known fact.
3. Switching from a SAD (Standard American Diet) that includes chemically altered and process foods to a diet rich in fruits in vegetables is a good idea. – You know just as much as I do.
4. People can eat meat. – The Neanderthals ate meat, people eat meat everyday and they are just fine but is this optimal? That is up for debate. For anyone whom is interested in reading some articles in which I myself have found to be true as well as many others they will be posted at the end of my comment.
Something really big to note about your study:
What many people consider The Number One worst product that people consume now a days is Milk. – Seriously, if I said, “here drink this, it’s the milk of a Monkey” would you drink it? You would think I am crazy, but in fact they are much more closely related to us according to our DNA than cows are. After you take consideration of this, I ask, “Does drinking the milk from a cow really feel right to you?”
Keep in mind that many people and personally including me do believe that we are capable of surviving through many difficulties as it is with poor diet. An example: someone eating a SAD (Standard American Diet) does live a somewhat happy life even though some call it sad as in comparison to many other diets it is sad in itself. The side note to this is: Even if they are happy they also are more than likely not living as well as some others do and everyone including that person could agree that they would probably be happier by going through some changes in life. This can be easy and this is where a life coach comes into play.
Given a choice would you chose a life of not eating or harming animals if it was at least just as healthy as a life in which one is eating animals? I encourage you to be skeptical and to do your own research and come up with your own answer. The choice is yours, so do your best, to make it the best choice possible.
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Mira
June 15, 2013 at 11:25 amWow. It’s unbelievable how ignorant and uneducated Americans like yourself are. Really think it would be wise to get a little more education.
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Lasse Larsen
June 20, 2013 at 3:35 pmMaking matter of fact statements is always going to cause heat, if that was your intent with this type of misinformed post then you managed to succeed. I coach veganism, and have many happy, healthy graduates of my program. I have been a practicing vegan for more than a decade myself and have many friends who are happy, healthy vegans… But don’t take it from me. The american DIetetic association endorses a plant based diet, when done right. Just read the below official statement. And then please stop spreading misinformation, there’s enough non-sense out there that keeps us stopping from moving forward toward a truly sustainable future.
July 6, 2009 — Vegetarian diets, if well-planned, are healthful and nutritious for all age groups and can help prevent and treat chronic diseases, according to an updated position paper released by the American Dietetic Association. The revised recommendations are published in the July issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. The position was adopted by the House of Delegates Leadership Team in 1987 and was reaffirmed in 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2006; the updated position paper is to remain in effect until December 31, 2013.
“Common reasons for choosing a vegetarian diet include health considerations, concern for the environment, and animal welfare factors,” write Winston J. Craig, PhD, MPH, RD, from Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan, and Ann Reed Mangels, PhD, RD, LDN, FADA, from the Vegetarian Resource Group in Baltimore, Maryland. “Vegetarians also cite economic reasons, ethical considerations, world hunger issues, and religious beliefs as their reasons for following their chosen eating pattern…. Individual assessment is required to accurately evaluate the nutritional quality of the diet of a vegetarian or a self-described vegetarian.”
Source: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/705344
chongearn
June 23, 2013 at 11:02 amI am not criticizing you, although I am a vegan.
You said that “If you don’t do it right, don’t do it at all”
But how can you define how is right, how is wrong?
Some people become vegans just simply because they think it is cruel to kill animals just to fulfill their stomachs
If they accidentally took in some meat products ( and indirectly, like milk, cheese or eggs), are they breaking the principle of “Not killing animals to fulfill their stomachs?” You can get the products without killing animals right?
And, for the saying vegan’s diet is not nourishing….you can go do more research. Many of my relatives and friends (I am lucky coz I am from a nice family that many of my relatives are vegan :D) are proven to be healthier than normal people.
Maybe its true vegan’s diet cannot provide all nutrients that can be provided by meaty meals, but vegan’s diet gives much much more other benefits to vegans’ health.
Lastly, Ghandi has said: If we are really the highest form of animals, we don’t repeat behavior of the animals
Ofcouse I know some of my comments may make you unpleasant, but I peacefully tell you I do not quite agree to your opinions.
Thanks and hope you will be a vegan! haha
“By giving up some healthiness of us, then we can give lot of mercy to animals!!”
Forgive me for my broken english I am a Malaysian chinese >,<
Have a good day =)
eva | raw
June 24, 2013 at 5:47 amHey Lori! I love your site + blog and appreciate you opening up this discussion. :-)
I do want to share my own experience, which of course is my own and doesn’t mean that another person’s experience or view point is wrong or right. It’s just my own experience, no more or less.
I got my first ulcer at 19 when I went from a primarily vegetarian diet to visiting family in Hungary, where we ate a lot more meat than I was accustomed to. The doctor there told me to stop eating meat and dairy, and she suggested a few other changes. All of which worked!
A few years later, when I was 22-23 I met and then married my now husband. He’s Brazilian, and we went to lots of barbecues and to Brazilian restaurants together, in and out of Brazil. So once again I went from eating primarily vegetarian to eating more meat than usual. Brilliant results: acne, gas, ulcers, heartburn, and more less-than-awesome stuff which also included a very sad mental outlook.
At the time that my health was the worst, I stumbled on the raw + vegan diet as an idea for a cure. I figured I didn’t have much to lose and tried it out. In 3 days, my health was better than ever, and I was floored at the difference!
That was almost 7 years ago, and I’m now in my early 30s. I haven’t looked back because my health continues to either just be awesome or to get even better.
I do not supplement. I am low on sleep and nursing a baby. Yet… my diet continues to support my lifestyle and keep me healthy. And I still feel fabulous!
I do not believe that a junk-food vegan diet would have worked (or will work) for me, based on my experiments with “just vegan” but not raw. But eating unprocessed, whole foods as part of a raw + vegan diet has saved my life + energy + sanity.
eva | raw
Amanda
June 25, 2013 at 4:16 pmI was raised on a meat and vegetable farm, I was an omnivore in my youth and I knew where all my food including “free range” came from. I had many of the same thoughts towards vegetarianism. I was very sick most of my youth, throwing up after every meal, missing school, bleeding, dry skin and hair. I was tested for diabetes, asthma and other diseases day after day and eventually put on antidepressants like most of the kids I’ve known and it spiraled. Dont be mistaken, I got through high school based on my athletics during this time, and I had a very healthy omnivore diet. In my late teens I became the don’t judge anything unless youve been there personality. I did alot of research and talked to my doctor about going vegan, he was a huge supporter for me . I did it in steps, i quit dairy and eggs over 4 years ago, completed the meat and remaining aspects. I sky rocketed, absolutely amazed that in the first cpl months alone everything was grand, i could breathe, run faster, gain healthy body weight, my hair and nails went crazy, moods are on top without thinking about meds ever again so far, and sice have graduated college twice as an enginnering tech with a graduate certificate in the arts, clean since 16, and finally stopped struggling with it. Many doctors are in awwe at how my medical history has taken turn. Im not saying veganism is for everyone, its alot of discipline, i respect the ppl who have tried it before judging it greatly regardless of the direction they take, as for me it worked and i support it heavily. I also am just too compassionate about animals to forge any justification for myself not being vegan today in 2013.