Sick from becoming vegan?
Posted by swoop1970 on Jun 28, 2009 · Member since Jan 2008 · 64 posts
I apologize if this question has been posted before, but how can someone get sick from becoming vegan or even vegetarian? Do people use it as an excuse from not being able to make the commitment? Do they not eat a balanced enough diet to keep healthy? I heard someone say it today and am just curious as to what someone could mean...
It is probably because they have no idea what to eat, possibly not getting enough calories or just a serious misbalance of macronutrients.
do you know what this person's symptoms are? i mean, if they have diarrhea or upset stomach or something that could just be from the big change in diet (if it changed a lot). if they are feeling weak i would say they probably aren't eating enough. it's generally really easy to have a well balanced vegan diet, but when people transition they don't really know what they can eat (sometimes) and don't eat enough or eat a lot of one thing, etc.
I don't know what the person's symptoms are - or even who the person is. It is just something that someone said to me today and that I have heard before as a general " I tried to be vegan/vegetarian but got sick" kinda statement. My first thoughts are that they did not eat enough and of the right things. I would imagine that maybe there are a few individuals who could not function on a "plant based diet", but that they would be the exceptions. I just have a hard time understanding otherwise how people could not feel so much better without animal products...
This might be people who either eat or think veg*ns eat just salad and carrots and junk food like chips. It is possible if you're not smart about it, but its very easy to maintain the diet in a healthy manner.
To answer your question in a nutshell: no people don't get sick from becoming vegan. Over a million vegans in the US have proven that to be true.
Actually healing occurs....people with autoimmune disorders, high risk for cancers, coronary artery disease, diabeties, obesity, on and on and on can find healing through a vegan diet.
Some people might discover an allergy, for example to gluten or soy when they go vegan. Some people feel symptoms of "detox" such as irritability, headaches, and fatigue...but that doesn't last.
The person your speaking of couldn't have possibly given it an honest effort.
To answer your question in a nutshell: no people don't get sick from becoming vegan. Over a million vegans in the US have proven that to be true.
Actually healing occurs....people with autoimmune disorders, high risk for cancers, coronary artery disease, diabeties, obesity, on and on and on can find healing through a vegan diet.
Some people might discover an allergy, for example to gluten or soy when they go vegan. Some people feel symptoms of "detox" such as irritability, headaches, and fatigue...but that doesn't last.
The person your speaking of couldn't have possibly given it an honest effort.
I was wondering about the "detox" part of it. It just seems that people will take medication so easily, but maintain a healthy diet and exercise regimen? What is wrong with people? If they really thought about what they were putting in their mouths and the choices they were making...
I guess I am really extra wound up right now because my mother-in-law who is in her late 60's just had a face lift, but has been eating out at restaurants every day and hasn't exercised in months. She has put weight back on and looks very unhealthy. I just wonder if she took better care of herself if she would feel like she needed to do something like that and if she would be healthier.
I hear you. As a nurse I'm extremely frustrated with the lack of initiative to lead a healthy lifestyle by the majority of people (some vegans included, some of whom eat horribly.) and that fact that when people get sick from diseases of affluence they want a pill or a surgery to fix them.
I am by no means perfect myself....I get on junk food lazy jags myself, but at least I snap out of it most of the time and don't live that way for years on end. But I'm all I can handle. I can't fix anyone but me.
In truth, people can NOT get sick from becoming vegan. It's not possible unless you don't have any idea how to eat a reasonable, healthy, balanced diet. I got so much healthier 18 years ago when I gave up animal products, it's unreal!
I think perhaps many people don't eat enough, or don't know what to eat outside of standard American foods. If people were to eat vegan whole foods with lots of fresh ingredients, their health couldn't help but improve!!
:)
p.s. I just thought of one way someone could get sick from becoming vegetarian (not vegan), which happened to me. If you give up meat (lots of iron) and start eating lots of dairy instead (which contains NO iron), you can become anemic. However, this is very unlikely to happen as a vegan. I know that when I gave up dairy and became vegan, I went from anemic to having high (ideal-ish) levels of iron, and they've remained fine ever since...just thought I'd add that just in case!
;)
p.s. I just thought of one way someone could get sick from becoming vegetarian (not vegan), which happened to me. If you give up meat (lots of iron) and start eating lots of dairy instead (which contains NO iron), you can become anemic. However, this is very unlikely to happen as a vegan. I know that when I gave up dairy and became vegan, I went from anemic to having high (ideal-ish) levels of iron, and they've remained fine ever since...just thought I'd add that just in case!
;)
The same thing happened to me quintess. I was on iron supplements since middle school, but since going vegan, I don't have to take them anymore. I love telling people that when they question the "health" of my diet. :)
I emailed my doctor today about getting a nutrient/protein test/tests. I guess they have them. I've been unrelentingly lethargic for months now and I wonder if it may be my diet. (If tweety reads this I suspect he'll try to reach through his screen to knock me upside the head and say, "Ya think?!?!")
I emailed my doctor today about getting a nutrient/protein test/tests. I guess they have them. I've been unrelentingly lethargic for months now and I wonder if it may be my diet. (If tweety reads this I suspect he'll try to reach through his screen to knock me upside the head and say, "Ya think?!?!")
:BONK:
I emailed my doctor today about getting a nutrient/protein test/tests. I guess they have them. I've been unrelentingly lethargic for months now and I wonder if it may be my diet. (If tweety reads this I suspect he'll try to reach through his screen to knock me upside the head and say, "Ya think?!?!")
:BONK:
Yah!
i would be careful about saying people can not get sick from being vegan, just because i know LAD's smooch and an old poster's (ecstatic) SO both couldn't handle being vegan and they are both living with healthy vegan individuals, so they obviously had a balanced diet. though i do think it is healthier for the majority of people, i don't think we can make blanket statements one way or the other.
I think when people say that ("I was vegan but it made me sick/unhealthy") it is because:
(a) They didn't eat enough calories and felt lethargic
(b) They had a MAJOR nutrient deficit (doubt it--I mean think of how unbalanced you'd have to be)
(c) They didn't really know what all to cook/prepare and had emotional food issues/crankiness and felt like they couldn't do it.
Honestly, I think most of the time, that's a misinterpretation or an excuse. Like, they eat something bad, and "Oh, it's because I'm eating vegan." Or maybe they say it because they feel like they need something legit to tell people when really they just....gave up or fell out of it. Maybe that's me being cynical.
I also agree with hesp, vegan isn't ALWAYS healthier, and going vegan can make you sick, potentially. I mean, if you can't do it, you can't do it.
And if you can't do it, it doesn't mean that you always can't do it. I first tried to go vegan when I was 28 and it was a disaster. I went vegan again when I 35(?) and I didn't even notice the transition it was so easy. (I ate the say way both time - meaning, not that great.)
And if you can't do it, it doesn't mean that you always can't do it. I first tried to go vegan when I was 28 and it was a disaster. I went vegan again when I 35(?) and I didn't even notice the transition it was so easy. (I ate the say way both time - meaning, not that great.)
i was going to site your case as well, hh, but didn't since you said you've been feeling awful lately, as well.
I went to my doctor today. It might be my thyroid. I fluctuate and it hasn't been tested in eight months, so she sent me for a blood test.
I went to my doctor today. It might be my thyroid. I fluctuate and it hasn't been tested in eight months, so she sent me for a blood test.
did you tell her what you eat day to day?
No. (Are you serious?!? If I told her what I eat she probably wouldn't take me seriously as a patient. She'd want to be in line to slap me upside the head.) But I did ask her add in some tests. I think she ordered phosphorus, iron, there's an enemia test in there, and other ones. I'm not sure how the iron test is different from the enemia test.
Back when I was an omni, I was turned down several times from giving blood because of low iron, so I may be anemic. But I eat a lot of oatmeal and beans, so I'm not sure. You'd think the one thing I have enough of is iron.
P.S. I drank my green fruit smoothie an hour after I said I was going to and now the sugar from the banana and my being full is keeping me awake.