Recently, a book was published called The Vegetarian Myth by Lierre Keith, a former vegan who attempts to make a case against the vegetarian diet. After over a decade on a vegan diet, shes fallen off the wagon and is back on meat, but not because she was craving a juicy steak, but because shes now convinced that the vegan diet destroyed her health. If youve been mostly vegetarian or vegan for long enough, Im sure youve stumbled into former vegans who are back on meat because they think its part of the answer to their health problems. You may even meet many former veggie-heads who also, like the author of Vegetarian Myth, think that the vegan diet made them sick and weak. I first became a vegetarian in 1996, and since then, Ive seen all kinds of vegans and raw vegans not only fall off the wagon but go back to meat as if its the answer to all of their health problems. When I was roaming California in search of some answers in my early 20s, I met many former raw vegans who were now eating raw animal products because they felt they were not thriving on a pure raw vegan diet. They felt something was missing, and were claiming that they felt so much better eating all this raw meat. In my first years of raw veganism -- I was a typical motivated raw-foodist. I ate nothing but 100% raw vegan foods for over 4 years, and even at such a young age my health was starting to fail. I had no energy. My blood sugar was going crazy. And I definitely was not experiencing the life-changing results all the raw-food books were telling me I should be experiencing by eating this way. But I resisted stoically for many years and let my health fail while I remained staunchly raw vegan, thinking it was just a matter a time before my health turned around, once I would finally detox all these cooked food cells that were making me sick. But at some point, after hearing all these testimonials from these former vegans who went back to meat, I felt some forbidden carnivorous thoughts creep into my sub-conscious. Even after I had stopped being 100% raw, I stayed vegan because I did not want to eat animals. But like many other people, I ended up trying to incorporate some animal foods into my diet to see what would happen and hoping that it might be the missing part to the puzzle. Unfortunately for me (but fortunately for the cows), as I hope most former vegans will one day realize when they see their health decline in a completely different way, I found out that animal products were not the answer at all. I tried raw eggs. I tried raw fish. I couldnt do raw meat, even though I had considered it for a while. I even went back to organic chicken and eggs and of course fish in all its forms, and nothing quite did the trick. One day, I woke up and decided that I was going to eat a burger. Not a little veggie burger for weaklings, but a real burger as MAN must eat it -- Im talking about a real beef burger. I also had steak on a few occasions, and other types of exotic meats. I was sane enough not to eat it all at once, as some former vegans have done (one person I know told me once they went off the vegan diet, they started eating one pound of beef a day!). Instead, I ate small quantities of animal products on and off for a couple years. Did I feel better than on a 100% eat anything as long as its raw diet? I sure did. But was it because these animal products were providing any nutrients that my body was missing? Absolutely not. It was because my original diet was deficient to begin with! If you read my book Raw Food Controversies, you know that I eventually got back on track and restored my health through the plan that I present in my programs and on this website. (High raw, sometimes all raw low fat raw vegan) But one question remains: Why are so many vegans unhealthy? Before I answer this question, I must clarify that I no longer consider myself a vegan in the true sense of the word. The typical vegan is primarily motivated by the welfare of animals and obsessed with only one aspect of healthful living: not eating animal products. In that sense, I dont consider myself a vegan. I have no problem with other people eating meat, if thats their choice. I dont complain of the horrible smell of dead carcasses when my neighbors barbecue some steak, but I know a lot of vegans who are very vocal about these things. I also dont try to make my lifestyle completely vegan. The best underwear I have ever found are made from wool (from ethically raised sheep), and I wouldnt consider wearing anything else. I wouldnt go out of my way to buy a leather jacket, but I wouldnt also throw away a perfectly good pair of jeans if it has a bit of leather on a tag. I focus on my overall lifestyle and not just one aspect of my health. I remain convinced that animal products are NOT the answer. Why are Some Vegans So Sick? When I was reading The Vegetarian Myth, I was surprised at how not convincing the book was at making a case against the vegan diet. At best, you could consider that book to be a painful therapy session for a tortured author who thinks that the vegan diet destroyed her life. At worst its the least convincing meat manifesto youll ever read. In my experience, these are the following most common mistakes people make on a vegan diet that bring them to a low state of health and give such bad rap to the vegan diet. 1. Not enough calories A healthy vegan diet is easily explained: eat enough fruits, vegetables and starch-based foods to maintain your weight and energy, and minimize concentrated foods such as nuts and seeds or oils. Vegan foods, especially fruits and vegetables, are very nutrient dense, but not calorie-dense. That means you need to eat a lot more of these foods to give you enough energy and maintain your weight and your health. Many vegans are weak and scrawny simply because they dont eat enough. Not getting enough calories will also mean that youre not getting enough vitamins, minerals and protein. If someone is not thriving on their diet and has little energy, the first thing to do is to increase the total amount of calories consumed. But theres a caveat: these calories must come from whole foods such as fruits and vegetables, and not from oil and fatty foods. Which brings me to my next point. 2. Not enough carbs Its funny because most ex-vegans specifically blame the carbs for their health problems, when its actually one type of food they were under-eating. Under-eating carbs means that youll eat too much fat, too much protein and that you wont get enough energy to function. That is why so many vegans feel tired all the time. Its important to get enough calories, but also to eat enough calories in the right proportion. In spite of what is incorrectly claimed in many anti-vegetarian books, carbohydrates are the preferred food for the human body. How do you know that? The actual research behind this point is very extensive, but you only need to look at one thing: top athletes. Every single winning marathon runner or Tour de France athlete thrives on a high-carb diet. Why? Because it works, and carbs are the preferred foods for the human body. Top athletes dont eat a lot of carbs because they are philosophical vegans (most of them are not), but because thats what they need to eat to win. For optimal health and energy, your diet should be composed of at least 70% carbohydrates by total calories. Which leaves less than 30% for protein and fat. 3. Too much fat Most vegans use unhealthy amounts of plant oils and fat. This is the primary reason why some vegans suffer from hypoglycemia and other blood sugar issues. Its well documented that a high-fat diet has a negative impact on insulin sensitivity. For optimal health, ALL oils should be avoided. That includes all olive oil, hemp seed oils, and even so-called healthy oils such as flax seed oil. Instead, you should get all of your fat from whole foods such as nuts, seeds and avocados in minimal quantities. For most people who are not very athletic, a very small handful of nuts OR half an avocado is about the maximum you should eat in one day. This is the number one way to improve a vegan diet. Get rid of all the fat and learn to prepare foods without fat. At the same time, eat more of the good stuff such as fruits and vegetables. Remember that green vegetables have no calories, so as a vegan you will have to get your calories from the following foods: Fruits Root vegetables (potatoes, yams, etc.) Starches (whole grains, beans, etc. If you follow a raw approach like I do most of the time, then the majority of your calories will come from fruit. Getting a significant proportion of your calories from fatty foods such as oils is a big mistake and one that will quickly destroy your health. (A lot of people make large salads every day drenched in olive oil and believe this is part of a healthy diet.) If you have any weight to lose, you should consider avoiding all fatty foods temporarily until you lose the desired weight. Why? Fats are stored by the body very easily, requiring less than 3% of the calories consumed to store. On the other hand, carbohydrates need an average of 30% of calories consumed to be turned into body fat. As author John McDougall likes to say, The fat you eat is the fat you wear. So if you dont want to wear any more fat, avoid it. Its fairly easy to get used to a low fat diet and it takes 30 to 60 days for your taste buds to fully adapt. 4. Too enough high-quality protein This is more a problem for vegans who live on junk food, or raw foodists who only eat fruits and vegetables with no nuts and seeds. Although protein deficiencies are almost non-existent in the Western world, if you lack high quality protein in the diet you could experience lack of energy, decreased muscle mass, lower bone density, and compromised immunity. Fortunately, we dont need a lot of protein to do the job. Greens contain high-quality protein, and adding some nuts and seeds in the diet will help. Vegans can eat traditional soy products and beans, while raw foodists should load up on greens and have some nuts and seeds every day. If you need more protein, raw hemp protein is a good addition to smoothies. 5. Too much junk food. Many vegans also eat too much junk food, and you know what Im talking about. French fries and potato chips may be vegan, but they are not healthy. Essentially if it comes from a restaurant or a factory, it should be seen as fun food and not as healthy sustenance for the human body. So use your judgement and base your diet on fruits and vegetables, not on junk foods. 6. Too much wheat A lot of people in general, but especially vegans and vegetarians base their diet around wheat and bread products. Sandwiches, burgers, wraps, pizzas, pastas, muffins, cereals, are not necessary for health and are often highly processed with artificial vitamins added which can make it hard for the body to absorb real vitamins from whole fruits and vegetables. Many people also have a wheat sensitivity or are allergic and can develop celiac disease. If you have frequent colds, breathing problems, stuffy nose, asthma, IBS, digestion issues etc., you could have a gluten sensitivity or intolerance. Cutting wheat out of your diet is fairly easy to do when you eat a diet of fruits and vegetables and non glutenous carbohydrates like potatoes and rice. 7. A Deficient Diet Many vegans avoid supplementing with vitamin B12, and then run into trouble, thinking that the vegan diet is not healthy. There is no debate among vegan experts that you should absolutely take a vitamin B12 supplement. Even meat-eaters are at risk, as B12 deficiencies are common. This is of particular concern to vegan mothers and young children. A vitamin D supplement is also necessary if you live in a Northern climate, but thats not just a vegan issue. Too often, people dont dont their homework and then blame the vegan diet for not working. Meat is NOT the Answer It must be a strange fact of human nature that we tend to make the wrong associations based on what we perceive to be a direct cause-reaction relationship. If you go vegan and your health declines, youll naturally believe that the vegan diet was to blame. Because a vegan diet is a diet that excludes animal products, you might be led to believe that not eating them is what caused you to be sick in the first place. But in reality, a vegan diet can be anything. It can be a diet of fake meat products and oil and french fries, or it can be a healthy diet of fruits and vegetables consumed in sufficient quantity to make you thrive. The fact that many vegans get sick does NOT mean that animal products are the answer. Some raw foodists are now including raw meat and raw dairy into their diets and claiming these are the sole reasons they are surviving on a raw diet, because raw plant food alone are not enough to thrive on. This is simply not true. They may be thriving in spite of the raw animal products they are eating. Animal products are inherently bad for the human body, for very specific reasons: 1- They are very acidic and will drain your calcium reserves as the body uses calcium in your bones to balance the pH of the food in your digestive tract. 2- They contain too much protein. All excess protein has to be eliminated by the body which will wear down your kidneys and liver over time and accelerate the aging process. A diet rich in animal protein is also the number one dietary factor for cancer (see The China Study, by T. Colin Campbell). 3- Most animal products are high in fat. Excess fat is stored as body fat and results in surpluses in the body, leading to insulin-related products and everything related to overweight. 4- Animal products are rich in cholesterol, which accumulates in the body and contributes to vascular diseases. 5- Animal products are a concentrated source of toxins. Being high on the food chain, animals accumulate much more toxins, hormones and pesticides in their tissues. This is not mentioning the possible bacteria-related issues with factory produced animal products and cross contamination in the facilities. Are some vegans unhealthy? Yes! But animal products are not the answer.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 19:56:54 +0000