Any vegan's here?

[Art Vandelay]

Starting on Monday I plan on adopting a vegan diet, while technically I only have planned a week of living this way, I hope to continue it after my little week long experiment. Any tips at all anyone could offer me?

Also before the question arises, while yes certain ethical implications have factored into my decision, attempting to start a healthier lifestyle is what predominantly drove me to this decision.

[Ostrinski]

Quail is a vegan I believe. There are a couple others.

[Flying Purple People Eater]

Eat flesh everyday.

[Ostrinski]

same

[Let's Get Free]

I'd say a truly vegan diet is far less healthy than a normal (healthy), omnivorous diet.

Personally? No. I find that veganism tends to be for douche bag hipsters, and people who actually believe it makes a difference.

http://vegetarianstar.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/full_1288024467nosuchthingasavegan.png

[hetz]

This thread reminded me that I have these bratwursts, almost forgot about them.

[Flying Purple People Eater]

same
:thumbup1:


I'd say a truly vegan diet is far less healthy than a normal (healthy), omnivorous diet.

Personally? No. I find that veganism tends to be for douche bag hipsters, and people who actually believe it makes a difference.

http://vegetarianstar.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/full_1288024467nosuchthingasavegan.png
I have no problems with vegans at all; they're obviously believing and following what to them is morally right. What I can't stand are those Ultra-Vegan bastards who will put a goat's wellbeing at a higher standard to a man starving in the Sahara.

Seriously, how can you even go on about the oppression of animals if you don't even give a shit about your own kind!?

[Art Vandelay]

I'd say a truly vegan diet is far less healthy than a normal (healthy), omnivorous diet.

Studies would show otherwise.


Personally? No. I find that veganism tends to be for douche bag hipsters,

I find that people who call others "douche bag" hipsters, tend to be losers.


and people who actually believe it makes a difference.


I'm not some fucking liberal who thinks that consumer choices make a difference.

I knew this thread was going to have someone coming in and taking it in this direction; once again I'll repeat that while certain ethical considerations have been made on my part (I don't think that it is morally wrong for a human to take a life of an animal to continue its existence, merely that the industrial way in which it is done in the present time is barbaric and disgusting). Also, once again, I'll reiterate, I am primarily doing this for health reasons. My mental health is fucked and pills weren't for me, I'm hoping that improving my diet, in combination with getting back to a light workout routine and back to therapy, will have a positive effect.

Now can this thread, instead of being used for those who wish to argue the merits of a vegan lifestyle, instead be used for its intended purpose?

[TheCat'sHat]

Starting on Monday I plan on adopting a vegan diet, while technically I only have planned a week of living this way, I hope to continue it after my little week long experiment. Any tips at all anyone could offer me?

Also before the question arises, while yes certain ethical implications have factored into my decision, attempting to start a healthier lifestyle is what predominantly drove me to this decision.

My younger brother is a vegan. He began by switching to vegetarianism. It worked well for him. He lost 30lbs.

[Tjis]

I'm vegan. The main thing you need to keep in mind is that a vegan diet does not provide you with vitamin B12 and Omega-3. If possible, find vitamin supplements for these.
Also, cook properly. Don't merely replace the meat in your diet with fake veggie 'meat'. It's expensive, usually tastes bad and you won't be getting good nutrition out of it. For protein, add plenty of nuts, seeds, beans and tofu to your meals and you should be fine.

[Quail]

When I was making the transition to veganism I was vegetarian for a while first, which did make things easier, although I didn't eat a lot of meat to begin with and dairy hurts my stomach so it was a pretty smooth transition. I cook from scratch pretty much every day because I find it relaxing, but if you're not into cooking quite so much you can make huge pots of food (say, to feed 4 people) and freeze the extra portions. I base my meals mostly around various beans, tofu and sometimes soya mince. I rarely eat any kind of fake meat. Most of the stuff I make is a meal in itself without meat, if that makes sense, so there's no need to add fake meat. I tend to throw things together and invent my own recipes, but there are a lot of vegan food blogs online with nice looking recipes.

I don't take a vitamin supplement on a regular basis and I'm fine, but I do take a multivitamin from time to time (when I remember). For vitamin b12 I drink fortified plant milk, but you can also get it from nutritional yeast (which is really nice in scrambled tofu and a variety of other things). Although most vegan foods don't contain a lot of Omega 3, sunflower oil/spread, hemp seeds and some other nuts and seeds do contain some.

[hetz]

I base my meals mostly around various beans, tofu and sometimes soya mince.
Absolutely disgusting. Except beans.

[ВАЛТЕР]

To each his own. I don't mind vegans or vegetarians. I don't care what they eat, it is their choice and as long as they are good to me, I don't care about their eating habits. I do however get annoyed if a vegan/vegetarian starts talking to me about morality and acts as if they are superior morally because they don't eat meat or whatever. However, from my experience very few of them act this way, although every once in a while you run into one of those uppity types, I just try to steer clear of them.

I don't care what studies show or whatever, I like eating meat and I will continue to do so. As a sportsman I have to take in a lot of calories and meat is the most tasty way to do so. :)

[Quail]

Absolutely disgusting. Except beans.
I don't really see much point to this comment other than to tell me that I eat shit food. Well actually I don't really take kindly to people criticising the food I make despite never having tried it. I'm quite a good cook and everyone I cook for enjoys what I make, meat-eaters and vegans alike. If you find tofu and soya mince "absolutely disgusting" then you've obviously never had them cooked properly. Both are wonderful at absorbing flavours, and crispy fried tofu has a great texture and is one of my favourite foods.

[hetz]

I'd take pork brains over tofu anytime, thank you.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

I tried looking for tofu in the supermarket once, but I couldn't find the damn stuff. Is it expensive? How much would 500g cost, roughly?

[Quail]

I'm not sure how many grams you get in the packs I buy, but they're usually £2 and I'd say would serve at least 3 people. It's Cauldron tofu and is usually in the supermarket section with all the veggie stuff. If there are any Chinese supermarkets nearby, they usually have it too and I imagine it would be cheaper.

[Ostrinski]

I'd take pork brains over tofu anytime, thank you.Have you ever tried pork brains? Or tofu? Stop being needlessly rude.

[bcbm]

i love insecure meat eaters who have to pop in every time vegetarian/veganism comes up and be like 'lol i like meat i am having a steak right now tofu tastes like a wet fart.' yeah guys, we all know how cool you are its okay you dont have to show off

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

I'm not sure how many grams you get in the packs I buy, but they're usually £2 and I'd say would serve at least 3 people. It's Cauldron tofu and is usually in the supermarket section with all the veggie stuff. If there are any Chinese supermarkets nearby, they usually have it too and I imagine it would be cheaper.

Three people? Well, taking into account that I'm a big eater despite my skinny frame, make that enough for two meals. Even then, that seems pretty damn cheap. It costs something ridiculous like £5 for just under 500g of fresh chicken, which I consider to be just enough to make two meals. Meat is nice, but it's getting ridiculously expensive and I require plenty of protein in my diet. I'll keep an eye out.

I may end up becoming semi-vegetarian simply because I can't afford to eat much meat. It makes me feel like a fucking medieval peasant.

[Yuppie Grinder]

I was vegetarian and then vegan for a long time and then gave it up about 6 months ago. I learned that cigarettes aren't vegan so I hadn't strictly been one all along, so I gave up thinking what's the point.
I've gained weight since then and would like to take up veganism again but I don't want to be seen one of those attention seeking dbags who are vegan one week and meat eating the next .

[Yuppie Grinder]

As for everyone saying that veganism is less healthy then the normal American diet, chances are ya'll honestly don't know what you're talking about.

[Althusser]

http://hehpic.com/dp.jpg

No offense to vegans, but this had me laughing uncontrollably.

It gave me the image of some bourgeois hipster urban outfitters Occupy Wall st. liberal.

I wouldn't mind giving veganism a try.

[Jack]

Ex vegan here.

Enjoy checking EVERYTHING to make sure it has no animal products, don't forget about things that come from things that come from animals, i.e whey, which is basically in every grain product.

Also if you eat honey you're a revisionist traitor.

[Yuppie Grinder]

Most of the people I know who call themselves vegan eat honey and smoke.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

I don't see why honey would be a problem. Although the bees make it as food for the winter, beekeepers generally give the bees back something so that they can survive the winter. I think it's sugar or something like that. I suppose one could call that exploitation, but it's not like the bees suffer any more than they would in the wild. In fact domesticated bees have one the planet's top apex predators (us) protecting them from other predators. It's a pity we aren't better at protecting them from diseases or loss of pollinating flowers.

I can understand why packet cigarettes can be problem, since animal products are used to make the filters. However, I'm pretty sure that most rolling materials are entirely non-animal in origin.

[Flying Purple People Eater]

^There are some pretty whack vegans in that regard, though - I remember a few years ago some vegans had rallies to remove the label 'the vegan's diet' from a food spread because the celery used within the spread was grown through the use of horse-shit, which was commercially farmed.

I mean what the fuck.

[Ravachol]

I'm vegan (depending on how far you wanna take that definition, I don't check for E numbers or the source of every ingredient or whatever). Depends on your motivations but my tip is simply don't cook like shit. If you cook well and enjoy a lot of mediterranean, turkish, balkan and japanese cuisine there's plenty of stuff in there to eat healty, vegan and with a lot of variety.

[hetz]

Have you ever tried pork brains? Or tofu? Stop being needlessly rude. Tried tofu and cow brain. Unfortunately.

It makes me feel like a fucking medieval peasant. Medieval peasant ate meat only on holidays.

[Os Cangaceiros]

I think there's a strong argument to be made for removing most meat from one's diet (in order to lead a healthier life). In the past I would've scoffed at the idea, but I've read a bit more about the subject and the arguments in favor of this idea make sense to me. That's in regards to individual health, though...I don't believe in "animal rights" and probably never will.

I'd never be able to be a vegan, though, as I love dairy products like milk and cheese and will never stop consuming them. ;) I eat quite a bit of fish too.

[Ravachol]

I think there's a strong argument to be made for removing most meat from one's diet (in order to lead a healthier life). In the past I would've scoffed at the idea, but I've read a bit more about the subject and the arguments in favor of this idea make sense to me. That's in regards to individual health, though...I don't believe in "animal rights" and probably never will.

I'd never be able to be a vegan, though, as I love dairy products like milk and cheese and will never stop consuming them. ;) I eat quite a bit of fish too.

For individual health reasons I'd cut back on the milk especially though. A lot of industrially processed milk contains traces of all kinds of antibiotics or growth hormones they put the cows on. A lot of auto-immune diseases are aggravated by milk consumption and there's the fact that humans are naturally lactose intolerant, having developed a symbiotic response to its consumption only later on (with some populations still being highly lactose intolerant).

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

I am both a vegan and perpetually broke-ass, so I understand that some of the things on this list you might see and be like, "Uh . . . no way, bro," but I promise that I've managed to find them on a "desperately singing on the corner for change" budget.

10. NUTRITIONAL YEAST

9. Olive oil and balsamic vinegar are your friends, and both are cheap if you know where to buy them.
e.g. the little family owned Mediterranean or Lebanese grocery is probably a better bet than WALMART.

8. Pretty much everything is good in smoothies that you think might be good in smoothies (peanut butter? of course! carrots? sure!) except melons, lemons, and tahini.

7. Ferment(ed) everything, but especially cabbage (sauerkraut) and soy (tempeh).

6. Get outside the Western cannon - Indian, Latin American, and Ethopian cuisines are full of ideas for expanding your diet beyond borscht and french fries.

5. Don't get a deep fryer. Seriously, you're not as strong as you think you are. Eventually you will sink to the level of Kentucky toast, and soon after you will be subsisting entirely on deepfried oreos and playing in a weird joke power-violence band and wearing sweatpants.

4. 'Nooch is another thing that people call nutritional yeast.

3. Don't eat too much wheat. On day two of the "Toast-Pasta-Couscous" diet you will want to die. Dig other grains, especially quinoa which my spell check says is "Joaquin", and which I'm pretty sure is superfood once you wash off the poison coating.

2. The more colours on your plate, the healtier your meal is. It doesn't count if you just make "rainbow couscous" with food colouring, though.

1. GARLIC. Like, use it sparingly raw, but when you're cooking it, don't be afraid to use up to a bulb for every two people who are eating.

[Os Cangaceiros]

For individual health reasons I'd cut back on the milk especially though. A lot of industrially processed milk contains traces of all kinds of antibiotics or growth hormones they put the cows on. A lot of auto-immune diseases are aggravated by milk consumption and there's the fact that humans are naturally lactose intolerant, having developed a symbiotic response to its consumption only later on (with some populations still being highly lactose intolerant).

I don't know enough about this particular topic to comment, but I just enjoy drinking milk.

Most of the milk in groceries stores here explicitely state that they don't contain rBST growth hormones (although there's also the obligatory FDA statement that agribusiness got put on, that rBST growth hormones are safe for human consumption or whatever)

[Raúl Duke]

Has anyone heard of black soybean tofu? It's the only tofu I trust, I find it tastier.
There's also tempeh, which could at times be better tasting than tofu.
Beans are always good.

I eat meat sparingly (as in, when I go to an eatery, I could order meat; at the supermarket, I avoid it. My main reason has to do with environmental concerns besides a bit of health/etc but not much animal well-being concerns especially for non-mammals, don't give a shit about eating birds and such) and usually make vegetarian meals when I'm home-cooking.
Although I might soon re-introduce fish to my home-cooking.

[Vanguard1917]

Also before the question arises, while yes certain ethical implications have factored into my decision, attempting to start a healthier lifestyle is what predominantly drove me to this decision.

Why is it that not a single doctor i have talked to has promoted a vegan diet?

I think that the idea that a vegan diet is healthier is espoused mainly by, with all due respect, quacks and amateur nutritionists.

[Ravachol]

Why is it that not a single doctor i have talked to has promoted a vegan diet?

I think that the idea that a vegan diet is healthier is espoused mainly by, with all due respect, quacks and amateur nutritionists.

Yeah we know, you hate everything that's greener than a block of concrete and you always pop up in threads remotely related to such issues.

Besides, a 'vegan' diet (or at least one that heavily cuts back on the meat and diary products) or paleodiet often works wonders for those with digestive problems or allergies never mind sufferers of IBD. It differs from person to person but there's a strong correlation between industrially processed animal productions and various digestive and auto-immune diseases. Sure, this isn't related to the consumption of meat,etc. per se but it is related to current dietary practices and the bio-industry.

[Vanguard1917]

Yeah we know, you hate everything that's greener than a block of concrete and you always pop up in threads remotely related to such issues.

Besides, a 'vegan' diet (or at least one that heavily cuts back on the meat and diary products) or paleodiet often works wonders for those with digestive problems or allergies never mind sufferers of IBD. It differs from person to person but there's a strong correlation between industrially processed animal productions and various digestive and auto-immune diseases. Sure, this isn't related to the consumption of meat,etc. per se but it is related to current dietary practices and the bio-industry.

Proves my point about amateur nutritionists with a lot to say...

I think that a far stronger correlation vis-a-vis industrial food production is that it has accompanied the unprecendentedly high levels of health and longevity currently experienced in developed capitalist countries.

[Ravachol]

Proves my point about amateur nutritionists with a lot to say...

I think that a far stronger correlation vis-a-vis industrial food production is that it has accompanied the unprecendentedly high levels of health and longevity currently experienced in developed capitalist countries.

Quite a shame similar industrial food production techniques do not yield similar correlation results in more underdeveloped parts of the world, one would almost start to suspect that it's not industrial food production that contributes to longevity and health (which is a claim that borders on insanity), but do not let such a suspicion ruin productivist prejudice, by all means!

[Ele'ill]

I'm vegan but in some circumstances if there's non-vegan food and it's free and I didn't have anything else at the moment and was hungry I'd eat it.

[Vanguard1917]

Quite a shame similar industrial food production techniques do not yield similar correlation results in more underdeveloped parts of the world, one would almost start to suspect that it's not industrial food production that contributes to longevity and health (which is a claim that borders on insanity), but do not let such a suspicion ruin productivist prejudice, by all means!

Your sentence answers its own query, namely the word 'underdeveloped'. The problem in poor countries is not that they have access to modern agricultural techniques, but, categorically, that they don't have enough access to such things. Have you surveyed the health and life expectancy of subsistence farmers lately?

Why on earth would it be 'insane' to reckon that greater food availability - the product of modern food production - has improved human health?

[black magick hustla]

idk i do some bodybuilding stuff and it's pretty hard to do that on a vegan diet unless you do super expensive soy shit. so there you go.

[Ele'ill]

idk i do some bodybuilding stuff and it's pretty hard to do that on a vegan diet unless you do super expensive soy shit. so there you go.

Not specifically bodybuilding but I never had a problem being vegan and lifting heavy. Or while training for ice hockey or combat sports. I gained/lost weight healthily as needed.

[Zukunftsmusik]

anyone knows the reason why vegans don't wear woolen sweaters? cause I don't see how that's bad when you basically borrow a natural product from sheep. It may of course have to do with industrial farming?

I've vaguely considered becoming a vegeterian for health reasons, plus vegetarian food always looks and tastes better IMO. I don't think I'll ever turn full out vegetarian, but I don't eat much meat if I cook myself. And I would never abandon fish.

[black magick hustla]

Not specifically bodybuilding but I never had a problem being vegan and lifting heavy. Or while training for ice hockey or combat sports. I gained/lost weight healthily as needed.

i don't think vegans are necessarily weak . however to get the 150g + of proteins i am supposed to consume to gain mass is pretty hard on a vegan diet imho. it can be done but it takes a lot of $$$$ and discipline.

[Prinskaj]

I just ended a week long vegan diet, like the one that you are trying to do. I went back to eating both meat and other animal products straight afterwards. Even though I really wished, that I could have stuck with it.
For me, the biggest issue was not the lack of meat or milk, but rather the massive inconvenience of having to be skeptical of everything you eat, by having to check every product, which you wish to consume, to see if it contains any animal products. This gets tiring very quickly.
But I wish you the best of luck on the diet and I hope that you will be able to follow though with it.

[Vanguard1917]

For me, the biggest issue was not the lack of meat or milk, but rather the massive inconvenience of having to be skeptical of everything you eat, by having to check every product, which you wish to consume, to see if it contains any animal products. This gets tiring very quickly.

Yes, some liberal atheists like to giggle at the absurd restrictiveness and self-denial of Islamic and Jewish dietary laws, but in comparison to veganism, halal and kosher look like beacons of person freedom.

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

Your sentence answers its own query, namely the word 'underdeveloped'. The problem in poor countries is not that they have access to modern agricultural techniques, but, categorically, that they don't have enough access to such things. Have you surveyed the health and life expectancy of subsistence farmers lately?

Why on earth would it be 'insane' to reckon that greater food availability - the product of modern food production - has improved human health?

Have you read Vandana Shiva on the Green Revolution in India? She's written an excellent collection of essays, several of which are collected in Monocultures of the Mind: Biodiversity, Biotechnology and Agriculture. If you're in to reading books that aren't by dead white men in love with progress, I highly recommend it.

[Aurora]

If you're in to reading books that aren't by dead white men in love with progress, I highly recommend it.
Ugh progress, that's so reactionary.