Lou
Forum Legend
I hope this helps (pic just for you below from my camping last week - I guess you know what country I am from
View attachment 818
Isn't that a Panda Bear? You live in China?
How do you really feel?
- Thread starter Simon
- Start date
Isn't that a Panda Bear? You live in China?
Lou
Forum Legend
TofuRobot
Forum Legend
About the only issue I've had personally was a lack of energy. This is usually remedied by eating more protein (beans, tofu, etc), and getting more exercise. I eat primarily whole foods - very little take out and very little anything processed, and I never cook with oil. Overall, I've felt amazing. I stopped eating land animals 28 yrs ago, and interestingly, I have not had a single issue with my teeth since, after having had a plethora of issues growing up. Switching to a WF vegan diet (about a year + 1/2 ago) was even better, IMO, and even better still when I stopped drinking alcohol 6 months ago. I do a lot of walking, but not much exercise outside of that, something I know needs to change. The only supplements I take are B12 (it's in my toothpaste), and occasionally Vit D & an algae Omega 3.
I'm not one to get annual physical exams, but I do have one scheduled at the end of the month. I will be interested in seeing what my various levels are, and thyroid function will be something I'm interested in looking at, too, as my mother (grandmother, actually) was on medication for hypothyroidism.
Your question - is there something "magical" about eating small quantities of fish... I don't know. Having been pescatrian for so long, I do sometimes miss it and wonder the same thing. But from a health perspective, the contamination from polluted waters (not just mercury, but plastics and radiation...) had concerned me for a long time before becoming vegan. Ultimately, for me, the risks of long-term accumulation of toxins, IMO, weren't worth the benefits, if there are any real ones.
Really though, I honestly feel really good and currently I have no issues whatsoever (that I am aware of).
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2017
- Reaction score
- 1,209
- Age
- 51
- Lifestyle
- Vegan
Keep this in mind when reading my post: I’m a bit alcohol dependant, and have been long before I attempted eating Vegan. This causes obvious health issues that won’t go away until I quit it or greatly reduce it. I also smoke tobacco. I am 45 years of age.
That being said – eating Vegan has given the following benefits to me:
- Reduction in weight. 17Kg (37.47 pounds) in one year, most of it in the first few months
- Mucuos reduction. If I drank alcohol and ate meat at night I would wake up mornings literally choking on mucuos. Mucuos is not an issue anymore since eliminating all animal products, although I still can get a little after alcohol usage.
- A gain in overall energy
- Faster recovery from alcohol when I use/abuse it. Much faster and reduced negatives associated with it (headaches, mucus, tired etc)
- Regular bowel movements (increased in the first few months, but normalized (1-3 a day usually) after some time.)
- A near elimination of acne (this when I largely cut out oil and limited overall fat)
- A reduction in body odor (although beer can still make me smell like...well, beer)
- A reduction in tooth decay ( I credit loss of 2 teeth to high levels of acid food. Alcohol particularly, followed by animal products over an extended period)
- A reduction in overall aggression
- A reduction in total cholesterol, triglycerides and GGT liver enzymes. These were still elevated per last blood test as an omnivore but all reduced since I went Vegan. Primary culprit here is routine and moderate to excessive alcohol use, which has stayed pretty constant over the entire period.
- A reduction in hunger. If I am eating whole food that is high in fiber and resistant starch, I eat less food overall.
Issues:
I have had one issue that I assumed to be a B12 issue but this turned out not to be the case. If you search for it you can find the thread I started on it.
My issue here was tingling in my hands (not feet). I got this several months into being Vegan and these are the steps I took and it has not been a problem since:
1) I eliminate all chlorine from my cooking and drinking water by letting it sit out for 24 hours. The purpose of this is to eliminate a substance that can kill B12 producing bacteria if that was the case.
2) I often practice a method of cooking whole grains/beans fast called Nixtamalization. I was alerted to the fact that I was not post washing the food enough after watching a video, and now when I do this I make sure to wash my Nixtamalized grains until the water is clear.
*Note – even though I originally thought the issue was B12, I do not believe this to be the case, as even when I supplemented for a brief period I still got intermitant tingling issues. The above 2 steps have stopped that issue.
Supplements:
I take none and only get B12 from a fortified yeast spread and nutritional yeast when I use it. Per last blood test, I have no B12 issue at all.
Most recent blood test:
According to my blood test I was not deficient in any nutrients save slight vitamin D (not enough sunlight), and tests indicated that my risk for Diabetes and Prostate cancer are extremely low. Iron levels were normal and Folate levels exceeded minimum by over 8 times. As I both drink and smoke and these decrease folate my levels of this nutrient were outstanding. As mentioned before all negative markers for Cholesterol, Triglycerides and GGT are reduced from last time when I was tested as an omnivore, and the fact that they are elevated at all is from over use of alcohol.
With the exception of beer drinking I eat an almost exclusive (some oil, some sugar) whole foods plant based Vegan diet and I never want to go back to eating animal products. As of this writing I have been eating Vegan for 1 year and 2 months from Nov 2017 (I started in October, but transitioned during this month so ate some animal products).
TofuRobot
Forum Legend
I neglected to mention these things b/c I honestly hadn't thought about it, but I used to fairly regularly get acne (attribute that to the oils, processed food, and refined sugar I used to eat), but I rarely do anymore, and I can honestly say that I have noticed I don't get much body odor at all. I never wear deodorant. Ever. I don't even own any. Of course, I don't perspire much, either. When I was in my teens and early 20s, I used that awful, aluminum-laden stuff, antiperspirant. I'm sure I used it for a long time after I became pescatarian (@ 25) out of habit but somewhere along the way I learned how bad it was and stopped buying it but never replaced it with deodorant, I guess b/c I didn't feel I had a "smell" problem. Come to think of it I don't believe I've ever purchased deodorant b/c when I used anything at all it was antiperspirant. I'm 53.
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My friend has an underactive thyroid and every time she goes vegan she has digestive problems, I don't know if the two are connected. She does tend to go the whole hog, too much fibre I think. Then she says she feels tired and so much better when she eats meat and goes back to meat eating. I have to say I don't do the whole health eating stuff, I have white rice, potatoes and veg, normal bread, that hasn't got milk in it. I take calcium tablets every day and half a vegan vitamin tablet when I remember. I did it for the animals not me, so wasn't expecting to be healthier, just happier and I'm certainly that. I haven't altered my diet that much, I just don't eat animal products, I have nuts and chickpeas, sunflower spread and oat milk instead. Since going vegan I don't need iron tablets anymore. I suppose I haven't changed my diet enough for my body to realise. I went veggie before I went vegan so it was a gentler transition. I think everything in moderation, including the good stuff.
You've hit on an interesting theory. It's difficult to assign physical body changes to a change in diet and be still be accurate. I'm a 65 y.o male, I'm also going through some odd physical changes, believe me. Are they the result in my diet change or is it age and wear? (I'm Vegan for 18 months)
Example: I have a syntactic nerve problem in my back, just 4 months ago I was in incredible pain. It's causing the toes on my right foot to go numb. (It's being investigated by my doctor.) My blood numbers are very good, including sugar. Could it be the diet change? Could becoming a Vegan cause such a problem?
My point is, since becoming a Vegan I've lost 22 pounds, all my blood counts have improved dramatically, I feel good in general. I walk and exercise too. But...has being Vegan stopped all nagging problems in my body? Or has it increased them? And which nagging issues have been caused by my diet change? Which can be assigned to age and wear?
I've been lucky, I fit well into Veganism. I enjoy the challenge of building, designing, delicious Vegan meals. My suggestion is to balance your meals as best as you can. Make sure you're getting vital nutrients in each meal.
I know one thing, age gets us all...if we're lucky. I don't want my golden years cluttered with prescription drugs and insulin needles. Your body only knows that it needs certain vitamins and nutrients to thrive, it doesn't care how they're derived. Make very sure you're giving your body what it needs.
Example: I have a syntactic nerve problem in my back, just 4 months ago I was in incredible pain. It's causing the toes on my right foot to go numb. (It's being investigated by my doctor.) My blood numbers are very good, including sugar. Could it be the diet change? Could becoming a Vegan cause such a problem?
My point is, since becoming a Vegan I've lost 22 pounds, all my blood counts have improved dramatically, I feel good in general. I walk and exercise too. But...has being Vegan stopped all nagging problems in my body? Or has it increased them? And which nagging issues have been caused by my diet change? Which can be assigned to age and wear?
I've been lucky, I fit well into Veganism. I enjoy the challenge of building, designing, delicious Vegan meals. My suggestion is to balance your meals as best as you can. Make sure you're getting vital nutrients in each meal.
I know one thing, age gets us all...if we're lucky. I don't want my golden years cluttered with prescription drugs and insulin needles. Your body only knows that it needs certain vitamins and nutrients to thrive, it doesn't care how they're derived. Make very sure you're giving your body what it needs.
I was born with an under active thyroid. So I've been taking thyroxine since I was 8 months old. Being vegan doesn't make me feel worse. It hasn't stopped me having health issues but it is like a lifeline to hold onto in a stormy sea.
OP
OP
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2017
- Reaction score
- 14
- Age
- 57
- Lifestyle
- Vegan newbie
Thanks to everyone for your responses.
They've all been really interesting.
Sorry for my tardy reply, I was expecting to get notifications if my question was answered but didn't so haven't returned to the forum.
As an update, I decided a week or so ago to up my protein intake, so now have a protein(approx 35g) shake for lunch.
I must admit to feeling slightly less lethargic.
I have continued with the celery juice most mornings, can't see that it's doing any harm, I did become very sceptical but then saw that Novac Djokovic was doing it also and thought that if it was good enough for him.....
I've also cut out the beer with my evening meal as someone mentioned alcohol is inflammatory.
I would swear that joints are ever so slightly less sore, but this might just be wishful thinking.
I've just been reading about SIBO and wonder whether this might be my problem.
I have an appointment with GP this week so will ask about SIBO tests but it seems that this issue is normally dealt with by Naturopaths or Functional practitioners i.e. will cost an arm and a leg to treat.
It seems that the more digging and research one does the more confused and overwhelmed one becomes.
I even watched a documentary asking How safe is eating meat? which questioned the accepted view that it is saturated fat that causes health issues, there is research that says that this is not the case but that L-Carnitine is which I found really interesting. The take away from the doc said that red meat in extreme moderation-once or twice a month shouldn't cause problems but it also claimed that there was no problem with regularly eating fish and white meat which goes against everything the plant based experts say.
If I'm honest and Lab grown meat was available and affordable right now, I'd revert to meat eating, just to set my mind at rest but as it's not I won't.
It appears we still have a lot to learn about health and nutrition,
They've all been really interesting.
Sorry for my tardy reply, I was expecting to get notifications if my question was answered but didn't so haven't returned to the forum.
As an update, I decided a week or so ago to up my protein intake, so now have a protein(approx 35g) shake for lunch.
I must admit to feeling slightly less lethargic.
I have continued with the celery juice most mornings, can't see that it's doing any harm, I did become very sceptical but then saw that Novac Djokovic was doing it also and thought that if it was good enough for him.....
I've also cut out the beer with my evening meal as someone mentioned alcohol is inflammatory.
I would swear that joints are ever so slightly less sore, but this might just be wishful thinking.
I've just been reading about SIBO and wonder whether this might be my problem.
I have an appointment with GP this week so will ask about SIBO tests but it seems that this issue is normally dealt with by Naturopaths or Functional practitioners i.e. will cost an arm and a leg to treat.
It seems that the more digging and research one does the more confused and overwhelmed one becomes.
I even watched a documentary asking How safe is eating meat? which questioned the accepted view that it is saturated fat that causes health issues, there is research that says that this is not the case but that L-Carnitine is which I found really interesting. The take away from the doc said that red meat in extreme moderation-once or twice a month shouldn't cause problems but it also claimed that there was no problem with regularly eating fish and white meat which goes against everything the plant based experts say.
If I'm honest and Lab grown meat was available and affordable right now, I'd revert to meat eating, just to set my mind at rest but as it's not I won't.
It appears we still have a lot to learn about health and nutrition,
TofuRobot
Forum Legend
... I have learned enough about nutrition to understand that eating meat - lab grown or otherwise (or even, especially) - has any health benefits that outweigh the risks.
David3
Forum Legend
I wish I'd jumped into this conversation earlier. It sounds like the OP was trying to self-diagnose her nutrition issues, which can be difficult to do. I'm a big believer in getting help from Registered Dietitians - they are the nutrition experts. Physicians are very educated people, but their education does not include nutrition science.
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