vegan in suburbia

Then please inform me on how I can eat vegan while managing a vitamin k deficiency, a vitamin b12 deficiency, severe chronic iron anemia, an inability to process most grains and wheat products or soy products, severe berry allergies, hypoglycemia, acute gallbladder attacks, attacks of acute pancreatitis, chronic kidney infections, AND continue training for a marathon.

Also, I can’t eat grapefruit/grapefruit juice, grapes/grape juice, seville oranges, pomegranates, and several other foods because of potentially harmful interactions with my medicines.

And no chocolate, caffeine, and very little sugar.

Full fat only, as I can’t eat non-fat/low-fat foods. 

Also for under $100 a month. Thanks. 

pizzaraven

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I saw this when I was reading the posts under the vegan tag. First off,  telling someone to “stop making excuses” is usually my approach to things but when you’re dealing with numerous medical issues it’s just not that simple. I am currently raw vegan but was consuming a fairly standard vegan diet before and as someone who is also dealing with similar issues as you- I have a few things to say.

- I am completely uneducated on Vitamin K deficiency so am not sure what the answer would be for this.

- I also have B12 deficiency. I add nutritional yeast to my food. It is affordable and easy. I also receive B12 shots. There are also B12 fortified cereals and foods for people who eat standard vegan diets.

- I have severe, chronic anemia with the inability to absorb iron tablets via tablets. My options through my doctor were iron injections and iron infusions. I have iron infusions as my iron is criticially low. I am still learning how to balance my diet with iron now that I am eating raw but if you were to eat a standard vegan diet (though, a healthful one) some sources could be lentils, blackstrap molasses, quinoa and other foods as this list suggests.

- I am celiac and managed to eat for many years on a vegan diet with no issues. You could source affordable suitable bread, learn to make your own, eat rice or corn cakes, gluten free wraps, salads wrapped in lettuce leaves. I also have a low tolerance to soy and have simply kept my soy intake low also. There are oat milks, almond milks, rice milks and various other non-dairy, non-soy milks available. Most are affordable, most you can also make yourself.

- Severe berry allergies - simply avoid using berries, there are plenty of other fruits. I rarely have berries, mostly only having them in the occasional smoothie. I wouldn’t find it hard to avoid using them altogether.

- hypoglycaemia. I have also suffered with this in the past and have finally corrected it with eating raw. I’m not saying that this would also work for you but it did for me. Hypoglycaemia can also be something that can be helped with trial and error, you may be able to eventually find something that helps ease the severity of it.  People have had various success with all different forms of dietary therapy, From what I know, when you are hypoglycaemic and eating a standard diet - eating carbs is best done in conjunction with fibre and protein. This is just as easily done on a vegan diet as an omnivore or vegetarian diet.

Things like oatmeal and baked beans could be good options for you. Brown rice, nuts, peanut butter, lentils, black eyed peas - are all affordable and as far as I can see, would be okay for you to eat. But from my experience and from reading about other people’s, eating a higher raw diet usually helps.

- Things like repeat gall bladder attacks are often fixed with a change in diet. Different things work for different people however and because you’re juggling so many health issues, it’s hard to know what would work best. Boosting your diet in fresh produce, beans and legumes.  Also eating smaller, more frequent meals can be helpful. And I hate to say it but reducing your diet in animal proteins and processed food often results in reduced/ non existant gall bladder issues.  I have a feeling this would fall into place once diet was corrected.

- attacks of acute pancreatitis. I have chronic pancreatitis with less than 5% pancreatic function so I speak as someone with experience in this issue. You do mention that you can’t eat a low fat diet which is contradictory to having pancreatic issues - one of the primary things for easing pancreatic issues is to keep your fat intake low. I try and make sure I eat less than 3-5grams of fat per meal and never exceed 12grams per day. Eating small meals, more frequently also helps. If you in fact do not have pancreatic issues and do require a higher fat diet - you can supplement fats with things like avocado, nuts and coconut, amongst many other things.

- I am personally unfamiliar with chronic kidney infections but my partner has them. He finds that eating a healthful, high raw vegan diet with a high water intake is extremely helpful. The minute he doesn’t drink enough water or eats poorly for a day, he experiences problems. It seems to be a genetic weakness in his family but good diet keeps him pain free.

- As for finding a diet that suits you on a budget, I’m not much help. I’m really shit at money management and my maths skills suck but I do know that my diet currently is based mostly on bananas (with various other things to meet nutritional requirements) and the bananas cost me $10 a week because I’ve found a local grower. This may not be possible for you but there are so many options out there. 

- I eat no chocolate,  caffeine or sugar and haven’t done for a very long time.

- I just had a quick look at your tumblr to see whether I had missed anything else and noticed you had a post where you said doctors had recommended you add more meat to your diet. I was also told this. It made me sicker. I went against their advice and have improved, my current doctor has noted this improvements via numerous tests. I have been damaged by many medical “professionals” over the years (to the point where I actually almost died once), listen to what they have to say but always do further research yourself.

- I also have no experience in training for a marathon but there are many raw vegan and vegan athletes out there who are very successful at what they do. Obviously, you face a lot of challenges and it’d be trickier to figure out exactly what works for you but as someone who has had very complex, severe ongoing health issues - I can only say that it’s worth trying.  I have a notebook that I kept my dietary info in whilst I was trying to figure out how to get myself better. I wrote down everything I ate, how I was feeling and constantly adjusted things. You could write down all the foods that you are able to eat, write down their costs, draw up a trial diet, put the info into something like cronometer and see how you go.

There were days where I just wanted to die. I was constantly at the hospital and was experiencing some horrific symptoms and significant pain. But through much experimenting i have reached a place where I am free from a lot of what I was previously suffering. My journey is just my journey - everyone is different but I really thought it was worth letting you know my thoughts, just in case something I’ve said is beneficial to you. OR to someone else out there reading. I don’t know, eating vegan or a high raw, let alone completely raw vegan diet may not be feasible for you BUT it very well could be. It could just take a hell of a lot of work. 

With me, all that work paid off.

I hope you find something that works for you.

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