NO MEAT, NO GODS, NO FUCKING BRAKES: the-secret-vegan: There are no medical conditions that prevent a...
There are no medical conditions that prevent a person from going vegan. Let me talk you through the ones people generally mention:
Anemia is not caused by lack of meat. It is caused by deficient iron. You can get iron from: soybeans, pumpkins, beans, quinoa, seeds of generally any type (pumpkin, sesame, sunflower, flax, etc.), lentils, nuts, spinach, seaweed, figs, prunes, tempeh, even motherfucking avocados have 1.18 mg of iron in them…
“
I see about twenty to thirty new patients per week, and I always ask them, “Which has more protein - one hundred calories of sirloin steak or one hundred calories of broccoli?” When I tell them it’s broccoli, the most frequent response I get is “I didn’t know broccoli had protein in it.” I then ask them, “So where did you think the calories in broccoli come from? Did you think it was mostly fat, like an avocado, or mostly carbohydrate, like a potato?”
People know less about nutrition than any other subject. Even the physicians and dietitians who attend my lectures quickly volunteer the answer, “Steak!” They are surprised to learn that broccoli has about twice as much protein as steak.
Joel Fuhrman, M.D. (from Eat to Live)
Though the protein in vegetables etc (incomplete protein) is different to the protein in steak (complete). Soybeans have complete protein and combinations of vegetables can give one complete protein needs. The unsaturated fat in meat (amongst other things) makes fruit and veggies the better choice.
(Source: lonelydad38)
I’ve been getting some criticism lately (in real life) about how people believe that vegan diets can’t meet nutritional needs and that it’s particularly “dangerous” to be raising my children vegan. Mostly I’m okay with stuff like this because I know I’m right - I’ve researched the shit out of the nutrition aspect and even though I was really nervous for a while, it’s just really not that hard.
What it comes down to for me is, children eating standard diets are likely to be deficient in things too. You can’t tell me that a child that eats sugary cereal for breakfast, chocolate spread on processed white bread for lunch, fast food or a half-hearted “home cooked” meal is any better than what I feed my children. For example, they had scrambled tofu on toast this morning (pictured) which consisted of avocado spread on organic stoneground wholemeal bread, with a mix of tofu, nutritional yeast, cauliflower and mushroom on top. It met all their needs for calcium, iron, B12 an protein as well as many other vitamins and minerals without unnecessary fats, sugars and junk. They had a glass of fortified organic soy milk with their breakfast.
For lunch they had a sort of panini type sandwich with portabello mushrooms, tomatoes and basil pesto and the basil was grown on our balcony along with a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice, fortified with iron. They snack on apples, celery, hummus, carrots amongst other things. They drink litres of water.
Until now, I’ve refrained from judging people (well on the nutrition front, i always judge people for eating animals) and their eating habits but if they’re going to start analysing how we eat, perhaps we should keep things fair and let me analyse their diet too. A standard day of food for some of the people attacking me for our lifestyle consists of scrambled eggs with added cheese/milk, canned tuna, deep fried chips, chicken nachos, pre-mixed bourbon and coke, hamburgers, diet softdrinks, bags of lollies, packets of biscuits and ham sandwiches on white bread. One of the families buys seven pizzas from a cheap pizza place twice a week for their family of five - you can imagine what the rest of their diet is like.
And yet I’m a stupid person who isn’t meeting my children’s nutritional needs. Go figure. The worst thing is, none of them have the nerve to say any of this to my face - it just gets back to me through other people.
Everyone wants a cure for cancer, diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and all these other health issues.
We already have one.
It’s called veganism.
You’ll stop it before it even starts.
so much this
Correct nutrition on a vegan diet is still important in combatting these things though. Processed foods, non-organic fruit and vegetables (or not eating enough fresh produce), BPA packaged food and drinks, saturated fats, excess salt and processed sugars, additives, flavourings and preservatives, amongst other things all contribute to these same health issues as well.
TRIGGER WARNING: eating disorders
Oh, nice.
A remnant of my binge eating disorder.
I keep seeing the quote “Those who don’t make time for health now will have to make time for illness later” pop up on my dash, and its SO nice to see between all the ‘for the bikini! for the boys!’ posts. I want to add my story to that conversation.
I just spent the last 16 hours passing a cluster of kidney stones. What you see above is hundreds of broken capillaries (small blood vessels) from vomiting/dry heaving so hard the room sparkled and spun. The pain from passing a stone is unexplainable. I used to deal with this shit every couple months before I started recovering and getting my intake under control. Passing a stone is hell, but I feel lucky that it passed at all. I had to have my first stone surgically removed. They do that by shoving a tool up your urethra (the hole you piss out of) - up to where the stone is and pull it out. Your urethra breaks, by the way, and you have to basically regrow it around a splint while you’re recovering. Fun.
It had been 5 months since my last one. I thought I was out of the woods. Apparently not.
But this is honestly better than the surgery I had to have last August. The food I was eating & forcing my body to try and process absolutely destroyed my intestines. At age 21 I had to have a colonoscopy (a tube up your asshole so a surgeon can look around your intestines) and then a surgery that involved cutting my asshole open (imagine a Q), cutting out pieces of my intestines, and then cauterizing them shut. That means burning the wound closed.Hospital for 2 days, and then 2 weeks of sitting in a tub of water and blood screaming my head off because I was so out of my mind in pain. The surgeon told me at my follow up that the surgery I received was the most painful he does.
The effects of a shitty diet caught up to me quickly and early because of how extreme my habits were. Had I eaten normal portions of the kinds of food I was eating, the ill effects would have taken longer to show. But either way I would have had to deal with it.
Point is, having an unhealthy lifestyle and poor diet WILL catch up to you. The quote is 100% accurate. If you don’t take time to be healthy now, you’ll have to make time to be sick later.
So while the bikinis, and the sexy booty, and the fine ass men you meet at the gym are all great and wonderful.. there’s one reason to change your lifestyle that’s more important than all that. Your body will thank you in the long run. The discomfort you feel getting more active and the annoyance you feel figuring out your new diet is nothing compared to the illness you’re avoiding by changing your life.
Get healthy. I promise you it’ll be worth it.
It is so brave of you to post this. Your story is so worth telling, so many people could benefit from reading it. I am so glad that you are recovering and thank you for sharing.
(Source: recoverykitty)
“
One farmer says to me, “You cannot live on vegetable food solely, for it furnishes nothing to make bones with;” and so he religiously devotes a part of his day to supplying his system with the raw material of bones; walking all the while he talks behind his oxen, which, with vegetable-made bones, jerk him and his lumbering plough along in spite of every obstacle.
Henry David Thoreau - Walden
(Source: eatforhealth)
“
He that takes medicine and neglects diet, wastes the time of his doctor.
Ancient Chinese Proverb (via compassionforall)
“
The diet of the average American is deficient in 7 nutrients. Vegans on the other hand, have been shown to have higher intakes of 16 out of the 19 nutrients studied, including calcium. So when a meateater asks you “Where do you get your B12?” you can counter with “Where do you get your vitamin C, vitamin E, calcium, fiber, folate, iodine and magnesium? And while you’re at it, you can ask them how they keep their sodium, saturated fat, total fat and cholesterol intake under control.
(via nobullnobucksvegan)
To further explain the connection of calcium and protein in bone density, the culprit is the influence of sulfur-containing proteins of animal resulting to loss of calcium. How is that so? Since our body cannot store extra protein, the amino acids convert into organic acids. Those acids that our body cannot neutralize can lead to several health effects such as acidosis. In order to regain the natural balance of the body, the process of buffering the influx of acid and borrowing the calcium phosphate from the bones can result for the kidneys to push calcium through the discharge of urine. Meaning, the body tends to lose essential calcium and increases the rate of fracture and bone loss. (…)
Even though, all incomplete protein such as green leafy vegetables, tubers, barley, tofu, legumes, seeds and macadamia nuts, if eaten in proportion several times throughout the day, can definitely give complete proteins. You have an option to mix and match the given plant-based food sources. Let’s take for example the legumes; it can be balanced along with grains, nuts and seeds. Another, one cup of avocado contains 3 grams of complete protein and a medium size of potato with skin contains 4 grams.
This is the fresh produce I got at the markets yesterday. Those apples are organic and some of the granny smith ones are enormous! Those bananas only cost me $2.50 per 3kg. And as for those tomatoes - the apple grower’s mother grows them … they come from the vine that she planted from the seeds she brought over from Naples when she emigrated. Oohhhh yeah.
I posted this on a new tumblr I created for healthy vegans. I think all vegans are ace but I often find that I struggle to find people who eat like I do. If you’re a healthy vegan and want to submit photos of your beautiful self, your food, your life or just tell your story then please do! Perhaps you want to share your inspirations or role models. We can all learn from and inspire each other.
What do I constitute as healthy? High in fresh produce and low in processed foods. You might be raw vegan, you might not. You might eat tofu, or pasta dishes that have a high content of vegetables. Eating healthy comes in all forms and we all have different ideas on what it means, or what works for us. You may be at the beginning of your journey or a seasoned health nut. If you love to exercise and you fuel your body on vegan food, even better!
I’m not saying vegan brownies or your chips and dips are bad - I think those foods can be celebrated too and I often post links and photos to recipes on this tumblr. I just wanted a space for fresh produce junkies to share their obsessions!
High fives for healthy vegans!
trigger warning: eating disorders
Vegan/ABC diet starting tomorrow
I’m going to do this even if it kills me:)
Sigh, I get tired of seeing thinspo posts in the vegan tag. I know it’s a tricky issue and I tend to stay away from it mostly because arguing with people in the pro ana/mia movement is fraught with triggers and emotion for me. However, it breaks my heart that people are damaging their bodies and sometimes they just don’t know any better. Do some research, you can get a healthy, fit body without having to starve yourself. I wish I had listened to someone before I fucked myself up.
The ABC diet is one of the most horrific “diets” out there. You won’t succeed, you’ll end up binging at some pojnt as your body desperately tries to save itself by forcing your brain to tell you eat. You’ll be stuck in a loop of self-hate, disappointment and frustration until you DO become educated on what is best for your body.
Eating and exercising healthfully will also lead to weight loss and a fit body. It also is absent from frustration, damage to your mental and physical health, hunger, shame and disappointment. You’ll experience pride and improvement in cognitive function amongst numerous other benefits.
Go vegan for the animals. Go vegan for health. Go vegan for ethics. Go vegan for the planet. Don’t go vegan in an attempt to get a thigh gap.
um pretty sure there isn’t a health problem that going vegan couldn’t help. stop making excuses.Anonymous
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.
———-
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.
x
