Weakness and headaches (possibly) due to improper vegan diet

[Yonathan Z]

Hi,

I've been vegetarian for 2 years and, two years ago, have gone vegan. I felt great until about 3 months ago, when I started getting frequent migraines and and a feeling of weakness in the legs, but also somewhat in the arms. I can walk and run, but most of the times it feels harder than it should be. Sometimes getting out of bed is just hard, physically. I'm only 22 years old so that's really weird. My blood tests show that nothing is missing (of the nutrients my doctor thinks should be checked), including iron, ferritin, and B12.

I am eating a lot of crap, for lack of a better word. Processed cookies, cereals and just bad food in general. I do eat a lot of pasta with sauce which I or my mother make, and which contains a variety of vegetables, but not much else as far as fresh, healthy food is considered. I must say that I'm super picky about my food most of the time, so I almost never try new foods. Anyway, if you have any idea what exactly my diet might be lacking, that would be great, because I don't want to just start eating all kinds of stuff and hope that some or one of them will fix my problem.

Thank you.

[Pob]

You say you're eating a lot of crap, so why not try eating less crap and more of the good stuff and see if that helps?
Eat plenty of fresh fruit, eat more fresh veg and salads, have beans and pulses, seeds, nuts, etc.

Not easy to see what you are lacking without having a list of what you actually eat day by day. How about taking a vegan vitamin/mineral supplement to see if that helps?

[Robinwomb]

Eating one or two of the "right" foods isn't going to fix whatever problem you have. Eating a well balanced vegan diet in general will go a long way in improving your health though...giving your more energy, clarity of thought, strength and so on. You also need to make sure to eat enough. Not sure if you have seen the vegan food pyramid but it gives a good idea of what you need to include in your diet each day.

Also, your issues might not be related to diet at all. Or it could be some kind of food intolerance? The following article has some possible causes or triggers for migraines for example:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/migraine-headache/basics/causes/con-20026358

I hope you get it figured out soon! Sounds miserable.

[Farrview]

crap processed foor + wheat? may well be the cause. But sees competent medic.

[harpy]

Could perhaps be blood sugar problems if you are eating a lot of refined carbs, which cause "spikes" followed by dips. Google "glycemic load" and you can read about this idea.

If you think it might be that you could try substituting wholemeal pasta for your pasta (if currently white) and - well apart from that, sorry to be boring but it probably does boil down to eating less crap and more veg, beans, wholegrains etc I'm afraid ;)

Seeing a doc to rule out other stuff seems a good idea though.

[franklinjerry]

To maintain our body and health, mixed of proteins, vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates and other nutrients is so much important, We should prepare our diet in that way so that it maintains all types of nutrients and it would be helpful for our health.