Positive (side) effects of going vegan

[mariana]

I kind of expected to be disgusted by dairy food smells because I'd heard other vegans say that happens...and I've always been disgusted by the smell of meat (even though I've never tasted it)...but I wasn't expecting to be as disgusted as I am by the smell! I went into an ice cream shop with my dad the other day and actually felt nauseous from the sickly sweet ice cream smell.

[tipsy]

the smell walking down an isle of cheese makes me sick to my stomach now too...

my fav unexpected vegan funs? sharing dinner with the dog everynight.

[Elahiya]

the worst was when some of my fellow students at the uni made themselves these instant soups/snacks. gosh! they smell like right out of hell!!!! or if they made some toast with meat and melty cheese slices! i thought i´d have to throw up right into the cafeteria!

[HerbivoreChick]

I have definitely noticed that since I've been vegan that I really haven't gotten any kind of cold or flu since I've become a vegan. It's great!! I also notice that my hair is much thicker, and seems healthier!!

[Lizzybo]

My eczema and urticaria improved a lot, as did my rhinitis (I am one of these people cursed to be allergic to the entire planet; flowers, fluffy kittens, you name it)

I have also found that although I eat less food, I am less hungry. I never realised before how much of what I used to eat was devoid of actual nutrition. I don't get carb cravings or the chocolate gremlins nibbling at my insides so the longer I am vegan, the fewer moments of weakness I have where I crave stuff that I used to enjoy eating.

It's strange. Despite all I know about the meat and dairy industries, every now and again I still get a whiff of something ghastly and instead of being revolted, my stomach says 'Do you remember, we used to LOVE that.' Go figure.

[Laura-Louise]

My favourite unexpected effect of goig vegan is that my cat no longer tries to grab the food off my fork as I try to get it into my mouth (the fork, not the cat). Now that everything I eat is vegetable based, he is no longer interested and so turns his full attention to my other half's dinner instead.

[Justin]

an annoying sense of self righteousness? no wait, that's Stu, not me

[SarcasticCookie]

My mental status has greatly improved.

My depression and bipolar were horrible. But now I'm more optimistic and feel better in general. I'm sure that it being summer helps as well.

And my skin is softer than ever (I used to pride myself on really soft skin) and my blackheads are disappearing! And my wart also disappeared. I've had it since I was 8.

[wom]

I think we need to set up a peer-reviewed double-blind experiment to put this one to rest once and for all ...

Haha, maybe this isn't peer reviewed, or particularly scientific, but this is the closest I can find: clicky (probably NSFW)
Apologies for the crude language and the pictures with the article. But it says our herbivore farts don't smell as much!

[petunia]

i dont know if any of you subscibe to the magazine "vegnews". if you do, you may have already read this, but if not...

there was an article posted in the april 08 edition called "222 reasons to be veg". here are some that i thought were the best (some serious, some funny):

2. never having to wear leather pants
13. not eating the bodies of tortured souls
20. having clean arteries that arent clogged with dead animal goo
22. not having to worry about getting blood stains on the tablecloth
33. helping my grandmother learn new words like "vegan"
35. walking the talk
37. saving an average of 200 animals a year just by not eating them
44. no dead bodies in my refrigerator
42. being an activist at every meal
53. the automatic leg-up on tose ubiquitous eco-footprint quizzes
55. being a "radical" vegetarian makes you just a little bit cooler.
74. being consistant. (claim to love animals? prove it!)
77. good karma
79. getting to wear pleather in a non-weird way
85. adhering to the principles of ahimsa
92. never having to cut and prepare blood soaked food
110. not inadvertently funding a corrupt agribusiness billionaire's vacation
home
112. watching veganism become more mainstream
117. knowing that the heimlich maneuver, if ever needed, wont produce a
hunk of dead flesh
118. never having to seperate egg yolks from whites
123. not getting queasy when thinking about where food comes from
124. never having a kitchen that reeks of seafood.
125. visiting farm sanctuaries
132. not having to use a toothpick to scrape meat out of one's teeth
139. even though i dont own a prius, im still more of an environmentalist
than al gore.
140. having the most unique and exciting cookbook collection ever
142. eating healthfully by default
150. vegetarians smell better
153. creating a perfect universe within ones own life
155. not having to scrape burnt cheese off the bottom of the oven
164. making a salad in less than 5 minutes. the ultimate fast food!
166. using my vegan status to deflect weirdos in bars
168. cruelty free thanksgivings
171. bragging rights
177. a cleaner colon
181. not being a mindless, cheese-addicted zombie..
186. not worrying about whether tofu is cage-free
201. not being a wooly bully!
203. not creating arbitrary distinctions between animals
204. vegenaise!
207. cool t-shirts!
208. wearing my own skin and no one else's
216. vegan soap feels clean, not lardy.


pretty good, hey?

[tofuandpotatoes]

i lost about 20 pounds in a month, and my weight has been the same (130-140) since then, and i've grown about 4 inches.

i smell better. lol.

i'm slender.

i ran faster at first. (however, because of... mental/nervous(nerves) problems, i'm... rather unphysical as of a year ago)

hmm...

i eat a huge variety of foods, all of which can be eaten raw, and shared with my animal friends.

i learned to cook greatly. i can make almost anything now! not really greatly, but good enough to feed and satisfy myself.

i pretty much completed my phylosophy, matured massively, and made some good friends.

[BagelKitty]

My favorite unexpected effect is that I am way more freaking energetic. I wake up before my alarm clock, and I even have time to enjoy breakfast and tea before rushing out the door to work.

[KayVegan]

More energetic, less colds, better complexion

[Melani]

My favorite thing was losing 120 pounds without even trying.

[Roxy]

Wow Melani! I lost just about 40 pounds as a result of my veganism. You lost 3 times that much! Congratulations

[umbilical]

so many vegans lost weight here

i lost a lot after i turned vegetarian...
becoming vegan later didn't really change that much

[Roxy]

If you didn't eat a lot of dairy as a vegetarian, that could be why.

I went straight from omnivore to vegan. I put some of the weight loss down to the fact that I stopped eating store bought baked goods.

[umbilical]

you're probably right roxy.

i wonder if it's possible to just live from water melon

i almost did that ( i also ate some rice and rockmelon) for 2 weeks on vacation in turkey, because the hotel we were in... had all meals mixed with either meat or cheese...

[pavotrouge]

you probably couldn't, because water melon has a detox effect and you wouldn't want to have that going on forever ^^

[Roxy]

you're probably right roxy.

i wonder if it's possible to just live from water melon

i almost did that ( i also ate some rice and rockmelon) for 2 weeks on vacation in turkey, because the hotel we were in... had all meals mixed with either meat or cheese...

Oh you poor thing! Was Turkey in general very vegan friendly?

[umbilical]

you probably couldn't, because water melon has a detox effect and you wouldn't want to have that going on forever ^^

i see, i didn't know about that.
but this must be the reason why water melon is so tasty ..temporarily

[pavotrouge]

I've read it's also one of the healthiest fruits to eat.

[Pilaf]

I dunno if I mentioned this already or even if it's appropriate but..er...a certain part of my anatomy actually seems to have become..healthier? Yes healthier.

I dunno if it was veganism or a coincidence but considering I was already "fully grown" when I went vegan I tend to credit the dietary change..haha

[Roxy]

Ok, I think I know what you're saying Pilaf, but I'm not sure. Do you mean that your penis got bigger when you went vegan? Or, if it's not too personal, are you saying that you have better sexual experiences now (more prolonged etc)?

[pavotrouge]

bigger = healthier ?!?

[indianvegan]

Got rid of Cold and cough, almost. Clean lungs.

Drammatic reduction in problem of Urticaria, though mine is also linked with change of weather.

[indianvegan]

My Urticaria got reduced very much, or almost cured cause of B-12 supplementaion? I found one linke here -- http://www.diagnose-me.com/treat/T39005.html

[veganeatingout]

I actually gained pounds which is great because I've been underweight. Because veganism brings more attention to the diet it also encouraged me to eat more so as to avoid the "sickly vegan" stereotype and I feel healthier than before.

I've also become much more receptive to what's in the produce section of the supermarket. Mmmmmm

[freudianxslipp]

Haha, well I've always been the chubby girl and had trouble losing weight... and when I became a vegan, in 8 months or so I lost 34 pounds.
And NO, it wasn't unhealthily. I actually eat a large amount of food.. but being a vegan, everything is very fiber rich, so it really does work to my benefit. =]

[Edeline]

I know that it’s still early days yet, but I swear that my skin is already starting to improve. The dark circles under my eyes have practically disappeared, and my cellulite has gotten loads better. I haven’t weighed myself yet, but I’m also pretty sure that I’ve lost some weight (which is incredible, considering how much cheezly I’ve been eating! )

[firstandthen]

For some reason, my phobia of spiders has decreased dramatically. I've even been on mini rescue missions for two of them!

[Mahk]

Precognition.

[cobainist403]

Expression. Conscientiousness.

[qwerty]

X-ray vision and spidey senses

[Declan]

I used to be really prone to colds and this winter despite living in student halls with 239 other people who pretty much all had colds (except the other vegan), and seeing a girl who was choked with the cold for weeks, I haven't had one at all since I went vegan. Which is nice. I also get really cool random bursts of energy which comes in handy as I live at the top of a tenement block at the top of a big hill.

[starlight]

[quote=snivelingchild;10368]What are some of your favorite unexpected effects of your veganism?
quote]

An awareness and concern about animal rights and animal wrongs.

[Rakey]

Hmmmm, weight loss, less headaches, much more energy, better sex drive & much better orgasms.

The first week of being vegan I found getting out of bed very easy, but now its colder it isn't so easy anymore.

I also have seemed to be happier and don't get ill. Plus my awareness and concearn about animals is so much better than what it used to be.

[fiveqs]

Whenever it's not raining or snowing, we're out on the deck for our meals. The interesting thing I've noticed since we went Vegan is that the Yellowjackets, that used to harass us relentlessly over the summer, just buzz right on past our table now. No meat or animal ingredients to attract them
I consider this a really nice benefit. I've been stung by them sooo many times.
Paul Q

[Virpukka]

I have been vegan now little over three months and I have lost 12 pounds from my weight what is great because I have so much overweight. I'm much less depressed now and I think that my body goes trough somekind detoxin because I got acne what is getting better now thought. I must say that biggest thing has been to me it how it has helped me with my eating disorder. I have BED and when I still eat sometimes to dump my feelings down I haven't binge once after I turned to vegan, actually I can forget to eat sometimes now. That never happened before. I also lost those sugar and fatty food cravings what I use to have daily. I do know that my eating habits are so much helthier now that what they use to what makes me feel better too.

[Roxy]

That's good news virpukka It's good to hear you are looking and feeling healthier.

[cobweb]

fantastic, Virpukka!

[pavotrouge]

congrats, virpukka!

[Virpukka]

Thanks. Yeah that really have made me enjoy from this jouney and helps me to keep focus in the fact that I want to be vegan rest of my life.

[starlight]

Not sure if it counts, but it does for me .... My mum has just gone vegan!

Yes, really. My mum - the lifetime carnivore and from a meat-and-two-veg family.

Now that was unexpected!

So this is how it happened ....

I was chatting with her over MSN on the weekend and she was worried about her cholesterol etc and bad side effects she's getting from the statins the doctor has given her. She was talking about going back to the doctors to get more / different drugs.

So i said ... hey, I've got a better idea ... how about cutting out the animal products in your diet. I spent 10 minutes running through some of the basics of why this would help (e.g. no cholesterol in plants) and tackled some of the basic myths head on (e.g. doctors don't know best, white meat and fish is bad too etc) and thought nothing more of it.

This evening on MSN she says she's trying it and has been vegan since Sunday.

woohoo!

lol

Sorry for the exuberance, but I needed to share. I'm happy she may be on the road to better health and lots of animals will be saved too.

Definately my favourite unexpected effect so far.

[Gorilla]

nice one Starlight

[vava]

Not sure if it counts, but it does for me .... My mum has just gone vegan!

Yes, really. My mum - the lifetime carnivore and from a meat-and-two-veg family.

Now that was unexpected!

So this is how it happened ....

I was chatting with her over MSN on the weekend and she was worried about her cholesterol etc and bad side effects she's getting from the statins the doctor has given her. She was talking about going back to the doctors to get more / different drugs.

So i said ... hey, I've got a better idea ... how about cutting out the animal products in your diet. I spent 10 minutes running through some of the basics of why this would help (e.g. no cholesterol in plants) and tackled some of the basic myths head on (e.g. doctors don't know best, white meat and fish is bad too etc) and thought nothing more of it.

This evening on MSN she says she's trying it and has been vegan since Sunday.

woohoo!

lol

Sorry for the exuberance, but I needed to share. I'm happy she may be on the road to better health and lots of animals will be saved too.


Definately my favourite unexpected effect so far.

don't want to burst your bubble but decreasing food intake of cholesterol may not do any good as the body produces its own...... good that your mum is vegan tho!

[starlight]

don't want to burst your bubble but decreasing food intake of cholesterol may not do any good as the body produces its own......

Hmm not sure I agree, vava, having read "The China Study" recently ...

... it seems to say that people on a plant based wholefood diet have much lower systemic cholesterol than carnivores. This reduction is not based on lower dietary cholesterol intake, but on reduced animal protein and animal fat intake.

People who think that dietary cholesterol intake is the key typically recommend avoiding red meat but continue to eat white meat/fish instead. However the evidence seems to suggest this doesn't bring the benefits.

Hence I suggested cutting out all animal products including white meat, fish and milk etc. i.e. a wholefood vegan diet.

I agree the body produces its own cholesterol. Lots of people seem to produce too much for their own good, in part caused by "western" diet.

I hope I understood all that right - I was pretty convinced. lol

...... good that your mum is vegan tho!

Indeed! I hope it lasts ... I'll keep working on her

[jomo]

wow, starlight, that sure is cool !

I'd really by interested in an update after a few weeks, see if her cholesterol levels go down.

Man, if my mom went vegan, that would be something.

as for me, hmmm it hasn't been all that long, and I do lots of other unhealthy things, but that "dairy" feeling is gone, i guess that's part of having more energy, but I do feel that this "stickiness" is somehow gone from my body

[Prawnil]

Loving the pigeons. And the swans even when they're rowdy.

[tahcha]

Right On Starlight - tell your mom how happy we all are to hear of her choice!

And what a wonderful influence her daughter has become - hooray for you both!