Positive (side) effects of going vegan

[eclectic_one]

I noticed that I wasn't "eaten" on much when ovo-lacto veggie when I was outdoors with omnis around (who were getting eaten on). I haven't been in a mosquito-laden environment with any omnis since I became totally vegan though...I hope it lessens mosquito bites for me too

[Pilaf]

I've noticed that, too.. insects don't bite me as often.

Also, it seems some wild animals like squirrels and rabbits seem less timid about me. Maybe they can sense my aura? (to clarify, I'm actually not joking)

[Maisiepaisie]

I've noticed that, too.. insects don't bite me as often.

Also, it seems some wild animals like squirrels and rabbits seem less timid about me. Maybe they can sense my aura? (to clarify, I'm actually not joking)

They can. I remember a hunter saying he stopped eating meat for 2 weeks before some big hunting event because deer can smell meateaters.

[Zombified]

I've had 4 operations on my nose because of recurring polyps over the last 20 years and always suffered with rhinitis. SInce being Vegan I have no problems at all. If only I'd have kicked the dairy habit in my teens I don't think I would have ever suffered.

[Smell]

I used to get a new zit every other day, now I hardly get annny. I lost weight.. and I feel awesome all the time too. =]

[Tigerlily]

About the bug bites, I'm sure carnivorous bugs can smell the flesh rotting inside omnis, that's probably they get bitten more.

[Jane M]

I use to have constant headaches. Somedays I couldn't even function they were so bad. Since being vegan I hardly get headaches at all.

[kriz]

I haven't had a cold, no head aches...no nothing since I became vegan 2 1/2 years ago. People sneeze and caugh around me, but I don't seem to catch anything.

[kriz]

One of the drawbacks is that most people around me complaining about being so tired and exhausted all the time. Gets kind of boring being the only one full of energy. lol.

[treehugga]

When I went vegan I did it to help my conscience and reduce migraines.

Many unexpected benefits have come along the way. Right away, it got rid of my asthma, and my periods became regular and lighter, with much reduced PMT and no period pain. I also get the feeling that a healthy vegan diet can help with conception - we certainly got our two daughters on the way as soon as we tried unprotected sex!

It has only been years later that I found out that going vegan has a greater benefit for the environment than any other single thing we can do as individuals, even better than never flying or not having a car. See: http://www.tvvvs.makessense.co.uk/articles/205.html

God I wish that happened to me I still get horrendous pmt despite being vegan

[Pob]

Meeting "vegetarians" who eat fish, chicken, whatever and being in a position to knock the smug, self-satisfying smile of their faces.

[Tigerlily]

I don't know if I mentioned this already but....2 seconds poops with no mess on the TP!

[Tiggerwoo]

I don't know if I mentioned this already but....2 seconds poops with no mess on the TP!

LOL, how funny! Come to think of it I'm pretty much the same!

[Tigerlily]

Well, sometimes it's 3 seconds, but who's counting?

[insubordination]

Well I've been a vegetarian/vegan for more than half my life (I'm 30) so I can't compare but I have discovered so many great foods and herbs and spices - I also am never bitten by mosquitos.

[princessemma]

Don't have to worry about food poisioning anymore as the vast majority comes from meat, fish, shelfish and dairy products.

[Klutz]

I got food poisoning from apples recently. Yeah, apples. Started to feel it coming on about 30 minutes after eating an apple. I had an apple for dinner around 11:00 pm and that was it. Wasn't even hungry--just ate it so I could take the pain meds I had for my wrist. It was also the only thing I threw up...other than bile, I mean. It's amazing what can make you sick. But, yeah, I've gotten food poisoning fewer times per year than when I was an om. I rather think, however, that also has to do with the fact that I no longer eat out at restaurants with, um, shall we say, sanitary issues but cook at home.

[princessemma]

I got food poisoning from apples recently. Yeah, apples.

You poor thing I've never had it myself (lucky me!) but I'm glad that as a vegan I am much less likely to get it. Nearly all the foods pregnant women are advised to avoid are meat or dairy; soft whip ice-cream, blue and mould ripened cheeses, unpasturised milk, liver, raw eggs (yuk yuk yuk!).

On another note some people say their sweat smells better. I can't say I've noticed this personally but has anyone else?

[Vegan Warrior P]

I'm less violent now than I was when I was prevegan, and I generally saw animals as things rather than people.. Now, of course, I don't! And also now I eat a lot more things I like, for the taste, rather than because it was "just there".

[Tigerlily]

I did. I also noticed my breath doesn't stink nearly as much too.

[pat sommer]

new skills! having to be "artistic" because there weren't any carnevale masks for Venice trip without feathers... Think I might qualify for a biochemistry degree after years of label reading too....

[lozza]

everyone seems to say they found they lost weight after becoming vegan. this never happened to me. although, i think that for the first year or two of being a vegan, i still ate a lot of stodgy foods like white pread, pasta, white rice, crisps & sugar..its only now that i've begun to cut those types of things out.

one very noticable change is this though: i NEVER get ill. i havent been in about 4 or 5 years. the only times i have ever been sick in the last few years, are from drinking too much alcohol, and i hardly ever get little colds. even when everyone else around me gets them, throughout christmas & stuff..i manage to stay bug-free

i guess my immune system is stronger.

[Floyd Soul]

One noticeable one for me is that I can now look at animals, in particular the cattle behind my garden as friends. Because I don't eat them.

[ph63228]

been able to argue with averyone about my veganism and knowing i'm right!

Bunny Hugger

[lozza]

One noticeable one for me is that I can now look at animals, in particular the cattle behind my garden as friends. Because I don't eat them.

me too!!

i always look at cows as friends..and i want to pet them as i would a dog or cat.

[Cheyenne]

My favourite thing is they way my parents intorduce me like this: "This is Cheyenne, my daughter. She's a vegan, you know"
And, of course, the look on my doctor's face when I told him I had become a Vegan: "*Gasp*You're a Vegan??? How do you get calcium??"
HaHa.

[princessemma]

One good thing for me has been the way my daughter's nursery teacher has embraced the idea of teaching about different lifestyles. She now tells all the children that some people don't drink milk because they don't like taking anything from an animal. These children are getting a view of life at an early age they might not have had and that makes me feel hopeful. If a few of them decided to question it a bit further who knows maybe more vegans.

[laurin]

I don't eat junk anymore, I go out for jogs. I'am more creative, and try to make new things from my vegan cookbook. I feel better about myself, I guess that's what it comes down to in the end.

[stef]

Weight loss
Clearer, younger looking skin
No more migraines
No more joint pains
No colds/flu....or any illness that I can think of in 9 years now
Very little period pain
Less sleep
More Energy
A head that never stops thinking...until it's time for me to sleep

I did it for the animals....and look at all I got back

love
stef

[Koolvedge]

The greatest benefit to me I think was becoming much more conscious about what was going on around me. I started seeing the reality of what is really going on. Most people don't want to take off the blindfold that modern society has put on us. Veganism stripped that away, it let me see just how crazy meat-eating is. Pesticides, GMO's, Preservatives, Hidden Ingredients, all came to the surface for me to take a good look at. It made me distance myself from the crowd {not that I was ever part of it}. A new, fresh, real outlook on life, which was a great unexpected benefit.

[piggy]

most of them have been mentioned by others..

no flu and colds, no sinusitis
no smelly breath
no gout & aches in joints
100% digestion
fewer pimples
periods better and less painful

[veganbikerboy]

very similar to koolvedge, my knowledge of the world and how it works.

I have researched and read stuff that i would probably never have if not vegan, all in search of being a good, complete vegan. I hate the thought of anybody finding a chink in beliefs. I am vegan because i like to be right

it can be hard running your own business to balance beliefs with the pressure of keeping bread on the table

[TitoPanaVeg]

I lost amazingly 40 pounds, I started to work out and feel great every day.
I don't snore any more and it's very rare for me to have nightmares. Except the day that my HR Giger statue arrived.
I feel happy. Sometimes I smile just because I feel so happy with my way of life.
My friend's pets are always happy to see me. They say they don't treat anyone else like me. Even Jako, the dog who is part of my family, seems to be happier everytime I arrive home.
I don't have to sleep too much and I'm always with lots of energy.

[Yoggy]

I almost never get headaches anymore. I used to have lots of sinus pains like my mom. I thought I had "inherited" her problems with chronic sinus infection, but I haven't had any problems since going vegan, so it was probably all the dairy! I've been trying to convince her to at least cut back on her dairy consumption to see if she notices any improvement like I did. These days, the only headaches I get are because of my own stupidity, for example, not eating well, or the other day when I watched seven episodes in a row of a TV show on my computer

[Koolvedge]

I think Veganism and the growth of consciousness go together. It doesn't hit everyone, but the majority of us are able to look at things in a different light. When consciousness expands it starts to investigate the things that we were told to just blindly believe, just like we see people blindly believing today. If we can apply this to many other walks of life there's no telling how far a person can go. One thing I"ve noticed is that the truth can be very shocking. Like when you learn about government, history and diet, you see that we've been lied to since day one. This really is an illusion of lies proliferated by the ones who say that they are protecting us. I know that factory farming isn't helping me, and paying for subsides that the meat and dairy industry gets through my tax dollars is similar to the tax that I"m extorted to pay for the defense budget. Some of us tend to see through the cloak of consumerism as the befefits of Vegansim start to appear.

[Cairidh]

When I ate meat I had chest/throat infections at least 4 times per year. Since I stopped eating meat I haven't had a single one!

When I stopped drinking milk, catargh and migraine vanished. And I looked a lot better.

But I still get colds and flue

[eclectic_one]

I've been really stressed with my mom's health probs (which I've discussed elsewhere), so I went--for the first time--to a massage therapy session. The therapist went on and on about how my neck muscles were the "softest" she'd ever worked on except maybe one other client 15 years ago! When I left, I asked about my "tightness" level and she said she could take lessons from me about how to relax (because I only had two slightly tight areas) I don't know if this is totally due to my vegan diet, but I think it's at least partially to credit

[mophoto]

i used to get massive sinus headaches, too- i lived on advil cold & sinus. i never get them anymore. i am so happy becasuse i thought it was something i would have to live with my entire life.

i noticed many people mentioned not needing as much sleep- i feel the same way. it is hard for me to adjust, though, and even believe that it is possible. i used to get way too much sleep and it never seemed like enough, now i sleep like a normal person. being a vegan rocks!!

[Tigerlily]

I find when I have a sore throat, it isn't as bad as it used to be. There's no more mucous from the dairy!

I stopped getting my sinus headaches for a while but they are coming back. I get a headache almost every day now.

[Russ]

Pretty much what everyone else has said.

I've NEVER been ill since being vegan; less headaches; I did lose a bit of weight; generally feel healthier; much more motivated; more aware of the world and the destructive capitalist system (though that would probably have happened anyway, as I became interested in animal and human rights at the same time); I think that taking this stance and sticking to it in the face of fairly extreme reaction and social rejection has made me more confident in myself and stronger inside; I feel so much better about myself for doing something. I never, ever get indigestion. There's also all the food (much, much tastier) that I would never have eaten had I not gone vegan.

[sugarmouse]

hangovers arent half as bad!

[Antonia]

I hardly ever have to blow my nose anymore (u'd never used to be able to find me without a box of kleenex at hand).
My brittle nails have turned into beautiful long claws that I actually have to trim back.
My bf says it takes me more time to pee than it does more serious bathroom business.
I've become more passionate about issues related to veganism, AR, compassionate living etc.. and view many things from a more enlightening and penetrating perspective than I used to (applying my questioning thinking about animals to other areas of life).
I really didn't expect to become so upset about others eating meat, it didn't bother me as much as a veggie.
Finding so many like-minded people via this forum, which has been helpful beyond anything I could have hope for.

[pat sommer]

developing Florets Syndrome: barking 'Eat Your Broccoli!' at passers-by

[tabitha]

developing Florets Syndrome: barking 'Eat Your Broccoli!' at passers-by

LMAO

[tabitha]

When I first started on the vegan thing, my friends little girl told her father I was a "Virgin"....he was quite shocked as I was 42 at the time......

[Tiggerwoo]

When I first started on the vegan thing, my friends little girl told her father I was a "Virgin"....he was quite shocked as I was 42 at the time......

Why have you got me thinking of the film The 40 Year Old Virgin now?

[Russ]

Hold on ... you mean this isn't virginforum?

[Russ]

I thought we were just avoiding the subject with all this animal rights and health malarky ....

[spiralannie]

my squeeze went vegan a month after i did! he said i was a glowing example (he also said i've started to taste like pineapple... so weird and cool!)

i havent gotten a headcold once since i went vegan. i'm more adventurous with food. everyone tells me how lovely my skin smells. i feel healthy and satisfied and happy after a vegan meal, instead of just...full. my skin is nicer. i feel more at peace with the world.

[ravenfire]

Mine is just how much healthier I've become. I haven't lost any weight because I have hypothyroidism so losing my extra weight just isn't in the cards for me. However, even though I'm about 20 lbs overweight, I can really tell that I'm extremely healthy now where I wasn't before.

I do get people who say "I though vegans were supposed to be skinny" a lot though and it pisses me off so bad. I guarantee that I eat better and exercise more than all of those people but they still feel like they're better than me because I'm a bit overweight.