It's Not So Hard to Switch to a Vegan Diet: Report

[eve]

you'd better see your doctor, because I've certainly never had joint pains when running, and in fact there are many athletes including runners, who are vegans. So I guess you have some sort of a medical problem.

[cedarblue]

fish does seem to contain some good oils for joint suppleness and health, and one can certainly eat fish or take the fish oil supplements - but fish also contains the chemical mercury which is definately not good for you or your joints!

have you heard of omega 3 & 6 oils? they do exactly the same job as fish oil but are completely vegan and dont contain mercury

you can take them as a supplement and they are also added to many foodstuffs now such as pure margarine. you can also buy the oil in bottles as regular oil and add a teaspoon or two to foodstuffs/juice etc daily - and its done.

why dont you try an experiment with the omega oil just as you did with the fish eating? you seem to be patient enough to give it a go and wait to see what the results show you? id be interested to know how you got on.

welcome here btw - hope you get lots of info and advice for your questions.

[Anna]

I agree, I am not sure why I waited 12 years. I wish I had done this sooner however I am happy I finally made the switch.

Me too. It's taken me ten years to finally decide to be vegan (dietary) i have been trying to be ethical as far as possible, not easy in my family. I get absolutely no support, they think I'm mad! take Friday's shopping trip when the remaining members of the family were choosing some dead flesh for their Sunday meal. One can't stand the sight of raw meat because when it's uncooked they can make the obvious connection between what they consume and the poor living creature it was. Then after consuming the chosen meat another member of the family said it was too fatty. I did try not to preach, but couldn't resist some suitable comments. I have been challenged to prove that vegan food can be just as good (I think better) and am working on a selection of dishes to prove this (not obvious meat substitutes either). I don't think I will ever win, but then I'm not really trying. If they cut their meat consumption down I'd have made a start

[Anna]

i agree that it is not hard to be vegan. i myself switched from a vegetarian to a vegan three months ago...it was always in my future seeing as how i was raised an organic vegetarian and very animal friendly.

i work at a hospital and every lunch period i get picked on...."what does miss healthy have in her lunch today" ...but i occasionally bring good vegan things to share with my cooworkers (almost half of them had never had hummus!!!!!!) and most of those who keep an open mind are surprized by how much they like the things i bring.

by the way... im a NEWBIEEE... 1st post!

I agree most people I offer anything I make to try do like it. Yesterday I made myself some hummus, which I love. I try to keep lots of things like hummus, seeds, little treats to stop me being tempted by all the unsuitable things in our house. (any biscuits cakes etc which I'm not sure about) I have millions of recipes for sweets and savoury things but very little time to try them all out.

[infinitezero]

I have been to the Doctor, he told me to stop using a Vegan diet. The doctor ran all the normal test and he told me that I was 4x4. That I just need to stay away from a Vegan diet. That was not the answer I was looking for though.




I am going to try the Vegan diet again but try incorporating Flax and Hemp seed into it for the omega 3 and 6. I hope the results are better this time around, regarding the joint pain.




My wife thinks I am nuts, told her just concerned about our health and the health of our children. In the end she is on board with it.




Thanks,

Rick

[Pob]

It's good that you are willing to try so hard.

I hope the oils sort the problem out.

[infinitezero]

I have started back with a Vegan diet, but have now incorporated 2tbsp of flaxseed and 1tbsp hempseed into my morning smoothies. I will keep everyone updated and let you know if I have any joint pain.

Thanks,
Rick

[infinitezero]

Just wanted to say to everyone who is a vegan (I am not), but I do appreciate forums such as this one. I know we have different views, but I am glad everyone is so helpful with the question I had.

Once again thank you,
Rick

[batearedfreak]

I have to say that since I gave up animal products/by products about 8 months ago I look and feel amazing (compared to how I used to I mean - I was never anybody's idea of Kate Moss!).

My stomach is flat, I've lost about a stone and am now bang in the middle of my weight to height ratio range. My skin is clear and the bags have disapeared from around my eyes. My ankles and knees are no longer puffy.

I can get up in the morning in a good mood (I was a nightmare - like waking the anti-christ my partner said) and I can run and talk at the same time!

I take no special exercise apart from walking the dogs. However, I feel and look better than I did ten years ago when I used to live at the gym.

If you are struggling to find a reason to be vegan or to stick with it, try it for at least six months. I promise you will see and feel the diference.

[Kiva Dancer]

Infinatezero, there are loads of things running through my mind as to why you're having troubles just now.

The first being your oils and fatty acids. You said you would update us on weather or not flax+hemp was working for you but as of late, no updates are to be seen.

In addition to your flax, I would highly (STRONGLY) recommend that you start using olive oil for anything/everything you can, if you haven't already. I would also recommend you drink more water, but seeing that you live in Phoenix, I'll assume you drink plenty of water and then some because of the heat there (I'm well familliar with Phoenix myself and I know all too closely how hot it gets in that desert. ).

I'm not sure why the fish would seem so beneficial to you on a health level. Omega-3 fatty acids destroy in heat, so unless you're eating raw fish (ick!), you're not getting any omega-3 fatty acids that you believe you are.

Which leads me then to thinking you might not be taking in as much protein as you need to (?). How are your intakes of beans, whole grains, green leafies (kale, spinach, broccoli, etc) along with vegetables and fruits? Reduced amounts of protein will also make you feel crampy and miserable but without you listing fully what you eat, it's impossible to tell, so I go on speculations here completely.

I also want to ask: are/were there any other dietary changes you made... such as, say, eating out more or eating more of the sugary items? I ask because it's necessary to see the whole picture to truely understand what might be going on.

A lot of doctors are staunch anti-veg for whatever reason (still have not figured that out, myself) and I confess, I really do not know what 4X4 means. Perhaps you can explain?

Sorry for long post, but there's just so much I wanted to answer you about...

[meatless]

Most people (and doctors) seem to think that meat and milk are magical elixers of health, so their default answer for everything (unless they are truly educated in nutrition) is to eat meat.

Others have given good advice here.

[xwitchymagicx]

I put off being vegan for years because I thought it was too difficult. Tut silly me it is easy really.

[eve]

Top 10 Tips … for breaking bad eating habits and going vegan, all in one fell swoop!

Juliet Gellatley, director of the UK’s Vegetarian & Vegan Foundation, gives her checklist for feeling and staying healthy. In pursuit of feeling, looking and being healthier, you have presumably already eliminated meat. If so, now it’s time to do a few more important things.

1. Ditch dairy. Use soy, rice and oat milks instead. Wean yourself off saturated fat and cholesterol-laden cheese and eat more good foods – fruit, vegies, nuts, seeds, whole grains and pulses.

2. Give fish a miss – it’s loaded with small amounts of deadly poisons such as mercury, PCBs and dioxins and fish eating is causing the ecological collapse of almost all our oceans. Get your essential fatty acids from flax seeds and oil, walnuts, walnut oil and canola oil. Use the oils cold for omega 3’s and get even more from dark green leafy vegies and soybeans, especially tofu.

3. Dump saturated animal fats and hydrogenated vegetable fats in favour of good fats. Use flax seed oil as a salad dressing and cook mainly with extra virgin olive oil – and try sesame, hazelnut and coconut oils. Hydrogenated fats are widespread in products such as cakes and biscuits and are usually listed in the ingredients. Junk food outlets such as McDonald’s and KFC use them – avoid them like the plague!

4. Reduce caffeine – try decaffeinated coffee and tea.

5. Eat 8-10 portions of fruit and vegies a day. If you find this hard, invest in a juicer and pop in a mix of fruits for a delicious vitamin-rich drink to start your day. Also make smoothies with nuts and fruits and soy or oat milk.

6. Eliminate carbonated drinks and replace them with still water – from the tap is fine! Try to drink 8 glasses a day plus fresh fruit juices.

7. Say shoo to sugar, including artificial sweeteners and honey. Try adding fruits to your breakfast cereals instead of sugar. Try soymilk sweetened with apple juice in tea. Instead of snacking on high-sugar cakes and biscuits, eat mixed unsalted nuts with sultanas or dry-roasted pumpkin seeds or fresh fruit. If you work, put them on your desk so you automatically reach for them when hungry.

8. Ditch refined carbohydrates such as white bread (some say you may as well eat wallpaper paste), white pasta and white rice and replace with wholemeal and rye breads, whole grain pasta and brown rice. Add other grains to your diet such as quinoa, couscous (use like rice), oats and millet (try sprouting it and use in salads). At least half your diet should be based on energy-rich complex carbohydrates.

9. Replace animal protein, which is strongly linked to heart disease and cancer, with vegetable protein, which helps protect your health. Eat more peas, beans and lentils. Broaden your horizons from baked beans to include kidney beans, butter beans, borlotti beans and chickpeas.

10. Make cooking easy and fun! Throw out the processed foods containing lots of chemicals and become proficient at six to 10 delicious and quick recipes that you can knock up in a flash. Add more elaborate recipes to your repertoire as you gain confidence. Play music and have a sip of something good while you’re cooking – enjoy yourself!

Reprinted in the Vegan Voice with kind permission from Veggiehealth, the magazine of the UK’s Vegetarian & Vegan Foundation www.vegetarian.org.uk

[kriz]

Thanks, Eve. I'm giving this to my friend, who would like to try out a vegan diet. Great common sense food advice.

[Kiva Dancer]

Great post, eve. Only couscous isn't a grain - it's a pasta.

[eve]

Kiva Dancer, I can't take credit for the content of my post, it was a creation of Juliet Gellatley (of www.viva.org.uk). Yes you're right about couscous being a pasta.

[Jo]

Just found this forum and am finding a lot of interesting reading. I regularly eat and enjoy vegan food. I'm not sure whether I will make the transition to a 'proper' vegan diet as despite all the comments on how easy it is, I'm not convinced. Not least how difficult it is being invited to supper when most of my friends seem to find it a challenge to cook veggie food let alone vegan. I also keep hens as pets. A friend gave me some honey from her allotment when I was staying with them in Norwich. So it goes on. Also with two teenagers who REALLY don't like much vegan stuff - it would'nt be easy. I do my best which is a step in the right direction I hope.

[j_sendog]

I recently switched to almost everything soy, and now I'm finding out some negative stuff about soy. I know for a fact that it slows down my thyroid if I consume too much of it. Any suggestions for meatless along with soylesss alternatives?

[Korn]

I recently switched to almost everything soy, and now I'm finding out some negative stuff about soy. I know for a fact that it slows down my thyroid if I consume too much of it.

The solution would simply be not to consume too much of it then, right?

Any suggestions for meatless along with soylesss alternatives?

That's an easy one. Just don't consume any soy...

[j_sendog]

But I LOOOVE caffiene, LOL! I gotta have my Starbucks Soy Latte, 'daily!'

[Romac]

It's Not So Hard to Switch to a Vegan Diet

true story

i went cold turkey from "eat anything" to vegan overnight. At first i had the same thought most omnis have when hearing someone's vegan of "what the hell am i going to eat?"

it was a bit of a mental scramble the first week to figure out what i could eat, but within a few days it was mostly sorted out, within a couple weeks i'd replaced all my favorite meals with vegan alternatives no prob.

[luvzsunshine]

I went from vegetarian to vegan about 1 month ago. I thought I would have a really hard time because of the love I had for cheese. Honestly after 1 month....after 2 weeks......I don't even miss cheese at all. I think it would actually make me sick if I tried to eat it. I am now kicking myself for not going vegan sooner.

[lozza]

i was a veggie for 5 years..then i decided to become vegan..i dont know why. i just decided one day. i didnt wean myself off dairy & eggs and it was very hard.

but that was 3 years ago

[Korn]

We have a poll about how easy or difficult it is to switch to go vegan here.

Some people find it very hard to let go of old habits (not only dietary). I guess people who want to go vegan also would find it hard to continue not being a vegan and use animal products when they have realized that they don't want/need to, and that it's against their viewpoints.

It will probably also be hard to say something sensible about being vegan or not in the future, if one has ever been a vegan-wannabe in the past, but never actually at least spent a few weeks or months trying to eat vegan food only.

I have come across people who has told me that they don't thrive on a plant based food only - but when I ask them if they actually have ever been on a vegan diet, they look in another direction and say 'no' (usually followed by 'but' and something that doesn't make sense .

[danaeonyx]

The hardest thing for me about becoming vegan was people's attitudes. I became vegan when I was 16, but then people's attitudes got to me, and I was very shy and insecure then so went back to veggie. I didn't become vegan again until last year (age 23) when I saw 'Meet your meat'. The transition was easy as pee and I look forward to dinner every day because I wonder what interesting food I will eat this time. I don't crave meat, eggs, or dairy products as everyone seems to think I would. It actually makes me feel sick. I love being vegan and it's made me feel so much better as a person. But other people can't seem to accept that I live a vegan life and don't understand it. I hope that one day it will be fully understood

[bugaboo]

I went vegan literally overnight. One night I was watching "Dirty Jobs" on the Discovery Channel where Mike went to a pig farm and had to cut off the baby pigs' tails. The next day I promised myself to go veggie and that night, after seeing a few hardcore sites online, I was vegan. No looking back for me. I will never knowingly eat or wear or wash with a product that contains animals ever again.

It's funny, but, THANK YOU TELEVISION!

[danaeonyx]

Yeah, when I became vegan I told myself I'd finish my Quorn products, but when I accidentelly ate something with egg in (stupid 'Free from' labelling) I felt really sick. Have eaten any since. So my dad finished my Quorn products :P lol

[missymzelmox3]

i realized that the articled was posted 3 years ago.
but i am new to the forum
and i was really interested in the article
however when i clicked on the url, it said that the article could not be found

[Korn]

Hi, try one of these:
It's Not So Hard to Switch to a Vegan Diet: Report
http://enviro.org.au/news-vegan.asp

[missbettie]

I went vegan literally overnight. One night I was watching "Dirty Jobs" on the Discovery Channel where Mike went to a pig farm and had to cut off the baby pigs' tails. The next day I promised myself to go veggie and that night, after seeing a few hardcore sites online, I was vegan. No looking back for me. I will never knowingly eat or wear or wash with a product that contains animals ever again.

It's funny, but, THANK YOU TELEVISION!

Thats kinda ironic cause on the commericials on TV he puts a pig on a pedistal....

[cherrywisp]

"Vegan diet"? Uhm, no, it's a lifestyle based on ethics.

Anyway, I suppose it's good that people are eating less animals or whatever and find it in their hearts to say it's "not so hard."

I would say it's a lifestyle but I would disagree that it's based on ethics. Lots of vegans are vegan for their own health, not for the health of animals.

[missbettie]

I would say it's a lifestyle but I would disagree that it's based on ethics. Lots of vegans are vegan for their own health, not for the health of animals.

If they are just doing it for their health then they really aren't vegans, they are strict vegetarians. The worse is when they call themselves dietary vegans because it gives people a false idea what a vegan is.

[KrissStress]

I called myself a dietary vegan when I first started - and I've known many others as well. It's sensible at first...

eventually I started to read up on things and I became much more aware of how intrinsically tied the animal industries are. At that point, it seemed sensible to go further in my veganism and extend it towards clothing and hygeinic products as well.

[missbettie]

I called myself a dietary vegan when I first started - and I've known many others as well. It's sensible at first...

eventually I started to read up on things and I became much more aware of how intrinsically tied the animal industries are. At that point, it seemed sensible to go further in my veganism and extend it towards clothing and hygeinic products as well.

I understand that and can appreciate all the hard work u did at first and I mean no disrespect but it still drives me crazy! I feel like it confuses people and tells them that being vegan is not about the animals! I think its a wrong use of the definition. I am really sorry! I don't want to offend you at all!!!! its just my opinion..

[KrissStress]

hahah no worries. I wasn't offended in the least

I can completely understand where yr coming from, that's why I ended up going vegan in all manners of my consumption because of my eventually reaching the point of sharing the opinion you hold.

For some people, they're dietary vegans out of the sheer necessity of health. Animal rights aren't of the essence, so doing things like replacing leather accessories and certain hygenic products just don't come to their minds (one example would be senior citizens whose docs tell them to go vegan or have a third heart attack - vegan out of the need to survive and live).

but yeah, I understand completely where yr coming from - I try my best to veganize things all across the spectrum and well beyond just food as well

[missbettie]

hahah no worries. I wasn't offended in the least

I can completely understand where yr coming from, that's why I ended up going vegan in all manners of my consumption because of my eventually reaching the point of sharing the opinion you hold.

For some people, they're dietary vegans out of the sheer necessity of health. Animal rights aren't of the essence, so doing things like replacing leather accessories and certain hygenic products just don't come to their minds (one example would be senior citizens whose docs tell them to go vegan or have a third heart attack - vegan out of the need to survive and live).

but yeah, I understand completely where yr coming from - I try my best to veganize things all across the spectrum and well beyond just food as well

You are so wonderful! <3

[Hemlock]

It's easy enough going vegan, the only thing we find is that it's easy to get stuck in a rut food wise and eat the same old locally available things all the time. We have to make an effort to cook properly at least three times a week and vary it to avoid boredom.
I suppose that's true of any diet really

[Jippia]

Like many people here, I was a vegetarian for a couple of years thinking of making the switch to veganism but assuming it would be very difficult and extreme (my dad still thinks it is extreme). I knew it would be better for the animals if I did, so I first tried some vegan foods such as soya milk to see how it tasted. Last year, after a conversation I had with my husband about those young bulls and other male animals that were being slaughtered because they were not of any use except for the meat. We first talked about eggs and chickens and then my husband asked me about milk and cows. I said that he was right and I went vegan the next day. Even in the Netherlands, with much less options and alternatives than in the US and the UK, I find it much easier to live a vegan lifestyle than I previously thought. The only thing that makes it difficult is eating out. Tomorrow we are having our company Christmas celebration and this always includes dinner at a restaurant. I notified the colleague in charge of arranging the event about what I ate and did not eat and she said that she had passed it on to the restaurant. Last year, I had some delicious three courses, even though I was the last one to be served (those with a meat course found that the meat was still partly raw and the plates had to be sent back to the kitchen). For me, being vegan and eating vegan is not difficult, but because people are so used to preparing meat that they do not know what to do when I come over for supper or lunch, but especially the younger cooks (women) can make me something once I explained it to them. And I am always willing to help them.

Mirjam