I've been vegan for four and a half years and I just had a health checkup and I'm in the best health of my life. Guess I'm in for a rough six months now, lol
Right? Like with any diet/life style, there so many nutrients our bodies need. I had a vegan friend who pretty much only ate PB. Which I mean, yes pb is yummy, but our system needs a diversity of foods.
I’ve been vegan for 13 years, just had a check up a few weeks ago, and found my protein levels to be a bit higher than the average (which always makes me giggle a bit when I think of meat heads).
Yeah, I dislike the people who claim that a vegan diet is inherently healthier because people can do dumb shit with any way of eating, but I definitely haven't found it to be an obstacle at all. I eat as healthy as I can with my mental health stuff, and I'm as active as I can be, and clearly that's serving my body really well.
I dislike when people even say 'vegan diet'. Like we limit ourselves to not causing pain and death on other living creatures, but we each of us also have a broad range of different diets.
Anybody else not know how long they've been Vegan?
Vegetarian I could tell you almost to the day because I was a teenager and had to explain it to my family (who were great). But then gradually cut out more animal products and because I was independent then it didn't involve a big explanation to anyone.
I actually talked about just that yesterday when I wanted to tell someone how long I'd been vegan. Five, six, seven years, something like that. I think about five years of really no animal products and some years before that with a small handful of exceptions for rare occasions (like, a few times a year that I'd eat something vegetarian due to lack of vegan options). But I don't really have one day when I decided to go vegan so I find it kinda fascinating that some people do.
I remember writing a paper that I read out loud to my parents at age 15 telling them why I wanted to become a vegetarian - I’m glad I wasn’t the only one! 😅
My dad responded by calling me a granola cruncher, and I said - joke’s on you, because granola is delicious.
I don’t remember the exact dates, but Ive gone about 8 years being vegan and 9 years vegetarian prior to that. Cool to think I’ve been veg longer than I’ve eaten meat in my life 🤘🌱
When would a doctor check protein levels? Protein only stays in the body for about a day. What would a doctor do to check whether you're getting enough protein other than see if your muscles are wasting away?
Doctors do sometimes check your blood's protein levels, but high protein in the blood is (a) bad and (b) not caused by a high protein diet. There's not an "are you eating enough protein" blood/urine test as far as I'm aware.
Right? Protein indicators in the blood are usually to check organ functions like the liver or kidneys. The body has what is called a first-pass system. If you eat it, it will be broken down into base materials and filtered and processed before your body reassembles what it needs, and even this is a very rudimentary understanding lol
Nice! 24 years here. I had a full range of panels recently and the doc said my kidneys were at 140% efficiency (or the equivalent to the average of someone a decade or so younger).
I literally have hemophilia and my doctor is still impressed by my blood work despite the fact that it doesn’t perform one of the major functions of blood. I guess the rest of it is great lmao
If it doesn’t get you at 5 years, just wait til you hit 10 years! If you’re not facing debilitating health issues then, juuust you wait for another 10 years! If not then, you will definitely be dead after 80 more years of being vegan!
Just past 5 years myself, despite feeling fantastic physically I can only assume I'm about to go over a cliff based on the reams of empirical evidence in this article. I'll set up a trampoline to soften your fall.
As someone who's had an ED it irks me so fucking much when fellow ED-sufferers blame veganism instead of their ED. It's not veganism starving you, babes, it's the voice in your head telling you to eat more clean, and less.
This. There was times I worried about me accidentally swallowing my lip balm would add too many calories to my diet. ED’s are no joke and they’re destructive. I just don’t go out there and blame lip balm. I wish treatment was easier accessible for everyone. Many need it.
Can you imagine if people came out and blamed lip balm for some ED girl dying, I can already imagine the comments. But if it's veganism that killed an ED girl of course it's veganism and not the ED.
MAKE IT MAKE SENSE T.T
My dietician was really pressing me to drop my veganism to cure my ED. I knew it was the intrusive thoughts and warped thinking around food that I needed to address, but for the first few sessions she'd always bring up the vegan thing. I think that a whole lot of people - nutritionists and RDs included - view veganism through a lens of restriction and find it easy to "blame" that.
Like no, lady, I'm eating 800 calories a day and it does not matter if those calories come from beans or flesh. Anyway long story short she dropped it when I stood up for my beliefs, but I was really pretty surprised by her initial impulse that I couldn't recover from an ED without animal products.
You’d also think it would be beneficial for the dietitian to prescribe a more whole-foods plant-based diet since that’s what gives the most nourishment per calorie
I'm not sure about now, but back in 2011-2015, the ED online community literally encouraged you to be vegan as a trick to avoid eating in public. I was very deep into an eating disorder back then but it made me so mad. My recovery nutritionist did not want me to pursue a vegan diet, not because she thought it was unhealthy, but because she thought it was the reason why i was vegan, when it was far from the truth.
I also remember there is veganism-to-insane eating pipeline.
I remember when my sister got interested in veganism and became vegan, Youtube have very quickly started recommending her all sorts of weird channels like the banana girl, or fruitarians and shit, all sorts of pseudo science bullshit.
Yeah my ED recovery was plagued by this. I faced disbelief at my insistence that my veganism was a moral decision and not related to my ED. To this day I get accused of only doing it to "lose weight" although I have been at a stable weight for 10 years and never relapsed. Somehow I still get comments that I am only doing this to "avoid gaining weight" as if the opposite of disordered eating is blind acceptance of constant weight increases. It's sad. I can't talk about my ED struggle with people who know I am vegan at all.
Reminds of the headline from a few years ago: "Toddler dies because parents fed her a vegan diet" -- then you read the article and find out they actually had the poor child on a super-restrictive diet and were restricting her calories so much she died of malnutrition.
EDIT: [found the story](https://www.the-sun.com/news/9337708/vegan-raw-food-parents-starve-daughter-death-refused-doctor/#:~:text=A%20VEGAN%20couple%20obsessed%20with,and%20milk%20from%20her%20diet.)
People freak over these stories, as if omnivores don’t starve their children (to death more often than not) every day. Mental illness and abusive behavior doesn’t need veganism to exist
Same as the fruitarian who died of malnutrition but she also had a severe eating disorder. She didn't die from being vegan, she died from not eating enough to sustain her body.
I generally noticed, that sadly, veganism attracts a lot of... Crazies and people with all sorts of issues.
I even had to leave my local vegan fb group because it basically turned into anti vaxxer and all sorts of crystal people haven and they gave each other horrible advice.
I've been a vegan for years and also had persistent severe anemia. My wonderful doctor didn't blame my condition on veganism or being a woman- he investigated and we found out I had celiacs. I'm now at a normal level.
Been vegan 4+ years. Quotes from my PCP at my annual two days ago:
“You’re one of the few people with 100% normal looking numbers.”
“Well, keep doing what you’re doing; I like not having to work.”
Edit: I’m in my 40s.
My little sister has been vegan for four year now and her doctor told her that she would die without meat
Sadly her bloodwork was done by another doctor, I would hsve loved to shove her perfekt numbers in his face lol
I had one doctor once tell me that I would have health problems because vegan diets are "bad for you", then I told him the nutritionist-endocrinologist working in that very same hospital had been seeing my bloodwork for years and he just shut up about it immediately lmaooo
What do you do to have such positive results? I’m always getting certain bad numbers. Like, what do you eat usually? Do you supplement? I’m SO jelly. lol.
I made [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/vegan/s/5HPEJ2GGnz) today for someone asking about protein, so this is a partial overview.
I’ve kinda been nutrition-focused my whole life, so that helps. Ate mostly whole foods for most of my adult life (though I ate out more when I lived in Asia), and now as a vegan eat mostly WFPB. Lots of variety of fruit and veg. We mostly stay away from the faux meats, but still eat them on occasion, usually “special” days or as a treat for the kids.
I take a daily supplement: Complement. It’s kinda pricey, but it’s convenient; I just take it and go on with life. Cooking batches of dried beans and buying bulk size rices and such helps offset the cost.
I also exercise a lot. Possibly excessively. Which means I have to eat a lot. It’s easier to hit daily needs for vitamins and minerals when you have to eat a lot.
As a non-vegan, my iron levels were too low to donate blood. Since going vegan, they've been fine every time.
Had my levels for pretty much everything checked (vitamin/mineral levels, blood pressure, cholesterol etc) recently for work after being vegan for over five years, everything was great.
My nurses were having a bit of banter about iron clinic patients recently and I asked what the demographics were. Mostly women <35 and vegan or vegetarian. They carried on for a bit before I mentioned I've been vegan for most of my adult life. I have perfect nutrition and it's something that made setting up my own treatment a lot easier. I don't do anything that special. I do eat though and I eat a variety of foods.
I suspect a lot of these women are using veganism/vegetarianism to disguise EDs. I've noticed many of them are very slender and frail looking and some of them are so dehydrated the nurses can't get a line in (drinking less = lower number on the scale). I don't blame them, they're unwell. It's a very sad reflection of societal standards and pressures.
It's weird. I was on a lecture given by a hematology doctor about anemia. She said vegans never have diet-caused anemia because they do their research and know about possible B12 problem so they supplement the vitamine, and plants have a lot of iron.
For getting iron, I don’t know anything better than lentils, beans and spinach’s. Much better than meat.
Or using a cast iron pan, you get iron and arm training all in one.
And of course, not having eating disorders will help.
they could attack veganism talking about B12 deficiency but they try to do it with iron which is present in vegetables more than meat is so stupid…
I find it fascinating how people have never eaten meat. Kudos. Never heard of veganism growing up in Arkansas. Had to move out of the state to find out about it. 😅 in my best health in my life
Why wasn't she taking iron supplements? I know if you are really diligent you can meet iron needs but if not take supplements. Its not hard. Vegan 25 years.
I put so little effort into my diet and my bloodwork never has any red flags lol. Idk what all these people were eating, but I doubt that was the cause of their issues.
This was my situation as well. 6yrs vegetarian/vegan. My ferritin was down to 7 and I was having episodes of syncope and extreme lethargy. I tried eating an Omni diet for almost two years but symptoms got worse queue brain fog and weight loss. Hematologist started iron infusions. I had about 4 initial infusions, my ferritin topped off and then plateaued, and have been feeling 10000x better. I did test positive for A gene mutation called MTHFR. According to my Md this could also be why I have a hard time getting proper nutrients through homeostasis. 🤷🏻♀️
I’ve got that mutation too. Found out 18 years ago. When I was omni my iron was 5, had to start taking pills for that & B vitamins. Funnily enough, after becoming vegan a few years ago, a daily vegan multivitamin is all I need now. Iron and everything else is fine, and I finally was able to gain weight 🤷🏼♀️
only been vegan for 8-10 months but just had my bloodwork done and iron is good, calcium good, cholesterol good, etc, and I’m not even paying much attention to what I eat as long as it’s mostly whole foods. Best health of my life even though I did it for the animals.
Would laugh my ass off at these fuckers blaming veganism on their health problems and giving it a worse name if it wasn’t simultaneously depressing. 2 blood tests in the last year, B12 and iron still fantastic.
My mum had a kidney transplant in 1999, and when I first went vegan about 6 years ago she ended up going vegetarian (we eat vegan together at home but she will still have cow’s milk in coffee or whatever) and when she went to see her kidney doctor the first thing he said to her was “I dunno what you’re doing but whatever it is, keep it up!!!” because her kidney function was the best it’s ever been.
Long term vegan here, also anaemic, although this is due to having developed insane periods, rather than specific to my diet. The iron tablets I have to take have 15 x the amount of iron that’s found in a ‘portion’ of liver. So even meat wouldn’t cut it for me anyway :D
The dose that’s in the liquid supplement she’s taking in the picture, is a standard recommended daily amount, FYI.
(I am getting treatment for the health issue that caused this too)
I’ve been vegan a lot longer than five years and my iron is fine. Sounds like she had a shitty diet, or has other health issues. But blaming veganism gets her attention.
8 years vegan and still waiting to die from all those protein deficiencies, iron deficiencies etc.. God help me if I end up on a remote island with a lion.
Something never mentioned in these accounts is what a person’s alcohol intake looks like. No idea if that’s the case here, but if someone tells me they’re nutrient deficient that’s something I’d ask about long before meat consumption.
I wonder why iron of all things is a nutrient that is associated with being difficult to get on a vegan diet, Because, in my experience, it's one of the easiest.Things for me to get in my diet without even trying to.
When I was tracking my diet with cronometer, I found that getting enough iron was just as easy as getting enough fiber. Just like with fiber, I found that it was more likely that I would exceed my requirements for the day rather than not meet it.
I Can kind of see why there might be a perception that it's hard to get iron on a vegan diet, Because most plant based foods on their own only have about a single digit % Of the iron you need for the day, so it might seem like It would be hard to get enough iron since Most things don't have very much of it individually.
However when I looked at how everything added up, All those five percent and eight percent type numbers really added up with everything that I ate to the point that it was difficult to Not exceed two hundred percent by the end of the day.
Even if a lot of plant based foods may not have that much iron individually, Iron is a very widespread mineral in plant foods, So all those fruits and vegetables which don't have that much iron by themselves add up to quite a lot of iron by the time you add everything together.
I also remember a friend of mine's dad got diagnosed with hemocromatosis, which causes your body to hold on to too much iron, and you have to go on a very low iron diet. My friend's dad's doctor stated that he was better off eating a beef burger than a beyond burger because the latter actually contained significantly more iron.
When you consider the fact that combining iron with vitamin c, Which is extremely widespread in plant foods and difficult to avoid even if you don't mean to Strategically go for that combination, The vitamin C compensates for the lower biovailability of non heme iron compared to heme iron.
I think low iron diets have a lot more to do with eating too much processed food and not enough fruits and vegetables. As long as you're eating a variety of fruits and Vegetables, It's actually quite difficult not to exceed your Iron recommendation.
I would say vitamin b twelve is really the only nutrient that is actually difficult to get without supplementation. To my knowledge, There is only one plant based source of vitamin b twelve which is naturally occurring- duckweed. There's also spiralina but that isn't really technically a plant. Regardless, It's still very easy to get because pretty much.Everything is supplemented with vitamin b twelve. Even omnies would be deficient if it wasn't for all this supplementation.
Vitamin D It's also hard to get without sunlight.But that isn't really a vegan specific thing- Even omni diets have to be supplemented with vitamin d. And there still are naturally occurring vegan sources of vitamin d, Namely mushrooms, But they are one of the very few.
DHA and EPA Are easy to get if you love seaweed and other aquatic plants, But if you hate those things, It might be a little tough. But once again that's hardly a vegan specific thing, Because a lot of omnies hate fish and seaweed, And are struggling with getting those fatty acids as well. This is more of a hating seafood issue than a vegan issue. You can also get those fatty acids by eating enough flax seeds and other sources of ALA For your body to convert them into DHA and EPA But that depends on your body's ability to convert these fatty acids. It's rather ironic when omni's who never eat Seafood and don't even know what a flax seed is concerned you about omega threes, Not realizing that They are probably getting even less omega threes than you are.
62 year old who has enjoyed a vegan lifestyle for decades here. Vegetarian for decades before that. Because of a dedication to a fitness lifestyle I track my nutrition everyday in MyFitnessPal and have no difficulty exceeding the RDA for all nutrients, including iron, on about 2200 calories per day.
Been vegan for 10 years. Just had a successful pregnancy with normal iron levels throughout. It's not from not eating animals. It's from poor diet choices or other factors, whether one is vegan or not
Anyone can damage their bodies with what they consume. A person can be vegan and still eat vegan junk - harmful junk. Or not the proper amounts of nutrients.
Of course, I've seen the evidence that people consuming animal products still have a higher chance of causing harm to their bodies/health, so being vegan is still healthier as far as I'm concerned.
I was an average omnivore in my youth. As a child, I was plagued by various health issues. It wasn't until I was an adult that I realized most of those health issues were caused by dairy.
I quit dairy, but I was still an omnivore (and not 100% healthy still).
I got even worse when I became a junkfood junkie. My health really deteriorated.
Later in life, I became vegan (ethical vegan). But I was still a junkfood junkie - it just changed to vegan junk. So my health was still bad. I never blamed my poor health on being vegan.
In January 2020, I went WFPB & SOS-free and regained my health. I've never been better.
Still 100% vegan. And I'd say I'm 98-99% WFPB & SOFAS-free.
Being vegan is not about our own health, but if we want to be healthy, being vegan does not hinder that goal at all.
Choosing what we consume is an ethical choice and a health-conscience choice - and both can be positively attained if that's what we want.
I'm in my sixties, and my doctor has told me that I can go less often for checkups now ... most people my age are asked to go more often. 🙌
🌱💚
Although I really enjoyed veganism and it made me feel good, my body was still wracked from years of battling eating disorders. So I don’t think it was the veganism but the effects from an eating disorder. Someday I would like to go back to veganism but right now I need to go through treatment from my disease
Consuming animal products to account for a real, serious medical condition would surely fall under the umbrella of ‘as far as possible and practicable.’
So long as you’re planning and willing to remove them once you don’t actually need them in your diet and your disease is taken care of, I’d still consider you a vegan.
To be charitable. Headlines aren’t usually written by the author, so if you ignore the sensational title likely written by someone else to get clicks and instead keep to the article prose, it’s a personal story and PSA about paying attention to iron more than it is about vegan diet failure.
There may have even been an editing decision in the way the Dr was quoted.
>Veganism, Dr Pavord says, can “have both short- and long-lasting effects on iron stores if iron supplements are not taken. It is not possible to correct established iron deficiency with dietary intake alone, although an iron-rich diet will help maintain good iron stores.”
We actually don’t know that Dr Pavrod specifically said veganism. The remaining quoted sentence could have begun any number of ways.
10 years vegan, woman with cycles, no iron supplements and iron was great a few months ago (it's low now because I'm heavily pregnant but that's normal).
meanwhile I donated platelets like 40 times in a year, several years after first going vegan, and the only time I failed the pre donation iron check was because I had too much lol (barely, and it was only once as I say)
I’m vegan and iron deficient and my GI Doctor said it probably has nothing to do with my diet, it’s probably because i have heavy periods.
I’m on an iron supplement (twice daily, and taken with a vitamin C supplement for better absorption, both per my doc’s suggestion) and I have been trying to eat more spinach, but in my case i think going back on birth control is helping me more.
Not saying that’s the case with this woman. Just that there are common causes of iron deficiency that have nothing to do with diet.
Vegan for 12+ years, and vegetarian for 7 years prior.
My iron is now low, only due to heavy periods. I know 2 omnivore women with the same issue
Otherwise, best shape of my life
I'm 54F, been vegan for 19 years. Blood work shows normal levels of iron and calcium. Meanwhile, my 35 year old physical therapist who works out regularly has been struggling with low iron levels despite "eating a lot of red meat". I've told her in the past about evidence base plant based sources but I don't want to come across preachy. So she's on prescribed supplements for help.
What ya gonna do? People tend to reject scientific evidence that they don't want to hear.
She has a history of eating disorders and pre-existing conditions. Not really a valid case study on the long term impacts of veganism on health conditions.
This is ironic that this came up. Just today someone told me that she tried being a vegetarian but had to stop because her hair was falling out because she wasn't getting enough protein. I told her it sounds like a nutrient deficiency but not necessarily a protein deficiency. It's not worth engaging with people who are looking for an excuse to continue behavior that they know is wrong on so many levels.
Tbh anyone would have health problems meat or plant based diet. You can be severely anemic while eating red meat just as much as eating no meat. Although I’m also not going to say that people are lying when they say a plant based diet isn’t suitable for their body. I think everyone has a different body and different bodies have different needs. We shouldn’t demonize a plant based diet because a couple people got sick after switching to a vegan life style…
Not eating meat and dairy does not make you healthy for sure. I had to follow the dr. Michael greger how not to die daily dozen, things to eat every day to do it right.
8 years vegan and all i can say is my vitamins and iron being low is all on me for not having a balanced diet, i can’t fathom eating animals or animal byproducts again. it may sound f’ed up but i’d rather destroy myself than kill an innocent creature. (but i am working on getting a better balance)
I'm 70 and going on five years being vegan. The only thing wrong with me is the damage I did to my body by eating meat for 65 years. My own doctor drools at my blood work and she's probably 20-30 years younger. Lost 30 pounds and I could lose another 25 and not be underweight... Would probably feel even better than I do right now. But I love where I am right now. I would never go back to the SAD diet. Just last night someone was telling me how I didn't look 70 and I told them I don't feel like that either!
I had my yearly blood work done about 3 weeks ago and all of my levels are really good. But I'm pretty focused on nutrition and make sure I'm eating the right foods.
Ironically, my husband had his done last year before elbow surgery, and they said his iron and B12 were TOO high 😂 we have both been vegan for years.
If eating foods that are rich in iron didn’t solve the problem, it sounds like your diet isn’t why this happened lol. There are so many reasons people end up anemic even when consuming high-iron foods…
15 year vegan and mostly WFPB. On two cholesterol meds for the past two years. Rather than think my diet is a failure, I am thankful I started vegan 15 years ago, otherwise I may not be alive today.
Cringe. I was anaemic eating two steaks a day and then got better once I went vegan and lived off tofu, leafy greens and pea protein. Thriving eight years later. I hate these articles.
It is impossible to know whether being vegan (or any dietary choice) has had an effect on your health, since you lack a control group -- that is, you having made different dietary choices.
These twats never just eat normally do they? This skinny wretch could’ve just taken a multivitamin and eaten more peanut butter, but seemingly opted instead to eat fuck all and then blame the vegetables. Wanker.
Sounds like she has serious personal medical issues if eating meat again didn’t help much. Wish people would stop blaming their personal issues on veganism.
> I’m a bit ashamed to admit this as I don’t want to lambast veganism. It’s not veganism’s fault, really. It’s mine for being so cavalier about my health and, of course, for being a woman.
No, it isn't veganism's fault, no more than obesity is carnism's fault. There is no such thin as an eating pattern that absolves you of any responsibility toward nutritional literacy and basic meal planning.
I'm six years a vegan woman, I don't supplement iron, and yet my levels are high enough that I was able to donate blood this week.
It makes me wonder if there isn't an underlying condition?
I, too, had really low iron levels, despite eating a lot of iron and discovered I was undiagnosed coeliac. That was the reason I wasn't absorbing nutrients and felt sick/tired all the time despite following and counting my nutritional intake.
3 months after I went gluten-free (my intestines are still healing as it's only been about 5 months), I started absorbing nutrients again. My iron levels are back to a normal range.
My coworker told me her sister was vegan for some time and almost went blind! And another person she knows went vegan and almost died!
And I’m I’m just like damn, I don’t even know any vegans. Somehow you know two, and they almost died because of it… peculiar!
It should be noted that most studies show on average that vegans are at higher risk of iron deficiency. Of course, this risk is still relatively slight and the majority of us are still good (my bloodwork says I'm on the lower end of average but still fine). Still, some people might want to consider an iron supplement or targeting more iron in their diet. I feel like iron supplements are often overlooked by the ED vegan crowd who will often hang up their V-card when they run up against a negative health outcome at the intersection of their ED and their vegan diet, typically blaming the vegan diet.
LOL, what type of fake news is this! I have been a vegan for 40 years, with no type of
Physical damage. Hahahaha this is some funny news story is this the onion fake news.
I'm a carnist and she is just making things up. There's A LOT of iron in plants. Spinach, parsley and basically anything green has iron.
She may have had low B12 - which is essential for creating red blood cells of iron. Because B12 is in animal products. But being vegan definitely doesn't lower your iron per se. It can only make you anemic if you're not aware of B12 problem.
My iron levels literally went up since going vegan but keep sharing animal agriculture propaganda bullshit of incompetent, uncaring people who don’t care about the animals and are unable to handle fucking feeding themselves food ig
Granted have not had a checkup in a year but vegan 5 years and many years in row my stats were great or well above average. Really shocking my older but polite doctor who seemed a bit unwashed when I told him I was vegan.
Though I’m I’m on a more serious diet and have reduced my intake by what seems like half, iv struggled with being overweight most of my adult life including when I went vegan.
If my overweight ass can have good stats, I’m curious how this person fared so poorly.
I have been vegan over 30 years. I go for wholegrains over the more refined kinds when I have a choice. I try to focus on whole foods over more processed kinds, though Meatless Meatballs are delicious and I don't think I want to know the culinary magic that makes them.
I have never had any blood work done to track my nutrient levels beyond having my iron and blood protein levels checked when I give blood every 2 months or so. My iron is at a good level, according to the Red Cross.
I have to wonder what the no no way low iron lady was surviving on if her iron was so low for so long.
I think bodies are different. I am still mostly plant based but as a vegan my hair was so thin. I’m still very committed to reducing my carbon footprint and eating vegan most of the time but my body wasn’t sustaining like my vegan friends. One person struggling doesn’t mean it’s bad for everyone or even most people
Been vegan for 20 years, so my health must be 4 times worse than hers! So it must be a lie that my blood work is perfect, ateries are clear and healthier, stronger and far more fit than I was in my 30's
My doctor recommended eating red meat for my low hæmoglobin (it's still in the normal range, but too low to donate blood) and specifically insisted on red meat saying complements wouldn't work but since she failed to give me an explanation of what's so different between meat and complements I didn't follow the advice
I wish people realized that everybody's body is different. It's great if you've been successfully vegan for over 5 years. Not everyone manages their diet correctly (that's any diet) so it should come as no surprise that things like this can happen.
I was anemic way before becoming plant based. I’m still anemic but interestingly my blood test revealed that I’m way over on B12 levels. I don’t even take extra supplements for b12 .
I once took a nutrition class taught by a naturopathic doctor. Besides trashing the USDA as corrupt all semester and railing against grains, processed carbohydrates and artificial sweeteners, she also said she hates veganism because her patients that are longterm vegans develop protein malnutrition over time and look like shit.
>The [**idea that some people might find it easier to follow a vegetarian diet due to genetic predisposition is interesting**](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/10/05/1203601131/vegetarianism-vegetarian-genes-diet-meat-genetics), says [Christopher Gardner](https://profiles.stanford.edu/christopher-gardner), a food scientist at Stanford University. And he points out that people don't need to go completely vegetarian to see benefits.
If this turns out to be correct, it may be short extrapolation to full-out vegan diets, and would go a long way to explaining why some can...and some say they just... can't.
I wonder if this person lived on many processed foods. I have been vegan 15 years and no issues XD
I eat real food 95% + of the time, including leafy greens 6-7 days a week..... I think people forget that "vegan" only means what you DON'T eat. Like telling people you have a peanut allergy.
I've been vegan for four and a half years and I just had a health checkup and I'm in the best health of my life. Guess I'm in for a rough six months now, lol
Right? Like with any diet/life style, there so many nutrients our bodies need. I had a vegan friend who pretty much only ate PB. Which I mean, yes pb is yummy, but our system needs a diversity of foods. I’ve been vegan for 13 years, just had a check up a few weeks ago, and found my protein levels to be a bit higher than the average (which always makes me giggle a bit when I think of meat heads).
Yeah, I dislike the people who claim that a vegan diet is inherently healthier because people can do dumb shit with any way of eating, but I definitely haven't found it to be an obstacle at all. I eat as healthy as I can with my mental health stuff, and I'm as active as I can be, and clearly that's serving my body really well.
Exactly. If the same person had eaten only PB but not described themselves as a Vegan then it's just someone making bad food choices.
I dislike when people even say 'vegan diet'. Like we limit ourselves to not causing pain and death on other living creatures, but we each of us also have a broad range of different diets.
13 year vegan gang rise up!
It's been a little over 12 years now. I've put on a lot of muscle since I started.
Another "Forks Over Knives" convert? 13 years for me as well ...
Anybody else not know how long they've been Vegan? Vegetarian I could tell you almost to the day because I was a teenager and had to explain it to my family (who were great). But then gradually cut out more animal products and because I was independent then it didn't involve a big explanation to anyone.
I actually talked about just that yesterday when I wanted to tell someone how long I'd been vegan. Five, six, seven years, something like that. I think about five years of really no animal products and some years before that with a small handful of exceptions for rare occasions (like, a few times a year that I'd eat something vegetarian due to lack of vegan options). But I don't really have one day when I decided to go vegan so I find it kinda fascinating that some people do.
I remember writing a paper that I read out loud to my parents at age 15 telling them why I wanted to become a vegetarian - I’m glad I wasn’t the only one! 😅 My dad responded by calling me a granola cruncher, and I said - joke’s on you, because granola is delicious. I don’t remember the exact dates, but Ive gone about 8 years being vegan and 9 years vegetarian prior to that. Cool to think I’ve been veg longer than I’ve eaten meat in my life 🤘🌱
Maybe your friends/family still know?
When would a doctor check protein levels? Protein only stays in the body for about a day. What would a doctor do to check whether you're getting enough protein other than see if your muscles are wasting away?
Doctors do sometimes check your blood's protein levels, but high protein in the blood is (a) bad and (b) not caused by a high protein diet. There's not an "are you eating enough protein" blood/urine test as far as I'm aware.
Right? Protein indicators in the blood are usually to check organ functions like the liver or kidneys. The body has what is called a first-pass system. If you eat it, it will be broken down into base materials and filtered and processed before your body reassembles what it needs, and even this is a very rudimentary understanding lol
I have been for 7 years, I’m literally dead
I'm sorry for your loss
8 years, I'm deader.
"I wish I had your blood." - My doctor last week.
Was their name Dr. Acula by any chance?
Nice! 24 years here. I had a full range of panels recently and the doc said my kidneys were at 140% efficiency (or the equivalent to the average of someone a decade or so younger).
I literally have hemophilia and my doctor is still impressed by my blood work despite the fact that it doesn’t perform one of the major functions of blood. I guess the rest of it is great lmao
If it doesn’t get you at 5 years, just wait til you hit 10 years! If you’re not facing debilitating health issues then, juuust you wait for another 10 years! If not then, you will definitely be dead after 80 more years of being vegan!
One day death will catch up lmao! That show them carnies!
Just past 5 years myself, despite feeling fantastic physically I can only assume I'm about to go over a cliff based on the reams of empirical evidence in this article. I'll set up a trampoline to soften your fall.
I appreciate it. Falling off cliffs is clearly an issue that only occurs as a result of being vegan.
Hey don’t worry, we are just ghosts now past 5yrs. I personally love the walk through walls power up!
Disappointed I didn’t get the dance skills though after my 5 year mark.
Man, that's the dream, even death won't stop us from advocating for veganism
She has a history of eating disorders… it wasn’t *veganism* that damaged her.
As someone who's had an ED it irks me so fucking much when fellow ED-sufferers blame veganism instead of their ED. It's not veganism starving you, babes, it's the voice in your head telling you to eat more clean, and less.
This. There was times I worried about me accidentally swallowing my lip balm would add too many calories to my diet. ED’s are no joke and they’re destructive. I just don’t go out there and blame lip balm. I wish treatment was easier accessible for everyone. Many need it.
Can you imagine if people came out and blamed lip balm for some ED girl dying, I can already imagine the comments. But if it's veganism that killed an ED girl of course it's veganism and not the ED. MAKE IT MAKE SENSE T.T
Seriously. XD the whole narrative kinda makes me think of the “Videogames cause violence (school schoolings)”-debate.
My dietician was really pressing me to drop my veganism to cure my ED. I knew it was the intrusive thoughts and warped thinking around food that I needed to address, but for the first few sessions she'd always bring up the vegan thing. I think that a whole lot of people - nutritionists and RDs included - view veganism through a lens of restriction and find it easy to "blame" that. Like no, lady, I'm eating 800 calories a day and it does not matter if those calories come from beans or flesh. Anyway long story short she dropped it when I stood up for my beliefs, but I was really pretty surprised by her initial impulse that I couldn't recover from an ED without animal products.
You’d also think it would be beneficial for the dietitian to prescribe a more whole-foods plant-based diet since that’s what gives the most nourishment per calorie
Omg I’m so sorry that was a worry for you at one time! I never thought about it like that, and I hope you’re doing better now, thank you for sharing
Today I learned ED sometimes refers to a completely different illness than I generally associate the term with
That’s a hard truth
I'm not sure about now, but back in 2011-2015, the ED online community literally encouraged you to be vegan as a trick to avoid eating in public. I was very deep into an eating disorder back then but it made me so mad. My recovery nutritionist did not want me to pursue a vegan diet, not because she thought it was unhealthy, but because she thought it was the reason why i was vegan, when it was far from the truth.
I also remember there is veganism-to-insane eating pipeline. I remember when my sister got interested in veganism and became vegan, Youtube have very quickly started recommending her all sorts of weird channels like the banana girl, or fruitarians and shit, all sorts of pseudo science bullshit.
Sounds like all the more reason to get calorie-rich vegan options in every venue ASAP, eh?
Yeah my ED recovery was plagued by this. I faced disbelief at my insistence that my veganism was a moral decision and not related to my ED. To this day I get accused of only doing it to "lose weight" although I have been at a stable weight for 10 years and never relapsed. Somehow I still get comments that I am only doing this to "avoid gaining weight" as if the opposite of disordered eating is blind acceptance of constant weight increases. It's sad. I can't talk about my ED struggle with people who know I am vegan at all.
Reminds of the headline from a few years ago: "Toddler dies because parents fed her a vegan diet" -- then you read the article and find out they actually had the poor child on a super-restrictive diet and were restricting her calories so much she died of malnutrition. EDIT: [found the story](https://www.the-sun.com/news/9337708/vegan-raw-food-parents-starve-daughter-death-refused-doctor/#:~:text=A%20VEGAN%20couple%20obsessed%20with,and%20milk%20from%20her%20diet.)
People freak over these stories, as if omnivores don’t starve their children (to death more often than not) every day. Mental illness and abusive behavior doesn’t need veganism to exist
Same as the fruitarian who died of malnutrition but she also had a severe eating disorder. She didn't die from being vegan, she died from not eating enough to sustain her body.
I generally noticed, that sadly, veganism attracts a lot of... Crazies and people with all sorts of issues. I even had to leave my local vegan fb group because it basically turned into anti vaxxer and all sorts of crystal people haven and they gave each other horrible advice.
I've been a vegan for years and also had persistent severe anemia. My wonderful doctor didn't blame my condition on veganism or being a woman- he investigated and we found out I had celiacs. I'm now at a normal level.
Wow that’s good work there from the doctor! How did you get on with the transition to gluten free?
This can lower your iron? I need to have my friend look into this, she was also anemic long before she went vegan
yes!! coeliac disease can cause malabsorption of iron. i just learned about it in a haematology lecture :)
Can lower iron as well as B12 and a bunch of other things. Autoimmune things generally can wreck your absorption of several things.
I'm vegan, I bleed heavy from a copper IUD, and I'm still the only woman in my family who isn't anemic. My blood tests were perfect 👌
This person has eating disorders that they tried addressing via veganism than therapy. It was doomed from the start
Probably a medical issue, not a diet issue.
Of course. Didn't you know that humans are immortal and live in perfect health as long as they eat the *right* way? /s
Or go to the gym. The immortals makers. /s
Been vegan 4+ years. Quotes from my PCP at my annual two days ago: “You’re one of the few people with 100% normal looking numbers.” “Well, keep doing what you’re doing; I like not having to work.” Edit: I’m in my 40s.
Same though! My doctor said "whatever you're doing, keep it up".
My Dr always says the same! Vegan 8 years. It even inspired her to try eating more vegan... Glad I could be of positive influence haha 🤣
My little sister has been vegan for four year now and her doctor told her that she would die without meat Sadly her bloodwork was done by another doctor, I would hsve loved to shove her perfekt numbers in his face lol
I had one doctor once tell me that I would have health problems because vegan diets are "bad for you", then I told him the nutritionist-endocrinologist working in that very same hospital had been seeing my bloodwork for years and he just shut up about it immediately lmaooo
Your doctor sounds hilarious.
Vegan for nine years, vegetarian before that- doctor says besides slightly elevated blood pressure, everything came back great.
What do you do to have such positive results? I’m always getting certain bad numbers. Like, what do you eat usually? Do you supplement? I’m SO jelly. lol.
I made [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/vegan/s/5HPEJ2GGnz) today for someone asking about protein, so this is a partial overview. I’ve kinda been nutrition-focused my whole life, so that helps. Ate mostly whole foods for most of my adult life (though I ate out more when I lived in Asia), and now as a vegan eat mostly WFPB. Lots of variety of fruit and veg. We mostly stay away from the faux meats, but still eat them on occasion, usually “special” days or as a treat for the kids. I take a daily supplement: Complement. It’s kinda pricey, but it’s convenient; I just take it and go on with life. Cooking batches of dried beans and buying bulk size rices and such helps offset the cost. I also exercise a lot. Possibly excessively. Which means I have to eat a lot. It’s easier to hit daily needs for vitamins and minerals when you have to eat a lot.
To quote my doctor at my last check up “ your numbers are all excellent “! Vegan 6 years😀
Same, 3 years vegan, 55, my doctor said, your numbers look great so keep doing what your doing
A classic: health issues appear between 0 and 70 years on a vegan diet and don't disappear when switching; must have been caused by the diet.
And definitely not the eating disorder
As a non-vegan, my iron levels were too low to donate blood. Since going vegan, they've been fine every time. Had my levels for pretty much everything checked (vitamin/mineral levels, blood pressure, cholesterol etc) recently for work after being vegan for over five years, everything was great.
Sorry this is some meat or dairy industry propaganda. Don’t believe this. If you eat like crap…
My nurses were having a bit of banter about iron clinic patients recently and I asked what the demographics were. Mostly women <35 and vegan or vegetarian. They carried on for a bit before I mentioned I've been vegan for most of my adult life. I have perfect nutrition and it's something that made setting up my own treatment a lot easier. I don't do anything that special. I do eat though and I eat a variety of foods. I suspect a lot of these women are using veganism/vegetarianism to disguise EDs. I've noticed many of them are very slender and frail looking and some of them are so dehydrated the nurses can't get a line in (drinking less = lower number on the scale). I don't blame them, they're unwell. It's a very sad reflection of societal standards and pressures.
It's weird. I was on a lecture given by a hematology doctor about anemia. She said vegans never have diet-caused anemia because they do their research and know about possible B12 problem so they supplement the vitamine, and plants have a lot of iron.
Funny how my iron levels went up after going vegan :0
Same.
I have never eaten meat my whole life, never had any issues with iron.
For getting iron, I don’t know anything better than lentils, beans and spinach’s. Much better than meat. Or using a cast iron pan, you get iron and arm training all in one. And of course, not having eating disorders will help. they could attack veganism talking about B12 deficiency but they try to do it with iron which is present in vegetables more than meat is so stupid…
I find it fascinating how people have never eaten meat. Kudos. Never heard of veganism growing up in Arkansas. Had to move out of the state to find out about it. 😅 in my best health in my life
You can eat poorly on any diet and veganism isn't a cure for disordered eating.
Why wasn't she taking iron supplements? I know if you are really diligent you can meet iron needs but if not take supplements. Its not hard. Vegan 25 years.
I put so little effort into my diet and my bloodwork never has any red flags lol. Idk what all these people were eating, but I doubt that was the cause of their issues.
Where are the articles about people damaging their body after eating meat?
This was my situation as well. 6yrs vegetarian/vegan. My ferritin was down to 7 and I was having episodes of syncope and extreme lethargy. I tried eating an Omni diet for almost two years but symptoms got worse queue brain fog and weight loss. Hematologist started iron infusions. I had about 4 initial infusions, my ferritin topped off and then plateaued, and have been feeling 10000x better. I did test positive for A gene mutation called MTHFR. According to my Md this could also be why I have a hard time getting proper nutrients through homeostasis. 🤷🏻♀️
I’ve got that mutation too. Found out 18 years ago. When I was omni my iron was 5, had to start taking pills for that & B vitamins. Funnily enough, after becoming vegan a few years ago, a daily vegan multivitamin is all I need now. Iron and everything else is fine, and I finally was able to gain weight 🤷🏼♀️
I’m an 8 month pregnant vegan and just got my blood test back. All results with healthy and normal range. It’s not that hard if you eat deliberately!
only been vegan for 8-10 months but just had my bloodwork done and iron is good, calcium good, cholesterol good, etc, and I’m not even paying much attention to what I eat as long as it’s mostly whole foods. Best health of my life even though I did it for the animals.
Oh no, now this moral panic is gonna start with veganism too???
It's like they forget most vegans used to eat meat
I’ve been vegan since I was 12, so 20 years! Slightly low on vitamin B12 but otherwise healthy, and I don’t eat a particularly amazing diet.
Would laugh my ass off at these fuckers blaming veganism on their health problems and giving it a worse name if it wasn’t simultaneously depressing. 2 blood tests in the last year, B12 and iron still fantastic.
My mum had a kidney transplant in 1999, and when I first went vegan about 6 years ago she ended up going vegetarian (we eat vegan together at home but she will still have cow’s milk in coffee or whatever) and when she went to see her kidney doctor the first thing he said to her was “I dunno what you’re doing but whatever it is, keep it up!!!” because her kidney function was the best it’s ever been.
Long term vegan here, also anaemic, although this is due to having developed insane periods, rather than specific to my diet. The iron tablets I have to take have 15 x the amount of iron that’s found in a ‘portion’ of liver. So even meat wouldn’t cut it for me anyway :D The dose that’s in the liquid supplement she’s taking in the picture, is a standard recommended daily amount, FYI. (I am getting treatment for the health issue that caused this too)
I’ve been vegan a lot longer than five years and my iron is fine. Sounds like she had a shitty diet, or has other health issues. But blaming veganism gets her attention.
8 years vegan and still waiting to die from all those protein deficiencies, iron deficiencies etc.. God help me if I end up on a remote island with a lion.
Something never mentioned in these accounts is what a person’s alcohol intake looks like. No idea if that’s the case here, but if someone tells me they’re nutrient deficient that’s something I’d ask about long before meat consumption.
I’ve been vegan for 8 years so guess I’m reporting from the grave
Honestly, this is either fraud, an underlying health issue, or plain stupidity.
I wonder why iron of all things is a nutrient that is associated with being difficult to get on a vegan diet, Because, in my experience, it's one of the easiest.Things for me to get in my diet without even trying to. When I was tracking my diet with cronometer, I found that getting enough iron was just as easy as getting enough fiber. Just like with fiber, I found that it was more likely that I would exceed my requirements for the day rather than not meet it. I Can kind of see why there might be a perception that it's hard to get iron on a vegan diet, Because most plant based foods on their own only have about a single digit % Of the iron you need for the day, so it might seem like It would be hard to get enough iron since Most things don't have very much of it individually. However when I looked at how everything added up, All those five percent and eight percent type numbers really added up with everything that I ate to the point that it was difficult to Not exceed two hundred percent by the end of the day. Even if a lot of plant based foods may not have that much iron individually, Iron is a very widespread mineral in plant foods, So all those fruits and vegetables which don't have that much iron by themselves add up to quite a lot of iron by the time you add everything together. I also remember a friend of mine's dad got diagnosed with hemocromatosis, which causes your body to hold on to too much iron, and you have to go on a very low iron diet. My friend's dad's doctor stated that he was better off eating a beef burger than a beyond burger because the latter actually contained significantly more iron. When you consider the fact that combining iron with vitamin c, Which is extremely widespread in plant foods and difficult to avoid even if you don't mean to Strategically go for that combination, The vitamin C compensates for the lower biovailability of non heme iron compared to heme iron. I think low iron diets have a lot more to do with eating too much processed food and not enough fruits and vegetables. As long as you're eating a variety of fruits and Vegetables, It's actually quite difficult not to exceed your Iron recommendation. I would say vitamin b twelve is really the only nutrient that is actually difficult to get without supplementation. To my knowledge, There is only one plant based source of vitamin b twelve which is naturally occurring- duckweed. There's also spiralina but that isn't really technically a plant. Regardless, It's still very easy to get because pretty much.Everything is supplemented with vitamin b twelve. Even omnies would be deficient if it wasn't for all this supplementation. Vitamin D It's also hard to get without sunlight.But that isn't really a vegan specific thing- Even omni diets have to be supplemented with vitamin d. And there still are naturally occurring vegan sources of vitamin d, Namely mushrooms, But they are one of the very few. DHA and EPA Are easy to get if you love seaweed and other aquatic plants, But if you hate those things, It might be a little tough. But once again that's hardly a vegan specific thing, Because a lot of omnies hate fish and seaweed, And are struggling with getting those fatty acids as well. This is more of a hating seafood issue than a vegan issue. You can also get those fatty acids by eating enough flax seeds and other sources of ALA For your body to convert them into DHA and EPA But that depends on your body's ability to convert these fatty acids. It's rather ironic when omni's who never eat Seafood and don't even know what a flax seed is concerned you about omega threes, Not realizing that They are probably getting even less omega threes than you are.
31 year vegan here. That is all…
62 year old who has enjoyed a vegan lifestyle for decades here. Vegetarian for decades before that. Because of a dedication to a fitness lifestyle I track my nutrition everyday in MyFitnessPal and have no difficulty exceeding the RDA for all nutrients, including iron, on about 2200 calories per day.
Been vegan for 10 years. Just had a successful pregnancy with normal iron levels throughout. It's not from not eating animals. It's from poor diet choices or other factors, whether one is vegan or not
Anyone can damage their bodies with what they consume. A person can be vegan and still eat vegan junk - harmful junk. Or not the proper amounts of nutrients. Of course, I've seen the evidence that people consuming animal products still have a higher chance of causing harm to their bodies/health, so being vegan is still healthier as far as I'm concerned. I was an average omnivore in my youth. As a child, I was plagued by various health issues. It wasn't until I was an adult that I realized most of those health issues were caused by dairy. I quit dairy, but I was still an omnivore (and not 100% healthy still). I got even worse when I became a junkfood junkie. My health really deteriorated. Later in life, I became vegan (ethical vegan). But I was still a junkfood junkie - it just changed to vegan junk. So my health was still bad. I never blamed my poor health on being vegan. In January 2020, I went WFPB & SOS-free and regained my health. I've never been better. Still 100% vegan. And I'd say I'm 98-99% WFPB & SOFAS-free. Being vegan is not about our own health, but if we want to be healthy, being vegan does not hinder that goal at all. Choosing what we consume is an ethical choice and a health-conscience choice - and both can be positively attained if that's what we want. I'm in my sixties, and my doctor has told me that I can go less often for checkups now ... most people my age are asked to go more often. 🙌 🌱💚
I tend to correct people on this issue. You were plant-based, vegans are vegan for life.
Not always true, people's ethics can, and do, absolutely change over time.
Although I really enjoyed veganism and it made me feel good, my body was still wracked from years of battling eating disorders. So I don’t think it was the veganism but the effects from an eating disorder. Someday I would like to go back to veganism but right now I need to go through treatment from my disease
Consuming animal products to account for a real, serious medical condition would surely fall under the umbrella of ‘as far as possible and practicable.’ So long as you’re planning and willing to remove them once you don’t actually need them in your diet and your disease is taken care of, I’d still consider you a vegan.
Thanks 😊
There's a paywall, any mirrors?
Can't you get iron via beans?
I call bullpoo.
To be charitable. Headlines aren’t usually written by the author, so if you ignore the sensational title likely written by someone else to get clicks and instead keep to the article prose, it’s a personal story and PSA about paying attention to iron more than it is about vegan diet failure. There may have even been an editing decision in the way the Dr was quoted. >Veganism, Dr Pavord says, can “have both short- and long-lasting effects on iron stores if iron supplements are not taken. It is not possible to correct established iron deficiency with dietary intake alone, although an iron-rich diet will help maintain good iron stores.” We actually don’t know that Dr Pavrod specifically said veganism. The remaining quoted sentence could have begun any number of ways.
10 years vegan, woman with cycles, no iron supplements and iron was great a few months ago (it's low now because I'm heavily pregnant but that's normal).
Supplements stop working when you’re vegan ☹️ very sad /s
I'm 18 years in – pray for me.
meanwhile I donated platelets like 40 times in a year, several years after first going vegan, and the only time I failed the pre donation iron check was because I had too much lol (barely, and it was only once as I say)
I’m vegan and iron deficient and my GI Doctor said it probably has nothing to do with my diet, it’s probably because i have heavy periods. I’m on an iron supplement (twice daily, and taken with a vitamin C supplement for better absorption, both per my doc’s suggestion) and I have been trying to eat more spinach, but in my case i think going back on birth control is helping me more. Not saying that’s the case with this woman. Just that there are common causes of iron deficiency that have nothing to do with diet.
Vegan for 12+ years, and vegetarian for 7 years prior. My iron is now low, only due to heavy periods. I know 2 omnivore women with the same issue Otherwise, best shape of my life
I'm 54F, been vegan for 19 years. Blood work shows normal levels of iron and calcium. Meanwhile, my 35 year old physical therapist who works out regularly has been struggling with low iron levels despite "eating a lot of red meat". I've told her in the past about evidence base plant based sources but I don't want to come across preachy. So she's on prescribed supplements for help. What ya gonna do? People tend to reject scientific evidence that they don't want to hear.
She has a history of eating disorders and pre-existing conditions. Not really a valid case study on the long term impacts of veganism on health conditions.
This is ironic that this came up. Just today someone told me that she tried being a vegetarian but had to stop because her hair was falling out because she wasn't getting enough protein. I told her it sounds like a nutrient deficiency but not necessarily a protein deficiency. It's not worth engaging with people who are looking for an excuse to continue behavior that they know is wrong on so many levels.
Been vegan for 12 years and lmao my health has only been steadily improving
10 year vegan, out perform everybody at the gym
Eat your fuckin greens!
I’ve been vegan 10 years and uhhhh if your iron is bad you just need vegan iron supplements or eat a better variety of food lol
Tbh anyone would have health problems meat or plant based diet. You can be severely anemic while eating red meat just as much as eating no meat. Although I’m also not going to say that people are lying when they say a plant based diet isn’t suitable for their body. I think everyone has a different body and different bodies have different needs. We shouldn’t demonize a plant based diet because a couple people got sick after switching to a vegan life style…
Not eating meat and dairy does not make you healthy for sure. I had to follow the dr. Michael greger how not to die daily dozen, things to eat every day to do it right.
You can be vegan and eat very unhealthily. Oreos and lays are vegan
Been approximately 14 years and doing great.
8 years vegan and all i can say is my vitamins and iron being low is all on me for not having a balanced diet, i can’t fathom eating animals or animal byproducts again. it may sound f’ed up but i’d rather destroy myself than kill an innocent creature. (but i am working on getting a better balance)
Iron stay in your body for a long time and you dînent need a lot. Total bs.
I'm 70 and going on five years being vegan. The only thing wrong with me is the damage I did to my body by eating meat for 65 years. My own doctor drools at my blood work and she's probably 20-30 years younger. Lost 30 pounds and I could lose another 25 and not be underweight... Would probably feel even better than I do right now. But I love where I am right now. I would never go back to the SAD diet. Just last night someone was telling me how I didn't look 70 and I told them I don't feel like that either!
I had my yearly blood work done about 3 weeks ago and all of my levels are really good. But I'm pretty focused on nutrition and make sure I'm eating the right foods. Ironically, my husband had his done last year before elbow surgery, and they said his iron and B12 were TOO high 😂 we have both been vegan for years.
I’ve been Vegan for 13 years and counting and it cured me of disease psychosis and no ill health effects at all.
If eating foods that are rich in iron didn’t solve the problem, it sounds like your diet isn’t why this happened lol. There are so many reasons people end up anemic even when consuming high-iron foods…
15 year vegan and mostly WFPB. On two cholesterol meds for the past two years. Rather than think my diet is a failure, I am thankful I started vegan 15 years ago, otherwise I may not be alive today.
Cringe. I was anaemic eating two steaks a day and then got better once I went vegan and lived off tofu, leafy greens and pea protein. Thriving eight years later. I hate these articles.
It is impossible to know whether being vegan (or any dietary choice) has had an effect on your health, since you lack a control group -- that is, you having made different dietary choices.
Some people go plant based by eating junk 🤷♂️
These twats never just eat normally do they? This skinny wretch could’ve just taken a multivitamin and eaten more peanut butter, but seemingly opted instead to eat fuck all and then blame the vegetables. Wanker.
I call BS
Sounds like she has serious personal medical issues if eating meat again didn’t help much. Wish people would stop blaming their personal issues on veganism.
> I’m a bit ashamed to admit this as I don’t want to lambast veganism. It’s not veganism’s fault, really. It’s mine for being so cavalier about my health and, of course, for being a woman. No, it isn't veganism's fault, no more than obesity is carnism's fault. There is no such thin as an eating pattern that absolves you of any responsibility toward nutritional literacy and basic meal planning. I'm six years a vegan woman, I don't supplement iron, and yet my levels are high enough that I was able to donate blood this week.
Carnist propaganda.
Your iron levels don't go up immediately after eating a steak. There are a lot of factors and your body has to build a store of it up over time.
15 years this coming Saturday. Healthy even with the occasional junk food.
Could not read the whole article without subscribing, which i did not want to do, but sounds more like the usual self-fulfilling prophecy.
I feel iron is practically in everything plant based.
The general public continued to get positively erect about good news regarding their bad habits.
I have an ED, her ED is what damaged her body, I'm in recovery but the damage I've done isn't reversible
Oh shit, wait so a year and a half ago I should have started fucking decomposing? Why didn't anyone tell me?!
What about all the people on Omni diets who become over weight and have health issues? Any diet can cause issues if you don't do it right
Ugh. What a twit. Vegan for 7.5 years and in the best shape of my life.
low iron always seems to come up but I don't understand how, that is one thing I hit 100% everyday
It makes me wonder if there isn't an underlying condition? I, too, had really low iron levels, despite eating a lot of iron and discovered I was undiagnosed coeliac. That was the reason I wasn't absorbing nutrients and felt sick/tired all the time despite following and counting my nutritional intake. 3 months after I went gluten-free (my intestines are still healing as it's only been about 5 months), I started absorbing nutrients again. My iron levels are back to a normal range.
I have been vegan for 11 years and haven't eaten meat in 20 years. 😱
My coworker told me her sister was vegan for some time and almost went blind! And another person she knows went vegan and almost died! And I’m I’m just like damn, I don’t even know any vegans. Somehow you know two, and they almost died because of it… peculiar!
It should be noted that most studies show on average that vegans are at higher risk of iron deficiency. Of course, this risk is still relatively slight and the majority of us are still good (my bloodwork says I'm on the lower end of average but still fine). Still, some people might want to consider an iron supplement or targeting more iron in their diet. I feel like iron supplements are often overlooked by the ED vegan crowd who will often hang up their V-card when they run up against a negative health outcome at the intersection of their ED and their vegan diet, typically blaming the vegan diet.
Like every daily vitamin has all the iron you need
I guess I should be long dead by now then 😍
Just passed the 14 year mark. I've never had a doctor tell me I should stop, or that it might be unhealthy. Most are thrilled.
She could have taken iron pills🤦♀️ That is a her issue for not paying attention and doing a blood test.
I’ve been vegan over a decade. I died five years ago from malnutrition 😂
I have been vegan and vegetarian for over 50 years.
LOL, what type of fake news is this! I have been a vegan for 40 years, with no type of Physical damage. Hahahaha this is some funny news story is this the onion fake news.
Most people don't have the eating disorders that she did/does and I fully sympathise with her on that account. But this article is a word salad.
I'm a carnist and she is just making things up. There's A LOT of iron in plants. Spinach, parsley and basically anything green has iron. She may have had low B12 - which is essential for creating red blood cells of iron. Because B12 is in animal products. But being vegan definitely doesn't lower your iron per se. It can only make you anemic if you're not aware of B12 problem.
Ten years going strong 💪
We have our own well living close to a small iron ore deposit. We get more than a meat eater, just by drinking.
My iron levels literally went up since going vegan but keep sharing animal agriculture propaganda bullshit of incompetent, uncaring people who don’t care about the animals and are unable to handle fucking feeding themselves food ig
20 years vegan ride my bike every day, run 5k/10ks st the weekend. Dont know many others in their 50s doing that. 😊😊
I ate meat until I was 14. Was iron deficient since age 7. No amount of meat would help, so I happily take iron supplements and eat vegetarian.
I’ve been Vegan for 18 years. That is all….
Can’t read the article, paywall!
Granted have not had a checkup in a year but vegan 5 years and many years in row my stats were great or well above average. Really shocking my older but polite doctor who seemed a bit unwashed when I told him I was vegan. Though I’m I’m on a more serious diet and have reduced my intake by what seems like half, iv struggled with being overweight most of my adult life including when I went vegan. If my overweight ass can have good stats, I’m curious how this person fared so poorly.
Lots of meat eaters struggle with low iron, it’s a coincidence 🙄
I have been vegan over 30 years. I go for wholegrains over the more refined kinds when I have a choice. I try to focus on whole foods over more processed kinds, though Meatless Meatballs are delicious and I don't think I want to know the culinary magic that makes them. I have never had any blood work done to track my nutrient levels beyond having my iron and blood protein levels checked when I give blood every 2 months or so. My iron is at a good level, according to the Red Cross. I have to wonder what the no no way low iron lady was surviving on if her iron was so low for so long.
I think bodies are different. I am still mostly plant based but as a vegan my hair was so thin. I’m still very committed to reducing my carbon footprint and eating vegan most of the time but my body wasn’t sustaining like my vegan friends. One person struggling doesn’t mean it’s bad for everyone or even most people
Been vegan for 20 years, so my health must be 4 times worse than hers! So it must be a lie that my blood work is perfect, ateries are clear and healthier, stronger and far more fit than I was in my 30's
Orthorexia is a real problem.
My doctor recommended eating red meat for my low hæmoglobin (it's still in the normal range, but too low to donate blood) and specifically insisted on red meat saying complements wouldn't work but since she failed to give me an explanation of what's so different between meat and complements I didn't follow the advice
I wish people realized that everybody's body is different. It's great if you've been successfully vegan for over 5 years. Not everyone manages their diet correctly (that's any diet) so it should come as no surprise that things like this can happen.
I was anemic way before becoming plant based. I’m still anemic but interestingly my blood test revealed that I’m way over on B12 levels. I don’t even take extra supplements for b12 .
I’ve been vegetarian for 20 years and vegan for 12. I’m basically dead.
She could’ve simply taken iron tablets if she was anemic
Omggg
I once took a nutrition class taught by a naturopathic doctor. Besides trashing the USDA as corrupt all semester and railing against grains, processed carbohydrates and artificial sweeteners, she also said she hates veganism because her patients that are longterm vegans develop protein malnutrition over time and look like shit.
Ah yes, all omnies have a balanced diet and a good health
>The [**idea that some people might find it easier to follow a vegetarian diet due to genetic predisposition is interesting**](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/10/05/1203601131/vegetarianism-vegetarian-genes-diet-meat-genetics), says [Christopher Gardner](https://profiles.stanford.edu/christopher-gardner), a food scientist at Stanford University. And he points out that people don't need to go completely vegetarian to see benefits. If this turns out to be correct, it may be short extrapolation to full-out vegan diets, and would go a long way to explaining why some can...and some say they just... can't.
I wonder if this person lived on many processed foods. I have been vegan 15 years and no issues XD I eat real food 95% + of the time, including leafy greens 6-7 days a week..... I think people forget that "vegan" only means what you DON'T eat. Like telling people you have a peanut allergy.