How Much Better I Am Feeling Now that I Am No Longer Vegan
Feeling much better now that I am no longer vegan :)
But … I am feeling better. And many people have remarked that I am looking better too after ending my vegan diet. Less frail, less grey, less gaunt. More color in my face. More energy. Less anger. My mind feels much more clear. I feel more optimistic. I have become interested again in many pursuits in which I had lost interest. I have started working out again. I am no longer having chronic leg cramps. My skin has almost completely cleared up, and my recent menstrual cycle was the easiest I’ve had in a long time. Some of the white hairs on my head have already turned back to brown at the root. I feel more … substantial.
I am eating a lot of DHA/EPA (wild caught fatty fish), cheeses that are high in vitamin K2, grass fed butter, pastured eggs, and some meat. I am still eating some vegetables but it’s honestly hard to look at vegetables right now, so sick and tired was I of a nutritionally incomplete diet.
So … time will tell. But I don’t see myself ever returning to a vegan diet :D
By the way, my deepest gratitude to all of you who have sent support and well wishes during this challenging time. I especially appreciate those who honor that my well-being has to come first, if I am to be any good to myself and others. Thank you from my heart.
p.s. We now have nearly 600 comments on the article about My Breakup with Veganism. Join the discussion :)
If you are on a vegan diet, I would encourage you to research extensively these nutrients at a minimum. There is a good chance you are deficient in some or all of them.
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Love,
The key word here is = BALANCE. We, as humans, can never know everything there is about a given subject, there is always more to learn, so we need relax with our choices and do the best we can. Take me, for instance: all my life I hated all seafood, meat & eggs. 1) I just naturally didn’t like the taste 2) I felt bad about eating animals, so therefore it was easy to be vegan. But no matter how hard I tired, I became extremely anaemic, was literally exhausted, & was rushed to hospital for iron injections. My face got so pale people started asking me if I had cancer. Many people. This happened twice in my life. The bottom line: I now eat meat every day, so my iron deficiency hasn’t come back! I literally NEED to eat meat or my health greatly sufferers. So I have learned to make peace with this. It’s not about being right or wrong or better or worse than anyone, I just what works for me personally, and unfortunately, that means I need to eat meat. So you too Erica, are doing what’s right for you!
Yep. My neighbor who helped me through the worst of the symptoms … said she tried to be vegan in college, but became anemic. I don’t believe anyone really is helped if we lose our health. So yes, it’s essential to do what is right for us. These problems won’t be solved with a diet anyway. And vegans seem to be more interested in preaching and condemning than in learning any real healing skills :)
I was vegetarian/vegan from age 18 (once I was on my own) until age 30. Then, by some miracle, I discovered the error of my ways. For the past 30 years I have consumed plenty of healthy fats, meat, fish and poultry. Giving up grains, fruit, and most vegetables was the best thing I ever did for myself. At age 60, I am in much better shape and even look better, than I did at 30. I shudder to think what life would be like now, had I not been fortunate enough to be part of that”84%” who eventually wise up.
There are many things in vegetables and other plant foods that are not beneficial for us. Some of us with damaged GI tracts have had our ability to metabolize chemicals like salicylates impaired, so when we eat foods (pretty much all plant foods have them) with them, they make us feel sick. Fortunately, plant foods are not necessary for health and well-being. Since I eliminated all plant food from my diet, I feel considerably better.
For more information on this subject, please see my article:
http://zerocarbzen.com/salicylates/
It was very clear to me that a plants-only diet was not helpful for my digestion. And indeed when I started eating animal products again, it seems my food sensitivities have cleared up significantly.
Really? Cause you look significantly more unhealthy than most drug addicts that I’ve run into. It’s intersting that you don’t take into account the chronic diseases that are killing Americans at an astounding rate and the fact that the western diet is a direct contributor to these illnesses. The fact that they are COMLETELY preventable and in most cases reversible with a plant based diet. Please stop misusing the term vegan as it’s obvious to me and anyone of the growing, thriving vegan population that you’re ignorantly throwing around the term as though you understand anything about nutrition.
Where is your doctorate in Nutrition or biology or anything synonymous with health and wellness? Just cause you started tapping you hand with your opposite fingers and preach utter nonesense at the same time DOES NOT make you an expert at anything… maybe coordination but that’s about it. Please stop embarrassing yourself today before I out you publicly as being a fake “holistic heale”. You’re as crass as it gets. People are dying from obesity and heart disease and you’re promoting it. You’re promoting suicide via gluttony. Please pick up a book and start over again.
Chronic diseases have nothing to do with anything physical and everything to do with emotional / spiritual issues which are epidemic in Western culture. Have a read of Anita Moorjani’s book, Dying to Be Me. It sheds a whole new light on the healing of dis-ease and is very much in line with my own experiences of miracle healing – which had nothing to do with diet.
A typically ignoRANT narrow minded vegan zealot
More animals in pure numbers are killed from harvesting crops than will ever be killed in meat production. Also, although conditions may be deplorable in many CAFOs, it’s not as if animals die peacefully in the wild. What’s more humane? A bolt to the head or being eating alive by a pride of lions. Finally cows, pigs, etc would not exist if there were not a demand for their meat.
Please elaborate… I think you meant “cows pigs etc. wouldn’t exist if we stopped raping them and stealing their babies.”… your arguments are so uneducated and founded in lies that it’s becoming more and more difficult to read them without laughing hysterically.
Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God. There is no world. Chew on that for a while and come back when you understand what it means.
Thank you for sharing your story. It is very brave of you. Thank you for your emails as well.
I currently consume meat and have for the most part of my life. I come from a “Eat all the food on your plate” and There are people who dont have any food.” Stayed in my head as a child. In my youth I felt it was wrong to flesh but too late fell in love with bacon. Lol. In the past five years I have seen so many loved ones suffering from eating a heavy meat diet. I myself had to become a ill to check my consumption. I beat myself up for not being vegan and I felt as my spirituality strengthen the consumption flesh was just wrong. Today I am easy of myself. I eat raw as much as possible. Everyones need to relax and embrace their own journey. Along with having a respect for others. So thank your for sharing b/c it help me be easy on myself. I love all people and their personal choice deserve the utmost respect. Sharing is caring. Sorry for any typos on my cell.
Thank you Raven, I appreciate you sharing your experience.
I think you’ll find sometime in the near future, hopefully sooner than later, that you’re on the wrong side of this, again, Erika.
More people are going vegan everyday — far more than are turning away from it. Those people are getting educated by real sources, rather than people with a financial interest in convincing the masses to do something that isn’t backed by research and science.
And for the few that feel unhealthy, they will see a doctor and at least get blood work done. If they suspect it’s their diet, they will contact a vegan dietitian to ensure they are getting nutrients they need, rather than eating a can of their cat’s food. And *if* that doesn’t help (that’s a BIG IF), they will eat only what’s necessary to alleviate their issues.
They certainly would *not* take to bashing veganism as a whole, because beyond the horrific conditions that are facing the animals, the livestock industry is destroying the planet and its resources. They would also recognize that most are able to thrive on a vegan diet and that attacking the movement rather than supporting it is deplorable.
84% of vegans and vegetarians return to eating meat. If you want to solve the problems you’ve identified, veganism is not going to get the job done. Going beyond 3D logic has a pretty solid chance of getting the job done. That requires letting go of attachment to a strategy that is not working, and learning new skills. We will see how devoted these people really are to animal welfare by how willing they are to learn what they need to learn to get the problems solved. So far, most vegans I know would rather do the “holier than thou” never-going-to-solve-anything “shouting my grievances as loudly as I can” thing. I’m ready and willing, though, when people actually want these problems solved.
Do you have a reliable source for your stat?
Nothing you wrote changes anything that I said. The more vegans there are, the less the demand for animal products. The less the demand, the smaller the drain on the planet and our resources as well as a reduction in the number of animals who suffer. Veganism *is* certainly part of the solution and the more people who are vegan, the bigger impact it will have.
Attacking vegans is no better than vegans attacking you. The character flaws of vegans have no bearing on the facts and shouldn’t influence anyone’s decisions. At a minimum, the easiest and most logical thing to do in order to stop the deterioration of the planet and the suffering of animals is to go vegan. When faced with challenges, consult an expert to assist. If all reasonable options are exhausted and there’s still a problem, then cause the least amount of harm to address the issue. Doing a complete 180 and attacking vegans is not logical.
Vegans are, what? 1 percent of the population. 2 percent, at best. 84% of people don’t stay vegan or vegetarian. We’ve already cited that source. Making a dent in the 70 billion land animals for slaughter? Nope. Alienating most of the population from the vegan cause, with all this anger and personal attack? Yep. Sorry, I see it as an utterly Sisyphean mission.
If you want the problem solved, time to go beyond 3D logic to quantum solutions.
http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2014/12/84-percent-of-vegetarians-go-back-to-eating-meat.html
“More people are becom8ng vegan than turning away from it” Really? That’s astonishing bcz best surveys seem to show up to 86% quiting soon after due to adverse health effects, therefore someone is lying and lying is the typical provenance of vegan zealots !!
This made such an impact on our Facebook group page https://www.facebook.com/groups/bodyelectriciangroup/ that we will be discussing it on our show tonight, Erika! https://plus.google.com/events/c53of2ba0pada2f1tkfa658cn8o
Hope you tune in!!
Vegans diets are perfectly healthy. You should be ashamed of yourself for spreading false information… Get a life, loser.
What a surprise. Another vegan showing that he can’t control his anger and personal attacks on a vegan diet.
(Yet another personal attack from a vegan who has no better arguments than calling people names. We suggest he eat some fatty fish and double up on B12 supplements, at the very least.)
I can only support you in your decision to go back to eating meat. You really seemed to be choosing the healthiest life for yourself on this journey. Who can judge? I’m currently still vegan and my body still loves it. But I don’t know that if I was faced with failing health I wouldn’t do the same. You don’t hunt & don’t kill so where could I put you down? Live and let live. Be Light
beutifully said renard! Be light!!Love it! have a wonderful day!
Thanks for chiming in, Giulio :)