Is a Vegan Diet Healthy? What type of foods/supplements should I take along with it.?

Question

I have done a lot of research & I believe that a Vegan diet is the way to go. I have been vegan for 2 or three months now, strictly. My only problem is when I go places like friends & relatives, they eat according to the food pyramid or far worse, and as the bible instructs us, I have always ate what they offered without complaining. This happened 4 times total that I can think of.
Many people (my dad, my sister, my brother in law, my mom), have been telling me that I am really hurting myself by being vegan & I need protein. Well, last night, I had a lot of protein (lasagna), as well as a large salad (fiber). As it is said, the fiber, helps detox the junk in the non organic lasagna. WELL, I was SICK and still am now. So, without something like, "you need protein" please tell me if a vegan diet is healthy or not. Tell me why I got sick from the meat and dairy yesterday & what type of supplements I should take. Many people say it causes health problems but do not say what problems. WHAT

Answer 1

I am a vegetarian (almost vegan) and it is a very healthy diet. There are plenty of proteins out there that you can eat, though you may want to think about eating small amounts of fish for the (healthy) fatty acids omega 3 and 6 found in fish and other things you aren't eating (fish being the healthiest). There are plenty of proteins you can get as a vegan. Tofu, beans, tempeh, (a soy bean thing you can get in a health food store) and nuts are some good proteins you can get as a vegan. For calcium and vitamin D you can take supplements and drink calcium and vitamin D enriched orange juice made by Tropicana. You were saying how you got sick after eating meat. This is because since you haven't eaten meat in months your digestive system is not used to it and could not handle it. If you plan on going back to eating meat bring it into your diet slowly so you don't get sick again.

Hope this helps!
Ellie!!

Answer 2

I follow a vegan diet and I have no problems with protein. As long as your diet is varied with a good mix of veggies, fruit, and beans/legumes, you should not have to take any supplements.
The Standard American Diet (SAD - gee, it truly is!) is actually overloaded with protein - especially from animal sources. If you consider all the meat that is consumed and then all of the animal by-products such as milk, cheese, yogurt, eggs, etc., it's easy to see how American are totally overloaded with it. A vegan or vegetarian diet gives the human body the correct amount of proetin. As a matter of fact, the body doesn't need a ton of protein. It needs more vitamins, minerals and fibre than anything else. And the protein source should be from beans, nuts, fruit and vegetables. Animal protein is not good for the body.

I'm thinking you got sick b/c your body is not used to digesting the meat and dairy. It's actually quite difficult for our digestive systems to break down the components of meat and animal by-products. Once your body is accustomed to processing simpler, healthier foods, it's hard to go back. (believe me, I know!!)

Personally, I prefer to eat only baked and broiled foods (as opposed to fried). The last time I had something fried, I was ill for DAYS. It was just a matter of my little bod not being used to trying to process that food. My advice would be to stick to your guns from now on. Even though it's offered, just politely decline and eat what is conducive to your diet. I understand what that's like - I've survived many a cookout and many holidays with my meat-eating family. I had to find what I could eat instead of obliging them and just randomly eating what was there. I knew I would get sick, so I had to figure out which was worse: offending my family and letting it ride for about two hours or eating what they had and being sick for a few days. At the end of the day, they still love and respect me and vice versa. It's just food.

I wish you the best of luck and I welcome you to the "club". lol. The vegan diet is healthy....you've done your research so you know your stuff. Don't let anyone talk you into going against your principles.
Good luck!
:-D

Answer 3

On a psychological and/or physiological level you may have rejected the meat. Ive also gotten the vague comments as well, without specifications. Well, I'm healthy. I'm eight months pregnant. The baby is healthy.

Omega-3s can be found natrually in some nuts, but I can't recall what now. Calcium can be found in broccoli, spinach, other dark greens, etc. (search

Good information can be found by searching "vegan health". Two good sites are http://www.chooseveg.com/vegan-health.asp
www.veganhealth.org

Also, "vegan calcium sources" also yields some good sites.

I know I have more, but my mind is not focusing now. Try the vegetarian and vegan sections, under Food, you should get some good answers there as well.