To ask if it’s possible to be a healthy vegan

[Mangetoutrodney]

I turned vegan a year ago (for ethical reasons) - I eat a predominately healthy diet (or so i think) but have lately been not feeling great- sometimes I feel empty. I take a broad spectrum vitamin aswell and a typical days food might be:

Overnight oats with mixed forest fruits, walnuts, oat milk & soya yohurt

Veg, lentil & quinoa stew for lunch

Tofu, veg & noodles for tea

I might have fruit or ryvita & houmous for a snack (or a bag or crisps )

I am trying to keep it balances & healthy- I eat lots of stuff like jacket potato with beans & vegan cheese, veg spaghetti Bol, Thai veg curry, mezze plates with houmous & roasted veg etc etc I also eat lots of avocados & try to get my oils from nuts & plants.

But I am feeling shit & i’m not ill - I exercise lots too, don’t really drink booze etc.

So is it being vegan? I really don’t want to go back to eating dairy as it took me a long time to give it up & it was a big decision. I have been veggie for 30 years.

But now I am questioning it- aibu to think it might not be healthy? Have thought about adding eggs back in to see if it’s protein

How are your iron levels? I've recently started taking a liquid iron supplement and am feeling a lot better for it. Might be worth a try?

B12 supplement?

It's unlikely to be protein based on your diet

@jupiter like Floradix? I might try it. My vitamin supplements contain iron & B12 etc at the RDA - I also use nutritional yeast etc

It might be the type of protein. It's tricky to get enough amino acids with no animal products.
Do you take B12 supplements?

Iron levels?

Best thing instead of guessing is going to the doctor and getting a blood test.

I am pescatarian and dairy free and feel pretty healthy. I don't eat fish that often, maybe once as fortnight, but need brain food. Have you checked the Vegan Society for advice on sourcing the various vitamins and minerals? You are definitely helping the environment.

Your diet sounds good and more nutrient dense than many meat eaters. In case it’s iron you can try upping green leafy veg, kale etc, and making sure to have a vitamin c source with each meal for uptake. But that’s in meantime until you can see Gp for bloods. Could be thyroid or something else unrelated. Hope you feel better soon!

This is what’s in my vit supplements

I think I will get my bloods done tho

If you are properly low in iron a multivitamin or even floradix won’t touch the sides, you’d need a prescription.

Check your iron levels and always make sure you have a good source of vitamin c eg oj when you eat iron rich foods as it helps absorption. It seems healthy but I'm not an expert nor vegan

I’m not a vegan, I’m vegetarian and dairy free (I eat eggs about twice a week), any diet is healthy if done correcrly, are you getting enough calories?

meatheals.com/2019/03/19/morwenna-palmehn/

I think so...my adult son is vegan and is full of energy and can lift his own body weight.

He does eat 6 proper meals a day though, rather than snacking on biscuits etc.

Yes ok it is possible.🌷💚

Op not ok sorry x

Get checked out for a B12 deficiency.

I was vegan for a year and ate a really healthy varied diet. I used to get really run down, horrible mouth ulcers, always bloody tired turned out to be a B12 deficiency and now I have injections every 3 months. The tablets did nothing for me.

Yes it's possible. But your diet doesn't have enough fat or protein. Try the happy herbevoire cookbooks.

Look up vegan deterioration on youtube, and watch some interviews with ex-vegans. It's a real eye-opener how people's health and vitality slowly slips away after years on a vegan diet. People often feel well initially on the diet, as they've switched from eating a refined/junk food diet. But then the absence of nutrients kicks in, after building their whole identity/life concept around it. There's so many ex-vegan youtubers who have given up on the diet in the past couple of weeks due to debilitating health complaints, like autoimmune conditions, mental health, joint pain, spinal degradation, dental caries etc.

There are many nutrients that are impossible or scarce to get on a vegan diet such as vitamin A (retinol)... a large proportion on people are very poor converters of beta-carotene to vit A. Heme iron. B12... yes you can take supplements, but the fact it is not available in the plant kingdom is kinda a clue against veganism. K2... necessary to shepherd calcium in the body to where it's wanted (bones and teeth) and out of where it's not (soft tissue and arteries). Zinc. DHA... omega 3 essential fatty acid essential for brain health. You'd need to be eating cups of flax seeds a day in order to meet a miniscule amount of your needs, as it's difficult for the body to convert the ALA in flax to DHA and EPA.

Please consider introducing small amounts of things like oily fish, liver, mussels, butter, local lamb meat (all UK lamb is free range as they're out on the hills) and hard cheese like gouda into your diet and see how you get on.

IMHO, if you need artificial supplements to maintain a diet, the diet is unsustainable. Humans are omnivores, our ethics might indicate veg based diets, but nothing yet has said that vegan or veggie is better for health than at least a little bit of animal protein. In my opinion, people should base diets on local food, sourced locally.

Thanks @doodle - I won’t ever eat meat again as it’s been over 30 years but I might start eating eggs again if I can source them from a decent place

You won't get good nutritional advice by posting on AIBU. Don't forget, as MN states, professional qualifications are not checked and anyone can post on here, seeming like they know it all (see above for a fine example of this).

Do your own research - try the Viva! website first of all, there's loads of info on there on nutrition, written by nutritional experts.

I've been Vegan for about 25 years. I take a B12 tablet most days.
I retired 7 years ago and have not been to my GP since I retired (apart from my annual flu jag), I can't remember how long before I retired that I went to my GP. I think I am healthy.
actually today I am stiff and sore in places I did not know could be sore but I blame my first ever yoga session on Sunday evening and two days working in the garden