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Forums - General Discussion - Is becoming a vegetarian/vegan worth it?

There's a considerable difference in vegetarian and vegan diets. The latter greatly restricts your eating choices and requires very careful attention to nutrition. The former is not as bad, but can still be difficult for those just starting out. Both require attention to proteins, but Vegan is especially bad for many essential minerals and vitamins.

For weight loss and health your overall calorie intake and exercise are more important then what specific foods you are eating. The primary reason to reduce fats and simple sugars is because they provide very little 'fullness' compared to the calories they supply, leading to greater consumption and more calories.

My diet revolves around lean meats (fish, lean poultry, lean pork, etc) interspersed with whole wheat rice/pasta /bread based dishes. Two servings of vegetables and fruits per day. No sugary drinks (or diet sodas), and severely limited fried or sweet foods.



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WolfpackN64 said:
Anfebious said:

 A vegetarian/vegan diet supresses meat, some of them supress milk derivates. Restricting your diet makes you more likely to get deficiencies.

I think it's completely unnatural when your diet is so restrictive that you have to take vitamins to cover deficiencies. If your vegetarian/vegan diet makes you take all your body needs then I think it's ok. But some of the vegan diets are too restrictive, some people need to take vitamins because of them.

Point is, I don't see it as a diet. I just don't eat meat anymore and I make sure I eat varied.

It's perfectly normal, but not really 'natural'. We did evolve as omnivorous hunter-gatherers after all. Not until we developed agriculture could any human tribe have subsisted on vegetables only.



I don't think going vegetarian/vegan is per se going for a healthy diet, though it may be...it's just ditching some types of food for whatever personal reason - I've been vegetarian for over 20 years, but honestly I don't pay much attention to "healthy" aspects of that choice (otherwise, I would most likely drop cheese as well, which will never happen).



I'm a pollotarian (vegetarian who also eats chicken), and have been for about a year. I did it mainly for ethical reasons - I think cows, pigs etc suffer real anxiety and fear before slaughter and I do not want to be part of that. i don't think chickens have the intelligence for such deep emotions, hence why I have less of an issue with them being killed, though in an ideal world I'd be a proper veggie. Can't really comment on health benefits, but I slipped up once and ate beef (I really crave and miss beef) and my digestion definitely felt different.



I reduced my meat intake greatly this year, but I won't give up meat completely anytime soon. For me , becoming a vegetarian it's not worth it. I'm healthy and fit, but of course I have a balanced diet and do exercises.

Of course,  I also understand the people who do it for ethical reasons.  That's one of the reasons I reduced my meat consumption this year.



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I wouldn't do it, there are certainly other just as effective ways to change your diet in a positive way.
What I would recommend ~
Drink a gallon of water throughout each day. This alone will do wonders for your skin, your hair, your teeth, how much energy you have... Everything.

And then, start cutting out gluten from your diet. Swap out junk foods for berries and fruit, and go look into what super foods are such as kale or spinach.

- microwaves are a no no. Your scrambling the DNA of anything that's out in their and most of the nutrients you could otherwise get are destroyed. In fact I think you lose around 70% of somethings nutritional value after cooking it due to breaking down certain fatty chains and what not.

- try weaning yourself off fake sugars, anything that says sucrose or glucose is bad.


I also personally feel that it's just much better for your body to eat vegetables raw and uncooked (but washed).

With just that small amount of advice theres no reason you'd need to go vegetarian.



Humans are meat and vegi eaters for a reason. You need both. If it isn't for health reasons and it's for society reasons it's not worth it.



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the_dark_lewd said:
I went vegetarian about 5 years ago.

I found it made no difference at all. I didn't miss meat at all. My health seemed more or less the same. And I'm not vegan so it's not actually difficult to do.

It's just a bit cheaper with food shopping and you're not killing as many animals. So yes, it's worth it.

...That isn't even remotely true.



If it's only for health reasons, I'd suggest you just eat way less meat an more veggies. You can also go vegetarian, but you'd get yourself in trouble with family and friends meetings where food will most likely have meat as the main ingredient (I suppose=.

That said, unless you have moral reasons to go vegan, don't do it. You'll prolly hate it. It's a much harder switch from ovo-lacto-vegetarianism (what most people can vegetarianism). There's also a lot of research you'd have to do and go to a nutritionist (with current day and updated knowledge, hopefully) just to make sure you don't miss out on any nutrient.

I've been a vegan for 4 years now. Started and still am for moral reasons. I am very healthy, but prolly because I play a lot of sports. It's worth it for me, I still get to eat and taste delicious meals and with a lot more variety. But I reckon I'd still eat animal products if I didn't believe in the vegan philosophy. Just know that after a few months, putting your will to the test, it stops being a "sacrifice" and you got used to it, you'll actually have more curiosity in trying rare fruits and veggies and even get into cooking (that's what happened to me at least). It's pretty effortless being vegan for me, at this point.

Veganism isn't a diet tho, it's a philosophy that follows an strict vegetarian diet, among other things.



I go through phases of being Vegeterian and Vegan.

I don't eat much meat anyways and I don't miss it, but I will eat it if I really feel like it, or on special occasions. Overall I probably eat less than 200g of meat a month and it's easy.

The thing about being a vegan is, that it can be super easy, or very time consuming and hard. If you want to do it right, it starts getting difficult to ever eat out and you have to cook constantly and find exotic ingredients. With a full time job and university it can get tough to uphold. Plus I love cheese too much the give it up completely.

Imo the results are well worth it, because you're investing into your health in the most immediate way possible, by feeding it well.