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SvennoJ on 31 October 2017
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scrapking said:

SvennoJ said:

I live in Canada. Most of the year fruit and veggies come from far far away. I try to buy what's local which severly limits options for variation in vegetables and fruit. And nuts are rediculously expensive here imo. I don't eat meat every day, but some other animal products like eggs and cheese sure.  

My diet is fine I think, I wouldn't know I don't pay much attention to it. I'm in the best shape of my life thanks to regular excercise. I'm  rarely sick even with my young kids bringing all kinds of crap home from school, and if I get sick it usually only lasts a day. Don't fix what aint broken.

Btw you cited a study comparing deficiences between omnivours and vegans, both list cacium as a deficieny. Can't win! :p

I also live in Canada.  I buy local produce when I can, and when I can't I buy a mix of fresh and frozen produce.  Frozen is often better than fresh when it comes to imported because it doesn't degrade in shipping like fresh does.  I eat whatever produce I want, any time of year (though favour what's in season to the degree I reasonably can, especially when buying local).  I don't buy much in the way of nuts, but I buy a lot of nut butters (I get organic nut butters that have no additives, they're just pureed nuts in a jar).

I'm a vegan and I'm not calcium deficient, but I eat a lot of calcium rich seeds, in addition to calcium rich leafy green vegetables.  The average person doesn't plan their meals, doesn't track what they're eating, and has no idea what they're deficient in until they're so deficient that a symptom shows up.  That's true for vegans and omnivores both.  It's just that the average vegan eats more food in total (thanks to lower caloric density of plant-based foods) and is eating foods that have more nutrients per calorie, so the average vegan is less likely to be deficient than the average omnivore.  :)

As for you being in great shape, that's a separate issue.  A person can be in the best shape of their life from a fitness point of view, and then keel over from a heart attack because their workouts were stressing a heart that's being fed by clogged arteries.  Strength and fitness on the one hand, and heart health on the other, are not nearly as intertwined as people would like us to believe.  One study looked at sedentary vegans vs. marathon-running omnivores and found the sedentary vegans on average had better heart health.  Cancer is another issue, sedentary vegetarians have lower cancer rates than healthy omnivores (source: https://nutritionfacts.org/video/vegetarians-versus-healthy-omnivores/).

I rather be a marathon running omnivore than a sedentary vegan :)

Frozen produce just tastes bland to me, I don't very much like it. It's easier to make something that tastes good with meat in it. This time of year my diet is mostly brocoli, cauliflower and squash when it comes to vegetables, besides the regular onions, mushrooms and garlic on the side. Occosionally a chunky roasted red pepper soup with carrots and peas in chicken broth, and some fresh honey garlic sausages. Frozen yoghurt for desert.

Perhaps if I had a chef that could cook awesome vegan meals I would be willing to try it out for a month, see if I still feel as energized to cycle 130km in a day. Yet I don't have that, and rather play video games instead of planning meals.

Besides what's the prize? Living to be frail at 90+ while shuffling around trying to remember who you are... Actually my grandfather was still in good shape afer 90 while always eating meat. It was not his heart nor cancer that got him in the end, more not being able to do the things he loved anymore, kinda lost interest in staying alive.