Is becoming a vegetarian/vegan worth it?

[ArchangelMadzz]

scrapking said:

ArchangelMadzz said:
If you can't live with the horror of factory farming and going organic doesn't cut it then go for it.

Just make sure you know what you're doing as going Vegan can be bad for your health if you're ill informed.

Staying an omnivore is even more likely to be bad for your health, well informed or not.  Statistically, the average North American omnivore is more nutritionally deficient than the average vegan (one study found the average vegan deficient in 3 essential nutrients, the average omnivore deficient in 7 essential nutrients; they were both typically calcium deficient, but they differed on the other nutrients).  And since many people go vegan for ethical and environmental reasons, there isn't a lot of evidence to support the idea it's because vegans are necessarily even more health conscious people, making that result all the more significant.  Hell, the definition of vegan includes not wearing wool, not using leather, etc., so the very word speaks to a lot of things that are nothing to do with what you eat.

The fact that 14 of the top 15 killers in North America (heart disease, diabetes, many cancers, etc.) are related to diet and lifestyle suggests that successful health and vibrancy into old age as an omnivore is what's hard, not being vegan.  I agree with you that simply eating a vegan diet is no guarantee of health (hell, Oreo cookies are vegan).  But the standard American omnivorous diet is almost a guarantee of bad health.

However, if you adopt a plant-based diet focused on whole foods, and you eat the rainbow, it's almost impossible to do it wrong.

Wait a minute, are you telling me that people who eat like shit eating takeaway and McDonald's  etc die of complications related to their shitty diet? I never could've guessed..