Vegan Diet and the improvement of heath problems
Posted by pagan_veela on Feb 27, 2008 · Member since Feb 2008 · 91 posts
I am currently toying with the idea of becoming vegan and I am looking for multiple reasons for making such a drastic lifestyle change. I found when I went lacto-ovo-veg in September I received a lot of flack unless I provided people with at least 3 reasons for having made the choice .
I am currently wondering what health benefits there come from adopting a vegan lifestyle. I am also wondering if it helps, migraines, chronic headaches, sinus problems, throat infections and joint problems. These are the health problems that currently effect my life and if a change in diet can help even one of them I feel it would be worth it to make the change.
If there is any information on this topic please let me know.
I have IBS and I react to dairy, eggs, meat and meat byproducts. My symptoms have improved 100% being vegan.
My cousin who is not vegan can land her self in ER with an asthma attack if she consumes beef or dairy. Made me question her long and hard about being omni vs vegan but she was not willing to switch at that time. Maybe in the future.
Not related to your list of issues but my face, which occasionally broke out all my life, cleared up to two or less pimples a month and only during my period or directly preceding it.
Now this is not statistical data, just my own personal observations regarding my life. Oh and my cholesterol levels dropped 100 points over several years from only going from omni to veggie. I wonder what they are now that I have been vegan for almost 5 years. haha
I don't know of a single source where you'll get all of those questions answered with footnotes. Are you living at home and trying to justify this to your parents? It may be easier to just not justify yourself to people.
Saturated fat leads to health problems. There aren't many vegan saturated fats that you'd likely be eating regularly.
My cholesterol took a big dive.
For what it's worth, I became nicer once I was vegan - which indicates to me I was nutritionally out of balance, even though I ate what I thought was healthy, then.
Animals are pumped full of junk which, by logic, must have an affect (or is that effect?) on health.
I realized this pretty recently - since becoming vegan I've basically stopped having headaches. I'd get them all the time, and I think it was the dairy. so, yay for that health benefit.
i think if you read into a whole foods based vegan diet and not just a vegan diet, you might get your questions answered. but that type of lifestyle is more stringent than your typical vegan diet, but some say its healthier, like in the china study by t. campbell.
i also agree with the person above, why do you have to justify your choices? they are not hurting anyone, and if that is your choice, then thats the end of that. you know what you need to do, so do it and dont let anyone stop you! : )
I have a few more ideas....
Like HH alluded to, by avoiding meat, dairy, and egg consumption, you avoid ingesting hormones and anti-bioitics used to farm these animals.
Along the same lines as saturated fat, vegans don't consume as much cholesterol.
Vegans tend to eat more fiber which is good for weight control and the health of your digestive tract.
Check out the The China Study. It is a statistical analysis relating high-animal protein diets and chronic diseases. It addresses different types of cancers, diabetes, obesity, and a bunch of other things. It is one of the books that convinced me to go vegan.
Ultimately, though, it's your personal decision to be vegan, and you shouldn't feel too pressured to justify it to everyone you meet. Some people will always look for a reason to discredit your lifestyle choice. You can't win them all. Even if you only have one reason to go vegan, that's enough. Don't stress over proving yourself to others. :)
(haha, kelsi, we posted basically the same thing at the same time. great minds....)
Thank you to everyone for your support. I realize I shouldn't have to justify myself but I have mentioned going vegan to a few people and it was a slap in the face of instant negativity. I guess I don't want to seem like I am doing it without reason because people won't take me seriously. but all in all it is my life and my choice and doesn't effect them. I will be moving back home with my parents in 2 weeks (finishing up my bachelor of education at the moment) and I know I won't be able to transition while living with them. It is something will have to wait on until I have my own place since my parents tend to scoff at anything I do when it comes to food and I really don't want to deal with that.
I am glad to hear that there are health benefits to going vegan I will definitely be checking out that study. I am really quite happy I found this place it seems to have all the support and information I need concerning being a vegan or vegetarian. Thanks again.
I realize I shouldn't have to justify myself but I have mentioned going vegan to a few people and it was a slap in the face of instant negativity. I guess I don't want to seem like I am doing it without reason because people won't take me seriously.
I understand that. Sometimes people think that going vegan is just something cool or rebellious to do, like a stunt, so you want to show people you're for real. Good luck!
I'm having the same problem, someone challenging me saying a vegan diet is unnatural, unhealthy and not sustainable.
I thought there was a news article posted on this website that succinctly and objectively addressed these points.
Does anyone know which one I might be talking about? Been trying to find this article ...
I don't know about the article, but I just read "Being Vegan" by Jo Stepaniak and it was really helpful regarding what to say when omni's try to challenge you or ask tough questions about veganism.
I realized this pretty recently - since becoming vegan I've basically stopped having headaches. I'd get them all the time, and I think it was the dairy. so, yay for that health benefit.
I've had migraines since I was 9 years old. I always got them about 3 times a month and didn't notice a change when I went vegetarian 10 years ago, but in the 6 months that I've been transitioning to vegan (completely vegan for about the last 2 months), my headaches have decreased greatly. I've only gotten them when I was really overly stressed or ate a lot of processed food (which I usually don't do).
Animals are pumped full of junk which, by logic, must have an affect (or is that effect?) on health.
Yes H_H, it is "effect" ;)
I realized this pretty recently - since becoming vegan I've basically stopped having headaches. I'd get them all the time, and I think it was the dairy. so, yay for that health benefit.
I've had migraines since I was 9 years old. I always got them about 3 times a month and didn't notice a change when I went vegetarian 10 years ago, but in the 6 months that I've been transitioning to vegan (completely vegan for about the last 2 months), my headaches have decreased greatly. I've only gotten them when I was really overly stressed or ate a lot of processed food (which I usually don't do).
That's so interesting! My mom gets bad migraines. I should mention that to her.
Animals are pumped full of junk which, by logic, must have an affect (or is that effect?) on health.
Yes H_H, it is "effect" ;)
Damn! I had "effect" first. I knew someone here would know. ;)b
I just wanted to add--in relation to menstruation issues (cramps, headaches, etc.), eliminating dairy eliminated these symptoms for me. I haven't had any menstruation pains in almost a year. Too many naturally occurring hormones in dairy...threw my system out of whack.
The migraines and chronic headaches (yes there is a difference some people don't know that) are probably my two biggest complaints health wise and I have noticed that my headaches have decreased with being vegetarian but haven't noticed any change in regards to the mirgraines. If being vegan can help then that would be great. I still feel I need to find more information about transitioning and maintaining a vegan lifestyle before I take the plunge but everyone has certainly given me a lot to think about.
I'm not sure where it is now (the studies were published 6 years ago or so), but I do know that dairy consumption has been linked to nasal/sinus allergies. There also have been studies linking high protein consumption to the leeching of calcium from bones. If you have cartilage issues, check your info, lots of glucosamine/chondroitin blends contain chicken, which naturally contains the chemicals.
I realized this pretty recently - since becoming vegan I've basically stopped having headaches. I'd get them all the time, and I think it was the dairy. so, yay for that health benefit.
I've had migraines since I was 9 years old. I always got them about 3 times a month and didn't notice a change when I went vegetarian 10 years ago, but in the 6 months that I've been transitioning to vegan (completely vegan for about the last 2 months), my headaches have decreased greatly. I've only gotten them when I was really overly stressed or ate a lot of processed food (which I usually don't do).
That's so interesting! My mom gets bad migraines. I should mention that to her.
KMK, I started practicing yoga pretty seriously about a year and a half ago. That helped with the migraines too, but I definitely think cutting the dairy was the clencher. As I gradually eliminated different foods, I was able to track what was causing them. Finally, towards the end, the only dairy i ate was cheese pizza once a week, and damn it if I didn't wake up with a migraine during the night or the next morning almost every time.
I realized this pretty recently - since becoming vegan I've basically stopped having headaches. I'd get them all the time, and I think it was the dairy. so, yay for that health benefit.
I've had migraines since I was 9 years old. I always got them about 3 times a month and didn't notice a change when I went vegetarian 10 years ago, but in the 6 months that I've been transitioning to vegan (completely vegan for about the last 2 months), my headaches have decreased greatly. I've only gotten them when I was really overly stressed or ate a lot of processed food (which I usually don't do).
That's so interesting! My mom gets bad migraines. I should mention that to her.
KMK, I started practicing yoga pretty seriously about a year and a half ago. That helped with the migraines too, but I definitely think cutting the dairy was the clencher. As I gradually eliminated different foods, I was able to track what was causing them. Finally, towards the end, the only dairy i ate was cheese pizza once a week, and damn it if I didn't wake up with a migraine during the night or the next morning almost every time.
Yeah, I did a little light googling about the topic, and it seems that dairy is a common migraine trigger. As is aspartame, and mom's a diet coke junkie. Same for caffeine. :( May or may not be the cause in her case, but any reason for her to reduce her consumption of these things is good, in my mind. ;)b
Besides the China Study, I'd also like to recommend Eat to Live & Skinny Bitch. They both also reference a lot of other sources.
All those secondhand antibiotics, steroids & hormones are bound to be bad for you. My personal story is after making an effort to reduce my dairy consumption, I stopped getting yeast infections (which I got pretty much 3+ times a year since going on Birth Control) and I didn't get spring allergies this past year, which I had every year since I can remember.
You don't have to go 100% vegan right away. I did it very slowly (and still "cheat" once in a while) Try just eliminating as much obvious dairy as you can without causing conflict at home & see if it makes you feel better.
I just wanted to add--in relation to menstruation issues (cramps, headaches, etc.), eliminating dairy eliminated these symptoms for me. I haven't had any menstruation pains in almost a year. Too many naturally occurring hormones in dairy...threw my system out of whack.
Lucky you. I still don't know month to month if I'll end up a quivering, vomiting ball of spasming pain.
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