Comments on: The Top Five Reasons Why Vegans Stop Being Vegan

By: YogiRavi

YogiRavi — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 15:12:00 +0000

That doesn’t match my experience as a 10 year vegan with tons of veggie and vegan friends. I am actually not vegan anymore (I eat some eggs and dairy products). It is STRICTLY a lifestyle choice….I felt better and healthier as a vegan…..I eat occasional animal products (never meat…sometimes cheese or an egg) for convenience and frankly…..out of lack of willpower. I’ll be honest about that.

The critical thing is to get frequent and regular blood tests so you know what is really happening.

Keep a food log so you are realistic about what you are eating. Are you eating tons of fresh greens, fruits and unprocessed foods? Are you consuming too much caffeine and/or alcohol? It is easy to be a junk food vegan and become deficient….just like it is easy to be a junk food meat eater and become deficient.

You can easily become anemic while eating tons of red meat (I have many runner friends who have this problem). You can also be vitamin – D deficient regardless of what you eat if you don’t get enough sunlight.

Incidence of osteoporosis is far far higher against people who consume animal products than amongst those who don’t…..so being vegan might or not might not even be the issue here. Get objective medical tests done so you know of any real deficiency…and inspect your vegan diet to make sure it is balanced.

You can get more than enough iron and b-vitamins as a vegan. B12 can be more tricky (and deficiencies can be a genetically caused thing)….so that is one place to get tested and then supplement appropriately (ironically, incidence of b12 deficiency is prevalent amongst omnivores as well…so adding animal products won’t necessarily solve the problem).

The critical thing is to get tested so you have real data. Keep a food log for a while so you can examine what you are eating and the nutrient profile of the food.

Let me know how it goes….nothing matters more than your own health and well being.

By: sad carrot

sad carrot — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 02:17:09 +0000

When talking to others, your post seems inaccurate. Most bloggers or friends that have decided to stop being vegan got sick. Unfortunately this is the reality of what they’ve said. Whether their body could not absorb enough B-vitamins (6 and 12) from supplements alone, or their doctors couldn’t diagnose the problem. Most vegans did not submit to some sort of temptation as you have described. I’ve been vegan for 9 years (no breaks as you’ve described), and I eat a wide variety of foods. For the last two years I got sick repeatedly. My doctors couldn’t give me an answer. I was taking iron and B supplements 3 times a day. My boss has spoken with me about my poor work ethic (due to being sick constantly). This is why I’m re-evaluating the use of animal products in my diet. I’m trying to check if being vegan is the problem. This is exactly what others have described to me before becoming “ex vegan”

By: Elizabet

Elizabet — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:05:17 +0000

You are correct, Chris. Please note, the anger and emotion in that posters few sentences. They don’t seem open to rational debate or facts.

By: Norah

Norah — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 22:17:53 +0000

Thank you so much for writing this article. Each and every reason applies to me. I’m 19, and I decided to go vegan when I was 18 last year in December. A PETA video did it for me. I went straight from being an omnivore to a vegan in literally a second. I was 100% vegan for a few months (till my birthday, funnily enough, at the end of May), and from then on, I started being a vegetarian whenever I went out with my family, as in, I’d eat dessert in restaurants. When I first went vegan, I never did that. I had the strongest willpower, and I think it was because I was so full of motivation and love for animals. Now, the love is still there, but not the motivation. Every single person I know has been discouraging me and begging me to stop being vegan and at least be a full time vegetarian. I found myself in a dilemma. One time, I’d agree to switch to vegetarianism, only to go back and say “I can’t do it. It’s veganism or nothing”. And all the while, I’d eat non-vegan desserts whenever I went out with my family.

Last night, I lay awake in bed for so long, mulling things over in my head. I tried to figure out why exactly was all my motivation lost, and I felt so angry and disgusted with myself when I always answered myself with “because chocolate, cakes, pastries and ice cream just tastes soooooo darn good!”

This morning, I woke up and for the first time, I had cow’s milk in my cereal for breakfast. I felt fine about it, until I did a search on Yahoo (while munching on my vegetarian cereal) for reasons that people stop being vegan. And that’s when I came across this article. Guess what I did after reading it? Yep… I dumped my cow’s milk cereal, went straight to my “vegan cupboard” in the kitchen, and pulled out a vegan chocolate biscuit to eat.

Thanks to you, I now know that I’m not the only one going through these hardships and that I can maintain a happy and satisfying vegan lifestyle. All I have to do is make sure I stock my house with yummy vegan delights so that those nasty cravings will never be my downfall again!

VIVA LA VEGAN!

By: Alison

Alison — Wed, 11 May 2011 08:45:40 +0000

Im sorry. All of that is bullshit,there is alot of support groups,i dont need a role model but I have quite a lit of vegan role models.

Im sorry what?! Lack of food variations? Thats not true at all I eat all sorts of foods even marshmellows and jelli not made with.gelatin,if theres such a big problem for you not eating meat theres tons of brands of fake meats like tofurky.
I do not eat soy or tofu,i rarely eat anything gluten but I used to ne anorexic and being vegan made me GAIN weight by gaining muscle.

By: mellowfi

mellowfi — Thu, 05 May 2011 22:31:48 +0000

Thank you for those excellent tips. Am currently changing over to a vegan diet. The more i read about veganism and the more i think about why I want to be a vegan; the more right it feels. Its been quite enjoyable so far, I’m using my imagination more in the kitchen, using new ingredients too. I feel I am also becoming quite educated as to the nutritional qualities of our foods, and the awareness one needs to foster in terms of buying locally and organically where possible. I think veganism is essentially a respect for all life and for the planet. If you are brave enough to stare reality in the face, you can be a vegan and live by vegan ethics I feel. Finding support though is key, and I am definitely going to try and make some connections with other vegans globally and locally! I like your solution to ‘sit down and write a list of reasons’…I will do this. I don’t know any vegans and to be honest I’ve had some very negative comments so far from those I’ve told. But i think in time family and friends become accustomed to the changes in your lifestyle and become more accepting of it. Thanks again for posting!

By: chris

chris — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 04:32:11 +0000

What you say is not true, and it obviously shows that you have not done your homework. Veganism does not allow the use of any animal products; hence, vegans do not require animals in any shape or form. So, How is it that they still require the death of animals?

The fat content and quality in meat is way higher and less healthy (saturated fats) than that in plants, so it does show long term benefits for the heart. If you do your homework you will see that many studies show that heart disease and many other chronic diseases are less in vegans/vegetarians than in meat eaters. Also, higher values of antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins are found in vegans/vegetarians.

An added benefit to being vegan is its impact on the environment and social issues around the world–your diet is has the biggest effect on the environment. Raising animals (higher up on the food chain) for food is absolutely pointless. The energy efficiency from animals we eat (primary consumers) to ourselves is only 10%. This efficiency is also the same from producers (plants) to primary consumers (animals we eat); therefore, if we are meat eaters, we only use 10% of 10% of the energy we input into raising animals. This can cut by a factor of ten if we become the primary consumers and feed off plants.

For a good read and some research check out:
The new becoming vegetarian: the essential guide to a healthy vegetarian diet [Book] by Vesanto Melina, Brenda Davis in Books

By: Vegan Hypocrisy 101

Vegan Hypocrisy 101 — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 21:51:22 +0000

“People who initially adopt a vegan way of life can find it difficult to maintain unless they do a lot of homework”

Bullshit. If such people could be bothered to do homework in the first place, they’d learn that there are no health benefits to veganism and that vegan diets still require the deaths of countless animals.

By: chole

chole — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 23:23:10 +0000

ive been veg for 6 years, vegan for 4 (im 16) and just this past 2/3 months ive been having skim milk (in coffee) and eating food that likely have animal products in them (cafe muffins, ect ect.)
but im recommitting as of now,
although protien bars (90% of my diet) are hard to find vegan ):

By: Ravi Raman

Ravi Raman — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 05:47:49 +0000

@ Sally: Thanks for your sincere and well thought comment. You are so right that vegans need to enjoy certain food products in moderation. Too much soy or processed foods can be disaster for a vegan diet.