FFS my brother has become a vegan!!!!

The short version: A vegan diet lacks many essential nutrients because I used to be a vegetarian who has a so called balanced diet and it caused me problems(see below). I cannot imagine being vegan(this is further explained in the long version). Additionally fruit and veg aren't that high in nutrients as people think- Meat, dairy and eggs provide most nutrients.

The long version: He has to take B12 supplements as B12 is ONLY present in animal foods or he can end up with a life threatening deficiency as well as:
zinc
iron(iron found in veggies doesn't get absorbed (I know from experience)
iodine
omega 3
B12(in the Methylcobalamin form)
B5
possibly protein supplement
Vitamin D3
selenium (possibly)
Vitamin A(beta carotene in vegetables is badly converted in the body into retinol that can be used)
He needs to do his research first.
Extra info:I used to be vegetarian but I was never vegan
I used to be vegetarian(no meat or fish but dairy and eggs) and it damaged my health. For example, my hair was falling out in clumps, I was always hungry and my fingernails were coated with white spots. Additionally, I was anemic even though I eat 2 cups of cooked spinach and took 25mg of iron supplements per day. I also had red bumps on my upper arms and craved sugar like crazy. I had to eat 3-4 eggs per day to get enough protein because otherwise I would get muscle cramps and weakness(but I did eat good sources of animal protein). Even though I was never vegan I heard stories of lots of vegans and most ran into health issues after 1-2 years on the diet. Since I had so much trouble on the vegetarian diet I cannot imagine trying veganism. (sorry for spelling)
What I think about veganism
Veganism will not solve environmental issues because of various reasons: http://paleoleap.com/vegetarianism-bad-environment/
http://butternutrition.com/10-vegan-diet-dangers/
Me now
I went back to meat eating like a year ago from feeling horrible even though I took handfuls of supplements and have eaten a "balanced" diet. I'm currently on a 60-80g of carbs diet with plenty of animal protein and good quality fats(real butter,whole milk, cream, cheese, avocado, lard, coconut oil). I have something sweet occasionally as my sugar cravings are gone completely. My hair stopped falling out, my iron levels are strong and no muscle weakness anymore. The red bumps went away too as well as the white spots on nails. But my nails only cleared up like 2 months ago(migraines also stopped) when I stopped eating grains but I still eat nuts. I'm aware that my health problems were partially caused by eating grains that my body can't tolerate(all gluten containing grains as well as some other ones) even after soaking(get migraines and white spots on nails if I eat them). Since the vegetarian diet is high in grains(vegan diet is even higher in grains) it caused me problems.

What a load of bs. Dont blame the diet, because you couldn't research properly.

You can get every vitamin there is on a vegan diet. Walnuts are full of omega-3's. Spinach is full of iron. I had a blood test last week and they were perfectly normal.

Most people are B12 difficient. It's a bacteria that is found in dirty water. Because we clean our water now, we must supplement with it.

Animal agriculture is the biggest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and rainforest deforestation. They are facts.

Vegetarians also kill living things for their food

Tell him plants are also living things and that if he does not stop this nonsense he will be killing double the amount of plants that he would normally eat.

No meat = No Kebabs.
No Kebabs = No Drunk food.
No Drunk food = No Drunks.
No Drunks = Less alcohol sold
Less alcohol sold = Less money.
All of this = No kebab shops. Please stop the cruelty. Evil child.

So I may be biased as I am a vegan myself - but your brother is making a choice for himself, and while it may seem odd/annoying to you, I think if you try to see it from his point of view (not saying you have to become vegan too), you might feel less frustrated.

I come from a family that eat WAY too much meat (Iranians) and I was discouraged from veganism too - but at the end of the day, I stuck to it, and my family just accepted it.
It'll take some time to get used to it, but you will. It's good you let off some steam though.

The omega 3 in walnuts "Nuts or seeds that contain appreciable levels of omega-3 fat are not necessarily a good source of omega-3 because the form of omega-3 found in plants, nuts and seeds is alpha-Linolenic acid (ALA), which isn't useful for the body." I'm sorry but your the one who needs to research further not me. I'm not B12 deficient I had a blood test last week- AND I DONT SUPPLEMENT IT. My iron tests showed very low iron levels even when I consumed tons of spinach and leafy greens as well as nuts. The fact that plant agriculture not animal harms the environment is explained in the links in my last post that you probably haven't read(not explaining it further).

No idea where to start!!! So angry and annoyed yet understanding at the same time! My brother has become a vegan...not over a few weeks..overnight literally!!!! like...WTF!

Ok so here goes my rant about my brother becoming a vegan

Firstly, he randomly said to us out of the blue, 'I'm a Vegan'. We thought he was joking at first but he really has become one. We wanted to know why, what did he watch as thats pretty much the ONLY way you know of the animal cruelty going on and being 'raped' of their milk.etc..blah blah blah I am no expert. He said me watched some video with Paul McCartney and some Vegan god whos bald and preaches to everyone, which I also watched but it did not change my mind at all. I KNOW that animal cruelty goes on but I am not going to change. It has not affected my psychologically in any way. I ENJOY eating meat, eggs, honey, eggs, butter. The only way for animal cruelty to stop is if 50% of Earths population were against killing and raping animals. But its not, so why the f!*k are there, from online statistics, 2.5 million vegans out of like 7billion and thers no HUGE change? What EXACTLY are they doing to change it all? Apart from the fact that its unhealthy if you dont do it right, or dont have the right healthy body to then cut out ALL meat, dairy etc.

And dont even get me STARTED on meal times and how it pisses off the whole family everytime we decide what to eat.. At one point, the whole family were 'trying' to go vegan, but they couldn't as its so hard to cut out meat etc, but my brother has carried on. All he eats is potatoes and vegetables (exaggerating slightly). Its stressful for my mum who pretty much has to buy 2 meals, meat and double the amount of veg, then theres silly almond milk, this vegan cheese, like shes going to be buying that **** every week from God knows-where!!! Then theres preparing and cooking for 2 meals as well. And seeing as we are Greek, its a sin to become a vegan and cut out 'MEAT', (joke joke), but I saw the funny side of it as all Greeks eat meat pretty much!

I just had to share my story on here, I know for a fact I have insulted some vegans so apologies but I had to get my rant out. This is the only place I could talk about it. If anyone has had the same sort of experience, please share and tell me..is there light at the end of the tunnel? Is it just a phase? Any serious medical tests that should happen before become a vegan (even though he is already one)

Hey, just wanted to point something out guys! Not trying to go against anyone life choices but not all meat or dairy/eggs/honey etc. is from horrible sources! Some of my family are farmers and they treat their animals better than most people will treat their cats or dogs. I find it really annoying that people generalise to all animal produce and say its all from unethical places and horrible when people seem to be quite happy having pets such as cats or dogs when the breading that goes on there is even worse to the point that animals such as pugs often lose the ability to breath correctly because they have been bread for the popular market. I understand that some of the industry is nasty but please never believe everything that peta comes out with because less farmers than put out will damage his animals as they seem to think because they wouldn't be worth anything to sell. Stressed or hurt animals wouldn't grow up healthy or produce anything that is wanted for the market well enough and would simply be more expensive to house and look after
Sorry for the rant and by all means, be vegan or vegetarian as i full accept some of the business for animals is awful, but please don't generalise all animal produce in to one category no matter what you believe

Lol, you people are like clockwork on this forum.There's something very cult-like about it all.
Does your heart also bleed for the humans who have to endure poor working conditions and abuse when assembling your smartphone and other modern consumer electronics that you have in your home?
I bet you're all too happy to overlook all of that for the sake of your own convenience and pleasure.


So what happens if you feel like having a bar of Cadbury's dairy milk chocolate, a pizza or any other product that just happens to have a dairy component? Do you just forget about having it or do you give in?
How do you get your vitamin B12, tablets I presume?

Out of interest, are you an atheist, a liberal, as well as a feminist in addition to being a vegan?

What a load of bs. Dont blame the diet, because you couldn't research properly.

You can get every vitamin there is on a vegan diet. Walnuts are full of omega-3's. Spinach is full of iron. I had a blood test last week and they were perfectly normal.

Most people are B12 difficient. It's a bacteria that is found in dirty water. Because we clean our water now, we must supplement with it.

Animal agriculture is the biggest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and rainforest deforestation. They are facts.

When it comes to vegetarianism I sort of wonder how far down the food chain you arbitrarily go? In that the debate seems to be on suffering of the animals mainly. Is there a reason you can't become an insectivore? Many countries eat insects and you'd be hard pushed to try and make the claim mealworms suffer as intensively reared pigs, for instance.

I mean most animal rights legislation does not apply to invertebrates, so you eat shellfish and be morally sound from most camps point of view.

haha what does that involve!?

exercise

I'm a vegetarian who consumes dairy and I've never encountered an instance where a meat eater has suggested that I should start eating meat. A lot of vegans I've come across in life demonstrate what I'd call a cult-like attitude that I just don't see among vegetarians or meat eaters. This kind of vegan invariably tends to become increasingly obsessed with animal rights issues and as a result ends up developing the personality characteristics of a fanatical activist.

Such a person always seem to arrive at this point via the same route. They view a few YouTube videos and websites designed to induce fear and guilt, they then "convert" and proceed to spreading the same fear and guilt in order to convert other people. They tell people to watch XYZ video and quote shocking "secrets" from websites in an attempt to convert them into so-called enlightened beings.

It's never just about clean eating, living by your principles and being happy - it's also about inducing fear and guilt into anyone that doesn't follow a similar diet and share the same views. Being ethical becomes an obsession. The aura of smugness that seems to be quite common among vegans is something that I find particularly unpalatable. They always know best and assume everyone else lives in ignorance. If a non-vegan questions something or has an alternate view, they are bombarded with responses designed to stir self-doubt and guilt. I've seen how religous cults can transform people and the parallels among sections of the vegan community are remarkable.

If veganism was simply about following a diet free from animal products and being happy with life then I doubt vegans would be copping flak from non-vegans. But it never is just about that. In my experience, meat eaters and non-vegans are far less likely to tell other people what they should be eating.