- Joined
- Feb 14, 2017
- Reaction score
- 14
- Age
- 57
- Lifestyle
- Vegan newbie
Hello,
Not a big contributor to this forum but as it's the first day of a new year thought I'd ask this question.
I'm an ethical vegan of 2 years and 7 months.
My personal activism is my instagram account, over 600 posts mostly about veganism, just reposts really, but trying to do my bit. My sister in law said to me the other day that she is gonna give Veganuary a go because of my instagram activism, which I was bowled over by. Her dad worked in the meat market so it is a big thing for her.
However, I've just seen a post about how you can cure/improve digestive issues on a vegan diet, which I had to comment on because my digestive problems only started when I went vegan.
Prior to that I considered myself having a cast-iron constitution.
I'm an active self employed dog daycarer/walker/boarder and part time gardener(1 day a week).
4 days a week I walk at least 10 miles with the dogs and the 5th day gardening is literally spent on my feet for 8 hours(I even take the dogs along and walk them at lunch time). Been doing this for the last 10 years.
I'm 51, 5'11" 70kg.
Family history of hyper tension(mine has always been borderline, not needing medication).
I also had a thriving online handmade leather items business which I closed down, when I made the shift, which was the hardest thing to do.
6 months into veganism, I was worried about discolouration and swelling of one of my ankles when I spent a long time on my feet, which because of my work was virtually everyday.
A friend mentioned diabetes so I spoke to my GP, had blood tests done, which came back negative for Diabetes but I was told that I had Hypothyroidism and would need to take the synthetic thyroid hormone, thyroxine for the rest of my life, which all came as a bit of a shock.
I had been waiting for the perceived energy boost and general well being that came hand in hand with adopting the vegan diet, but it never happened and now I had been diagnosed as having a life long chronic illness.
I did ask if veganism had caused the hypothyroidism and was told no, but if I'm honest a nagging doubt remains, as I keep on reading about the negatives of soya on thyroid health.
I cook 85% of my food from scratch, don't really like any of the vegan processed stuff I've tried.
I love the diet, and have embraced cooking properly, to the point it has become a passion.
I do use oil and plant based butter as well as salt and drink a beer with my evening meal as I have always done.
Pretty sure I cover all the bases, nutrient wise.
I supplement with B12 and take a tablespoon of ground flaxseed on my oatmeal most mornings.
I follow all the usual suspects on social media and have recently been aware that a few of the main protagonists have been mentioning digestive issues.
I've also been seeing quite a few vegans turning away from the diet because of health problems, although they do mostly seem to be the extremists, who have tried all the various forms of a PBD.
I replied on the instagram post about correcting digestive problems, that my problems only started with veganism and that if I had adopted a plant based diet for health reasons, I probably would have gone back to eating meat by now.
I have tried digestive enzymes and am now trying celery juice, recommended by that Medical Medium bloke(who I think is probably a shill, but I thought for the sake of 50p a day outlay, I might as well give it a go).
What I would really like to know is how do YOU honestly feel eating a plant based diet?
Apart from the digestive issues and hypothyroidism, my hypertension has not improved as expected.
In all honesty I would say my energy is reduced and I feel that I have lost some muscle mass and strength, my weight has remained the same, belly has got somewhat wider.
I was a keen weekend cyclist (not competitive) and saw my performance drop as well.
In the last 6 months I have noticed my joints becoming stiffer and sore, I feel like an old man in the mornings. My leg muscles feel constantly tight, just like they used to after a heavy work out, years ago.
Being concerned, I mentioned all this to my GP when I had to have my yearly blood test for the Hypothyroidism.
I was concerned that perhaps I was having absorption issues.
Results came back everything OK.
I guess, I would just like some honest feedback.
We would all love for the rest of the world to go vegan and use everything in our arsenal to convince people to see the light.
I've actually been considering eating some fish or maybe getting some eggs from my local city farm, just to see if anything is different, even though I've heard all there is to know about toxins and cholesterol.
I wonder if there is something almost magical about meat, eggs and dairy in very small quantities as consumed by the people that live in the Blue zones.
I listen to the vegan podcasts and hear the experts telling me that the data is all there and anything that says that meat, eggs and dairy is good for us is funded by those industries.
I realise that saying anything negative about the vegan diet is pretty much sacrilege, especially on a vegan forum, but I'd really appreciate some honest feedback.
For your information I'm not an investigative reporter or meat eating shill looking to refute veganism.
My Instagram handle is simopco if you'd like to confirm and send me a dm.
Thanks for reading, look forward to any replies.
Not a big contributor to this forum but as it's the first day of a new year thought I'd ask this question.
I'm an ethical vegan of 2 years and 7 months.
My personal activism is my instagram account, over 600 posts mostly about veganism, just reposts really, but trying to do my bit. My sister in law said to me the other day that she is gonna give Veganuary a go because of my instagram activism, which I was bowled over by. Her dad worked in the meat market so it is a big thing for her.
However, I've just seen a post about how you can cure/improve digestive issues on a vegan diet, which I had to comment on because my digestive problems only started when I went vegan.
Prior to that I considered myself having a cast-iron constitution.
I'm an active self employed dog daycarer/walker/boarder and part time gardener(1 day a week).
4 days a week I walk at least 10 miles with the dogs and the 5th day gardening is literally spent on my feet for 8 hours(I even take the dogs along and walk them at lunch time). Been doing this for the last 10 years.
I'm 51, 5'11" 70kg.
Family history of hyper tension(mine has always been borderline, not needing medication).
I also had a thriving online handmade leather items business which I closed down, when I made the shift, which was the hardest thing to do.
6 months into veganism, I was worried about discolouration and swelling of one of my ankles when I spent a long time on my feet, which because of my work was virtually everyday.
A friend mentioned diabetes so I spoke to my GP, had blood tests done, which came back negative for Diabetes but I was told that I had Hypothyroidism and would need to take the synthetic thyroid hormone, thyroxine for the rest of my life, which all came as a bit of a shock.
I had been waiting for the perceived energy boost and general well being that came hand in hand with adopting the vegan diet, but it never happened and now I had been diagnosed as having a life long chronic illness.
I did ask if veganism had caused the hypothyroidism and was told no, but if I'm honest a nagging doubt remains, as I keep on reading about the negatives of soya on thyroid health.
I cook 85% of my food from scratch, don't really like any of the vegan processed stuff I've tried.
I love the diet, and have embraced cooking properly, to the point it has become a passion.
I do use oil and plant based butter as well as salt and drink a beer with my evening meal as I have always done.
Pretty sure I cover all the bases, nutrient wise.
I supplement with B12 and take a tablespoon of ground flaxseed on my oatmeal most mornings.
I follow all the usual suspects on social media and have recently been aware that a few of the main protagonists have been mentioning digestive issues.
I've also been seeing quite a few vegans turning away from the diet because of health problems, although they do mostly seem to be the extremists, who have tried all the various forms of a PBD.
I replied on the instagram post about correcting digestive problems, that my problems only started with veganism and that if I had adopted a plant based diet for health reasons, I probably would have gone back to eating meat by now.
I have tried digestive enzymes and am now trying celery juice, recommended by that Medical Medium bloke(who I think is probably a shill, but I thought for the sake of 50p a day outlay, I might as well give it a go).
What I would really like to know is how do YOU honestly feel eating a plant based diet?
Apart from the digestive issues and hypothyroidism, my hypertension has not improved as expected.
In all honesty I would say my energy is reduced and I feel that I have lost some muscle mass and strength, my weight has remained the same, belly has got somewhat wider.
I was a keen weekend cyclist (not competitive) and saw my performance drop as well.
In the last 6 months I have noticed my joints becoming stiffer and sore, I feel like an old man in the mornings. My leg muscles feel constantly tight, just like they used to after a heavy work out, years ago.
Being concerned, I mentioned all this to my GP when I had to have my yearly blood test for the Hypothyroidism.
I was concerned that perhaps I was having absorption issues.
Results came back everything OK.
I guess, I would just like some honest feedback.
We would all love for the rest of the world to go vegan and use everything in our arsenal to convince people to see the light.
I've actually been considering eating some fish or maybe getting some eggs from my local city farm, just to see if anything is different, even though I've heard all there is to know about toxins and cholesterol.
I wonder if there is something almost magical about meat, eggs and dairy in very small quantities as consumed by the people that live in the Blue zones.
I listen to the vegan podcasts and hear the experts telling me that the data is all there and anything that says that meat, eggs and dairy is good for us is funded by those industries.
I realise that saying anything negative about the vegan diet is pretty much sacrilege, especially on a vegan forum, but I'd really appreciate some honest feedback.
For your information I'm not an investigative reporter or meat eating shill looking to refute veganism.
My Instagram handle is simopco if you'd like to confirm and send me a dm.
Thanks for reading, look forward to any replies.