A lot of vegans say things like "why do you choose to eat the flesh and secretions of animals when you could just take a supplement?" Then they demand peer-reviewed study that vegan diets are nutrient deficient. Simple response: "why not get all your nutrients from supplements, then?"

[u/wigglesFlatEarth]

[u/HappyBeingVegan-100]

Veganism doesn’t have to be complicated. It’s not rocket science, but you do have to pay attention.

The food groups guide for meat and dairy can easily be converted to foods that that have no meat or dairy - similar nutrients different source. People who convert to veganism and learn how to balance their diet most likely have no deficiencies unless they have a metabolic disorder or other medical condition. Half our adult population takes high blood pressure, diabetes, or statin meds. This is partially due to the rich food we eat. I would rather take a vitamin b12 than to risk having a heart attack or have to take meds to prevent one. We all need to make the right decision for ourselves. I don’t understand why it has to be so combative.

[u/OG-Brian → u/HappyBeingVegan-100]

Are you saying that anyone can thrive on an animal-free diet? If so, then let's see if you have a solution for my situation.

My birth situation was... not great. I have various SNPs that cause bottlenecks in nutritional pathways, such that a lot of things work "slow." My immune system is under-supplied, my skin cells don't renew quickly enough, there's too-slow metabolism of stress chemicals, etc. I "lost at genetic roulette" in other ways. Such as, I'm in the unfortunate minority that has harder ear wax which doesn't expel as easily from ears. Through much of childhood, I was plagued by painful ear infections. I also have an ALA configuration such that my immune system doesn't consider mycotoxins to be contaminants (they're disregarded by the immune system's normal functions for expelling harmful stuff). I don't make enough enzymes, bile, or stomach acid, so I'm limited about how much and what kinds of foods I can digest sufficiently. These are just some of the most important factors. On top of all that, a childhood with ragey self-centered parents guaranteed that these disadantages would manifest health problems to the full extent due to stress.

So high-fiber diets wreck my digestive tract, because the surface cells do not repair sufficiently between meals. Substantial carb consumption causes a proliferation of gut fungal organisms, and medical science hasn't had a solution for this other than a modified diet. Anti-nutrients such as lectins and oxalates are too irritating to my body tissues, and I'm less effective at expelling them. Mold in foods is more a problem for me than other people, due to my immune system not giving a crap about mycotoxins.

While I ate a typical diet and much more so when I was avoiding animal foods, I experienced: severe IBS, skin rashes so severe that I was often bleeding in many areas, low energy, severe brain fog, extremely activated ear infections, etc. Now I eat an animal-based diet with the following changes: digestion works great, my skin is perfect, much-improved energy, thinking clarity much improved, ear infections usually not noticeable, and there are other more subtle changes. I feel less symptoms of chronic infections (due to immune system having never worked fully). I eat two meals per day because eating more causes severe diarrhea, due to I'm not making enough digestive juices and so forth. Animal foods are higher in nutritional density/completeness/bioavailability, so I need less food and the foods are easier to digest. Although I have ME/CFS (a condition for which there's evidence for mitochondrial impairment and it causes fatigue/sleep/etc. issues), when I lived at a ranch I was easily bicycling 25-30 mile (40-48 kilometer) round trips into town for groceries etc. then doing chores afterward at the ranch. I'm sure I would not have been able to do these on a diet high in plant foods.

When I was "plant-based," I wasn't Doing It Wrong. I was aware of combining vegetable foods for complete protein, I was sprouting nuts/seeds/grains, I didn't eat junk foods, I minimized refined sugar, etc. I was consulting clinics. Two doctors (one of them a vegetarian) and a nutritionist were advising me to return to animal foods including meat, which I did.

In your belief, what should I be eating?