I know there are many many vegans out there who would say that it’s not about whether I’m overweight or not, but the vegan lifestyle is about minimizing suffering. I agree with that sentiment, but I find it offputting. I guess I feel like my health is important too, and that gets downplayed sometimes in the vegan community. I’m certain that I just need to do research and experiment with food variety to find the right balance of macronutrients to help me maintain a healthy weight. But, saying that’s not the priority (not that you’ve ever said that!) is unrealistic.

As I think I’ve shared before, my path with veganism took a detour (I say that because I do think/hope that it will return) when my son was diagnosed with several food allergies. He had an anaphylactic reaction to peanuts at nine months old and then blood tests (and later a traumatic/failed food trial) revealed allergies to tree nuts, sesame, soy, gluten, and dairy. I was already dairy (and mostly gluten) free so that was no big deal, but for him to not be able to eat soy or nuts or seeds…that is very restrictive for a growing nine month old vegetarian. I would have LOVED a resource to help me navigate it. Why are there no knowledgeable plant based allergists? Online or otherwise I hit dead end after dead end when seeking advice on how to proceed. And judgement from both sides! How could I sacrifice my son’s health like this? Obviously veganism could not continue in a healthful way. And from the other side, the most hateful hurtful comments about my abandoning veganism.
I felt like it was a total lose lose. And I had no support from either community as I tried to find my place somewhere between plant based eating and getting my son all the nutrients he needed. As a mom and nurse who is super proactive and into all evidence based research…I felt shockingly helpless.
Even in hippie Davis (and Nor Cal in general) when I would ask about trying hemp/flax/etc (because sesame = anaphylaxis) I got the impression I knew more about food than the MD. I talked to everyone at our practice and did insane amounts of research and came to the conclusion that there NEEDS to be a resource for vegans with health issues who want to remain vegans, or at least try, without judgement (especially if veganism doesn’t fit in the end).

I still think you have that book inside of you.

I came from a place of very poor health and the change in my diet has transformed my life. Very briefly I have a range of health problems that meant that by my early 30′s I was in pain pretty much every day, which is exhausting and in part contributed to a great deal of anxiety and depression. Whilst I was in therapy and on medication for my psychological issues I also switched from being a very committed omnivore to a vegetarian diet. The diet had little effect on my mental state but it changed my physical state dramatically. I’ve gone from not being able (I needed voice software as my hands were too painful to type) to running 5K, 10K and I’ve signed up for a half marathon (eek). This has taken almost 5 years and in part I’ve been hampered by a lack of reliable information on nutrition and health.

I’d love to see you talk about resources – what is reliable, what’s a sign it’s not reliable. About questions to ask your GP (I’m in the UK but this would be your primary doctor) and when to push for more. Where do you go when you do fall ill. What should you look for and what should you look out for.

I’m currently cutting out dairy and eggs but it’s slow going and I’ve had some set backs these past few months. So yeah … how to stay healthy?

Shallot

In essence, it was just to say, perhaps a little off topic, that I think we, as a community, need to be reaching out for, demanding even, evidence-based nutritional guidance from qualified, veg-friendly professionals. Some people (hello, legit scientist Sayward) are capable of doing their own research, but most of us can’t tell a good and useful study from a poorly designed one, and of course there is a SEA of information out there, available to the layperson. I think self-diagnosing nutritional deficiencies based on ‘feelings’ is dicey at best, and leads to (possibly) sick vegans becoming ex-vegans. There seems to me to be a mistrust of the medical community as well, especially the further you veer left of center.

I’m quite lucky, in that my health visitor (in the UK, a health visitor is the person you see about your kids health, growth and development. You take a sick kid to the GP, a well kid to the health visitor) is up on vegetarian nutrition (she has two vegetarian sons!) and doesn’t hesitate to consult a nutritionist when I have a question that she can’t answer. Because I trust her, I feel comfortable ASKING, and don’t have to be on the defensive about our diet. All this to say, I guess, that mainstream nutritional guidance from medical types can be a good thing, and we should seek it out. I know not every doctor or nutritionist is veg-friendly, but we should be trying to find the ones who are, and listening to what they have to say. It seems crazy to me that the big diet gurus of the age are like 22 year old, unqualified, skinny white chicks. And ‘orthorexia’ from all this internet research is really worrying to me – THAT will make you sick.

And, my love list! I haven’t been feeling great myself (not from failing health! From, um, something I can’t officially announce yet. ;) ) so this week it’s naps, baths, and sourdough toast.

Jo x
http://www.helloseedling.blogspot.co.uk

I’ve been reading/lurking on your blog for some time and I la la love it! I’ve had a different sort of experience with my veganism, wherein I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) as a vegan in adulthood. So there was no sense that veganism caused me to have this disease, but T1D and diabetes in general can be very rigid when it comes to diet. There are TONS of opinions about what people with T1D should be eating, including paleo and LCHF, but not a whole lot of people are espousing a vegan diet as a healthy way to live with T1D. That is frustrating and disappointing.

I have to count carbs in order to treat myself with insulin. Diabetes is a very patient centered kind of illness, in which the patient often learns more about his/her individual needs than the doctor knows, simply because the patient treats it every second of the day. In the beginning, my doctor advised that I eat fewer carbs in order to manage my diabetes better, which I found difficult as a rice and beans/carb loving vegan. It’s been over three years since my diagnosis, and I firmly believe that my veganism has helped me develop a healthy diabetic friendly diet (that includes lots of carbs to fuel my athletic lifestyle).

In a way, my veganism has always been a non-issue in the context of my disease, even though my disease is so diet focused. My veganism is just tirelessly plugging away in the background, healing all the broken spots for my worn out pancreas (that is, when I’m not indulging too much in the vegan cakes from my fave restaurant in Dallas!).