I do not often admit to it any more, but I once was a raw vegan. And the first one and a half paragraphs of your article describe my journey exactly, right up to the loose teeth. Of course, they would describe every raw vegans journey exactly...

What saved me is my love for mountains and mountaineering. Even if I left the bivouac gear, the ropes, ice pick, crampons etc. at home, I still wouldn't be able to lug several days worth of fresh fruit. Mountaineering burns a few cals... :-).

So luckily, I came to.

In hindsight I don't understand what possessed me, or how on earth I fell for it. I have always liked fatty food, eggs and butter and cream, always loved hunting and fishing, and always loved science. The BS arguments the raw vegans put forth in support of their madness put me off from day one. Everything about raw veganism just goes against my nature...

I LOVE how you put it:
Eat like a predator, don't eat like prey.
I can identify with that :-).

Still, that energy rush of the first raw vegan weeks, that's what lured me in. I wish there was a way to create it again, and maintain it, healthfully.

Btw, I think that much of the miraculous health improvements people experience are in fact due to the resulting fatty meat diet and the removal of all the non foods. But that energy rush... Don't you think that is rather the stress response? I'm pretty sure I had a cortisol issue back then. Should have seen my gut, that wasn't just the bloat...

Anyway, thanks for an awesome blog. I love your writing as much as I like the content and look forward to reading the book :-).

cathy: how are these atkins followers at risk of heart disease?
you're aware that dietary saturated fat does not in fact cause heart disease?

and who are we to say plant life is not sentient? they have been shown to react to being talked to, in time i am sure we will understand their biologies a lot more than we do now and then we may have to form a different view.

i assume you drink cholorinated water, drive a vehicle(or use public transport), use medication(the same companies make poisons that kill animals).
tracts of land set aside for wheat/soybean/etc still get sprayed with fertilisers/pesticides/insecticides etc all of which kill animals, not even mentioning the habitat destruction.

Ok.. this was kind of funny.. but also TRUE! I experienced the SAME THING. Which I figure I felt better in the beginning because I actually started eating VEGETABLES instead of chemicals. But again over time I became more restrictive and it wasn't pretty.

I do appreciate that I learned how to eat healthier.. and I am still a vegetarian... but I just don't think I'd ever be a full "vegan" again... Felt like a cult with the people I was around... You eat cheese and you are OUT and HORRIFYING.

I see nothing wrong with being a vegan.. but for me.. each time I just couldn't do it after awhile.. 🙁

See for me, I never really liked meat. Ever. I was really picky about it... So I don't have a strong attachment to it.. so I really don't have a desire to go back to it. I went vegetarian when I was in high school, before I outgrew my picky eating phases. I don't know if I will ever eat meat again, maybe I will..maybe I won't. I will say being vegetarian is a heck of a LOT easier than vegan. As I said before, being vegan taught me a lot of how to eat healthier..as I was raised on the typical bad fast food diet and I did not know what fresh fruit and vegetables were. I do not disagree with you on any of your points you make really. I am not someone who judges anyone on what they eat... I just personally do not like factory farming for many reasons.. along with a lot of other things in the world and the way they are done. However, I know a lot of meat eaters that feel the same way.

Thanks for posting this, it's been a struggle to find real info on vegan diets that haven't worked, etc. I don't doubt that it works longterm for some, but for me it surely did not. I think we just all are different. I am glad that there are others out there who will agree with that and not get angry!

🙂

Excellent description of what happens when you go vegan. I spent 25 years trying to be a healthy vegetarian, tried the raw food vegan diet twice. When my health had detiorated so much and i was looking at going to hospital to have work done on extremely painful hemaroids, a naturopath friend who at one time was vegan, introduced me to the weston a price traditional diet. I have been eating meat based diet for the last ten years and would never ever go back to a vegetarian or vegan diet. I have a number of of ex vegan naturopath friends who now all eat meat.

Well you have to eat enough fruit of course! 3000 calories plus! Gotta keep it low-fat too!

vegan has finally gone mainstream with a national restaurant chain!
feature=player_embedded

New visitor here, catching up on the archive. Thank you so much for an informative, referenced, serene website. Not to mention really good reading! I'm ordering the Gnolls Credo after reading the sample. Looking forward to it...

It's always interesting to read the comments on your articles, especially the ones referencing veg*ans or vegetarians. The commenters who tend to drive by and drop a emotional attack (usually screaming about something you've already debunked in the article or a previous one) never really come back to respond to your responses, do they? I really appreciate the members of other tribes who start a calm discussion, but it's strange, isn't it, that the hysterical ones bluster about and run away.

Hmmm...reminds me of something...

This is so untrue. hahaha I always find that people get defensive when they find out I'm vegan, but not all vegans are insane and trying to convert other people. That's a misconception and a generalization. I'm also not sickly or "eating my own body". I'm perfectly healthy and I've been vegan for almost 3 years now. Stop spreading lies. Anyone who wants some real answers, check out this page ----> http://sugarrocket.com/vegan/vegan-myths.php