Vegan health emergency, I don't care about spirituality right now, Help.
7788
Explorer
Please help. I have been a vegan for a little over year since 2013, I really think It's not bad but after time I've been worried about my health.
I'm 19 this year, I am beginning to realize why Buddhists eat vegan diets and It's not only due to the desire to not cause pain... Vegan diets high in vegetable and low in calories lower your metabolism making you feel "dead", more easy to meditate but less energy, similar to a tortoise. It also lowers your sex drive, I've noticed it in me.
Where can I start complaining? A lowered sex drive and low metabolism may seem optimal for Buddhism, it makes it easier but the point is not to be easy. I am afraid I've done studying on vegans and don't think I'm going to last long eating like this. I've got no muscle, no drive and I am finding it harder play sports. At first I felt better but now I'm realizing it was only because I went from eating complete terrible food to eating less dense real good. I don't know if I've been getting better at meditating or I'm just getting more dead eating low calories.
How do you make it work without compromising your health? Especially I want your reply if you're an athlete or at least try to exercise while eating vegan.
Comments
I don't think Buddhists are dieticians. I have never heard of low sex drive and metabolism from going vegan.
It's not good to be 'dead' in meditation. That is actually the opposite of what we try to set up meditation.
Ok how about eat meat? Are you vegan for the animals?
At first I was vegan for my health but now I care about animals a lot. I don't want to eat meat, I don't care about pleasure from my diet I just want feel lively.
Extremely good points from @Jeffrey on all counts.
You need to consult a doctor experienced in dietary matters, or see a dietician.
I have a very good couple of friends who are married, both vegan, and who both insist their diet has had extremely positive effects in all areas of their lives, but whether their active libidos can be credited to their vegan lifestyle is not certain. However your assertion that your vegan diet has affected your libido negatively is also an assumption.
You make it work by eating the right things, in the right quantities.
Consult a professional.
And as Jeffrey points out, a 'dead' feeling is neither good, nor the point....
Personally as a lobster I eat a lot of fish. Occasional meat and dairy. I don't have time to deal with balancing nutritional requirements. The Buddha ate what was placed in his bowl, once a day. Hardly balanced or nutritionally expert for eternity.
The most I have been vegan for was about three months. That was because one of the community household was vegan. We went running. She was too feeble to keep up with us ex vegetarians. Maybe she needed to consider nutritional requirements more:
http://www.vegkitchen.com/nutrition/vegan-athlete/
Personally during that period I noticed no adverse reaction, however if I had would have been back on a more comprehensive diet. Look after your health, listless Buddhists we have enough of thank you.
B12, iodine, and iron deficiencies could very well be culprits, which is why it's absolutely vital to either eat foods fortified with these or take supplements. (I do both myself).
It's also important to ensure that you're consuming enough calories per day to fuel whatever your daily activities may be. Consuming too few will make anyone feel like garbage. Also, eat plenty of protein and fat. Your body needs them.
Finally, your cholesterol might be too low. Yup, it can happen, and a low libido can be indicative of this. If you're absolutely adverse to consuming animal products, a registered dietitian who actually understands vegan diets should be able to point you to what can help. Don't quote me, but maybe it involves upping saturated fat intakes to get the liver to produce more cholesterol. Coconut oils and such.
So, yes, definitely get it checked out, because it's not normal to feel that way if you're a vegan. Good luck!
Are you getting enough protein, eg nuts, pulses, TVP? I have a vegan friend who is one of the fittest people I know, so I think it might be a case of reviewing your diet.
Nutrition affects everyone differently and despite the insistence of some, not everyone's bodies can handle a vegan or even vegetarian diet.
2 suggestions I'd have (other than seeing someone specialized in nutrition who understands veganism):
1 add in a little animal protein from more humane sources. Buy some eggs from the local farmers market. Maybe a little wild caught fish. Whatever you think works for you.See how you feel after a week or so.
2 track your diet. Use myfitnesspal or something similar online, on your phone or just a journal. Write everything you eat and the amount. Everything. It is quite possible you are experiencing malnutrition from a lack of proper balance of macro and micronutrients in your diet. If you see a nutritionist or dietician, they are going to ask you do to this so might as well do it now. When you write it down every day, all day, you will start to notice patterns over several days where you are eating too much of one type or not enough of another. Veggies are good for you, but too many of certain types still can cause malnutrition.
There are professional athletes who are vegan and vegetarian. They have blogs and info online. But their bodies also work well with that diet and not everyone's does. After you investigate your eating patterns, you might find that your body just does not do well without animal proteins. Or you might find that you need to supplement iron or b vitamins. Lack of iron especially will cause the symptoms you are experiencing, and it is hard to get iron from plant-only diet without supplementing without paying close attention to your meal planning. Some plants do have iron, but it is non-heme iron which is less optimal than heme-iron for the human body. And that type only comes from meat. If you eat only non-heme (beans, leafy greens) iron, you need to increase your vitamin C intake in order to better absorb the non-heme iron. Lack of iron also causes a lack of sex drive. It is more common in women but that is because we are more likely to be anemic due to menstruation. If you are a female AND vegan, you have to be pretty careful to do all the right things to keep your hemoglobin up. When your hemoglobin is low, it affects how well oxygen is transported through your body. Which is why anemic people get fatigued. A simple lab blood test can check your iron levels (assuming you have access to basic medical care).
Probably the best thing for you is to track your diet a few days, and then see a vegan-friendly nutritionist for advice. They can check to see if you are deficient in anything and offer suggestions for how to correct any imbalances.
Well done on caring about our (delicious) friends, the animals.
A vegan diet if suitable can be very energising.
@karasti has given good advice. Vegan food is delicious. Bean and nut loaf, with onion gravy. Yum. Rice and veg curry. Double yum. Peanut butter and banana flan. NOM, NOM, nom ...
http://www.veghealthguide.com/vitamins-minerals/
You can use harvesting brewers yeast (for vitamins) as an excuse to brew your own beer
This. Also, you need to get enough solid protein to maintain and/or build muscle mass. Whenever you start a new diet, you should research it first, to find out in advance if you'll need to make up for any deficiencies, like B12 and iron, in veggie diets.
Also OP, I don't know where you got the idea that Buddhists are vegans. Most Buddhists are not. Some are vegetarians, but many aren't. Tibetans and Mongols eat meat, and don't think twice about it.
I would recommend you add dairy to your diet, for extra protein, get a B12 supplement, research veggie sources of iron (spinach, for one), and see if that helps. Re: libido--yoga can boost that. Or you can try taking the ayurvedic herb, Ashwaganda, for a few weeks, and see if that helps. Some doctors say it helps build testosterone in the body.
Thus I settled for never eating red meats and avoiding remaining meats unless I am seriously hungry...You gotta do what works for your body and circumstances and no need to feel spiritually inadequate. Diet is certainly not the focus of Buddhism.
@7788
I was not sure why this counted as an emergency until I noticed this was a 19 yr old talking about a lowered sex drive.
Many equate the feeling of feeling lively to being passionate. As meditation can definitely moderate the highs & lows of your stimulation's in life, this might be the reason why you do not feel as lively, not your diet.
If you have done the study of a vegan diet that you say you've done, you should already know if your diet is complete enough, just as you should have also read about the many athletes who are vegan. If you are not sure about this.....study harder to find out what's what..just to also make sure you do not have some underlying medical condition causing your issues.
I've been vegan since 1993 and I'm doing fine. You're not supposed to eat low calories. You are supposed to eat a wide variety of foods from the 4 vegan food groups.. With the proper amount of calories. If you are athletic, bodybuilding, etc. you need even more calories. A vegan diet isn't really a "diet", you still need the proper amount of calories.
Group 1 - carbohydrates : rice, noodles, pasta, bread, potatoes etc
Group 2 - proteins : legumes ie lentils, beans (green, red, black, soy etc), nuts, peas, seeds...
Group 3 - fats : margarine, fats in food eg vegetable used in cooking your food.
Group 4 - vitamins and minerals : fruits and vegetables. Think RAINBOW. Eat a colourful variety of them eg broccoli, tomatoes, purple cabbage, yellow capsicum... Apples, oranges, watermelon, black grapes, cantaloupe...
Consume a good portion, of each of the above groups. For every meal.
Say yes to green leafy vegetables.
Also, bananas - for sports' sake and for lifting your moods.
You'll be up and about in no time at all! Speedy recovery
Namaste
Zenni
Don't forget to include ice cream in group 3.
Lol
@SpinyNorman - thanks!
margarine and other vegetable oil products are HORRIBLE for a person. You are better off with normal healthy fats like butter or coconut or good quality olive oil. If a doctor has told you only to have margarine products that is one thing, but most people do not need that kind of risk mitigation. Margarine and vegetable oil spreads are far worse for the average person than alternatives.
I agree @karasti, I never have anything like that. Butter, ghee, coconut oil, and olive oil only.
Dr. John McDougall is a good source of info for a veg/vegan diet, especially with regards to fats and oils. He heavily criticizes some fats and oils, especially trans-fats. He does a pretty good explanation of the healthy and unhealthy fats and oils.
An exception appears to be Smart Balance products. My doctor has instructed me not to just substitute Smart Balance for margarine, but to be sure to have at least some every day.
Low sex drive ain't a bad thing OP. Bustin a gut too often from being celibate causes more harm whether it's flipping or actually inside some cosy little pied-á-terre So yeah, keep on keepin dat tarmac drive low!
Edited by Moderator. No, I don't understand it either, now.
Moderators are like policemen. There's never one around when you really need one.
Oh I wouldn't bet on that, @vinlyn... We have our little ways....
A nice portion of fish and chips might help.
(I know you said you didn't ask for a spiritual answer, but taking food and being healthy is not as simple as 'when A is taken into the body, good will become and when B is taken into the body, bad will become', there are many more aspects to food intake and health. As someone said before me: your idea that certain effects are caused by a diet is just an opinion of the mind. Therefor an answer that simply focuses on food when you are in a health-crisis is not sufficient..)
Best of luck!
This sounds unrelated to diet. This sounds like a classic description of hypothyroidism. A simple blood test, quantitative TSH, is diagnostic. Pursue that first.
Maybe I'm just taking my universal health care for granted, but why dont' you just see a doctor??
Hello 7788.
I think that by this time, you should have gotten the memo:
1. You don't need to be a vegan to be Buddhist.
2. If, for some reason you haven't yet, see a doctor!
3. Vegan, Vegetarian or Omnivore, you need a healthy diet - DO YOUR HOMEWORK
[Proper exercise also helps]
I have been a practicing Buddhist since..., well, for a long time. I know many fellow Buddhists who enjoy a good steak. I also know Buddhists who are dedicated vegans.
]
One of my sons is an "Ethical Vegan". He started cold turkey - It took him a couple of years to get it right. [And he is quite energetic.
Best of luck to you!
Vegan cookies - num num!
Did somebody say "Ice Ceram"?
We have expanded coverage here in the USA, but don't take your universal health care for granted - we still don't have anything close.
Given that @7788 has not seen fit to come back and comment on all helpful and constructive comments, I'm closing the thread until such a time as he sees necessary to request re-opening it.
A PM to me will do it.
Thank you all for your thoughtful contributions.