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In general: Eat a varied diet, leaning towards plant-based foods. Whole grains if you can. Don't unreasonably cut out whole categories of food. Being vegan is

In general: Eat a varied diet, leaning towards plant-based foods. Whole grains if you can. Don't unreasonably cut out whole categories of food. Being vegan is HARD, vegetarian (or mostly so), not so much. Watch the sugar, including the fake type. Eat your calories instead of drink them. Also, get some activity. Walking for 15 minutes daily is better than nothing, but try to get more than that most days. IF you can have fun doing it, great! If you lack motivation, do something on the easy side as it is easier to talk yourself into. It is better to this half-assed than not at all, after all, because it still counts. Keep an eye on stress as much as possible. If you smoke, try quitting (I suggest a vape or e-cig). Drink in moderation, but do have some coffee. Once you get these general things done, you are well on your way.

bardworx 7y ago
Can someone explain why this comment is being downvoted? Perhaps the topic is complex and nuanced but the advise in the comment seems fairly good in the general healthy spectrum. Besides some opinion being thrown in, what do you disagree with?
- DanBC 7y ago
  The over-emphasis of "being vegan is HARD". It's not, it's mildly tricky, and there's not much evidence that people following a vegan diet are nutritionally worse off than the people who don't think about their food at all, many of whom don't eat any fresh fruit or veg across a week.
  - viraptor 7y ago
    It's much harder to eat out, apart from specialised places. And those are much more common in large cities than small towns. This makes social meetings harder as a result.
  - Broken_Hippo 7y ago
    Compared with being vegetarian or mostly vegetarian, it is. One must pay much more attention to their diet and intake. In addition, most folks need to take supplements. As the other response said, it is also harder to eat out. Vegetarian is much easier - the addition of things like eggs and cheese helps out tremendously. I read ingredients, sure, but it isn't an issue most times. It would take more mental work to keep out all animal products. I might be mostly vegetarian and eat eggs and cheese and fish once a week, but I usually tell folks to reduce their eat. Sometimes I say instead to make sure they eat enough fruit and veg and whole grain. I say this stuff because it is easier for most folks to concentrate on things like this to improve overall diet without feeling like they have to spend days figuring things out.
  - EForEndeavour 7y ago
    It's perfectly accurate to point out that sticking to a vegan diet is hard, never mind giving up leather and wool. Also, it's worth noting that the difficulty of going vegan varies greatly with your location. For example, eating vegan in Japan is a legitimate pain in the ass.
  - scns 7y ago
    The case oft an influencer promoting a vegan lifestyle not having her period for 2 years is enough evidence for me.
    - Broken_Hippo 7y ago
      I nearly posted this yesterday, and decided to today. Losing one's period doesn't mean the diet was unhealthy. Seriously. There are lots of reasons a person can not have a period. Sure, you can be malnourished, but I'm guessing the more likely contributor was not having enough body fat. IF a woman's body fat is too low, she stops having periods. It happens in a broad cross section of people. A person with an eating disorder will do it as will a woman that works out a lot and eats healthily. Coincidentally, weighing too much can do it as well. I'm guessing a nutrient deficiency can do it, but I'm unsure on that one. It can be a hormonal imbalance too! And there are a bunch of other reasons as well. It isn't even necessarily harmful - after all, people quit having periods when they are on birth control with no ill effects.
- village-idiot 7y ago
  I disagree with the idea that a plant based diet is healthier than one that includes meat.
  - YeGoblynQueenne 7y ago
    But the above comment suggests a varied diet "leaning" towards plant-based foods, not a plant-based diet. That's the standard recommendation for a healthy diet from pretty much every public health body, currently.
    - village-idiot 7y ago
      Given the utter collapse of western health since the 1970s, the recommendation of “pretty much every public health body” carries no weight for me.
      - bardworx 7y ago
        I’m not sure I follow: I believe the person you are replying to is encouraging eating a diverse set of foods, including meat, per some health body guidelines. You also seem to believe that eating meat, not only fruits/veggies/vegan, is good. Wouldn’t that make you in agreement with the current system of balanced intake?
        village-idiot 7y ago
        Leaning towards plant based is far too close to the “meat is bad, minimize it” camp for my taste. I think meat is not only good for humans, but strictly necessary for healthy development and functioning. In my assessment we aren’t eating enough high quality (important caveat) meat.
        YeGoblynQueenne 7y ago
        I think you're misidentifying the comment we're discussing as having some kind of political affiliation that you disagree with.
- brandonmenc 7y ago
  > Can someone explain why this comment is being downvoted? Because HN is full of people who subscribe to fad diets like keto, carnivore, gluten-free, etc.
meerita 7y ago
No, not at all. Do not lean to plant based foods or grains. Grains and plants contains antinutrients. Plants don't want to be eaten, same grains. They've contain not only toxins but also many antinutrients. If anyone wants to have a healthy life, I recommend you to read the book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration from Weston Price. Basically, eat animal products, the more local based, the best. Grass feed cattle will be the best food source for your body. Cut all carbs (sugar), fruits (man made). There are 15 nutrients that you can only get from animal products. You can get all minerals and vitamins from animal products you don't need plants at all.
- wincy 7y ago
  I suspect that both keto and vegan work as diets because they both cut out processed hyperpalatable foods from ones diet. We should look at the things neither vegans nor keto people are eating, and those are probably what’s bad for us. The worst offenders for weight gain are foods that don’t trigger a satiation response, like chips and dip or French fries. Foods where the fat to carbohydrate ratio is nearing 1:1 will cause people to overeat. Processed foods tend to have these ratios.
  - meerita 7y ago
    You suspect wrong. Plants don't have 15 basic nutrients. Including Vitamin D, B, B12, A, K. All from animals. Carnosite, Carnitite, etc. If you eat grass feed animals, fish, local diary products, quit carbs, sugar and processed food you will be ok. I am ex vegan. And, yes, I know the answer already: "you did it wrong", but no, I didn't.
- meerita 7y ago
  I love how people downvoted. None argued. Good.

bardworx 7y ago

Can someone explain why this comment is being downvoted? Perhaps the topic is complex and nuanced but the advise in the comment seems fairly good in the general healthy spectrum. Besides some opinion being thrown in, what do you disagree with?

DanBC 7y ago
The over-emphasis of "being vegan is HARD". It's not, it's mildly tricky, and there's not much evidence that people following a vegan diet are nutritionally worse off than the people who don't think about their food at all, many of whom don't eat any fresh fruit or veg across a week.
- viraptor 7y ago
  It's much harder to eat out, apart from specialised places. And those are much more common in large cities than small towns. This makes social meetings harder as a result.
- Broken_Hippo 7y ago
  Compared with being vegetarian or mostly vegetarian, it is. One must pay much more attention to their diet and intake. In addition, most folks need to take supplements. As the other response said, it is also harder to eat out. Vegetarian is much easier - the addition of things like eggs and cheese helps out tremendously. I read ingredients, sure, but it isn't an issue most times. It would take more mental work to keep out all animal products. I might be mostly vegetarian and eat eggs and cheese and fish once a week, but I usually tell folks to reduce their eat. Sometimes I say instead to make sure they eat enough fruit and veg and whole grain. I say this stuff because it is easier for most folks to concentrate on things like this to improve overall diet without feeling like they have to spend days figuring things out.
- EForEndeavour 7y ago
  It's perfectly accurate to point out that sticking to a vegan diet is hard, never mind giving up leather and wool. Also, it's worth noting that the difficulty of going vegan varies greatly with your location. For example, eating vegan in Japan is a legitimate pain in the ass.
- scns 7y ago
  The case oft an influencer promoting a vegan lifestyle not having her period for 2 years is enough evidence for me.
  - Broken_Hippo 7y ago
    I nearly posted this yesterday, and decided to today. Losing one's period doesn't mean the diet was unhealthy. Seriously. There are lots of reasons a person can not have a period. Sure, you can be malnourished, but I'm guessing the more likely contributor was not having enough body fat. IF a woman's body fat is too low, she stops having periods. It happens in a broad cross section of people. A person with an eating disorder will do it as will a woman that works out a lot and eats healthily. Coincidentally, weighing too much can do it as well. I'm guessing a nutrient deficiency can do it, but I'm unsure on that one. It can be a hormonal imbalance too! And there are a bunch of other reasons as well. It isn't even necessarily harmful - after all, people quit having periods when they are on birth control with no ill effects.
village-idiot 7y ago
I disagree with the idea that a plant based diet is healthier than one that includes meat.
- YeGoblynQueenne 7y ago
  But the above comment suggests a varied diet "leaning" towards plant-based foods, not a plant-based diet. That's the standard recommendation for a healthy diet from pretty much every public health body, currently.
  - village-idiot 7y ago
    Given the utter collapse of western health since the 1970s, the recommendation of “pretty much every public health body” carries no weight for me.
    - bardworx 7y ago
      I’m not sure I follow: I believe the person you are replying to is encouraging eating a diverse set of foods, including meat, per some health body guidelines. You also seem to believe that eating meat, not only fruits/veggies/vegan, is good. Wouldn’t that make you in agreement with the current system of balanced intake?
      - village-idiot 7y ago
        Leaning towards plant based is far too close to the “meat is bad, minimize it” camp for my taste. I think meat is not only good for humans, but strictly necessary for healthy development and functioning. In my assessment we aren’t eating enough high quality (important caveat) meat.
        YeGoblynQueenne 7y ago
        I think you're misidentifying the comment we're discussing as having some kind of political affiliation that you disagree with.
brandonmenc 7y ago
> Can someone explain why this comment is being downvoted? Because HN is full of people who subscribe to fad diets like keto, carnivore, gluten-free, etc.

meerita 7y ago

No, not at all. Do not lean to plant based foods or grains. Grains and plants contains antinutrients. Plants don't want to be eaten, same grains. They've contain not only toxins but also many antinutrients. If anyone wants to have a healthy life, I recommend you to read the book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration from Weston Price. Basically, eat animal products, the more local based, the best. Grass feed cattle will be the best food source for your body. Cut all carbs (sugar), fruits (man made). There are 15 nutrients that you can only get from animal products. You can get all minerals and vitamins from animal products you don't need plants at all.

wincy 7y ago
I suspect that both keto and vegan work as diets because they both cut out processed hyperpalatable foods from ones diet. We should look at the things neither vegans nor keto people are eating, and those are probably what’s bad for us. The worst offenders for weight gain are foods that don’t trigger a satiation response, like chips and dip or French fries. Foods where the fat to carbohydrate ratio is nearing 1:1 will cause people to overeat. Processed foods tend to have these ratios.
- meerita 7y ago
  You suspect wrong. Plants don't have 15 basic nutrients. Including Vitamin D, B, B12, A, K. All from animals. Carnosite, Carnitite, etc. If you eat grass feed animals, fish, local diary products, quit carbs, sugar and processed food you will be ok. I am ex vegan. And, yes, I know the answer already: "you did it wrong", but no, I didn't.
meerita 7y ago
I love how people downvoted. None argued. Good.