4 ms·

I was a vegetarian for 9 years (vegan for 4). My personal, anecdotal and completely unscientific experience: when i switched from soy protein shakes to whey p

by JPKab 14y ago

I was a vegetarian for 9 years (vegan for 4). My personal, anecdotal and completely unscientific experience: when i switched from soy protein shakes to whey protein shakes, I immediately noticed an improvement in recovery times, not to mention less gas. Soy is not going to be a complete substitute for meat's nutritional components. Supplemented with lots of liquid aminos, etc? Probably will work well. But the worst part for me about a vegan diet is the difficulty in getting enough fat intake. Too little fat in the diet causes depression.

harshreality 14y ago
Out of curiosity, why'd you stop? Difficulty maintaining healthy diet?
- JPKab 14y ago
  In my early 20's, when I was still trying to land my first "office job" out of college, I was working construction. The work was physically demanding, and no matter how much I ate, I always felt hungry and sore. Tons of tofu, tempeh, beans, it didn't matter. My buddy brought over a ton of venison which I put in the freezer. I had enough for two months of meals. I started eating it every day, and within 48 hours I noticed a huge difference. My weight went up to 195 (i'm 6'2, and it had dropped to 175) which was a much healthier weight, and most importantly, my depression (which i really didn't know i had, went away)and i just felt better, more motivated, happier, you name it. I'm sure many, many vegetarians live great, happy lives on their diet. I'm not one of them. Years of farting all the time from soy (beano didn't do it for me), never gaining muscle, not being able to socialize with my male buddies since 90% of the vegetarians i encountered were females..... the list goes on.
  - jbapple 14y ago
    Thanks for describing your experiences. This part confused me: > not being able to socialize with my male buddies since 90% of the vegetarians i encountered were females Did you have trouble socializing with people who didn't share your dietary restrictions?
    - JPKab 14y ago
      I assure you, it confused me to. But its a reality that people on restrictive diets forget: in our society, meals are a very fundamental element of socializing. My restrictive diet made it so that when I'd hang out with buddies, when they would pick a restaurant, I could rarely get proper nutrition from the meals. This would cause me not to eat almost anything at these places. They would notice, feel bad, and then feel guilty. I would always have to hunt around for a place to grab anything to fill me up before we continued our day.
graue 14y ago
Do you have a good citation for "Too little fat in the diet causes depression"? I did a quick search, and turned up a study in PLoS ONE[1] which found trans fatty acids correlate with increased depression, while there is a weak inverse relation to mono- and polyunsaturated fat intake. But a blog reviewing the study[2] points out some limitations. And some research mentioned at [3] apparently concluded there is a link between depression and DHA specifically, but if that's true it wouldn't affect only vegetarians: "Most people in the Western world do not get enough omega-3 fatty acids [such as DHA] in their diet."[4] Your claim is new to me, and as someone on a low-fat vegan diet, if you have a more conclusive reference I'd be curious to see it. [1] http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0016268 http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone... [2] http://evolutionarypsychiatry.blogspot.com/2011/01/dietary-fat-intake-and-depression-risk.html http://evolutionarypsychiatry.blogspot.com/2011/01/dietary-f... [3] http://www.fi.edu/learn/brain/fats.html http://www.fi.edu/learn/brain/fats.html [4] http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/docosahexaenoic-acid-000300.htm http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/docosahexaenoic-acid-0003...
Shorel 14y ago
You can eat coconut and palm oil.

by JPKab 14y ago

harshreality 14y ago

Out of curiosity, why'd you stop? Difficulty maintaining healthy diet?

JPKab 14y ago
In my early 20's, when I was still trying to land my first "office job" out of college, I was working construction. The work was physically demanding, and no matter how much I ate, I always felt hungry and sore. Tons of tofu, tempeh, beans, it didn't matter. My buddy brought over a ton of venison which I put in the freezer. I had enough for two months of meals. I started eating it every day, and within 48 hours I noticed a huge difference. My weight went up to 195 (i'm 6'2, and it had dropped to 175) which was a much healthier weight, and most importantly, my depression (which i really didn't know i had, went away)and i just felt better, more motivated, happier, you name it. I'm sure many, many vegetarians live great, happy lives on their diet. I'm not one of them. Years of farting all the time from soy (beano didn't do it for me), never gaining muscle, not being able to socialize with my male buddies since 90% of the vegetarians i encountered were females..... the list goes on.
- jbapple 14y ago
  Thanks for describing your experiences. This part confused me: > not being able to socialize with my male buddies since 90% of the vegetarians i encountered were females Did you have trouble socializing with people who didn't share your dietary restrictions?
  - JPKab 14y ago
    I assure you, it confused me to. But its a reality that people on restrictive diets forget: in our society, meals are a very fundamental element of socializing. My restrictive diet made it so that when I'd hang out with buddies, when they would pick a restaurant, I could rarely get proper nutrition from the meals. This would cause me not to eat almost anything at these places. They would notice, feel bad, and then feel guilty. I would always have to hunt around for a place to grab anything to fill me up before we continued our day.

graue 14y ago

Do you have a good citation for "Too little fat in the diet causes depression"? I did a quick search, and turned up a study in PLoS ONE[1] which found trans fatty acids correlate with increased depression, while there is a weak inverse relation to mono- and polyunsaturated fat intake. But a blog reviewing the study[2] points out some limitations. And some research mentioned at [3] apparently concluded there is a link between depression and DHA specifically, but if that's true it wouldn't affect only vegetarians: "Most people in the Western world do not get enough omega-3 fatty acids [such as DHA] in their diet."[4] Your claim is new to me, and as someone on a low-fat vegan diet, if you have a more conclusive reference I'd be curious to see it. [1] http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0016268 http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone... [2] http://evolutionarypsychiatry.blogspot.com/2011/01/dietary-fat-intake-and-depression-risk.html http://evolutionarypsychiatry.blogspot.com/2011/01/dietary-f... [3] http://www.fi.edu/learn/brain/fats.html http://www.fi.edu/learn/brain/fats.html [4] http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/docosahexaenoic-acid-000300.htm http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/docosahexaenoic-acid-0003...

Shorel 14y ago

You can eat coconut and palm oil.