Vegan Health

I went vegan by choice, I did it for the animals 100% but what about all of the health benefits you get from going vegan? As a meat eat when I was growing up I had my struggle with weight I was always the “fat” kid growing up, I was the last one to be picked for sports, and often I was mad fun of. I got my weight under control when I was 17, but still today I know that I love food.

For a wile now I have been following @veganhope on twitter, and reading her fantastic blog at http://veganhope.com . Her blog entries often leave me in tears, she is touching, and her story is inspiring. It is truly remarkable how veganism changed her health and her out look on life.

She was nice enough to answer a few questions for my blog.

Please start off by giving a brief description of your health before going vegan.

I have been obese since the age of 11. I tried every single diet known to man between 11 and 30 years old. When I was 25 I was diagnosed with diabetes. At the time, it was so severe that my systems were starting to shut down. For 5 years I went to doctor after doctor, trying to get help. My diabetes kept getting worse. Last year I got an infection in my right calf, and there was a possibility that if it did not go away I would have to have part of my calf amputated. My blood sugar numbers were on a constant roller coaster, despite trying every medication and every diet. All in all, before going vegan my health was a disaster. I was on over 100 units of insulin per day and 8 medications for various problems.
*Currently I am taking no insulin and I am not on any medications, and my blood sugar is completely in control and I continue to lose a lot of weight.

What is/was your relationship with food.?

I never knew how addicted I was to certain foods. Not until going vegan did I realize that all of the animal products I was consuming were causing some powerful addictions in my brain. The chief one was dairy products. Little did I know that dairy has a very powerful and dangerous hormone for humans called casein, which causes a lot of addictions and other problems. When I started to discover what was in food, and what I was meant to consume, what my body was actually set up for, things started to change. Once I discovered how my body works, and that I was never supposed to consume animal products, my relationship with food became a lot easier. I no longer felt guilty for eating, and I no longer had the very powerful side effects of an animal based diet. When I found out that food could work for me, not against me, every thing changed. I now love food, but I do not fear food. I now love to come up with new, healthy meals that are completely satisfying and filling. Food is now something that is healing my body, not hurting my body.

How was the transition from carnivore to vegan? did you find it hard to eliminate different foods from your diet?

Looking back on every thing – I wish I knew how easy going on a plant based/vegan diet really was. In the beginning I really didn’t do my homework. I would eat really bland meals, and I never tried new things. Now I eat all sorts of things including raw pastas, vegan sushi, breakfast scrambles, pancakes, vegan burgers, vegan lasagna with cashew ricotta, smoothies, stir fry, chili… and the list goes on and on. There are so many great vegan cook books out there that I really did not know about.

One of the most difficult  things to eliminate was cheese. Cheese has 10 times the amount of every thing found in a glass of milk, which means 10 times the amount of harmful addictive hormones and chemicals. I really struggled with cutting it out, but I would say that eliminating it made the biggest difference in my weight loss and my diabetes control.

In the end  as far as what I eat every day, I would say it is the easiest, most satisfying way that I have ever eaten, and that is saying a lot, I grew up Italian!

The hardest part about transitioning was not food, it was people. I still get made fun of by people who are close to me (or not close to me) for being vegan. It was really hard for me in the beginning. I finally realized that the people who were giving me the hardest time were generally the people who were most insecure about themselves, and had some guilt and fear over the way they lived their life. I had to put boundaries down for a few people that really did not get that I did not find it funny to be ridiculed for the way I live my life, more so something that has saved my life. You might get people who make ignorant comments or say things that really get to you, but you have to stay strong and know that you are doing what is best. Soon, they will care a lot less about the way you are eating, and you will be able to move past it.

Do you have any advice for people who are thinking about going vegan?

I would first say that there is no reason not to. My husband has severe allergies to nuts, almost all raw fruits and plants and some cooked, and was able to become vegan and have a completely satisfying food life. If he can do it, really, anyone can.
It is a way of living that is with out a doubt the most healthy way to live for your body, it is the most environmentally sound decision, and most importantly, you help end the suffering and the slaughter of millions of innocent living beings.
Living a vegan life has been completely satisfying in every way I could imagine, so much in my life has changed for the good since making the change and sticking to it. .It takes about 1 month to get past some of the addictions, and to get used to the lifestyle, and then after that things will start getting a lot easier, and soon it will be something that you will not understand why you did not do it earlier.
I would encourage people to read as much as the can. Understand the food industry, how animals are used and killed. Start to find out how the food industry is making us sick as a nation, and what they do to continue to make us more sick. Start to read the health and environmental reasons for being vegan. Don’t take my word for it, do your own research, and most importantly dive in and know that there are plenty of vegans who thrive in their life, and plenty who are willing to help if you need it. Check out vegan blogs, and vegan twitter accounts, the more support you can get the better it will be!

You can read more about her journey at http://veganhope.com and you can follow her on twitter @veganhope .

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