Questions on veganism

[raingoddess01]

Hello all, I have some questions for whoever will answer them, but I want to get into veganism or maybe pescatarian at the least for my health issues. I've done some reading on it, and I know there is plenty of great plant proteins but does anyone know good foods to maintain weight? I've noticed that from lot of stories I've read people said they lost a lot of weight, which is great but I sort of need to pick up some weight. If anybody knows good, clean foods that would help? Thank you

[Tobi]

I have a similar problem; have always been "wiry" or skinny no matter what I eat, and can't ever gain weight. I was like that way back in the past when I ate meat so don't think it's any kind of diet issue, more a personal metabolism issue.
I would be useless on an expedition! haha. But I haven't LOST weight either on a vegan diet.

You need to be looking at healthy fats and proteins. You can get absolutely plenty of those on a vegan diet. Good carbs aren't hard to find either.

One thing you will have to watch is getting enough:
Omega 3
Calcium
Vitamin B12
Vitamin D3
You may need to supplement those, or be more aware of what food contains what etc. You may also wish to change how you use sunscreen. For instance allowing 30 minutes (if you are white skinned) unprotected sunlight before applying sunscreen, and a little longer if you are black or dark skinned. Some will disagree with that but use your wits about it re: your environment and how much exposure is safe etc. Sunlight is THE best source of vitamin D3. Sunscreen blocks it.

Good fats include Avocadoes, Walnuts (which also contain Omega 3, though maybe not enough.) All nuts and seeds. Healthy oils. Nut butters.
Protein: lentils, beans, quinoa (also carbs there) nuts, a lot of veggies also contain some though not high amounts. Grains if you like them and they suit you. Fermented grains like sourdough are great too. Mycoproteins.

You can go vegan gradually if you wish. It's up to you. It depends why you want to be vegan. If it's for compassionate reasons then you may be able to include truly free-range eggs from truly happy hens, kept in a loving environment by ethical people. That one is a massive variable of course, but if you find eggs like that there is no harm eating them, though of course that is not strictly vegan.

[xXeNeRGy86Xx]

Keep in mind to absorb d3 efficiently you must also be getting K2 which is found in dairy (eggs, cheeses, butter) and saturated animal fats so if you are vegan you may want to consider supplementing. I take a d3/K2 supplement because I'm unable to get alota sunlight. I also eat lots of eggs though (poached and cooked in butter NOT OIL), mechanic from my work has some hens I know he treats them well and doesn't use steroids or other harmful things on them. If I didn't know him I'd go to a local farmers market and ask around, try to get to know the local farmers. Eggs are one of the single healthiest foods you can eat and there are more chickens than people on this planet so vaganism has never set well with me personally. Also gotta have milk in my coffee, perhaps one day I'll solve the morality issue and get a cow haha

Also for calcium you need to make sure you're getting K1 which is found in dark leafy greens. K1 helps decalcify arteries and put calcium where it belongs (in yer bones!) Also helps thicken your blood so keep this in mind if you are on any blood thinning meds it could be potentially dangerous. Also K1 absorption wouldn't be as effective if you were on lets say cholestoral lowering drugs or antibiotics. Let's hope you aren't on any Rx meds, with the right eating habits the body is very capable of fixing itself in most cases.

Big changes in diet can be complicated and you'd be best to speak to a doctor or even better a nutritionist. You should really get blood work to see where you're at starting off and go from there, but I'm sure you already know that much.
I don't think you're gonna drop to an unhealthy weight, in my mind (and certainly I'm no expert) healthier plant based foods offer a higher nutrient to calorie ratio so you're getting more nutrients per calorie which of course support everything you need to grow and repair muscle. If you're exercising regularly, maintaining a healthy diet will help you grow muscle faster than someone without the proper nutrients therefore gain mass. I wouldn't be able to speak from experience but peanut butter and bananas seem like the most obvious choice for healthy weight gain.

[Debrah]

Originally Posted by Tobi

.......

Good fats include Avocadoes, Walnuts (which also contain Omega 3, though maybe not enough.) All nuts and seeds. Healthy oils. Nut butters.
Protein: lentils, beans, quinoa (also carbs there) nuts, a lot of veggies also contain some though not high amounts. Grains if you like them and they suit you. Fermented grains like sourdough are great too. Mycoproteins.

You can go vegan gradually if you wish. It's up to you. It depends why you want to be vegan. If it's for compassionate reasons then you may be able to include truly free-range eggs from truly happy hens, kept in a loving environment by ethical people. That one is a massive variable of course, but if you find eggs like that there is no harm eating them, though of course that is not strictly vegan.

You made some very good points Tobi and especially about the B12 and omega 3's. I've read a well know vegan dietician name Jack Norris saying that 4 walnut halves will give you all the omega 3 that you need for a day. So I usually have them at the same time that I have my morning smoothie and that way the fats help fat soluble vitamins get absorbed.

My one concern is your suggestion that a person who goes vegan for compassionate reasons can have eggs. Sad to say that's not quite true. An ethical vegan eats NO animal products. Those hens that are purchased as chicks, might have wonderful lives scratching around the yard, but they all had little brothers who were ground up alive because they're useless. So by extrapolation, eggs are not a 'happy' product in any sense.

But other than that, some good points to make about other nutrients. As for trying to maintain your weight, eat until you aren't hungry and snack on nuts in between. Over time, you'll figure out what works for you. Please don't resort to eggs though, because animal products are animal products and they're just not good for you and I base that statement not on my own opinion, but on my go to guy, Dr. Greger!

Video: https://nutritionfacts.org/video/egg...l-in-the-diet/

and this article: https://nutritionfacts.org/2015/08/2...-our-arteries/

[xXeNeRGy86Xx]

so what should be done with the hens, they shouldn't be purchased for egg production, they should be left to be 'ground up' with their brothers and sisters instead? That sounds a bit counterproductive to me-- unless I'm misunderstanding something ??

[xXeNeRGy86Xx]

And as far as health, and I don't mean to contradict you Debrah, I've heard almost anonymously several health experts (nutritionists and the like, a real doctor could lose his practice for not going along with the mainstream narrative I would assume) say the opposite of that video that eggs do not give high (bad) cholesterol the way we think and I believe this because I know my eggman eats 8 eggs a day and has been for years yet has a completely clean bill of health in his 70s, on no meds strong as an ox (much to his doctors surprise I'm sure) Eggs are the foundation for which a chicken grows so they are literally manufactured to provide optimum nutrition to that offspring. It's more like the AHA and multibillion$$ medical industry that tells us they aren't good. Dr. Wallach has some great books out and is the main dr. who convinced me why eggs contributing to high cholestoral is untrue. He uses our ancestors cooking practices before farming became industrialized and the decline of our health to support his claim. I can't post links yet because I'm still a newbie but he has a 6min youtube video entitled "the truth about cholestoral", I would watch that raingoddess if you are questioning eating eggs. But nothing wrong with veganism if that's the route you wanna take.

[Debrah]

Originally Posted by xXeNeRGy86Xx

so what should be done with the hens, they shouldn't be purchased for egg production, they should be left to be 'ground up' with their brothers and sisters instead? That sounds a bit counterproductive to me-- unless I'm misunderstanding something ??

If nobody bought them, eventually the egg industry would quit producing as many. It's strictly a supply management issue and as long as those chicks are purchased, they'll continue to produce them and that many little males get ground up alive. Unfortunately, that won't help any of them right in this moment, they'll be little sacrifices but the fault doesn't lie with anyone who wants the industry to end. It lies with those who support it. We have to realize that this is a long-term issue because people are stubborn.

[Debrah]

Originally Posted by xXeNeRGy86Xx

And as far as health, and I don't mean to contradict you Debrah, I've heard almost anonymously several health experts (nutritionists and the like, a real doctor could lose his practice for not going along with the mainstream narrative I would assume) say the opposite of that video that eggs do not give high (bad) cholesterol the way we think and I believe this because I know my eggman eats 8 eggs a day and has been for years yet has a completely clean bill of health in his 70s, on no meds strong as an ox (much to his doctors surprise I'm sure) Eggs are the foundation for which a chicken grows so they are literally manufactured to provide optimum nutrition to that offspring. It's more like the AHA and multibillion$$ medical industry that tells us they aren't good. Dr. Wallach has some great books out and is the main dr. who convinced me why eggs contributing to high cholestoral is untrue. He uses our ancestors cooking practices before farming became industrialized and the decline of our health to support his claim. I can't post links yet because I'm still a newbie but he has a 6min youtube video entitled "the truth about cholestoral", I would watch that raingoddess if you are questioning eating eggs. But nothing wrong with veganism if that's the route you wanna take.

Well what I do know is that there are three medical institutions, maybe four in the USA who actively promote vegan diets now. Major, well known medical institutions of repute. And Dr. Greger explains in that little video what eggs are all about in the human body and if you researched further on his site you could find out what all animal products do to the human body. Just do a search for: meat consumption inflammation or things like that.

People who give up all animal products and who eat a balanced diet of a variety of plant foods can reverse heart disease, diabetes, obesity, some cancers apparently and even MS. MS for goodness sakes! People all die from MS! My cousin died from it! But when they quit eating all animal products, they live! What does that tell you except that we aren't really meant to eat the stuff. Besides being very cruel, it's killing us.