Veganism plays a really big role in our lives. Health is the main word, what comes to mind when we think of eating foods made of plants. Vitamins, anybody?

Why are we vegans?

Most of the time, when we believe in something, we believe, that this is the only and the right way. Many may think that all vegans think the same. Being vegan is hip, healthy and you do not need your vitamins, right? There’s the difference – we do not think like that. We don’t consume animal products, because we are compassionate and how it makes us feel. We like how being vegan has affected our lives, as we feel better in our bodies. Of course, our internal reality also benefits.

Everybody has an opinion since they are like belly buttons – we all have them. We can’t be loved by everybody and we should not even wish that. Vegans should have thick skin (with help by vitamins?), as there are always people who try to make us fall. None of us are perfect, so we can’t all fill in spaces others often put us in. This is a reality. That doesn’t mean that plant-eaters are worthless, not at all. We are different because we believe in different things and we also – eat and hopefully live differently.

Being vegan is weird!

People are usually afraid of what they do not know and have lots of prejudice on what is strange to them. We all are supposed to be normal, to fit into these normal societal norms. But some like we, just can’t human properly and do not fit in most of the times. We are different in some ways. As vegans, we constantly have to justify why we are vegans. We do not question meat-eaters or criticize their meals. Oftentimes we find their fingers or forks reaching to our vegan plates. Why? Curiosity? Interest? Judgment? Health reasons?

What is really healthy?

Is being a vegan is healthy? Anything is healthy if you believe it is healthy, you see it all comes down on you. Plant foods are known to be filled with vitamins, but vegans most likely need to take some extra. So do the meat-eaters. Eating fried potatoes only may be healthy in some opinions or chewing steaks every night, as well. When we were omnivores and pescatarians, we didn’t think of the many aspects of a balanced diet. What was that anyway?

Balanced diet means:

• foremost enjoying an abundance of freshly prepared vegetables
• eating very little processed foods
• getting enough vitamins with your meals
• cooking your own meals from scratch
• using local, seasonal, organic foods and supporting small farms
• not to forget, eating slowly and mindfully

Meat-eater vs. vegan

We weren’t fully committed to eating a balanced diet of the above until recent years. The change came with becoming a vegan – when we woke up! For somebody, I may be really asleep for not eating animal products. This is a subject on its own, but it has been getting kind of tiring to justify my veganism so often. I came across a list online by somebody who introduced their 10 reasons why I will never be a vegan.

1. A vegan diet never sustained any traditional culture

Oh, who cares? Really. We weren’t in a situation like we are at the moment from the environmental point of view. There weren’t many options to be vegans ages ago. There are plenty of options today, so veganism could sustain traditional cultures at ease. It is safe that humans have shifted from tradition to living modern lives, where we are no longer connected to our food– and on the suffering animals endure from field to fork.

2. Vegan diets do not provide fat-soluble vitamins A, D, K2, B12, and iron (I put the vitamin reasons all together into one reason)

If you are a meat-eater, do you even think of vitamins A and D? How much you get them? Do you get them at all? Where you get them, etc? I think not. I didn’t and I know many people who don’t. If anything at all veganism has really made me think of where to get all the vitamins I need. I am probably not getting enough vitamins. Present food production is very synthesized and full of antibiotics.

Vitamin A

Type of Vitamin A is found only in animal foods. Plants are abundant in vitamin A precursors such as beta-carotene. You can easily meet your vitamin A requirement for the day by drinking a one-quarter cup of carrot juice or eating a cup of kale or spinach. We add this daily to our smoothies.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D3 is made from the cholesterol from our skin when exposed to sunlight, it is not something we need only get from food. The useable vitamin D, which is only found in animal products such as pastured egg yolks, cod liver oil, and dairy products from grass-grazing animals, is not most times obtained through food anyway. D-vitamin is in the animal products, only because animals have got it through their food. There are very few independent bio grass-grazing animals who are healthy and happy and provide all that humans need from consuming their meat.

Vitamin K

By Jack Norris, vegans who eat leafy green vegetables with some added oil on a daily basis should receive more than adequate vitamin K. This is needed for proper blood clotting and bone health. Making sure you get plenty of vitamin K through leafy green vegetables is the best plan. Check more about vitamin K here.

B12

Vitamin B12 is generally found in all animal-derived foods, except honey. This is there for the same reason – it has been added to the animal feed. There is no reliable B12 in plant foods, including tempeh, seaweeds, and organic produce. Luckily, vitamin B12 is made by bacteria and doesn’t need to be obtained from animal products. It’s fairly easy for most vegans to obtain a source of vitamin B12 in liquid or dry form. Taking B12 on a regular basis will provide you with a B12 status equal to or superior to people who rely on animal products for B12. It protects the nervous system and without it, permanent damage can result. Therefore this is a must for every vegan to introduce to their diet. It is not complicated and it is not expensive. More about B12 here.

If you’re healthy and eat a varied vegan diet, you don’t need to worry about iron as it’s plentiful in a vegan diet. However, some people have trouble absorbing plant iron. If you think your iron stores might be low, you can increase iron absorption by:

Iron

• Adding a source of vitamin C at meals
• Avoiding tea and coffee at meals.
• Increasing legume (peanuts, beans, lentils, peas) intake.
• Cooking foods (especially water-based acidic foods like tomato sauce) in cast iron skillets.
• Avoiding calcium supplements with meals.

The major functions of iron are:

• Energy production
• Oxygen transport via the hemoglobin of red blood cells.
• Oxygen transport to the muscles via myoglobin.
• Part of the enzyme NADH dehydrogenase in the electron transport chain that produces ATP.
• Immunity – iron has pro-oxidation properties used by the immune system to destroy bacteria
• DNA synthesis

It’s important for any vegan with iron deficiency to take care of it because, during iron deficiency, the body has a tendency to absorb too much manganese.

3. Vegan diets often rely heavily on soy

Not really. Soy makes it easier for people to go from eating meat to eating another kind of meat, a plant-based kind. We, at CHP hardly ever eat soy. Mostly, when we eat out in restaurants, as it is not a staple food product to cook at home. I guess by now everybody has heard that your hormones go crazy when you eat soy. Again, there are many articles that support this and many that do not. The choice is yours.

4. Ethical omnivorism supports a healthy planet

It is a known fact, that it is not a common practice to consume or buy sustainably-raised animal products from small and local producers. Most meat you can see on the stores are a result of mass production and unfortunately $1 hamburgers have a place in an omnivore world. Companies often produce too much meat for the grocery stores and the bulk of it gets trashed due to its short shelf life.

5.  Real food > Fake food

Vegans are smart to create the products they miss eating. There is a variety to choose from, which is all plant-based: cheese, milk, meat, etc. Processed foods usually include stabilizers, gums, thickeners, and highly processed protein extracts. Gluten-free products include lots of artificial ingredients, which may not give you gluten, but a whole variety of other unhealthy stuff. Instead of losing weight, they make people gain weight. All produced foods are not good for you vegan or non-vegan, so you should avoid those and make as much as you can from scratch. On 2018 there are many options to be a smart and healthy vegan.

For example, Earth Balance, a non-dairy butter often used in vegan diets is made of: Palm fruit oil, canola oil, safflower oil, flax oil, olive oil, salt, natural flavor, pea protein, sunflower lecithin, lactic acid, annatto color, which doesn’t sound so exciting to eat, isn’t it?

That doesn’t really make you want to consume a product like that, right?

6.  Vegan isn’t the answer to autoimmune disease

Is eating meat, though? To which diseases eating meat it is an answer?

7.  You must take life to have life

Yes, animals die when even vegan products are produced, but this is more sort of natural choice than a relentless everyday mass killing.

Plants are known to respond to human emotions and being alive, but without nervous systems, with what it is possible to feel a variety of emotions, you can’t compare plants to animals!

8. Animal fats offer unique nutrients

You probably have heard that flax seeds, walnuts, hemp seeds, and chia seeds are all excellent sources of omega-3? That may be true, but these plant sources provide a form of omega-3 that is not well absorbed by the body. The O-3 in plant sources, such as flaxseed and walnuts, is called ALA. ALA must be converted to EPA or DHA in the body to be useable. Unfortunately, the conversion between ALA and EPA/ DHA is extremely low. One study showed that women convert about 21% of ALA to EPA and 9% to DHA. The conversion rates for men are even lower.

Why nobody brings any comparisons of how much and how often you have to eat meat to get all the goodies into your body, which are listed in this list enough for somebody not to go vegan?

Conclusion

It all comes down to you and your tolerance really, as people can and will argue what is best for everybody, some say omnivores are right and some say veganism is the whole truth.

If you dislike the killing of animals and have a higher level of compassion, then be vegan and enjoy being one. If you do not care about participating in the killing of the animals and you think that being all-eater is better for your health, then also, do it.

You are the one, who is making a decision and we can just listen and read an array of opinions every day. Whatever you are eating, do not forget to take your vitamins.

The original article of “10 reasons why I’ll never be a vegan” can be found here.