Thread: Straighten me out here guys....thinking of going Vegan

I got sucked into watching this documentary tonight about plant based diets and how good the anti-inflamatory results can be, how good people feel on them etc...
My blood numbers already come back great year after year at my physicals; I can weigh whatever weight I want with my current diet knowledge; natty test is still good. But, at 52, I have my share of aches from years of pounding my body in the gym. Idk, just thought I'd try something different I guess but I'm concerned about a few things:

---Keeping protein high enough to build/maintain muscle
---Being able to puree a vegan diet for ease of taking my food with me every day (I travel a lot)
---Will gainz suffer

Idk, I've looked over lists of plant based food and it just seems all so foreign to me as 90% of my diet now consists of chicked, oats, avacado.

Talk me out of this crazy notion guys

Why talk you out of it?

I was vegan for 3 years and only stopped really due to concerns about my underlying eating disorder popping up again as a result.

I actually plan once I am far enough out from my recovery to do it again if possible… we’ll see.

Nothing wrong with vegan eating as long as it’s not being propped up by misguided logic etc…

However, it is by far the most ethical option to reduce animal suffering and environmental impact.

That being said, will it make your health better? Hard to say, depends on your existing nutrition and what specific things you’re trying to improve.

Aches and pains happen to us all… getting older sucks

Originally Posted by smokinal

Talk me out of this crazy notion guys

Al, what have you been smokin?

paulinkansas

Originally Posted by DougyF7

Anyways, there is a gray area in which you incorporate some vegan stuff and some non-vegan stuff and that's okay, too.

Get out of here with your middle ground approach! This is the bodybuilding forums. We only deal in extremes here like a true sith.

I live in a farming community. The general saying is "If it isn't broken, don't fix it". Apply that logic to your situation.

I don't know if this is true or not but I have heard that in France, raising your child vegan is considered child abuse ...

I would not be trying to dissuade you if the reasons were ethical or environmental. However, on the basis of watching a documentary ... definitely be cautious, I've heard too many criticisms of such documentaries and their strong bias and misrepresentations that the average person would not spot. My view is always to take a broad consensus of genuine experts ... if they disagree then my null hypothesis would have to be that there is no special benefit until proven otherwise.

Having said that, a good range of unprocessed foods including lots of plants sounds great to me, adding animal products into that mix is not likely to make it worse IMO.