Some Questions For All The Vegans On This Board!?

[*RayRay*]

I am just curious....some questions for all the Vegans on this board....!

How long have you been Vegan?

Do you have to supplement anything to feel completely healthy on a vegan diet? (hemp oil, b-12, etc...?)

Do you need to use any "food supplements"...what I mean is do you have to make green smoothies with a massive amount of greens every day to stay healthy? (by massive amount I mean more than you would otherwise be able to eat in one day...?)

What percent (estimate) of you diet is fats?


Thanks in advance! I am trying to feel out whether Vegan would be something I am interested in doing.....I am eating raw (about 90%) but am curious how sustainable a Vegan diet is for the long term without doing anything un-natural such as massive intake of greens or supplementation.....(I am specifically curious about anyone who has been Vegan for 10 years or more!) Thanks everyone

[Aleesha Sattva]

rayray... many raw foodists don't do honey or bee pollen and that's pretty much all that isn't vegan in our diets.

so it's the same as being raw. ;)

[freshlight]

I am just curious....some questions for all the Vegans on this board....!

How long have you been Vegan?

7 years

Do you have to supplement anything to feel completely healthy on a vegan diet? (hemp oil, b-12, etc...?)

nope

Do you need to use any "food supplements"...what I mean is do you have to make green smoothies with a massive amount of greens every day to stay healthy? (by massive amount I mean more than you would otherwise be able to eat in one day...?)

not at all. I just eat whole foods most of the time

What percent (estimate) of you diet is fats?

10


Thanks in advance! I am trying to feel out whether Vegan would be something I am interested in doing.....I am eating raw (about 90%) but am curious how sustainable a Vegan diet is for the long term without doing anything un-natural such as massive intake of greens or supplementation.....(I am specifically curious about anyone who has been Vegan for 10 years or more!) Thanks everyone.


Vegan feels great to me. Cheers from Eva :)

[Humanist]

I have been 98% vegan for 40 years. My B12 tests low within the normal range, but I get a B12 shot once a year, just in case. My minerals all test normal and my weight is stable. I don't worry about fats or oils. A few years back my thyroid and pituitary started acting up—iodine deficiency. A piece of dulse once a week solved that problem.

[michigan roman]

vegan 15 years

take b12

feel as though i need decent amounts of nuts / seeds / oil or fats to maintain
bulk / strength

i make sure i get enough vita c via citrus , and vita a - calcium - iron via dark green

and i sometimes since going raw 3 1/2 year ago use unraw nutritional yeast for its b vitamins

and vita e thru sun seed

i eat fruit / nuts / seeds all day , vegi rich salads for dinner . drink water and at times herbal teas - mainly green tea

[RaeVynn]

I've only been a Vegan for 4 years. I was vegetarian for a couple of years before that.
I have a partial bottle of Nano-something B12 in the fridge... there was an interview that Dr. Gabriel Cousens did where he mentioned how really important B12 is, so I got some that he recommended. I don't take it often. (My probiotics are in there, too. I have to remember to take them... after my last MC, I want my flora/fauna to be the right sort...)

I do try to cram a LOT of green smoothies down, as I think I've had a magnesium deficiency for years. I am currently working on normalizing my blood pressure (I used to take pills for it). I include a goodly amount of wheatgrass in my smoothies, and also drink straight wheatgrass juice. I try for approximately the proportions of greens/fruit that Victoria Boutenka recommends. Maybe a little more greens, a little less fruit.

I'm also an herbal tea drinker. I've cut out almost all coffee... I think I had a cup of coffee... oh,... two weeks ago? yeah, about that.

I'm eating a fairly high fat diet right now, as part of my transistioning to all raw. I still need some of the heaviness of avocado, nuts, and seeds to make it work for me. I also love a lot of the recipes that call for oils. Like raw pizza... marinara sauces... raw cheezes... I'm losing weight, so I think I'm doing okay so far :)

Thanks for asking :p

[michigan roman]

hey wait a minute , rayray just put on her sun glasses ;)

[appifanie]

3ish years.

i do supplement, but not regularly, and i've never had any problems w/ any bloodwork.

not massive amounts, no. i was trying to shove like 3-4 cups of greens into a smoothie, but it wasn't going so yummy so i downgraded :)

depending on the day, 10-30% fats.

[freshlight]

hey wait a minute , rayray just put on her sun glasses ;)

yeah,-lovely pic :)

[*RayRay*]

I don't get a ton of sun up here in seattle, so I like looking through my pics of my trips to LA for some inspiration!!:cool::D that one is me in venice beach ca....I love it there!!!! Planning to move there in January 2010 !!!!!!

[jurence]

How long have you been Vegan?

Since December 2008

Do you have to supplement anything to feel completely healthy on a vegan diet? (hemp oil, b-12, etc...?)
B6/B12 and a multivitamin every o ther day

Do you need to use any "food supplements"...what I mean is do you have to make green smoothies with a massive amount of greens every day to stay healthy? (by massive amount I mean more than you would otherwise be able to eat in one day...?)

I do not get my share of greens, but it is not impossible to eat what you need to.

What percent (estimate) of you diet is fats?
It depends if there are avocados in the house or not.
If no- 5-10%
If yes- 20-30%

[appifanie]

What percent (estimate) of you diet is fats?
It depends if there are avocados in the house or not.
If no- 5-10%
If yes- 20-30%

haha! that's so true. mmmm.

[klomasius]

I am just curious....some questions for all the Vegans on this board....!

How long have you been Vegan?

About 11 years.Veg for just over two years before that

Do you have to supplement anything to feel completely healthy on a vegan diet? (hemp oil, b-12, etc...?

Only b12, when I remember, other than that I think I'm fine for everything else. I do sometimes supplement with flax oil and some foods like green powders etc. but they are 'just in case' supplements. I feel fine without them!


Do you need to use any "food supplements"...what I mean is do you have to make green smoothies with a massive amount of greens every day to stay healthy? (by massive amount I mean more than you would otherwise be able to eat in one day...?)

Not sure what massive amounts of greens, I dont eat more greens than I'm comfortable with eating, but I do love greens. Today's green smoothie had a whole packet of spinach in it. Is that excessive? Plus my salad dinner.


What percent (estimate) of your diet is fats?

It depends, but probably normally about 30%. sometimes less if I don't have an avocado or forget to eat any nuts, some days much more if I have nut based desserts etc.

Being vegan has become so easy for me, even as a raw fooder. As a cooked food vegan I simply got stumped after a while when people commented that is must be hard. Over time it becomes second nature you dont even think about it. I've never had any health issues that have arisen as a direct result of veganism (or many health issues at all since becoming vegan). In fact my iron went up to well within normal range when I became vegetarian, I'd always been borderline anaemic.

You could always gradually shift, I went vegan off the batt and that was a good way for me to do it.

[*RayRay*]

Thanks for the responses everyone! Humanist-when you say you have been 98% vegan, what does that mean? I mean what does the other 2% consist of!? :)

[Humanist]

Humanist-when you say you have been 98% vegan, what does that mean? I mean what does the other 2% consist of!? :)[/QUOTE]

I mean that over the past 40 years I have on occasion eaten cheese or fish, but rarely, and mainly out of concern about B12. I have taken some cod liver oil for Vitamin D. But most of the time I have been 100% vegan, as I am now.

[jacsam]

I would suggest you get Alissa's book....it will answer every question you posted and ALOT more. With the curiosity you expressed, I know you would enjoy her book.