I think vegans in general are more health conscious than most people and tend to eat a better diet. I was health conscious before I switched my diet but now I am 100 times more health conscious. I’ve also heard anecdotal evidence from people whose, sister in law or friend or co-worker ended up having serious health problems from a vegan diet. They are the kind of stories where you never quite get the details.
I think the real problem is that in the United States, the people who actually eat a 90% or more plant based diet, is a very small percentage. It’s hard to get good data and it’s even harder to find real people who eat the way we do. I know two people, my wife and my co-worker and they only started doing it because I did.
After one year of eating this way, I’m coming down from the euphoria of finding a better healthier way to eat and I’m starting to worry about deficiencies, iodine, protein, calcium, omega 3s…it’s making me crazy. If a huge portion of people ate a plant based diet it would be easy to get the answers. I’ll never go back to the SAD but I’ll admit it’s a little frustrating to be in such a small minority. On the other hand it gives me more respect for people like Dr McDougall who have been fighting this fight for decades. I realize that people are moving toward plant based diets more than ever in this present day.
It’s worth the effort, but it is not that easy to change when we’ve heard our whole lives, “Beef it’s what for dinner”, “Got milk?” and the most damaging of all statements “Where do you get your protein if don’t eat meat?!?”
