Why do lowfat vegans have good results?
 

Watching Food, Inc. made me start investigating a vegan lifestyle. (Don't flame me!!, lol)

In doing so, it became obvious that low/no-fat vegans often have very good results.

http://www.drmcdougall.com/star.html

http://www.drfuhrman.com/success/success.aspx

Is removing the processed, refined foods the key? Why else would their success stories be so similar to ours?

(Full disclosure: I suggested this very thing on a Vegsource.com forum a few years ago and got some VERY ANGRY emails from the site owners, accusing me of being an Atkins spammer, among other things.)

I guess my inquiry would be what do they look like and what is their health like 5 years later?

I know many people who have been LC for quite some time--5+years--they look healthy.

The majority of vegans/vegetarians that have been practicing for quite some time just look unhealthy in my opinion. But you know what opinions are like....:)

Progress not perfection.

Lisa

You might want to talk to some former vegans before you decide to try it.

I guess my personal opinion would be from my own observations of my vegan friend and her family. They have been vegan for about 6/8 months and have had their most unhealthy winter yet.

In my experience, the unhealthy ones try to be lax about it. They eat more grains and sugars. After all, it's not an animal!

But, you can say the same thing about LCers. There are unhealthy ones, the ones who buy the Atkins bars and the LC tortillas and don't consider the greater implications of the eating habit. I've known people who did LC and became ill very quickly. They didn't buy into this WOE.

So, it seems, that the common denominator may be taking a greater interest in the food, in your body, in your health and how it all works together. We're going to have a selection bias here (as will vegans on vegan boards) because most of the people are really interested in their health.

There's a lot more to health than what you eat.

Yes, there are some very unhealthy vegans, I'm sure. I mean, you could eat potato chips and Coke all day and call yourself vegan. Let's forget them and focus on the people who are trying to eat a healthy diet.

Starch is supposed to raise your insulin and cause all kinds of problems, which seems to be the basis for a lot of lowcarb theory. Yet these people (McDougall dieters, especially) are eating a starch-based diet, and getting better from heart disease and even diabetes.

Is it possible that we can eat one or the other (meat or starch) but not both?

actually... i've been thinking about this thread and i hang out with 4 vegans on a regular basis, (we no longer eat together!)
and my ex dh has a g/f that is vegan...

all of my friends have had some kind of ailment all year long and my ex dh's g/f has cancer and many other ailments.
my ex partner never ate red meat and she had cellulite all over her thighs....

i don't know any healthy-glowing vegans.
the 4 that i hang out with have terrible candida (you can see it in the acne on their faces) they are over weight, they are sickly...

no... i can't say that i know any healthy vegans.

The Vegetarian Myth by Lierre Keith.

http://www.amazon.com/Vegetarian-My...ader_1604860804

I was a vegetarian for nearly 25 years and a low-fat vegan for two of them. I think getting rid of processed foods helped improve my health a tiny bit (compared to SAD) and lose weight, but it didn't make me healthy. I got several colds & the flu every year and was always hungry, weak & irritable. I think the over-dependence on grains & dairy is what ruined my health - I cannot eat either of them now. Interestingly it was on the McDougall forum that some renegade mentioned Protein Power and I became a born-again carnivore.

I was on a vegan diet for several years before committing to low carb. During that time I developed severe gastro-intestinal problems that immediately return if eat grains, especially wheat. Soy was also a big problem for me, causing stomach and bladder pain. Also, when I was vegan my fibromyalgia went from bad to worse. I can't say eating low carb has cured me of fibro, but I can say that my symptoms were much worse at that time. Low carb hasn't completely eliminated all my health problems, but it certainly has made a huge improvement in how I feel, both mentally and physically. :agree:

One issue I think vegan's have is all the grain eating. I think grains are one of the unhealthiest foods you can eat and when you cut out animal products that's one of your sources of protein.

A ton of people find out gluten containing grains are an issue, like Anni, especially if you have any autoimmune disorders, gluten will make them worse.

Maybe you should just try it HappyLC. You've felt how you feel on LC for awhile now right? Give vegan a shot and see how it feels. I have a sneaking suspicion you'll be back with us.

Here is another former vegetarian for twenty years and vegan for one year.
That one year was the most miserable time of my life, colds galore, skin breaking out, eczema, constant hunger despite bloated and extended stomach and I could go on and on. Ten years ago I cut out all grains and a lot of veggies and fruit, five years ago I crossed over to meat and eggs only. The health results were nothing short of miraculous.
So there you go if you want to play Russian roulette with your health by all means go vegan.

I think it's really hard to get a balanced picture here, because persons who are vegan or vegetarian and very healthy on it are not going to switch to low carb or paleo and frequent this board. The ones who did poorly are the ones who are going to be here. There's nothing wrong with that, but you can't expect a true picture here.

I think you are right, it's taking out the bad stuff like refined grains and trans fats. If someone wants to get quality protein from dark leafy greens, it is possible, but yucky if you ask me. I'm also a fiber skeptic. But I don't think we know enough to say that *everyone* should do badly or well on either end of the diet poles, so why couldn't someone do well on a smart vegan diet - as long as they got real B12.

You really have to check out the individuals and not the web sites - which naturally will highlight the successes. Every real-life McDougaller I ever met was overweight with a lot of bad symptoms, not being successful (yet), always blamed herself for not being diligent enough, while still having mucho grains on that starch-based program. Can't really fault someone for trying, though, we all get attracted to a food program that seems to resonate.

For an amusing take on McDougall, check out Mark Sisson's "Escape from Vegan Island." He went with family and friends who are McDougall ites and thinks the guy is sincere, just misguided for most metabolisms.

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/vegan-island/

Don't know anyone personally on Furhman.