I wanna chat about veganism, because I can’t tell you how often I get asked if I’m vegan or how often people assume I’m vegan... I’m not sure if it’s because I’m a naturopath or just the way I am, but it's a question I get asked ALL the time.

  

I also get asked alot about the vegan diet in general, and another thing I've noticed when I've had consults with people, is that many say "I try to follow a vegan diet".

 

Which makes me think now more than ever many people are making the assumption that the vegan diet is the healthiest diet out their, and I think that's maybe why people assume I'm vegan, as they associate naturopaths as being healthy?

 

But in their defence I did actually follow a vegan diet for over a year back in I believe it was 2013.

 

So I want to first share my experience around that.

 

Like most it started after I watched my first vegan documentary.

 

I remember watching it being so disturbed about the unhealthy environments animals were being kept in and having to be pumped full of antibiotics as a result.  As well as how animals were being transported and slaughtered in mass numbers.

 

The message I received from watching this film was:

 

And that’s exactly what I did for over a year, I cut out meat and all animal products.

 

At the start I felt amazing, and I introduced and experimented with so many different new foods. Though overtime my health  started to decline.

 

Now I'm not saying that this way of eating was the only cause of all of this, as with any symptom manifestation I believe there're always many contributing factors.

Though I do believe this was a cherry on top for me, that pushed my health over the edge.

 

 

My diet being obviously lower in animal proteins, which in itself cause cause low iron, though it can also cause something called hypochlorhydria (low stomach acid) which can affect your bodies ability to absorb magnesium, calcium, iron and zinc.

 

So, potentially my affected magnesium and iron absorption could have cause the increase in frequency of migraines, sleeping issues and the low iron levels, even though I was eating plant based foods high in these things.

 

But not only that, low stomach acid can affect your digestion which also would have been contributing to my increase in digestive issues like gas, boating and burping.

 

It honestly took me a very long time to fix my stomach acid levels after coming off a vegan diet, as not many people talk about LOW stomach acid. It's more common that practitioners speak about high stomach acid and prescribe antacids which makes the problem worse which was the case for me.

 

Also I just want to add that this can be why many people coming off a vegan diet can have digestive symptoms when eating protein rich foods, as their bodies have decreased their stomach acid production.

 

Now this doesn't mean you shouldn't eat meat, that just masks the problem. If you want to actually get to the root of the problem you need to fix your stomach acid imbalance.

 

This is something a guide people through in my Digestion Reset program, as it's a really common contributor to digestive issues.

 

And stomach acid isn't just important for digestion and the absorption of certain nutrients it's actually a really important for preventing infections.

 

As the low/acidic stomach PH, helps kill off unwanted and potentially harmful viruses, fungi, bacteria and parasites from taking over your system or overgrowing.

 

Another thing that could have been contributing to my digestive issues was my increase in soy and gluten intake, as they are often major gut irritants.

 

And because my diet consisted of mostly carbohydrates my blood sugar levels were all over the shop, which is why I felt the constant need to eat and snack to keep me going or I'd honestly fall in a heap.

 

Of course I got some healthy fats through coconut, olives/olive oil and nuts, and I'm very well aware that there is small amounts of protein in many plant based foods. Though for me this higher carb way of eating was not suiting my body.

 

Another thing was that Omega 3's found in seafoods are high sources of EPA and DHA which support mental and overall brain health, help keep inflammation at bay + so much more.

 

Now this is something I was lacking, and many vegetarians and vegans often have trouble getting enough of, because the reality is our bodies aren't as well at converting the plant based omega 3's like flaxseeds and walnuts etc into EPA and DHA. Whereas fish naturally do a really good job at that from the alge they eat.

 

Nowadays there are concentrated age oil supplements, that people can take, though that wasn't common knowledge back when I was vegan.

 

And lastly a vegan diet can also be lacking in certain B vitamins and amino acids which could have been contributing to my mouth cracks, sleep + energy issues as well and poor mental health.

 

Now this isn't to say this way of eating is terrible for your health, I feel it can be a beneficial template to follow for a short period of time.

 

As it helps people diversify their diet and brings great awareness the factory farming industry, as I definitely don’t agree with what conventional agriculture is doing to the animals, feeding them an unnatural diet of corn, wheat and soy and keeping them contained in filthy feed lots with no room to move and no daylight in sight.

 

I agree the product of that animal is unhealthy to consume physically and energetically. And it’s something I definitely DON’T support. And I also agree there is a massive over consumption of meat and animal products and not eating enough plants can of course can create an imbalance of health.

 

Though the reality is, is that veganism is still a very NEW diet.

 

Evolutionarily humans ate animal products -fish, insects, game etc for hundreds of thousands of years, not necessarily all the time but when it was available they did. It was all very cyclical, depending on the season and availability.

 

So it would literally take us millions of years to fully adapt to 100% plant based way of eating, and even then I don’t think we would be as strong and robust as the traditional hunters and gatherers. - just my opinion

 

I feel it’s also important to note that consuming animal products at times kept a lot of our ancestors alive, especially when fresh food was scarce through the winter.

 

And I think this is why some people feel really amazing initially following a vegan diet.  Because their tapping back into that cyclical way of eating, they are changing up their eating patterns and often consuming more plants. Which of course IS amazing.

 

I feel many people can go vegan for a week, a month, 3 months or up to 6 and usually feel freaking EPIC.

 

Because as I said before cyclical eating is a good idea. - Taking a break from many things, especially those that are being over consumed, typically always does the body good.

 

Though once people take this way of eating strictly long term is where I see many run into problems. Which was the case for me and many other people I know.

 

This is why many people can last a year, some last 5 and a small percentage last 10 maybe? But I don’t personally know many people who are thriving after the 10 year mark who are strictly vegan.

 

Yes I know there are of course some people out there who are, but it’s few and far between. And I just want to add that I’ve met many vegans who identify as vegan publicly but have admitted to me that they sometimes eat fish, eggs or dairy etc.

 

Now I’m not saying that to shame anyone as I know how intimidating it can be for people to admit that in vegan communities as it’s often seen as a all in or out kinda thing.

 

Also another thing I want to add is that I don’t know of any families who have generationally followed a vegan diet. Which means this way of eating is still very much an experiment for us humans.

 

Plus I think it’s important to know that what works for you now may not in 5 years or different seasons of your life. Your body needs change.

 

 

There are many people who start following a vegan diet because they care deeply about animal welfare, which is a very beautiful and honourable thing.

 

Though often they don’t realise that even while following a vegan diet, animals are still being killed to provide vegetables and fruit.

 

And that more life is actually sacrificed in the production of fruit and vegetables compared to the life that is sacrificed for meat consumption.

 

As farmers kill foxes, deer, kangaroos, mice, birds, insects + countless wild animals and reptiles etc to provide vegetables, fruit, grains and legumes etc.

 

This is done by direct killing to protect the crop from damage, plus it’s also a result of habitat loss due to clearing land for farm land. - side note: many vegans aren’t aware how damaging soy plantations are to the environment and are quickly whipping out habits, especially habits of the orangutans.

 

Another thing I didn’t realise while I was vegan, was that blood and bone of animals, fish and insects are used to create fertile soil to grow plants and without this, fruits & vegetables won’t grow.

 

I guess what I’m trying to point out here, is that there is always a life and death cycle, we must remember this.

 

I also know of many people who adopt this diet because of how conventional agriculture is creating extreme greenhouse gasses and harming the environment.

 

Which I’m not going to argue with, this way of raising animals is creating a negative impact, not only to the environment but also on the people who eat these inflamed sick animal byproducts.

 

As animals aren’t meant to be caged and fed an artificial diet of corn, wheat and soy.

 

This is why I’m such a supporter of grass fed, wild, cage-free, organic etc animal products and a massive fan of permaculture. 

 

As it’s even been now proven that permaculture (which is basically regenerative farming of plants and animals) actually has a positive effect on the environment.

 

This is why I feel it’s so unfortunate that so many people are told the only solution is to stop eating animals, which I feel is untrue. You can support the environment  and animal welfare by choosing to support organic, grass fed, small scale sustainable farming. Which is what I chose to do now.

 

Also as I touched on before soy plantations are causing massive environmental problems along with wheat and corn, which are common staples in many vegan diets.

 

This is because these mono crops are deeply affecting the health of the soil and degrading out top soil and the life in the soil itself, which is extremely detrimental to future generations. Whereas permaculture actually helps build soil health and supports diversity.

 

Okay now I wanna chat about whether or not humans are meant to eat meat, because often hear is a debate in the vegan community as to whether humans are actually designed to eat meat.

 

Some argue that our teeth structure isn’t sharp enough to rip through animal flesh unlike a tiger for example. Though us humans don’t actually need this as we have thumbs that allow us to make tools to hunt instead of relying on our teeth and claws like other carnivores. We are omnivores.

 

Another common example I hear a lot is that gorillas are incredibly strong and powerful animals and they just eat plants. So if they can do it, so can we...

 

Though the difference is, is that they have a much longer and overall larger digestive tract that also allows them do digest cellulose and often they can create some essential nutrients that we aren’t able to create, we instead need to get it through the food we eat. Plus they graze all day!!! 

 

Anthropologist have even linked eating meat to how us humans were able to become so evolved. As they have said it was due to our ability to cook food with fire and eating nutrient dense meat (yep that’s right, meat is often more nutrient dense than many plant foods... I was very surprised when I learnt that) and the cooking also helped us access more nutrition. So this combination actually allowed our stomachs to shrink and our brains to grow apparently.

 

The reality is that humans wouldn't be able to follow a vegan diet traditionally. It's only now possible since the industrial revolution, as its relient on factory made processed protein alternatives and man made vitamins like B12, iron and zinc etc.

 

Without this a vegan diet isn't often possible.

 

This is why I also feel it’s such a western movement, and in my opinion is actually a "privileged" diet because its likely not a sustainable way of eating in third world countries, because they don’t have access to the supplements.

 

And just before someone says well there are heaps of vegan restaurants in Bali. Yes this it true, but very rarely do the locals eat there...

 

I also now have a strong belief that if you have to take a supplement because your diet is absent in something such as B12 than it can't possibly be a sustainable diet for humans.

 

Plus the factory made processed fake meat alternative is not what humans are designed to eat, in my opinion.

 

 

Now I am aware that there are studies that say all sorts of things and more often than not you can find a study that says the opposite to be true of another study.

 

My belief is that if a study has enough funding and they run it enough times they can get the result they were after, allowing them to prove / disprove what they wish.

 

It makes sense in my mind that if someone on a standard diet switched to a more plant based diet they would see benefits in the short term, though it’s still unclear how this diet would play out generationally for a large population of people.

 

And when it comes to meat studies I feel the controls haven’t been set properly. As it’s not known whether the meat eating participants had a truly healthy lifestyle and what the quality of meat  they were consuming was like.

 

Questions I’d want to know is:

 

These are very important questions, as I feel they would absolutely affect the study outcomes.

 

Alright so, lastly I want to say that experimenting with a vegan diet isn’t a bad thing, as I said many people feel great with a month of it and it can encourage people to include more plant in their diet and try new food.

 

And I love that it bring awareness to the factory farming industry and encourages some people to make more sustainable choices that respect the land and the animals.

 

You can still eat meat and honour life. Sharman weren’t vegans but they honoured life completely.

 

Though I would caution anyone who tries this diet long term as it does require a lot more intentional planning to avoid deficiency.

 

I hope this was insightful for you, I did my best to pack as much as I could into this episode, though this is a MASSIVE topic that I can't possibly cover in total in one episode, though I gave it my best shot..

 

I’d love to hear your feedback on this episode, so please DM me or share your takeaways on your insta story, and tag me so I can see.

 

Much LOVE.

 

Laura