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Vegan, paleo, meatless Monday’s, intermittent fasting- thoughts?

Dolphin 4 Mar 19
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17 comments

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0

Omnivore here. Eat what you want, whether it's yummy yes-there-is-a-god-bacon or pure vegan.

2

Whatever you fancy. I won't tell other people what to eat.
However, I observe quite a lot of paranoia, unfounded beliefs, and opinions that border on religious fundamentalism when it comes to food and I find that a little disturbing. Suddenly, nobody can tolerate glute any more. Except of course those vegans who buy cheese substitute that is almost 100% gluten. People are eating extremely restricted diets only to buy and ingest huge amounts of supplements. People are concerned about almost every food in existence, some are paranoid.
The fact is that in our developed countries, and in these days, the food is as nutritious and healty as it is nowhere else on the globe and as it was never before in human history. Our problem is not the quality of the food, it is the quantity. The quantity we eat and even worse, the quantity we throw away.
Just don't binge and especially don't binge on sugar, have some variation and you will be fine.

There's some good evidence out there that processed wheat products are almost as bad for you as refined sugar. My doctor and my children's doctors have all recommended that we cut way down on wheat products and refined sugar and it's had great benefits for us,though none of us are gluten intolerant.

@Blindbird I have yet to see that evidence, or even a proper definition of what the often used term "processed" is actually supposed to mean. Harvesting my own wheat, grinding it and baking my own bread is also some heavy form of processing. So in order to make a reasonable statement it would be necessary to say what kind of processing or addition are "bad for me". Speaking of which we also would need a proper definition of "bad for me". Water is bad for me if I get too much of it or if it is the only thing I eat.
Usually, when we look closer it turns out that a) things are more complicated than originally though and b) hundreds if not thousands of intelligent people already had a close look because they do it for their living or want to get a scientific degree.

@josmi6699 [hsph.harvard.edu]

Things are in fact "more complicated than one might at first think". As the article states things marked whole grain are not always what they would seem. Thus taking processed grains out of ones diet is the safest (and laziest)option.

4

Gluten-free vegan here.

IF is amazing. I feel sharp and focused when I fast.

Me too

3

I maintain a vegetarian diet with very little processed sugar, and I sometimes adopt a much stricter raw, plant-based, whole-foods diet. I used to fast, though I haven't in a while. I'd do a few days up to a few weeks drinking juice, tea, and water, the idea being that my body would repair damage more effectively if there weren't much digestion to interrupt other metabolic processes (because digestion takes a great deal of energy). Whether it worked is debatable, though I'm convinced a plant-based, whole-foods diet is extremely healthful.

1

NOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo0000000000000oooooooooo! I'm a big believer of everything in moderation, not that I adhere to that principal. I love veggies but they are lonely without meat. I can deal with fasting.

5

As someone afflicted with type 2 diabetes, it’s recemmended that I not take part in extended (5+days) fasting. What I have found in maintaining a strict plat-based diet is that my body becomes less insulin resistant and I no longer need to take any of the meds I would otherwise have to take to maintain healthy blood sugar. When my licensed medical provider saw the results of my blood work, he discontinued all of my diabetes meds.

3

If if works for you go for it..

1

Its mostly bullshit but not having food one day a week is supposed to clean your plunning out.

2

Will tackle intermittent fasting, then perhaps the others another time. I am speaking mainly from personal experience with a milder version (12 hrs fasting plus an occasional skipping of a meal here and there) PROS: Ability to comply with the diet over a long period (months) feels easy, and it simplifies things when you don't have to inconveniently eat every few hrs. Perhaps an hour after hunger begins to set in, it goes away despite eating nothing, and it seems your blood sugar stabilizes so you don't crave much. It's also convenient for using either before or after you overindulge (special occasions or occassional lapses). You can lose a lot of weight without requiring so much willpower. I feel it's good for all but the final 5-10 lbs. CONS: I didn't like the way my face began to look once I had lost the first 10 lbs. and had only 5-10 more to go. I have heard of others experiencing this also. I feel I could have maintained more muscle mass had I eaten more frequently, especially near bedtime. It began to get difficult to comply with after several months on it and and being within 5-10 lbs of target weight. SIDE NOTE: On either diet you will experience less cravings/hunger if you minimize refined carbs.

1

I fast daily..skipping noon meal and only having an early breakfast, then evening meal.

I also avoid animal products, processed, and cooked food, except a small amount of fish for breakfast, and a boiled egg at night.

2

I'm strictly keto

@sarahjustme hey I'm doing keto currently too. 🙂

5

I'm a vegan and I think it was one of my best decisions to become a vegan. I used to have serious Asthma, and sinus problems. At the VA I was sent to see the nutrtionist. I told her I was eating pizza a couple of times each week. She recommended I stop eating cheese completely. I took her advice and after a couple of weeks I noticed that my sinuses were clear and I wasn't wheezing from Asthma. So I stopped eating all dairy products including eggs. I was never much of a meat eater and I soon drifted into veganism. My health is so much better. I get blood tests at the VA when I go to see my primary care doctor. All my numbers are greatly improved.

3

I like fasting, it seems like I get mental clarity.

@Robin1970 the same happened to me. I was also very energetic and never groggy.

2

I tried to go vegan after doing a fruit and veggie fasting. Vegan is hard. Kudos to anyone who goes for it. Then I did a little research and found the word pescatarian. Basically eats no meat, except fish. That one works for me. I say if you have good reasons and you're ready for a life change, go for it. Meatless Mondays has good intentions but I don't think it makes a difference. Fasting helps as a cleans but not really good to lose weight because once you start solids again you will gain. It's not fun to yo-yo diet. I don't know anything about paleo.

You only gain if you binge, try eating only veggies or veggies and protein when you come off fasting

The term "clean" is often used by people promoting diets, especially diets that include fasting or limiting the choice of food to just a few things, but nutritionally it does not make any sense at all. There is not "cleaning". It is just a term that has been planted into us to make us feel nice and clean and healthy and good. The opposite is often factually true. A long time ago a friend of mine kept telling me how he "cleaned" his digestive system by eating nothing but fruit juice for days. The result was that he completely upset his intestines by killing most of the symbiotic bacteria (ughh germs!!!) in his intestine and also irritating it with all the fruit juice acid without giving it anything else to do what it is made to be doing.

@josmi6699 Just fruit alone is not good. But when you mix in the healthy veggies, it can be beneficial. I got the idea from watching "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead". Also, probiotics help cleanse you. That is advised by a bariatric doctor. It's not good to do it all the time, but I think it's good to do it every so often.

2

I did the vegetarian thing from 19-31 years of age. Could never go vegan ❤️?
Tried Paleo last year (Wheat Belly) for about 3 months. Lost a little weight but realized it was a diet you’d have to be on for the rest of your life and I knew I personally couldn’t do that. And my teen son is vegetarian and my husband is practically vegetarian so that just wasn’t going to work in this house. When my really skinny step son goes off to college later this year, at least my husband will hopefully stop buying all the great sweets.

2

Paleo had significant health benefits for me personally and there's some strong evidence that intermittent fasting is beneficial.

1

No, thank you.

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