I have lived and worked with a couple of vegans. The one I lived with was a weird guy. His restricted diet seemed to be a form of mental self-flagellation; quasi-Catholic overtones mixed in with his Buddhist beliefs. One day he asked me 'Do I look like a heroin addict?', apparently some complete stranger had told him that they 'knew where he could get help' because his skin was so grey and pallid he looked like a junkie. Looking at his section in the food cupboard made my stomach literally cramp if I was already hungry. In 3 months the only things I ever saw in there were a couple of lentil bags. I don't believe that's the only thing he actually ate. I almost can't believe it.
The vegan girl I worked with had some batshit ideas about human biology. Insisted on drinking only from glass bottles containing filtered water of pH 10 (!) because it was what the human body was 'designed for'. I don't think she actually knew what pH means, let alone make a pH-calibrated solution. I tried explaining the concept of homeostasis to her and why her efforts to make her blood alkaline were largely futile; a complete waste of my energy. She also claimed water from the taps was deliberately contaminated with flourides which will poison you, hence the glass (plastic is poisonous) water bottle. She lived roughly 80 miles from the nearest source of artificially flouridated water.
I could be doing the concept of veganism a disservice, but my personal experience has been that veganism has more in common with a mental health disorder than a healthy lifestyle.
Sounds as though you met a couple stupid people who happened to be vegan. Be careful with the extrapolation.
I'll admit that issue of "morality" has been on mind as a reason as to why I'm contemplating a vegan diet, but I don't plan on taking it to the extremes of the people you mentioned. I just want advantage of the organic side of the diet, which might help not off some fat.
While there is no black and white ethical authority that ranks diets clearly and objectively, I feel there is plenty of evidence suggesting that a careful omnivorous diet can cause less harm to the environment than a vegan diet. It's much more difficult to source your food locally eating vegan, with the obvious example being protein. Most of the soy we eat comes from large scale agricultural operations that are destroying ecosystems and blah blah. There are other options of course, like beans, nuts, and seeds; but again, compared to ethically-sourced local meats, eggs and dairy the vegan diet falls a bit short on my personal scale of environmental ethics. Plus the meat and animal products will result in a healthier you.
That's not to say that going vegan doesn't have positive environmental implications. Any move away from the disgusting mass-produced meat (seasoned with suffering, hormones and antibiotics) is a huge step in the right direction. You will be responsible for less suffering if you adopt a vegan or vegetarian diet, compared to any diet with concentrated animal feeding operation meat. Which is the diet pretty much everyone eats. I know a lot of people who eat mostly clean, but no one is perfect... especially if they sometimes eat restaurant food.
Steakhouses? CAFO.
Mexican restaurants? CAFO.
Fast food? Soy protein, and CAFO.
It's awful. If you're wanting to go vegan for ethical reasons, I don't see why you wouldn't try vegetarian most of the time with some high-quality, locally/ethically-sourced meat sprinkled in. Or, I guess. I can understand, seeing as I don't eat meat myself. But for just the reasons you've given? No.
Also veganism
can be healthy, but almost never is. If your goal is to lose weight and be healthy, a more efficient and less dangerous route is cutting out all processed foods and grains. I was overweight at~ 150lbs after being a junk food vegan for years (fake meats, tons of processed soy, vegan snack foods, etc.), and managed to lose 30lbs with minimal exercise by stuffing my face with (real, grass-fed) butter. Weight loss seems to be more about what you don't eat, rather than what you eat.
If you're serious about this and want to lose weight the right way, feel free to pm me. Can give helpful links and whatever.
If you're decided on being vegan (good for you! no more CAFO meat!) please be careful, and track your nutrients very carefully, at least until you get a feel for things.
link:
https://cronometer.com/
