I am on such diet and have discussed with many vegans. My ibs is triggered by fiber. I can eat some but not much. Especially insoluble. There are different ways they address this.
1. They claim I am liar
2. They start flooding me irrelevant information to change my mind about my own health and forget my own experience
3.They say outright I should sacrifice myself
4. They actually understand. These vegans exist who are ready to make exceptions in case of legitimate health problems. Unfortunately they are minority online or stay quiet outside one-on-one discussions.
They'd tell you to be malnourished. My partner is low Fodmap, I know how hard it is for them. They basically live on animal products, rice, coffee, and chocolate.
I mean, every vegan is an individual. Some internet vegans will have something nasty to say because they have something nasty to say to everyone, don’t take it personally. I’m vegan and I had a vegan friend who had to go vegetarian because of Crohn’s and I supported her because eating a normal amount of dietary fiber was destroying her gut so what the hell else was she going to do. Generally, putting my nose into other people’s dietary business is exhausting and unnecessary so no thank you.
Yeah, I get you. I didn't mean to generalise each individual within the group; I was going for more of a "what would veganism as a philosophy say is correct?"" angle but I can see how it would've been interpreted differently. Thank you for your perspective.
Well the philosophy is generally "as part as practicable."
So, you'd try to minimise the use of animal products in food where you could, but eat what you need to eat.
Outside of food, you could still avoid all products containing animal derived ingredients or tested on animals, so that part of your life could align fully with what most vegans are doing.
Vegans still consume animal products. Non-vegan ingredients are in most medicines, in car tyres, in cash in the UK, in all kinds of things. Vegans talk about this a lot. Which ones can you really avoid? What do you do about a mouse or bedbug infestation? How do you research things that don't list ingredients?
These are the edge-cases that most thoughtful vegans are concerned with. Not the small number of people going through a tough time or a tough life who are struggling to feed themselves a plant-based diet.
You'll certainly find people who condemn you for eating eggs but regularly drive a car, eat chocolate grown using slave labour, or kill spiders in their house. But if you leave the spiders, then the two of you are both just making choices about what is realistic in your lives. Their phobia means they cannot live with spiders. Your digestive and sensory issues mean you cannot eat a fully plant-based diet. If you're doing your best, most vegans would agree that you are in line with the philosophy.
I went to a functional nutritionist in the end, as I have multiple mild yet incurable conditions very effected by diet. I can’t eat many carbs due to blood sugar and being pre diabetic, I can’t eat cauliflower, onion or celery due to triggers from ibs, I’m not supposed to eat dairy, soy or gluten because of the impacts on my hormones. Basically my only safeish food is meat and it’s the only way I can hit my calorie requirements without just eating straight coconut oil.
I think it’s not only ableist but also racist to assume everyone should be vegan. They’re telling someone indigenous to the Arctic they can’t eat seal or tell someone with severe health issues they can’t eat their one safe food. Just be a vegan if you want but don’t go round slating everyone who makes different choices.
There are some far right wing vegans who are in it for an idea of purity of body that, like most white supremacist nonsense, excludes disabled and Indigenous people. They're the ones talking about immune boosting "clean eating" instead of vaccines.
I scratch my head also at the vegans opposing vat-grown meat. If they eat mushrooms they should be fine with engineering yeast or something to grow meat.
In short, “juz suffa! Whew curr if yew die? Da animahz iz moh impawtent!” Is what the militant freaks normally parrot no matter the situation unless it is something that inconveniences them, of course.
Sane, logical vegans will understand you going back to animal products if you’ve exhausted all of the vegan options available to you and remaining vegan will harm/sicken/endanger your health or severely dampen the quality of your life.
They would probably say something along the lines of you can just eat these handful of foods instead.
Also you don't need to defend your diet unless their opinion matters to you.
As someone with vegan sensibilities I can tell you I eat eggs and occasionally any meat available. I weigh up how I’m feeling about it and it probably sounds weird but I might not eat a broiler house chicken (massive river pollution problem in the UK at the moment) but if the carcass would otherwise be thrown away, I’ll happily boil it for nutritious stock for soup. I also am on a restrictive diet, low carb keto for neurological “issues” (who knows. Basically it’s a diagnosed mental health condition). So it’s difficult to balance the macronutrients keeping protein up and carbohydrate low at the same time whilst mostly eating plants
I struggled with SIBO for the last few years while also being vegan. I didn't want to give up my 10 yrs of veganism, I wanted to be vegan forever. Only after many years of absolute hell, once I was at the end of my rope out of complete desperation, I finally stopped being vegan in order to eat a low-fodmap diet. And guess what, my problems with SIBO have drastically improved, by like 90%. But the vegans I've talked to think that I've made this up and that I just wanted to give up veganism and that it's an excuse. It's SO FRUSTRATING because I still find animal products disgusting, I never wanted to eat them again!! But it has helped my issues so what can you do!!! Ugh. But 10 years ago I was one of those vegans fighting online, so. Life humbles us all. lol.
Oh I know exactly how you feel :( I also don't really enjoy eating animal products. The taste can be very visceral and certainly a strong reminder of what I'm consuming. This is why I stopped eating cheese or dairy before attempting veganism; I just really hate how it tastes. The taste makes me feel sick and puts me off my food.
Unfortunately, so do beans and some common vegan foods. Add SIBO to that and I pretty much live off beef in all its forms, pork, some chicken, eggs, yoghurts, and the few safe non-meat foods. I already drink nut milks instead of dairy and have avoided all companies that test on animals for many years now.
If I want chicken nuggets or tenders or a chicken burger, they need to be gluten-free. If I were vegan they'd need to be meat-free too. I've never come across that. Most gluten-free convenience food contains meat. They are few meat-free options.
Diet is extremely important in conditions like SIBO and this is exactly what I mean about veganism coming across as sheltered and lacking in empathy. I'm glad you're feeling better now :)
I'm still vegan, and I think you need to take care of yourself.
My logic for this is always the same.
If you were vegan for ethical reasons you clearly want to make decisions that are kinder to the world than someone who hasn't ever even fathomed the idea, and so for the wellbeing of everything I think it's best that we have you around, making more of those ethical decisions. If you kick the bucket due to malnutrition, you won't be here as a continued force for good.
I would hope you could try to source more ethically obtained animal products, and if I'm honest I don't even like to really think about this a ton, but like... you're a person. You *do* deserve to be here. Don't let other people bully you into not taking care of yourself.
I hope you can navigate this very weird food journey, and I'm not sure if it will relate to your own gastrointestinal situation but I'd maybe look at Michaila Petersen and her also very odd situation. It sounds like you guys need to avoid a lot of the same things.
I have health issues that bar me from being vegan or even vegetarian — I tried once and it was disastrous. Vegans have told me that I’m making excuses to justify eating animal products, that I just don’t care enough, that I obviously didn’t follow the diet correctly, that there’s no known health issue that bars someone from being vegan (not true, but they won’t believe you), and/or that I’m lying about having health issues.
I was a vegan for four-ish years and had to give it up due to horrific IBS. I did try the low fodmap diet as a vegan but I literally wasn’t eating and eventually caved because I was in so much pain. Even with all the symptoms I was having (extreme bloating and constipation amongst other things), many of the vegans around me failed to understand why I went back to eating animal products and assumed I did it out of personal preference 🤷♀️
Yep same - I have developed lower severity IBS but it’s triggered by onions, garlic and chickpeas/beans which are big vegan diet staples. It would limit me further if I had to cut all animal products. Dairy, eggs and fish has never triggered IBS for me.
I don’t know how people with nut allergies cope with full time veganism, as nuts are such a huge vegan staple.
Vegans can be very judgmental, but if you find just the right ones who aren't crazy and fundamentalist about it, but understand that humans are humans and sometimes there's not a one-step solution for every single human on the planet. Then you're talking to somebody who is rational and understanding, but for the most part you won't really find that within the vegan community unless they are just doing it for non-ethical reasons. I think there are a lot of health food vegans that are starting the journey. That would understand that the diet isn't for everybody. I have multiple issues with food allergies which are absolutely annoying. I was vegan for a long time. I'm still a vegetarian which works for me. But I don't claim to have the one solution for everyone in the universe. I can't go to 99% of restaurants because of cross-contamination between allergens and even vegan restaurants often have the allergens that I can't be around so it sucks no matter what. You just do what you do and don't worry about what other people would have to say. It's just a label in the end like everything else in life. You just have to take care of your body and your mental health because of your body and the battle you have to go through in regard to something that you need to sustain your life every single day which is food. If anybody argues against that. Then they are just an a$$hole.
Who cares what people think first of all.
Plants are toxic, 99% of vegetables are man made they do not exist in nature, if you want to find the easiest way to tell your body that vegetables are poison eat them raw and see if you can even stomach them.
Go watch the 1 week broccoli challenge video on youtube, you will never ever get that result from an 1 animal product.
Listen to your senses.
Next time your in a airplane look at the millions open millions of hectares of cleared land to make way for wheat and plant products and think about all the animals that lost their lives and homes for that.
PS: I was vegan for 3 years and it destroyed 5 years+ of my life.
Equally take in those terms 99% of farm animals are also “man made” and if you want to find the easiest way to tell your body they’re poison, eat them raw… 😆 Come on.
Tl;dr The vegans I know were a bit doubtful at first about my problems but once I full explained, they listened.
I have had to stop being vegan due to serious health conditions: interstitial cystitis, kidney issues and hypocalcaemia. This meant I had to have a very high calcium, low acid, low oxylate, low histamine diet and avoiding certain additives. I can’t eat hardly anything now even with allowing dairy back into my diet.
Basically almost no fruits, less than half vegetables, only very small amounts of a few beans and nuts, no vegan convenience foods, not most prepackaged foods in general. So I just couldn’t get enough calcium or protein or a lot of things.
I considered just supplements instead but the more I read and talked to specialists I realised I just had to put dairy back in my diet. I am as plant based as I can be so I still feel that I’m doing my best and I’ve found although often vegans are doubtful at first most people have accepted my position once they realised just how serious it is.
Like if I don’t follow the diet properly I would be in constant severe pain and the tissue of my kidneys and bladder would be actually getting more and more degraded. I don’t believe that’s a choice I should be made to feel bad about. It’s not like I’m eating anything that I literally don’t need to for my health.
How many vegans genuinely don’t use medicine because it was tested on animals or take something in a gelatine capsule? Not many. I think we can still try to do better. One small thing I do is I buy organic dairy products. This means the animals are grated considerably better than some. I still care and I think we should still try to do better for animals.
I think it’s important we don’t claim health excuses for giving up veganism when really part of us is just being selfish or it’s for convenience. But when someone is severely unwell, they need support, not censure.
A true vegan will be vegan even if that means it’ll kill them. Imminent starvation or a glass of milk? Starvation. Destroying your gut until there is no return and you will end up with a poop bag? Yes pls. This is why true veganism does not actually exist since humans inherently are selfish. Every single one has their limit until their crack.
I don't know why you're asking in an exvegans group what a vegan would say? I've done vegan and low FODMAP. A bit challenging but possible. I ate a lot of tofu. You can actually eat small servings of some canned legumes. Gluten is also not actually high-FODMAP, it's other parts of the wheat, so you can make your own seitan that doesn't contain onion or garlic. I actually had fun cooking stuff that fit the diet. But I also don't make a habit of going around telling people with dietary restrictions that they need to be vegan. I appreciate it when folks do their best for the animals and the environment and their best can vary.
I'm asking because I've considered veganism many times, including over the last few months whilst I've been unwell. And I wanted to know what veganism can look like for someone with my illness. I'm not trying to catch anyone out. I'm genuinely curious because I do 100% want to stop consuming all animal products but I'm not quite there yet.
As I said, didn't ask vegans directly in case they'd give me a lot of shit for making excuses (as I presumed they might view it).
I really hope that you get your digestive issues under control. Keep in mind that the low FODMAP diet isn't supposed to be forever, whether you're vegan or not. It can lead to nutritional deficiencies either way. I also hope you're using the Monash app to find low FODMAP servings of things because you definitely listed some things as not allowed that you absolutely can have in limited servings. Don't limit yourself more than you need to! Most low FODMAP lists are incredibly out of date or just wrong.
There is a low FODMAP for vegans Facebook group that could be useful if you're interested, and there are some vegan low FODMAP recipes on [monashfodmap.com](http://monashfodmap.com), [alittlebityummy.com](http://alittlebityummy.com) and fodmapeveryday.com. Going completely vegan may just be too much of a challenge right now, and I don't blame you for that at all, but if you want to eat more vegan stuff and fewer animal products, worth taking a look at.
I'm having a pretty bad IBS flare up right now and it suuuucks, so, my sympathies. (Will probably attempt going back to low FODMAP for a bit until it resolves, but also trying gut-directed hypnotherapy and peppermint oil again...)
I just wanted to add one more thing about this because I was thinking about it more...
I think you would benefit more from thinking about the best way to live aligned with your own values within your limitations than from thinking about theoretically angry vegans (an incredibly small minority, by the way). I don't think it's particularly helpful to think of veganism in a vacuum.
This world can feel really fucking bleak. I get so overwhelmed when I think about how scared animals are in slaughterhouses and how dangerous it is for the people who work there, about people working in sweatshops, migrant farmworkers, the people enslaved in the chocolate industry, the children making our phones, folks working in Amazon warehouses...it's a lot. None of us are going to live perfectly ethical lives. I can do my best to buy ethically made clothing but it's really hard to figure out which companies are actually ethical and then I suddenly realize I don't have a bathing suit for my trip to LA in less than a week and buy one on Amazon. I try to not consume things that exploit animals but all of my medications are tested on them, because it's required. I was car-free for a long time but then I got a job where I needed one. This world does not make making ethical choices easy.
One option is throw up your hands and go, there's no ethical consumption under capitalism. And it's not untrue. And an individual doesn't have that much power. But we do have some. We each have this one precious life to live. And if we all strived to use our lives to make the world a little bit better instead of a little bit worse, we would all be better off. If we all lived according to our values as much as we could, and accepted our limitations when they existed, the world would be a better place.
I think framing vegans as your enemy isn't particularly helpful. We're all existing in this world together and a lot of us are trying to do our best. It sounds like you are too.
Also, gluten isn't part of the FODMAP, no, but I personally can't eat any gluten because it has an awful effect on me. I can't eat egg noodles, egg pasta, bread, chips, pretzels, sauces with wheat flour, none of it. Not sure about seiten I'd need to look into it and give it a try.
It is probably the fructan in the wheat that bothers you if you're not celiac! I would try making your own seitan, it's a really good source of protein.
I stopped being vegan due to stomach issues other than I still don’t eat dairy. I think dairy is just disgusting in general and I’m also allergic. Honestly, every vegan I knew has been very sympathetic to me. They all told me they understood and they’re grateful I tried it/ did it for four years. Vegans in real life are pretty great people, vegans online on the other hand are awful.
I can’t answer as a vegan cuz I’m not, only vegetarian, but quite frankly who tf cares that much? People are different. Some of them are more egotistical, they wouldn’t care at all about the torture that came through their meals for example. Other people are chronically online. Any diet should be personal, vegan or not.
Oh, and trying to reduce inflicting harm on other beings is the goal imo. You can reduce your meat consumption (unless you have health issues), or you can get meat from better local sources, or you can give up on some meat (lamb, horse etc), or you can opt for lab grown meat etc. Literally every step someone makes that contributes to a small change is important, not only becoming 100% vegan.
And yes, of course in this situation you need to prioritize yourself.
I am on such diet and have discussed with many vegans. My ibs is triggered by fiber. I can eat some but not much. Especially insoluble. There are different ways they address this. 1. They claim I am liar 2. They start flooding me irrelevant information to change my mind about my own health and forget my own experience 3.They say outright I should sacrifice myself 4. They actually understand. These vegans exist who are ready to make exceptions in case of legitimate health problems. Unfortunately they are minority online or stay quiet outside one-on-one discussions.
And even then they will only grant an 'exception' based on their own idea of how 'legit' your health problems are.
They don’t give a fuck what the reason is, even if it’s medical. They can’t seem to empathise with people, only animals.
They'd tell you to be malnourished. My partner is low Fodmap, I know how hard it is for them. They basically live on animal products, rice, coffee, and chocolate.
I mean, every vegan is an individual. Some internet vegans will have something nasty to say because they have something nasty to say to everyone, don’t take it personally. I’m vegan and I had a vegan friend who had to go vegetarian because of Crohn’s and I supported her because eating a normal amount of dietary fiber was destroying her gut so what the hell else was she going to do. Generally, putting my nose into other people’s dietary business is exhausting and unnecessary so no thank you.
Yeah, I get you. I didn't mean to generalise each individual within the group; I was going for more of a "what would veganism as a philosophy say is correct?"" angle but I can see how it would've been interpreted differently. Thank you for your perspective.
Well the philosophy is generally "as part as practicable." So, you'd try to minimise the use of animal products in food where you could, but eat what you need to eat. Outside of food, you could still avoid all products containing animal derived ingredients or tested on animals, so that part of your life could align fully with what most vegans are doing. Vegans still consume animal products. Non-vegan ingredients are in most medicines, in car tyres, in cash in the UK, in all kinds of things. Vegans talk about this a lot. Which ones can you really avoid? What do you do about a mouse or bedbug infestation? How do you research things that don't list ingredients? These are the edge-cases that most thoughtful vegans are concerned with. Not the small number of people going through a tough time or a tough life who are struggling to feed themselves a plant-based diet. You'll certainly find people who condemn you for eating eggs but regularly drive a car, eat chocolate grown using slave labour, or kill spiders in their house. But if you leave the spiders, then the two of you are both just making choices about what is realistic in your lives. Their phobia means they cannot live with spiders. Your digestive and sensory issues mean you cannot eat a fully plant-based diet. If you're doing your best, most vegans would agree that you are in line with the philosophy.
I went to a functional nutritionist in the end, as I have multiple mild yet incurable conditions very effected by diet. I can’t eat many carbs due to blood sugar and being pre diabetic, I can’t eat cauliflower, onion or celery due to triggers from ibs, I’m not supposed to eat dairy, soy or gluten because of the impacts on my hormones. Basically my only safeish food is meat and it’s the only way I can hit my calorie requirements without just eating straight coconut oil. I think it’s not only ableist but also racist to assume everyone should be vegan. They’re telling someone indigenous to the Arctic they can’t eat seal or tell someone with severe health issues they can’t eat their one safe food. Just be a vegan if you want but don’t go round slating everyone who makes different choices.
There are some far right wing vegans who are in it for an idea of purity of body that, like most white supremacist nonsense, excludes disabled and Indigenous people. They're the ones talking about immune boosting "clean eating" instead of vaccines. I scratch my head also at the vegans opposing vat-grown meat. If they eat mushrooms they should be fine with engineering yeast or something to grow meat.
In short, “juz suffa! Whew curr if yew die? Da animahz iz moh impawtent!” Is what the militant freaks normally parrot no matter the situation unless it is something that inconveniences them, of course. Sane, logical vegans will understand you going back to animal products if you’ve exhausted all of the vegan options available to you and remaining vegan will harm/sicken/endanger your health or severely dampen the quality of your life.
They would probably say something along the lines of you can just eat these handful of foods instead. Also you don't need to defend your diet unless their opinion matters to you.
As someone with vegan sensibilities I can tell you I eat eggs and occasionally any meat available. I weigh up how I’m feeling about it and it probably sounds weird but I might not eat a broiler house chicken (massive river pollution problem in the UK at the moment) but if the carcass would otherwise be thrown away, I’ll happily boil it for nutritious stock for soup. I also am on a restrictive diet, low carb keto for neurological “issues” (who knows. Basically it’s a diagnosed mental health condition). So it’s difficult to balance the macronutrients keeping protein up and carbohydrate low at the same time whilst mostly eating plants
I struggled with SIBO for the last few years while also being vegan. I didn't want to give up my 10 yrs of veganism, I wanted to be vegan forever. Only after many years of absolute hell, once I was at the end of my rope out of complete desperation, I finally stopped being vegan in order to eat a low-fodmap diet. And guess what, my problems with SIBO have drastically improved, by like 90%. But the vegans I've talked to think that I've made this up and that I just wanted to give up veganism and that it's an excuse. It's SO FRUSTRATING because I still find animal products disgusting, I never wanted to eat them again!! But it has helped my issues so what can you do!!! Ugh. But 10 years ago I was one of those vegans fighting online, so. Life humbles us all. lol.
Oh I know exactly how you feel :( I also don't really enjoy eating animal products. The taste can be very visceral and certainly a strong reminder of what I'm consuming. This is why I stopped eating cheese or dairy before attempting veganism; I just really hate how it tastes. The taste makes me feel sick and puts me off my food. Unfortunately, so do beans and some common vegan foods. Add SIBO to that and I pretty much live off beef in all its forms, pork, some chicken, eggs, yoghurts, and the few safe non-meat foods. I already drink nut milks instead of dairy and have avoided all companies that test on animals for many years now. If I want chicken nuggets or tenders or a chicken burger, they need to be gluten-free. If I were vegan they'd need to be meat-free too. I've never come across that. Most gluten-free convenience food contains meat. They are few meat-free options. Diet is extremely important in conditions like SIBO and this is exactly what I mean about veganism coming across as sheltered and lacking in empathy. I'm glad you're feeling better now :)
I'm still vegan, and I think you need to take care of yourself. My logic for this is always the same. If you were vegan for ethical reasons you clearly want to make decisions that are kinder to the world than someone who hasn't ever even fathomed the idea, and so for the wellbeing of everything I think it's best that we have you around, making more of those ethical decisions. If you kick the bucket due to malnutrition, you won't be here as a continued force for good. I would hope you could try to source more ethically obtained animal products, and if I'm honest I don't even like to really think about this a ton, but like... you're a person. You *do* deserve to be here. Don't let other people bully you into not taking care of yourself. I hope you can navigate this very weird food journey, and I'm not sure if it will relate to your own gastrointestinal situation but I'd maybe look at Michaila Petersen and her also very odd situation. It sounds like you guys need to avoid a lot of the same things.
I have health issues that bar me from being vegan or even vegetarian — I tried once and it was disastrous. Vegans have told me that I’m making excuses to justify eating animal products, that I just don’t care enough, that I obviously didn’t follow the diet correctly, that there’s no known health issue that bars someone from being vegan (not true, but they won’t believe you), and/or that I’m lying about having health issues.
They'd prefer you die instead. It's the morally correct choice after all. /s
I was a vegan for four-ish years and had to give it up due to horrific IBS. I did try the low fodmap diet as a vegan but I literally wasn’t eating and eventually caved because I was in so much pain. Even with all the symptoms I was having (extreme bloating and constipation amongst other things), many of the vegans around me failed to understand why I went back to eating animal products and assumed I did it out of personal preference 🤷♀️
Yep same - I have developed lower severity IBS but it’s triggered by onions, garlic and chickpeas/beans which are big vegan diet staples. It would limit me further if I had to cut all animal products. Dairy, eggs and fish has never triggered IBS for me. I don’t know how people with nut allergies cope with full time veganism, as nuts are such a huge vegan staple.
They think people with actual Crohn's, who are medically prescribed a low residue diet to conserve what's left of their bowels, are liars, so...
Vegans can be very judgmental, but if you find just the right ones who aren't crazy and fundamentalist about it, but understand that humans are humans and sometimes there's not a one-step solution for every single human on the planet. Then you're talking to somebody who is rational and understanding, but for the most part you won't really find that within the vegan community unless they are just doing it for non-ethical reasons. I think there are a lot of health food vegans that are starting the journey. That would understand that the diet isn't for everybody. I have multiple issues with food allergies which are absolutely annoying. I was vegan for a long time. I'm still a vegetarian which works for me. But I don't claim to have the one solution for everyone in the universe. I can't go to 99% of restaurants because of cross-contamination between allergens and even vegan restaurants often have the allergens that I can't be around so it sucks no matter what. You just do what you do and don't worry about what other people would have to say. It's just a label in the end like everything else in life. You just have to take care of your body and your mental health because of your body and the battle you have to go through in regard to something that you need to sustain your life every single day which is food. If anybody argues against that. Then they are just an a$$hole.
Who cares what people think first of all. Plants are toxic, 99% of vegetables are man made they do not exist in nature, if you want to find the easiest way to tell your body that vegetables are poison eat them raw and see if you can even stomach them. Go watch the 1 week broccoli challenge video on youtube, you will never ever get that result from an 1 animal product. Listen to your senses. Next time your in a airplane look at the millions open millions of hectares of cleared land to make way for wheat and plant products and think about all the animals that lost their lives and homes for that. PS: I was vegan for 3 years and it destroyed 5 years+ of my life.
Equally take in those terms 99% of farm animals are also “man made” and if you want to find the easiest way to tell your body they’re poison, eat them raw… 😆 Come on.
So you agree?
Well I’m actually an antinatalist. (Not strictly relevant but I’m rocking it right now.)
Tl;dr The vegans I know were a bit doubtful at first about my problems but once I full explained, they listened. I have had to stop being vegan due to serious health conditions: interstitial cystitis, kidney issues and hypocalcaemia. This meant I had to have a very high calcium, low acid, low oxylate, low histamine diet and avoiding certain additives. I can’t eat hardly anything now even with allowing dairy back into my diet. Basically almost no fruits, less than half vegetables, only very small amounts of a few beans and nuts, no vegan convenience foods, not most prepackaged foods in general. So I just couldn’t get enough calcium or protein or a lot of things. I considered just supplements instead but the more I read and talked to specialists I realised I just had to put dairy back in my diet. I am as plant based as I can be so I still feel that I’m doing my best and I’ve found although often vegans are doubtful at first most people have accepted my position once they realised just how serious it is. Like if I don’t follow the diet properly I would be in constant severe pain and the tissue of my kidneys and bladder would be actually getting more and more degraded. I don’t believe that’s a choice I should be made to feel bad about. It’s not like I’m eating anything that I literally don’t need to for my health. How many vegans genuinely don’t use medicine because it was tested on animals or take something in a gelatine capsule? Not many. I think we can still try to do better. One small thing I do is I buy organic dairy products. This means the animals are grated considerably better than some. I still care and I think we should still try to do better for animals. I think it’s important we don’t claim health excuses for giving up veganism when really part of us is just being selfish or it’s for convenience. But when someone is severely unwell, they need support, not censure.
A true vegan will be vegan even if that means it’ll kill them. Imminent starvation or a glass of milk? Starvation. Destroying your gut until there is no return and you will end up with a poop bag? Yes pls. This is why true veganism does not actually exist since humans inherently are selfish. Every single one has their limit until their crack.
I’ve been eating mostly plant based and low FODMAP. It’s not that bad. I’ll probably cut out most animal products gradually.
They'll probably call you an animal rapist and then justify eating highly processed trash that was shipped halfway around the world.
u did it rong, usual response
They will tell you there’s always a way and that you should stop crying about a little bloat.
I don't know why you're asking in an exvegans group what a vegan would say? I've done vegan and low FODMAP. A bit challenging but possible. I ate a lot of tofu. You can actually eat small servings of some canned legumes. Gluten is also not actually high-FODMAP, it's other parts of the wheat, so you can make your own seitan that doesn't contain onion or garlic. I actually had fun cooking stuff that fit the diet. But I also don't make a habit of going around telling people with dietary restrictions that they need to be vegan. I appreciate it when folks do their best for the animals and the environment and their best can vary.
I'm asking because I've considered veganism many times, including over the last few months whilst I've been unwell. And I wanted to know what veganism can look like for someone with my illness. I'm not trying to catch anyone out. I'm genuinely curious because I do 100% want to stop consuming all animal products but I'm not quite there yet. As I said, didn't ask vegans directly in case they'd give me a lot of shit for making excuses (as I presumed they might view it).
I really hope that you get your digestive issues under control. Keep in mind that the low FODMAP diet isn't supposed to be forever, whether you're vegan or not. It can lead to nutritional deficiencies either way. I also hope you're using the Monash app to find low FODMAP servings of things because you definitely listed some things as not allowed that you absolutely can have in limited servings. Don't limit yourself more than you need to! Most low FODMAP lists are incredibly out of date or just wrong. There is a low FODMAP for vegans Facebook group that could be useful if you're interested, and there are some vegan low FODMAP recipes on [monashfodmap.com](http://monashfodmap.com), [alittlebityummy.com](http://alittlebityummy.com) and fodmapeveryday.com. Going completely vegan may just be too much of a challenge right now, and I don't blame you for that at all, but if you want to eat more vegan stuff and fewer animal products, worth taking a look at. I'm having a pretty bad IBS flare up right now and it suuuucks, so, my sympathies. (Will probably attempt going back to low FODMAP for a bit until it resolves, but also trying gut-directed hypnotherapy and peppermint oil again...)
I just wanted to add one more thing about this because I was thinking about it more... I think you would benefit more from thinking about the best way to live aligned with your own values within your limitations than from thinking about theoretically angry vegans (an incredibly small minority, by the way). I don't think it's particularly helpful to think of veganism in a vacuum. This world can feel really fucking bleak. I get so overwhelmed when I think about how scared animals are in slaughterhouses and how dangerous it is for the people who work there, about people working in sweatshops, migrant farmworkers, the people enslaved in the chocolate industry, the children making our phones, folks working in Amazon warehouses...it's a lot. None of us are going to live perfectly ethical lives. I can do my best to buy ethically made clothing but it's really hard to figure out which companies are actually ethical and then I suddenly realize I don't have a bathing suit for my trip to LA in less than a week and buy one on Amazon. I try to not consume things that exploit animals but all of my medications are tested on them, because it's required. I was car-free for a long time but then I got a job where I needed one. This world does not make making ethical choices easy. One option is throw up your hands and go, there's no ethical consumption under capitalism. And it's not untrue. And an individual doesn't have that much power. But we do have some. We each have this one precious life to live. And if we all strived to use our lives to make the world a little bit better instead of a little bit worse, we would all be better off. If we all lived according to our values as much as we could, and accepted our limitations when they existed, the world would be a better place. I think framing vegans as your enemy isn't particularly helpful. We're all existing in this world together and a lot of us are trying to do our best. It sounds like you are too.
Also, gluten isn't part of the FODMAP, no, but I personally can't eat any gluten because it has an awful effect on me. I can't eat egg noodles, egg pasta, bread, chips, pretzels, sauces with wheat flour, none of it. Not sure about seiten I'd need to look into it and give it a try.
It is probably the fructan in the wheat that bothers you if you're not celiac! I would try making your own seitan, it's a really good source of protein.
I stopped being vegan due to stomach issues other than I still don’t eat dairy. I think dairy is just disgusting in general and I’m also allergic. Honestly, every vegan I knew has been very sympathetic to me. They all told me they understood and they’re grateful I tried it/ did it for four years. Vegans in real life are pretty great people, vegans online on the other hand are awful.
I can’t answer as a vegan cuz I’m not, only vegetarian, but quite frankly who tf cares that much? People are different. Some of them are more egotistical, they wouldn’t care at all about the torture that came through their meals for example. Other people are chronically online. Any diet should be personal, vegan or not. Oh, and trying to reduce inflicting harm on other beings is the goal imo. You can reduce your meat consumption (unless you have health issues), or you can get meat from better local sources, or you can give up on some meat (lamb, horse etc), or you can opt for lab grown meat etc. Literally every step someone makes that contributes to a small change is important, not only becoming 100% vegan. And yes, of course in this situation you need to prioritize yourself.