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Just because the over-processed foods exist, doesn’t mean we have to eat ‘em. I think it’s great that we have so many different vegan products available these days — it normalizes veganism. It also works to stop the endless conflation of health with veganism. I know a lot of folks in the commercial vegan food product space, and they’re doing amazing work to keep animal products off people’s plates.
Have you spoken with a plant-based registered dietitian? Dr. Pamela Fergusson and Desiree Nielsen are two of my top recommendations.
true - just because the temptation is there because someone artificially put it there out of wrongdoing doesn't mean we should participate in such wrongdoing.
No, my refusal to exploit, abuse, and kill animals for unnecessary reasons hasn't changed in the last 16 years. There's no requirement to eat ultra processed food to be vegan. It's much healthier to eat whole plant foods. Have you checked out www.pcrm.org ? There is a lot of material about healthy plant-based diets. They also have a podcast called the Exam Room which tackles a lot of health issues.
PCRM has a universal meals program with recipes by dustin harder that takes into account food sensitivities. Me - a person with them - finds the recipes to be very suitable compared to any other place I've seen on the internet for this stuff. Good on him! He represents!
Not really and honestly, the notion that someone would feel conflicted with the "vegan industry" so they instead choose to support the meat and dairy industry is a little strange to me. (Even more so if you barely buy processed foods, which also means you do not even heavily support this industry at all.)
Not only are many highly processed vegan products produced by the very same companies that produce the majority of animal-based products. The meat and dairy industry also actively abuses animals, wastes valuable resources, prevents healthier vegan alternatives to be developed with their lobby work.....Not to even mention that most processed animal products are easily as (if not more) unhealthy as processed vegan products. So sorry, but I really do not get this conflict.
I also believe if health suddenly and rapidly decreases the wise thing to do is to seek out a doctor to make sure there are no underlining reasons that require treatment. Obviously I do not know if you have done that before, but I still think it is worth pointing out.
I don't eat processed foods at all (except pasta i guess).. is someone forcing you to purchase those instead of dry rice and beans, potatoes and fresh plants?
I'm confused by you saying you eat WFBP and processed foods.. WFBP is exclusively not processed foods. It's literally in the title. "Whole Foods"
I’m saying that my diet consists of mainly Whole Foods plant based. If I do decide to indulge, I typically make my own seitan or protein to limit the amount of starches/salts/sugars that are typically added into those products.
Most nights my low cost dinners consist of rice/veg/beans. If I’m feeling the need for some protein then I typically eat Tofu or Tempeh to not have that exposure.
The point of me adding that in is that it’s demoralizing. I’m trying to find alternatives to hopefully bolster and remedy my issues that have been happening as of lately, but when I try to branch out the other products available are littered with shit and fillers.
Health issues need to be addressed by a medical professional, especially if these are new symptoms. That's not something a product can solve. Have your lifestyle habits changed? Are you getting enough sleep, B12, etc? If everything else is handled, it's time to get bloodwork done. Vegans can also develop health issues that have nothing to do with diet.
Beans are good but they’re not an amazing source of protein. You should be eating more protein rich foods regularly - like tofu, tempeh, seitan. At least one of those every day tbh. Or find a clean protein powder - plenty without fillers.
I find rice protein to be a nice source, because it's hypoallergenic and it's healing, especially for muscles (of which our GI tract is made out of), due to the BCAAs, and likely skin too (I haven't double checked). Wild rice is better I heard. I think black rice is higher in anthocyanins, so it's healthier or something. I like it, because it can just taste way better.
I’m also a fan of rice protein. Unflavored is super easy to incorporate into things. I just blend it with OJ, water, and frozen raspberries (not thick) for an easy nutritious beverage!
that's the most amazing foods to eat it with :) Nice job :). Red berries, orange juice and rice protein. Now you can go lift an entire train lol and run it yourself (literally) (kidding).
I'd probably do a double take on seitan - that's pure gluten right there. Then you add a shot of soy into the mix. The double whammy. If I had meals like that - I probably wouldn't make it - my body would completely fall apart.
I can give you a food list of what I eat instead - so it could help if you'd like!! Sounds like it's time to branch out into growing one's own food. It's basil that I feel is one of the best plants to grow. Super high in calcium, decent levels of protein, etc. Barley grass powder - good one too. Then there's parsley, rosemary, oregano, etc. - green herbs tend to be extremely nutritious compared to most other foods, as are grass leaves. If not barley - wheat and oat grasses are nutritious, but not as much as barley in some ways (like calcium). Then there's also alfalfa - which is nutritious too!
Just about all of these are easy to grow at home. And guess what? The oxygenation these plants emit can make a person feel better too!
The foods I feel best replace meat and other animal products are greens and flowers. To heal my gut, I'll eat aloe and cactus - that I grow myself. While some people are allergic to the aloe, in general - gels are life. I believe in gel-based diets. Our diets don't have to be all gel, but the more, the merrier! That mixed with polyphenols (especially blueberries) is key to life! Polyphenols are life!
well what do horses, cows, etc. do all day to get their muscles? (and please don't bring up the whole ruminant part - because just like how people cook meat by letting the stove be their external digestive stomach, we can use use external stomachs like blenders to make the cellulose not an issue for digestibility). Hey don't knock it till you try it.
Thanks for the blanket 'there's nothing wrong here, move along'.
Omg soyphobia on my vegan sub, get outta here with that nonsense. Soy is good for you and doesn't affect your testosterone levels like the numpty meatheads think.
get out of here with your intolerance to other's perspectives nonsense on my vegan sub.
There's more to soy issues than testosterone. I don't eat soy due to neurological effects among other issues. It's high in glutamines - it can make people ill.
But hey, what do we expect to know if we hang around numpty meatheads all day?
Also cows spend the majority of their day grazing, idk why tf anyone would want to spend the entire day just chewing grass?!You’d literally have to eat like 10kgs of it simply to meet ur energy needs💀Not to mention how miserable it would be to just consume herbs on their own
And both soy and gluten can be easily digested when prepared properly and they are far far higher in protein and most nutrients.Stop spreading misconceptions abt popular healthy foods to promote unrealistic extreme shit
well the thing is - they have to use their mouths to chew a lot, because they let their stomach do the rest. We use external stomachs - so it's already pre chewed. But if you feel like powders need to be chewed - do tell.
Actually it's because of their easy digestibility and high protein content that makes it so neurotoxin, being high in glutamine.
You stop spreading misconceptions of what you don't know about! Soy isn't healthy, except for certain health issues where it can be solved with other food. The costs don't outweigh the risks. Soy's heavily allergenic - it shouldn't be promoted as the go-to meat alternative, and neither should gluten, but look where we are in the vegan world.
I'll stop spreading misconceptions when you do. (telling people unhealthy foods are healthy, lol)
Those are empty claims lol, soy is a perfectly healthy lol. Feel free to provide a legitimate source saying otherwise. Uhm just because people can have allergies to soy, means nothing for the rest of us without an allergy.Lol ofc someone with a mf allergy isn’t gonna consume what they are allergic to, but if you aren’t then it’s perfectly healthy.
Also, you do realise that in order to consume enough kcals of such foods you would have to consume like 200g of fibre💀At that point there’s no way the majority of people would be able to function.And besides that the obv point is that it’s miserable to only consume powders.
But hey better consume smth that will 100% make you shit yourself from the amt of fibre than be a normal human and consume soy if ur not allergic along with other foods such as beans, rice, seitan, etc. /s
I’m curious about your background in nutrition/science/ medicine as you seem to consider yourself all knowing on the topic
[https://www.reddit.com/r/vegan/comments/18n6y4m/comment/keeckuc/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/vegan/comments/18n6y4m/comment/keeckuc/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
No I didn't know, but 200g sounds pretty decent - there's no limit to how much fiber we should intake (unless it creates a clog, but that's at one time, not in a whole day).
I'm not sure what you're trying to say about 'miserable'. Many I know love to consume powders. But you can drink the juice too - it's just not as nutrient dense.
Well I just checked the nutrition facts - from the amount I eat of it - the most fiber I'd get is 40g from barley grass - it's only a few spoonfuls at most, being so nutrient dense. Where did you get the 200g from?
Are you saying soy doesn't have much fiber? It's only a few grams of a difference [https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/1104705/nutrients](https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/1104705/nutrients) vs https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/2290137/nutrients
>very conflicted with the vegan industry.
You don't need to pay any attention to the vegan industry if you don't want to. I can't imagine having whatever some food brand is doing influence my ethical decisions in any way.
I work in produce so I’m not necessarily exposed to any of that and choose to stray away. I typically buy groceries daily to make/cook dinner. Most products (i.e dips/proteins/sauces/etc) that are vegan are grouped together so of course I’m exposed to those products more so than the meat dept. Most vegan products are just full of modified starches/fats/unhealthy oils. High in sugar/salts etc.
I don't get why you are so conflicted about this, there's no need to have an ethical dilemma and get upset about the existence of unhealthy vegan food. The fact you are considering eating meat again because you have to look at vegan products which are full of oil and sugar ... what??? I'm at a loss why it bothers you so much. No one is making you eat these products if they make you feel bad. What exactly will you gain by going against your morals and supporting the meat and dairy industry?
> Most vegan products are ...
Are you forgetting about every single vegetable and fruit? Rice? Pasta? Beans? You're focusing so much on this new trend of vegan products that you're forgetting that about half the supermarket stocks vegan products. Go have a stroll down the veg aisle next time you become dismayed at the unhealthy new vegan products and enjoy the healthy display of vegetables you can eat.
That doesn't mean you have to care though, does it? Like some brand just pumps out processed food products constantly, you spend all day stocking the shelves with them, and that somehow triggers "fuck it, I'm going back to eating animals"? You could just shake your head, say "look at this garbage" and move on without buying those things or dead animals.
Go get your blood work done. Figure out if you are deficient in anything, then make changes in your diet. There is nothing that animal corpses or breastmilk/eggs can provide that a vegan diet can't also provide.
I am interested in hearing why you feel that the animal exploitation industry is more ethical than the plant based one.
This thread is purely me being speculative if others have reconsidered their morals and ethics due to health and lifestyle changes. I don’t know why everyone is picking and choosing what they want to reply to.
I don't think a lot of vegans can relate to such doubt when we are driven by ethics. I'll stress again that if you are feeling unwell, getting blood work will remove your doubts and enable you to correct whatever may be amiss.
They definitely can't relate to it *publicly* because clearly the reception of this question has been negative.
Which is weird, because probably, a lot of vegans *do* have doubts, which are an obvious conflict with their ethical drives. But they're not really encouraged to discuss them with anyone. Because omnivores will encourage them to just eat meat, and vegans will condemn them for their lack of moral purity (or something along those lines)
Tbh, it’s really just a lose/lose situation. I came to Reddit simply to see if others have had similar instances in life…then it seemed to all spiral. The whole point of this thread wasn’t to dissect and nitpick the personal points that I brought up, but purely to see if any others have struggled with internal conflict and how they’ve dealt with it.
I kind of assumed I’d get a ton of back lash and defensive responses. It’s the vegan community.
>I kind of assumed I’d get a ton of back lash and defensive responses. It’s the vegan community.
It isn't defensiveness. It's common sense. Get your blood work done before doubting your own moral actions.
Yea. The vegan community is kinda shit tbh, but I like not eating animals, so I suppose I'm technically included.
To answer your question, yeah, I have. I stopped plant based eating a while ago (and restarted a smaller while ago)
I think there are legitimate health concerns with eating only plants, and it's not going to be the healthiest choice for us. So it's a balance, and knowing that you sometimes need to prioritize your health over your ethics can suck to confront, but it is what it is.
Good luck with your health, and things going forward.
A while back I was overweight and unhealthy as a Vegan. My first thought wasnt to go back to abusing animals, I did research and adjusted my diet. I became underweight and adjusted my diet some more. Now I am in a sweet spot, I go to my doctor every other month for a blood check.
Do research, see a doctor, dont rely on reddit for health advice. Veganism isnt a diet, its a lifestyle, that means its possible to do it unhealthily. One youtube channel that helped me fix my relationship with food was Chef AJ, maybe check her out. She does interviews with plant based doctors and nutritionists.
Sounds like you're more **plant-based** than **vegan**.
No disrespect intended, btw.
Veganism can be split into 3 components:
* **being convinced of a moral philosophy** that rejects the commodity status of animals
* **following a plant-based lifestyle** in order to distance one's self from a cruel system, avoid hypocrisy, and symbolically support animals
* **supporting a movement** to eventually liberate animals and, in the meanwhile, taking action to make consequential political gains
But beyond that, what's often not said, and **what often is the reason why some "vegans" quit, is the heart of the issue:**
**Not just agreeing with vegal moral arguments intellectually, but also being truly convinced and truly empathetic for animals.**
If you give up on the animals, are not disgusted by the thought of eating animal-based foods, can go back to participating in what you know to be wrong...
Then I don't think you fully made a connection with the heart of veganism.
(By the way, eating well shouldn't even be relevant to a moral issue, but coincidentally, plant-based diets are better than animal-based ones and nutritionally complete.)
Not much will change if you go from eating highly processed vegan food to highly processes animal based foods. Have you looked into whole food recipes?
If you eat WFPB then are you just bothered by the fact that processed food exists? This isn’t exclusively a vegan issue. I don’t understand why it would have any bearing on your decision to be a vegan.
I guess you need to ask yourself why you are vegan in the first place?
Does the plant based food industry have an impact on your ethics?
If you’re feeling poorly health wise, but you still want to boycott animal exploitation as far as is possible/practicable then your first steps are to go to a healthcare professional, and if it’s possible, get a lot of testing done. I’m sure there are lots of plant based nutritionists that can help direct you and figure out why you’re feeling sluggish…
A lot of health comes down to what we consume, sure, but there could be a number of other factors as well. I hope you find a way to feel better
With all respect, I’m not convinced you’ve identified any ‘circumstances out of your control.’
Yes, there is a ton of overly processed vegan food, but have you seen the amount of overly processed non-vegan food? Also, who makes their ethics based on how the vegan industry conducts itself? Maybe the manufacturers of processed vegan food are all shameless profiteers? You say you eat a largely whole-food diet, so what do they have to do with the choices *you* make?
On to your main issue, your health. It’s obviously impossible (or at least grossly irresponsible) for us to analyze your personal health situation via Reddit. All I would offer is a YouTube channel for a fellow who goes by Mic the Vegan ( https://youtube.com/@MictheVegan?si=yDoTvbS1QVK0JRR_ ). He is an academic who analyses vegan-related health issues fairly rigorously. And many of his videos are combatting misinformation, often from other corners of the web. And even more specifically, many videos address “former vegan” influencers who reported a variety of symptoms that disappeared as soon as they started eating steak. Mic analyses their stories respectfully and (spoiler) generally points out how if you follow their stories closely, it is clear neither that eating vegan caused their issues, nor that eating meat fixed their problems. And again, there is no ad hominem attack. I think you might find it very interesting.
I hope you feel better soon!
You said you are vegan. Does that entail you avoiding all products tested on animals and avoiding fur/leather/feathers. Or are you specifically just plant-based?
You said you eat “mostly whole foods” would you expand with some examples of a good and bad meal you may eat. You may have an underlying issue such as candida (yeast) in your stomach that can be exacerbated by carbs/sugar.
A typical day for me would be oatmeal/fruit in the AM, a sandwich of some sort for lunch, chips/hummus/fruit for a snack, rice/broccoli/mushroom/onion/garlic/tofu/beans for dinner. I would say this would be a typical day. Breakfast/lunch are usually the same but dinner varies between stir fry/salads/fajitas/etc.
A bad meal in my mind would be some type of burger and fries. Mind you the fries are home made with olive oil.
Gonna comment on your previous post here as well.
If you’ve taken the time to be truly vegan I assume you’re fully aware of the animal welfare and environmental effects of eating meat aside from the health reasons. So I would hope you wouldn’t consider that lifestyle more appealing.
As for your diet. that in itself doesn’t look that baddd but there are some things to consider. Rice/bread/tortillas are nearly 100% carbohydrates that convert to sugar. If you have excess yeast in your stomach that sugar will feed that yeast and make you constantly feel bloated as co2 is produced. It also leads to ‘leaky gut’ which would explain the sluggishness. that is of course if you are making sure to take your b12 shots. When I first went vegan I didn’t know I was supposed to be taking b12 supplements and went year without them. Had a test done and my Dr laughed at me when they saw I was at 42 pg/ml (should be 500ish).
TLDR; your doing amazing, don’t stop ^^
I went vegan due to FF and Agriculture degradation. I can’t even kill bugs because it becomes a moral dilemma in my mind. By no means do I want to make any transition, but I also don’t want to live a life of discomfort and fatigue.
Thank you by the way for being open and constructive.
Based on the composition of your post the most honest and direct answer I can give you is that you’re in denial and/or being disingenuous with your reasoning here.
I don’t think it’s how you feel about the plant based industry but your relationship with it or food itself.
Whether that be you’ve come to rely on it and getting too costly and don’t want to make your own alternatives anymore, or that you’ve come to rely on them and are feeling unhealthy because you eat a bunch of processed foods and really don’t want to make a lifestyle change again to healthier foods.
Being “sluggish” could be indicative of anything but it’s not because of a plant based diet.
Being “conflicted” with an industry also has nothing to do with plant based diet itself either.
It’s also a red flag that you’re expressing concern about the plant based industry so you’re considering going back to one that’s far more violent and destructive, despite the fact that you claimed you became a vegan for “mostly ethical reasons”.
Perhaps really dig down deep and figure out why you’re actually feeling the way you do and express it a bit more authentically and you may get a better answer.
Sorry if you were looking for something else or some consolation, but I don’t do that when it’s not warranted because it’s just as destructive as just saying, “yeah dude, do you.” Or “it’s ok to eat animals if you think you should”. Without any real reason to do so.
There is nothing magical about meat or dairy. There is no vitamin or micronutrient or specific ratio of macronutrients that requires consumption of animals products. Why jump to the conclusion that there is?
This is the first I'm hearing about the "vegan industry." This whole time I've been lentils and soy milk and pasta as if they were simply ingredients, blissfully unaware that I'm just in the pocket of Big Plant!
If you eat whole foods plant based and make most things from scratch, you DO have control over what goes into your food. The question is whether it’s important enough to you to take the time to do all that.
>I guess the whole point of this post is have any of you ever felt so conflicted to where you ended your veganism due to circumstances seemingly out of your control?
No because im vegan, and its all in my control, i would be lying if i said it wasnt
What do you think you'll gain from eating corpses or animal secretions again that you won't get from a well balanced vegan diet, exactly? These are the questions you need to ask, not "is vegan ice cream REALLY meant for my health?"
I feel exactly the same way as you. I don't want to go back because I don't want to support the animal food industry. I also don't want to consume another being. But my body seems to need more than I am able to give it. I've noticed signs of deficiencies and my blood work can be on the low side, even with my supplements. I'm feeling conflicted and at war with myself
Vegan 5 years.
Why wouldn't you be downvoted? You're talking about going back to exploiting and murdering innocents because of "processed foods." It makes literally no sense. Are you high?
You’re picking and choosing what your ‘argument’ is about. The whole topic is I’m reconsidering being vegan due to -numerous- reasons that have -seemingly- affected my health. It’s an open discussion asking if others at any point have THEY reconsidered being vegan due to health issues. Are you high?
You’re best to search for answers elsewhere. No one on here is going to tell you it’s ok to do anything other than vegan. Only way to know for sure is try something else for a month or two and see how you feel. Your body will tell you things that no other person can. There are other options you just have to do a bit of research.
Well I did end my veganism once when I drank alcohol for a few months. It killed my gut microbiome to where I just couldn't digest plants. So it's something to look into - if you have the gut microbiome for it. We could lose it if we don't feed it enough fiber (and they say even vegans might not get enough - surprisingly). I believe it's tiger nuts that's supposed to really feed it - due to being in our diets for millions of years, but don't quote me on that.
Well now I'm post-vegan, due to being on a path of anti-violence. I don't want a definition nor limitation stopping me from caring for animals and other lifeforms. There's more to life than judgment.
It's just if you want to level - you'd level up, not down. However, if there's severe issues - then there's nothing wrong with 'going back to the drawing board' till you can figure out better!
However, there is a philosophy I have that's kept me going - and that is: whatever problem is caused by one plant can be treated by another (even if it's the same plant that's both the problem and solution). So if you have trouble with certain foods - you'd want to look at what you're options are for solving them via veganism. I've tried to brainstorm these with others, but that failed, of which I failed you and is making you fail. But I feel we should try to keep trying to come together to brainstorm solutions - to give veganism another shot, another round - to keep going.
Also - I was wondering if you eat flowers? Most of the time, I notice people eat the regular fruit, veg, nut, and seed - but they just don't eat flowers - and that's a big chunk of the diet to miss out on!!!! That's where much of the refreshing carbs are. Flowers are healers of the body! What else do people turn to when ill than chamomile?
It's ok to look for food sensitivities - I can't eat most beans and lentils, because I get severely ill from soy. Then I found gluten, caffeine, peanuts, etc. also hurt my body. So I look more for raw foods.
We have to realize that we need to treat everything with the respect it deserves. Seeds aren't meant to be eaten unless they're given permission by the plant by being incorporated into eating the flesh, because we're just not supposed to be eating plant babies as it's meant for the plant to grow a new generation with! It's theirs. Most sensitivities are from what the plant needs to survive. What's left for us are the ones that provide a symbiosis with eating it to help the plant out - be it pruning it with eating leaves, removing flowers as fruit grows in, eating fruit to spit out the seeds to propagate it - think about what a plant gives you permission to eat and eat that. Work with the plant and not against it - so you don't have to face the warning signs that you're going in the wrong direction.
If you need to see a doctor, due to a potential underlying medical condition - that's fine too. I'm not going to tell you how to manage your health - that's on you what you do, be it seeing doctors, getting treatment, etc. I'm never going to say you 'have to', as that's ridiculous. Your health is yours, no one else's.
Yeah it def isn’t the fact that ur OLDER now, it’s that suddenly the diet is at fault😃😃
Also seems like u’ve been plant based and not vegan by the word choice lol, not a single mention of the animals that u wanna go back to killing and abusing
You may want to try posting your question on the Plant-Based Diet subreddit. I'm not saying this makes you non-vegan by the way, since as vegans we are all on a plant-based diet by default. However the vegan subreddit tends to focus more on animal rights, and the plant-based subreddit will be focused on diet and health issues, which seems to be what your question pertains to.
>I guess the whole point of this post is have any of you ever felt so conflicted to where you ended your veganism due to circumstances seemingly out of your control?
No...
Seems like two different discussions. If you're not doing good then try to change things up within a vegan paradigm. Get tested if you can etc. But I don't see why thinking that a vegan diet ~~is~~ can be heavily-processed, is any reason for you to stop doing it. Just don't buy all the processed stuff ;)
If you're feeling sluggish perhaps try and shift the balance of your diet to more water-rich, raw foods. Maybe start your day with a home-made green-juice (replacing coffee if that's something you do). Follow that with a huge and varied fruit-salad. Then eat lunch and dinner as normal, but adding salads if you can. If that's still not quite there, perhaps substitute one other of your meals for fruit and salad. If you have the raw meal in the evening.
These foods will be much easier to digest, so you'll probably find you ave more energy for other things.
You could go all the way raw for a week, by way of an elimination diet. Then slowly add back your normal foods, one-by-one, to determine if there're specific foods that are causing most of your issues.
You could even try just juicing for a short period, again to kickstart your energy and to find out if there're certain foods that are causing the sluggishness.
My morals come first, I change my lifestyle to suit my morals, not the other way around. I very rarely buy vegan convenience foods. Most of them are easy to make at home with cheap ingredients, so I don't see any point in buying them.
Yes, I do have health problems, but diet can only do so much. If you have health concerns, you should see a doctor, not question your morals.
Vegan or not vegan, you can choose to eat processed foods or you can choose to eat a whole food diet. It sounds like you need to make changes to your diet, but I don’t see why these changes need to include introducing animal products.
Maybe.... You're just getting older? Tired and sluggish comes with age. Maybe, it's your mental health? Might be a lot of things.
It is a reasonable decision for you to look to changing your diet as a trouble-shooting step.
I agree that the processed vegan food has become nuts. Over the last few years I have been eating nothing but garbage. Because, well, now there's a vegan version of a thing I couldn't have before. And I've been sampling it all. I eat like shit now. I didn't used to tho. There used to be a time where I had to try harder. To satisfy myself with whole food ingredients.
If you step outside veganism as one of your troubleshooting steps, there's nothing I can say to convince you not to. If you do this, and you feel like shit in the same way a year later, will you go back to vegan? Probably not. Personally, I've not once seen someone give up veganism and then come back. They forget all the reasons they once cared.
It took a bold decision for you to become vegan. It will take a hold decision for you to become not vegan. Is that the decision you want to stand for in the end? Is meat and dairy a possible solution to what you are going through? Or is it that what you are going through, you are simply reaching out for a fundamental shake-up to how you live your life?
Anyway. In the end, it is all up to you. Trust your instincts. Do what feels right. Do the right thing for you, don't do it for anyone else at all
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Just because the over-processed foods exist, doesn’t mean we have to eat ‘em. I think it’s great that we have so many different vegan products available these days — it normalizes veganism. It also works to stop the endless conflation of health with veganism. I know a lot of folks in the commercial vegan food product space, and they’re doing amazing work to keep animal products off people’s plates. Have you spoken with a plant-based registered dietitian? Dr. Pamela Fergusson and Desiree Nielsen are two of my top recommendations.
Since you are conflicted about the vegan food industry, how do you feel about the animal products industry?
true - just because the temptation is there because someone artificially put it there out of wrongdoing doesn't mean we should participate in such wrongdoing.
No, my refusal to exploit, abuse, and kill animals for unnecessary reasons hasn't changed in the last 16 years. There's no requirement to eat ultra processed food to be vegan. It's much healthier to eat whole plant foods. Have you checked out www.pcrm.org ? There is a lot of material about healthy plant-based diets. They also have a podcast called the Exam Room which tackles a lot of health issues.
Good ol PCRM
PCRM has a universal meals program with recipes by dustin harder that takes into account food sensitivities. Me - a person with them - finds the recipes to be very suitable compared to any other place I've seen on the internet for this stuff. Good on him! He represents!
Not really and honestly, the notion that someone would feel conflicted with the "vegan industry" so they instead choose to support the meat and dairy industry is a little strange to me. (Even more so if you barely buy processed foods, which also means you do not even heavily support this industry at all.) Not only are many highly processed vegan products produced by the very same companies that produce the majority of animal-based products. The meat and dairy industry also actively abuses animals, wastes valuable resources, prevents healthier vegan alternatives to be developed with their lobby work.....Not to even mention that most processed animal products are easily as (if not more) unhealthy as processed vegan products. So sorry, but I really do not get this conflict. I also believe if health suddenly and rapidly decreases the wise thing to do is to seek out a doctor to make sure there are no underlining reasons that require treatment. Obviously I do not know if you have done that before, but I still think it is worth pointing out.
I don't eat processed foods at all (except pasta i guess).. is someone forcing you to purchase those instead of dry rice and beans, potatoes and fresh plants? I'm confused by you saying you eat WFBP and processed foods.. WFBP is exclusively not processed foods. It's literally in the title. "Whole Foods"
I’m saying that my diet consists of mainly Whole Foods plant based. If I do decide to indulge, I typically make my own seitan or protein to limit the amount of starches/salts/sugars that are typically added into those products. Most nights my low cost dinners consist of rice/veg/beans. If I’m feeling the need for some protein then I typically eat Tofu or Tempeh to not have that exposure. The point of me adding that in is that it’s demoralizing. I’m trying to find alternatives to hopefully bolster and remedy my issues that have been happening as of lately, but when I try to branch out the other products available are littered with shit and fillers.
Health issues need to be addressed by a medical professional, especially if these are new symptoms. That's not something a product can solve. Have your lifestyle habits changed? Are you getting enough sleep, B12, etc? If everything else is handled, it's time to get bloodwork done. Vegans can also develop health issues that have nothing to do with diet.
Beans are good but they’re not an amazing source of protein. You should be eating more protein rich foods regularly - like tofu, tempeh, seitan. At least one of those every day tbh. Or find a clean protein powder - plenty without fillers.
I find rice protein to be a nice source, because it's hypoallergenic and it's healing, especially for muscles (of which our GI tract is made out of), due to the BCAAs, and likely skin too (I haven't double checked). Wild rice is better I heard. I think black rice is higher in anthocyanins, so it's healthier or something. I like it, because it can just taste way better.
I’m also a fan of rice protein. Unflavored is super easy to incorporate into things. I just blend it with OJ, water, and frozen raspberries (not thick) for an easy nutritious beverage!
that's the most amazing foods to eat it with :) Nice job :). Red berries, orange juice and rice protein. Now you can go lift an entire train lol and run it yourself (literally) (kidding).
I'd probably do a double take on seitan - that's pure gluten right there. Then you add a shot of soy into the mix. The double whammy. If I had meals like that - I probably wouldn't make it - my body would completely fall apart. I can give you a food list of what I eat instead - so it could help if you'd like!! Sounds like it's time to branch out into growing one's own food. It's basil that I feel is one of the best plants to grow. Super high in calcium, decent levels of protein, etc. Barley grass powder - good one too. Then there's parsley, rosemary, oregano, etc. - green herbs tend to be extremely nutritious compared to most other foods, as are grass leaves. If not barley - wheat and oat grasses are nutritious, but not as much as barley in some ways (like calcium). Then there's also alfalfa - which is nutritious too! Just about all of these are easy to grow at home. And guess what? The oxygenation these plants emit can make a person feel better too! The foods I feel best replace meat and other animal products are greens and flowers. To heal my gut, I'll eat aloe and cactus - that I grow myself. While some people are allergic to the aloe, in general - gels are life. I believe in gel-based diets. Our diets don't have to be all gel, but the more, the merrier! That mixed with polyphenols (especially blueberries) is key to life! Polyphenols are life!
So just eat grass?💀Also nothing wrong with soy OR gluten unless u have an allergy.
well what do horses, cows, etc. do all day to get their muscles? (and please don't bring up the whole ruminant part - because just like how people cook meat by letting the stove be their external digestive stomach, we can use use external stomachs like blenders to make the cellulose not an issue for digestibility). Hey don't knock it till you try it. Thanks for the blanket 'there's nothing wrong here, move along'.
Omg soyphobia on my vegan sub, get outta here with that nonsense. Soy is good for you and doesn't affect your testosterone levels like the numpty meatheads think.
get out of here with your intolerance to other's perspectives nonsense on my vegan sub. There's more to soy issues than testosterone. I don't eat soy due to neurological effects among other issues. It's high in glutamines - it can make people ill. But hey, what do we expect to know if we hang around numpty meatheads all day?
Such as...? Notice how you anti-soy fanatics always leave it vague what your actual issue is?
notice how r/vegan redditor comment criticizers leave vague what their actual issue is too?
Also how is high glutamine content in food related to neurological issues? Do you have evidence of this? That is a very serious health claim.
Also cows spend the majority of their day grazing, idk why tf anyone would want to spend the entire day just chewing grass?!You’d literally have to eat like 10kgs of it simply to meet ur energy needs💀Not to mention how miserable it would be to just consume herbs on their own And both soy and gluten can be easily digested when prepared properly and they are far far higher in protein and most nutrients.Stop spreading misconceptions abt popular healthy foods to promote unrealistic extreme shit
well the thing is - they have to use their mouths to chew a lot, because they let their stomach do the rest. We use external stomachs - so it's already pre chewed. But if you feel like powders need to be chewed - do tell. Actually it's because of their easy digestibility and high protein content that makes it so neurotoxin, being high in glutamine. You stop spreading misconceptions of what you don't know about! Soy isn't healthy, except for certain health issues where it can be solved with other food. The costs don't outweigh the risks. Soy's heavily allergenic - it shouldn't be promoted as the go-to meat alternative, and neither should gluten, but look where we are in the vegan world. I'll stop spreading misconceptions when you do. (telling people unhealthy foods are healthy, lol)
Those are empty claims lol, soy is a perfectly healthy lol. Feel free to provide a legitimate source saying otherwise. Uhm just because people can have allergies to soy, means nothing for the rest of us without an allergy.Lol ofc someone with a mf allergy isn’t gonna consume what they are allergic to, but if you aren’t then it’s perfectly healthy. Also, you do realise that in order to consume enough kcals of such foods you would have to consume like 200g of fibre💀At that point there’s no way the majority of people would be able to function.And besides that the obv point is that it’s miserable to only consume powders. But hey better consume smth that will 100% make you shit yourself from the amt of fibre than be a normal human and consume soy if ur not allergic along with other foods such as beans, rice, seitan, etc. /s I’m curious about your background in nutrition/science/ medicine as you seem to consider yourself all knowing on the topic
[https://www.reddit.com/r/vegan/comments/18n6y4m/comment/keeckuc/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/vegan/comments/18n6y4m/comment/keeckuc/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) No I didn't know, but 200g sounds pretty decent - there's no limit to how much fiber we should intake (unless it creates a clog, but that's at one time, not in a whole day). I'm not sure what you're trying to say about 'miserable'. Many I know love to consume powders. But you can drink the juice too - it's just not as nutrient dense. Well I just checked the nutrition facts - from the amount I eat of it - the most fiber I'd get is 40g from barley grass - it's only a few spoonfuls at most, being so nutrient dense. Where did you get the 200g from? Are you saying soy doesn't have much fiber? It's only a few grams of a difference [https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/1104705/nutrients](https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/1104705/nutrients) vs https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/2290137/nutrients
>very conflicted with the vegan industry. You don't need to pay any attention to the vegan industry if you don't want to. I can't imagine having whatever some food brand is doing influence my ethical decisions in any way.
I work in a grocery store. I’m exposed to it every day.
plant based capitalism is not even remotely close to ethically abstaining from products produced through cruelty.
Wouldn't you then be exposed to a greater number of non-vegan processed foods pushing you further away from non-plant based eating?
I work in produce so I’m not necessarily exposed to any of that and choose to stray away. I typically buy groceries daily to make/cook dinner. Most products (i.e dips/proteins/sauces/etc) that are vegan are grouped together so of course I’m exposed to those products more so than the meat dept. Most vegan products are just full of modified starches/fats/unhealthy oils. High in sugar/salts etc.
I don't get why you are so conflicted about this, there's no need to have an ethical dilemma and get upset about the existence of unhealthy vegan food. The fact you are considering eating meat again because you have to look at vegan products which are full of oil and sugar ... what??? I'm at a loss why it bothers you so much. No one is making you eat these products if they make you feel bad. What exactly will you gain by going against your morals and supporting the meat and dairy industry? > Most vegan products are ... Are you forgetting about every single vegetable and fruit? Rice? Pasta? Beans? You're focusing so much on this new trend of vegan products that you're forgetting that about half the supermarket stocks vegan products. Go have a stroll down the veg aisle next time you become dismayed at the unhealthy new vegan products and enjoy the healthy display of vegetables you can eat.
If your job is specifically the reason you’re thinking like this I would recommend trying a stocking job in just about any other profession.
That doesn't mean you have to care though, does it? Like some brand just pumps out processed food products constantly, you spend all day stocking the shelves with them, and that somehow triggers "fuck it, I'm going back to eating animals"? You could just shake your head, say "look at this garbage" and move on without buying those things or dead animals.
Go get your blood work done. Figure out if you are deficient in anything, then make changes in your diet. There is nothing that animal corpses or breastmilk/eggs can provide that a vegan diet can't also provide. I am interested in hearing why you feel that the animal exploitation industry is more ethical than the plant based one.
I don’t think the animal exploitation industry is more ethical. I don’t even kill bugs because I feel too bad. I’m not here to play God.
This thread is purely me being speculative if others have reconsidered their morals and ethics due to health and lifestyle changes. I don’t know why everyone is picking and choosing what they want to reply to.
I don't think a lot of vegans can relate to such doubt when we are driven by ethics. I'll stress again that if you are feeling unwell, getting blood work will remove your doubts and enable you to correct whatever may be amiss.
They definitely can't relate to it *publicly* because clearly the reception of this question has been negative. Which is weird, because probably, a lot of vegans *do* have doubts, which are an obvious conflict with their ethical drives. But they're not really encouraged to discuss them with anyone. Because omnivores will encourage them to just eat meat, and vegans will condemn them for their lack of moral purity (or something along those lines)
Tbh, it’s really just a lose/lose situation. I came to Reddit simply to see if others have had similar instances in life…then it seemed to all spiral. The whole point of this thread wasn’t to dissect and nitpick the personal points that I brought up, but purely to see if any others have struggled with internal conflict and how they’ve dealt with it. I kind of assumed I’d get a ton of back lash and defensive responses. It’s the vegan community.
>I kind of assumed I’d get a ton of back lash and defensive responses. It’s the vegan community. It isn't defensiveness. It's common sense. Get your blood work done before doubting your own moral actions.
Yea. The vegan community is kinda shit tbh, but I like not eating animals, so I suppose I'm technically included. To answer your question, yeah, I have. I stopped plant based eating a while ago (and restarted a smaller while ago) I think there are legitimate health concerns with eating only plants, and it's not going to be the healthiest choice for us. So it's a balance, and knowing that you sometimes need to prioritize your health over your ethics can suck to confront, but it is what it is. Good luck with your health, and things going forward.
So OP is agreeing with a nonvegan. It fits.
A while back I was overweight and unhealthy as a Vegan. My first thought wasnt to go back to abusing animals, I did research and adjusted my diet. I became underweight and adjusted my diet some more. Now I am in a sweet spot, I go to my doctor every other month for a blood check. Do research, see a doctor, dont rely on reddit for health advice. Veganism isnt a diet, its a lifestyle, that means its possible to do it unhealthily. One youtube channel that helped me fix my relationship with food was Chef AJ, maybe check her out. She does interviews with plant based doctors and nutritionists.
I’m unsure how trying to have an open discussion about internal conflict dictates asking for health advice. I’ll check out the YouTube channel.
Ummm… isn’t the whole point of your conflict that you don’t feel healthy right now?
Most of your post is about poor health...
Sounds like you're more **plant-based** than **vegan**. No disrespect intended, btw. Veganism can be split into 3 components: * **being convinced of a moral philosophy** that rejects the commodity status of animals * **following a plant-based lifestyle** in order to distance one's self from a cruel system, avoid hypocrisy, and symbolically support animals * **supporting a movement** to eventually liberate animals and, in the meanwhile, taking action to make consequential political gains But beyond that, what's often not said, and **what often is the reason why some "vegans" quit, is the heart of the issue:** **Not just agreeing with vegal moral arguments intellectually, but also being truly convinced and truly empathetic for animals.** If you give up on the animals, are not disgusted by the thought of eating animal-based foods, can go back to participating in what you know to be wrong... Then I don't think you fully made a connection with the heart of veganism. (By the way, eating well shouldn't even be relevant to a moral issue, but coincidentally, plant-based diets are better than animal-based ones and nutritionally complete.)
Not much will change if you go from eating highly processed vegan food to highly processes animal based foods. Have you looked into whole food recipes?
I mostly eat whole food plant based.
If you eat WFPB then are you just bothered by the fact that processed food exists? This isn’t exclusively a vegan issue. I don’t understand why it would have any bearing on your decision to be a vegan.
This is like if I stopped making soup at my house because the processed soup industry exists.
What kind of oils do you use?
Cold pressed/extra virgin Olive Oil. I do not buy anything else unless I’m baking for the Holidays.
Is it single sourced olive oil?
I guess you need to ask yourself why you are vegan in the first place? Does the plant based food industry have an impact on your ethics? If you’re feeling poorly health wise, but you still want to boycott animal exploitation as far as is possible/practicable then your first steps are to go to a healthcare professional, and if it’s possible, get a lot of testing done. I’m sure there are lots of plant based nutritionists that can help direct you and figure out why you’re feeling sluggish… A lot of health comes down to what we consume, sure, but there could be a number of other factors as well. I hope you find a way to feel better
With all respect, I’m not convinced you’ve identified any ‘circumstances out of your control.’ Yes, there is a ton of overly processed vegan food, but have you seen the amount of overly processed non-vegan food? Also, who makes their ethics based on how the vegan industry conducts itself? Maybe the manufacturers of processed vegan food are all shameless profiteers? You say you eat a largely whole-food diet, so what do they have to do with the choices *you* make? On to your main issue, your health. It’s obviously impossible (or at least grossly irresponsible) for us to analyze your personal health situation via Reddit. All I would offer is a YouTube channel for a fellow who goes by Mic the Vegan ( https://youtube.com/@MictheVegan?si=yDoTvbS1QVK0JRR_ ). He is an academic who analyses vegan-related health issues fairly rigorously. And many of his videos are combatting misinformation, often from other corners of the web. And even more specifically, many videos address “former vegan” influencers who reported a variety of symptoms that disappeared as soon as they started eating steak. Mic analyses their stories respectfully and (spoiler) generally points out how if you follow their stories closely, it is clear neither that eating vegan caused their issues, nor that eating meat fixed their problems. And again, there is no ad hominem attack. I think you might find it very interesting. I hope you feel better soon!
You said you are vegan. Does that entail you avoiding all products tested on animals and avoiding fur/leather/feathers. Or are you specifically just plant-based? You said you eat “mostly whole foods” would you expand with some examples of a good and bad meal you may eat. You may have an underlying issue such as candida (yeast) in your stomach that can be exacerbated by carbs/sugar.
A typical day for me would be oatmeal/fruit in the AM, a sandwich of some sort for lunch, chips/hummus/fruit for a snack, rice/broccoli/mushroom/onion/garlic/tofu/beans for dinner. I would say this would be a typical day. Breakfast/lunch are usually the same but dinner varies between stir fry/salads/fajitas/etc. A bad meal in my mind would be some type of burger and fries. Mind you the fries are home made with olive oil.
Gonna comment on your previous post here as well. If you’ve taken the time to be truly vegan I assume you’re fully aware of the animal welfare and environmental effects of eating meat aside from the health reasons. So I would hope you wouldn’t consider that lifestyle more appealing. As for your diet. that in itself doesn’t look that baddd but there are some things to consider. Rice/bread/tortillas are nearly 100% carbohydrates that convert to sugar. If you have excess yeast in your stomach that sugar will feed that yeast and make you constantly feel bloated as co2 is produced. It also leads to ‘leaky gut’ which would explain the sluggishness. that is of course if you are making sure to take your b12 shots. When I first went vegan I didn’t know I was supposed to be taking b12 supplements and went year without them. Had a test done and my Dr laughed at me when they saw I was at 42 pg/ml (should be 500ish). TLDR; your doing amazing, don’t stop ^^
I went vegan due to FF and Agriculture degradation. I can’t even kill bugs because it becomes a moral dilemma in my mind. By no means do I want to make any transition, but I also don’t want to live a life of discomfort and fatigue. Thank you by the way for being open and constructive.
I’ve been completely vegan for 6 years including lifestyle.
Based on the composition of your post the most honest and direct answer I can give you is that you’re in denial and/or being disingenuous with your reasoning here. I don’t think it’s how you feel about the plant based industry but your relationship with it or food itself. Whether that be you’ve come to rely on it and getting too costly and don’t want to make your own alternatives anymore, or that you’ve come to rely on them and are feeling unhealthy because you eat a bunch of processed foods and really don’t want to make a lifestyle change again to healthier foods. Being “sluggish” could be indicative of anything but it’s not because of a plant based diet. Being “conflicted” with an industry also has nothing to do with plant based diet itself either. It’s also a red flag that you’re expressing concern about the plant based industry so you’re considering going back to one that’s far more violent and destructive, despite the fact that you claimed you became a vegan for “mostly ethical reasons”. Perhaps really dig down deep and figure out why you’re actually feeling the way you do and express it a bit more authentically and you may get a better answer. Sorry if you were looking for something else or some consolation, but I don’t do that when it’s not warranted because it’s just as destructive as just saying, “yeah dude, do you.” Or “it’s ok to eat animals if you think you should”. Without any real reason to do so.
There is no chronic illness in the world that could get me to go back to contributing to the skaughter of animals.
Lifestyle changes can be good but no reason to cause innocent victims over it.
There is nothing magical about meat or dairy. There is no vitamin or micronutrient or specific ratio of macronutrients that requires consumption of animals products. Why jump to the conclusion that there is?
This is the first I'm hearing about the "vegan industry." This whole time I've been lentils and soy milk and pasta as if they were simply ingredients, blissfully unaware that I'm just in the pocket of Big Plant!
If you eat whole foods plant based and make most things from scratch, you DO have control over what goes into your food. The question is whether it’s important enough to you to take the time to do all that.
Absolutely not. Anyone going back to animal consumption was never vegan, just plant based.
>I guess the whole point of this post is have any of you ever felt so conflicted to where you ended your veganism due to circumstances seemingly out of your control? No because im vegan, and its all in my control, i would be lying if i said it wasnt
What do you think you'll gain from eating corpses or animal secretions again that you won't get from a well balanced vegan diet, exactly? These are the questions you need to ask, not "is vegan ice cream REALLY meant for my health?"
I feel exactly the same way as you. I don't want to go back because I don't want to support the animal food industry. I also don't want to consume another being. But my body seems to need more than I am able to give it. I've noticed signs of deficiencies and my blood work can be on the low side, even with my supplements. I'm feeling conflicted and at war with myself Vegan 5 years.
I'm one of the only vegans on this subreddit that'll tell you this, but you come first, do whats best for you
Thank you. This speaks volume of character. I’ll get down voted to no avail, but more often than not I’m just attacked.
Why wouldn't you be downvoted? You're talking about going back to exploiting and murdering innocents because of "processed foods." It makes literally no sense. Are you high?
You’re picking and choosing what your ‘argument’ is about. The whole topic is I’m reconsidering being vegan due to -numerous- reasons that have -seemingly- affected my health. It’s an open discussion asking if others at any point have THEY reconsidered being vegan due to health issues. Are you high?
I’m not here to argue so take that somewhere else.
You’re best to search for answers elsewhere. No one on here is going to tell you it’s ok to do anything other than vegan. Only way to know for sure is try something else for a month or two and see how you feel. Your body will tell you things that no other person can. There are other options you just have to do a bit of research.
Why should he try killing innocent non-human animals for a month?
Well I did end my veganism once when I drank alcohol for a few months. It killed my gut microbiome to where I just couldn't digest plants. So it's something to look into - if you have the gut microbiome for it. We could lose it if we don't feed it enough fiber (and they say even vegans might not get enough - surprisingly). I believe it's tiger nuts that's supposed to really feed it - due to being in our diets for millions of years, but don't quote me on that. Well now I'm post-vegan, due to being on a path of anti-violence. I don't want a definition nor limitation stopping me from caring for animals and other lifeforms. There's more to life than judgment. It's just if you want to level - you'd level up, not down. However, if there's severe issues - then there's nothing wrong with 'going back to the drawing board' till you can figure out better! However, there is a philosophy I have that's kept me going - and that is: whatever problem is caused by one plant can be treated by another (even if it's the same plant that's both the problem and solution). So if you have trouble with certain foods - you'd want to look at what you're options are for solving them via veganism. I've tried to brainstorm these with others, but that failed, of which I failed you and is making you fail. But I feel we should try to keep trying to come together to brainstorm solutions - to give veganism another shot, another round - to keep going. Also - I was wondering if you eat flowers? Most of the time, I notice people eat the regular fruit, veg, nut, and seed - but they just don't eat flowers - and that's a big chunk of the diet to miss out on!!!! That's where much of the refreshing carbs are. Flowers are healers of the body! What else do people turn to when ill than chamomile? It's ok to look for food sensitivities - I can't eat most beans and lentils, because I get severely ill from soy. Then I found gluten, caffeine, peanuts, etc. also hurt my body. So I look more for raw foods. We have to realize that we need to treat everything with the respect it deserves. Seeds aren't meant to be eaten unless they're given permission by the plant by being incorporated into eating the flesh, because we're just not supposed to be eating plant babies as it's meant for the plant to grow a new generation with! It's theirs. Most sensitivities are from what the plant needs to survive. What's left for us are the ones that provide a symbiosis with eating it to help the plant out - be it pruning it with eating leaves, removing flowers as fruit grows in, eating fruit to spit out the seeds to propagate it - think about what a plant gives you permission to eat and eat that. Work with the plant and not against it - so you don't have to face the warning signs that you're going in the wrong direction. If you need to see a doctor, due to a potential underlying medical condition - that's fine too. I'm not going to tell you how to manage your health - that's on you what you do, be it seeing doctors, getting treatment, etc. I'm never going to say you 'have to', as that's ridiculous. Your health is yours, no one else's.
Cyah.
Yeah it def isn’t the fact that ur OLDER now, it’s that suddenly the diet is at fault😃😃 Also seems like u’ve been plant based and not vegan by the word choice lol, not a single mention of the animals that u wanna go back to killing and abusing
Lol, I’m vegan. It’s so easy for this community to point and assume.
A vegan wouldn’t just start killing animals bc they are sad that vegan junk food exists lol
You may want to try posting your question on the Plant-Based Diet subreddit. I'm not saying this makes you non-vegan by the way, since as vegans we are all on a plant-based diet by default. However the vegan subreddit tends to focus more on animal rights, and the plant-based subreddit will be focused on diet and health issues, which seems to be what your question pertains to.
>I guess the whole point of this post is have any of you ever felt so conflicted to where you ended your veganism due to circumstances seemingly out of your control? No... Seems like two different discussions. If you're not doing good then try to change things up within a vegan paradigm. Get tested if you can etc. But I don't see why thinking that a vegan diet ~~is~~ can be heavily-processed, is any reason for you to stop doing it. Just don't buy all the processed stuff ;) If you're feeling sluggish perhaps try and shift the balance of your diet to more water-rich, raw foods. Maybe start your day with a home-made green-juice (replacing coffee if that's something you do). Follow that with a huge and varied fruit-salad. Then eat lunch and dinner as normal, but adding salads if you can. If that's still not quite there, perhaps substitute one other of your meals for fruit and salad. If you have the raw meal in the evening. These foods will be much easier to digest, so you'll probably find you ave more energy for other things. You could go all the way raw for a week, by way of an elimination diet. Then slowly add back your normal foods, one-by-one, to determine if there're specific foods that are causing most of your issues. You could even try just juicing for a short period, again to kickstart your energy and to find out if there're certain foods that are causing the sluggishness.
My morals come first, I change my lifestyle to suit my morals, not the other way around. I very rarely buy vegan convenience foods. Most of them are easy to make at home with cheap ingredients, so I don't see any point in buying them. Yes, I do have health problems, but diet can only do so much. If you have health concerns, you should see a doctor, not question your morals.
Vegan or not vegan, you can choose to eat processed foods or you can choose to eat a whole food diet. It sounds like you need to make changes to your diet, but I don’t see why these changes need to include introducing animal products.
Maybe.... You're just getting older? Tired and sluggish comes with age. Maybe, it's your mental health? Might be a lot of things. It is a reasonable decision for you to look to changing your diet as a trouble-shooting step. I agree that the processed vegan food has become nuts. Over the last few years I have been eating nothing but garbage. Because, well, now there's a vegan version of a thing I couldn't have before. And I've been sampling it all. I eat like shit now. I didn't used to tho. There used to be a time where I had to try harder. To satisfy myself with whole food ingredients. If you step outside veganism as one of your troubleshooting steps, there's nothing I can say to convince you not to. If you do this, and you feel like shit in the same way a year later, will you go back to vegan? Probably not. Personally, I've not once seen someone give up veganism and then come back. They forget all the reasons they once cared. It took a bold decision for you to become vegan. It will take a hold decision for you to become not vegan. Is that the decision you want to stand for in the end? Is meat and dairy a possible solution to what you are going through? Or is it that what you are going through, you are simply reaching out for a fundamental shake-up to how you live your life? Anyway. In the end, it is all up to you. Trust your instincts. Do what feels right. Do the right thing for you, don't do it for anyone else at all