Quote:
Originally Posted by TheSquealer
It's pointless to argue with anyone because its more about personality, cult like stubbornness and personal views than it is about biochemistry and physiology... but the simple fact is that its extremely difficult to meet a bodies energy/protein requirements/needs with a vegan diet. Particularly when being active. Not saying it can't be done. I'm saying people typically don't do it or won't do it. That's why they look unhealthy, have bad hair and so on.
Further, the energy yield from fibrous veggies is about 25% of what it is from simple carbs. Your body has a very hard time turning fiber into energy. Thats why you can be on a low carb diet and eat all the asparagus and broccoli you want as it won't cause an insulin response no matter how much you eat. When that is the staple of your diet, then... you don't need to be a rocket scientist to understand why rapid weight loss occurs. It's called starvation.
It's also worth pointing out that "looking healthy" is about what you've done over a long period of time and exercise, supplements, genetics and so on. Because Bob "looks good" snorting heroin this week, or eating a certain way, doesn't mean a vegan diet is either the cause of him looking good that he won't soon be looking bad in the future as his body deals with severe calorie restriction, protein / fat deficiencies and so on.
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Some very good points in here. I agree completely with the part in red especially. I have believed this for years. My only problem with that is I have seen endurance athletes, cyclists, triathletes (even iron man), and marathon runners who are on vegan diets and seem to be doing well on them. I still think they look more emaciated than the rest of us, but this could just be my opinion.
As for low carb diets, i have tried a number of them over the years and I often have the same problems with them. Loading your body with nothing but complex carbs and eating heavy on the proteins just sucks the energy out of me completely... The last one i did was the slow carb diet explained in the book The 4 hour body. The first two days on it i had headaches, serious drowsiness, so much that i could barely keep my head up and by the time i got home at 5 o'clock i was so tired i hit the bed and didn't wake up until morning. I think my reaction is an extreme one, but it is a perfect example of what happens when the body is low on fuel (carbs). I wasn't working out on this diet either, if i was i would have dropped weights on my head in the gym...
What works for me now is the non diet lots of exercise plan. I aim for healthier foods and keep down the junk foods as best i can and add more protein after workouts. It's a slower process, because the weight isn't going to fly off you as fast as it would if i was eating nothing but chicken and broccoli, but I'll tell you it's one hell of a lot easier to maintain and with the muscle growth I get from the weight training it makes the yo-yo on the lbs almost non existent...
good discussion here everyone.. hope to read more thoughts on this.