It might be theoretically possible to survive on a purely vegan diet without getting nasty side-effects in the long run, but this requires an extraordinary amount of work in order to get and eat the proper amounts of the proper kind of food, which will ensure that you don't get too little or too much of a particular nutrient. With some nutrients, like some vitamins, this can become extraordinarily difficult and laborious.
Most non-vegans, however, can easily live a completely healthy life without much worry, just making sure to not over-eat junk food. If you have a normal varied diet, you'll get all the nutrients you need in sufficient (but not excessive) amounts. Life is much harder for a vegan, who wants to stay healthy in the long run.
But veganism is not only a choice of food. It's an ideology. For many, it's an outright religion. They will defend veganism to their deaths (even if they are clearly dying from their diet), and furiously attack anybody who is not a vegan.
In a huge twist of irony, there are many things that are very common to vegans which they can't see as problematic or ironic.
For example, when you watch vegans gushing about their religion eg. on YouTube, they will go on and on about how a vegan diet is "natural", the diet that "nature intended" for us and we are supposed to follow, and how easy and healthy it is... while at the same time having cupboards and kitchen tables full of all kinds of dietary supplement bottles. Yeah, nothing speaks of a "natural" diet as bottles full of artificial pills with nutrients extracted from plant sources that are too difficult or expensive to get, or which do not normally provide enough of that nutrient if eaten as is (thus requiring an artificial extraction process to get enough of that nutrient).
For example, soy beans are relatively rich in protein... the key word here being "relatively". That's relatively to the average plant. Soy beans still don't have enough protein needed for a healthy person if eaten as-is. The protein has to be extracted from it, with all the non-protein stuff removed. (A spoonful of soy bean protein extract is probably equivalent to several kilograms of soy beans, which you would be pretty unable to eat in a single meal. And would probably be detrimental to your health if you tried every day.) Some vitamins are extraordinarily rare in plants, appearing only in really rare ones, like certain algae, and once again need to be extracted in order to get them in high-enough concentrations.
Doesn't sound like a very "natural" diet to me (at least in the sense of you being to follow such a diet if you were to live in nature, eg. cultivating, harvesting and gathering your own produce.)
Another problem is that there are many nutrients that require other nutrients in order to be digested efficiently. Most prominently, certain essential vitamins are fat-soluble, which makes it so that if you don't eat enough fat/oil with them, they will not be efficiently digested, if at all. Most animal products, like milk and eggs, are relatively rich in fats, making the digestion of all these nutrients much easier and efficient. Plant foods, on the other hand, are notoriously lacking in any sort of fats.
Again, you can once again extract oil from certain plants (which is a common practice; after all, vegetable oil is widely used for cooking), but many/most of these vegans are averse to using oil in anything, because they think it's "unhealthy" (when, on the contrary, a reasonable amount of vegetable oil is actually really healthy, for anybody regardless of their diet.) You will very rarely see these vegans adding or cooking with oil any of their foods.
Another irony you often see in many of these vegan videos is the staggering amount of sugar that they consume (even though they claim that their diet is supposedly "healthy"). The amount of sugar they stuff themselves with is just mind-boggling at times. Not only do they consume extraordinary amounts of fructose in fruits, but they often also just use vast amounts of plain table sugar with everything. In these videos you see them constantly eat what essentially amounts to large desserts (such as smoothies, sorbets, cakes, and so on) all day long. Breakfast, lunch, supper, dinner... they may well eat what effectively amounts to large sugary desserts 4 or 5 times a day.
At the same time, they often have a distinct deficiency of protein. This amount of carbohydrates alone is very taxing on the body, but coupled with a lack of protein it makes it only worse.
I think there is one major and one minor reason for this: The major reason is that their vegan diet is notoriously low on calories, which means that they are constantly energy-deprived and suffering from malnutrition, which makes them weak, exhausted and feel ill. They compensate this by eating a lot of carbohydrates, often in the form of plain sugar. They get the energy they need to function from the sugar. The main problem with sugar, besides the detrimental health effects, is that while it gives a lot of energy, this energy is very quickly consumed. You cannot operate on a single "sugar rush" all day long, but you need many more portions of it during a day. The energy given by the sugar is quickly depleted. This becomes a vicious cycle, and they become essentially addicted to sugar.
The second, more minor reason, is a form of "showing off", to try to compensate, and trying to prove that vegan food is good and delicious. Again and again you see in these vegan videos them making some kind of smoothie, sorbet, or other kind of dessert, and boasting how "good" and "delicious" it is, clearly trying to prove that vegan food is good. What they, and most of their viewers, except those who are aware of it, don't notice is exactly how horrendously much sugar they are consuming like this. Oftentimes you can see them preparing that portion, and literally pouring table sugar into it. Again, and again, and again, during the day.
Vegans also tend to consume too much of other nutrients, especially fiber. While fiber is very important for a healthy gut and intestinal health, too much of it can actually be detrimental and start hindering intestinal function and causing all sorts of problems, like bacterial infections and poorer digestion. The fact that they also eat too little protein makes these problems only worse.
Yet another irony is how vegans keep repeating over and over how their diet is so healthy, yet many of them tell stories about all the health problems they have had since starting that lifestyle (and, I'm quite certain, many of those who do not open up about these things do also suffer from health problems but simply don't tell about it). Quite often they suffer from all kinds of symptoms, like stomach pains, acne, poor dental health (caused both by eating too much sugar and too little nutrients that maintain good bone and dental health), and all kinds of nutrient deficiencies, especially when it comes to certain vitamins that are either too rare in plants, or require other nutrients (like fat) to be efficiently digested. Many of these vegans certainly look malnourished, often with very little muscle mass, and way too underweight.
Veganism is an extremely difficult diet to keep healthy and get all the necessary nutrients. Add to this the quasi-religious ideology that surrounds it, and it becomes really detrimental.
The really sad, and horrific, thing that happens with vegans is when they impose this religion onto their children. Some children have literally died because of malnourisment. Many vegan children have got permanent damage to their development due to it, such as stunted growth, permanently missing teeth, mental developmental problems, and a myriad of other problems. This is outright child abuse and neglect.
Most non-vegans, however, can easily live a completely healthy life without much worry, just making sure to not over-eat junk food. If you have a normal varied diet, you'll get all the nutrients you need in sufficient (but not excessive) amounts. Life is much harder for a vegan, who wants to stay healthy in the long run.
But veganism is not only a choice of food. It's an ideology. For many, it's an outright religion. They will defend veganism to their deaths (even if they are clearly dying from their diet), and furiously attack anybody who is not a vegan.
In a huge twist of irony, there are many things that are very common to vegans which they can't see as problematic or ironic.
For example, when you watch vegans gushing about their religion eg. on YouTube, they will go on and on about how a vegan diet is "natural", the diet that "nature intended" for us and we are supposed to follow, and how easy and healthy it is... while at the same time having cupboards and kitchen tables full of all kinds of dietary supplement bottles. Yeah, nothing speaks of a "natural" diet as bottles full of artificial pills with nutrients extracted from plant sources that are too difficult or expensive to get, or which do not normally provide enough of that nutrient if eaten as is (thus requiring an artificial extraction process to get enough of that nutrient).
For example, soy beans are relatively rich in protein... the key word here being "relatively". That's relatively to the average plant. Soy beans still don't have enough protein needed for a healthy person if eaten as-is. The protein has to be extracted from it, with all the non-protein stuff removed. (A spoonful of soy bean protein extract is probably equivalent to several kilograms of soy beans, which you would be pretty unable to eat in a single meal. And would probably be detrimental to your health if you tried every day.) Some vitamins are extraordinarily rare in plants, appearing only in really rare ones, like certain algae, and once again need to be extracted in order to get them in high-enough concentrations.
Doesn't sound like a very "natural" diet to me (at least in the sense of you being to follow such a diet if you were to live in nature, eg. cultivating, harvesting and gathering your own produce.)
Another problem is that there are many nutrients that require other nutrients in order to be digested efficiently. Most prominently, certain essential vitamins are fat-soluble, which makes it so that if you don't eat enough fat/oil with them, they will not be efficiently digested, if at all. Most animal products, like milk and eggs, are relatively rich in fats, making the digestion of all these nutrients much easier and efficient. Plant foods, on the other hand, are notoriously lacking in any sort of fats.
Again, you can once again extract oil from certain plants (which is a common practice; after all, vegetable oil is widely used for cooking), but many/most of these vegans are averse to using oil in anything, because they think it's "unhealthy" (when, on the contrary, a reasonable amount of vegetable oil is actually really healthy, for anybody regardless of their diet.) You will very rarely see these vegans adding or cooking with oil any of their foods.
Another irony you often see in many of these vegan videos is the staggering amount of sugar that they consume (even though they claim that their diet is supposedly "healthy"). The amount of sugar they stuff themselves with is just mind-boggling at times. Not only do they consume extraordinary amounts of fructose in fruits, but they often also just use vast amounts of plain table sugar with everything. In these videos you see them constantly eat what essentially amounts to large desserts (such as smoothies, sorbets, cakes, and so on) all day long. Breakfast, lunch, supper, dinner... they may well eat what effectively amounts to large sugary desserts 4 or 5 times a day.
At the same time, they often have a distinct deficiency of protein. This amount of carbohydrates alone is very taxing on the body, but coupled with a lack of protein it makes it only worse.
I think there is one major and one minor reason for this: The major reason is that their vegan diet is notoriously low on calories, which means that they are constantly energy-deprived and suffering from malnutrition, which makes them weak, exhausted and feel ill. They compensate this by eating a lot of carbohydrates, often in the form of plain sugar. They get the energy they need to function from the sugar. The main problem with sugar, besides the detrimental health effects, is that while it gives a lot of energy, this energy is very quickly consumed. You cannot operate on a single "sugar rush" all day long, but you need many more portions of it during a day. The energy given by the sugar is quickly depleted. This becomes a vicious cycle, and they become essentially addicted to sugar.
The second, more minor reason, is a form of "showing off", to try to compensate, and trying to prove that vegan food is good and delicious. Again and again you see in these vegan videos them making some kind of smoothie, sorbet, or other kind of dessert, and boasting how "good" and "delicious" it is, clearly trying to prove that vegan food is good. What they, and most of their viewers, except those who are aware of it, don't notice is exactly how horrendously much sugar they are consuming like this. Oftentimes you can see them preparing that portion, and literally pouring table sugar into it. Again, and again, and again, during the day.
Vegans also tend to consume too much of other nutrients, especially fiber. While fiber is very important for a healthy gut and intestinal health, too much of it can actually be detrimental and start hindering intestinal function and causing all sorts of problems, like bacterial infections and poorer digestion. The fact that they also eat too little protein makes these problems only worse.
Yet another irony is how vegans keep repeating over and over how their diet is so healthy, yet many of them tell stories about all the health problems they have had since starting that lifestyle (and, I'm quite certain, many of those who do not open up about these things do also suffer from health problems but simply don't tell about it). Quite often they suffer from all kinds of symptoms, like stomach pains, acne, poor dental health (caused both by eating too much sugar and too little nutrients that maintain good bone and dental health), and all kinds of nutrient deficiencies, especially when it comes to certain vitamins that are either too rare in plants, or require other nutrients (like fat) to be efficiently digested. Many of these vegans certainly look malnourished, often with very little muscle mass, and way too underweight.
Veganism is an extremely difficult diet to keep healthy and get all the necessary nutrients. Add to this the quasi-religious ideology that surrounds it, and it becomes really detrimental.
The really sad, and horrific, thing that happens with vegans is when they impose this religion onto their children. Some children have literally died because of malnourisment. Many vegan children have got permanent damage to their development due to it, such as stunted growth, permanently missing teeth, mental developmental problems, and a myriad of other problems. This is outright child abuse and neglect.
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