Long time vegetarian or vegan question?!
So as long time veg*n have you noticed any patterns in your health and the health of others with a different diet?
Yes, I have a theory, but I want to know real life situations that you have experienced.
Answers: At work, and in general I have noticed that many people get sick very quickly and often. Coughing, sneezing, high temp, in bed, all that. Then they take pills. And they feel better for bit and sick again very soon. Often, one person passes the cold to another person, so the whole group gets sick - except me. The last time I had a cold it was in 1994. I was 14. I can’t remember the last time I even took a pill.
So as long time veg*n have you noticed any patterns in your health and the health of others with a different diet?
Yes, I have a theory, but I want to know real life situations that you have experienced.
I am vegetarian for more than 5 years, and yes I did noticed that I have a stronger immun system than before. I am getting cold sometime but its lasts for 2-3 days, before I was sick for at least 10 days. Besides I noticed that I am sweating less then other people, and as you probably know sweat is a way to get rid of the toxins, and this means that I barely have toxins in my body. My menstrual cicle is so regular that I could set the clock to it lol, probably because my system is not disturbed with animal hormones. I feel good and healty.
I'm vegetarian for 10 years now, and I cant remember the last time I was sick!
Its really the best lifestyle anyone can adapt
I can't remember the last time i was sick, although the occassional hangover is not unknown - like this AM ;-)
I haven't noticed any patterns, we don't seem to get caught out by colds or things like that. When people say "theres a bug going around, everyones getting it" we don't.
I don't recognise any of the health problems people try to associate with being veggie.
Having said that, we live a fairly comfortable lifestyle so its not like i'm outside waiting for a bus every morning.
But i am out in the fields every morning by daylight ( which varies from 5 AM to 9AM throughout the year )
Diet or lifestyle ? who knows.
A healthy diet strengthens the immune system. Medications weaken it, which leads to more sickness, which leads to more medications.....
The last time I saw a doctor (except for my husband, lol) was just after my son was born. He's six and a half.
For minor ailments I have a freezer full of tea!
I'm 18 and since I was young I got bronchitus and/or strep throat along with other ailments about every year (i don't smoke). Ever since I became vegan, while I have had colds, i haven't had to go to the doctor! It's been about a year.
Plenty of vegetarians & vegans get sick. Diet does play a HUGE part in fighting off illness, but a vegan could live on oreos and diet pepsi. It doesn't automatically make one healthy. Personally, I don't take any medication (don't feel the need to; let thy food be thy medicine and all that). I don't get a flu shot, and I haven't had so much as a cold in years and years.
I still do get colds every year ('Tis the season! LOL - and it's what you get for hanging around a bunch of people with viruses), but usually not bad enough to warrant taking time off work (unfortunately! LOL). (I've accumulated around 250 days of sick leave, because I very rarely take any days off sick.) But, at the first sign of cold symptoms, I normally increase my vitamin C and zinc (from foods, not from tablets) intake, so the cold doesn't last very long and isn't very severe.
There are several (all non-vegetarian, as I'm the only vegetarian out of about 30-35) colleagues who seem to get sick often and do take time off work. I can't say whether or not it has anything to do with their diets. It might be that they are just naturally (or antibiotically-induced) prone to infections. However, some of the other non-vegetarians don't seem to get sick very often. It could be their vitamin C and zinc intake, or a natural immunity, or some other factor. It's hard to say for sure.
I work at a University so I am in contact with so many people, I get colds like everyone else.
I don't get them as often as when I took the bus, not that I walk..I don't get them as often.
I get sick less often then when I ate meat for sure, but it does make a difference where I work, air quality, if I am in contact with 4,000 students a day.
I've been veg*n for 21 years. I do get sick of course, but probably quite a bit less than average for my office and social circle. I had a cold last week, but I hadn't been sick in well over a year before that. I haven't had a recognizable case of the flu since 1990. But I attribute it to more than diet; my maternal grandmother was almost never sick a day in her life and my mom rarely gets sick (although she eat a really healthy pescetarian diet with almost no processed foods at all.)
I have been a vegetarian for 12 years now. I normally get a couple colds a year bad enough for me to feel like crap for a couple days but not normally bad enough to have to see a doctor. However I have 5 children so I am also dealing with anything that is being passed around at the schools. I try to stick to natural soothers instead of pills. Like tea, lots of fluids, orange juice and other fresh fruits and vegan soups. I listen to my body and give it what it is asking for when I'm not feeling well mostly it just wants some rest.
I do get the occasional cold--usually around the change of the seasons--but this year, I had a really nasty cough that I could not shake. My normal temperature runs low (around 97.9 F), and I rarely am feverish. I hate taking conventional medicine--have always hated taking medicine, even before I was vegan--and try to use natural remedies when I am ill.
Im a vegeterian and I get sick just as often as everyone else. In the winter Ill have a cold for obvious temp reasons and one soar throat. Thats it but when I move to australia when Im older I will most likely never be sick! I feel great-haha just like tony the tiger!
OK, I hesitated to answer this but here goes.
I pretty much stopped getting my regular winter colds when I turned vegan (having been vegetarian for many, many years). However, my becoming vegan coincided with me ceasing to be a teacher of 3 - 5 year old children after 20 years, which is perhaps a more likely reason!
I get some of the illnesses that do the rounds, although never the stomach bugs. I have noticed that with the colds that go round, if I get them I seem to recover quicker than others.
However, I got cancer as a vegan, the last pill I took was this morning and the last time I visited a doctor was December. So I'm making no great health claims for veganism.
veg almost 15 years and i eat very healthy in general (esp compared to anyone around me)
but no i still get sick on the regular.
nothing crazy... usually a cold or sinus infection in the winter...
my meat eating bf at the time i met him ate like a carnivore and god awful at that.... he never got sick.. of course he eats almost veg now and he still never gets sick..
i know where your theory is probably going, but it doesn't seem to hold with me.
*but* i do know that my chances of serious sickness down the years has gone down significantly. i'd rather have a cold now and reduce my risk of heart disease later anyway.
I'm vegan and I get sick often, my theory is that I have a hormone imbalance but everyone says that has nothing to do with it, when I was vegetarian I hardly ever got sick, but I think its because I'm young and I'm still getting used to vegetables with textures like advocates and tastes like mushrooms (I hate them both) But I know a lot of vegans (who eat a lot of vegetables) and hardly ever get sick, so yes I'm just a bad eating vegan thats all.(But I try!)
I find that I rarely ever get sick. I used to get the flu shot in the fall (November) and then whenever I got it, I got the flu for sure in March. I never get the flu otherwise, only if I get the flu shot. I worked in a call centre and people were sick all the time.
I've been veg or vegan for bout 1.5 - 2 yrs. I rarely get sick. But I will admit my throat is feeling kinda scratchy right now. I think its the nasty city rail trains, recent c*appy weather, and a few ppl at work have it. I good veg or vegan diet helps, but is not a guarantee against illness.
Heya
Tbh im a bit of a demic even before turning veggie.I have everything and anything and im always ill.Sinse becoming a veggie ive become worse and now feel sick every day.I also get awful headaches.I think it might be due to protein and iron lacking in my body, im not sure though im going to the doctors tommorrow.xxx