And a few days ago my friend showed me a photo of her holding a fresh sheep head while we ate fried chicken. And almost everyone around me has slaughtered a cow or sheep themselves.

Is this how celebrities feel when paparazzi swarm them?

Found on one of their subs under the discussion of whether or not the carnivore diet is a fad.

I don’t follow the carnivore diet, I eat a balanced diet that includes fruit and vegetables. But I don’t hold any ill will or judge those that do. Like an onmi, vegan, or vegetarian diet, different health strokes for different folks.

But let’s not forget how these people really feel about their fellow humans. They want us dead unless we convert. Even when I had my moment of veganism years ago and did some activism, I never had such awful thoughts about non-vegans.

This is a cult. And to the cultists, people who don’t convert are not deserving of life.

I’m so very glad not to be part of that lifestyle anymore. For not only my physical health, but mental as well.

Many vegans would consider hypocrite to eat cows but not a dog

To protect an kitten but not an worm..

We are all individuals, influenced by our countries, our culture, our own pets or whatever is comfortable to think for us.

I don't think that we are hypocrite for this, we simply have different views on some animals, we aren't forced to adore every single one of them ( and it doesn't mean we want to hurt them)

Even as an vegan i couldn't pretend to care about bugs like i care about animal and even some animal were less liked by me, also I was "specist" af for considering that my own pets are more important than any other animals, my pigeons are more important than polars bears to me, lol

I remember an argument with another vegan saying that if a cat need to eat sardines or whatever animal to live longer, we should just not think the cat life is more important than the fish..

Personally i would have an hard time eating pigeons or deers even now, i love those animals more than dogs and I'm not evil for this.

I (F21) have been trying to transition to a vegan diet for a few months but the degree to which it’s tanking my mental health is honestly kind of scaring me. For one, I‘ve had a missing period for 2 years but it’s unclear why (no other symptoms, normal weight, nothing weird on bloods or ultrasound) so I’m particularly conscious of the risk of deficiencies. I’ve been researching and trying to implement the suggested stuff to stay healthy (algae oil, b12, tracking on Cronometer etc.) but it’s making me obsessive and miserable about food and I already have some orthorexic tendencies. At the same time, I feel like kind of an idiot for worrying about it so much when there are people who are vegan for 10,20,30 years and they’re fine??

I also don’t know how to do this without it kind of sucking the joy out of everything. It’s taking up all of my mental space and im really struggling to focus on other stuff. I do agree with the ethical and environmental benefits of veganism but it also makes the world a really scary and bleak place. I come from a super food-y family and things I used to love like going to the farmers market have lost all their joy, even if im not partaking in the animal products. Food is just this pass/fail kind of thing now. This probably sounds absurd but even references to meat & animal products in books, tv. Shows etc. just make me sad and panicky. I don’t want to feel cut off from my family and friends. I don’t want to be this angry and depressed version of myself. I honestly dont think anyone could go on for very long feeling like this. But at the same time I feel a bit pathetic/selfish because im making it about me and my feelings rather than the bigger issue at hand. I feel like I should just be able to get over myself.

It feels like I’m between a rock and a hard place where I could go back to an omni diet and hate myself, or go fully vegan and basically hate the world. I just kind of don’t know what to do. I’ve tried expressing this to my mom and shes very sensitive to how I’m feeling, but because she’s never considered veganism, she doesn’t really get it. Im going a little nuts tbh lol.

Anyway, I really don’t want to victimise myself or generate more anti- vegan hate or anything, I really don’t think that’s helpful. I think there are plenty of kind hearted vegans out there. I was more just hoping to hear from people in the same in-between boat and feel a bit less alone. Thanks :)

Great interview showing how she finds out the problem was her diet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClEzhQIIrDg

ExVegan here, i love pigs, cows and all the animals, am i just a giant hypocrite? I stopped being vegan after i found out it's doing worse to my ED than it should, I tried being vegetarian as well and all i got was being bullied by vegans, two of my teachers are vegans and all they're telling me that "You can't love animals and eat meat!" but i cannot force myself being vegan knowing my ED will probably get worse than it already is.

I truly love animals i really do and I'm highly against the way they treat them in those slaughterhouses, am i hypocrite and stupid? genuinely asking. I'm freshly 18 but i dont want my life ruined by "extreme" ED, truly. Plus having autism and getting all this "bullying" just for eating meat is just... i don't know if it's deserved or not to be honest.

I was a vegetarian for 8 years during my childhood and adolescence. The past three years I’ve been introducing meat back in my diet and I’ve realized how much being a vegetarian fucked with my head.

First of all, I’m not scared of trying “unsafe” foods now. I’ve tried steak again, why can’t I try everything? I’m eating onions for the first time in my life (yay)!

I’m not self conscious about going out to eat with new friends or during events like conferences and other college trips. I don’t feel like a burden anymore.

And lastly I feel better. I seriously wonder if introducing meat back in my diet contributed to improving my depression.

I’ve studied philosophy for the past four years and I’m surprisingly even more comfortable not being a vegan/vegetarian. The only sound argument for veganism is utilitarianism. I reject utilitarianism because of its implications for human rights and justice, so I do not make an exception for veganism. It’s surprising how many progressive people are vegan when their ethical framework is anti-justice.

All of this to say, I still try to make plant based choices when possible. In fact, deconstructing my vegetarianism has introduced me to more veggies than 8 years of BEING a vegetarian.

I wouldn’t normally post something like this, but knowing we get under the skin of the manipulative activists makes me feel good. But of course we were NEVER vegan and suffering from immense guilt and “cognitive dissonance” anyway so I’m not sure why it matters lmao. And they wonder why we left the cult.

They really do regurgitate the same lines over and over like good little cultists. I wish I had a dollar for every time a vegan misuses the term “cognitive dissonance”.

Wondering about people's experience with health issues while on a veg/vegan diet. Did you have any? Did they get better when switching to omnivore? How long did that take?

I've been looking into it more and it seems some health issues I've always thought were mysteries are relatively common topics for ex vegans. Like the stomach problems and gerd I've had for a long time which is probably due to low stomach acid...

So I'm curious about other health problems and how long it took for you to recover, or if you didn't ever fully recover. Thanks!

All these people talking about deficiencies or mental health issues or lack of energy that popped up mysteriously after starting a vegan diet...

And half the answers are always "You're doing it wrong!" or "It's not because you're vegan, other people have that problem and they aren't vegan!" Like yeah dude, that's how the world works. Doesn't mean this person is wrong about the changes they're experiencing in their own body and why it happened.

Like bro... none of you are doctors...

And all the comments telling them a thousand different bits of amateur nutrition advice they got from social media like "If you don't eat spinach with lemon juice you won't absorb all the iron!" or "Avoid tea and coffee before and after your meals or it will inhibit absorption!" and "Take your vitamin D with fatty foods or it won't work!"

I'm sorry but how is anyone supposed to remember to do all of this shit and meticulously plan every detail of their meals, and buy a bunch of supplements, just to keep themselves from getting sick? The only way you could keep track of all that is if you literally have an eating disorder and obsess over your food intake all the time.

I hate factory farming too, but this shit is not sustainable or healthy, and it becomes increasingly clear the more I read what these people are saying to each other.

I have been vegan for over 10 years and am considering reintroducing animal products. 

I was raised vegetarian and went vegan on my own volition when I was 9. I am now in my early 20s. I live with my partner, who is an omnivore but eats mostly vegetarian (other than poultry). I eat a primarily whole foods diet and do include some vegan replacements (such as vegan meat and cheese -- although I try to steer away from highly processed foods and more regularly reach for tofu or nutritional yeast). I take a handful of supplements regularly (mainly B12 and algae oil) and overall am in good health. I went vegan initially for ethical reasons, but as I grew, I became more motivated by the health and environmental aspects of veganism as well. 

I have also struggled with disordered eating, and veganism has been a form through which I was able to create strict rules for myself, restrict, and make excuses around others. I would like to say clearly that veganism did not create disordered eating, but did become a convenient crutch and excuse.

Over the past few years, I have begun feeling like the morals of my strictness didn't align with my intentions (i.e. household leftovers that go to waste because they have eggs, refusing a homemade dish that a friend makes because it has 2 tbsp of butter in it, etc). I also personally know a number of farmers with animal farming setups – or even things like backyard chicken coops – that I find ethical and I do want to uplift ethical and humane animal farming in the fight for humane animal treatment/animal rights.

I started feeling like my impact would be more positive and less wasteful if I didn't draw such strict lines, but instead just focused on making ethical choices. I told those close to me that I was no longer strictly vegan, and used the term “ethical eating” to describe my diet, which was mostly vegan but also prioritized reducing food waste of some non-vegan items and, in theory, would include some humanely-farmed eggs/dairy. I still did not include any meat or fish, as I have never eaten them and don’t feel comfortable with including them in my diet. Although I made this official switch to myself and told those close to me, I still eat 99% vegan, use the vegan label, associate myself with veganism, and don’t buy any non-vegan items, and do still find myself drawing a lot of arbitrary lines based on strict veganness.

Recently, I have been becoming more attentive to my health, nutritional, and relationship with food, and am feeling unhappy with some of the impacts that my veganism and the vegan label has on me. I am currently trying to eat high-protein to aid in building muscle, and have been really wanting to include more protein variety and not need to lean on pea/soy protein isolates as a crutch to add more protein to my diet. I am really wanting to be able to just include more high-protein whole foods, like yogurt or eggs or cottage cheese, as a part of my diet. Similarly, I have been wanting to switch out a lot of highly processed vegan substitutes for the whole food animal version. I’m finding myself wanting to have some ethically-farmed cheese over a starch-and-oil-based vegan cheese that costs about the same price anyways. I am also aware that I can just not include these things, and like I mentioned above, I do often just forgo a cheese substitute in cases where I would otherwise use a vegan cheese. Still, in cases where I do use them, I would prefer to make a choice that feels more aligned with my health and nutritional goals. 

Finally, while I am in generally good health, I do experience some things such as chronic tiredness that I have been trying to address, and am wondering if adding more variety and nutrients that come from animal products would help with that. I am also recovering from losing my menstrual cycles after a period of disordered eating relapse and am trying to help my body restore hormone function through my diet, which I have also been wondering if including some animal products would help with. I’m also really trying to create a sustainable, healthy diet and mindset for myself so that I don’t fall back into disordered eating again (I worked with a therapist a few months back about this disordered behavior but never addresses the veganism aspect of my diet). I am wondering if a less restrictive mindset would help me with this. 

With all of this, I want to include some animal products in my diet again. I’m just having a hard time pulling myself away from the vegan label and allowing myself to buy and eat things that don’t align with the vegan label. With going vegan so young, veganism became a huge part of my identity. As I have gotten more interested in nutrition and cooking over the years, this identity has only intensified. It feels like a betrayal to myself – to who I am – as well as a cop out, in some ways to stop being vegan. Even if I still make vegan choices the majority of the time and eat as ethically as I can, I still feel like I’m giving up by stopping.

If you’re reading this far, thank you for listening to my rambling. I suppose I’ve already figured out what I would like to do, I’m just looking for some perspective and thoughts on actually doing them. Has anyone else struggled with identity or the reintroduction of animal products?

Thank you for reading :)

I’m curious how many people here ended up leaving veganism partly because they lost their period or developed an irregular menstrual cycle while vegan.

For those who experienced this:

• Did you completely lose your period, or did it just become irregular?
• How long had you been vegan when it happened?
• Do you think it was related to veganism itself, not eating enough overall, low body weight, nutrient deficiencies, or something else?
• Did you regain your period after changing your diet?
• If so, how long did it take to come back, and what changes do you think made the biggest difference?

And if you didn’t regain your cycle after leaving veganism, I’d be interested in hearing that too.

I know everyone’s situation is different and this obviously won’t tell us whether veganism itself causes menstrual changes. I’m just interested in hearing people’s personal experiences.

Finally, after three months, maybe even longer, I ended my friendship with my vegan friend. Oh my god, I'm so grateful to everyone here who advised me to set boundaries in our friendship srs, i tried telling her to stop guil trippin, but she refused to stop and told me this is the same as k1lling people, so she don't wants to be friends with someone who eats animals. But, I'm glad we're no longer friends. No more spying on what I eat and post in my stories, no more scolding for what I like, it's a relief. Thanks to everyone here who advised me how and what talk to her. Yes im still sad i lost a friend, but being friends with someone who doesn't respect you in response was rlly bad for my mental health, i was scared of like sum vids or posting what im eating because of her.

((Sorry for long post haha, i just wanted to tell how much better i feel now, thank yall who helped me here srs, you all was sweet with me))(;A´▽｀A♡

Hi all, I’ve never been on this subreddit before.
I’m 18 and have been pescatarian by choice since I was 11/12. I don’t actually eat fish though, just mussels, and oysters when I can get my hands on them. (edit: apologies about the title. as i don’t eat fish or meat i often say i’m vegetarian but i know technically im pescatarian given i eat mussels and oysters. )
I do this for the health benefits as I worry about the nutrients of a plant based diet.
Recently however, I have heard about (British) wild caught venison. It is culled for ecological reasons as we lack apex predators so deer are massively overpopulated, and seems very healthy. As a child I loved venison steak as well 🤤 I am open to eating this as it aligns with my personal morals on consuming animals, however if I incorporated this into my diet I would still avoid other meats
I am wondering if anyone has transitioned from vegetarian/pescatarian to eating exclusively wild game? Or if anyone has simply transitioned from pescatarian/vegetarian to eating meat, how did your stomach handle the red meat? I’m anxious about whether I could actually go through with it as meat does make me nauseous, especially red meat!!

Just wondering if anyone has any shared experience or advice on how to make these dietary changes!! Or if anyone has expertise in the (British especially) wild venison industry(??)

Scientists tested 212 plant-based meat alternatives. Every one contained fungal toxins

Hundreds of popular vegan and vegetarian foods may contain an unwanted extra ingredient: toxins naturally produced by fungi.

Date:

August 28, 2026

Source:

Cranfield University

Summary:

Every one of 212 plant-based meat alternatives and drinks tested in the UK contained at least one naturally occurring fungal toxin, though concentrations remained below recommended EU guideline levels. Researchers say the bigger question is whether regularly eating large amounts of these foods could lead to potentially concerning cumulative exposure over time.

The above post from r/Vegans sub popped up in my feed, apparently they think they're the tolerant and patient ones?

I mean the only reason why there's even a discussion about where one gets their protein in the first place is because vegans think other people are guilty of a crime because of their food choices.

The comments got me thinking, at what point does it go from you all are wrong, I'm the only one who's right to I'm the patient and tolerant one?

Im not a ex-vegan in any way. But looking on the vegan sub, I’m like if you truly want to encourage people to be vegan , you guys are not helping your cause.

Telling people to go cold turkey is the only way is idiotic. If I wanted to go vegan, baby steps is actually a better way , you’d probably be more likely to sustain it long term .

And the other thing, them saying vegetarians are not doing anything more to reduce harm to the animals makes no sense to me. I understand the dairy and egg industry are harmful, but if someone removed all fish, pork, seafood, etc from their diet and doesnt add more milk and egg products I’mm not sure how that is even worse. A lot of vegetarians do not know how closely the dairy and egg industry are to the meat industry even. And If you wanted to also convert a vegetarian to vegan, going from eating meat to vegetarian to vegan is an easier transition than swapping one day from omnivore to vegan so telling them they’re just as bad may very well make them go back to their original diet and i dont know how that helps your cause at all?

I dont have any vegan friends in real life but the extremist views on there, it has to be 100% or you’re doing nothing, does not help your cause!!

Pretty embarrassed to admit I fell into the vegan trap and tried to switch my diet obsessively for about six months. Got diagnosed with low iron, skin broke out so bad (might be an undiagnosed soy allergy idk) and I had zero energy the past two months lol. Happy to report I’ve switched back to incorporating meat into my diet the past three weeks and have a lot more energy already. Hate that I did this to my body and kinda ruined my gym progress but trying to get back on it now :)

Vegan hatred consumed me.

Vystopia took over my life.

The biggest red flags in my mental health were wanting non vegans to get reincarnated as slaughterhouse animals because “justice”

Seeing a random person in the grocery store and wanting THEM to suffer rather than the animal

Crying because I walked by the meat isle in the grocery store.

Avoiding potlucks or any social event involving meat or dairy (which meant I couldn’t go to any)

Endlessly commenting on EVERY SINGLE POST I SAW with hatred and scorn towards non vegans

Reporting advertisements with meat in them

Having hatred towards vegetarians

Only talking about veganism and nothing else

Finding every single opportunity I can with anyone IRL or online to talk about veganism

Screaming at my boyfriend and saying “the animals hate you” “they’re in heaven right now and they hate you” “I hope you go to hell for what you do” despite me not believing in heaven or hell

Showing people horrid slaughterhouse footage even though they didn’t consent I would just say “you’re the one funding this. Look”

Even getting triggered by meat on a cartoon tv show

I WAS EVEN CONVERTING PEOPLE TO VEGANISM IN MY DREAMS

And now I have to do the walk of shame coming out of this insane phase while I eat meat and dairy. Fearful of what people will say now that I’m not in the grips of this anymore.

I literally ruined my online presence to the point I had to delete most of social media.

What did veganism do to your mental health?

Not an old account because I'm not ready to post non vegan stuff on my main, my friends follow me..

I always adored animals, I went vegetarian as an kid once I discovered that meat came from slaughtered animals, it worked great for me, normal weight, clear skin, no food craving.

Then at 19 I went vegan after knowing that there's slaughter in the end in dairy farms.

Worst fucking decision of my life.

I became so emotionally fragile, always angry at everyone and overweight

I hated humans so much, every single one of them, i started to be scared/angry at my own familly, seeing them as monster and being at the verge of tears in food stores, also nailed to bed for 1 year because of depression.

I was constantly starving despite being good at making homemade food, this constant hunger made me eat like a pig and I became overweight.

I was literally in an cult, when talking to others vegans they literally told me we need to accept the pain it include, we need to accept to be unhappy, and they expect everyone to live on beans, rice and fries, this is so fucking crazy

I also started to be a piece of shit toward the man who loved me, I wanted to force him to be vegan and acted upset while he was busy working for us, for me, to spoil me..

I was miserable af

One day I just cheated, I ate KFC in my bedroom, even my pet bird ate a little bit of it, she committed a crime with me lol

And then I just stopped, it wasn't good for my mental health and physical health, I am still not comfortable with animal slaughter but it's necessary for my body, I will never kill an animal myself unless euthanasia, I rescue farm animals when I can, and I want an no kill homestead producing our own dairy products and eggs and stuff..

Life is so good now, every bit of food taste like freedom, I'm working on loosing weight. Thanks for reading, I would appreciate your comments <3

I mean transitioning from vegan to meat is a pretty vast difference. I'm currently in the middle of it.

How would you describe how your philosophy has changed? It's a whole worldview about life so I find it very interesting to hear.

In the past I would have had such a modest view upon how I'm meant to impact the world in the least way possible, to the point of kind of denying my own satisfied and nourished existence. My current go-to phrase to describe my transition is "I forgot myself in the sustainability chain". And that was not only towards animals,also any activism you can imagine, like my impact on the global south, fashion chains, global warming, you name it.

Happy to hear your stories! Feel free to go in depth.