How often do you get sick?

There is a vegan guy who used to e-mail me on a regular basis that said he a hadn't been sick for 6 years as a vegan! No headache, no sore throat, nothing!

I thought that was pretty cool. I don't get sick very often, occasionally worn down due to my hectic schedule I make for myself, but I did catch a cold recently.

So this is my first cold or illness since October of 05 when I was preparing for my bodybuilding competition. At work today, I didn't plan on mentioning it because I always know what the response will be, but because of my funny voice from being sick, people asked me.

Of course, what is the first thing they say....."that is because you don't have meat in your diet," or, "you need to start eating meat," blah blah blah. Never mind the fact, that it is February and every single person at work had some sort of winter cold BEFORE I did. I just happened to catch one recently. But of course when they are sick I didn't say, "it is because you eat meat, you need to eat more fruits and veggies." Perhaps I should have.

Anyway, I didn't let it bother me too much, but enough to post about it I guess.

One even offered to buy me a burger for lunch, but he was joking. It total 3 people's first reaction was that I needed to eat meat.

It does get kind of annoying over time, but oh well.

Anyway, just curious how often you get sick. More or less as a vegan? I don't remember because it has been 10 years and I was just a kid when I ate meat, but I've heard many vegans say they don't get sick very often.

We tend to have fairly strong immune systems I think.

Well, time for me to rest and I hope I don't get more brilliant advice from co-workers tomorrow.

Definitely less ill since veganism. Used to have regular asthma, IBS, migraines and more frequent colds / general virus-illnesses. These days I go many months without being ill at all, since I've been vegan, I probably get ill 2 or 3 times a year with nothing very serious. Before veganism, I had a very low attendance rate at school, and would frequently be too ill to get out of bed.

And when i do get ill on my vegan diet, people often say it's because I am vegan. They are deluded irrational morons.

I don't get sick too often, maybe a cold or two every year, and the flu once every few years on average. I think it has more to do with my genetics than diet. I get sick about as often now as I did in my pre-vegan years

I get sick very rarely. I get something once every two years, maybe less often. I have a hard time remembering over the long term, but I know that as of now, I definitely haven't been even mildly sick since summer 2003, and probably longer. But like Will, I think it's just genetics.

Btw, if I did get sick and someone told me it was because I didn't eat meat I would seriously want to punch them in the face. In most workplaces, people are getting sick all the time esp during flu/cold season, and most of them eat meat. So it's ridiculously stupid to say something like that.

Yeah, I hear ya Liz. People just like to tease me I think, because I'm "different" at work. I'm the only vegan out of the 60-70 employees. And I work with a number of other bodybuilders too, so I get extra teasing

Cool to hear you don't get sick often either. Being sick is no fun. 12 1/2 hours in bed two nights ago and 9 1/2 hours in bed last night. At least I'm getting more sleep and rest! Usually I only sleep 5 hours a night, so this extra sleep is cool.

-Rob

I used to get sick a lot, caught every cold and every virus that went around. You could be sure I would catch something and run a fever at least once per month. I also suffered from migraines several times per month, you know the type where you can't stand up, can't stand any light.

I haven't had 1 migraine since going vegan. I rarely catch a cold (especially since giving up dairy) or virus and when I do, I move through it faster then others who had it. So veganism doesn't keep me from catching the virus, but I fight it a lot better.

I do think it's genetic. I have a low white blood cell count which alarms every Doc I see. I always get the *gasp* "Did you know that...", yeah I 'm aware thanks. Someone who got sick as much "normal" people before veganism, may rarely get sick if at all after veganism. However, someone who got sick a lot (like me) before veganism, may now suffer in the "normal" range.

I used to catch colds and flus at least a few times per year. I've been vegan 2 years and I've caught a cold once when on travel I drank cow milk. That was 16 months ago. (Haven't had any milk since then.)

Course I have gotten "sick" since being vegan but seems to be just freak bad luck stuff. Everything I've read about the illness I have right now says the number one way to avoid it is to eat lots of fiber and not eat meat and diary. Some even say that apparently vegans can never get the illness I currently have, so I'm just being my usual lucky self I guess.

Of course, what is the first thing they say....."that is because you don't have meat in your diet," or, "you need to start eating meat," blah blah blah. Never mind the fact, that it is February and every single person at work had some sort of winter cold BEFORE I did. I just happened to catch one recently. But of course when they are sick I didn't say, "it is because you eat meat, you need to eat more fruits and veggies." Perhaps I should have.

Dontcha hate that?

Funny how people seem to blame a vegan/vegetarian diet for someone's state of health...but they never see the link between meat-eating and health.

I've always had a tendency toward sinus problems: as a non-vegetarian, and a vegetarian, and as a vegan. My allergies were a lot worse when I wasn't veggie/vegan, but I still have allergy problems.

That's not the point. The point is, that while being a vegetarian/vegan won't necessarily keep you from catching every bug that goes around (there's a definite genetic/inhereted component to the immune system, IMO), it WILL reduce your chances of the other, chronic, fatal diseases that eaters of the SAD are much more likely to deal with: heart disease, cancer, diabetes. But the start of those things in someone isn't as easy to see as the very transitory effects of a cold virus.

i am always sick. Everytime i turn around i have a throat thing going on. But my asthma is way better since being vegan, and so are my allergies most of the time. My eczema rarely breaks out. I used to be sick to my stomach all the time and now that is better. I just get run down really easy and get sick, i dont know if it is nutrients that I am not getting, or what. It sucks tho. And people always blame it on my veganism. And i dont know what to tell them because i dont know if it is a contributing factor.

Rob, you think "Eating meat because of being sick" is bad? At my last job, I cut my finger with a knife that was in a sink beneath the bubbles. There was obvious bleeding, and this girl said "See, vegans don't get enough iron." at which point I screamed "WHAT ARE YOU (censored) STUPID? IF I CUT YOU WITH A (censored) KNIFE YOU WOULD YOU BE BLEEDING TOO!!!!"

....Ahhh, good times.

Anyway, to answer your question, I had a light fever that caused me to sleep a few extra hours in February of 05, and I haven't missed school because of being sick since April of 2002.

yeah, that sucks man. Why are non-vegans so dumb toward vegans? I hear so many heavily dumb comments at work about how vegans are stupid, etc. They like to tease me because occasionally they'll get some sort of reaction out of me, which is what they want.

Ash, sorry to hear you feel down or sick a lot. That doesn't sound good. I think it is an interesting topic to discuss because on paper, it looks like vegan should be sick less frequently. Vegans tend to eat the foods that keep the immune system strong. My my sister who is vegan tends to get colds pretty easily. I'm sure it's just an individual thing, because we can't seem to find any trend except for the report that vegans tend to get sick less than non-vegans based on people I've talked to. Which isn't an official report

-Rob

yeah, that sucks man. Why are non-vegans so dumb toward vegans? I hear so many heavily dumb comments at work about how vegans are stupid, etc. They like to tease me because occasionally they'll get some sort of reaction out of me, which is what they want.

-Rob

I personally just don't think that person really used their head. I've been fortunate that my friends really find my veganism interesting, which makes my life a LOT easier, and will try all the new foods that I've picked up, which is really cool, and normally eat a lot of vegan-friendly stuff whenever I'm around. (though that's because I normally buy a big bag of apples and pass them around )

Well I've gone back and forth from veganism for the last year now. But every time I've eaten the vegan way I've been more energetic less tired, less anxious and most importantly not ill.

For when it comes to eating junk again, I felt very tired, that I couldn't go to work and painfully sick to the stomache. I don't know if this could be considered "illness" but I haven't gotten sick for many years.

I reckon that the vegan diet increases many things suchas the immune system, as the body isn't in a continual state of digestion...

Definately get sick less now, than before I was vegan. Get a cold maybe once a year, where as I used to get them pretty regularly. Asthma is better now, but still there, and eczema surprisingly hasn't really improved since becoming vegan.

Feel better Rob.

*hugs*

Ash, sorry to hear you feel down or sick a lot. That doesn't sound good. I think it is an interesting topic to discuss because on paper, it looks like vegan should be sick less frequently. Vegans tend to eat the foods that keep the immune system strong. My my sister who is vegan tends to get colds pretty easily. I'm sure it's just an individual thing, because we can't seem to find any trend except for the report that vegans tend to get sick less than non-vegans based on people I've talked to.

I think a lot of it is genetic. And how would we ever know if person X (a vegan) would get sick more often or less often if s/he were not a vegan? Or if person Y (a non-vegan) would get sick more of less often if s/he were a vegan?

Many non-vegans, though, (even if they're vegetarian--see the book "Vegan Freak") seem to be threatened by veganism. Strange, isn't it, that a group of primarily peaceful folks can be seen as so threatening without even doing anything?

And when i do get ill on my vegan diet, people often say it's because I am vegan. They are deluded irrational morons.

Dontcha hate that?

 

Funny how people seem to blame a vegan/vegetarian diet for someone's state of health...but they never see the link between meat-eating and health.

Rob, you think "Eating meat because of being sick" is bad? At my last job, I cut my finger with a knife that was in a sink beneath the bubbles. There was obvious bleeding, and this girl said "See, vegans don't get enough iron." at which point I screamed "WHAT ARE YOU (censored) STUPID? IF I CUT YOU WITH A (censored) KNIFE YOU WOULD YOU BE BLEEDING TOO!!!!"

 

....Ahhh, good times.

 

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lol Hilarious

These are just some random thoughts and tips that have helped me. You probably know all this already or you might disagree with it.

I read that happy, positive, sociable people are less likely to get ill. (The flip side of course is that if you do too much socialising and don't get enough sleep then your immune system will be over-worked.)

I've found that I have been both mentally and physically healthier in the last 18 months, thanks not only to my nutrition and training practices but also to my social practices.

People will tease an individual for being different. I've found that the BEST way of dealing with any situation like this is to be SELF-DEPRECATING to the extreme and make the other person feel ultra-important. If someone criticises me in any way, even if it's just a "teasing" situation I always try to take what they say and expand upon it.

E.g. If someone teases me for not drinking alcohol or not eating animal products or whatever I say things like, "I know, I'm just not manly enough to drink intoxicating drinks etc" or "I'm just not strong enough to digest animal products", or "I'm not intelligent enough to do it any other way."

This probably goes without saying but the WORST thing you can do is to say nothing. This makes you look weak. Most of the time people just want to make contact with you. If you don't say anything you give the impression that you are hurt and feel negative towards them.

Sometimes even when I've dealt with a situation in this way it still nags me later on and prays on my mind. That's when keeping a diary helps. I just write down everyting that's on my mind and put everything into perspective.

I find that if I concentrate on all the good qualities of the people with whom I have contact and focus on ways to make them feel good about themselves then my own worries become insignificant.

Just one more thought:

It can be a touchy area when people discuss your lifestyle and say ignorant things about veganism.

I've thought a lot about how to deal with this, especially after reading Dale Carnegie's opus.

Have a look at this article (you'll probably need to copy and paste the address):

http://www.thorogoodpublishing.co.uk/dat/smp/166smp.pdf

Dale Carnegie's principles are listed at the bottom.

I just saw this very old thread and had to comment because it's something I've often thought about. Before I became vegan, I regularly got colds at least once a year. It's been about 3 years now since I've had a cold.

I've also read that many bugs that people think are the "stomach flu" are actually food poisoning. I haven't had any flu-like illness since going vegan.