Channa Serenity Not vegan

[sarahanne]

I follow Channa Serenity On facebook after seeing her profile on veganbodybuilding.com

I am not a raw food vegan as she is, but I am vegan nonetheless and she was someone I looked up to and admired for that. This morning she posted this status

 

"I am finally recovered from my illness, It's been a very interesting experience to say the least and a lot of soul searching has led me to make and change my mind several times about career, lifestyle, hobbies, etc., trying to figure out what's best for me physically, emotionally and spiritually and the root of the dis-ease to begin with. Conclusion: As much as I love animals, my body thrives bes

t not on a vegan diet, and even though I thought for a period that competing was too hard on the body, it gives me a drive and lights a fire in me that makes me feel more alive. So, I am starting my 1 year prep for 2013 WBFF World Championship with Nathan Harewood, I'm looking forward to stepping on stage next year and making my Pro debut"

 

I am not interested on not being vegan, but I wonder can someones body actually not thrive from a plant based diet? or did they make poor choices to make sure they where getting essential nutrients and enough energy. I and most people on a vegan diet have stated that they have never felt better in their life!

 

I wonder if others truly don't benefit from a vegan lifestyle?

Or if they are doing it for the wrong reasons to begin with and use being vegan as an excuse?

 

Either way it's unfortunate but there are plenty other vegan athletes on here that are just as inspirational.

[FormicaLinoleum]

I know nothing about this person, so can't comment on her diet, but in my experience, most of the time when people say they tried to be vegan but weren't healthy so gave up, they were missing something in their diet that could have been remedied.

 

I think there are some people who can't be healthy on vegan diets, but I think it's really rare and is not true of the vast majority of people who claim it. I know of only one case personally--a woman whose body couldn't manufacture cholesterol. So she ate eggs. But that was the only non-vegan food she ate.

 

This woman (the one you're talking about) was a raw vegan, so her diet could have been unnecessarily restricted.

[stcalico]

There are many who 'fail' on a vegan diet but I suspect it is because they were not very good at doing their research before 'going' vegan. I've done tons of research myself to make sure I don't fail. ie. For the animals, I really can't afford to fail.

 

I suspect ethical vegans (vs going on a plant based diet for health reasons) are more motivated to make it work. The second group will throw in the towel as soon as they hit a bump in the road.

 

Here is a helpful reference:

http://www.theveganrd.com/2010/11/recommended-supplements-for-vegans.html

 

Personally, I don't feel any different on a vegan diet. The b12 was causing me some skin issues, but I started taking smaller doses more often as it is suppose to help.

[Richard]

Well this is disappointing. Regarding the benefits of veganism on different individuals - we don't know for sure everything she was doing, so it's impossible to say whether she did it "right" or whatever. You'd have to take a number of people and give them the same diet to reach any kind of conclusion. But, the bottom line for me is always, if you can be healthy, and you don't need animal products to survive, then that's it. To say that you *want* to do XYZ is to miss the point of veganism to start with - there should be no question about it.

[sarahanne]

Thanks for the Input guys, I have always thought that If you believe in something very strongly then in most cases it is possible to achieve you're goals.

[Richard]

Yeah, all I can really say is, look at what she did achieve on a vegan diet, look at what everyone else has achieved, and most of all, look at what science tells us about the benefits of a plant-based diet.

[sarahanne]

You are exactly right Richard.

[Cellar Yeti]

What a cop out. Instead of trying to fix it she gave up. Weakling.

[sarahanne]

Cellar Yeti (cool name btw) I highly doubt she was doing it for reasons outside herself. Being vegan to her must of been more about weight than about The Animals and the Earth. Though I am not her I don't know why she would stop being vegan, I can only assume it wasn't as important to her as it is to most of us who are vegan who make it work every day.

[marzo]

There is a post on veganfitness asking why vegans return to eating meat and a guy said that people dont eat enough essential fatty acids from whole foods, nuts and seeds. I totally agree with what that guy said.

[OliveBlood]

The longer I live, the more I see how dramatically different individual metabolisms can be.

 

I thrive on a plant based diet. Some people would shrivel up and die. I know I get unhealthy when I diverge more than slightly from veganism, but I know I have a very unique metabolism. Anecdotally, it seems like the slower a person's metabolism the better they will do on a vegetarian/vegan diet. I've seen literature to suggest that slow metabolisms are highly correlated with a lot of the chronic diseases plant based diets are designed to avoid (i.e. blood pressure, metabolic syndrome, bad lipid profile, diabeetus).

 

It wouldn't surprise me if a double digit percentile of the population was just genetically ill equipped for veganism.

 

I mean, even as much as I support this general purview of dietary knowledge, anybody who says it's the only way to be healthy is frankly wrong. There are many ways to accomplish anything, and methods always need to be individualized for best results.