[t0mbstone]

Just to throw my own vegan diet anecdote onto the growing pile:

Last year I went on a pure vegan diet for about 6 months (after watching the Netflix documentary "Game Changers").

Everything was going well (or so I thought) right up until I woke up one day with abdominal pain.

Over the course of an hour, it went from feeling like it could be gas or constipation to being the worst pain I'd ever felt. I was literally writhing on the ground while dry retching from the pain. I've never experienced anything else like it before.

Turns out, I had kidney stones.

One of the primary causes of kidney stones is too much oxalates in your diet. Guess what oxalates are found in? Practically every vegetable I had been eating for months.

[JPKab]

That documentary is rife with inaccuracies as well. It's a consequence of having a bunch of wealthy Hollywood folks convert to veganism, and then jump on board with pushing a diet as the be-all/end-all.

It's one thing to claim (accurately) that a good, careful vegan diet is healthy for a person and very healthy for the planet. It's a whole different ballgame to claim that a healthy vegan diet is nutritionally superior to any and all diets that include any form of animal products, which is essentially what Game Changers claims.

There was a rather entertaining and informative debate about Game Changers between a bad-ass vegan MMA fighter and another nutritional expert on Joe Rogan's podcast, and one thing they both end up acknowledging is that Game Changers is a propaganda film disguised as a documentary.

[failwhaleshark]

Oxalates are an anti-nutrient. You don't eat a bunch of oxalate-containing foods or Vitamin C like spinach, soy, almonds, or beets, that was your mistake, not the type of diet.

People can give themselves gout from eating foods high in purines. Is that the fault of a carnivorous diet?

It's the same as idiots who go on extreme, no-food fasting diets and give themselves gallstones because they don't have any lipid intake to empty their gallbladders periodically.

People have to know what they're doing and not blame a lifestyle change when it's their fault for not doing it right.

[t0mbstone]

Yep... It was definitely my fault for doing the vegan diet "wrong", but it was also really easy to do it wrong on accident, which people need to be aware of.

I thought I was doing the right things. I was taking a multivitamin and supplementing my B12 according to common vegan recommendations. Nobody mentioned the possibility of kidney stones though!

[failwhaleshark]

Hey, that's okay. Maybe try it again with different aspects. I had a neighbor in the college dorms who went vegan without any research, and gave himself depression and other psychological/neurological problems (probably a lack of B12). I think it's wise to get blood tests after major dietary changes to be sure everything is good.

Personally, I'm a lazy vegetarian, not a vegan per se. I really want to give up dairy, but cheeses are soo darn tasty. I have a single 6 mm kidney stone from chronic high cortisol levels, not diet (according to doctors).

Other things I do:

- Gender-specific multivitamin

- Vegan B complex

- Vegan 10k IU avg per day D3 + K MTK-7 (once a week 50k IU + using up 5k I still have)

- Magnesium citrate (prevention of kidney stones and magnesium)

- No HFCS, limit sugary products, and not adding salt (semi-keto). I get plenty of I, Na, and Cl from other foods

- Unsalted pistachios

- Unsalted cashews (very few because oxalates and gas)

- Roasted, unsalted pumpkin seeds (pepitas)

- Omega-3 foods

- Cook using avocado oil or butter

- Fresh olive oil when added without cooking

- Water, lots of water (reverse osmosis water store subscription since I live in an apartment)

- Intermittent fasting (40 lbs. / 18 kg to lose)

- Veg like broccoli and plain potato

- Limit salt, spinach, sweet potato, chocolate, tea, some nuts esp. almonds (which are also the second leading cause of breaking teeth after ice)

- Excess vitamin C creates oxalates endogenously. Megadosing it is the surest way to kidney stones

There ought to be a book: Safer Diets and Fasting: What you need to know

[justsomeuser]

So you don't eat vegetables any more?

[t0mbstone]

I still eat veggies. They are just a side dish now instead of being the main course.

Nowadays I try to eat a more traditionally "balanced" diet. I eat a decent amount of meat and dairy and eggs in addition to grains, legumes, nuts, fruits, and vegetables. I then use basic portion control to control my caloric intake and my weight.

It's been almost a year now since I abandoned pure veganism and switched back to a "normal" diet and I haven't had any more occurrences of kidney stones (knock on wood).

TL;DR: One dimensional diets are dumb.