[PuppyTailWags]

> In fact the amount of vegans I've met in life who didn't look like they were suffering from some illness has been very rare, only solidifying my position on this.

I would push against this sort of anecdotal view. The circle of people we eat with (and therefore know the dietary restrictions of) tend to be quite low compared to all the people we meet with on a day to day. Additionally, "looking sick" is a vague enough assessment that simply knowing someone is a vegan may very easily cause you to be much more critical of their appearance, and vice versa you may see someone who looks sick to you and then pay more attention to their dietary habits than you ordinarily would. Another thing to note is that all dietary restriction lifestyles is subject to a noticeably higher rate of disordered eating or intestinal issue that leads to the person participating in the dietary change and therefore it may be important to first determine if the disordered eating or gut issue caused veganism vs the other way around.

That is to say: even though I am neutral towards veganism itself, your logic as to why meat is good reads to me as quite flawed and poorly reasoned around.

[yesco]

What do you want me to say here? The science is pretty much settled that we are omnivores, you can't just ditch meat without consequences. Yes there are substitutes, but in practice do vegans consistently eat these at the right amount to compensate for the lack of meat in their diet? Well my first hand experience tells me this is a big fat NO.

Let's put it another way, imagine some guy likes to pester you about your eating habits, says they are unhealthy, and that their diet is healthy. Well the burden of proof is on them and as someone who cares about staying fit, if the guy trying to convince me either looks like skin & bones, or is overweight, then they are already on shakey ground. This has been my first hand experience multiple times.

Ultimately my ancedote is not meant to be a counter-argument, but instead a reminder to those reading to touch grass. Because why wouldn't your personal experiences matter more than the anecdotes and misinformation spread by strangers online? (This applies to my own anecdote as well)

[PuppyTailWags]

I'm just saying that "well everyone I met who is vegan looks sick" is shoddy reasoning to proclaim eating meat is the healthy behavior. That's it. I already clearly said I have no opinion on veganism itself, nor am I pestering you with a claim that any one diet is healthy.