veganism: I was a vegan for three years. And during that three years I had shakiness, dizziness, fatigue, mood swings, reduced strength when working out. I was eating enough calories but my body never adapted. Last week I started eating fish and turkey and chicken again and within a couple days all my symptoms went away. I have more strength with weights and more energy. Is this normal? Is veganism just not meant for some people's bodies. I feel bad for eating meat again but it makes me feel better.|||You should see a dietitian that knows about veganism. I would think that you were likely anemic. I'm not a dietitian but I am prone to low iron levels (due to highly personal feminine things). If I eat too much junk food I tend to get the exact same symptoms you discribe. Try adding more of the following foods to your diet (if you don't intend on visiting an actual dietitian): Pistachios Cashews (roasted) Whole lentils Chick peas (boiled) Wholemeal bread Sesame seeds or tahini Black molasses Apricots (dried) Spinach (boiled) You may also want to suppliment your b vitamins...|||I think you are a troll. A balanced vegan diet, beats a carnivore's diet any day. There are Olympic athletes that a vegans. We are naturally vegans, otherwise we would have teeth like dogs and cats. Vegan athletes: http://www.veganathlete.com/vegan_vegeta鈥?/a> It's a myth that man was a hunter. Man was hunted! http://www.amazon.com/Man-Hunted-Primate鈥?/a>|||Many of my friends are vegans. I am not, but from dealing with them and talking, you prob weren't getting enough protein. Gotta eat tons of beans. But also, you are right. Sometimes your body just doesn't deal well with it. My one friend was told by her doctor that she HAD to eat chicken or she would become chronically ill. Talk to your doctor for sure, so you can set up a healthy nutrition plan that brings you all the nutrition you need. Also, stay up on your vitamins and supplements. :D|||You Would be the first. People don't need meat to be healthy. No one in the nutrition field, with the possible exception of those directly employed by big beef (lol), would even suggest it. The fact you Went back to eating the to most abused animals on the planet suggests there was never any sort of commitment. I would think most people would have eaten eggs or dairy before going back into eating chicken etc...|||It seems you just weren't eating properly. Do not blame veganism.|||Could you not just have overdone it? Working out will dehydrate you and that can cause some symptoms... Tiredness after working out - is that only vegans?! It sounds more like you had trouble getting your diet right for you than whether it had meat in it. I know hundreds of vegetarians and vegans (and the difference is often not extreme, just a little cheese here and there!) who don't feel the way you describe. I also know vegan bodybuilders who would really disagree that it is simply fish or poultry you need. I am also a long term vegan and have never felt the way you describe. Sounds to me like you were having problems that may have been more to do with what nutrients you ate rather than where they were coming from. If you do your research you can find plenty of evidence (not just attitude and 'opinion' like many responses here so far) that show you can fulfil all your needs on a vegan diet, but the word vegan just means 'no animals' right, so if you only ate margerine every day you would still be vegan, but it doesn't mean automatically healthy. As for comments about what is 'natural' and what we are 'designed' to eat... thats the path to superstition and ignorance. We aren't designed to fly, but right now thousand of people are 30,000ft up enjoying the views, we aren't designed to breath underwater, but scuba divers do... We are a 21st century industrialised people, we have choices (and responsibilities) that disease riddled, cold, wet and hungry cavemen wouldn't have dreamed of - enjoy them! I think the answer is all in amino acids, and maybe you limited your protein sources too much, a better balance between vegetable proteins and watching the vitamins and minerals is the answer I offer. Theres nothing magic in fish, chicken or turkey, just some nutrients you may have unintentially avoided while being vegan, because you maybe didn't know about them or didn't like them.|||Eating improperly on ANY diet will make you feel that way. You would have felt fine, probably better, had you been paying attention to what you were eating. Anyone can be healthy on a vegan diet, so long as they've done their research.|||According to your other questions asked in other categories I would say that your problem is that you weren't (and aren't) eating well. Your other posts say nothing about eating fruits at all. Unless you're eating bell peppers then I don't understand where your vitamin C is coming from. They don't mention beans or nuts or seeds, nor do they mention flax seed or soy, so I don't know where you were getting Omega 3 from. Anyone can be vegan, but you have to put enough time into it to know what you're doing. You have to know something about nutrition. Anyone not eating well is going to feel bad, no matter if they are vegan, vegetarian or omnivore.|||I agree with wiccagirl, according to your other questions, you do not seem to have been eating very well at all Even now you've incorporated meat into your diet as well, you need make sure your getting the vitamins etc|||John is a spazz, do not listen to a word he says. look, as you were a vegan, i think you were not getting enough protein and b12, which is easy in a vegan diet IF YOU EAT HEALTHILY you could be fine as a vegan, you should just try to be healthier, that's all|||I can't really imagine it was you being vegan that made you dizzy. Any well balanced diet of fruits, vegetable, beans and wheat products can't make you sick if you are eating food. It sounds to me that you just really weren't eating anything... It seems like meat eaters will obviously eat more because they have more options. Sure I've given up every meat imaginable and I've felt perfectly fine for 5 years, and I probably get less nutrition then most. So that should say something right there. If veganism is too difficult for you, you could try vegetarianism. It's obviously not a moral issue for you since you've gone back to eating meat anyway.|||Well vegans tend to be deficient in certain nutrients, vitamin B, etc. It is recommended that as a vegan you understand nutrition and how to substitute these vitamins with different foods that are non-meat. You say you ate calories, they could have been the wrong ones.|||Well gee, it looks to me like your body is trying to tell you something. Man in an omnivore, do you know what that means? Everyone needs the excellent protein sources of eggs, meat, fish, milk, and cheese. Please don't let the misinformed vegetarians talk you into doing something that is bad for you. And don't feel bad about eating meat. If we weren't meant to eat meat, why do have the digestive enzymes needed to digest meat? Did you know that In the U.S., vegan children tend to be smaller than other children? It's a fact.|||It is FOR NO ONE HUMANS ARE OMNIVORES. NATURE SAYS WE SHOULD EAT THIS WAY OBEY NATURE. VEGANISM IS AN EMOTIONAL DISORDER, SO IS VEGETARIANISM.|||Maybe your body just wasn't ready for it or maybe your blood type is a blood type O which means your body has a tuff time eating things that isn't high on protein like meat.