Philosophical Vegan Forum

OK, so here is the problem. I want to try to go back vegan again... for the umpteeth time. But I need help with my diet because I have severe digestive issues, which right now is why I consume some yogurt and cheese. There is a long list of foods that I cannot eat without vomiting, such as:

Potatoes (Including sweet potatoes)
Rice
Pasta
Anything similar to those too, such as Quinoa
Tomatoes
Onions
Large quantities of beans
Or large quantities of food whatsoever, I can only eat small meals
TVP
Whole nuts and seeds
Oatmeal
Carrots
Chia
Flax
Anything too spicy
Liquids mixed with solids, although certain soups in small quantities is OK, as is some cereal. I don't question my body, I just roll with it.

I am able to eat wheat bread, flour tortillas, peanut butter, most fresh produce including peppers, celery, fruit, and greens, small quantities of beans at a time, cereal, small quantities of meat replacements such as Boca, plant-milks (I much prefer almond milk), among some other things.

But with a vegan diet so strict the only way I can be healthy as a vegan is if I eat a lot of the same thing day in and day out. I can cook, and often make sauteed veggies with beans, peanut butter and jelly, peanut butter on apples, or toast, I eat a lot of peanut butter. I like to steam vegetables as well, such as broccoli. And salads with spinach or romaine and Italian dressing is awesome!

But does anyone got any other ideas of what I might be able to eat if I went full vegan again? Because I really don't want to just eat the same thing my whole life. And I don't really want to be fruitarian or anything like that.

Hello ThatNerdyScienceGirl,

I probably can't help you in the way you've anticipated, but i'll try anyways until someone more knowledgeful comments
From what I understand you're at the moment living on a vegeterian diet by including yogurt and cheese in your meals. And since you've
got to be really careful with what you eat, I suppose you are feeling ill by consuming a strictly plant-based diet. Or rather excluding yogurt and cheese in your diet. Am I right with this assumption?

But with a vegan diet so strict the only way I can be healthy as a vegan is if I eat a lot of the same thing day in and day out

The strict part would be, from what I've get from your post, excluding yogurt and cheese from your diet. Which doesn't sound all to strict, considering the food you can consume is anyway pretty sparse.

Now the question would be - which are the nutrients you've gained from yogurt and cheese (or milk) and miss on a vegan diet if you exclude these two foods.

From milk.co.uk
As with milk, yogurt and all other dairy products, cheese naturally contains many nutrients including calcium, phosphorous, protein, fat soluble vitamins and B vitamins

From Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations / Milk and Dairy Products in Human Nutrition
Milk is a major source of dietary energy, high-quality protein and fat. It can make a significant contribution to meeting the required nutrient intakes of calcium, magnesium, selenium, riboflavin, vitamin B12 and pantothenic acid. Milk from some animal species can also be a source of zinc and vitamins A, C, D and B6. Bioavailability of some nutrients in milk, for example calcium, is high compared with that in other foods in the diet.

Let's take the second statement, as it seems to be more scientifically accurate:

(You can't consume starchy foods? But you can consume whole wheat bread? I can't wrap my head around this Can you elaborate please?)

Rice, Pasta, Anything similar to those too, such as Quinoa

calcium: soybeans, kale, tempeh, tofu, almonds, broccoli, tahini, navy beans, soy or ricemilk - calcium-fortified

magnesium: cashews, spinach, cereal (shredded wheat), oatmeal, avocado, banana, whole wheat bread, whole wheat

selenium: brazil nuts, white button mushroom, lima/pinto beans, chia seeds, brown rice, seeds (sunflower, sesame, and flax), leafy greens

riboflavin (vitamin B2): cereal grasses, whole grains, almonds, sesame seeds, spinach, fortified soy milk, spirulina, mushrooms, beet greens, buckwheat, prunes

cobalamin (vitamin B12): soy products, fortified cereals, fortified almond milk, fortified coconut milk, some vegan protein powders, nutritional yeast (one of the best), spirulina (best source) - or you can take supplement pills.

pantothenic acid (vitamin B5): paprika, mushrooms, sunflower seeds (and sunbutter), whole grains, broccoli, avocados, tomatoes, soy milk, rice bran, sweet potatoes

---

zinc: tofu, tempeh, legumes, grains, nuts, seeds and fortified products.

vitamin A: carrots/carrot juice, butternut squash, pumpkin, spinach, kale, broccoli, mango, apricot

vitamin C: bell peppers, broccoli, tomatoes, strawberries, oranges/orange juice, grapefruit, brussels sprouts, cabbage, collard greens, turnip greens, spinach, potatoes, melon, berries, papayas, romaine lettuce, watercress.

vitamin D: Exposing your skin to direct sunlight, through drinking fortified milks, or through supplements

TL:DR I tried to underline everything you cannot eat, but as it seems those are very essential parts of a balanced diet

I can understand your problem, but to be honest your diet will always be very limited - vegan or omnivore. I think you need to consult a professional to work out a diet plan that would work out for you. Although fruits are a very good source of vitamins, you really need to include nuts and seeds, legumes and vegetables to your diet to gain every nutrient you need. F.E omega 3's are commonly found in fish or seeds (chia, flax ect) Since you don't/can't consume these, well - you'd need to supplement that aswell.

I've got a hard time to pin point your problems f.e I've got a feeling you can't consume starchy foods, which would mean I'd need to underline some more foods in that list.

Btw Here's a full list - I only covered the ones that are supposedly found in milk and didn't include every food there is to gain the nutrient you may lack. http://gentleworld.org/vegan-sources-of ... -minerals/

ThatNerdyScienceGirl wrote:I don't question my body, I just roll with it.

You really need to question it, because if there's some underlying condition causing this it could be life threatening. None of these things correspond to a true food intolerance (like starch or cellulose) since there are plenty of safe foods with those things, so it's clearly not that.

There are a number of diseases and issues that can cause nausea and food aversions.

http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/digestive-diseases-nausea-vomiting

• Motion sickness or seasickness
• Early stages of pregnancy (nausea occurs in approximately 50%-90% of all pregnancies; vomiting in 25%-55%)
• Medication-induced vomiting [HRT, for example]
• Intense pain
• Emotional stress (such as fear) [like fear of vomiting, even]
• Gallbladder disease
• Food poisoning
• Infections (such as the "stomach flu")
• Overeating
• A reaction to certain smells or odors
• Heart attack
• Concussion or brain injury
• Brain tumor
• Ulcers
• Some forms of cancer
• Bulimia or other psychological illnesses
• Gastroparesis or slow stomach emptying (a condition that can be seen in people with diabetes)
• Ingestion of toxins or excessive amounts of alcohol

This is not something to be ignored, or to try to address symptomatically by avoiding an ever growing list of foods that happened to make you vomit once and you assumed caused it (it's probably coincidence the first time, and thereafter a food aversion caused by the memory of vomiting from it, which makes you vomit because you expect to and are put off by the thought).
The underlying random nausea may be caused by your medication, a brain tumor, or even cancer.

The only thing that really makes sense in your list is large amounts of food. So, I would suggest you focus on small meals -- many throughout the day. You can eat any and all of those things on the list, as long as you aren't grossed out by them still and understand that there's no reason for them to make you feel sick, they usually won't (unless you get unlucky and have a wave of nausea caused by whatever your underlying condition is).

Talk to your doctor about adjusting your medication, if that doesn't fix it, you may need to have a brain scan, and as I said before, try to get tested for a stomach pathogen.

ThatNerdyScienceGirl wrote:Because I really don't want to just eat the same thing my whole life.

Don't think of this as a life-long issue. There's an underlying cause, and you can and will find it and solve it. It's imperative that you do, because the underlying cause may be life threatening, and catching these things early when the first symptoms appear (like nausea) is critical.

Eqeuls wrote:Hello ThatNerdyScienceGirl

I don't know why I can eat certain things and not others. And neither does my doctor...

ThatNerdyScienceGirl wrote: I don't know why I can eat certain things and not others. And neither does my doctor...

Bad diagnostics. It's the equivalent of "Doctor, it hurts when I do this." "Then don't do that."
I feel like you're ignoring my advice here because it's not what you wanted.

I don't want to scare you, and I don't know what your insurance situation is, but if you can afford it you should really see a specialist.
Things you assume to be benign or just symptoms you can deal with can be a hint of a serious underlying condition.

ThatNerdyScienceGirl wrote:

Eqeuls wrote:Hello ThatNerdyScienceGirl

I don't know why I can eat certain things and not others. And neither does my doctor...

I mainly wrote that post so you could maybe try the alternatives on that list (which weren't excluded by your first post) to get all the nutrients you need - but i'd try brimstonesalads approach and tips if I were you.

Eqeuls wrote:

ThatNerdyScienceGirl wrote:

Eqeuls wrote:Hello ThatNerdyScienceGirl

I don't know why I can eat certain things and not others. And neither does my doctor...

I mainly wrote that post so you could maybe try the alternatives on that list (which weren't excluded by your first post) to get all the nutrients you need - but i'd try brimstonesalads approach and tips if I were you.

I am, and thankyou for the tips ^_^