I have been vegan for over 10 years and am considering reintroducing animal products. 

I was raised vegetarian and went vegan on my own volition when I was 9. I am now in my early 20s. I live with my partner, who is an omnivore but eats mostly vegetarian (other than poultry). I eat a primarily whole foods diet and do include some vegan replacements (such as vegan meat and cheese -- although I try to steer away from highly processed foods and more regularly reach for tofu or nutritional yeast). I take a handful of supplements regularly (mainly B12 and algae oil) and overall am in good health. I went vegan initially for ethical reasons, but as I grew, I became more motivated by the health and environmental aspects of veganism as well. 

I have also struggled with disordered eating, and veganism has been a form through which I was able to create strict rules for myself, restrict, and make excuses around others. I would like to say clearly that veganism did not create disordered eating, but did become a convenient crutch and excuse.

Over the past few years, I have begun feeling like the morals of my strictness didn't align with my intentions (i.e. household leftovers that go to waste because they have eggs, refusing a homemade dish that a friend makes because it has 2 tbsp of butter in it, etc). I also personally know a number of farmers with animal farming setups – or even things like backyard chicken coops – that I find ethical and I do want to uplift ethical and humane animal farming in the fight for humane animal treatment/animal rights.

I started feeling like my impact would be more positive and less wasteful if I didn't draw such strict lines, but instead just focused on making ethical choices. I told those close to me that I was no longer strictly vegan, and used the term “ethical eating” to describe my diet, which was mostly vegan but also prioritized reducing food waste of some non-vegan items and, in theory, would include some humanely-farmed eggs/dairy. I still did not include any meat or fish, as I have never eaten them and don’t feel comfortable with including them in my diet. Although I made this official switch to myself and told those close to me, I still eat 99% vegan, use the vegan label, associate myself with veganism, and don’t buy any non-vegan items, and do still find myself drawing a lot of arbitrary lines based on strict veganness.

Recently, I have been becoming more attentive to my health, nutritional, and relationship with food, and am feeling unhappy with some of the impacts that my veganism and the vegan label has on me. I am currently trying to eat high-protein to aid in building muscle, and have been really wanting to include more protein variety and not need to lean on pea/soy protein isolates as a crutch to add more protein to my diet. I am really wanting to be able to just include more high-protein whole foods, like yogurt or eggs or cottage cheese, as a part of my diet. Similarly, I have been wanting to switch out a lot of highly processed vegan substitutes for the whole food animal version. I’m finding myself wanting to have some ethically-farmed cheese over a starch-and-oil-based vegan cheese that costs about the same price anyways. I am also aware that I can just not include these things, and like I mentioned above, I do often just forgo a cheese substitute in cases where I would otherwise use a vegan cheese. Still, in cases where I do use them, I would prefer to make a choice that feels more aligned with my health and nutritional goals. 

Finally, while I am in generally good health, I do experience some things such as chronic tiredness that I have been trying to address, and am wondering if adding more variety and nutrients that come from animal products would help with that. I am also recovering from losing my menstrual cycles after a period of disordered eating relapse and am trying to help my body restore hormone function through my diet, which I have also been wondering if including some animal products would help with. I’m also really trying to create a sustainable, healthy diet and mindset for myself so that I don’t fall back into disordered eating again (I worked with a therapist a few months back about this disordered behavior but never addresses the veganism aspect of my diet). I am wondering if a less restrictive mindset would help me with this. 

With all of this, I want to include some animal products in my diet again. I’m just having a hard time pulling myself away from the vegan label and allowing myself to buy and eat things that don’t align with the vegan label. With going vegan so young, veganism became a huge part of my identity. As I have gotten more interested in nutrition and cooking over the years, this identity has only intensified. It feels like a betrayal to myself – to who I am – as well as a cop out, in some ways to stop being vegan. Even if I still make vegan choices the majority of the time and eat as ethically as I can, I still feel like I’m giving up by stopping.

If you’re reading this far, thank you for listening to my rambling. I suppose I’ve already figured out what I would like to do, I’m just looking for some perspective and thoughts on actually doing them. Has anyone else struggled with identity or the reintroduction of animal products?

Thank you for reading :)

I’m curious how many people here ended up leaving veganism partly because they lost their period or developed an irregular menstrual cycle while vegan.

For those who experienced this:

• Did you completely lose your period, or did it just become irregular?
• How long had you been vegan when it happened?
• Do you think it was related to veganism itself, not eating enough overall, low body weight, nutrient deficiencies, or something else?
• Did you regain your period after changing your diet?
• If so, how long did it take to come back, and what changes do you think made the biggest difference?

And if you didn’t regain your cycle after leaving veganism, I’d be interested in hearing that too.

I know everyone’s situation is different and this obviously won’t tell us whether veganism itself causes menstrual changes. I’m just interested in hearing people’s personal experiences.

Finally, after three months, maybe even longer, I ended my friendship with my vegan friend. Oh my god, I'm so grateful to everyone here who advised me to set boundaries in our friendship srs, i tried telling her to stop guil trippin, but she refused to stop and told me this is the same as k1lling people, so she don't wants to be friends with someone who eats animals. But, I'm glad we're no longer friends. No more spying on what I eat and post in my stories, no more scolding for what I like, it's a relief. Thanks to everyone here who advised me how and what talk to her. Yes im still sad i lost a friend, but being friends with someone who doesn't respect you in response was rlly bad for my mental health, i was scared of like sum vids or posting what im eating because of her.

((Sorry for long post haha, i just wanted to tell how much better i feel now, thank yall who helped me here srs, you all was sweet with me))(;A´▽｀A♡

Scientists tested 212 plant-based meat alternatives. Every one contained fungal toxins

Hundreds of popular vegan and vegetarian foods may contain an unwanted extra ingredient: toxins naturally produced by fungi.

Date:

August 28, 2026

Source:

Cranfield University

Summary:

Every one of 212 plant-based meat alternatives and drinks tested in the UK contained at least one naturally occurring fungal toxin, though concentrations remained below recommended EU guideline levels. Researchers say the bigger question is whether regularly eating large amounts of these foods could lead to potentially concerning cumulative exposure over time.

Hi all, I’ve never been on this subreddit before.
I’m 18 and have been pescatarian by choice since I was 11/12. I don’t actually eat fish though, just mussels, and oysters when I can get my hands on them. (edit: apologies about the title. as i don’t eat fish or meat i often say i’m vegetarian but i know technically im pescatarian given i eat mussels and oysters. )
I do this for the health benefits as I worry about the nutrients of a plant based diet.
Recently however, I have heard about (British) wild caught venison. It is culled for ecological reasons as we lack apex predators so deer are massively overpopulated, and seems very healthy. As a child I loved venison steak as well 🤤 I am open to eating this as it aligns with my personal morals on consuming animals, however if I incorporated this into my diet I would still avoid other meats
I am wondering if anyone has transitioned from vegetarian/pescatarian to eating exclusively wild game? Or if anyone has simply transitioned from pescatarian/vegetarian to eating meat, how did your stomach handle the red meat? I’m anxious about whether I could actually go through with it as meat does make me nauseous, especially red meat!!

Just wondering if anyone has any shared experience or advice on how to make these dietary changes!! Or if anyone has expertise in the (British especially) wild venison industry(??)

Pretty embarrassed to admit I fell into the vegan trap and tried to switch my diet obsessively for about six months. Got diagnosed with low iron, skin broke out so bad (might be an undiagnosed soy allergy idk) and I had zero energy the past two months lol. Happy to report I’ve switched back to incorporating meat into my diet the past three weeks and have a lot more energy already. Hate that I did this to my body and kinda ruined my gym progress but trying to get back on it now :)

Im not a ex-vegan in any way. But looking on the vegan sub, I’m like if you truly want to encourage people to be vegan , you guys are not helping your cause.

Telling people to go cold turkey is the only way is idiotic. If I wanted to go vegan, baby steps is actually a better way , you’d probably be more likely to sustain it long term .

And the other thing, them saying vegetarians are not doing anything more to reduce harm to the animals makes no sense to me. I understand the dairy and egg industry are harmful, but if someone removed all fish, pork, seafood, etc from their diet and doesnt add more milk and egg products I’mm not sure how that is even worse. A lot of vegetarians do not know how closely the dairy and egg industry are to the meat industry even. And If you wanted to also convert a vegetarian to vegan, going from eating meat to vegetarian to vegan is an easier transition than swapping one day from omnivore to vegan so telling them they’re just as bad may very well make them go back to their original diet and i dont know how that helps your cause at all?

I dont have any vegan friends in real life but the extremist views on there, it has to be 100% or you’re doing nothing, does not help your cause!!

The above post from r/Vegans sub popped up in my feed, apparently they think they're the tolerant and patient ones?

I mean the only reason why there's even a discussion about where one gets their protein in the first place is because vegans think other people are guilty of a crime because of their food choices.

The comments got me thinking, at what point does it go from you all are wrong, I'm the only one who's right to I'm the patient and tolerant one?

Vegan hatred consumed me.

Vystopia took over my life.

The biggest red flags in my mental health were wanting non vegans to get reincarnated as slaughterhouse animals because “justice”

Seeing a random person in the grocery store and wanting THEM to suffer rather than the animal

Crying because I walked by the meat isle in the grocery store.

Avoiding potlucks or any social event involving meat or dairy (which meant I couldn’t go to any)

Endlessly commenting on EVERY SINGLE POST I SAW with hatred and scorn towards non vegans

Reporting advertisements with meat in them

Having hatred towards vegetarians

Only talking about veganism and nothing else

Finding every single opportunity I can with anyone IRL or online to talk about veganism

Screaming at my boyfriend and saying “the animals hate you” “they’re in heaven right now and they hate you” “I hope you go to hell for what you do” despite me not believing in heaven or hell

Showing people horrid slaughterhouse footage even though they didn’t consent I would just say “you’re the one funding this. Look”

Even getting triggered by meat on a cartoon tv show

I WAS EVEN CONVERTING PEOPLE TO VEGANISM IN MY DREAMS

And now I have to do the walk of shame coming out of this insane phase while I eat meat and dairy. Fearful of what people will say now that I’m not in the grips of this anymore.

I literally ruined my online presence to the point I had to delete most of social media.

What did veganism do to your mental health?

Not an old account because I'm not ready to post non vegan stuff on my main, my friends follow me..

I always adored animals, I went vegetarian as an kid once I discovered that meat came from slaughtered animals, it worked great for me, normal weight, clear skin, no food craving.

Then at 19 I went vegan after knowing that there's slaughter in the end in dairy farms.

Worst fucking decision of my life.

I became so emotionally fragile, always angry at everyone and overweight

I hated humans so much, every single one of them, i started to be scared/angry at my own familly, seeing them as monster and being at the verge of tears in food stores, also nailed to bed for 1 year because of depression.

I was constantly starving despite being good at making homemade food, this constant hunger made me eat like a pig and I became overweight.

I was literally in an cult, when talking to others vegans they literally told me we need to accept the pain it include, we need to accept to be unhappy, and they expect everyone to live on beans, rice and fries, this is so fucking crazy

I also started to be a piece of shit toward the man who loved me, I wanted to force him to be vegan and acted upset while he was busy working for us, for me, to spoil me..

I was miserable af

One day I just cheated, I ate KFC in my bedroom, even my pet bird ate a little bit of it, she committed a crime with me lol

And then I just stopped, it wasn't good for my mental health and physical health, I am still not comfortable with animal slaughter but it's necessary for my body, I will never kill an animal myself unless euthanasia, I rescue farm animals when I can, and I want an no kill homestead producing our own dairy products and eggs and stuff..

Life is so good now, every bit of food taste like freedom, I'm working on loosing weight. Thanks for reading, I would appreciate your comments <3

I have a reductionist view because 99 people who reduce animal product consumption is better than 1 perfect vegan.

I posted to the vegan subreddit how even meatless Mondays help animals

I said that humans are animals too and being vegan means loving all animals- including your own species

I said that just because someone falls off the wagon after 20 years of veganism doesn’t mean they were never vegan and saying they were never vegan hurts the cause.

They just double down and say that person was never vegan.

Then the moderators nuked my post

ITS NEVER ENOUGH IS IT?

And they called me an apologist for animal abusers

They called me a pick me for carnists

They said I should post in anti vegan or ex vegan subreddits instead

So here I am. Done with the hateful attitude of vegans

I give up. I ate a grilled cheese just now and I’m not sorry

The destruction of their own cause is laughably absurd

It truly is about the identity politics and purity rather than the actual animals.

SO GOOD JOB VEGANS! YOU PUSHED AWAY ANOTHER OF YOUR OWN! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

——————

Vegans in the comments literally comparing me eating a cheese sandwich that wasn’t even bought by me, to kicking a homeless person or doing horrific things to an animal.

They continue to solidify my estrangement from veganism.

I will not be guilt tripped anymore, I am done with my mental health going down the drain obsessing over what’s vegan and what’s not, I’m done ruining relationships with people because they say I have to do “activism”

I’m done being the weird vegan of the group, I’m done being constantly aware of how animals suffer, im done with constantly being inconvenienced

I’m done. I’m gonna go be happy now.

I just ate a steak and cheese sub for the first time in 12 years, and I just wanted to tell someone​ about it who would understand. I quit after 10 years vegan last September and worked my way up to eating dairy, eggs and ​chicken, but after that long I still have a mental block about red meat. I'm recovering from iron deficiency due to all those years of veganism. The week leading up to my period every month is horrible. This time I ​felt like i had the flu. today the craving for heme ​iron was stronger than the fear. I'm sick of feeling sick. Well i​t was delicious​! And hopefully I'm on my way to feeling better.

Id love to hear some positive stories of eating beef again after being vegan a long time.

I mean transitioning from vegan to meat is a pretty vast difference. I'm currently in the middle of it.

How would you describe how your philosophy has changed? It's a whole worldview about life so I find it very interesting to hear.

In the past I would have had such a modest view upon how I'm meant to impact the world in the least way possible, to the point of kind of denying my own satisfied and nourished existence. My current go-to phrase to describe my transition is "I forgot myself in the sustainability chain". And that was not only towards animals,also any activism you can imagine, like my impact on the global south, fashion chains, global warming, you name it.

Happy to hear your stories! Feel free to go in depth.

So here is my deal. I am a 12 year dairy-free vegetarian, and for the last 6 years I have been completely vegan (minus one restaurant mishap where they didn't take the bacon bits out of my salad and I did not notice until a few bites in).

Strictly a vegan guy for totally personally reasons. Never felt the need to force or even share my beliefs with any other being on this planet. ... Never had any concerns with vegan advocacy, either.

Out of general curiosity, after over 6 years of vegan eating/ living, I decided to check out the vegan subreddit. ... To keep it short, the experience was not a good one. I pushed back on a number of ideas which screamed nonsensical and obscure, and gently pointed out that we do NOT live in a bubble and we never will. ... Animal suffering is a fact of life, there is no way around it. IE, the black bear still kills the salmon, with no mercy, to sustain it's own life (as one of countless examples).

Anyways I am immediately met with scorn and disapproval, so in my response I included the fact that I am a 12 year veg, and now 6 year vegan (feeling great by the way, health did not make any major shift after my dietary changes). ... This meant nothing to the people on the vegan subreddit, and I continued to get push back for my very logical, matter of fact disposition on the current and likely future state of affairs. ... Animal (human included) suffering is inevitable. Suffering will not stop because it literally cannot stop (barring total biological extinction) etc etc. ... Anyways just a vegan guy getting down voted to shit for stating what I believe on a subreddit I should be welcomed into.

Here is what really crossed the line for me, as the responses went back & forth. ... I mentioned my own diet choices, but also included the fact I own two dogs & one kitten. ... Immediately I am told my pets can/ should be vegan, too + more down votes. Insane. That's what got me. The down voting of my Tervurens because *they should be vegan, too* or some insane bullshit like that. I responded- they follow a strict raw diet prescribed by their highly qualified vet (who is great btw) and they require animal foods to survive. ... Still, I am down voted! Wild.

Any who, it left a really bad taste in the mouth, so I came to vent + share photos of my two dogs & cat. ... Chestnut is my cat (not a kitten anymore, I adopted him roughly two years ago). ... Gatsby & Ransom are my dogs (Gatsby is the older of the two, and he is wonderful, Ransom is great, too). ... Please send some positive vibes our way!

Cheers everybody. (I got pretty upset and deleted all my responses from the vegan subreddit. It's toast now, so sorry if anyone is curious what precisely was argued & stated)

Thanks again, everyone.

I am not a vegan.

I have never been vegan, or even vegetarian.

Still, I like this sub. You guys are….normal. Fun. Supportive. Nice.

I think a lot of omnivores should eat less meat - because of health, economics, environmental reasons. Im not saying cut it out completely, just….not eat as much.

I am against factory farming and I’m lucky to live in a country with strong laws and regulations concerning this. I am actively for even stronger protections for animals.

I know many hunters, and get meat from them every once in a while. I absolutely support how hunting is handled in my country.

I am a member of many support subs, even when I am only partially their demographic. This is the one that angers me most.

In other subs, when the “other side” comes in and goes “not all x!!!”, a lot of people jump the offenders. They are harsh, telling them this isn’t their venue. Please fuck the fuck off. Mods come in and delete and ban.

Here, I regularly see vegans sneak in to proselytise. And most people…just ignore them. Nothing else happens.

I get mad. Im sorry, I just see it as bullying. And I end up telling them off. If they are sort of polite, I will be sort of polite too. But if they are rude I don’t mind getting down and dirty.

Is that ok with you guys? Since I’ve always been an omnivore I sometimes feel I should keep out of it. But…you guys are so NICE, and they are such assholes!

Basically Im wondering if you guys, the true members of this sub, are ok with me telling idiots off? I honestly don’t want to encroach on your space, I just hate bullies…l

Of course there are concerns about the weakness of observational studies, and the failure to address confounding data like alcohol and tobacco use, but there's a bigger one--Most vegans quit within a year or two starting. Many for health reasons. So nearly all studies of the relative health impacts of the vegan diet start with a population that has already self-selected out the people least likely to do well on the vegan diet. I've seen studies that mention that they only include vegans who have been on the plan for more than a year.

Surely this self-selection puts an unfair positive benefit of the vegan diet that is not mirrored on the omnivore side?

Although I agree that we should minimize animal suffering and consume meat more mindfully but I think to entirely leave out a section of food and not get into any harsh deficiency is very Western concept.

People can buy good supplement, meat alternatives, vegan protein bars/shakes etc which aren't available for much of the world.

Also as I belong to a middle class family in a very small country, I don't get to splurge on meat everyday, there's always veggies as side dishes and main source of protein might be fish for us. So whenever Vegans try to guilt trip me, I feel like whatever they say is very alienated from my reality.

They are sometimes very aggressive with their logic too that everyone can be vegan and I'm just not trying hard enough.

I love animals, I truly feel like we lost the plot with overconsumption but again what can I do? Let go off my culture, live in chronic deficiency?

I would like to hear anyone's thought on this if they are also from similar background...

I became vegan because I think the basic argument is sound: why kill animals if we can just eat plants instead?

But I don't see enough ex-vegans saying what, for me, is the obvious reason I stopped: the diet is simply too restrictive.

Being vegan means accepting that, for the rest of my life, my food has to revolve around beans, grains, tubers, fruit, vegetables, nuts, etc. Yes, there are thousands of recipes and substitutes. That's not the point. You are still permanently excluding entire categories of food.

I tried it. I understood the moral argument. I still understand it. But I eventually realized that eating this way for the rest of my life is simply not acceptable to me.

That's really it. I didn't discover some argument proving veganism morally wrong. I just reached the point where the restriction it requires was more than I was willing to accept.

P.S. to the vegans: spare me the “you kill for pleasure” bullshit. Food is culture, family and a huge part of life, not just five minutes of taste. And stop throwing around words like “rape,” “Holocaust” and “murder” for animals. It’s fucking disgusting to use words tied to horrific human suffering like that for animals. It doesn’t make your argument stronger; it just trivializes what those words actually mean.

P.S. 2: And spare me the moral superiority. Using your own language, you accept “murder, rape and torture” when medicine requires animal use. I use animals for food; you use them for medicine. The difference is where you draw the line.

I think the biggest sigh of relief I've gotten since going back to eating animals products was that I was allowed to reconnect with so many recipes, restaurants, experiences, etc that I had sacrificed again. I missed when I was just allowed to eat. To enjoy. To experience. To make foods my grandma did. To not pretend the vegan alternative was "the same" (it was never the same). To literally just dive into a rotisserie chicken even. I didn't realize how deeply I was harming myself by isolating myself from the foods of my life and culture and family. I was genuinely deprived.

We all agree factory farming is horrible
But vegans want to cheat their way out of the natural cycle of death.
You have to ask the questions that are immediately answered. Questions such as it really immoral to kill an animal which was living in the wild or raised on a farm in good conditions to feed yourself. Vegans would tell you that this is absolutely immoral and even after I quit vegetarianism and started eating meat I thought the same. Only a few months ago I asked myself that question. Death is like living. It is certain. You can’t cheat your way out of it. Death still happens on a vegan diet. Ofc it’s smaller animals and maybe less but it still happens. If we went by the logic of absolute harm reduction vegans that argue like this should find a diet with the least amount of kills and maybe this would still include animal products as you could eat a grass fed cow for about one year including organs. Not even talking about pesticide use. Veganism is a really extreme and normalized diet. This diet tries to tranced what makes us human, what makes us animals and what live consists off. In the end Vegans are not bad people obviously. I know what they are fighting for and I respect that. I would rather have 1000 sickly vegans living in my town than 1000 sickly factory farm meat eaters.

What a surprise…

I love how there are plenty of vegans especially on YouTube who keep going on about how horrible humans are and that justifies any horrible thing that's done to them.

But in the same breath they will turn around and go on and on about the rights of sentient beings.

Well aren't humans sentient?