It seems that Vegan Roulette is the most active article on this weblog. That being the case I wanted to add more about my experience and explain why veganism, for health reasons, is lowest on the totem pole in terms of adequate nutrition. I do so candidly because I wish to deter anyone on planet earth from trying something like this. My loss is your gain.

About two years ago, Takota headed to up to San Fransisco to play a small gig. Like all van rides during that time, I was impatiently waiting to arrive, so I could search for a grocery store. The realization of being vegan on the road is that there's nothing to eat. I did not eat sugar or highly refined carbohydrates, so finding "raw" fruits and veggies was extremely difficult, if not impossible. I often found myself fasting for a good portion of the day; when I was eating it was usually a plain McDonald's side salad with whatever fruit I could find.

When we arrived at our destination, we unloaded the trailer and were told to take our equipment down to the basement where the stage was. We looked at the steep flight of stairs, let out a collective groan, and started to unload the trailer. It was a struggle trying to get my 120lb frame to bare the weight of my bass equipment. After a couple of close calls, Brett, our guitar player, noticed my valiant effort, and told me he would handle it. It was truly pathetic, I sat on the sidelines and watched the rest of the band take in my equipment. I just couldn't do it.

So how does a 155 lb. male get sucked down to 120 lb. with chronic fatigue & extreme weakness? From what I've put together, a couple of reasons:

• Lack of dietary building blocks of testosterone and other key hormones
• Low amounts of superior dietary nutrients zinc, fat, cholesterol, and protein (animal)
• Excessive amounts of vegetables and fruits (read:sugar)
• Low overall calorie consumption

Just so we know exactly what a solid vegan diet looks like, lets head over ChooseVeg.com and see what they recommend. Veganism, by ChooseVeg's definition is a very high carbohydrate, high fiber, low fat diet.

The vegan food pyramid lists virtually no fat, no cholesterol, and an inhuman amount of carbohydrate laden foods. According ChooseVeg's pyramid, I would say the recommended vegan diet consists of 80-90% carbohydrates.

So let's take a look at all the important hormones that a vegan lifestyle will derail.

*Note that most of this post can apply to vegetarians as well the SAD diet (standard American diet).

Insulin

Since a vegan diet is heavy on carbohydrates it will create lots of glucose, and as we know all carbohydrates are turned into glucose, even vegetables. When glucose reaches the blood stream, it's greeted by master hormone insulin to shuttle the glucose off into your fat cells or use for energy. Increasing insulin through dietary carbohydrates, induces insulin resistance which makes the pancreas overcompensate by increasing insulin production even more. Insulin resistance (which can happen at any stage of life, including fetal development) is when a couple of bad things happen:

• We accumulate fat because it is trapped in our cells, due to high insulin
• We are constantly hungry because our cells are not being fed, due to high insulin
• We develop Type II Diabetes leading to other diseases of civilization
• We down regulate LH (luteinizing hormone) & FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) receptors, leaving us with low testosterone, decreased bone density, decreased muscle mass, and a weak heart.

http://tinyurl.com/dnbpcn

Dietary Fat

I consider dietary fat to be the most important and neglected macro nutrient. The essential fatty acids (ones we can't live without) give the glands more energy to do their work which, in part, is hormone production. Low fat vegan diets are the equivalent of dietary castration. Not to mention a catalyst for dry skin, digestive issues, and poor nail health. It's hard being an American fighting against our fat phobic upbringing, but this is precisely the reason we have to overcome our own acculturation.

Here is a list of common symptoms of low fat vegan & low fat diets in general:

• Dry skin
• Constipation
• Low energy levels
• Brittle hair and hair loss
• Poor nail growth
• Deterioration of liver and kidneys
• Behavioral changes due to brain deterioration
• Glands dry up
• Immune system deteriorates, resulting in more infections, poorer wound healing, and increased cancer
• Digestion problems, inflammation, bloating, allergies, autoimmune conditions
• Bone mineral loss
• Reproductive failure: sterility in males and miscarriage in females

http://tinyurl.com/d4vvgc

So do vegans avoid fat like they're told to by the experts? None that I've ever met do. This is interesting because fat and carbohydrates are actually even more dangerous than carbohydrates alone. Instead of fast poison, we are slowing carbohydrate digestion down with the addition of dietary fat, excellent!

Cholesterol

While cholesterol is denounced by pretty much everyone in mainstream health, it's supposed harm isn't shouted any louder than the vegan movement. Cholesterol is the backbone of steroid hormone synthesis, especially testosterone and estrogen. To clarify we WANT our bodies to produce these hormones. We want them in proper ratios and we want them in optimal range (differs for everyone).

If we look at a common situation, the lowering of cholesterol with statin drugs, we can quickly see why inhibiting cholesterol gets us into trouble.

Do Statins Cause Impotence?
Abstract

 

Aims and methods:
To describe patients with decreased libido during use of a HMG-CoA-reductase inhibitor (statin drug), and to discuss causality and pharmacological hypotheses for this association by analysis of the adverse drug reactions (ADR) database of the Netherlands Pharmacovigilance Centre Lareb.

Results:
Eight patients were identified as having decreased libido during use of statins. In two of these cases testosterone levels were determined and appeared to be decreased.

Conclusion:
Decreased libido is a probable adverse drug reaction of HMG-CoA-reductase-inhibitors (statin drugs) and is reversible. The ADR may be caused by low serum testosterone levels, mainly due to intracellular cholesterol depletion.

http://tinyurl.com/de3fty

As we can see statin drugs deplete levels cholesterol, causing lower levels of testosterone and hormone output in general (most likely because they lower pregnenolone by decreasing cholesterol). After the patient starts feeling like shit, their docs usually then prescribe hormone replacement therapy to bring up the low hormones levels. This circular logic is truly absurd, and is the reality for many Americans. I did a repost a while ago on seven things everyone should know about cholesterol. The Weston A. Price Foundation also has an excellent article on why higher cholesterol is desired.

Candida

Candida (can-di-duh) is an overgrowth of pathogenic bacteria in our gut flora that causes a wide range of problems. Candida needs a suitable ecosystem to grow in your intestinal lining; a low oxygen, alkaline, high glucose, high fiber, high copper, low zinc environment makes a very hospitable gut for candida to flourish. We know that all of the attributes listed are associated with a vegan diet, it is unequivocally the perfect diet to achieve gut dysbiosis.

Candida is related to hormones by its ability to "mask" hormone receptor sites making your body think you have enough, when in reality you have too little. This is especially true for cases of hypothyroidism (low free T3) and low estrogens which correlate with candida overgrowth.

Growth Hormone

Growth hormone is basically the hormone that controls when your adipose (fat) tissues release fatty acids to be metabolized by the rest of your body. No growth hormone, no significant fat loss. So using this knowledge we want this anti-aging hormone to be one of our top priorities. Unfortunately when insulin is around, growth hormone is dormant. They are paradoxical of each other.

Other things we can do to maximize this hormone is eating when we're truly hungry, strenuous exercise, and most importantly, getting good sleep.

http://tinyurl.com/dzexak

Cortisol

Cortisol is released whenever we're under physical or emotional stress. If you have read the above, you can conclude that a vegan lifestyle throws a wrench in the whole metabolic symphony. The low calorie consumption, high insulin, low testosterone, low estrogen, low growth hormone, low DHEA, candida, dysbiosis, mineral, vitamin, and fatty acid deficiencies causes the body to downshift into survival mode. It is at this time, two hormones DHEA and cortisol, skyrocket in attempt to combat the physical and emotional stress. Eventually DHEA crashes and soon after cortisol follows, leading to complete adrenal failure, also known as adrenal fatigue. The adrenal glands are being worked too hard and slowly start to atrophy. They produce less and less DHEA and cortisol, decreasing quality of life dramatically.

Over the course of being vegan my cortisol scores were through roof on my Rhein tests:

December 2007
Cortisol (F) HIGH 189 (35-168 ug/24hrs)

November 2007
Cortisol (F) HIGH 168 (35-168 ug/24hrs)

After feeding myself properly I am no longer anxiety driven like my vegan days. I don't get worked up at the smallest things and I no longer obsess over moments that disappointed me during the day. I always find it strange that eating fat and meat could make life more enjoyable.

Thyroid

A vegan diet severely affects how your thyroid does its job. We've already established that a vegan diet makes us more vulnerable to stress. This multiplies when stress (too much cortisol) blocks the conversion from T4 to T3 hormone. T3 is our "active" thyroid hormone, that is produced from T4. When T4 can't be converted to T3, it becomes "inactive" reverse T3, and we now have a hypothyroid condition. Other notable factors that increase reverse T3 are; low zinc, and high copper levels, both of which are common on a vegan diet. The most common symptoms of low thyroid are: feeling cold all the time, hair loss, weight gain, dry skin, brittle hair, and sunken eyes.

Another interesting phenomenon that will inhibit thyroid production is the consumption of goitrogens. Goitrogens are naturally-occurring substances that can interfere with function of the thyroid gland. Known goitrogens are: broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, millet, peaches, peanuts, radishes, soy products, spinach, and strawberries. So in other words, all the ones that are "really healthy".

This is actually one of the main reasons I kept carbohydrates in my diet for so long. All the experts said that a hypothyroid condition is exacerbated by low carbohydrate diets. I know think that it's low calorie diets that slow down the thyroid, not low carbohydrates. Reverse T3 is nothing to worry about when you are consuming adequate amounts of fat and protein.

In closing it's important to remember that in the history of man, there has never been a country, culture or race that has subsisted on solely vegetation. I would hypothesize that veganism has more to do with politics, "going green", and emotions, than it does constructing a diet to fit our bodies unique biochemistry. Even the green aspect of not eating meat is looking a little foolish.

Because the question will inevitably come up, I am not an animal activist. I care about the quality of my life and those I love. I will not sacrifice my health for any animal that I was evolutionarily designed to eat.

And now I will end this long winded post with a quote from Mr. Lex Rooker:

"You get hungry because your body needs fuel. Along with breathing, these are the basic biological drives that keep you alive. Why on earth we make up reasons to ignore these fundamental biological drives is beyond me.

Therefore:
When you are hungry, eat meat and fat until you are satisfied.
When you are thirsty, drink water until you are satisfied.

This simple plan has worked well for our species for millions of years, and everything else is just an artificially contrived complication."