As a scientist, I did a self-experiment to compare a vegan diet with eating meat

The first 2-3 years were a breeze. I knew that what I was doing was good for the planet. There were fewer animals suffering at _my_ expense. Everyone said eating a lot of plants was good for you so I must have been healthy.

But eating a whole foods plant based diet (which is what people focusing on the nutrition aspect of veganism assume you're doing) is really fucking hard. Getting some plant based meat and pasta is vegan, sure, but is it healthy? Did I feel good?

In February I realized that I had to include coffee as a mainstay of my diet in order to feel energized and that didn't sit right with me. Why didn't my food make me feel energized? Why did I have to blow my nose the second I finished eating any meal? So I decided to stop. I went to what's popularly called an "animal based" diet (grass-fed beef, minimally processed whole milk cheese, eggs from chickens treated and fed well, and fresh fruit) and I feel great but now that I've lived through 1 honeymoon period of a new diet, I'm going to wait and see how I feel over the coming months and years. I don't depend on coffee to stay awake and I'm able to power lift regularly with a strength that I don't remember feeling when vegan.

Veganism works in bursts. You can be vegan for a day or a week or a month and feel good. But my current anecdote-based hunch is that people feel better when they have minimally processed food and the best way to get a human's worth of nutrition from minimally processed food is with animal based foods.

This author should commit to an update post in 5 years to talk about how they feel then.

To anyone concerned about finding vegan food to enjoy, and/or has GERD, here's how I eat (I have tried all sorts of diets, and have settled into Michael Pollan's "eat food [not ultra-processed "food"], not a lot [not to bursting, but slowly until the ghrelin says "ahhhh, that feels good"], mostly plants):

I sprout wheat seeds and various legumes (lentils, adzuki beans, chickpeas, mung beans, etc- anything that will sprout and which I can buy from in bulk from Azure Standard, a bulk distributor in Oregon), and microwave them on 30% power (1000W machine) until tender (lower power for longer results in more-thorough cooking, and not as much water loss, especially for things like cubed beets). I'll also cook similarly some diced vegetables, whatever's in season, and add nutritional yeast, homemade kimchi (this is easy to make; books by Sandor Ellix Katz are a helpful reference), and any uncooked greens. Sometimes I'll add meat if we have it; meat is a tasty treat, a luxury, a highlight but not necessary for me to enjoy the meal. I'll add some olive oil or butter if there's otherwise no fat, but I don't overdo it because of GERD (gastro-esophageal reflux disorder). If I make too much for one meal, I eat the rest throughout the day, "listening to my body" (a term I've heard since childhood but never really understood how to do until recently) to know when I've had enough. I don't eat much after mid-afternoon, and I also cook meals for my family that they will enjoy. Easier now, since I often use ingredients I avoid (onion, garlic, tomatoes), and I sit down with everyone for our one shared meal of the day, sometimes wth a small bowl of something neutral like rice, or a cup of warm water. It's not ideal, but it works and I'm less grumpy because of it.

If there's a takeaway I'd suggest, it's that you don't have to give up meat or be entirely vegan.

Look in your grocery store for Quorn, tofu and seitan as well as meat substitutes that mimic turkey/ham slices or veggie sausages/burgers. I believe it's important not to compare whatever you're eating to it's meat equivalent, but rather as a separate new entity.

It's significantly easier than going full vegan.