The KInd Life Community Forum

Oops. I meant "return to eating animal products because of health issues."

I was shocked after reading your question and discovering that these stars gave up veganism. It is sad to me because like it or not they influence people and this just gives people who want to prove veganism is unhealthy lots of fuel for thier fire. I can understand more at the going vegetarian thing but not switching to meat. Did they just give up and get tired of not bieng like everyone else? Recently there was also a french women, I believe, who wrote a book against bieng vegan after bieng vegan for a long time. It does concern me but until I expierence ill health effects from a vegan diet I wouldn;t dream of going back to eating animals.

The thing with Natalie Portman is that many people say it was for health issues, but the articles I have read in which she was interviewed haven't said that she said that specifically. Tony's question was about what happens when high profile vegans quit their diets because of proclaimed health issues. People shouldn't make assumptions and then try to use it as fodder against vegans, but they will. So the best bet is to be as knowledgable as you can be as an inividual about the health effects of a vegan or vegetarian diet vs. the health effects of a dairy and meat centered one. Read, educate, experience, because the fact of the matter is that in a society as exposed as ours is, these stories will give people things to try to throw in our faces.

And lest anyone be confused, organic doesn't equal humane, so if a person eats other living creatures, they should at least know where the animals that are being killed in order to provide them with food come from. If you can't visit the farm, I wouldn't trust it (aside from the fact that I personally will never willingly choose to take another's life in exchange for food that is unnecessary, but that's a different topic for another site).

I just want to say I still applaude natalie portman for at least still maintaning a vegetarian diet, maybe she will go back to veganism, I wonder how she will raise her child? I do try not to judge anyone for there diet choices, however, it is a little harder not o be disappointed when a person who is famous advocates a vegan/vegetarian diet and like Ginnefer Goodwin, talks about it and is on t.v. talk shows and vegnews, to then come back and say it is actually not healthy. It is disappointing and it feels like another notch in the meat eating world. Drew Barrymore's comment that vegetariansim is boring and that she wanted to wear animal products sometimes is also very disappointing and seems very cold to me. For me it is a fight, for health and for the animals and when someone who is high profile knocks bieng vegan it is just another thing meat advocates can throw in our face. Personnally, my father was cured of diabetes on a vegan diet. My own health is better, although because of hypothyroidism I don't seem to loose any weight. It also seem that so many people really don't know what to eat and I feel that is a reason for some of these health problems. Learning how not to eat the S.A.D diet is very difficult and takes alot of re-learning of everything we were taught growing up. I understand the whole allergies thing, my mother is allergic to almost everything, but it can still be done.

I think the problem with society today is placing soooo much importance on what celebrities are doing. I made a conscious choice to become a vegan, and I feel good about my decision. I question the intentions of those who become vegan because a celebrity is (and stray from it when they're not). It isn't a fad it is a life choice that effects, not only one's personal health, but the environment as well. I am from the school of thought that believe a vegan diet can improve one's physical, emotional, and mental well-being. Unfortunately, there are many people who do not feel that way and, sadly, hinge on every word that celebrities utter.