How Can We Prevent Ex-Vegans?

First, I'd just like to say that I don't think there are that many people leaving veganism, it's just that there have been some vegan influencers leave and therefore everyone hears about it. We don't get to hear as much about all of the success stories, or about how many thriving, long-term healthy vegans there are.

That being said, I still always feel disheartened when I hear about someone leaving veganism. I realize that everyone is on their own journey but for someone to make that step to become vegan - to love it, become passionate about it, feel great, etc - and then go back to being non-vegan because they felt it didn't work for them is unfortunate.

If someone just doesn't want to be vegan anymore they should just state that as their reason, but instead they usually say that it is due to some issue with the vegan diet.

Yes, we are all individuals, but there is no reason someone can't be healthy on a vegan diet. There may be individual variations in types of foods eaten, or ratios of macronutrients, but no one should have to incorporate animal products for any reason.* 

What is really going on when people leave veganism?

• Ate a highly restricted, unbalanced diet that didn't provide enough calories and left them feeling undernourished
• Didn't address the root cause of their digestive issues, blamed a vegan diet instead
• Didn't take a B12 and D3 supplement, and/or didn't get enough omega-3 via foods or an algae oil DHA/EPA supplement
• Cut out entire food groups (like beans/soy)
• Water fasted, or other long-term 'detox/cleanses' - left them with worse digestive symptoms and/or set them up for a digestive imbalance to develop (and/or drank their own urine)
• Had a damaged gut that could not deal with fibre very well, and then incorporated animal products (which do not contain fibre) instead of addressing the root cause of the inability to eat (certain) fibres
  
  

I don't think we can ever convince someone to stay vegan if they have made up their mind not to.

But, what we can do is:
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• Support each other in the vegan community
• Support the vegan-curious people, share resources with them
• Support new vegans
• Share evidence-based nutrition information
• Not fall for diet trends, or share information from 'influencers' that just jump from one diet to another, or constantly under-eat and call it 'clean eating'
• Seek out medical advice from a qualified plant-based practitioner when/if symptoms arise
• Take B12 and D3 supplements (this doesn't mean there is anything wrong with a vegan diet, and non-vegans need to supplement some nutrients as well)
• Realize mistakes may happen, but try to learn from them instead of just ditching the diet/lifestyle altogether
• Determine if you want to be vegan or plant-based (plant-based refers to diet only, and is not as strict of a definition and therefore may be more suitable for people that eat mostly plants but want some flexibility)

I do not want to shame anyone that has left a vegan diet, especially if they were dealing with health issues and their practitioner told them that eating animal products was the only way for them to feel better. I did however want to shed light on the trend of certain ex-vegans blaming the vegan diet for their issues when really it seemed like they just didn't want to be vegan anymore. Their stories muddy the water and create doubt in regards to the safety and ability to be a healthy vegan, when really they could have remained vegan and still addressed their health concerns.
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*people living in remote Northern regions of Canada may not have access to enough fruits and vegetables all year round

If you or someone you know may need some assistance with your vegan diet please feel free to reach out via email or book a complimentary 15 Min Discovery Call.