Please help... I might want to go vegan but I'm worried

[jlksfd]

I’m a college student living with my parents and I have been mostly vegan for the last 2 years (for ethical reasons). When my parents prepare food with dairy or eggs I still eat it. When I’m extremely hungry sometimes I eat dairy. And sometimes I know for a fact that my parents are going to waste something. (My mom buys yogurt for recipes but no one likes eating the yogurt that is left over so no one eats it. ) And lately I have started eating fish because I think between fish and eggs and dairy, fish may be the lesser evil and it is healthier. But I don’t want to eat fish. The reason I started eating it is that I’m worried about nutrition. I think I may not be getting enough B vitamins and DHA omega 3… though I’ve thought about ordering some spirulina.

(The other reason I’m not completely vegan is that my mom has been pretty accommodating and has been learning some vegetarian recipes but if I go vegan… I guess she’d have to learn a bunch of completely new recipes. Almost none of her old recipes would work. I think my parents will be pretty upset if I go vegan. I may wait until I move out. )

I think I have had more health problems since being almost-vegan. Sometimes my chest hurts when I breathe in. A week ago I had cracking around a corner of my mouth (symptom of vitamin b deficiencies). My toes go numb sometimes (just one at a time not all of them). A while ago I had migrating pain in the joints in my hands and fingers (but it’s pretty much gone. I eat less gluten now and had prednisone for a week). Occasionally my heart beats fast at night when I’m half asleep. There’s more… but I’m not going to list everything.

I snack all day because I’m too lazy to cook. These are snacks I eat most often

brown rice cakes with baba ghanoush or hummus
oatmeal with soy milk (switched to almond milk now), raisins, and flax seed meal
half can of beans microwaved with salsa
frozen vegetables microwaved with spaghetti sauce
carrots and broccoli dipped in hummus or baba ghanoush
frozen raspberries blended with orange juice
apples, bananas, and clementines are the most common fruits I eat
trail mix with pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, raisins, and chocolate

Sure, those are all healthy snacks but I eat them all the time and I doubt I’m getting enough nutrition from them. I don’t think any of those things have b vitamins. I’m probably lacking in other things too that I don’t know about. I do eat a multivitamin, b12 supplement, and d supplement on most days.

I guess what I want to ask is…
Do you think I shouldn’t wait to move out before going vegan?
Is my diet healthy?
How can I get enough B vitamins and DHA Omega 3 without cooking?
Am I possibly deficient in anything besides those? How can I get it without cooking? (I got my iron and B12 checked recently and I was fine.)

[Annastock]

I think your snacks are fine…
If you’re lazy to cook omega 3 food, you can take omega 3 or vitamin B pills, it’d be fine I think.

[AmandaRich]

hey there!
Firstly, it’s very hard to follkow a vegan lifestyle and specially when you’re in college. It’s okay for now if you do break your diet and as per my experience, you can only follow it religiously when you move out and live on your own. So right now, use this opportunity to prep yourself.

[PlantBasedBen]

I’m a college student living with my parents and I have been mostly vegan for the last 2 years (for ethical reasons). When my parents prepare food with dairy or eggs I still eat it. When I’m extremely hungry sometimes I eat dairy. And sometimes I know for a fact that my parents are going to waste something. (My mom buys yogurt for recipes but no one likes eating the yogurt that is left over so no one eats it. ) And lately I have started eating fish because I think between fish and eggs and dairy, fish may be the lesser evil and it is healthier. But I don’t want to eat fish. The reason I started eating it is that I’m worried about nutrition. I think I may not be getting enough B vitamins and DHA omega 3… though I’ve thought about ordering some spirulina.

You just solved your own problem there and just because society says fish is healthier than dairy doesn’t make it healthy. It’s sad to me that so many people don’t realize how polluted fish is, even wild caught. In addition dairy cannot even be processed by the vast majority of humans because it’s meant for baby cows, not adult humans. Supplements for both the nutrients you mention are available in vegan form, btw.

(The other reason I’m not completely vegan is that my mom has been pretty accommodating and has been learning some vegetarian recipes but if I go vegan… I guess she’d have to learn a bunch of completely new recipes. Almost none of her old recipes would work. I think my parents will be pretty upset if I go vegan. I may wait until I move out. )

Most vegetarian recipes become vegan when you use a substitute for the eggs or dairy. Not a difficult change.

I think I have had more health problems since being almost-vegan. Sometimes my chest hurts when I breathe in. A week ago I had cracking around a corner of my mouth (symptom of vitamin b deficiencies). My toes go numb sometimes (just one at a time not all of them). A while ago I had migrating pain in the joints in my hands and fingers (but it’s pretty much gone. I eat less gluten now and had prednisone for a week). Occasionally my heart beats fast at night when I’m half asleep. There’s more… but I’m not going to list everything.

You should probably see a health professional, first of all. Second, signs like, cracking around the corner of your mouth could come from something other than vitamin B deficiencies. Most people don’t see any symptoms of vitamin B deficiencies for months, maybe years before it becomes an issue.

I snack all day because I’m too lazy to cook. These are snacks I eat most often

brown rice cakes with baba ghanoush or hummus
oatmeal with soy milk (switched to almond milk now), raisins, and flax seed meal
half can of beans microwaved with salsa
frozen vegetables microwaved with spaghetti sauce
carrots and broccoli dipped in hummus or baba ghanoush
frozen raspberries blended with orange juice
apples, bananas, and clementines are the most common fruits I eat
trail mix with pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, raisins, and chocolate

If you’re going to microwave your food, you might as well eat cardboard. There’s nothing natural or good about throwing food in the microwave and eating it. In fact, it’s one of the worst ways to cook anything.

Sure, those are all healthy snacks but I eat them all the time and I doubt I’m getting enough nutrition from them. I don’t think any of those things have b vitamins. I’m probably lacking in other things too that I don’t know about. I do eat a multivitamin, b12 supplement, and d supplement on most days.

I guess what I want to ask is…
Do you think I shouldn’t wait to move out before going vegan?
Is my diet healthy?
How can I get enough B vitamins and DHA Omega 3 without cooking?
Am I possibly deficient in anything besides those? How can I get it without cooking? (I got my iron and B12 checked recently and I was fine.)

Personally, I think you worry far too much. If you want to go vegan, just do it. If you want to wait, then wait. You had both your B12 and your iron checked and you were fine, yet you’re still worried about B12.

If you take out the microwaving, you’d get quite a bit of nutrition from the snacks you mention. I would prefer to see more fresh foods and not processed stuff and frozen veggies, but that would probably require you to start cooking.

Vitamin B as a vegan comes in a supplement, which you have already said you’re fine, so you’re getting it from yoru supplement now. You don’t even need to take that one every day, either.

DHA Omega 3 can be found in some oils. You can also get a supplement for this one.

I think you need to bite the bullet and start learning to cook. Laziness leads to a ton of health problems, too and cooking is a nice little workout. Plus, you’ll have a higher appreciation for the lifestyle and for what you eat.