Jesseco wrote:I've seen some vegan "junk" food that surprised me, because it was pretty much junk!
I didn't know veganism could mask disordered eating.
It's about as easy to be a junk food vegan as it is to be a junk food omnivore.
fkwan wrote:Bingeing has nothing to do with the food, it's all about addiction and stress. You can binge on potatoes, or corn tortillas, or dates, or other lovely calorie-dense low fat foods.
I agree. Some of the people who follow McDougall (and other vegan plans) eat
HUGE quantities of food, especially the grains and starches. Actually, it's encouraged by Dr. McDougall and many of the followers of the program. "Eat as much as you want as often as you want" -- as long as you eat the "right foods." Binge-ing on sweets/fats is a lot more obvious than binge-ing on rice or corn or potatoes. A whole foods binge looks "healthy." But it's still a binge.
In describing No-S
Reinhard wrote:Pseudoscientific forbidden foods diets that pretend that you can go on being a glutton as long as you confine your gluttony to a particular class of foods while completely excluding others (no agreement on what these particular kinds of foods are, of course).
On the vegan programs it's easy or
easier to be a glutton (and lose weight and regain your health) because the food eaten is far less calorie dense. It works for a lot of people. It also doesn't work for a good number of folks. Only one of those programs that I'm aware of encourages "no snacking."
I think Dr. McDougall is very knowledgeable when it comes to diet and nutrition, but I don't agree with a lot of his conclusions or recommendations. I don't think there's a thing wrong with a vegan diet if that's how one chooses to eat, but I also don't think it's the only healthy way to eat. I also disagree with the professionals who say that vegans must be very careful about their food choices so they get enough protein. If a vegan -- or anyone -- is eating a variety of whole foods in reasonable quantities, they'll get more than enough protein. Protein deficiency is never a problem for people eating sufficient quantity of a variety of whole foods.
Most protein deficiencies are seen in people who just aren't eating enough food for whatever reason, not those who aren't eating enough "high quality protein" (animal products).
"That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do. Not that the nature of the thing itself has changed but our power to do it is increased." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
"You are what you eat -- so don't be Fast, Easy, Cheap or Fake."