Vegans: What does your doctor think?

Question

Vegans, does our doctor know you are a vegan and if so what dd they say when they found out? When I told my doctor I was vegan he got a weird look on his face and said why? I don't understand how more doctors don't promote veganism with all the health benefits, it's like them promoting smoking.

Answer 1

The American Dietetic Association has said that "appropriately planned vegetarian diets are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases." However, poorly planned vegan diets can be deficient in nutrients such as vitamin B12, vitamin D, calcium, iodine and omega-3 fatty acids. These deficiencies have potentially serious consequences, including anemia, rickets and cretinism in children, and osteomalacia and hypothyroidism in adults.

Answer 2

its nothing like them promoting smoking.  they probably know that how hard it is to get all of the vitamins and nutrients you need while on a vegan diet.

Answer 3

Doctors are only required to get 12 hours of nutrition information while in their studies.  The education they get is based upon the traditional diet of the human omnivore.  For that reason they are unaware of what a vegan diet consist of and how we get our essential nutrients like vitamin B12, B6, methionine, dha and folic acid.  Mine was worried at first that I would not be able to get complete protein and b vitamins. He ran blood test on me during my first couple of anual physicals. Now he feels much more comfortable with my diet because he's seen healthy amounts of calcium, iron, b12, zinc, etc. in my blood and I haven't had to take any trips to see a doctor outside of routine exams.  Now that my doctor knows more about my essential vitamin sources ( Nutritional yeast, fortified plant milks, Kombucha, fortified tofu and(tempeh) he's far less scenical about vegan diets.

If they ain't gotta fix ya, they ain't got much too say.  lol

Answer 4

I don't even think my dr. knows what one is. When I said I was he kinda just brushed it off and acted like it was nothing so I don't really understand him. Or well he had nothing to say about it.

Answer 5

Well put Two Socks.

It's in my opinion one of the scandals of modern times that doctors are relied on so much by people to give advice on diet and nutrition. They are no more qualified than most average joes to give any advice on it. Most medical school training programs are based, sadly, on treating sickness, not promoting health.

Most nutrition today, sadly, is biased in favour of political or commerical interests, rather than sound science, I've seen a lot of scientific studies "sexed up" to reflect sponsors or third party interests, and sadly, a lot of doctors take advice from such studies all too readily. Often because they have governing body or financial incentives to do so.

The consensus is really pretty clear: the more varied, unprocessed edible plant life in your diet, the better off you are health wise. Unfortunately, try telling that to the doctor who enjoys his prime ribs and cheesburgers like most others when off duty.

Answer 6

Ironically, I'm in med school and I'm surrounded by people that will one day be in the medical field, and I've found that people (especially younger generations) are much more up to date with the data and findings behind a vegan diet and it's benefits for the human body.

You have to remember that even the things I learned in school 2 years ago are becoming out-dated, so a doctor whose education was completed in the 70's or 80's has a lot of out-dated information that he still falls back on! A good doctor should be a student for life, but not all doctors are created equal - there's even those among my classmates who coast through with very low (barely passing!) grades just so they can finally get their diplomas. Who knows who's doing your check up anyway, right?

I have found nothing but agreement among younger doctors, and there are wonderful organizations like the Physicians Committee For Responsible Medicine who work hard to fight back meat industry lobbyists, who not only petition to change (and sponsor!) text books that we use in med schools, but even pharmaceutical companies sometimes intervene in what we can and cannot do (there's currently a school in Canada fighting with a pharmaceutical company who challenges that a tumor-shrinking technology the school is working on challenges a technique the pharmaceutical company patented - unnervingly, the pharmaceutical company doesn't seem to employ this technique, and they make a lot of money off of the medicine they use).

What I'm saying is, there's ignorance, disinformation, degrees of how good any doctor is, as well as corruption or personal motivation. I have yet to meet a doctor that doesn't have any bias whatsoever, and you'd be surprised how many doctors, nurses and health care professionals smoke, drink, are promiscuous or otherwise engage in unhealthy behaviors - they are people too. And when it comes to eating meat, a level of denial and coldness is required to accept all the ethical and health-related weights that come with it, and shove it in your mouth anyway. It's easier to dismiss information that challenges those thoughts and feelings than to actually learn something new. It's something we all do, whatever our bias is.

Answer 7

Doctors typically spend no more than a few hours of med school learning about nutrition.  Many of them are skeptical of veg*nism simply because they are no more informed about it than the general population is.

My primary care doc and my gynecologist are both fabulous, though.  Both know that I'm veg*n and have talked to me about my diet and how it factors into my overall health.  Both know that I'm planning on getting pregnant in the next year or two and are totally supportive of and confident in my plans for a vegan pregnancy.

Answer 8

If I were he would react the same or say something like "You're crazy and if you continue down this path you'll irreconcilabley damage your immune system and metabolism".

Answer 9

That's a good question. My doctor knows that I'm vegan. Each time I go in for a physical, he tells me that I'm in great shape and all my vitals are where they should be.

I also weight less each time I go (I work out a lot). The last time I was there, he giggled when he saw that I had dropped 13 pounds since my last visit. He said, "I should have my other patients talk to you about what you're doing....it's a successful combination".

I am aware that I have a rare case in my doctor. I've heard that other veg*ns' doctors are not as open and understanding about the dietary lifestyle. But what we must understand - especially here in America- is that doctors don't take a lot of nutrition courses. (Why, I don't know). The little that they are taught come from text books that are written by the pharmasutical companies...they are tied in with the government. They're probably fed the exact same things that school children are taught. It's sad, but I'm sure they literally don't know any better.

Answer 10

Neither of the internists whose practices I've used have batted an eye at my veganism.  At my former doctor's office (long story there), one of the assistants was talking about my habits, and when I mentioned I don't smoke and almost never drink, he asked what I did for fun.  But he was joking.

My gyno also has no issue with my being vegan, but she's an NP, so maybe she's a little better informed than some doctors.

As others have pointed out, doctors traditionally have gotten very little if any nutritional education.  In some cases, people on the street knew more than doctors.  Kinda scary, I think.  But there are many people who will say we don't have a health care system but a sick care system.