Why do people who go vegan turn mean? page 3

[TrPAssasin]

You do see it a lot with Vegans/ Veggos. I've also seen people go primal and become much nicer and more laid back.

[counterpuncher]

I wish more people were vegetarian.
More meat for us.
Seriously though, like stated previously, many people get preachy and self-righteous when they feel that they've found the holy grail. I just laugh at them.
But I have a confrontational side to me as well. If I encounter a preachy vegan at a social gathering where food is present, I'll go out of my way to find some meat, and eat it in their presence, just to ruffle some feathers.
On the other hand, if I see someone eating grains or processed sugar, I don't feel the need to correct them, and I feel sad that they've drunk the kool-aid, so to speak, and usually feel sorry for them.
I mean...if you're truly confident in your way of eating and living, there's no reason to try to convert anyone who has different views. It's too mentally exausting.
If someone asks me about my diet, I'll certainly tell them. Proudly, in fact. The fact that I have good muscle tone, with less than 10% bodyfat at 46 years old is a good testament to our way of eating/living, and it certainly makes them question their own eating habits.

[PoppaCap]

Eat what you want and STFU about it, regardless of your diet.

What Mike says!!

[Lewis]

No offence, but why do people who go vegan turn mean?

Nutritional deficiencies?

Seriously, that's probably part of it. Psychological explanations about the stance making one feel superior probably have their force, too, but I wonder whether some of it might be that people simply have difficulty applying two standards: one to themselves one to others. So as soon as you force yourself not to eat that bacon, it grates when you see someone else enjoying it (because you labelled that bacon as "bad" in your mind). People who give up tobacco often have difficulty not plucking cigarettes from other people's hands I understand.

[noodletoy]

they turn mean because they're assholes

HA!! yes, this. your friend didn't "turn" mean.

[RaeVynn]

I don't think I was "mean" as a vegan... but I did have a bit of smug superiority syndrome... coupled with the "oh, poor me! No one is catering to my dietary restrictions!" vibe.

Face it, cutting oneself off from actual, nutritious food requires a serious amount of will power, and some self-imposed blindness. Rapid mood swings, feeling achy, suffering from various forms of digestive distress... You gotta overlook all those, and put on some sort of "happy face" to convince yourself, and others, that what you are doing is "better".

I'm much happier now that I eat bacon.

[Nycteris]

A combination of becoming a True Believer and a lack of omega 3's, protein, b vitamins, and sat. fat. Paleos do it too, but at least their D levels tend to be better.

And True Believer is a disease that effects everyone; christians, atheists, blacks, whites, men, women, libertarians, communists, liberals, republicans, anarchists, vegans, paleos, etc.

Amen.

[Nycteris]

I never intended to become a macrobiotically inclined vegetarian, I just started leaning that way in the absence of affordable and good for you meat. But, in the vegan world I lived in for about ten years, I must agree that vegans can get very high horsey. Which is odd, considering they were the ones preaching to me about how eating meat turns a person wild and savage. Hmmm...I love being wild and savage... grrrr....

[sjmc]

I think it would be interesting to study the advent of group mentalities in eating -- how the way people eat started to contribute to their identity.

I guess it began with people with different WOEs living in the same space. I wonder if it was different groups with their own WOEs coming together, or a divergence in diet between a common group of people?

^ I don't know what the hell I'm talking about it, but does anyone know when "veganism" (or any WOE) as a label started?

[brahnamin]

Surely someone has covered this possibility already, but - Have you seen what they have to eat? I'd be crankyangry, too. (And in all seriousness, change in diet composition really can change your mood/how you feel).