For most people, going vegan is a big change, especially if you do it cold turkey.
You’re going to run into challenges of some kind, whether related to your physical or mental health.
Unless you figure out how to deal with these problems and overcome them, you may feel like you can’t be vegan anymore.
And that would be a shame, so hopefully I can point you in the right direction here.
Possible Vegan Health Problems
If you’re just interested in a general look at how a vegan diet could negatively affect your health, see my review of common vegan health concerns. At the very least, most vegans experience some sort of stomach problems.
Below I’ve listed several specific health problems that aren’t too common, and links to guides that will give you more detail:
- Allergies – Vegan diets are restrictive by nature, and allergies can make them even harder to follow. So far, I’ve created a guide to being vegan with a wheat allergy.
- Appetite (lack of) – It can be hard to eat enough on a whole food based vegan diet. Learn how to cope with a lack of appetite as a vegan.
- Cramps – Depending on your exact diet, muscle and leg cramps can be associated with a vegan diet.
- Cravings – Many new vegans experience meat cravings and withdrawal, and some also experience dairy withdrawal.
- Diarrhea – Not common, but depending on your diet before, some new vegans get diarrhea.
- Dizziness – Certain vitamin deficiencies that are possible on a vegan diet may make you dizzy.
- Fainting – Indicative of a serious problem that requires medical attention. Fainting may be related to your vegan diet, or it may not.
- Fatigue – Being tired on a vegan diet is a fairly common complaint. Anything from not eating enough, to a nutrient deficiency can cause fatigue on a vegan diet.
- Gout – If you have a reason to be concerned about gout, consider a vegan diet low in purines.
- Green poop – Usually harmless, but green poop on a vegan diet could be cause for concern.
- Hair Loss – Fairly common, especially for women. Usually caused by certain common deficiencies in vegan diets.
- Headaches – It’s not the most likely cause, but an issue in a vegan diet could contribute to headaches.
- Heartburn –Certain vegan foods can lead to heartburn.
- High Cholesterol – A vegan diet usually lowers cholesterol, but some vegans develop high cholesterol.
- Kidney Stones – If you have past issues with kidney stones, see how a vegan diet might affect kidney stones.
- Restless Leg Syndrome – Some symptoms of restless leg syndrome can be triggered by aspects of a vegan diet.
- Trouble Sleeping – There are many anecdotes of vegan insomnia, particularly for new vegans.
Finally, while it doesn’t really fit above, some are concerned about feeding children a vegan diet, as a lack of nutrition can stunt growth.