This is a series of posts where I try to answer the weirdest or strangest questions that people have about vegans and/or veganism. Check out Part 1 and Part 2 if you haven’t already. Alrighty, let’s get straight to it. Time to debunk some common vegan myths.
11. Are all vegans gay?
WTF!… I don’t know where to even go with this one. Has this person met one or maybe even two or three vegans who happened to be homosexual? This has to be one of the weirdest questions I’ve heard in a long time.
The simple answer is NO. Not all vegans are gay, just like not all people are gay. I mean c’mon. Take just a moment to think it through. It’s kind of like this. Let’s say you happened to meet two people with the name of Joseph, and both Joes happened to be Mormon, it’s like saying are all Joseph’s Mormon?
Obviously not. There are some vegans who are named Joseph, though I’ve never met any, so maybe there aren’t 😉 And there are some vegans who are gay, but not all vegans are gay.
12. Are vegans annoying?
Hells yeah 😉 I joke, I joke. NO, not all vegans are annoying. Veganism has nothing to do with being able to annoy people. People annoy each other for a variety of reasons but most often because we don’t offer enough kindness and patience to each other.
I made the above picture just because I could. I mean wow 🙂
If you find a vegan annoying, maybe they are… or maybe you’re just not trying to understand their perspective or you’re closed minded, maybe… just saying.
13. Are vegans anorexic?
I almost feel like there’s this person out there named Vegans. And they sound pretty screwed up. Anyway, to answer this question. NO vegans are not anorexic, or perhaps I should say no more so than anyone else.
However, I can probably see where this vegan myth gets its legs. I have heard that some young women, and it’s mostly women who are anorexic1, use veganism as an escape goat for their illness. And yes it is an illness2. That way, if a parent/friend/partner etc, get’s concerned about said anorexic then the anorexic thinks that veganism will shield them from further questioning.
Please don’t use veganism as an excuse for your disease. Veganism is not just about diet, and if you suffer from anorexia, please get help.
14. Are vegans B12 deficient?
Maybe, though not likely. This one is not a simple yes or no question to answer. It is true that vegans are at more of a risk to become B12 deficient, and that is why I recommend and implore all vegans to take vitamin B12.
However, nowadays there are so many vegan convenience foods available that if you enjoy them on a daily basis and they’re fortified with B12, then it is highly unlikely you’ll get deficient.
Most of the studies that have shown mild deficiency in vegans have been conducted on British vegans. It seems that American vegans are either getting the message to supplement with B12 or they’re eating more foods that are already supplemented with B12
Some of these foods are the soy and nut milks available in supermarkets as well as most of the vegan mock meat products. It will say on the nutrition label if it is fortified as B12 will be listed as an ingredient, and often times you’ll see the percentage of B12 per serving.
But B12 is so cheap that I recommend everyone take it and beg you fellow vegans to take just 2,500mcg a week. Then I’ll be able to stop answering questions like this.
15. Are vegans better?
Oy vey. I really feel like I’m getting set up here with this kind of question. But in part 4 we’ll start to look at some of the refinement questions we get related to this one.
But how to begin, oh the horrors. Are vegans better? That’s so opened ended, I’m just gonna leave it I think. It is a question without answer. A riddle wrapped up in an enigma that was swallowed by a puzzle. Let’s tease this question out a little more and see if we can’t get some specifics out of the folks asking this question.
I’ll be back to bounce some vegan myths to the curb soon. At least I hope so.
1 – http://www.anad.org/get-information/about-eating-disorders/eating-disorders-statistics/
2 – http://www.dsm5.org/documents/eating%20disorders%20fact%20sheet.pdf