ChefSalad, would you mind sharing what you ate when you were vegan? I have heard the veganism did not work for me and paleo/atkins/etc did statement a lot and usually I think it is because the people were eating a pretty terrible vegan diet and then went on to eat a completely unprocessed paleo diet. Of course they'll feel better. That's not because there is something inherently wrong with vegan diets, but because there is something wrong with the standard american diet - even if you veganize that and even if you eat the supposedly healthy products like whole grain bread and olive oil.
A vegan diet should be centered about vegetables and (to a lesser degree) fruits, nuts, beans and whole grains. Entire civilizations have thrived on diets that were centered around these food groups. Sure, most civilizations ate meat, but it was never the center of their diet.
As for the paleo diet: we don't know nearly as much about how our ancestors ate than some book authors claim we do. Furthermore, like impaul points out, meat back then can not be compared AT ALL with meat now, even if you eat organic grass fed meat. Fruits and vegetables are very different too, by the way.
Does it matter what some people millennia ago ate? Or should we look at what the healthiest people on earth NOW eat? I go with the latter. The longest living, healthiest people on earth all eat a plant based diet. Sure, they'll often add some meat, but the bulk of their diet is plant based whole foods.
There are some highly focal meat proponents on the internet that will point you to groups that eat an animal based diet and are still healthy, but they are usually incorrect or forget to mention that the average life span in that country is below (and even if you factor in infant mortality, it is still low). Also, keep in mind that diet is only one part of the health equasion. People in hunter-gatherer societies are much, much more physically active than we are. They also have close family ties, much less stress, etc.
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