Hey D,
I know what you mean, and that phrase "none so righteous as the newly converted" applies well!
However, from my own experience, the first few weeks of a vegan diet to a vegan newbie are much healthier than a typical American diet. Why? Because in those first few weeks, you may not have knowledge of or access to vegan versions of your favorite junk food. For example, I went from eating dozens of those mini Twix bars, Hershey's kisses and mini Snickers from the office candy jar every single day to eating no chocolate at all. That changed when I discovered certain kinds of dark chocolates I liked, and candies made with carob. I also stopped eating fast food until we hired a new guy at work who was a 14-year vegan, and his diet seemed to consist solely of beer and vegan items from Taco Bell. I had assumed that the only vegan item at any fast food joint was French fries, but after I learned otherwise, it was back to the occasional fast food, too.
You're also forced to get a lot more creative with vegetables when you can't just toss grilled chicken on some rice and call it a night. There's no arguing that increasing your fruit and veggie intake from 1 or 2 servings of each to 5 or more a day is healthier than a diet consisting mostly of refined grains and protein. Of course, when you find out how much easier it is to buy a package of tofu dogs to throw on the grill, your veggie intake might plummet back to its previous despicable state.
Another thing to consider that's unique to these boards is that a vegan diet is arguably healthier spiritually speaking, as well as providing stricter guidelines in which to eat healthier physically.
Anyway, all that aside, there are also studies showing the cholesterol levels of vegetarians to be worlds better than the cholesterol levels of omnivores, and then the vegan score is even lower than the vegetarian score. So there's got to be something to it.
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~ Elaine.
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