Alexandra Jamieson, 50, built a life around being vegan. She literally wrote multiple books on the subject — Living Vegan for Dummies and Vegan Cooking for Dummies, among them — and cocreated the 2004 film Super Size Me, which documented what happened when her ex-husband, Morgan Spurlock, ate McDonald’s for 30 days straight (spoiler: It wasn’t good).
Jamieson says she stumbled on veganism in her mid-20s. She was working at a corporate job and started having health issues, including frequent migraines. Doctors suggested pain medication, but she opted to see what she calls a “hippie doctor,” who asked Jamieson about her diet. “It was mostly junk food,” she admits. Her doctor recommended cutting out all animal products, sugar and gluten, and within a week, she felt better.
“The pain was going away, and I felt clear-headed and had energy again,” Jamieson, who is now an artist living in New York City, tells Yahoo. “I was like, Oh my God, this is the best. Everybody should be vegan. I was one of those annoying vegans who talks about it all the time. But it was the right thing for me at that time.”
Jamieson went all in, even going to culinary school and becoming a vegan chef. But things started to change after having her son. She started feeling tired, “which, as a mom to a young kid, is really hard to pry apart,” she says. Some days, she could barely get off the couch.
And then the dreams about hamburgers started. “And that was very disturbing,” she says.
I was one of those annoying vegans who talks about it all the time.
A doctor’s visit revealed that Jamieson was severely anemic. Despite being a trained chef and doing everything “within the vegan framework” to make sure she was getting enough vitamins and minerals — “I’d written books about it. I knew what you were supposed to do,” she says — including cooking with cast iron pots and even getting intravenous iron infusions, it wasn’t enough. “I was like, this is crazy. This is not sustainable. And this is not how humans are supposed to stay healthy,” she says.
So, after 10 years of being a vegan, Jamieson’s red meat dreams became a reality: She bit into a burger. “It was delicious,” she says. “It was like heaven. My body was like, Oh my God, thank you.”
Not everyone jumps into (and out of) veganism like Jamieson. For Betsy Stephens, a 55-year-old mom of two who lives in New Jersey, the transition started slowly — with “meatless Mondays.” That eventually grew to eating vegetarian meals a few nights a week. “I read about how it’s better for the environment to not have meat and that plant-based diets are better for you.”
So she took things one step further and went vegan. And she wasn’t alone: Around the same time, four of her friends decided to do the same. That made it a lot easier for Stephens to stick with it. “We had a night where we’d meet up and trade recipes,” she tells Yahoo. “Everyone brought something and we were all trying to figure out how to make it work.”
But then a few months in, Stephens started to feel fatigued. Then she developed psoriasis. She started researching diets to help with the skin condition, and the autoimmune protocol diet kept coming up. She learned that certain compounds in legumes, including beans, called lectin may trigger inflammation in people with autoimmune conditions. According to Healthline, some experts believe that lectins can trigger inflammation and autoimmune disease, though more research is needed. Most lectins can be reduced by cooking beans, but Stephens didn’t want to take any chances.
“Beans were a huge source of protein for me at the time, so that kind of wipes out your protein source,” she says. “And that’s why I stopped being vegan.”
Going back to eating animal products for protein was a bit of an adjustment for Stephens. “I will say there’s the ick factor, especially with things like chicken,” she says, ”and milk was a little hard for my stomach to take right at first.” However, that draggy feeling she’d experienced while eating vegan went away. Stephens admits she also felt guilty about not doing her part to help the environment. “But I drive an EV [electric vehicle], so I’m like, I’ll just do that instead,” she says.
“Everyone’s body needs something different and with an autoimmune disorder, my body needs to not be vegan,” she says. “But I think that there are people who probably would do better on a vegan diet. It just wasn’t the one for me.”
Is veganism on the decline?
People go vegan for all kinds of reasons. They care about animal welfare or the environment. Or they’re looking for ways to eat healthier.
But there are just as many — if not more — reasons why people quit: Veganism can be inconvenient and getting enough protein and key nutrients takes planning, which, for some, makes it tough to sustain longterm. Life changes, such as pregnancy, or unexpected health issues can also derail the diet. And eating out can sometimes feel socially isolating, especially when everyone is splitting a pizza and you’re left piecing together a meal from side dishes and salads.
I think that there are people who probably would do better on a vegan diet. It just wasn’t the one for me.
So is veganism on the decline, or, as NPR puts it, in its “flop era”? It’s possible. Veganism will always have its ride-or-die followers, especially those whose reason to not eat meat is rooted in their ethical beliefs. But “over the past few years, I’ve definitely seen a decline in interest” in veganism, dietitian Bree Phillips tells Yahoo. The numbers reflect this shift: Overall sales of plant-based meat are down, along with certain plant-based milks like soy and coconut.
Part of that may stem from the current fixation on proteinmaxxing (even animal protein now has a prime spot in the updated food guidelines). “We definitely have more of a protein obsession culture going on — and it’s not a bad thing. We need protein,” Phillips says. But on a vegan diet, “it’s just harder to meet what you need.”
The push to eat more protein is further fueled by the rise of people on GLP-1 weight loss medications who need to prioritize getting enough of the macronutrient, along with greater awareness of the importance of building muscle not just for looks but also longevity.
At the same time, health experts are urging people to cut back on ultraprocessed foods, which include plant-based meat substitutes — something that many vegans and vegetarians rely on, says Phillips. “They’re not all equal, and they can be super processed,” she says. (However, some experts say they’re still healthier than the meat they’re trying to replace.)
It’s all about balance
While veganism works well for some, “we’ve seen a major shift away from plant-based [eating] being all or nothing,” Phillips says. She points to blue zones, regions of the world where people live the longest: “Their diets are really plant-forward and minimally processed,” which strikes more of a balance.
Plant-forward means filling your plate with vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, legumes and nuts — without having to cut out animal-based proteins entirely. Instead, it leaves room for small amounts of lean protein sources such as skinless poultry and fish.
“At the end of the day, what you eat and how you nourish your body should feel good,” says Phillips. “If it doesn’t feel good, then it might not be the right approach for you — and that goes for any diet.”
