I don't advocate just any kind of vegan diet, I advocate a diet focused on water, legumes, fresh vegetables, whole grains, and wise use of supplements; while avoiding acidic foods (including coffee, tea, and alcohol), processed foods (including oils and juices), sweets, most artificial additives (including sweeteners), unfermented soy, and "carb junk" (including potatoes, refined flour, white rice, most fruits, honey, etc). Beans, pea soup, buckwheat and other "super-grains", multi-whole-grain protein-enriched home-baked bread, and THC-free hemp are major staples, with water the only beverage, while most variety comes from vegetables.
Also, people tend to become vegan / vegetarian for different reasons, and it would make sense to me that falling for the "animal rights" delusion would correlate with the "poorer mental health" and not the diet itself. People who change their diet for reasons of alleged compassion are also more likely to have experienced health problems beforehand - "your own suffering makes you more aware of the suffering of other animals", blah, blah, blah. So those are very good reasons to avoid the correlation==causation fallacy and look further.
Good morning!
I cannot help but disagree with this at several points:
1- have "water, legumes, fresh vegetables, whole grains, and wise use of supplements": GOOD. Few could argue here.
2- "avoiding acidic foods (including coffee, tea, and alcohol)": DISAGREE. Iced venti soy chai from Starbucks every morning and a few times throughout the day on many occasions. And, as for alcohol, the anti-alcohol sentiment baffles me. Once every few weeks, I have 3-4 stouts/lagers/ales with a few friends. It is doubtlessly healthy on every level.
3- avoid "oils and juices": DISAGREE. Earth Balance buttery spread, Simply Apple apple juice, to name two, and Whole Foods 365 versions of a bunch of the same.
4- "Beans, pea soup, buckwheat and other "super-grains", multi-whole-grain protein-enriched home-baked bread, and THC-free hemp are major staples": DISAGREE. While beans and pea soup are good, protein enriched anything is not.
5- "while most variety comes from vegetables" DISAGREE. Most vegetables are too difficult to digest. A narrow diet consisting of a few types of nuts and legumes, a handful of vegetables either grilled, sauteed, steamed or occasionally fried, principally garlic, potatoes, eggplants, cauliflower, carrots, stuff like that, and grains, wheat is quite ok unless allergies are present, and maybe oats or rice. Buckwheat is a TV character and super grains are a complete waste of time for personal health purposes, though, it is possible that they may one day alleviate food shortages in parts of the world.
6- ""animal rights" delusion would correlate with the "poorer mental health" and not the diet itself": DISAGREE. Compassion for sentient life is one of the most enlightened reasons for becoming a vegan. Yes, a vegan diet still causes animal suffering, but it is a sliding scale that can only be slid as much toward the kindness end as possible.
Additionally useless: lean cuts of beef, supplement "stacks", power bars, quinoa, etc.
The biggest enemy: protein.
The biggest waste of time: green leafy vegetables
Not useless: organics
And, I am not sure where I read it, but someone on these forums wrote recently that almond butter was bad for you, or that it had high AGEs, or something like that. That is a horrible falsehood. Anyone who would have otherwise had almond butter but who is swayed by such disinformation is missing out on nature's ambrosia. Almond butter=near perfect food. Be warned.
Locke: "Me, well, I'm a man of faith."