Vegan Switches Back to Meat After What Blood Work Reveals - Newsweek

"Not everybody can be vegan," cautioned a woman on TikTok who recently returned to an meat-based diet after five years of veganism.

Tauja, 47, (@taujathesupreme), from Montreal, Canada, shared that her experience with a vegan diet led to health issues, including vitamin deficiencies that caused anemia.

Newsweek discussed the clip that has over 491,000 views with Tauja via email, who explained the improvements in her health since making this lifestyle shift.

"I feel so much better now than I did when I was vegan, which is the opposite of what I expected," she shared.

According to Gallup's 2023 Consumption Habits poll, 4 percent of Americans identify as vegetarians and 1 percent as vegans, showing an ongoing interest in plant-based diets. Eliminating meat and animal products has become a wellness trend many consumers adopt to lead healthier lives.

In 2018, Tauja initially became a vegan, driven by symptoms of nausea and bloating when consuming meat. Her diet included dark-green vegetables, fruit, and an increased intake of wheat, substituting meat with pasta, potatoes, and starchy foods like cassava yams.

She initially felt "great" and lost 20–30 pounds over three years, but eventually, her health took an unexpected turn.

"A lot of people stop eating meat thinking they're doing themselves a better service, but you can do just as much damage with vegetables if you're not eating the right ones for you," she said.

During this process, she discovered that potatoes were causing skin issues, leading to eczema, itching, and hives. Additionally, she noticed wheat negatively impacted her mental health.

"Because I was vegan, we didn't attribute anything to the food," she told Newsweek. "We didn't even think about the food. It was a year of running tests and trying medications in order to resolve the issues

"I was deficient in, vitamins B,D and K—I had to take magnesium, omega, and iron supplements," she said.

According to one systematic review, conducted from studies published between 2000 and January 2020, assessed nutrient intake in plant-based (vegetarian and vegan) diets versus meat-based diets.

Findings revealed that, while plant-based diets were high in fiber, folate, vitamin C, E, and magnesium, they showed lower intakes of key nutrients like vitamin B12, vitamin D, iron, zinc, iodine, and calcium, especially among vegans.

In July, the shift in Tauja's health came after she began following a diet tailored to her type O blood, which recommends a high-protein intake of meat, vegetables, fish, and fruit, while limiting grains, beans, and legumes. She also cut out sugar.

"I researched my diet and discovered that most of the foods that I was eating was counteracting and harmful to my blood type," she told Newsweek. "I started eating meat again in August and literally within a month I saw my body change.

"Since I started eating red meat and fish, my anemia has reversed, along with prediabetes. I no longer experience violent night sweats, and my mood and behavior have improved significantly—I'm more upbeat."

Though Tauja praises the blood-type diet, scientific evidence supporting its effectiveness remains limited.

Registered dietitian nutritionist, Elizabeth Brown, from Santa Monica, California, told Newsweek that Tauja's improvements are "more likely attributed to adding back animal protein than eliminating potatoes and wheat."

Brown, who hosts The Kitchen Vixen website and podcast and has over 30 years' of experience, explained that it can be difficult to get adequate zinc on a vegan diet as food sources contain nutrients and fiber which can hinder absorption.

She said: "Zinc from animal sources is more easily absorbed. Although vegan diets are likely high in vitamin A carotenoids, without adequate zinc, vitamin A levels may be low. Vitamin A plays a key role in skin health.

"Animal products contain vitamin B12, iron, zinc, omega-3 fatty acids, all of which can play a role in energy metabolism, production of red blood cells and neurotransmitters, each of which can affect energy and mood.

"Skin health can be affected by adequate protein, omega-3 fatty acids, and adequate dietary fat which aids the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins essential for skin."

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