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Mackenzie Cason

Why We Left Veganism: From Plant Based to a Weston A. Price Diet

My journey with veganism started in December of 2016. I somehow found myself along the sad internet path of shitty slaughterhouse videos and gnarly photos of far too many chickens shoved into cages and it led me to walking the path of absolutely NO animals products whatsoever.


Ironically, before this decision was made I had once again become aware that when my now husband, Elliot and I had first met, he was basically very plant-based and I was very... into Cane's at the time, ha! He says I corrupted him and brought him back to the "dark" side but it was more than likely my mom's amazing cooking that did that. Can't go wrong with good ol' Italian cooking. Somehow, it had come full circle and we both chose to live our lives not consuming any meat, cheese, eggs, dairy, etc.


When you first go vegan, you feel great. I assume it is because most individuals are leaving the SAD (standard american diet), so when you actually start to consume more vegetables and "whole" foods your body feels amazing! More energy, clearer skin, etc. I lost close to 30lbs within the first 6-8 months of being vegan and I was the lightest I had been in my entire life. (Minus ages 0-15. Definitely have gained weight since 8lbs 2oz, ha!) I was drinking smoothies daily, hiking local mountains frequently, and overall actually caring about my health more than I ever had before. In that aspect, I respect it. As a whole, looking after yourself and your health is an amazing accomplishment, especially when it comes to cleaning out your whole pantry to rid it of anything that remotely mentions animal products. RIP to all the natural flavors I was unsure of and threw out without a second thought. (Now I throw them out for a different reason. It's probably people.)


Fast forward to year 4 of being vegan, I find myself pregnant with my first child.




I read countless blog posts and watch too many YouTube videos about how to have a "healthy vegan pregnancy" and I feel comfortable in my choice to continue the path of veganism into motherhood and parenthood. Admittedly, I could've been better on my nutrition with my 1st pregnancy. At the time, I was working full-time and my main thought was getting through the day without my ankles exploding or my feet magically falling off rather than how many omega-3's I was consuming, watching my protein intake, or even the amount of leafy greens I could stomach before realizing my body was NOT calling for this.


You know what my body WAS craving? Eggs. Cheese. Milk.




I remember smelling eggs cooking at my job (food service at the time) and I would full on drool out of my mouth thinking about how good they would be. But, I never gave in. I ignored what my body was telling me it needed and I regret it. I should've eaten the damn egg. I should've realized that my body is designed SO perfectly, that of course I would be getting signals from my body AND my baby that maybe.. this IS what I needed at the time.


I had a postpartum hemorrhage after my sons birth and unfortunately it led to a cascade of interventions that I truly do believe could've been absolutely 100% avoided had I focused more on eating in a manner that serves pregnancy and birth as it is all intertwined perfectly. Your body tells you what you need. And maybe I didn't *need* 6 rice-krispy treats.... but.. maybe I did, hehe.


Now, the REAL reason we left veganism.


When Ox was around 3 months old he got his first tooth. It came quick, and so did the rest of the 8 teeth he had by the time he was 1 years old. Now as a young first time mother, it wasn't the first thing on my mind that I needed to be brushing my INFANT'S teeth. I guess I never really thought about it truth be told. I had faith in God's design that my milk would protect his new teeth but with today's trash dietary options out there and my lack of education on the matter, his teeth suffered. From the moment we saw the beginning signs of any issues on his teeth, his lateral incisors quite literally *crumbled* in front of our eyes within a matter of 2 weeks while we waited to get him into the pediatric dentist. My heart sank. I had failed my baby and his poor teeth issues were a direct link of my actions. Every day my heart aches for this matter, but as I have said in the past with parenting matters: you simply don't know what you don't know.




Because of this, it sent me back down the rabbit hole into what constitutes teeth health and what I found amazed me. There were 100's (if not thousands) of other moms who also had a vegan pregnancy and have found their child's teeth suffering. From small cavities here and there to more extreme cases like ours. It was not a coincidence.


Our vegan diet was lacking in certain nutrients, I know that much is true. But lots of these other moms were more hardcore than I was and they were still facing the same issues.


One book that was brought into my realm was Cure Tooth Decay, Heal & Prevent Cavities with Nutrition by Ramiel Nagel. This book opened my eyes to so much. We are told our whole lives that bacteria is the main cause of cavities or any dental caries, when that could hold a small truth to it, I do firmly believe that our diets these days hold far more weight in why our teeth face issues. Excess sugars, starches that eat at our teeth, acidic foods and drinks, and so much more that doesn't do any good for our body at all, especially our teeth.



Despite all of this, I still didn't leave the brainwashing of the vegan diet until the first 4 months of my 2nd pregnancy. I had slowly started trickling the idea into my relationship that bringing animal products back into our lives wouldn't be the worst thing. We could buy from farms trying to be more sustainable and only eat good quality meats and cheeses. (I mainly just wanted EGGS, give me all the EGGS! AH!) My poor body was so drained of real, true, good food that I still remember eating eggs for the first time. I cooked them in ghee and I could feel my brain change. It felt like for the last 6 years my body had been *almost* literally begging to just eat, a fuckin' egg. And it did not disappoint.


After accepting the challenge to feed my body only what it craved and needed, I genuinely felt so much lighter. Being able to open our pallet again to the flavors of the world that we had previously been missing out on truly felt like rediscovering a whole new world. I ate good eggs, good meat, good dairy, and felt... good. I focused on nutrition like my life depended on it throughout the rest of my 2nd pregnancy and my labor, birth, postpartum felt like a complete 180 from the first go-around with my son. I didn't experience the extreme PPD that I did with my son, I didn't have any excess bleeding after her birth and I didn't feel absolutely exhausted by the end of the day as I had previously. My life had changed because I accepted a TRUE whole foods diet into my life. We lean towards a balanced Weston A. Price type of eating, with a dash of grass-fed ice cream here and there, hehe. (I'm sure he would approve.)




Something I would like to add in here is that despite what you think you know about teeth health, your teeth (and your children's teeth) CAN remineralize.


Some ways you can support you and your families teeth that we have incorporated into our daily lives are:

  1. Daily teaspoon of Cod Liver Oil (it fucking ranks, but you get used to it)

  2. Cell salts 3x daily - #1, #2 & #12 (use 12-in-1 for maintenance, and the first listed 3 for current issues)

  3. Coconut oil rinses/brushing

  4. Using a nano-hydroxyapatite toothpaste (we use this one)

  5. Brush BEFORE eating, not after. Your enamel is hardest before eating.


So there you have it. If you ever wondered why this ex-hardcore-asshole-vegan randomly and quietly transitioned to eating meat and dairy, there you go. My families health is my main priority always, and you live and you learn.


As always, do what's best for you and fuck the rest.


With love,

Z.



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