Take what Reprieve said with a pinch of salt. While I agree with some of his points, his claims about veganism are demonstrably false. It is true to say maintaining nutritional balance is more difficult for vegans, and requires them to take supplements. It is not true to say that people NEED meat to be healthy, nor is it true that supplements only provide a temporary solution. There are a number of professional athletes that have maintained a vegan lifestyle for many years yet still get all the nutrition they need to maintain the peak physical fitness required to be among the best (if not the best) in their sports. Ultramarathon Champion Scott Jurek, NBA Star Chris Paul, and NFL defensive end Deatrich Wise, Jr. to name only a few.
As for pedophilia... not in THIS community. Any show of support for pedophilia will result in an instant ban, no warnings. Just as it should be.
For the long term it is very much true.
Pure veganism is fine for periods of a few years, but after a decade or two it becomes unsustainable without some serious effort and/or wealth.
The problem is primarily that it requires a
LOT more substantial intake in quantity to achieve the same level of nutritional quality as is gained from animal-based sources such as eggs, milk and meat at large.
I'm not saying it's impossible, but it tends to be incredibly costly to sustain and is beyond the means of most normal people to afford.
It also requires a much more strictly-monitored diet to ensure you're getting everything you need.
Again, I'm not saying vegans can't work in labor-intensive fields or to achieve great things; I'm saying that most people can't live on a vegan diet long-term... Whether it be due to prohibitive costs, the quantity of food intake needed to meet your needs, the careful management of your diet to avoid malnutrition... Or if you're so unlucky, because you simply cannot absorb the nutrients you need from the alternatives veganism provides.
Most vegan-friendly supplements/pills require a double-dosage to meet the needs of the average person, but this isn't represented properly as labels on foods tend to be rather simplified. Saying something contains so many grams of
'protein' doesn't specify what
TYPE of protein it contains.
Not all proteins, nor fats, are equal; some are less healthy than others and/or are absorbed differently than others.
Plant-based proteins tend to be harder for the body to break down. This is made even more difficult as the presence of fiber inhibits the proper absorption of many nutrients, screwing with the assumed bio-availability of said nutrients in the typical individual. As such, the labels presenting nutrition information on many food products can be misleading and result in deficiencies that may go undetected for years.
Yes, athletes whom claim to be vegan exist. They may even truly be perfectly vegan. But they also typically have a fair bit of money backing their diet, with specially-hired individuals to monitor their health. Not all sports require the same sort of body-type either and, while veganism can provide a person with enough to survive, it may not always be capable or providing the ideal nutrient intake to keep the body strong and developing as a proper wholistic diet would.
TL;DR
Everybody is different. Some people do better with a vegan diet than others, some can afford the time, focus and money to keep it up.
Not everybody can. Some have genetic issues which prevent such, some have a metabolism that can't handle it, some are just too poor or ragged to sustain it.
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