I told my mom about my decision to be a vegan in the near future....?

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Grant

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My mom thinks as a vegan my skin will turn pale from lack of dairy products and my body will gasp for protein and other nutrients. She also said that I will lose most of my friends. After telling her that veganism is a very healthy diet if it is properly planned she told me that I don't do enough research (and I even told her I read about 1/3 of Skinny B!tch) and she still thinks my claims are uneducated. What can I tell her to convince her that becoming a vegan is not a health issue nor a social issue? I think she is being completely irrational.
I only read 1/3 of it because I looked it up on Google books and it only has about 1/3 of the material due to copyright laws.
@Alice, I have done lots of other additional forms of reasearch. The Skinny B!tch reference was just an example of what kind of information I have researched. I have been to many health websites provided by the studies of universities and they all claim veganism as a healthy diet.
@est!est!est!, see above paragraph.
I forgot to mention just as a general fact, I am a vegetarian of 10 months.
 
veganism is a little more involved than vegetarianism. again, a third of a book titled skinny blah blah hardly counts as research. your moms concerns are valid. it is a health and social issue. in terms of your additional details, if google books only has partial material you should try a library. its a great resource.
 
Being vegan IS a health issue. If you can't even read a complete book (especially a dumbed down book like "Skinny") about it, why would your mom take you seriously?
 
Reading the 1/3 of a book you can look at online instead of actually checking the book out from the library and reading ONLY parts of that one book and doing no other research indicates to me that your mom is right and you have not really studied enough about this to make an informed choice.

If you can show your mother the studies which you claim to have seen and show her how you intend to balance your diet, then you might be able to convince her. You will have to show her, rather than just claim to have seen the information, though.
 
Tell her to look at a picture of Alicia Silverstone and Natalie Portman. They are skinny, yes, but they are actresses. They have beautiful skin, and a healthy glow. Both are (mostly-Alicia) vegan.

Protein is in almost everything but fruit. What other nutrients? Iron? You can get that from plants (when combined with vitamin C in the same meal). Calcium? Brussel sprouts have more than milk. I don't understand why she thinks you will be nutritionally deprived when eating a ton of fruits, veggies, beans, and various grains.

As for losing your friends - if they are that shallow to turn on you because you turn vegan - they're not good friends to begin with. You don't need people like that anyway.

Have you shown your mom the university websites and scientific studies? If she still denies them then, frankly, you might just put your foot down and fight back a little bit. I'm not saying to be disrespectful, but seriously. That level of ignorance and idiocy would be astounding. Hopefully, she'll come around and see the light then.

However, I really think (considering she brought up you-losing-friends) that it's really more of a I-don't-want-my-kid-to-be-an-outcast-and-I-don't-either thing. But I have a tendency to look down on close-minded people. So that's probably just me. :3

Good luck.
 
Vegans tend to healthier than people on any other diet, because by eating the right types of vegetables (ones with high protein, carbohydrates, etc as well as the 'normal' ones like lettuce and things) they actually only cut out fat from their diet, and you seem like you know to eat the right foods
 
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