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Testimonies by people who used to be vegan and "whole food, plant-based" and changed their diet for various, mostly deteriorated health, reasons

# Name #vegan years Due to health reasons? Why they went vegan Why they quit being vegan Information
Ian Thomas, Belgian singer 7 years yes Ethical considerations, animal cruelty Laziness Stoppen met veganisme werd Ian Thomas niet in dank afgenomen: “Ik was een schande voor de community”
Lonneke, anecdotal testimony many years yes Ethical considerations Eating disorders, obsessive eating Proud to be me
Bear Grylls, British adventurer 10 years yes “I thought that was good for the environment and I thought it was good for my health” “And through time and experience and knowledge and study, I realised I was wrong on both counts.” Bear Grylls 'embarrassed' by his vegan advocacy and regrets cookbook
Cheyenne, @primallyhealing 5 years yes Animal cruelty Lupus, depression 5 Year Ex-Vegan Used Raw Meat to Heal Lupus and Depression
Declan O'Reilly, sales 6 months yes Looking for the best diet, following the Game Changers trail Facial paralysis Declan O'Reilly | 6 Months of Veganism Paralyzed His Face and Carnivore Restored his Health
Lierre Keith, author: The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice, and Sustainability 20 years yes Sustainability and animal cruelty reasons Health issues Survived 20 Years in the Vegan Cult and EXPOSED it in a Book | Lierre Keith
Matthew, @meatandhealth 6 years 6 Year Ex-Vegan Changed His Life With Raw Meat (Aajonus Vonderplanitz Protocol)
Tao Lin many years yes Skin issues Ex-Vegan's Severe Eczema DISAPPEARS With Carnivore | Famous Novelist Tao Lin
Nicole Kellidis 6 years yes Digestive issues Ex-vegan Dating Coach Explains Why Vegan Men are Feminine and Unattractive
Danny Glass, @ConsciousCalisthenics 5 years yes Low energy issues INSANELY Famous 5-Year Ex-Vegan Influencer Goes Carnivore and EXPOSES the Truth About @durianriders
Tony Sayers 3 years yes Digestive problems, brain fog, memory issues, cognitive decline 3 Year Ex-Vegan Goes Carnivore and Explains how to ESCAPE the Matrix (DEEP Metaphysics) @TonySayers
Josie, @theexplanteater 14 years yes Digestive issues, ulcerative colitis 14-Year Vegan Nearly Died TWICE of Ulcerative Colitis | Now She is CARNIVORE @theexplanteater
Kelli Petroski, Beef Babes 5 yes Hairloss, exhaustion, Diabetic father died following vegan lifestyle Ex-Vegan: "Please Don’t Rot Away Like my Diabetic Father Did"
Scott Hall many years yes Low energy issues Vegan to RAW MEAT and Starting an Off-Grid Community | Aajonus Vonderplanitz Explained @scottprimal8970
Ariel, personal anecdote 1 year yes Ayurveda influencers Neuro-degenerative issues, menstruation issues, walking issues, oxalate toxicity, mouth sores, EM hyper sensitivity, candida overgrowth, liver issues, kidney stones "Veganism Made me Feel Like a 90-Year-old in 27-Year-old’s Body" | Carnivore Saved her From Death
Francine Thirteen, @thirteenthevenusian 10 years yes Being curious and vegan friends Fatique, mental sensitivity, infertility, skin issues 10-Year Ex-vegan EXPOSES Veganism and Gets her Life Back on Carnivore
Maria Escalona, personal anecdote: 6 years yes Vegan family members Hashimoto's, weight gain, fertility issues 6-Year Vegan Goes Carnivore and Reverses Hashimoto's
Annabel Smithson several years yes Boarding school in UK Mental health issues, hormonal chaos, suicidal thoughts, depression, infections, teeth destruction, pre-diabetic, acne SEED OILS + Veganism Made her Sick | CARNIVORE Showed her the Hidden Agenda
Jamie Munney, Learn It Live 5 years yes Vegan friends Physical and mental tiredness, dental health 5 Years of Vegan Misery Caused HORRIBLE Headaches and Tooth Decay | Carnivore Healed Her
Kylie Focus 6 years yes Animal cruelty concerns Tooth disintegration, failure to thrive 6 Year Vegan Goes Carnivore After Teeth Start Disintegrating | @kyliefocus
Steward Richlin, Yogivore about a year yes Belief that oatmeal and fruits would improve health Exhaustion and digestive issues, bloodpressure issues Veganism Made Him Exhausted and Bloated | Carnivore Gave him Life
James, The Carnivorist 6 years yes Vegan girlfriend Hair and skin issues, brain fog, brittle nails, low energy levels, disability leave Lost his Job Due to VEGANISM and Put on Disability Leave| Carnivore saved his life
Kain, personal anecdote 3 years yes Vegan friends and family Asthma, allergies, intense stomach aches, mental clarity issues 3 Year Vegan Pooped Blood 10 Times a day | Carnivore Changed His Life
Andres Rodriguez-Story, personal trainer 5 years yes Vegan triathlete friends, animal wellfare and ethical considerations Electrolyte and protein deficiency, even while supplementing a lot; bloating, tiredness, brain fog, realizing that "ethical veganism" is complete nonsense as animal products like meat, dairy and eggs are health foods necessary to thrive Wrecked His Body for Five Years and Got Vegan Tattoo | INSANE Transformation on Hypercarnivore
Amy Pelino, personal anecdote 6 years yes Ethical animal and environmental considerations Depression getting worse, digestion issues, brain fog Ex-Vegan Goes Carnivore and Reverses Life-Long Depression
Julia Castillo, personal anecdote 10 months yes Social pressure and persuasion by vegan "friends" Depression, paranoia and suicide attempts 10 Months of Veganism Drove Her to Suicide | Now She is Carnivore
Yun, @koreancarnivore several years yes Social pressure, PETA activists Shifting teeth, hair loss, brittle nails, emergency room visits due to malnutrition She Went Carnivore Then Vegan Then Carnivore Again
Kevin Smith, personal anecdote 8 years yes Believed going vegetarian and vegan would prevent MS getting worse Worsened MS, brain inflammation Eight Years of Veganism Worsened MS | Now, He's Carnivore
Sameer Dossani, health coach, @MeatHeals 15 years yes Ethical considerations Knee pain, vision issues, he has come to realize that ethical veganism based on Monsanto-based fertilized crops with immoral lobbying techniques makes no sense at all! 15 Year Vegetarian Goes Carnivore and Disproves Ethical Veganism | @MeatHeals
Allen Davis, MD, Health & Wellness 25 years yes 7th Day Adventism promotes veganism Muscle injuries, malnutrition, bone and inflammation issues 7th Day Adventist Goes Carnivore After 25 Years of Veganism | @Dr. Allen Davis
Miley Cyrus, American singer and actress about 7 years yes She had originally gone vegan in 2013 upon learning how intelligent fish were She told Rogan: “I was vegan for a very long time and I’ve had to introduce fish and omegas into my life because my brain wasn’t functioning properly.”“My ex-husband cooked me some fish on the grill,’ she continued, “I cried, like, for a long time. I cried for the fish … it really hurts me to eat fish.”“Now I’m so much sharper than I was and I think that I was, at one point, pretty malnutritioned. I remember going to Glastonbury [music festival] and that was a show that I loved—I loved my performance—but I was running on empty.” Joe Rogan Podcast
Liam Hemsworth, Australian actor 3 years yes Social pressure by vegan friends “But February 2018 I was feeling really low and lethargic and wasn’t feeling good generally,” he said. “And then I got a kidney stone.”One of the causes of kidney stones (or calcium oxalate stones) is an excessively high level of oxalate – a chemical compound found in nuts, spinach, legumes and bran.These were foods Hemsworth was consuming in epic proportions, as the actor’s morning smoothie alone consisted of five handfuls of spinach, almond milk, almond butter and vegan protein.It may be that the star had fallen victim to society’s obsession with vegans getting enough nutrients, and had overcompensated, resulting in an overdose of these vitamins. Men's Health magazine, 2019
Anne Hathaway 2 years yes Social pressure Muscle weakness, not feeling good or healthy nor strong Tatler magazine
Simon Cowell 3 years yes Believed it would improve health Following motorbike accident with broken back while in recovery The Sun
Mike Tyson 10 years yes switching to a fully plant-based diet was a decision motivated by health. He told Oprah Winfrey: “Becoming a vegan gave me another opportunity to live a healthy life.“I was so congested from all the drugs and bad cocaine, I could hardly breathe. High blood pressure, almost dying, arthritis and once I became a vegan all that stuff diminished.” “I stopped because of the training and because of what I wanted my body to look like and the strength that I wanted to possess.” Joe Rogan
Waka Flocka Flame 7 years no "In one month, I had gained like 45 pounds... I was tired of it," Waka Flocka said of his life before turning vegan. "Trying vegan, I was just trying to be healthy." I think the public scared me from being vegan. I got so conditioned, I got blinded from what's really vegan. I got conditioned to just reading the label, and somebody says it's vegan, so therefore it's healthy. And it really wasn't vegan... I'm at a crisis with myself. I'm at a battle with myself right now when it comes to this. What I call myself now is a conscious eater, meaning I'm conscious about the things I put in my mouth, and about the things that I drink.
I think saying that I'm a vegan is like putting a title on me. I'm making myself sound like I'm better than somebody else. If I'm saying I'm vegan and you're not vegan, what does that make you? A sloppy motherfucker? It fucks with me. Just to seem like, "Yo, you shouldn't eat meat, that's not good!" Like who's to say you can't eat meat? Technically, a plant has just as much life as an animal does, they just don't have the common sense or mindset, but it's the same power of life, it feels everything that we feel. When I started reading that vegans can't eat honey, I was like, y'all going too far. Let me fall back.		 FoodBeast and Paper magazine
Samuel L. Jackson several years no “They threatened to fire me from the ‘Tarzan‘ movie if I didn’t gain 20lbs. I’d wound up losing 40lbs,” he explained on the radio show Breakfast Club Power.“So I decided to go eat and now I’m not a vegan anymore. I have protein meals two to three times a week and eat vegetarian the other four days.” Vegan food and living
Channing Tatum 6 months no Social pressure “He really did try to be vegan for six months. The guy doesn’t like vegetables, which makes it tough. It was hard in the beginning because you want someone to be on the same page, but you’ve got to let people be themselves.” Women's Health magazine
Zooey Deschanel shortly yes Social pressure Food sensitivities for wheat and soy Health magazine
Carrie Underwood yes Like many ex-vegan celebrities, songwriter Carrie Underwood ditched her vegan diet while she was pregnant with her son. Vegan food and living
Ellen Degeneres no Following a joke about struggling to find vegan food, she declared: “I was healthier than I’d ever been, I loved being vegan. But in the last year or two for no real reason, I started eating a piece of fish once in a while. Vegan food and living
Kristen Bell yes She told TODAY: “During my first pregnancy, I was working and it felt like I needed more calories. I was pretty conscious of it." Vegan food and living
Olivia Petter 1 year no ‘After a year of trying veganism, I know I have to allow myself some breathing room when it comes to social occasions’ ‘Why I stopped being vegan after one year’
John Nicholson 26 years yes He and his partner decided to return to eating meat for what they believed was the good of their health (irritable bowel syndrome, weight gain, depression, slow thyroid). Why I gave up being vegan
Julia Austin 3 years yes Social influence, animal wellfare, reading books about veganism Nutrient deficiencies: vitamin B12, zinc, protein... Migraines, depression, bruising easily, fatigue, getting colds all the time, nearly toxic blood, MadameNoire
Alex O’Connor CosmicSkeptic many years yes Ethical vegan in February 2023, he made a surprise statement “re-evaluating [his] ethical position” and saying he had struggled to maintain a healthy plant-based diet. Gen V
Alyse Parker 4 years yes health issues including brain fog, migraines, chronic sinus congestion, memory loss, apetite loss, cognitive decline The Cut
Tim Shieff yes depression, body craved animal products and searching to feel satiated again WHY I QUIT BEING A VEGAN - Timothy Shieff | London Real
Yovana Mendosa yes highly restrictive rawfood vegan diet made her so sick she stopped having periods Gen V
Jon Venus 6 years yes Ethical vegan decided to abandon his principles and “face the reality of the food I felt was healing me and my family.” Gen V
Leanne Vogel 8 years yes desire to be in control, recovering from eating disorder feeling bloated, unable to eat to satiety, craving meat and fish Healthful Pursuit

Other testimonies:

Cartoon by Graeme MacKay



Interesting insights from an ex-vegan personal trainer who elaborates on his journey to overcome cognitive dissonance and realizing that meat is not bad for you

Andres Rofriguez-Story discusses the one article that changed EVERYTHING in his vegan life and his red pill moment:
The people and groups he mentions in this video are: Before you go vegan, you should certainly watch these videos:

Interesting discussion about cognitive dissonance

Scott Adams discusses the seven tells for cognitive dissonance: