Yes, I’ve had conversations like this. And as a chronically ill vegan (auto-immune diseases for 30 years) I’m sick and tired of this ‘it’s your own fault‘ fingerpointing from health vegans.
Me: I have a chronic illness
Health vegans: Go vegan. You will be cured!
me: I have been vegan for 10 years
Health vegans: You are just not doing it right
me: sketch image of frustrated face
Side banner: #stophealthshaming – Logo criphumanimal
A plant based diet is no miracle ‘cure all’.
Yes, a plantbased diet, and certainly a WFPB diet can reduce the risk for certain conditions, like hypertension, diabetes type 2 and certain cancers, but a plantbased diet is no guarantee or a magical bullet for good health.
Next to diet, other factors also play a role: lifestyle, genetic predisposition, environmental factors, access to health care (and think of how socio-economic factors intersect here).
Stop this health shaming. Stop presenting veganism as a magical cure-all.
This marginalises chronically ill vegans within our movement, and sets out unrealistic expectations.
Veganism is first and foremost an ethical issue: a lifestyle with respect for animal rights. Veganism is a matter of justice: for humans and other animals.
see also this presentation at VegfestUK:
Crip HumAnimal 
I’ve been vegan since 2008, in 2013 during a checkup I discovered I had suspected testicular cancer, then in 2020 I decided to have surgery and since then I’ve been doing regular checkups. In general it is difficult to tell the world that you have cancer, I believe that in the vegan world that always tries to give an image of magical health, space for those with chronic problems is granted even less. Do you know online groups of vegans/antispeciesists who have chronic conditions, like a cancer? In the meantime, thank you for posting on this site.
LikeLike