Why Veganism Might Not Be as Healthy as You Think

I know this is going to upset some people.

But someone has to say it.

You can’t be vegan to be healthy.

I know that’s controversial. I used to be vegan too. Most of us go through that phase—whether it’s for a few weeks, a few months, or a few years. But the truth is, I came face-to-face with some hard realities that completely changed my perspective.

I wasn’t just a plant-based eater—I was ethical vegan. No leather. No honey. No exceptions.

But then one day, I had an ant infestation in my kitchen. As an ethical vegan, what was I supposed to do? Just let them take over my home? That moment stuck with me. Because I realized—I was going to have to kill something no matter what.

Then, another time, I was gardening. Training a melon vine to climb a trellis. It bit me. Literally. The plant bit me. Left a little blood on my hand.

That was when it hit me:

Plants are alive too.

We can try to pretend that being vegan makes us “nonviolent” or spiritually pure, but the truth is—we’re still part of the food chain. Life consumes life. That’s how the system was set up. By God. By nature. By the universe. However you want to frame it.

There’s no way around it.

The Vegan Struggle

I know a lot of spiritual people who go vegan. It seems like the right thing to do. They don’t want to hurt anything. They want to live with compassion.

But I’ve seen it time and time again… they get sick.

They look tired. They’re drained. Their energy drops. Their hormones go haywire. And it’s because they’re missing the raw materials—the essential nutrients you simply can’t get from plants alone.

That was me. Until I shifted.

Back to the Basics: Real Food, Real Energy

A few years ago, I moved from veganism to a clean, whole food, animal-based diet. Organic meats. Simpler meals. No processed junk.

And the shift was immediate.

More energy. More stability. More vitality.
It was like night and day.

Do I still think about the animals? Yes.
But now I see it differently.

Life Eating Life

If you really zoom out—this whole thing is one living system. One organism. Life eats life to sustain itself.

That’s not violence.
That’s the design.

And when you view it that way, it’s almost beautiful. Plants, animals, humans… we’re all part of this offering. It’s not about domination. It’s not about cruelty. It’s about balance.

When indigenous cultures hunted, they honored the animal. They used every part of it—for food, for shelter, for tools. They didn’t waste. They bowed to the animal’s spirit. It was sacred.

That reverence is missing today.
But it doesn’t mean the cycle is wrong.
It means we’ve forgotten how to respect it.

The Bigger Picture

Everything is systems.

The body is a system. The planet is a system. The cosmos is a system.

And if you can learn to attune to the system, not fight it, not reject it—you start to thrive. You get aligned. You get healthy.

I’m not saying go out and eat junk meat. I’m saying get with the program. The one nature laid out for us. The one God put in motion.

We’re off-track. That’s why we’re sick. That’s why we’re anxious. That’s why we suffer.

It’s time to return. To remember.

Not just what we eat—but why we eat it.

Because life, as harsh as it might seem, is always moving toward harmony.

Even when it means one life sustains another.

—Dr. Reese