Very Worried

My mom told me that my brother passed ut yesterday and hit his head. He spent the night in the emergency room because he hit himself pretty hard. It was determiend he passed out from super low blood pressure. He now is making appointments to see his family doctor and have a series of tests run to determine why his BP is so low.

I am afraid he's hurting himself... you see, my brother is a strict vegan (or is it veegan?) Which in itself isn't bad, but even on his vegetarian diet, he was still rather heavy (family curse... can;t fight those genes! :D ) so he decided to go on the vegan version of the Atkins diet. NO carbs... so that leaves my brother carrots, lettuce, um... what else? He hasn't touched a potato or pasta since, and he's been doing it for 6 months. He's lost a lot of weight, but even now is not what one would call thin.. you'd still call him stocky (but no longer heavy)

I fear that he won't want to return to eating balanced meals, even if he knows its what he needs to do to keep himself healthy. He won't want to have the weight return. He and his wife and "fat snobs" where they look down at others for being heavy - always have, always will. To them, thin is more important than anything else. I am worried about his health and his mental state (my brother also has a lot of depression and Obsessive compulsive issues.)

I'm really sorry about your brother and I hope he is okay.http://www.1-2-3-gaestebuch.de/smilies/107.gif {{Hugs}}

Good grief Kim he really isn't eating enough is he? Can't he be persuaded there is no such thing as a Vegan version of the Atkins diet? He's got to eat something else apart from a bit of salad stuff. He's not getting any proteins or carbohydrates at all - very dangerous methinks! Even when people go on the Atkins diet - they have to introduce carbos., after I think it's 2 weeks. Couldn't he at least eat cheese - I know you can get vegan cheese - what about nuts and pulses? Would he go into councelling?

Keeping him in my thoughts Kim.

Lynne

He might eat tofu cheese... I'm not sure about that. He does go to counseling, and has for many years. His depression and OCD are pretty bad, so he's been seeing someone for many years now. I told him months ago that his diet was bad news. :( He refuses to eat anything that came from an animal. He used to chew bubllegum, but then found out msany gus use something from an animal and now no longer even chews gum. I honestly understand his views, but he takes it too far - this is a symptom of his OCD... he just dwells and dwells and obsesses about something.

Goodness, that's awful! I agree - buy him vegan (that's how it's spelled, veegan is a Pet talker) cheese and ither goodies, and I hope the docs can help him figure out the low blood sugar.

What about finding vegan recipes he can try? I think the snacks are a good idea to try.

Poor thing. I'm sure its frustrating seeing someone, especially a loved one, do that to themselves. :(

Wait, no carbs? Does he not understand his body cannot survive without carbs?? The natural ones found in rice, beans, veggies, fruits are necessary for survival.

Upon second thought, maybe a book on vegan diet, the healthy way.

I found some good vegan recipe sites:

http://vegweb.com/recipes/

Here's a write up on the vegan diet, and why is HEALTHY:
http://vegweb.com/articles/47.shtml

Low-carb vegan for health reasons:
http://vegweb.com/articles/monique-1003690236.shtml