Veganism has benefits, and I don’t think there’s anything bad about being vegan, as long as you know what you need to know for getting all of your nutrients. (Protein is not the issue, typically.)
So when I was given a magazine promoting veganism, I flipped through it, mainly looking to see if they had any good recipes. (The magazine was not about a vegan diet as much as a vegan lifestyle, so it wasn’t rooted in health.)
There were eight recipes along with a suggested meal plan for a week.
Most of it was crap.
Only two of the recipes didn’t include soy products, and most of the suggested products were fake meat. Many fake meat products nowadays have good texture and flavor—they’ve come a long way—but they’re full of garbage.
An excess of soy can fairly quickly cause health issues. Soy mimics estrogen in our bodies, so eating a lot of soy has the hormonal effect of extra estrogen. It can cause short- and long-term problems. I have seen it first-hand.
Additionally, soy is genetically modified to be Round-Up ready. This means it’s resistant to excessive application of glyphosate. The glyphosate is absorbed by the plant and consumed by whatever critter eats the soy—including us. That’s problematic.
While I support animal rights and while we as a people eat way too much meat (on health, environmental, and overpopulation sustenance measures), I don’t think that replacing meat with garbage food is the way to go on a regular basis.
Going vegan? Cool. Eat real food. (The same applies to not-vegans.)