I asked 50 people who quit veganism exactly why they stopped and their answers completely changed how I think about vegans

I've been vegan for over a decade, and I'll be honest: I used to judge people who quit. Like, really judge them. I'd see those "why I'm no longer vegan" videos and immediately think they just weren't committed enough.

But then I started actually talking to ex-vegans instead of dismissing them, and what I learned completely shifted my perspective on what it means to be vegan in the first place.

I reached out to 50 people who'd been vegan for at least a year before quitting. I wanted real answers, not internet drama. What I found wasn't a bunch of people who missed bacon or couldn't handle the lifestyle.

It was way more complicated and honestly, way more useful for those of us still in it.

1. Social isolation was the number one reason, and it wasn't even close

Twenty-three people mentioned feeling isolated as a primary factor. Not just "oh, restaurants are hard" isolated. We're talking deep, friendship-ending, family-dinner-ruining isolation.

One woman told me she stopped getting invited to her book club because she'd politely declined their potlucks too many times. Another guy said his college friends just stopped texting him about hangouts.

Here's what hit me: these weren't people being difficult about their veganism. They were just existing as vegans in spaces that weren't built for them. The isolation wasn't about the food.

It was about being seen as the person who makes everything complicated, even when you're trying your hardest not to.

This one stung because I've definitely felt it too. The difference is I had a supportive partner and lived in a vegan-friendly city. Not everyone has that safety net.

2. Health issues that may or may not have been related to veganism

Seventeen people cited health concerns. But here's where it gets interesting: only four of them had actually worked with a doctor or nutritionist who specialized in plant-based diets.

The rest were either self-diagnosing or working with professionals who immediately blamed veganism for everything from fatigue to hair loss.

One person told me their doctor said they needed to eat meat for iron, despite never checking their levels or suggesting supplements. Another developed digestive issues and assumed it was the beans, when it might have been the massive increase in fiber their gut wasn't ready for.

I'm not saying veganism works for every single body. But I am saying most of these people didn't get the support they needed to figure out if the diet was actually the problem. They just got told to eat chicken and felt relief that someone gave them permission to quit.

3. The vegan community itself pushed people away

This one hurt to hear, but twelve people specifically mentioned toxic experiences with other vegans. Someone posted a picture of their meal in a vegan Facebook group and got attacked because one ingredient might not have been organic.

Another person asked a genuine question about B12 and got called a fake vegan.

The purity politics are real, and they're doing serious damage. When you're already struggling and the people who are supposed to be your community are critiquing your every move, why would you stay? One ex-vegan told me she felt more judgment from vegans than she ever did from meat-eaters.

I've seen this behavior and called it "passionate advocacy." But passion that makes people feel small isn't advocacy. It's just being mean with a moral license.

4. Life transitions made veganism feel impossible to maintain

Eleven people quit during major life changes: pregnancy, new demanding jobs, caring for sick family members, financial hardship. When you're barely holding it together, being vegan can feel like one more thing you're failing at.

Especially if you've internalized the idea that being vegan requires perfection.

A new mom told me she was too exhausted to meal prep and her family kept bringing her chicken soup. She felt guilty every time she ate it, but she also needed to eat something. Eventually she just stopped trying. A grad student said when he was working three jobs, the free pizza at work became too important to turn down.

These aren't moral failures. These are people in survival mode making the choices available to them. But the all-or-nothing messaging in vegan spaces doesn't leave room for that nuance.

5. They never really understood why they were doing it

Eight people told me they went vegan because it seemed like the healthy or trendy thing to do, but they never connected with the ethical or environmental reasons. When the initial motivation faded or got hard, there was nothing deeper to hold onto.

One person said they went vegan after watching a documentary but never really thought about it again. When friends questioned them, they didn't have answers. When it got inconvenient, they didn't have a reason to push through. They were vegan in practice but not in purpose.

This taught me something important: we need to help people find their own why, not just hand them ours. A why that resonates personally is a why that lasts.

6. The financial reality hit harder than expected

Seven people mentioned cost, but not in the way I anticipated. They weren't saying vegetables are expensive. They were talking about living in food deserts, losing access to Whole Foods after moving, or not being able to afford the extra time it takes to prepare everything from scratch when convenient vegan options weren't available locally.

One woman lived in a small town where the only grocery store barely stocked produce. Ordering specialty items online was prohibitively expensive with shipping. She felt trapped between her values and her reality.

Another person's work schedule meant they relied heavily on convenience foods, and the vegan options cost twice as much as the regular ones.

Veganism can absolutely be affordable, but it requires resources beyond money: time, access, knowledge, and energy. Not everyone has all of those at once.

Final thoughts

Here's what changed for me: I used to think people who quit veganism lacked commitment.

Now I see that many of them were failed by the systems around them, including the vegan community itself. They needed support, flexibility, and understanding, and instead they got judgment, isolation, and impossible standards.

If we want more people to go vegan and stay vegan, we need to build a movement that's actually sustainable for real humans living real lives.

That means celebrating progress over perfection, offering genuine support instead of purity tests, and acknowledging that someone doing their best in difficult circumstances is worth more than someone who had it easy and quit when it got hard.

The goal isn't to keep people vegan through guilt or gatekeeping. The goal is to create a world where being vegan is so supported, accessible, and normal that people want to stay. These 50 people taught me we're not there yet, but understanding why might help us get closer.