Is vegan healthy?
Recently, I’ve received a few emails from readers who’ve asked me, “I’m so confused about a healthy diet! Is vegan healthy? I’ve read/seen [enter vegan book or documentary here] promoting a vegan lifestyle, but I know that you eat many animal products.”
Food is complicated, but let’s start with the many aspects of a balanced diet on which everyone agrees – even the vegans and paleos! This includes:
- Enjoy an abundance of freshly prepared vegetables
- Minimized processed foods and instead cook meals from scratch
- Eat mindfully and slowly
- Source local, organic foods and support small farms
But what about the question of eating animals products? I firmly believe that properly-sourced animal products are essential to both the health of the human race and the health of the planet. Here are 10 reasons why I will never be a vegan.
1. A vegan diet never sustained any traditional culture
Dr. Weston Price, a dentist with a passion for nutrition, traveled the globe to discover the secrets of healthy, happy people. He recorded his findings in the 30’s in the landmark book, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. From the Inuit in Alaska to the Maori in New Zealand, Dr. Price revealed that the diets traditional to each culture, although dependent on geography, followed a strict set of dietary laws.
Perhaps the most striking commonality is an unerring reverence for animal foods. No traditional culture subsisted on a vegan diet, a fact that Dr. Price found particularly interesting.
Some cultures, such as the Masai tribe in Africa, consumed almost exclusively animal products. The Masai ate meat, milk and blood from their cattle, experiencing profound health and incredible bone structure (which is an indicator of generational health). Cultures – such as the Inuit – that didn’t practice animal husbandry caught wild meat or fish. Groups who had the least access to animal products would forage for grubs and bugs.
The China Study (which is a book title, not a study) has been used to promote the idea that primarily vegan cultures experience better health than omnivorous cultures. T. Campbell, the author, notoriously cherry-picked data to arrive at a specific conclusion. Denise Minger, author of Death by Food Pyramid, published a scathing critique of Cambell’s work in her article, The China Study: Fact or Fiction.
Read more and sources: Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, Nourishing Traditions, The China Study: Fact or Fiction
2. Vegan diets do not provide fat-soluble vitamins A and D
Contrary to popular belief, you can’t get vitamin A from carrots. Vegetables provide carotene, a precursor to vitamin A, while animal sources such as liver and pastured egg yolks provide true vitamin A. Many people believe that carotene can be converted into vitamin A, but this conversion is usually insignificant. First, it takes a huge amount of carotene to convert to a moderate amount of vitamin A. Second, when there is poor thyroid function, impaired digestion or a a lack of healthy fats in the diet, this conversion won’t happen.
In the same way, useable vitamin D (natural vitamin D3) is only found in animal products such as pastured egg yolks, cod liver oil and dairy products from grass-grazing animals. Traditionally, ancient cultures that lived in darker environments relied heavily on these vitamin-D rich foods (for example, Scandinavians ate copious amounts of salmon and grassfed butter). The myth that we can obtain vitamin D from mushrooms is false… mushrooms contain vitamin D2, which is extremely poorly absorbed.
Vitamin A and Vitamin D are particularly essential for immune regulation, digestion, fertility and hormone balance.
Read more and sources: True Vitamin A Foods, The Vitamin A Saga, Vitamin D in Mushrooms?
3. Vegan diets often rely heavily on soy
Soy, soy, the magical fruit. The more you eat, the more… your hormones go berserk!
10 years ago, a vegan diet equated to vegetables interspersed with soy milk, soy cheese, soy bacon, soy protein, soy cereal, tofu, and tempeh. Now, the health problems with chronic soy consumption are becoming more mainstream an
d many vegans have reduced their soy consumption. Even so, a vegan diet often relies on a moderate amount of soy products – especially soy protein powders and soy protein bars.
The primary concern with consuming soy in any form is the phytoestrogen content. Phytoestrogens can mimic estrogen in the body, causing a chain reaction of hormone imbalances. Although studies showing the hormonal effects of consuming soy are controversial, I believe the research indicates that we should play it safe rather than sorry. For example, one study showed that infants consuming soy formula had concentrations of blood estrogen levels 13,000 to 22,000 times higher than normal estrogen levels!
Read more, studies and sources: Exposure of infants to phyto-oestrogens from soy-based infant formula, Studies showing the adverse affects of dietary soy, Is Soy Bad for You or Good For You? (a great summary of research on soy and why it may be biased)
4. Vegan diets do not provide vitamin K2
Vitamin K2 is the shuttle that transports calcium into your bones. You can eat as much calcium as you want but it won’t strengthen your bones unless it is accompanied by vitamin K2. This is one reason why calcium supplementation has been
shown to increase the risk of plaque formation – the body can’t use the calcium for building bones so it stores it in the arteries.
Unlike vitamin K1, plants do not provide vitamin K2. (The one and only exception to this rule is natto, a fermented soybean product. One problem, however, is that natto is, for the majority of humans and animals, repulsive to eat). Like other fat-soluble vitamins, Vitamin K2 is found fatty sources – Mother Nature packages the vitamin with the cofactors required to absorb it. You’ll get vitamin K2 in pastured egg yolks, milk and cheese from grassfed animals, liver, beef, and chicken.
Read more and sources: Vitamin K2 and The Calcium Paradox
5. Ethical omnivorism supports a healthy planet
What is ethical omnivorism? I define it as choosing sustainably-raised animal products from small, local producers. With a little planning and careful selection, can be relatively budget-friendly. I think people should eat less meat, but a much higher quality to support the demand for pasture-raised meats. $1 hamburgers have no place in an ethical omnivore world.
Our ecosystem relies on a self-regulating balance of predators and prey. This system worked well with humans and their prey until we began inhumane farming practices that compromise the wellbeing of animals, the health of humans, and the health of the planet.
But just like Confined Feeding Animal Operations aren’t the answer to a healthy planet, neither is veganism. Vegan diets ten to demand a higher quantity of cereal grains and soy, crops which wreak havoc on our ecosystem due to mass farming techniques. On the other hand, grass-grazing animals can nourish stripped soil and even reverse desertification!
Read more and sources: Joel Salatin on Grassfed Beef (video), Reversing Desertification with Grassfed Cows, Eat the Yolks.
6. Real Food > Fake Food
How do you create cheese, milk and meat without cheese, milk and meat? With a slew of non-foods including stabilizers, gums, thickeners and highly processed protein extracts. Yummy.
Let’s consider the example of Earth Balance, a non-dairy butter often used in vegan diets.
- Ingredients in a Earth Balance: Palm fruit oil, canola oil, safflower oil, flax oil, olive oil, salt, natural flavor, pea protein, sunflower lecithin, lactic acid, annatto color.
- Ingredients in butter: butter.
Humans have been eating butter for thousands of years. We only started producing canola oil in the last century. Butter is real food, but canola oil is a freak of nature. Similarly, pea protein and natural flavors are highly processed non-foods.
Fortunately, more and more people are becoming aware that processed vegan products are just that – highly processed. Still, many vegans reach for these options on a regular basis.
Read more: 7 reasons to never use canola oil, 6 reasons to avoid non dairy milks.
7. Vegan isn’t the answer to autoimmune disease
Autoimmunity is a 21st century epidemic, with 50 million people suffering with an autoimmune disease in America (according to AARDA) But did you know that you can address autoimmunity with diet? I’m living proof that it works! Three years ago, my ulcerative colitis was so advanced that my doctors wanted to remove my colon. Instead, I decided to do whatever it took to heal myself naturally. Now, I’m completely symptom free (and colon intact!) thanks to my dietary changes.
All disease begins in the gut, and all disease must be addressed by improving gut health. In the case of autoimmunity, the intestines are permeable to bacterial toxins and undigested proteins (leaky gut), which cause an problematic immune response.
To heal leaky gut, specific foods must be removed from the diet and nutrient-dense foods should be emphasized. The two leaders in leaky gut dietary treatment – Dr. Natasha Campbell McBride and Sarah Ballantyne – both agree that animal products are a nonnegotiable, essential part of healing leaky gut to address autoimmunity.
Read more and sources: The Gut and Psychology Syndrome Diet, The Paleo Approach, Breaking the Vicious Cycle.
8. You must take life to have life
Many people choose veganism because they think it cruel to take a life, but something dies no matter what you eat. For example, field mice were demolished in order to grow the corn for a box of vegan cereal.
Further, plants are living beings, capable of communicating with each other and the world around them. Controversial but intriguing research, discussed in this documentary, indicates that plants can even sense and respond to human emotions!
Nutritional Therapist Liz Wolf sums it up perfectly in her book Eat the Yolks:
If we truly believe that no living thing should have to die for our dinner, we shouldn’t eat at all. If we truly believe that all life deserves equal respect, why not equalize ourselves by embracing the elegant fact that we are all, as Nelson writes, “driven by the same hungers that motivate any other creature— the squirrel in the forest, the vole in the meadow, the bear on the mountainside, the deer in the valley”?
Read more and sources: The Secret Life of Plants (free documentary on Youtube), Eat the Yolks, The Intelligent Plant.
9. Vegan diets are deficient in vitamin B12 and iron
Like vitamin A, D and K2, the readily-absorbed form of vitamin B12 and iron is found only in animal sources (are you seeing a pattern here?). Testing with the most up-to-date methods show that 83% of vegans are B12 deficient, compared to 5% of omnivores.
What about spirulina and brewer’s yeast as a source of B12? Chris Kresser has an excellent post on vegan diets and vitamin deficiencies in which he addresses this question:
A common myth amongst vegetarians and vegans is that it’s possible to get B12 from plant sources like seaweed, fermented soy, spirulina and brewers yeast. But plant foods said to contain B12 actually contain B12 analogs called cobamides that block the intake of, and increase the need for, true B12. (4)
Chris also discusses iron in his post. While plants such as lentils and leafy greens do provide some iron, it is not as well-absorbed as animal-based iron. He explains,
Vegetarians and vegans have lower iron stores than omnivores, and […] vegetarian diets have been shown to reduce non-heme iron absorption by 70% and total iron absorption by 85%. (6, 7)
Read more and sources: Why You Should Think Twice About Vegetarian and Vegan Diets, Eat the Yolks
10. Animal fats offer unique nutrients
Have you heard that flax seeds, walnuts, hemp seeds and chia seeds are all excellent sources of omega-3? That may be true, but these plant sources provide a form of omega-3 that is not well absorbed by the body.
The omega-3 in plant sources, such as flaxseed and walnuts, is ALA. ALA must be converted to EPA or DHA in the body to be useable. Unfortunately, the conversion between ALA and EPA/ DHA is extremely low. One study showed that women convert about 21% of ALA to EPA and 9% to DHA. The conversion rates for men are even lower.
Further, as Chris Kresser points out in his article on vegan nutrient deficiencies, “the conversion of ALA to DHA depends on zinc, iron and pyridoxine—nutrients which vegetarians and vegans are less likely than omnivores to get enough of.”
Fats from sustainably-raised animals provide unique health benefits not found in plant sources:
- EPA and DHA, the active forms of omega-3 vital for cognitive function, are found only in animal sources such as fatty fish.
- Fat soluble vitamins A, D and K2 are found in fatty animal products (discussed above).
- Cholesterol, a vital ingredient for healthy hormones, can be dietarily obtained only through animal sources. Yes, the body can produce cholesterol, but dietary cholesterol is a key part of wellness including memory, liver health, and digestion.
But don’t cholesterol-rich saturated fats cause heart disease? Nope! Saturated fats were wrongly blamed for heart disease with the help of poor research and sleazy food politics. Now, even mainstream sources are acknowledging the science. For example, the 2014 June cover of Time Magazine announced, “Eat butter. Scientists labeled fat the enemy. Why they were wrong.”
Read more, studies and sources: 5 Reasons Why Butter is a Superfood, Cholesterol and Heart Disease, 2010 meta-analysis on saturated fat consumption, 2014 meta-analysis on saturated fat consumption, study on ALA conversion, Nourishing Traditions, Why You Should Think Twice About Vegetarian and Vegan Diets.
[Comments are now closed.]
1. Dr. Weston Price checked today’s coltures which exist only for a few thousand’s years and doesn’t realy reflect the way we where evolutioned in the last milion years.
A lot of older coltures did live on a mainly herble diet eating meat only when they where “lucky”.
2. That is just not true. vitamin A can be found in many many fruits and vegetables
And vitamin D can be recieved quite easly from our body that manufactures it by himself!! ONLY A FEW MINUTES OF HARD SUN FOR A COUPLES TIMES A WEEK IN ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!
3. Not necessarily. Saying that is just being a demagog.
4.Vitamin K usualy comes from jerms inside our body! When you get from a cow that’s only becouse the same jerms make it also for her. So if you have deficiance in vitamin K there is a problem with your body i would not run off to eat becouse that will only solve the simptom and not the problem.
5. Not everybody can consume meat from small farms so you need to make a choise here, meat with antibiotics and shit or no meat at all(except some fish)!?
6.”Fake Food” is not necessary in any diet! But for example fake cheese can be done from cashew butter with is real food and healthy in small amounts(just because of all the fat in ti).
7.Again this is not true. I know personaly people that where cured from cancer. and here is just one example out of many http://www.collective-evolution.com/2013/07/21/man-with-stage-3-colon-cancer-refuses-chemotherapy-cures-himself-with-vegan-diet/
8.Not a reason to eat meat! let alone sustain the diary industry.
9.Some processes in the meat and diary industry like pastorisation reduses the amounts B12 so it is added artificialy to the meat and diary in the same way that it is added to cornflakes or granula bar or same like taking a B12 pill.
10. Baisicly all the problems you mention comes from unbalced unhealthy diet! A vegan that eat well from all groups of food and all fresh and not syntetic should have no deficiency in any vitamin or mineral and for sure will be in excellent health.
Of course doing sport is also a factor in that
Einstein said, “The theory decides what can be observed.” Quantum physicists are now seeing this as true.
We will find what we are looking for. We will typically agree with what already makes sense. We can actually create what we believe we’ll see – though typically on small levels, but what if many are focusing on the same thing? What if a survey is affected by those doing the research? Unless it’s all done double blind, it’s hard for me to give in to another’s (though well intentioned!) findings.
People can and will argue what is best for all without challenging diversity, environment, gene expressions, and so much more. If I believe that killing an animal is wrong, my stress about eating meat will lessen any positive effects. Likewise, my fear of illness leading to going raw and vegan can manifest in poor digestion and more unnecessary stress. I think we can all agree that stress doesn’t help digestion or elimination!
I’m one of the healthiest 50 year olds I know and am vegan — mostly for ethical reasons: Why SHOULD a CONSCIOUS being have to suffer and die for me to live? Am I really that important? Because it’s natural in the animal world does it mean I have to bend to that? What about conscious choice? (I’m gluten free strictly for health reasons. If I eat gluten, I get a belly and inflammation, skin dryness, etc.)
What if we all used intuitive listening? Can that guide each person as an individual? No, it’s not very scientific, but not everything can be quantified. If I had to eat animal products, I would consume from small farms, but just seeing how even ‘humane’ killing is done churns (pun intended) my stomach.
If all things are ultimately energy, why not consume what has higher amounts? If energy comes form the sun, is absorbed by the plant, why not eat the plant rather than the cow that eats the plant? I say, eliminate the middlecow!
😉
Many other factors, including climate change and soil problems and so much more also need to be accounted for. Ultimately, eat what agrees with you and gives you less stress. And take a supplement if you’re low on a vitamin; that’s just common (or is it?) sense!
Okay, I’m done. Thanks for letting me vent.
😉
Vitamin B12 is not available in an absorbable form as a supplement either. It is invariably Cyanocobalamin, which is easy to OD on without addressing the underlying B12 deficiency. Primary symptom of this is heart palpitations and arythmias.
Thanks Lauren for providing your thoughts on this subject. You’ve clearly hit a nerve of those who, for some reason, think that eating animals is unnatural or unsustainable. Should we attempt to convert lions, tigers and bears into vegans? Are there prey free from suffering? For humans, at least, we have the option to implement a more humane way of slaughtering animals, we have to pressure the industry. I’ve seen the videos depicting appalling conditions the animals are subject to in these conventional factories, it’s not right. But, we will never be a vegan society, so this idea of all or nothing will never pan-out. If a Vegan is depriving themselves of essential nutrients, you should have the option of eating a juicy piece of steak (with the extra fat of course.) Conversely, an overweight diabetic might benefit from going vegan for four or five months to clean themselves out!
I’ve known people who went on vegan diets, they were perfectly healthy to begin with. After three or so years they were not fairing very well. They looked deprived and had an “out-of-it” look to them. I think a truly healthy vegan is an exception and not the rule. As for myself, I tried the vegetarian route for eight years and I truly felt great but only for a short while. I developed dysbiosis (for other reasons not related to diet) and a host of other gut issues that made my life a living hell. I thought plants would heal me, they didn’t. I’ve been following the GAPS protocol and it has proved to be a life saver. The animal fats and bone broths, in my experience, have been the most beneficial in my recovery. My anxiety is starting to go away to0!
Keep up the good work!
Many moons ago, the “health food” movement leftover from the hippie movement became the starting point of my going vegan/vegetarian. I played around with both for over a year, maybe longer. Fat was bad, so I went low to no fat for a period of time. Whole Wheat, whole grains were popping into the scene, so I relied heavily on grains, veg & fruit, beans, and when vegetarian, some cheese to get a “complete” protein. It came to a point that nuts/avocados were fat taboo, so dropped eating those.
I read books, listened to health food speakers, etc. this was before the internet.
I felt I was way ahead on true nutrition, no one in my world was eating like this, and I kept telling them fat was bad. Meat was unhealthy.
This info came from the “healthy food” people before it hit mainstream America,
I did this off and on for a period of years, but the last time I went full vegan, I had major teeth problems. I had to have 5 crowns in less than a years time, because my teeth kept breaking. I did not in any way attribute this to the lack of dairy, meat or even fat in my diet. That info just wasn’t out there, fat & meat & dairy were bad. Other symptoms – I was tired all the time, and moody. When I went off vegan/veg I would only use the new great low-fat oil, canola. It was a wonder and all the “health food” stores were gaga over it. Safflower, sunflower, or canola, that was the only fat in my home. I remember the first time I ate butter after all of this, I had to talk myself through that I was NOT clogging my arteries, that I was not going to have a stroke or high cholesterol which would give me a heart attack (I may have those things, but, my God in heaven is in charge of my life, food no is longer my god!). I also think the low-fat, high grain lends itself to high glycemic without protein or fat to minimize its spikes.
I do think we can do a short time run on vegan, as a cleanse (cancer seems to halt with vegan) but as a lifestyle it definitely takes it toll on the body.
Today, I do what I can to follow the guidelines mentioned in your article. I can’t eat modern wheat because it gives me joint pain. I can do Einkorn without that symptom, so I eat it as a treat, not even every week. Having been through what I have, I don’t always “listen” to the latests greatest “health food” wonder or “this is bad” food. Why?
I have stopped grains in the recent past and went low carb (Paleo) to see if it would help in some gut issues I was having. I crashed, no energy with major constipation. I was using coconut flour, almond flour, Paleo this and that. I just got sick of it. So I began adding more carbs, some grains and I feel better.
I’m coming back around to the way my mom cooked for us when I was a girl – veg/fruit//grain/meat with smaller portions. I don’t eat grains everyday and I don’t measure how much of this and that, I rarely eat out, so I’m learning to just eat and not sweat over after all these wasted years on spending so much time and energy (mental & emotional) on food choices.
Great article!
Lauren, I’m interested in knowing what you eat, what it looks like in a weeks time for breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner. Thanks.
1. A vegan diet never sustained any traditional culture
To which I would reply: so what? The computer you’re reading this post on right now never existed in a traditional culture either.
This bullet point seems to be a direct appeal to tradition (and/or possible nature). This is considered a fallacy, because of course traditional things aren’t invariably good (and unnatural things aren’t invariably bad) and the appeal to tradition assumes this is the case. Ebola, malaria, dying of starvation are all about as natural as one c an get. Slavery, patriarchy, discrimination based on sexual orientation certainly are traditional. Any takers to argue in favor of those things?
2. Vegan diets do not provide fat-soluble vitamins A and D
Without a study demonstrating that vegans end up deficient, this is just an appeal to your emotions. Vitamin D3 actually isn’t only found in animal products, you can get a vegan D3 supplement if you’d like. If you’re tempted to say “hey, supplements aren’t natural!”, please refer to my previous point about appeals to nature/tradition.
It’s true that you do need more D2 or veggy vitamin A precursors than retinyl palmitate, this article substantially overstates the difficulty of reaching your daily requirements. Refer to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_A#Equivalencies_of_retinoids_and_carotenoids_.28IU.29
3. Vegan diets often rely heavily on soy: Soy, soy, the magical fruit. The more you eat, the more… your hormones go berserk!
No, no they don’t. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soybean#Health_risks
There isn’t really any credible scientific evidence to back up the author’s doom-and-gloom claims here. Phytoestrogens aren’t the same as actual estrogen, and the effect is quite weak. At normal levels of consumption, issues are pretty unlikely. Soy foods can actually have beneficial health effects too. (For example, a reduction in the risk of prostate cancer for me.)
And of course there’s no *requirement* that vegans consume soy. So arguing against soy, even if the article met a reasonable burden of proof to demonstrate that soy is harmful is *not* equivalent to an argument against veganism.
4. Vegan diets do not provide vitamin K2
You can take a vitamin K2 supplement if you want. However, your body can synthesize K2 from precursors like K1, you also absorb some from intestinal bacteria. Vitamin K deficiency is considered rare.
5. Ethical omnivorism supports a healthy planet
Each time you go up a link in the food chain, you lose roughly 90% of energy from the previous level. Eating high on the food chain is inherently inefficient. Scale that inefficiency up to 7 billion people and the environmental effects are very significant, even if the individual contribution is small.
Producing animal based foods also require much more water, animals produce large amounts of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.
Our ecosystem relies on a self-regulating balance of predators and prey.
Hard to tell what the author is advocating here. Clearly 7 billion hunter gathers isn’t feasible, though.
Vegan diets ten to demand a higher quantity of cereal grains and soy, crops which wreak havoc on our ecosystem due to mass farming techniques.
The top three crops produced in the US are soy, corn, and alfalfa. Of those, 80% or more are fed to animals.
6. Real Food > Fake Food
Appeal to nature fallacy here.
7. Vegan isn’t the answer to autoimmune disease
Um, okay? Going vegan certainly isn’t a panacea. It’s a method by which you can reduce the harm you cause, both environmental and to other individuals.
8. You must take life to have life
Not all life is equivalent. A plant isn’t sentient: it cannot suffer, it cannot be deprived of its happiness, it doesn’t establish preferences, is incapable of emotional states, does not form social bonds.
Many people choose veganism because they think it cruel to take a life, but something dies no matter what you eat. For example, field mice were demolished in order to grow the corn for a box of vegan cereal.
Going vegan is about reducing the harm you cause. Eliminating it entirely is the ideal, but generally not practical to reach. Since the majority of many plant-based crops are fed to animals, eating that animal therefore compounds your harm since all the same criticisms apply.
Further, plants are living beings, capable of communicating with each other and the world around them.
Plants are more complex than many people give them credit for, they can signal to each other and react to stimuli. This doesn’t imply that they are capable of feeling in the way that humans and many animals are, though.
Controversial but intriguing research, discussed in this documentary, indicates that plants can even sense and respond to human emotions!
The linked documentary is based on The Secret Life of Plants, which in pure bunk. It’s pseudoscience: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_Life_of_Plants
The author here does themselves a serious disservice. Any critical reader should have serious doubts at this point. When such an unreliable source is cited without blinking, one has to wonder about the veracity of the author’s other references.
Finally, even if plants were exactly as sentient as animals, what do you think any animal you contemplate eating ate itself? It ate either other animals or it ate plants. Due to the inefficiency of trophic levels (90%, remember) eating any animal is indirectly eating far more plants than if you simply ate some plants directly. So again: harm reduction.
9. Vegan diets are deficient in vitamin B12 and iron
First, B12 doesn’t actually come from animal foods. It’s produced by bacteria exclusively. Vegans definitely do need to supplement B12. Many common foods like soy/almond/coconut milk are fortified.
Testing with the most up-to-date methods show that 83% of vegans are B12 deficient, compared to 5% of omnivores.
This is the actual study that was indirectly referenced: http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/78/1/131.long
The results are substantially more nuanced and ambiguous than the other here implies. The total number of vegans in the study was 29. Of those, only 59% actually supplemented their diet with B vitamins. It doesn’t seem like the authors of the study knew exactly which B vitamins were supplemented or what doses the test subjects were taking. Without controlling for those variables, and given the pretty small sample size it doesn’t seem reasonable to draw a definitive conclusion here.
There also seems to be abiguity in the markers the researchers used. There are other possible causes for changes in those markers. Additionally:
“The incidence of pathologically abnormal indexes of vitamin B-12 status was clearly related to the type of diet, because it was considerably higher in the vegans than in the other 2 groups. It was not clear in the current study whether the slightly better vitamin B-12 status in the LV-LOV subjects taking vitamins was attributable to vitamin B supplements or to the weak statistical power resulting from the small number of subjects in this group (Table 1⇑). Therefore, subjects taking vitamins were excluded from further analysis.”
It’s not completely clear exactly which results this applies to, but the researchers said that they specifically *excluded* test subjects that took vitamins in some cases.
Chris also discusses iron in his post. While plants such as lentils and leafy greens do provide some iron, it is not as well-absorbed as animal-based iron.This only matters if you aren’t getting sufficient iron to meet your nutritional needs.
10. Animal fats offer unique nutrients: Have you heard that flax seeds, walnuts, hemp seeds and chia seeds are all excellent sources of omega-3? That may be true, but these plant sources provide a form of omega-3 that is not well absorbed by the body.
Again, this only matters if you don’t get an adequate amount. It is also possible to supplement with algae-derived omega3 if you think your intake is inadquate for some reason.
Yes, the body can produce cholesterol, but dietary cholesterol is a key part of wellness including memory, liver health, and digestion.
The author seems to have neglected to back up this claim with any reputable scientific evidence.
Read more, studies and sources: 5 Reasons Why Butter is a Superfood, Cholesterol and Heart Disease, 2010 meta-analysis on saturated fat consumption, 2014 meta-analysis on saturated fat consumption, study on ALA conversion, Nourishing Traditions, Why You Should Think Twice About Vegetarian and Vegan Diets.
There are a number of links, here, but they are primarily to other blogs. That doesn’t really meet the required standard. Given the titles, it seems like bias is rather likely.
It appears that my post here was edited. The current edited version makes it very difficult to decipher which sections I quoted from the initial blog post and which constitute my rebuttals. I humbly request that the blog author undo their change, or if the use of the greater than symbol in my quotes was causing issues to use some other character. At the least, add the line breaks back.
The health argument for veganism is what activists use to appeal to people who are too selfish to change their diet for ethical reasons. Veganism is not about self-absorption, it’s about not wanting to participate in cruelty when we don’t have to. There are many, MANY, people out there who have been vegan for decades and are very healthy, including athletes, but that is totally besides the point.
The Secret Life of Plants is hardly a documentary, let alone scientific 😀
Whom is the Vegan?
Technically a vegan is everyone who do not eat organisms who at some stage could breath. Therefore one does not need to live healthy in order to be a vegan. However one does not need to live healthy to be a vegetarian, a meat eater.
Assuming now, there are quite some million vegans in the world, living in different cultures being vegans for different reasons. It might seem a bit odd that this article manage to fit all into one and that a very belittled and stupefied group of people.
To me, as a vegan, it is my perception (and I know many with me) that one should not put anything into the mouth which does not have a nutritional value. Therefore from time to time I create maps. Mapping my general dietary patterns to analyses the nutritional value making sure I got the vitamins and minerals I need. Every year I do blood tests checking the status and it not normal that they come up wrong. In fact I have found that I because I eat food in its natural state, no modifiers, e-numbers or altered, I need much less calcium for my bone health than the average milk drinking citizen. I also found that I can have lower levels of d-vitamin in my body but utilize this d-vitamin better. I have read a study about this, a Swedish one I believe and also consulted a friend which is doctor of medicine. The countries with populations consuming most milk have the highest number of cases with osteoporosis. I understand that a high consumption of animal protein disturb the d-vitamin/calcium connection in the blood. When it comes to amino acids this is really simple seeing that if one eat legumes, grains and fruit/vegetables every day one tend to get all the amino acids.
Then the article state one does not get the right sort of vitamins. Here one has to remember that the body consists of interconnected processes. Our body consists in fact of different interconnected production facilities. Different organs produce based upon the input given and the availability of substances already produced which in the end depend on the availability of the necessary raw material. Today many has adopted what I would call a pharmaceutics point of view. Firstly because of the thoughts within the medicine industry that we have to feed each organ with the substance in case there is a failure. As a consequence one tends to miss out failures caused by disturbance in other organs, eventually then the patient end up multi medicating living a retarded life. Secondly because one tends to think within what is named the health food industry that one has to take supplements in the form which does not require the body to do anything. However by giving our body these supplements we are disturbing processes, as one production facility might give feedback to another one saying there is enough of this substance in the blood, leaving surplus material and disrupted processes. This in itself can cause disturbances.
One can also see this limited perspective in the nutrition industry. Colin Cambell which is mentioned in this article spent three years (1958-1961) doing his PhD research trying to improve the supply of high-quality protein. He did this with the belief that high quality protein was far superior the simple protein one could get from plants. Some years later just after 1965 he joined a project named “mother craft” on the Philippines. The aim of the project was to enable mothers on the Philippines to feed their children high quality protein and benefit as western children from this. However Dr. Cambell found that the children getting the most milk protein developed liver cancer. Based upon this research and other findings he conducted his own research and found that when we eat animal protein our body cannot neutralize environmental toxins like Alfa toxin but instead we get cancer. ( See the China study) Think about it dr. Cambell survived a dioxin poisoning he should have died from is 80 years and still going strong.
As happy and vegan I have also noticed that the perception of what is natural and beneficial for human beings have been messed up so that it is very hard to know what is good for us. However I have found that I am in better shape than I have been for years. By eating my carrots and swallowing my chlorella powder I am actually doing pretty well.
As happy and vegan and with a degree in environmental law I have also noticed that the hormones of the normal population is pretty much un-normal based upon all those synthetic pesticides and also hormones which we tend to spew out into the atmosphere. I have also found that I as a vegan technically must have a much lower amount of synthetic hormones and chemicals within my body seeing I am pretty much at the bottom of the food chain. Ref. Bio accumulation. http://www.ecokids.ca/PUB/eco_info/topics/frogs/chain_reaction/index.cfm
As happy and vegan I eat soy, but wholefood soy and not only soy and believe it or not. One can eat soy and get healthy. The research done on just soy is pretty complex and not much is trustable seeing the way it has been conducted. In the light of what has already been said, and with the knowledge that I have raised two children on diet which was close to vegan, two kids without one single hole in a teeth and no bone fractures. Knowing I am not the only one.
I understand without being a mathematic genie that it takes more cows to feed a person than vegetables. I am happy and vegan among else because I went from heavily medication to living without any medications at all, from being allergic and relying on medicine to needing none. Thus a reason for being happy and vegan is the understanding of the God given power of reversing diseases through a wholefood vegan diet by sustaining our body processes. I am also happy and vegan is that I weight the same as I did in my twenties. I have more energy than in my thirties and I am in better shape than for years.
I have taken the liberty to rewrite my comment firstly because I wanted to say something about what a vegan is. Secondly I wanted to put forward a message which has a potential to be a blessing and healing for the reader. The mind is incredible complex and one must be very careful to not allow it to do its exercise on patterns which stimulate and increase polarization and overgeneralizations seeing one then tend to move in circles just confirming the own belief system. Looking to promotion of diet one is bound to face consequences as decreased life quality and health both self and for family members. More than that one creates patters for the family and others which can negatively affect the future. Kind Berit
I appreciate the constructive discussion shared in the comment section. I’ve had to close the comments on this post, however, due to commenters who choose to use foul language and very hateful speech.