A Vegan Diet is Not Healthy
I’m mentally preparing myself for this one. Because it’s inevitable I’ll receive at least a few heated comments on this post. But that’s the cool thing – you can say whatever you’d like in your comment, the same way I can post whatever I’d like on my blog. So just keep that in mind if you don’t agree with what I have to say. And do try to be at least semi-courteous. You may or may not want to speak your thoughts to my face, but do remember that we are all people here, not just some nameless, faceless computer bots with gravatars.
So veganism. Generally defined as a diet and lifestyle which includes no animal products or animal by-products whatsoever. No meat, dairy, eggs, honey, etc.
I want to make two main points here about why I believe a vegan diet is not a healthy one long term. I’m not here to debate the ethics or morality of eating animals. Full disclosure: I am an omnivore. I eat meat. And I don’t believe it is cruel to do so. But that’s because I also believe all animals should be raised in an environment conducive to their health and well-being, i.e. not CAFO operations or battery cages.
I don’t believe a vegan diet or lifestyle is ecologically sustainable, either. If you want to delve more into that, I highly recommend reading Folks, This Ain’t Normal by Polyface farmer Joel Salatin. Life changing book.
So point number one about a vegan diet:
If You Don’t Do it Right, Don’t Do it at All
Did you notice that cheese puffs or white bread aren’t animal products? Do you know some vegans or vegetarians who are more like carb-etarians or junk-ans? Just because you don’t eat red meat or cow’s milk doesn’t mean you are automatically healthier. (By the way, the vast majority of all those ‘scientific’ studies that say red meat causes cancer were done using CAFO beef. Of course animals kept in confinement standing knee deep in their own poop, and being pumped full of hormones and antibiotics, and being fed a completely abnormal diet of corn and candy wrappers will produce some nasty meat that can absolutely cause disease in your body. Same thing goes for pasteurized cow’s milk. But I digress . . . )
Here’s the deal – when done right, a vegan diet makes a fantastic detox diet in the short term. Scads of people have switched from a junk food diet of processed and fast food, replaced it with a vegan diet full of raw vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, and legumes and have seen their health improve drastically. All those foods are incredibly healthy superfoods! And the vast majority of people in the Western world would do well to abide by that sort of a diet for a few weeks or months.
But (and this brings me to my next point) a long-term vegan diet is not a wise way to go. Many people (like John Nicholson) find their health deteriorating at a rapid rate when following a vegan diet.
A Vegan Diet is Not Nourishing
This is so fascinating to me. Did you know that without plenty of healthy fats in your diet, you are not able to assimilate and absorb the nutrients in fruits and vegetables? This means you can eat kale and bell peppers until you are green in the face, but if you’re not consuming enough healthy saturated fat, it’s like you didn’t even need to bother.
And where do you find these healthy fats? Sure, you get them from coconut, avocado, almonds, and olive oil, but these sources are not always in season, not always convenient to purchase in your area, and are not always present in your diet in a high enough quantity on a given day to meet your body’s requirements to function properly. After all, 60% of your brain and nervous system are made of fat. We need fat for proper brain function, nerve signal transmission, and hormone balance!
But butter from grass-fed, pastured cows is rich in saturated fats, vitamin A, buytric acid, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA – a powerful cancer fighter), and lauric acid. Grass-fed, pastured beef itself is also rich in these same nutrients, as well as being a fantastic source of protein, amino acids, and vitamin B12 – which vegans must take as a supplement (a required nutrient our bodies don’t create – we must get it from animal sources).
Omnivores Healthier Than Vegetarians in Indigenous Cultures
I read an awesome anecdote about my main man Weston A. Price over on The Healthy Home Economist’s blog (she wrote a great article about how 75% of vegetarians return to eating meat). The study Price documented is very telling about how a vegetarian or vegan diet is unsuited for humans. Here she is in her words:
Dr. Price traveled the world in the 1920′s and 1930′s visiting 14 isolated cultures in the process. During this adventure which he documented in great detail with amazing pictures in his masterpiece Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, Dr. Price concluded that while the diets of these natives varied widely, nutrient dense animal foods high in the fat soluble vitamins A, D, and K (also known as Activator X) were the common denominator. Consumption of these animal foods were revered in these communities as they bestowed vibrant health, ease of fertility, healthy children, and high resistance to chronic and infectious disease.
This discovery was a disappointment to Dr. Price who had expected to find the vegetarian cultures to be the healthiest cultures of all. But, the vegetarian cultures he examined displayed more degeneration than the omnivore cultures which surprised him given that these vegetarian cultures did indeed have superior health than the Americans of his day.
A sad commentary on the state of health in the Western world with our plastic, packaged, chemical-filled foods, but a true insight into the path to optimal health – it includes animal foods!
If you are looking for quality sources of sustainably raised beef & dairy, check your local farmer’s market (find one near you on the Local Harvest website) or have it shipped to your door from Beyond Organic.
I also want to highlight an absolutely beautiful, almost poetic look at this topic from Kristen of Food Renegade. Her post, Why I’m Not a Vegan, spoke volumes to me about this issue. I think you’ll find it well worth reading.
What has been your experience with a vegan or vegetarian diet?
This post is linked to Simple Lives Thursday, Fight Back Friday, Sunday School
Comments are closed.
health! « wear your skin
October 27, 2012 at 1:25 pm[…] the last, avoiding the same foods a majority of the time, but also limited meat intake. not quite vegan (as that could easily cause malnutrition, we all need some meat), but this means eating less […]
Laurie Ann Conrad
October 29, 2012 at 8:38 amI am studying nutrition at RIT and have taken several classes. I have learned that the source of all nutrition comes from plants including calcium, iron, vitamins and minerals. Vitamin D comes from the sun and B12 from stream water and soil. All of these things get into animals because they ate the plants and drank the water or that animal ate another animal that ate the plants and drank the water. So you can either let an animal eat your plants for you or eat the plants yourself. The first kills the animal, the second does not. But what if there are no plants to eat? Well, then there would be no animals to eat either. The original source of nutrition is in the plants and plants are what the animals we eat consume. And no we do not need to get our cholesterol from the animals. We synthesize 70% on our own and the other 30 we synthesize through plant foods. We do not need to consume it already in cholesterol form. Omega 3 and 6 are in all kinds of plant foods from potatoes to walnuts. And the notorious vitamin B12 is supplemented whether you are vegan or not. Farm animals no longer graze in fields consuming the B12 rich soil, look it up, they are taking a supplement now because of their inferior diets that we feed them. So whether you are vegan or not, you are taking a B12 supplement. You are either swallowing the pill yourself or you are allowing an animal to take it for you. All of this from nutrition classes that are NOT vegan based but general courses at a University. You say that the things we need to eat are hard to find but I have yet to walk into any store anywhere and not see a plethora of fresh produce and oils, grains and nuts. The day that happens we will have much larger problems than just lack of plant foods. Because we do have this abundance there is no good reason to eat an animal. As far as sustainability, once you kill an animal it is dead. You can’t replant it. But you can replant any produce you eat. You can even poop out the seeds and replant them. You never need to kill a plant permanently to eat it. But for an animal, the death is the end. For a plant, it will yield for as long as the earth remains intact. I call that sustainable.
Nicky
December 29, 2012 at 6:50 pmWhat an awesome post Laurie! You summed up your argument very well and have brought a few new points to my attention. Thanks for such a succinct and well written response (best one I’ve read on this trail!).
Laurie Ann Conrad
October 29, 2012 at 8:42 amBTW I don’t know what people are eating that get dry skin or look unhealthy. I am 44 and I look 24 with an awesome body in a bikini – curves, muscles, abs, and I’m not even really trying. Just eating healthy and staying active. Any diet is only as healthy as you make it. If you lose weight, eat more. Weight is nothing more than calories in versus calories burned. Sure there are things that affect this such as starvation, disease, healing, etc. But in a normal healthy person it’s calories in versus calories out.
john
November 9, 2012 at 11:21 pmWHO EVER WROTE THIS ARTICLE IS A FUKING IDIOT I CANT BELIVE HOW STUPID SUM PEOPLE CAN BE
Suzie Q
November 29, 2012 at 8:33 pmReally? Maybe you should take a look at yourself before you point fingers. Want to know why? If not, I’m telling you anyways. Whoever* Fucking* Can’t* Believe* Some* If you have to use the word “fuck” to make a point, your point automatically becomes trashy and invalid.
George
November 10, 2012 at 4:30 amNone of you know jack about nutrition. Neither do I. Why? Because we’re all basing our opinions off research, much of which is fraudulant or simply wrong (due to the researchers being shit heads who are more interested in book sales or grant money).
Erika Budson
November 10, 2012 at 12:42 pmI think that people who are vegans are often concerned about the disastrous effects of the meat/dairy industry on the eco-system. It isn’t always about the animals. People who eat meat also die terrible deaths and are unhealthy. I don’t think that eating meat or not eating meat will necessarily = perfect health. I think you have to get informed about the meat industry and make a personal decision.
Erika Budson
November 10, 2012 at 12:45 pmAlso, the idea that we are “designed” to eat meat seems kinda silly to me. How do you know what we were designed for? Sounds preachy and religious and being an atheist, I ain’t into that. Why do you even care if people are vegans? It seems like you are being defensive. When someone is being defensive it seems like deep down they are trying to justify themselves. Why justify yourself? Why not just let people eat vegan if they want to. People have to die of something, maybe they will die of veganism – hahaha, doubtful.
Erika Budson
November 10, 2012 at 12:50 pmhttp://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/08/18/bill.clinton.diet.vegan/index.html
Ana Sa
November 12, 2012 at 11:06 pmWell dear, you must dedicate your life to something else. What a nonsense! Writting so much garbage, pollutes the internet. You clearly know nothing about vegetarianism, pure vegetarianism or veganism. Non-vegetarians always finding new excuses to keep killing and torturing animals. Science knows it better, and you are totally wrong about your conclusions. And stop eating corpses, they are bad for your “onmivorous” health.
Sammy Allouba
December 17, 2012 at 5:03 amThis is my biggest problem with vegetarianism/veganism. It produces an culture of elitism. You may not enjoy eating meat but that does give you the right to piss on everyone who does.
Sometimes I think vegetarians and vegans are just angry people. Which your comment would seem to prove.
pepelepunque
November 14, 2012 at 12:26 pmSo I trace the report of ‘75% of vegetarians return to meat’ of Psychology Today to a 2005 CBS study (no figures available) and ‘Motivations For Meat Consumption Among Ex-Vegetarians (2009)’, a study sponsored by Purina and Nestle’ (and the tokenism of IFAW, recipients of funds from other animal-killers), mass producers of animal slaughter the world over. Study debunked on such partisanship.
There are few references of worthy note and this screed seems to be based on pure opinion, generalising vegetarians and vegans as junk-food consumers (as a percentage, I reckon most McDonalds patrons don’t opt for the vege option).
And the final ‘poetic’ reason is based on ‘what my granny said’ and, as someone from farming stock for four hundred years at least, I can honsetly say that muck is better than bone.
Veggies and Vegans consume good fats, organic meats are LESS carcinogenic and bad cholesterol forming than mass-produced but cooking is one process ignored in your assertion. An Oxford study from a handful of years ago, which, in haste I camn’t find, supports this.
KC
November 21, 2012 at 2:00 pmvegans of the world help me understand.
how do you get enough protein?? (i know theres nuts and beans, but is that enough, especially if you’re an athlete?) the main sources of protein is dairy and meat. also WHY do you want to do it? i can get the whole i dont feel comfortable with eating meat thing. but seriously no dairy? cheese is the best invention ever (i think), and i go through periods of craving milk (i know its weird). i dont know how i would survive without those two things. Ok so i can also get why you guys feel uncomfortable drinking chemically filled milk, and the whole animal in wire cage thing, but SERIOUSLY what is wrong with organic milk or cheese? its not like you kill the cow.
sorry there a little question overload but i really do want to understand how and why vegans have that sort of diet and not an organic vegetarien kind of thing, so yea thanks (:
Ann
November 28, 2012 at 2:06 pmthere is more than enough protein in vegetables, fruits, lentils, oats etc…. protein consumption is actually way to high for a lot of humans eating a standard diet. Look at vegan body builders, how do you think they grow their muscles :P
Ann
November 28, 2012 at 2:08 pmOh and another thing, dairy cows are often abused as well: calfs taken away from mothers, being made to produce milk 24/7, male cows being shipped to slaughter etc… research it, you’ll be amazed
A cow only lactates when she had a baby, so they have to manipulate this in order for a cow to keep producing milk
Alison Reid
March 24, 2013 at 5:02 pmJust for extra information as well, people overestimate the amount of protein a body needs. I am 5’1 and weigh around 125 lbs. I only need 12 peanuts a day to count as 1 serving of protein.
VeganGuy
November 22, 2012 at 2:10 pmKC.
Do you think it natural to drink the milk of another species? Would you suckle from a cow’s teets?
Cows (like all other mammals) need to be pregnant to produce milk. Dairy cows are repeatedly raped their entire lives to keep them pregnant and producing milk, and millions of their babies are killed every year because they are just not needed. The cows themselves are eventually killed when they are no longer productive. They are slaves – nothing more.
So this is what’s wrong with dairy!
Keesh
November 24, 2012 at 10:16 pmI can only speak from personal experience but I have been both a meat eater and a vegetarian soon to be vegan and I can say that I am healthier now than when I ate meat. Its not a spritual/ emotional..not wanting to “ingest death sort of thing, I just dont care for meat. I dont like the taste, the smell, or the way I feel after Ive eaten it. That is why the vegan lifestyle is best for me…and I am healthier than many of the organic meat eaters that I know.
Phoebe
November 27, 2012 at 8:35 pmHere in my eyes is the bottom line: vegetarianism and veganism works FOR CERTAIN PEOPLE. If it doesn’t work out for you (like you feel sick, lose too much weight, have a lack of energy, etc.), that does not mean that it is an unhealthy way of life. It may just mean that it is unhealthy for you personally. Also, going vegan does not immediately make you a healthier person. If you eat chips and Oreos all day then you are being far from healthy. However, if you eat balanced, fruitful meals with vegetables, fruits and grains; eat breakfast every day; and drink plenty of water, then veganism can be a healthy choice. I myself have been a vegetarian for four years and am weaning myself onto veganism, by eating vegan during the week and eating a normal vegetarian diet on the weekends. So far I feel much healthier and my digestive system feels cleaner. However, I cannot tell the future and have no way of knowing what will happen over time. My point, though, is that you should not judge those who wish to be healthier and/or go vegan. If it works for them, let them alone.
Ann
November 28, 2012 at 2:04 pmBeen vegetarian (6years) and vegan (4years) and I never noticed any problems at all.
So I go with my own experience, and I am very healthy person so see no reason to stop being a vegan. I became it for ethical reasons but did my research on which foods are best for the body + test it out myself. So I dont eat crap things like refined Sugar and all of that.
kris
December 4, 2012 at 12:12 amIt’s sad to see all the arguing on here- people getting so incredibly rude, defensive, and mean. As a previous vegetarian of 12 years, and a vegan of 2, and now once again an omnivore, I can understand both sides. I did everything perfectly when I was veg/an. Took B12 supplements, nutritional yeast, ate lots of sprouted nuts and seeds, etc. etc. All organic, much of it raw. I felt great for a long time. Then I became sick and the ONLY thing that helped me regain my health was adding MEAT back in to my diet. I tried adding things like whey protein, pasture-eggs, and raw milk, which helped, but only slightly. The real difference came when I ate meat again. The first time I ate grass-fed red meat (dead cow if you want to call it what it is), I cried. I was also extremely nervous as you hear all the things about losing your ability to digest meat. Well, I felt AMAZING. I had so much energy. After gradually adding back in meat my hormone levels began to balance out, my mood stabilized, I was no longer fatigued, the list goes on.
As a previous PETA activist and fanatical animal rights advocate, it is hard to believe I now eat animal products. It is still something that I struggle with ethically.
Every one is different and we should respect this. The focus should be on cultivating health, and purchasing the most responsibly produced products you can find. There also is a huge difference between organic, pasture-raised animal products vs standard ones from factory farms.
Also, I have to say I used to preach the China Study and the idea that humans were not meant to consume meat. I’ve now come to place where to me the exact opposite now rings true- I believe much more in the Paleo-diet now…if you do your research there are no indigenous people who are strictly vegan- ALL seek out animal products when given the opportunity-
Anyways, thanks for putting this out there, and I want to let you know it was true for me. All of my vegan friends are now hitting the stage where they are becoming ill- I have to say I think this has a lot to do with deficiencies from their diet….
And to any veg/ans that want to reply to this- I understand already whatever you will say. I was once in a place where I swore I would rather die than ever eat meat- where I yelled at my entire family over the Thanksgiving dinner table because of the dead animal in the middle of it- I KNOW. But I think we all have to be open to change and the goal should be doing what feels right and true for ourselves. That’s where I’m coming from now…
crookshanks
December 5, 2012 at 1:20 amreally silly article.. :D
Joe
December 8, 2012 at 5:09 am“I’m not here to debate the ethics or morality of eating animals.” says your blog.
If you did, I’m sure we’ll all have to agree which diet is the sound one.
Scott
December 8, 2012 at 12:33 pmWe agree with you Joe. And isn’t a waste that someone like Laurel with so much talent and time is advocating to the masses to continue the largest holocaust in history. 61,000,000,000 animals are living horrible lives right now just for next years meat consumption. If anyone thinks that some animals feel pain and others don’t than please blog it up. We are ready to change your mind.
Sammy Allouba
December 17, 2012 at 5:00 amHere’s a news flash for people who refuse to eat animals because they think it’s unethical and think it’s wrong to kill them for consumption.
You know those salads you enjoy eating so much? The plants used to make them were once living creatures too, whether you like it or not. The only difference is that a plant doesn’t scream in pain when you pluck the leaves.
JUST SAYING.
Joe
December 26, 2012 at 6:38 pmThe difference I see is that an animal will let you know in no uncertain terms that it does not want to give up its own life for you to eat its meat, whereas a plant does nothing.
Tina
December 27, 2012 at 11:52 ami tried going vegan – i was sick of meat to be honest and thought it would be a good detox to go vegan for at least a month. two weeks, and i was craving meat like never before. the body quite frequently seems to crave what it needs – my body needed meat. i was hungry 24/7 and eating an unnecessary amount of food, which caused me to gain weight. i broke the vegan diet and ate more meat than i have ever before, which caused even more weight gain and a diet imbalance of course.
i do try to cut back on my meat and follow Ray J. Wang’s advice about eating meat the size of half your own fist per serving. for example, i use veggie broth instead of chicken broth or beef stock. i have found that my skin has a bad reaction to cow milk based products. so, i am dairy free, drinking almond milk (soy works also, but i prefer the almond taste). i always do my best to not make meat the center focus of the meal, but more of a side or an accent (an enhancement). too much meat is just as bad as too little meat.
every now again, i will do a vegan detox for about a week or so. this i believe is good, but not to overdo it because our bodies do need meat. we are not solely herbivores. we are carnivores. there are animals that are herbivores, carnivores, etc. it is the way each living thing is designed.
i agree with you very much Lori. thanks for another great post! :D
Cathy
December 27, 2012 at 12:03 pmPeople have really strong feelings on this topic – for or against. It’s all about choice. My husband is an omnivore and I am a vegan. When I record the nutritional information of my meals beside my husbands, I am consistently eating healthier than him. I am meeting all of my daily nutritional requirements and I do not feel deprived at all. I consume adequate amounts of healthy fats (easily!), and protein and fibre – and all the rest of it.
To me, being vegan isn’t about just avoiding animal products. It’s more about eating whole, unprocessed foods. I’ve chosen a healthy eating lifestyle and I believe omnivores can achieve the same thing by eating healthy portions of meat and eliminating the processed foods from their diet.
Carol
December 27, 2012 at 4:18 pmi’d like to state my account with a once-vegan person i hold very dear to my heart. this person was vegan for fifteen years and noticed their health started disintegrating to the point of their system shutting down entirely. they saw many doctors and finally went to see a very credible nutritionist, who happened to be a hindu – vegan on all accounts. the doctor informed them that what they were doing to their body was more harm than good by depriving it of nutrition they needed due to their genetic makeup. the nutiritionist basically told them since they are of iberian descent and the ancestral lineage consumed animal-derived fats, the vegan diet would do more harm than good. it was a difficult process, but they slowly dievrted back to omnivore.
i’m a firm believer of genetics…because, afterall, you cannot fight them :)
Lily
December 27, 2012 at 9:04 pmThe point is, veganism saves lives. It is healthy, and this article pulls together only all of the poorly researched points contradicting the healthiness of a plant based diet. And Sammy Allouba, you are making assumptions about vegans. Just because you aren’t one doesn’t mean you have to accuse us all of having closed-minded, self absorbed personalities. Also, there have been studies that show that plants do not have feelings, and your argument that they do is one of the most common excuses to eat meat that I’ve heard.
Suntoucher
January 4, 2013 at 2:13 pmI believe human bodies are individually unique. Some may do very well as a vegan and some may not. I do believe that the healthiest foods are balance diet. Fruits, vegetables, quality meat, seeds, fish, and more fruits and vegetables. Listen to your body, eat with friends and family more often, laugh and smile more, and always be thankful.
To live a long life is more than what you eat, it is also how you live it.
I like the quote:
We need to think, speak, and live holistically. We need to respect and understand ‘the other’ while holding to our own identity and beliefs. In seeking to understand ‘the other’ we’ll see ourself in them, and realize how much we all have in common.” ~ Greg Johnsondoesn’t
Linda
January 7, 2013 at 5:05 amSure, not all vegans are healthy. Why? Because some don’t associate their veganism with eating whole, nutritious foods, and eat quite a lot of junk instead. But that can lead anyone, omnivore or vegan to an unhealthy result. That means vegetarianism and veganism themselves are not to blame for it. Watch Forks over Knives and then you’ll truly understand why vegans are actually doing it right, and why there are more and more of them ;) It might aswell inspire you to eat more vegan whole foods too (if not entirely), I know it inspired me and many, many other people to do so. Information fights ignorance! Cheers ;)