To be vegan or not to be

Getting informed about our diet matters

Why should we even bother to think about the diet that we follow? Isn’t it simpler to just eat what we want? How did people survive all these years without having to carry a label of vegan, vegetarian, plant-based or whatever other diet is popular nowadays?

Well, it would indeed be great if we could simply eat what we want and as much we want without having to face any health consequences. However, science has shown that people who follow such a lifestyle are at high risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer, obesity and other chronic diseases related to inflammation. This is why many people started getting more informed about their diet and controlling what they eat.

Nowadays, there is so much information about different “healthy” dietary patterns, that it can get really confusing. Which diet should you follow? Which diet is the best for you? Is it only about your health, or should you also think about the environment, the animals, the economy and the future generations?

In this article we are going to discuss 4 different plant-based dietary patterns, and the impact of vegan diet on our health. The goal is to clarify what is scientifically proven to-date about the vegan diet and to help you decide which diet is the best for you.

Vegan vs Vegetarian vs Plant Based vs WFPB

Let’s see what are the differences between these 4 dietary patterns:

Vegan diet

People who follow a vegan lifestyle do not eat meat or any animal products. Their diet is based only on plants. They eat only fruits, vegetables, nuts, cereals and pulses.

Vegetarian

In the vegetarian lifestyle, people follow mostly a plant based diet and they do not eat any animals like red meat, poultry or seafood. Yet, they do eat animal products like eggs, dairy products, honey etc.

Plant based diet

People who follow a plant based diet eat plants, like fruits, vegetables, nuts, cereals and pulses. They can also eat in small quantities or not very often meat, seafood and animal derived products.

Whole Food Plant Based diet (WFPB)

A whole food plant based lifestyle, which is also what we support and recommend in PhytoCognition, is based on foods that are as close as possible to their natural form. People who follow this diet, eat fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and legumes, and they avoid or cut the processed and refined foods. Meat, poultry, seafood and animal derived products are consumed in very small quantities and not very often in this dietary choice.

You can also find a very nice article about the history of vegan and plant based diets as at Forks over knives. In this article, there is also a nice table of the foods that people who follow each diet eat or avoid.

Advantages of a vegan diet

For humans

As plant-based diets have become quite popular the last years scientists have tried to study their impact on our health. According to several studies^{1,2 3} these diets have many health benefits but also some risks. People who follow such diets consume higher contents of healthy nutrients. Fiber, folic acid, vitamins C and E, potassium, magnesium, many phytochemicals and less unsaturated fats. Thus, they tend to be thinner, have lower cholesterol and blood pressure, as well as lower risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), obesity, type 2 diabetes, and some cancers.

For the environment

There is a lot of evidence that meat overconsumption, increases greenhouse gas emissions (GHGEs) and is bad for our health, the well-being of animals as well as for the environment and the future generations. A scientific study, performed in France, compared how different diets are related with GHGEs and the economy, in 34,193 adults (NutriNet-Santé Cohort). The study showed that the unhealthier is the diet the worse it is for the environment. People who were consuming organic food were also following a diet with low GHGEs, low cost and good nutritional value.

Think about it. Does it make sense that regionally produced food, consumed the right season, and grown organically has the greatest effect both on our health and on the environment? So, why not following a plant based diet based on these principles? It would be acceptable, good for local communities, quite sustainable, as well as scientifically backed.

Risks and disadvantages of a vegan diet

On the other hand, a 100% vegan lifestyle, with no consumption of any animal products is associated with certain health risks related to nutrient deficiencies and the development of chronic disease. This happens because people are either not very well informed about nutrition or because they lead busy lifestyles. Although they pay attention not to eat meat or processed food they do not eat a variety of different foods. Thus, they usually lack important micronutrients, vitamins B-12 and D, calcium, and long-chain n–3 (omega-3) fatty acids. On the top of that, vegans are also at risk of lacking iron, zinc and sometimes protein from their diet. This happens because these minerals are not well-absorbed from the body due to incorrect food combinations.

Heath is a habit not a trend

Healthy eating should not be a challenge or a hassle; it should rather be a habit of a healthy lifestyle. Think why you want to become vegan or vegetarian or plant based? Is it for your health? Is it for the environment? Is it for ethical reasons or because you want to live longer and have a better quality of life? Look at all these people coming from cultures that are known for their long life expectancy. For example look at the Japanese, the South European who follow a Mediterranean diet or people from the island of Crete who follow a Cretan diet. They never bothered to name what type of diet they follow. They were living very close to the nature and they were eating local food that they could grow or collect.

Why do you have to carry a label of a diet that you follow or fit your lifestyle in a box? I hope that after reading this article, you realized that it is not about the name of the diet that you follow, but for your health and for ethical reasons. After having a serious discussion with yourself, and discovering the reasons that make you want to change your lifestyle, decide what you would like to change in your diet. Which foods you should drop completely, which ones you should eat rarely and which ones you should consume daily.

Which diet to follow?

A 100% vegan diet is a very strict and disciplined way of living, which also includes some health risks. As a scientist I am not a fan of food supplements and vitamins, unless they are necessary due to health issues. Thus, I believe that following a 100% vegan lifestyle is risky. If your diet is not very well-planned, you may end up eating a lot of processed food, lack a variety of nutrients and avoid take supplements. Unless you check your health by blood tests often and make sure that you don’t have any deficiencies which may lead to chronic diseases, I would not recommend following a vegan diet.

On the contrary, a plant based diet or a whole-food plant-based diet have less limitations, allow you to include more foods in your diet and can help you avoid nutrient deficiencies. The key is how often and in what amounts you consume these foods.

Personally, I am following a plant-based diet and I am making an effort to transition to a whole-food plant based diet. I am avoiding as much as possible any kind of processed foods, I only consume extra virgin olive oil and I am eating maximum once per week meat, eggs or fish. Of the dairy products I do eat natural yoghurt because it has good lactobacilli, important for my gut health, I avoid milk and I buy only goat cheese which I consume maximum twice per week.

Food for thought

Hippocrates said “Let the food be the medicine” and there is a lot of value behind this sentence. He was basically trying to say that a correct diet can help to prevent or treat many diseases. Thus, paying attention to our diet and constantly trying to control it and improve it is what we should all aim for. However, living a healthy and long life does not only depend on our diet. It depends on many factors such as stress levels, pollution levels, smoking, exercising, even on the way that you are cooking your food. So, following a certain diet is not enough for staying healthy. Having a holistic approach about health, getting well informed and improving our habits to live a healthier and longer life is something that we should be thinking of more.

My opinion is that we should keep trying to become better. Not only healthier but generally better; more human, more ethical, more critical, more solidary, more team-players. In that way, we will manage to improve our health, protect the environment and give a good example to the future generations.