So a New Year begins, old habits are abandoned and new ones adopted. You can set the foundation for who you want to be and chose the lifestyle you’d like to follow.
Vegan January aka ‘Veganuary’ is a social movement based upon ditching all meats and consuming an entirely plant based diet. Passing the 1 million documented sign ups milestone in October 2020, with projections of passing the 2 million mark by the end of January 2022 (with more young adults participating than ever). Source: The Guardian, lifestyle
This ever-growing engagement leads me to ask “Is Veganuary actually beneficial?”
Now there is no doubt that a plant based diet is lower in calories than a typical British (or Standard American Diet aka “SAD”!). It DOES lower cholesterol (but if you think that’s a good thing you’ve been misled- please read this blog:
https://www.prolongevity.co.uk/blog/cholesterolishealthyafterall?rq=calories
A Vegan diet can lower blood pressure, and help with weight-loss (but note we’re comparing this with a typical diet full of McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Cadbury’s Dairy Milk and Doritos!) BUT what happens when you adopt a vegan diet longer term? You will likely become tired, fatigued and miserable due to the protein and nutrient deficiencies in the diet. (This will only become apparent over weeks and months)
For a fantastic explanation just watch this interview by our good friend Zoe Harcombe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CYWmcy4Y8E.
In fact Zoe was on the ProLongevity podcast recently and if you missed it just click here:
The Environment
Some research suggests that a vegan diet is better for the environment as vegans tend to have a lower water, ecological, and carbon footprint. Globally, meat (especially cows) contributes a certain amount to the planet’s greenhouse gas emissions. Veganuary backers argue that meat in the human diet consumes more water and does greater environmental damage than any other single food product, but that, too is contentious.
For example, it can be argued that fruits and vegetables may emit more greenhouse gases per kilo when transported by air than poultry meat. This occurs seasonally when delicate fruits, like blueberries and strawberries, are air-freighted across the world to fill voids when these fruits are out of season locally.
Equally Nutritious replacements are difficult to source
Its perfectly possible to be a healthy vegan but it requires a lot of effort!
(See here for more https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdNbUu4LUmg&t=5s)
Without meat, the vegan diet requires “precision nutrition” to find specific replacements that work for your body. What works for your favourite health guru, will not work for you. In nutrition, as in all things, everyone is different.
Essential micronutrients and proteins found in meat (red meat in particular) are extremely hard to substitute.
Studies have shown that seed (aka vegetable) oils can cause heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and other life-threatening conditions. A lot of vegan food (like Beyond burger) is PACKED with seed oils and low in crucial micronutrients such as the fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E & K2). But ‘They are the food of the future’, according to Bill Gates and Bruce Friedrich of the Good Food Institute predicts that by 2050, most meat will be made from plants, or cultivated. We beg to differ!
In Conclusion: you can certainly live a sustainable healthy lifestyle as a vegan. However its complex because you need the right information upon which to base your diet, extensive research into precision nutrition, and appropriate replacements for the missing micronutrients, and protein. On the other hand, to achieve a healthy lifestyle, you DO NOT have to give up meat!
If you are unsure what diet you should be following please take a moment to fill out our free risk assessment and one of the team will get back to you to arrange an entirely free, no-obligation consultation. By completing this simple and quick form you are taking the first step towards “Living Healthy for Longer”
For more information on healthy lifestyles and infinite resources, please visit the Public Health Collaboration
For more on Veganism, take a look at this video – The myths around Veganism With Graham Phillips