Is a Vegan diet healthy?
We looked at all the scientific and anecdotal evidence out there to find out if this is truly a good way to act out on our healthy New Year resolutions.
There’s a lot of noise and opinions that surrounds Veganism. Studies on diets are notoriously difficult, due to the number of factors involved in health. A relatively easy conclusion is that a vegan diet ‘done right’ (with nutrition in mind) appears to have many benefits in the short-term, but is less conclusive over the long-term (10y+). However, an increasing number of ‘recovering vegans’ (i.e. vegans going back to an omnivore diet for health reasons) stories prompted us to dig deeper.
The Critics
Dave Asprey, self-proclaimed biohacker and founder of Bulletproof — a popular nutrition company — isn’t a fan of veganism. His tried being a raw vegan for a while which apparently didn’t work for him. “I felt great for the first three months” but ultimately “going vegan wrecked my skin, my weight, and my hormones for a long time.” Other critics seem to follow the same logic.
A lot of recent research (compiled by our friends at Heathline) seems to contradict this however, at least in the short term. Favouring a plant-based diet is a winner when it comes to lowering your blood cholesterol and blood sugar levels, lowering heart disease risk, losing weight, decreases symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis.
When you look at the number of vegan athletes that have succeeded (including Scott Jurek, an ultramarathon runner, who won 16 prestigious titles, and holds a personal record of running 165.7 miles over a 24 hour period — averaging 8:42 per mile) it’s hard to make the case that the diet is incompatible with world class athletic or sport performance. Even more impressive is how some, like Venus Williams, have used a vegan diet to fight an autoimmune diseases and increase performance.
The Long-term Evidence
It’s the long-term which is tricky to ascertain. One of the largest studies on the topic published in 2016 analysed the long-term health of vegan and vegetarians. They looked at over 280,000 non-vegetarians, vegetarians and vegans, then compared their health markers. The results were quite compelling for veggies, if only marginally better than non-veggies:
- Slightly lower chances of cancer
- Lower chances of diabetes
- Marginally less chance of cardiovascular disease
- Generally good health overall
Unfortunately, apart from pointing to slightly less healthy bones (due to inadequate calcium intake) there is little else concluded about the vegan diet specifically. They point to more research needed on the topic.
Other long-term research [Oxford Vegetarian Study, Health Effects of Vegetarians & Vegans] also seems to make very modest conclusions on the vegan diet, if any at all. “More data are needed, particularly on the health of vegans…” they say. Hardly helpful.
Other research looked at genetics for an answer. The paper claims that “you need to have a diet that is matched to your genes”. “For those individuals that carry the ‘vegetarian allele,’ our suggestion is to stick to the vegetarian diet because that’s what your ancestors ate and that’s what your ancestors adapted to. Too much meat or vegetable oil is not good for these people, because those foods also contain omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids,” Kaixiong Ye, co-author of the paper in question told Vice. According to their research it seems like some people might be born better vegetarians than others.
In terms of stories, we could find just as much anecdotal evidence to support veganism than which criticises it. The only thing we can conclude is that there is an element of genetics, how well you do the diet and quite simply how your metabolism reacts to certain foods over the long-term. After-all, we are all unique.
Our Top Tips
For those have already jumped into Veganism or those just starting out, here are our top tips:
- Avoid the processed equivalent. I know many friends who live on meat replacement products like those ‘preservative-filled-veggie-sausages’ — these are quite simply nutritional abominations. There are no shortcuts, eat real vegetables!
- Take regular blood tests. This advice is valid for anyone who is health conscious. WerLabs offer comprehensive affordable kits — we have no affiliation, we’re just a fan of their thorough analysis and friendly interface. Once a year is probably a good place to start.
- Take supplements. Important ones include vitamin B12, calcium, long-chain n–3 (omega-3) fatty acids and to a lesser extent iron, zinc and retinol. Based on your test results, you’ll most likely need to take supplements.
- Be mindful. Not mindless. At the 3, 6, 12 month mark, sit down and analyse how you feel. If you lack energy or your thinking becomes ‘foggy’, take a hard look at your diet. Adding the occasional animal protein or going vegetarian might suit you better than being radical.
If going vegan is a little too radical and you’re looking to be healthier AND to reduce your impact on the environment, you can do this very effectively simply by reducing your intake of meat, fish and animal products. The following statistic really got us thinking…
Perhaps the best impact we can have as a collective is not all becoming vegan but being “reducetarians” or “flexitarians” — i.e. simply cutting down on our consumption of animals. In the meantime, we are all behind those brave vegans inspiring us to reconsider our choices!
