More people are adopting a vegan or plant-based diet every day.
25 percent of Americans between the ages of 25 and 34 claim to be vegans or vegetarians, according to a 2019 story in The Economist. Also, according to research from the food-focused website Chef’s Pencil, interest in veganism reached an all-time high in 2020.
Avoiding dairy, meat, and other animal products might seem like a great sacrifice to some people. For others, adopting a vegan diet is a no-brainer because of the numerous personal and social advantages; for instance, many people have strong feelings regarding the welfare of animals. Several people convert just because of the possible health benefits.
But is a vegan diet healthy?
It’s not necessary to be a strict vegan. You’ll feel better about making the adjustment if you make your own road map and are realistic about your goals.
According to studies, a vegan diet can assist with the following:
Nutrients in a vegan diet are higher
You will give up meat and other animal products when you transition from a standard Western diet to a vegan one.
You will start to rely more on other foods as a result of this. The following are examples of alternatives for a whole-food vegan diet:
- Cereals
- Fruits
- Veggies
- Beans
- Peas
- Nuts
- Seeds
These foods can result in a higher daily intake of several advantageous nutrients since they make up a bigger fraction of a vegan diet than a standard Western diet.
According to several studies, vegan diets often contain more fiber, antioxidants, and other plant components. Moreover, they seem to have higher amounts of potassium, magnesium, folate, and vitamins A, C, and E.
Even the iron content of vegan diets seems to be higher. The iron present in plant meals is not as bioavailable, or how readily your body can absorb it, as the iron found in animal foods
Nevertheless, not all vegan diets are the same.
Poorly designed vegan diets, for example, could not provide enough vitamin B12, niacin, riboflavin (vitamin B2), vitamin D, calcium, iodine, selenium, or zinc.
Hence, choosing fortified meals and entire plant foods is crucial. If you follow a vegan diet, you might need to think about taking supplements for elements like calcium, zinc, and vitamins B12 and D.
Note: Vegan diets made up entirely of whole foods tend to be richer in some nutrients, while poorly designed vegan diets might leave you deficient in some important ones.
A vegan diet can help you lose weight
In an effort to lose weight, more and more people are adopting plant-based diets. Although there is no assurance that a vegan diet would cause you to lose weight, there may be some compelling arguments in favor of giving it a go.
Many observational studies indicate that compared to non-vegans, vegans tend to be leaner and have lower body mass indices (BMIs).
The highest standard in scientific research, randomized controlled trials, also reveals that vegan diets are more beneficial for weight reduction than the diets they are compared with.
Results include:
- According to tiny research, vegans who follow a low-fat, high-fiber diet shed more pounds than those who follow a traditional low-fat diet.
- During the course of 16 weeks, those who followed a vegan diet dropped an average of 13 lbs (6 kg), whereas those who followed a Mediterranean diet had no weight loss.
- In research, vegans lost more weight than those whose diets contained meat or fish. In this study, vegetarians and vegans both dropped the same amount of weight.
- A low-fat, whole-food vegan diet lost an average of 13 lbs (6 kg) more weight than a typical omnivore diet did over the course of 16 weeks. Those who followed their normal diets did not significantly lose weight.
Also, a short research examining the impact of five different diets on weight reduction came to the conclusion that vegetarian and vegan diets were equally well-tolerated as semi-vegetarian and conventional Western diets.
The vegetarian and vegan groups shed more weight than those on a typical Western diet, even when research participants didn’t strictly adhere to the regimens.
Ultimately, further research is required to determine which components of a vegan diet have the most impact on weight loss. Whether a diet is vegan or not, a variety of elements can impact how effective it is for weight reduction, such as:
- fiber content
- calorie levels
- eating whole foods versus processed foods
Vegan diets could support weight loss without the requirement for intentional calorie restriction. To fully comprehend the potential benefits of a vegan diet, more study is required.
A vegan diet can improve kidney function and reduce blood sugar levels
Moreover, type 2 diabetes and deteriorating kidney function may be helped by a vegan diet.
Moreover, vegans may have a decreased risk of acquiring type 2 diabetes due to their tendency to have greater insulin sensitivity and lower blood sugar levels.
Even if you don’t go completely vegan, consuming more nutritious plant-based meals and fewer meat and dairy products may lower your chance of developing type 2 diabetes.
According to 2006 research, a vegan diet decreases blood sugar levels in diabetics more than the diet that the American Diabetes Association advises (ADA).
In a 2009 research, individuals who followed a vegan diet were more likely to be able to reduce their dose of blood sugar-lowering medicine than those who followed an ADA-recommended diet, which only saw 26% of participants.
The lower danger of complications from diabetes
A vegan diet is generally believed to reduce the risk of complications for patients with type 2 diabetes.
The risk of impaired kidney function may be decreased in people with diabetes who substitute plant protein for meat, although more study is required in this area.
Also, according to a number of studies, a vegan diet may aid in reducing the discomfort associated with peripheral neuropathy, a prevalent ailment among persons with diabetes. Before specialists can say with certainty that this strategy works, additional data is required.
Type 2 diabetes risk may be decreased by vegan diets. Also, they are particularly good in lowering blood sugar levels, which may aid in avoiding the emergence of new medical conditions.
A vegan diet keeps you from cancer too
The World Health Organization claims that variables under your control, such as food, can prevent at least one-third of all malignancies.
Advantages of eating more plant food
Compared to non-vegans, vegans often consume significantly more fruits, vegetables, and legumes. This might account for why a 2017 study suggested that vegans may experience a 15% decreased risk of cancer.
For example, frequent consumption of beans may lower your risk of colorectal cancer by 9–18%.
Also, eating more plant-based meals lowers your chance of developing various cancers, including stomach, lung, oral, and throat cancers, according to the National Cancer Institute.
Moreover, it could lower the risk of pancreatic, prostate, and colon cancer.
Vegan diets typically include more soy products, which may provide some breast cancer protection.
Benefits of avoiding Non-Veg food
Moreover, avoiding specific animal products may help lower the risk of colorectal, breast, stomach, and prostate cancers. It is believed that some forms of cancer are encouraged by eating red meat, smoked meat, processed meats, and meats cooked at high temperatures.
Here are some effects of avoiding dairy
Dairy products, which some research suggests may modestly raise the risk of prostate cancer, are also avoided by vegans.
Yet, research suggests that dairy consumption may help lower the chance of developing other malignancies, including colon cancer.
Hence, it’s possible that eliminating dairy is not what reduces vegans’ overall chance of developing cancer.
The fact that these studies are observational must be emphasized. These make it difficult to determine the precise cause of vegans’ decreased risk of developing cancer.
Nonetheless, it appears prudent to concentrate on increasing the quantities of fresh fruits, vegetables, and legumes you consume every day while reducing your consumption of processed, smoked, and overcooked meats until researchers know more.
Prostate, breast, stomach, and colorectal cancers are only a few of the malignancies that the vegan diet may be able to prevent.
A vegan diet can lower the risk of a heart disease
Consuming fresh produce, legumes, and fiber is associated with a decreased risk of heart disease.
All of these items are often present in larger proportions in well-planned vegan meals than in typical Western diets.
Observational studies contrasting vegetarians, vegans, and non-vegetarians found that vegans may have a reduction in their risk of hypertension of up to 75%.
Although additional research is required to fully understand the connection, vegans may also have a decreased chance of dying from heart disease.
Furthermore, several randomized controlled trials reveal that compared to other diets, vegan diets are significantly more successful in lowering blood sugar, LDL (bad) cholesterol, and total cholesterol levels.
As lowering high blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels may reduce the risk of heart disease by as much as 46%, this may be very advantageous for heart health.
Whole grains and nuts are abundant in a balanced vegan diet, and both are heart-healthy.
By drastically lowering the risk factors that cause heart disease, vegan diets may improve heart health.
Concluding thoughts
Many health advantages of a vegan diet have been reported.
Most of the time, scientists are unsure of the precise factors that lead to these advantages.
Yet, upping your intake of nutrient-dense, whole-plant meals can only help you in the interim while new studies are conducted.
