IS A VEGAN DIET HEALTHY?
By Mary Lynch
As a registered nutritionist,
the question “Is the vegan diet healthy?” is one I get all the time, especially
at this time of year.
Frustratingly, the answer is that it depends as much on
what you eat as with any other diet. Someone living purely on ready salted
crisps or chips, for example, would be technically following a vegan diet, but
it would in no way be healthy.
However, research shows that there are potential benefits to a vegan
diet. A recent study indicated that the average vegan diet is higher in vitamin
C and fibre, and lower in saturated fat than one containing meat. In addition,
statistics show that vegans have a lower BMI (height-to-weight ratio) than meat
eaters – in other words, they are skinnier.
You see, a diet without any meat or
dairy products is likely to contain a lot less saturated fat, which is related
to increased cholesterol levels and increased risk of heart disease. We also
know that fat contains more calories per gram than other foods, and so vegans
may consume fewer calories as a result. Finally, a vegan diet is generally
thought to contain more cereals, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds than a
non¬vegan diet.
Sounds great right?
Not quite. In terms
of micronutrients, a
vegan diet is
actually more susceptible to
being nutritionally poor. A vegan diet is naturally low in calcium, vitamin D,
iron, vitamin B12, zinc and omega-3 fatty acids. Therefore, if you follow a
vegan diet it is essential that you get enough of these nutrients through
specific vegan food sources – and may even need to take additional supplements.
We have many recipes suitable for vegans that can help, just check out our
vegan section. In our features we also have this traditional hummus recipe,
which contains tahini – a good source of calcium, zinc and iron, which are all
micronutrients hard to get a hold of on a vegan diet.
So there you have it:
going vegan does not necessarily mean you are going to be healthier. In fact, I
think that much of the improvement in diets among vegans is a result of
education rather than going meat free. In other words, if someone chooses to go
vegan they are more likely to care about what they are eating and therefore are
more likely to educate themselves on the types of foods they should and should
not be eating.
From: https://goo.gl/AwDYY7. Accessed on 03/22/2017.
The suffix –y in the words
healthy (1st paragraph) and fatty (5th paragraph) gives the idea of:
