Pros and Cons of Vegan Diet

Vegan Diet can promote your health and help you lose weight. But not for everyone. Consider these pros and cons of Vegan Diet

A vegan diet is a vegetarian eating style, But it is completely devoid of animal products, including eggs, honey and dairy products. Some vegans choose this diet for health reasons, but others for ethical reasons, such as avoiding animal cruelty and eating more sustainable foods.

While there is evidence that vegan diet is good for health, some people find this lifestyle difficult to maintain. Before you decide if it’s right for you, consider the pros and cons of vegan diet.

Pros

• Evidence-based health benefits
• Encourages mindful eating
• Wider variety of foods
• May lead to weight loss
• Reduced food costs
• Healthier for the environment
• No animal impact

Cons

• Limited food choices
• Possible nutrient deficiencies
• Requires diligence
• Difficulty dining out
• Unrealistic expectations
• Social isolation

Pros

Your reasons (or reasons) for choosing the Vegan Diet program will determine the benefits that are most relevant to you. But the advantages of this lifestyle are enormous, whether you choose it for health, environmental, or moral reasons.

Health Benefits

Because vegan diet is plant-based, it’s easier to consume healthy whole grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables that many people on a normal diet lack. Studies comparing different types of diets found that vegetarian diets ranked highest in terms of nutritional quality. Vegan Diet is typically rich in fiber, vitamin C, magnesium, iron and folic acid, and is low in calories and saturated fat.

The nutritional quality of Vegan Diet leads to more significant health benefits. Eating a diet rich in plant-based foods has been linked to a lower risk of many chronic diseases. A large cohort study evaluating vegetarian and Vegan diets. The researchers found that both groups had a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, cardiometabolic risk factors, certain cancers and overall mortality. Those vegetarians enjoyed these benefits while reducing the risk of obesity, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease death.

Other studies have also confirmed these findings and found that a plant-based diet may be helpful in the treatment and management of hypertension, diverticular disease, and cataracts.

Mindful Eating

Mindful eating is a practice that involves paying more attention to our food, increasing sensory awareness, and the experience of a meal. It requires the eater to consciously focus on eating behaviors in order to enjoy the eating process, rather than any particular nutritional outcome (calories, protein, fat, carbohydrates). Mindful eating habits have been linked to a healthy relationship with food and have been used in some weight loss interventions.

Vegetarian and attentive diets are different. But because vegetarians — unlike omnivores — choose to exclude certain kinds of foods from their diet, they need to be more selective and conscious of their food choices. In many cases, certain mindful eating habits are incorporated into their eating plans.

For example, if you eat a traditional American diet, it’s easy to eat a meal at a fast food restaurant, convenience store, or coffee shop. It’s easy to eat without being fully aware of the process of eating (i.e., chewing, tasting, and feeling full). But in Vegan Diet, you may have to plan your diet in advance, find foods you like, and fit into your diet plan. Or you may have to make a careful choice in the moment. The process of choosing and planning requires consideration, focus, and deliberation about your food choices – a key component of a careful diet.

Wider Food Variety

Omnivorous diets do not exclude any food. The standard American diet is an omnivorous diet. But most people on traditional diets eat relatively limited amounts and types of food. For example, many traditional American dinners include meat, starch (potatoes or rice), and possibly vegetables. Dairy products are often used as ingredients, side dishes or ingredients.

However, in a vegan diet, many traditional foods do not meet the requirements. So when you start this diet, you may need to be creative and try some unfamiliar foods.

But there is a caveat for this benefit. Many food manufacturers are producing plant-based versions of traditional foods. For example, most grocery stores sell vegan-friendly meatless burgers, processed chicken or turkey substitutes, and dairy alternatives made from soy or other ingredients. Sometimes, these products are no healthier than their meat/dairy alternatives, and relying on them can lead to limited food flavors like the traditional American diet.

Possible Weight Loss

Studies have shown that a vegan diet can lead to weight loss. Of course, simply choosing to be vegetarian doesn’t lead to weight loss. However, when you adopt this lifestyle, you eliminate many high-fat and high-calorie foods.

A plant-based diet is often associated with weight loss. In 2018, a limited 16-week clinical trial found that vegan diets proved superior to control diets (including animal protein) in improving body weight and fat quality. An extensive review of evidence published in 2017 found that a plant-based diet is an effective tool for managing and preventing overweight and obesity.

Even if it’s hard to stick to a weight loss plan, a vegan lifestyle may be the best option. Research has also shown that even if you don’t fully adhere to a vegetarian program, a vegetarian program may be more effective at weight loss.

Reduced Food Costs

Choosing a vegan diet can help you reduce your food costs. But whether you get this benefit depends on what you eat before you adopt this way of eating, and what you choose to eat after that.

There is no doubt that meat, seafood and dairy products are expensive. Some convenience foods can also be expensive. When you remove these foods from your diet, you eliminate the large amount of food costs associated with them.

Vegan grains and legumes are usually budget-friendly. While fresh produce and vegetarian convenience foods can be expensive, their overall cost may be lower than diets rich in animal-based products.

Better for the Environment

Some people choose a vegan diet because they feel it’s better for the planet. The environmental community is increasingly concerned about the impact of livestock and livestock farming on the planet.

In contrast, growing vegan-friendly plants requires fewer resources (land and water) than producing typical Western foods such as meat, poultry and dairy products. And cows produce more greenhouse gases (methane) than plants, which has led some to believe that eating a vegetarian diet can help reduce the risk of global warming.

Some studies have even shown that a vegan diet is better for the planet than other diets, including the popular Mediterranean diet.

No Animal Impact

Because no animal has been harmed or killed to produce vegetarian food, many people choose this diet for fear of animal abuse.

One study showed that the most popular reason to choose a vegan diet is to support a more humane treatment of animals. These vegans may also avoid clothing or other products made from animals, poultry, fish, or bees.

Interestingly, another study published in the journal Appetite found that people who chose a vegan diet for ethical reasons were more likely to stick with it for longer than those who chose a vegan diet for other reasons.

Cons

While a vegan diet may be healthier for you and the planet, this program isn’t for everyone. Consider these drawbacks.

Limited Food Choices

Vegan diets are often considered the most restrictive version of the plant-based diet. Of course, if you adopt this diet plan and you’re currently eating a standard American diet, you can expect to eliminate most foods from your typical weekly menu. For some, the restrictions are too restrictive.

To get a clearer picture of the scope of the restriction, keep in mind that not only animal products are eliminated, but any food or product containing animal by-products is also eliminated. Many traditional family recipes, grocery store and restaurant foods contain at least one animal by-product.

Of course, many vegetarians will tell you that this diet has a rich variety of foods. But because it’s very different from the diet you might be used to, you may find that it’s limited at first.

Possible Nutritional Deficiencies

Vegan diets can be healthy, but there are some underlying nutritional deficiencies that need to be addressed. Researchers have found that vegan diets often lack calcium, which is necessary for bone formation, muscle contraction, and other basic functions. Vegans can increase their intake by eating calcium-rich foods such as leafy greens, legumes, sesame seeds, some dried fruits, and calcium-fortified foods such as plant milk, non-milk yogurt, or grains with calcium added.

Vitamin B-12, or cobalamin, is another nutrient that may be deficient because it is mainly found in foods of animal origin. Healthy nerve function and blood cell production require vitamin B-12. Deficiencies can lead to pernicious anemia. While some seaweed, mushrooms, and fermented foods can be useful sources of this essential B vitamin, the researchers found that vegetarians or vegans may need to supplement with this vitamin.

Protein may be another problem, but it’s easy to solve. Protein is made up of amino acids that your body needs to maintain organs, muscles, and vital functions. Essential amino acids are those your body can’t make, so you need to take them from the foods you eat.

Animal protein contains all the essential amino acids, while plant proteins often lack one or more amino acids. Therefore, it is crucial to consume multiple protein sources to ensure that you get all the amino acids you need.

Vegan diets may also be low in vitamin D, but to be fair, so are other diets because most of your vitamin D comes from sunlight. Two potentially good vegetarian sources of vitamin D include maitake and portobello mushrooms exposed to ultraviolet light. During the winter months, fortified nut milk can also help you get vitamin D. However, in some cases, vitamin D supplementation may be needed.

The vegan diet is also deficient in two omega-3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid, which your body needs to maintain healthy heart, eye, and brain function. Eating foods like walnuts, soy, pumpkin, flax, or chia seeds helps increase your intake of omega-3 fatty acids called α-linolenic acid, which can be converted into two other forms in your body. However, supplemental products such as microalgae supplementation may be needed. Similarly, if you’re pregnant, it’s also important to talk to your healthcare provider and make sure you’re getting enough omega-3s during pregnancy.

Finally, iron is a nutrient to watch out for in a vegetarian diet. According to the Vegetarian Association, good plant sources of iron include lentils, chickpeas, beans, tofu, cashews, chia seeds, flax seeds, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, kale, dried apricots and figs, raisins, quinoa, and fortified breakfast cereals.

Requires Diligence

Those who follow a vegan diet will need to get used to reading nutrition labels and ingredient lists carefully, especially if they choose to consume processed foods. You might think that foods that don’t contain animal byproducts may contain gelatin, whey, casein, honey, or other foods that don’t fit into a vegan diet.

You’ll also need to read the nutrition labels carefully to maintain a healthy vegan diet. It is important to choose foods that contain important vitamins and minerals to avoid nutritional deficiencies.

Difficulty Dining Out

Consumers can read the product information when purchasing vegan-friendly foods. But if you eat at someone else’s house or restaurant, you don’t have a list of ingredients. For this reason, eating out is a challenge for those who choose a vegetarian diet.

There are several restaurants that will indicate vegetarian or vegan items on the menu, but not a lot. You can make a vegetarian meal with salads or side dishes they already offer. However, you need to make sure that no animal products are used during the preparation process.

Sometimes, even asking about food doesn’t help. Well-meaning restaurant employees (or well-meaning friends and family) consider plant-based foods to be vegetarian, which is not uncommon if they don’t contain dairy. But this is not always the case. For example, vegetable soup might be a seasoned soup made from animal bones.

Many vegetarian experts recommend that when eating at someone else’s house, bring a recipe that you can enjoy that you can share with others. Choose those restaurants that you know are vegetarian.

Unrealistic Expectations

While eating a vegan diet may bring health benefits and a healthier weight, this is not guaranteed. For example, if you’re trying to lose weight, you still need to pay attention to the foods you choose and the amount you eat.

There are more and more deeply processed vegetarian foods. Many times, these foods are just as unhealthy as traditional foods — containing more fat and calories.

Health benefits are not an easy task either. One study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology compared to a large number of women who ate a healthy vegetarian diet (including whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, oils, tea, and coffee) and those who ate unhealthy vegetarian foods (including juices, sweet drinks, refined grains, potatoes, fries, and candy). The researchers concluded that a healthy vegan diet greatly reduced the risk of heart disease, while an unhealthy vegan diet was associated with a higher risk.

Consider to be clear about Pros and Cons of Vegan Diet and Throw away unrealistic expectations

Social Isolation

People’s food choices may be scrutinized by friends, family, co-workers, and other acquaintances. Nowadays, veganism is more regulated and plant-based foods are more common, but you may still find that your reasons for choosing this lifestyle are questioned and challenged. In addition, people who don’t know how to adapt to your eating habits may exclude you from social gatherings. Or worse, they may invite you and encourage you to eat foods that are not friendly to vegetarians.

Some vegan bloggers discuss these issues and provide guidance for those who adapt to this way of eating. Experts recommend reaching out to other vegetarians in your community, building a network, and being patient with those who don’t understand your options.