Vegans eat no animal products at all. This means that they don’t eat meat, poultry, fish, dairy, eggs, or honey. Unlike raw foodists, they do eat cooked food. As I discussed in my raw food post, the majority of raw foodists are vegan, but the majority of vegans are not necessarily raw foodists. Did I confuse you? Don’t worry, I confuse myself too.

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Many people who become vegan do so because concern for animal rights. To completely divorce themselves for the exploitation of animals that happens in our society, they don’t use any animal products. This extends beyond diet to wardrobe. They don’t wear leather, wool, or silk.

Health Benefits

The health benefits you experience on a vegan diet are basically the same as the ones you experience on a raw food diet. Most people experience lower cholesterol levels. This is because you’re no longer taking the saturated fats found in animal products into your body.

Veganism is associated with weight lose, but I’ve know some fat vegans in my time. Junk food is bad for you and there’s a lot of vegan junk food out there.

Myths

I was a vegan for about a year when I was in college. People were always asking me, “Where will you get protein?” and “What about calcium?”

Amino acids are the building blocks for protein. There are 9 essential amino acids that your body must get from food to survive. These amino acids combine to form proteins. Plants contain amino acids, but don’t contain them in a complete usable form. You must eat a combination of different kinds of plant foods in order to get the amino acids your body requires. For example, eating beans and rice together makes a complete protein that your body can use. These food combinations don’t have to be eaten together though. If you eat beans at lunch and then rice at dinner, the amino acids in the beans from lunch will still be hanging around waiting to hook up with the amino acid from the rice you eat at dinner. If a vegan eats a variety of healthy foods, they won’t have a problem with protein.

Many people think you can only get calcium from milk. Calcium is available in dark leafy greens such as kale, bok choy, Brussel sprouts, and broccoli. There are also processed foods that are fortified with calcium. The rice milk my husband’s eating in his cereal right now is fortified with calcium.

The Downside

For me the downside was not being able to eat every delicious thing I could see. (Maybe I have some kind of problem.)

Like raw foodists, vegans don’t get vitamin B12 in there diet. B12 comes from animal products. If you’re not eating animal products, you have to get your B12 in the form of a supplement and from foods fortified with B12. Vitamin B12 deficiency has serious consequences. Some effects of B12 deficiency include:

lack of coordination
numbness and tingling in extremities
sleeping problems
early onset dementia

Some vegan substitute soy products for meat and dairy products. This practice has been met with controversy recently. Evita at Evolving Wellness wrote a good post about the soy controversy not too long ago. Read her post called Conflicting Health Advice About Soy to find out more about soy.

My Two Cents

Being a vegan can be a healthy lifestyle. If you’re concerned about animal rights it’s also a great way to express that concern. There are healthy vegans and unhealthy vegans. Eating a variety of plant based foods will add to your health. Stay away from fake meat products which contain high levels of sodium and MSG and the other vegan junk food.

If you’re interested in becoming a vegan check out Veg Family for some healthful tips and great recipes. Veganism isn’t necessarily good for everyone. If your new diet makes you feel tired and ill you should change it. Seeing a nutritionist might help you make a smoother transition into your new diet. Don’t let the photo I used scare you. Vegans eat more than just salads.

Photo by moria

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• My Take on Traditional Diets
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• My Take on Vegetarianism
• My Take On Raw Food