How is veganism healthy?

Question

I'm not vegan but I've always wondered this. When people become vegan don't they cut out a lot of things that are important to the human body, like protien and calcium? I can understand why people go vegetarian but veganism seems like it's just taking it too far.

Answer 1

I appreciate, since a lot of people don't know much about veganism, concerns like these can arise. But they're fast becoming urban myths.

There's too much to answer your question in full here, but it's worth visiting some vegan sites: e.g. veganoutreach.org, veganhealth.org and the vegansociety.co.uk, and a little study of these sites will address all of your questions.

If anything, I've found with veganism being a compassionate and holistic way of living that makes so much sense at so many levels, it feel like to me that traditional meat eating today is taking things too far. But i'll leave you to find these kind of conclusions for yourself. Good luck!

Answer 2

IF you eat the popular-type vegan diet (starches, starches, and more starches), you will most likely be nutrient deficient.

IF you eat a well-rounded diet (like any omni or herbi should); getting in bunches of greens and some fruit, you will be well-set.

Answer 3

Protein is found in ALL living things.

Plants are living things.

You can easily get as much protein as a very meaty diet but  with much less saturated fat, pesticides and zero cholesterol.

Calcium is a mineral/element. It cannot be created or destroyed.

It is found everywhere on the planet. Calcium is easily found in

plant foods.

Here are some examples of fit vegan people:

http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/phpBB2/...

http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/phpBB2/...

Answer 4

Vegans are healthier because the average vegan is lighter than the average meat eater in Britain. This is a fact. It is true that veggies are on average lighter. This is an argument based on modern wealth and excess. For almost all of the past, the problem for humans has been getting enough food. Obesity in a significant proportion of the population is a modern problem, brought on us by the ease of access to large amounts of sugary food, plus a lesser amount of exercise, and a retention of old instincts which made our hunting and gathering ancestors crave sweet things, fatty things, and salty things. Early humans evolved these instincts in a world where very sweet things were very rare, salt a vital rare nutrient, and wild prey animals were lean.

Now things are different, and whereas our instincts did not in the past lead to obesity, today they often do. This is not an argument for veganism, however. This is an argument to persuade people to play more football, go dancing once a week, avoid Mars bars, and not to stuff cakes and cheap burgers into their mouths while watching Jerry Springer. Cheap, low quality meat with a high fat content does contribute to obesity in the modern world, but plenty of people manage to stay fit and lean and eat meat. There is nothing unique about meat for making people fat. A sedentary veggie eating cake all day will get fat too. However, vegan are perhaps less likely to stuff cakes into their mouths all day, because the sort of person who goes to the drastic step of forbidding themselves to eat meat is also the sort of person who is unlikely to stuff cakes down their hatch. The type of person who becomes a vegan is clearly the type to be quite obsessed by their diet, and so unlikely to over-do it on the cake front. Indeed, one only need to view the denizens of the local “health” food shop to notice that many vegans are clearly underweight, which brings that average weight figure down quite a bit. Being underweight is not healthy. It is a modern and pernicious misconception that thin is good. Thin is not good. Fat is not good. Just right is just right.

A recent government report said that one in four sixteen year-olds in Britain is over-weight. It is also true, however, that the unfortunate offspring of middle-class parents quite commonly suffer from something which has been dubbed “muesli-belt malnutrition”. These children are fed on low-fat, low-sugar, low-salt diets by their health-faddish parents, and therefore not unnaturally end up with sometimes quite serious malnutrition. Skimmed milk is not for giving to growing kids, who need fat to grow. It is dreary grey water which might possibly suit over-weight adults.

If modern meats which are commonly available in shops are a bit too fatty for modern sedentary life-styles, then this is a reasonable argument for people to exert very effective consumer pressure by simply buying leaner meat. The farmers will quickly get the message, as indeed they already have.

Answer 5

We don't lack any nutrients.  We just get them from non-animal sources.  It is really healthy because we eat all of the healthy stuff and none of the unhealthy stuff.  Animal products are not necessary to humans.  We are omnivores, not carnivores.

Please watch www.meat.org and then tell me if I am going overboard.  That vid changed my life.  It has also changed the life of many other animal lovers and people who can feel the pain of others and understand what they go through.

Answer 6

you could live healthy with out meat but with your vegables you would have to eat thinks like cheese milk etc for calicum and protien if people cut back on sweets and meat they would be alot healthery ithink that is the main causes of poor health.

Answer 7

If done properly it is possible to get all the nutrients you need from plants and synthetic supplements.  If done wrong people end up malnourished feel and look crappy and go back to vegetarianism or meat eating.

Answer 8

How do you think Cows get calcium?  They don't drink milk or eat cheese.

Answer 9

Your assumptions are uneducated and wrong.  But most people are uneducated and wrong about my lifestyle, so I'm used to it.

Answer 10

Being a Vegan can be healthy.I'm a Vegan and I still get to eat stuff packed with protein like peanut butter,bread,veggies,fruit,and alot of other things.If you decide to become a Vegan,I'm really proud of you.Becoming a Vegan not only helps the enviroment,but also decreases the use of animal byproduct.Their are tons of Vegans across the world right now that are changing the world into an animal friendly enviroment.It's your decision to cut out dairy products and meat,but in case your still unsure,check out this link. <:)

Answer 11

Many people don't realize how much calcuim and protien are in plant based foods.  We tend to get kind of brainwashed by advertising and believe that without milk and beef, we are doomed!  I'm not mocking anyone. When I went from vegetarian to vegan I thought I would have to take a bunch of supplements, but then I did some research on what plant based foods had what my body needed and I used www.fitday.com to track my vitamins, minerals, etc to make sure I was getting enough and you know what?  It was EASY to get all the protien and calcuim I needed and I felt great!  Veganism works if your diet is balanced.

Answer 12

No, veganism is not taking it too far. A vegan diet allows you to stop contributing to the suffering of farm animals in slaughterhouses since you no longer consume animal products. And it's better for the enviornment and for your health.

Protein and calcium can easily be replaced. Protein is found in practically everything so it's not hard to find if you cut meat out of your diet. Spinach, beans, tofu, and soybeans are all great sources of protein.

Calcium is easy to find too. I drink calcium-enriched orange juice every morning. I also eat soy yogurt which is high in calcium. There are also lots of vegetables that contain calcium. If you're still concerned about getting enough calcium, you can always take supplements.

Hope that helps. =]

Answer 13

calcium = soymilk (fortified with more calcium and B12 is better)

protein = legumes, tofu, nuts, soymeat

Many vegans don't take supplements

And the conditions for the animals..ugh, it's terrible

Answer 14

It's a good idea.

But, you need to find another way to get protien into you body. examples: pills, tofu vedgie burgers, ect.

Answer 15

i have no idea im a grapeatarian [ a dyed in then wool wine`o]

Answer 16

The American Dietetic Association says a vegan diet can be healthy. I trust their judgment.

You don't have to eat meat to get protein and you don't have to drink milk to get calcium.

Answer 17

EVERY non-vegan says the same thing "what about protein and calcium......."  UGH!  I beg you to read these two articles.....you will understand that your concerns about calcium and protein are REALLY wrong.  Please educate yourself.