A headline in Metro Newspaper grabbed my attention the other day.
“Town pledges to turn vegan-only starting with its schools and hospital”
A fully vegan town…?
To save the planet….? Hmmm…?
I really don’t think this is the answer, not for the planet, not for health.
Read on for my reasoning.
Why I Don’t Support Mass Veganism
You know how I love plants and I also often call myself a ‘plant-based omnivore’. Plants are amazing and should be a big part of everyone’s diets. However, it doesn’t mean that animal foods need to be completely excluded.
And most importantly, any extreme and restrictive diets should always be carefully considered and personalised, not be the only option for developing school children, who need well-balanced meals to be able to focus at lessons and learn.
Nor should they be offered to sick recovering, frail patients whose bodies need all the crucial nutrients and good amount of protein for healing.
Many Animal Foods are highly nutritious
Some foods of animal origin are the most nutritious foods we have.
1. Good quality complete protein = animal protein.
Your protein intake will be significantly reduced when eating a fully plant-based diet, just because it’s more difficult to achieve healthy levels of protein and particuarly all the essential amino acids with plants. Furthermore, some in-vitro studies using simulated systems of human digestion show reduced breakdown, absorption and cellular uptake of amino acids (the subunits or building blocks of protein) from plant-based meat substitutes using soy or wheat protein.
What about using a plant-based protein powder?
Plant-based protein powders can be a useful addition to a vegan diet but it’s worth noting that they may not be as “clean” (and as healthy to you and the planet) as you imagine. The bonds that hold those protein molecules together in foods like peas are very strong (the reason maybe why our digestive system is struggling to break them adequately?), so they need to be broken to release the amino acids. It has recently been brought to my attention that manufacturers of pea (maybe others too?) protein powders use toxic chemicals to break the bonds between the molecules. This of course then leads to us consuming lots of heavy metal and toxic chemical residues in the final products, should we be relying on these processed powders.
A study from 2018 looking at protein powders, found that almost 75% had measurable levels of lead. Plant-based protein powders contained the highest levels. They also contained mercury, cadmium and arsenic, “in several cases above health-based guidelines”. This study also found that 55% of protein powders had measurable levels of BPA (bisphenol-A), a hormone disruptor, and alarmingly, that organic protein powder products had twice as much heavy metals than the other products tested.
2. No plant provides vitamin B12.
This vitamin is only available in animal foods – fish and seafood, meat and organ meats, eggs and dairy. Vegans will have to supplement with this vitamin.
3. The active form of vitamin A is only found in animal foods.
Some carotenoids, such as beta-carotene, from plants can be converted to vitamin A. They are called an inactive provitamin A. And while these plant compounds have many amazing health benefits on their own right, to rely completely on them for your vitamin A intake may be a mistake. They are often poorly converted to the active form by our bodies. A large proportion of the general population are poor converters due to a genetic variant in the gene that codes for the enzyme needed for this enazymatic process. People with this gene variant may have up to 70% reduced ability to convert. And some studies show that almost 50% of population are carriers of this gene variant.
4. Iron from plants (non-haeme iron) is less bioavailable to us than that from animal products (haeme iron).
When relying solely on plants for your iron needs, make sure you consume it with vitamin C but away from high-phytate foods (e.g. cereal grains, legumes and nuts) and some polyphenols such as tannins in tea and coffee, in order to improve the absorption.
5. Anti-inflammatory omega-3 oils EPA and DHA are only found in fish and seafood.
Actually that’s not completely true… they are also found in some sea vegetables, or seaweeds, but how many schools/hospitals will offer that in their menus, I wonder…? These long-chain omega-3s are crucial for brain health/development, as well as supporting healing by reducing chronic inflammation (and hence reducing the risk of anxiety and depression, autoimmune conditions, heart disease, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease….).
6. Egg yolks and oily fish are the best food sources of vitamin D.
The best source is actually not food at all but of course sunshine, but only at certain times of the day/year! I’ve written about vitamin D in an old blog, read it HERE.
(Get in touch if you want to test your actual vitamin D level, see HERE for more.)
7. Seafood and meat are high in zinc.
You’d have to eat an unrealistically large portion of many plants to get similar amounts. For instance, 100 grams of beef contains around 11 mg, while 100 grams of tofu has 2 mg. A leg of Alaskan king crab (130 grams) has 10 mg zinc, while 100g lentils has 1 mg zinc. (Source: USDA Database)
Having read the above, you can probably see that it’s quite easy to end up with deficiencies if a vegan diet is not done properly, or supplements for some crucial nutrients are not added.
Ultra-Processed Meat Substitutes and Health
My other worry is that these schools and hospitals will end up serving more and more cheap ultra-processed vegan meat substitutes. These are full of additives and ingredients that are linked with IBS, gut inflammation and inflammatory bowel disease. Will we end up with more gut issues that are already so prevalent?
Furthermore, we know that consuming a highly processed diet can lead to many other health issues. Several studies have shown associations to blood sugar imbalances, obesity, anxiety, depression, food addiction to name a few! Some of these effect may be due to how ultra-processed foods may change neural pathways in the brain in areas responsible for reward that drive repetitive, automatic behaviour and addiction. A similar effect is seen with recreational drugs, alcohol and cigarettes.
Health of the Planet
If more towns, cities and countries were to adopt a solely plant-based approach in the future, my worry is that it would put more burden on the environment and the soil structure from the use of monocropping and pesticides. Regenerative organic and diverse animal farming supports soil restoration, biodiversity and can be good for the environment.
My head is full of questions about the validity of the decision of this town to impose a strict diet on these vulnerable groups in our society…
Why can’t we just eat real unprocessed, seasonal food?
Why are we getting further and further away from eating the way our ancestors ate?
Who/what is driving this trend?
I wish I knew the answers but I have my theories… (which I’m not going into here!)
****************
To find out how powerful diet, nutrition, lifestyle and mindset can be for our health, please book your FREE no-obligation discovery call with Minna and let’s have a chat.
You can also contact me via the contact form or [email protected].
Download your FREE copy of Happy Gut – Happy You for simple everyday hacks to feel happier and healthier.
Join my FREE Facebook Group Healthy You – For Life for health and nutrition tips and advice and delicious healthy recipes.