A Vegan Diet is Not Healthy

April 12, 2012

I’m mentally preparing myself for this one. Because it’s inevitable I’ll receive at least a few heated comments on this post. But that’s the cool thing – you can say whatever you’d like in your comment, the same way I can post whatever I’d like on my blog. So just keep that in mind if you don’t agree with what I have to say. And do try to be at least semi-courteous. You may or may not want to speak your thoughts to my face, but do remember that we are all people here, not just some nameless, faceless computer bots with gravatars.

So veganism. Generally defined as a diet and lifestyle which includes no animal products or animal by-products whatsoever. No meat, dairy, eggs, honey, etc.

I want to make two main points here about why I believe a vegan diet is not a healthy one long term. I’m not here to debate the ethics or morality of eating animals. Full disclosure: I am an omnivore. I eat meat. And I don’t believe it is cruel to do so. But that’s because I also believe all animals should be raised in an environment conducive to their health and well-being, i.e. not CAFO operations or battery cages.

I don’t believe a vegan diet or lifestyle is ecologically sustainable, either. If you want to delve more into that, I highly recommend reading Folks, This Ain’t Normal by Polyface farmer Joel Salatin. Life changing book.

So point number one about a vegan diet:

If You Don’t Do it Right, Don’t Do it at All

Did you notice that cheese puffs or white bread aren’t animal products? Do you know some vegans or vegetarians who are more like carb-etarians or junk-ans? Just because you don’t eat red meat or cow’s milk doesn’t mean you are automatically healthier. (By the way, the vast majority of all those ‘scientific’ studies that say red meat causes cancer were done using CAFO beef. Of course animals kept in confinement standing knee deep in their own poop, and being pumped full of hormones and antibiotics, and being fed a completely abnormal diet of corn and candy wrappers will produce some nasty meat that can absolutely cause disease in your body. Same thing goes for pasteurized cow’s milk. But I digress . . . )

Here’s the deal – when done right, a vegan diet makes a fantastic detox diet in the short term. Scads of people have switched from a junk food diet of processed and fast food, replaced it with a vegan diet full of raw vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, and legumes and have seen their health improve drastically. All those foods are incredibly healthy superfoods! And the vast majority of people in the Western world would do well to abide by that sort of a diet for a few weeks or months.

But (and this brings me to my next point) a long-term vegan diet is not a wise way to go. Many people (like John Nicholson) find their health deteriorating at a rapid rate when following a vegan diet.

A Vegan Diet is Not Nourishing

This is so fascinating to me. Did you know that without plenty of healthy fats in your diet, you are not able to assimilate and absorb the nutrients in fruits and vegetables? This means you can eat kale and bell peppers until you are green in the face, but if you’re not consuming enough healthy saturated fat, it’s like you didn’t even need to bother.

And where do you find these healthy fats? Sure, you get them from coconut, avocado, almonds, and olive oil, but these sources are not always in season, not always convenient to purchase in your area, and are not always present in your diet in a high enough quantity on a given day to meet your body’s requirements to function properly. After all, 60% of your brain and nervous system are made of fat. We need fat for proper brain function, nerve signal transmission, and hormone balance!

But butter from grass-fed, pastured cows is rich in saturated fats, vitamin A, buytric acid, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA – a powerful cancer fighter), and lauric acid. Grass-fed, pastured beef itself is also rich in these same nutrients, as well as being a fantastic source of protein, amino acids, and vitamin B12 – which vegans must take as a supplement (a required nutrient our bodies don’t create – we must get it from animal sources).

Omnivores Healthier Than Vegetarians in Indigenous Cultures

I read an awesome anecdote about my main man Weston A. Price over on The Healthy Home Economist’s blog (she wrote a great article about how 75% of vegetarians return to eating meat). The study Price documented is very telling about how a vegetarian or vegan diet is unsuited for humans. Here she is in her words:

Dr. Price traveled the world in the 1920′s and 1930′s visiting 14 isolated cultures in the process. During this adventure which he documented in great detail with amazing pictures in his masterpiece Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, Dr. Price concluded that while the diets of these natives varied widely, nutrient dense animal foods high in the fat soluble vitamins A, D, and K (also known as Activator X) were the common denominator. Consumption of these animal foods were revered in these communities as they bestowed vibrant health, ease of fertility, healthy children, and high resistance to chronic and infectious disease.

This discovery was a disappointment to Dr. Price who had expected to find the vegetarian cultures to be the healthiest cultures of all. But, the vegetarian cultures he examined displayed more degeneration than the omnivore cultures which surprised him given that these vegetarian cultures did indeed have superior health than the Americans of his day.

A sad commentary on the state of health in the Western world with our plastic, packaged, chemical-filled foods, but a true insight into the path to optimal health – it includes animal foods!

If you are looking for quality sources of sustainably raised beef & dairy, check your local farmer’s market (find one near you on the Local Harvest website) or have it shipped to your door from Beyond Organic.

I also want to highlight an absolutely beautiful, almost poetic look at this topic from Kristen of Food Renegade. Her post, Why I’m Not a Vegan, spoke volumes to me about this issue. I think you’ll find it well worth reading.

What has been your experience with a vegan or vegetarian diet?

This post is linked to Simple Lives Thursday, Fight Back Friday, Sunday School

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August 26, 2014 at 5:32 pm

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great post to improve my knowledge.
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August 29, 2014 at 8:34 am

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August 29, 2014 at 10:45 am

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Nigel Osborne
August 31, 2014 at 8:25 pm

First off, veganism is not a diet – it is a philosophical decision to recognize that all animals are worthy of moral consideration. And vegans recognize that the only relevant moral criteria for observing the principle of equal consideration is “sentience”. This is our moral baseline. Our empathy gives paramount consideration as to whether a being can suffer.

What you are addressing in this article is a whole-foods, plant-based diet. And all of your assertions are factually wrong and is tantamount to disinformation.

I quote: “Many people (like John Nicholson) find their health deteriorating at a rapid rate when following a vegan diet.” Well then . . . I guess there is no point in discussing this further since John Nicholson doesn’t feel well. Of course, I’m being sarcastic! Using any anecdotal evidence as a basis for a broad-based claim is not only lacking in veracity, the entire scientific community (regardless of discipline) has long ago dismissed anecdotal evidence as being what it is – worthless.

I quote: “But butter from grass-fed, pastured cows is rich in saturated fats, vitamin A, buytric acid, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA – a powerful cancer fighter), and lauric acid. Grass-fed, pastured beef itself is also rich in these same nutrients, as well as being a fantastic source of protein, amino acids, and vitamin B12 – which vegans must take as a supplement.”

Regards saturated fat: The 2010 USDA Dietary Guidelines recommend reducing intake of saturated fat (eg. cheese, ice cream, pizza, and chicken). The original Guidelines directly stated that saturated fat should be avoided; this was later softened to accommodate agribusiness. In Finland, the use of science based dietary guidelines that reduced saturated fat intake resulted in a major improvement in general health. The number one source of artery clogging saturated fat in the American diet is dairy products. Any intake of saturated fat above zero raises bad cholesterol (see also here); cutting down on animal products is the best way to avoid eating saturated fat and cholesterol. A single egg yolk usually contains 215-275 mg of cholesterol. Other foods high in saturated fat: coconut oil, and coconut milk. Cocoa butter is another one of the few plants fats that raises our cholesterol; eating cocoa powder, thus, is the best way to get the benefits from cocoa without the fat. A cow’s burger has 500% more saturated fat than a veggie burger. And similarly, chicken can have infinitely more saturated fat than veggie chicken.

Saturated fat in the diet can lead to hardening of our arteries; taken to an extreme, this can result in an abdominal aortic aneurysm. In terms of cancer, many studies found that simply cutting down on saturated fat improves cancer free survival. In one breast cancer survival study, women who ate the most saturated fat after diagnosis increased the risk of dying by 41%.

A high-fat meal from animal sources may also adversely affect our arteries, but a high-fat meal from plant sources evidently does not. This may be because of the saturated animal fat facilitating the absorption of bacterial endotoxins present in meat and other animal products. There is also a considerable difference between low carbohydrate diets that base their fat and protein sources on animal rather than plant sources (higher versus lower cardiovascular and cancer rate mortality risk). In countries in which health (rather than agriculture) agencies are in charge of dietary guidance, the daily dietary recommendation is largely vegetarian due to concerns about animal fat intake.

All the vegan sources you cite in your blog above are readily available throughout the year, regardless of climate, and are vastly superior to animal fat sources.

As far as protein goes, instead of consuming the decaying flesh of dead animals. it is vastly superior to garner all of the essential amino acids from plants to make your own protein. On that note, cows, by way of example, are very large animals with significant muscle mass – how do you think they got this way? Cows are vegan! Animal protein, especially casein in bovine milk and diary products, has been linked to cancer. Animal protein is known to elevate the levels of IGF-1 in the human blood stream. IGF-1 is a hormone that regulates the discarding of old, dying cells and regulates new cellular growth. The consumption of animal protein increases the risk of IGF-1 being elevated to unhealthy levels in our bloodstream and can cause our cellular growth replenishment to exceed the discarding of old, dying cells. And we all know that uncontrolled growth of cells is by definition cancer. Thus the link.

As long as you are getting enough calories, eating a balanced, whole-foods, plant-based diet, it is impossible to have a diet deficient in essential amino acids. Almost every nut, seed, grain, fruit and vegetable you put in your mouth has protein.

Furthermore, your section on vegetarian indigenous cultures vs. omnivorous indigenous cultures is devoid of any relevance. A modern, whole-foods, plant-based diet is vastly superior to any vegetarian diet, indigenous culture or otherwise, from almost 100 years ago.

Regards B12, it’s true, plants don’t make B12. Animals don’t make it either. B12 is made by microbes that blanket the earth. These bacteria grow in the guts of animals, which is why their bodies and products can be a source of this vitamin. Our herbivore primate cousins get all they need ingesting bugs, dirt, and feces, and we may once have gotten all we needed by drinking out of mountain streams or well water. But now we chlorinate our water supply to kill off any bugs. So we don’t get a lot of B12 in our water anymore, but we don’t get a lot of cholera either—that’s a good thing!

Nonetheless, vegans do not necessarily have to take B12 supplements. Nutritional yeast and other foods like soy milk, are fortified with B12. In fact, 1 cup of soy milk contains almost 50% of your daily recommended intake of B12. The other fact is, anyone can have a B12 deficiency regardless of diet. 15% of the population has a B12 deficiency, vegans and vegetarians combined do not make up 15% of the population, ergo, omnivores make up most of that 15%. And besides, even if vegans had to supplement with B12, so what? Given the sad state of our health courtesy of the Western, diet of affluence (high in animal foods rich in protein and fat), most omnivores could do with supplementing as well and to a much greater degree than vegans would ever have to do.

Please reconsider next time before you carelessly disseminate factually wrong, unsubstantiated information.
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Ann
September 2, 2014 at 12:13 pm

I’ve been vegetarian first 3 years then vegan now for 9. Im very healthy and my bloodtest are perfect. I supplement every couple of months with B12 just to be safe.
Oh and as a belgian I am low in vitamin D, like my entire family and more than 90% of belgian population ,nsince we have little sun, not much hot weather and an indoor culture.
1. Ann
  September 2, 2014 at 12:14 pm
  
  Oh and if you want check out my youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/VegAnns
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jdirt2019
September 5, 2014 at 10:42 am

this broad sounds like a jilted lover. i only eat what my body was built to eat… e.g. my body wasn’t built to eat shit with feathers on it. they’re gross and get stuck in your teeth. my body also wasn’t built to eat things with horns. i’m soft. way softer than in college, which was soft enough.
tanz
September 6, 2014 at 8:41 pm

Hey,

this is not very well researched! “I don’t believe a vegan diet or lifestyle is ecologically sustainable” – this is not true and if you do the math….you will see! “Eating animals” is a good book to get started on this topic.

I´m actually a bit frustrated about this article and I know that a lot of people think Vegans are these annoying people, talking about saving animals and shit all the time. But it´s more likely that you don´t want to be confronted with the truth and you rather sit there eating your steak (pumped up with antibiotics…that´s healthy right? ) in peace. But folks, it is time to become uncomfortable, it´s time to rethink, the way you consume.

Not eating animals means also creating a non-violent way of life. It´s not just about the animals, it´s about equality and respect. I can´t understand people, who love dogs and cats but eat pigs and cows. For people who want to get a picture of the suffering, I can recommend to watch “Earthlings!” and don´t switch it of because you think you already have seen it. You haven´t! And I also attended a slaughtering a “happy” cow the other day (as I was travelling). The cow was grazing day in day and out in the green steppe of the countryside, only eating fresh grass and roaming free. Until the day, her days were counted. First she was strapped to a tree and the rest of the herd was pushed away. At that tree she remained for two hours. Why? Seeing the rest of the herd venture of, the cow started to panic, she could not follow and she was left alone. For the two hours, the cow fought against the tree, trying to pull herself loose to follow her herd. I don´t know what exactly she felt but I could see her eyes wide open in panic. At some point she got tired, this is when the people pushed her on her side and sat on her head, so she was unable to move. Then one guy drilled a whole in the head, to let the blood run out of the brain. I did not count the minutes but it felt like an eternity until her eyes finally went blank and she was dead. Why I´m describing this is because, even if you don´t eat factory-farmed-meat and really pay attention to eating so called cruelty-free-steaks….be aware…killing/slaughter is NEVER cruelty-free.

But the originally subject was: “Health” right, I got a bit lost! “And where do you find these healthy fats? Sure, you get them from coconut, avocado, almonds, and olive oil, but these sources are not always in season, not always convenient to purchase in your area, and are not always present in your diet in a high enough quantity on a given day to meet your body’s requirements to function properly. ” I don´t see why I can´t go into a supermarket and buy a bottle of olive oil and gulp it down in one go (that would be enough fat, I guess). I never saw a sign saying: “olive oil is out of season” and which areas you are talking about. I have travelled a fair bit around the world, also to countries which don´t have western standard supermarkets and believe me in all these “areas” I found either nuts and seeds or even olive oil. And about the quantity? It´s my choice because I prepare the food, right?

Well, I guess enough said. I think this article need an update, Lori. Read some more books (one is not enough, as it reflects just one opinion), articles and maybe talk to vegans in person…about actually how “unhealthy” they really feel.

Good luck with your blog and all the best.
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alice
September 18, 2014 at 6:53 pm

to the author of the article:
do you get money for this piece of propaganda or do you just rely on the most deceptive scources available?
to everyone reading this:
i strongly recommend to browse more sources about this topic – sources, which don’t get their salary from the industry preffered.
a nationally recognized academic institute has proven, that “nutella” from ferrero is healthy and ideal for breakfast – do you want to believe it?
i am a professionel chef and hobby-nutritionist since almost 10 years now and all my knowledge i gathered contradicts the content of this article. It simply seems the author has fallen for the shallow lies of the meat-industry.
Don’t make the same mistake – keep your eyes and mind open – the smartest person is the one, who listens to everyone.
…and to the author again:
if you don’t get paid for articles like this, either…
…get more (reliable) scources or…
…get a job in the industry and make them at least pay you for spreading their lies
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Francis
October 10, 2014 at 8:24 am

It does not matter if you live to 100 years of age being a vegetarian.
All that means is you craved a good meal for 100 years.
” I’m not drooling” syndrome .
So I am a happy omnivore.
Ever notice how nearly all the herbivore animals are placid.
Is this why the vegan diet is being pushed to make us dull and non responsive?
More than likely knowing the media.
Save the bones for henry jones.
Veganhanz
October 10, 2014 at 5:26 pm

What a stupid posting…in order to have meat you must slaughter the animal and there is no humane way to do this. There is not even a debate that meat is wrong, even meat eaters know they are wrong…you should be off meat by now and if you are not then you a jerk. Also, milk or cheese or any other animal ingredient should go too. Read the China Study not that Joel moron, Joel thinks vegetables have feels so he is a nut. There is no cholesterol in vegan food and my dad ate meat and died of cancer and he didn’t even smoke. I smoked like a chimney but still did not get cancer because I am vegan.
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October 10, 2014 at 10:50 pm

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Emily
October 18, 2014 at 2:42 pm

I just love how when you present facts to vegans proving that their diet isn’t as wonderful as they think it is, they get all flustered and pissy. Animals such as cows produce massive quantities of methane and other gasses which are harmful to our planet. Moreover, if we were meant to have “evolved” our diets (as some of you vegans have so eloquently suggested), you wouldn’t need all the vitamins and supplements to keep yourselves functioning normally. We are omnivores; we evolved this way for a reason and attempting to mess with nature never ends well. Do whatever you want with your own heath but don’t try to guilt trip others or con them into becoming what you are.
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Oncevegan
October 20, 2014 at 5:27 am

It’s a subject which reduces people to hateful words towards one another and even the distancing or tie cutting from families. This isn’t perfectly written, it’s a ramble… it’s pure emotion.

I was once a proud vegan animal rights activist. I spent my weekends stopping fox hunts and protesting outside restaurants selling foie gras. All my friends were vegan… It became my life.

I was vegan for 10 years. I did it properly. Or I thought so, is there any way to do a diet properly which requites supplements?

I became pregnant. I focused on my diet consistently, I was eating like a horse. I began feeling dizzy, a normal side effect of pregnancy I thought. I then couldn’t stand up, hold a conversation or see. I had numerous tests done to eliminate any problems. My vitamin levels were perfect however tests were showing that I was starving. I just began eating more foods which filled me up and increased fat intake, nuts, olives, seeds etc. I thought in my hearty it was just the pregnancy and things would improve once I had my son as I had been house bound for months.

I had my son. I was so happy…. But my body wouldn’t let me care for him properly. I was so ill I could barely stand. I would feed my baby a thin water liquid that came from my breasts, he would feed for hours, my nipples bleeding and sore. I never once questioned my vegan diet, my health visitors would look at my cupboards in amazement at the beautiful array of whole foods and nutritionists tell me i’m doing it all right. After 2 years of struggling with my son, trying to be the best mother I could be we try for another baby. I wanted my son to experience having a sibling.. I love my sister dearly and I wanted him to know this bond.

I fell pregnant instantly. I spent most of 9 months in bed.. If i tried to get out of the house I couldn’t walk for more than two houses in distance. Again I was testing for all things under the sun… blood tests, hormone tests, scans, specialist appointments.. M.E clinics and workshops. All were written out. My midwife organised a meeting with me and she told me that if I didn’t drastically improve I would be risking my own life and that of my baby as she didn’t believe I could give birth. This echoed in my mind.

I also changed my diet and tried taking gluten and grains out…. experimented with taking soya out. raw food… endless attempts to become well.

One day 2months before my due date.. I had to take my son to play group. I got a taxi there and somebody carried me up the stairs. I was lying in the corner of the room watching my son play. A woman came and talked to me and asked what was wrong and we began chatting. She had experienced similarites with me and had been vegan and impoved her health my ditching the diet. She was wheelchair bound and had a stair lift, she had a perfect vegan diet.. and was a nutritionist . Now fit and healthy mother of 3.+ meat eater.

This thought spiralled around in my mind. I felt confused, angry and scared. What happens if i lose my child from a stupid IDEA that everybody can have a healthy vegan diet. Where was the proof of this?? There is no proof! It was a huge transition for me. Everything I believed in was crashing around me… The thought of eating dead animal flesh make me want to be sick.

I sought out the most ethical milk. Raw milk. Non homogonised. I ate grass fed beef and within a month I was walking- FAR! I was reading my my son… I was talking to my friends and smiling. I gave birth to a gorgeous girl and my breast milk was white and creamy and my child didn’t spend hours attached to me trying to get goodness that wasn’t there! I enjoyed my baby… I played in the park and ACTUALLY HAVE A LIFE NOW.

I regret being brainwashed so much that I didn’t for one second question my diet sooner. I regret the missed time bringing my son up. Most of all I regret looking down on other people…. I’m sorry. I came to realise what a bitter movement veganism/animal rights can be. The people who disown their own family because they eat meat. The people who saw me struggle and almost give up- Who disowned me. They spend hours talking about their diet as if it is some sort of god. It is a cult. I recieved hateful messages saying my baby should die, where are my morals??? I didn’t try hard enough… All the usual. But my question is this- How do you know I didn’t try hard enough? How do you know that veganism can work for everyone? how do you know all your answers weren’t cherry picked in order to recieve the answer you wanted? I’ve read articals that contradict the last. All I can say is this…. If you have been for all the tests, have had over 40 docs appointmentsin a year, all thescans… If the only thing you can do to actually live a normal life and look after your children is change your diet. You would do anything, you wouldn’t know unless you got to the stage where your partner has to wash you, carry and hold you on the toilet, until your vision has gone so much that everybody looks like a piccasso painting, your life is within four walls and you spend all your time in bed having your food blended up because you are so exhausted you can’t chew… listening to your family downstairs laughing and having fun. i’m 22 years old. I’m living worse than my nan who is 98.

There are beautiful vegans out there who make it work for themselves. Maybe for some it can work? Maybe it’s to do with genetics. If it does work for you.. I’m slightly jealous. I don’t enjoy eating meat, and it has been difficult for me to give up so many strong beliefs. Just remember though… pregnancy is tough and if you ever struggle and have exhausted all options, don;t be afraid to do something for yourself. Being vegan isn’t about being a martyr.
Cat
November 29, 2014 at 5:29 pm

I am new to Asheville and was invited to two vegan dinners over the Thanksgiving holiday. I have been open-minded but since this past weekend, have actually decided to try a more paleo or primal diet because I suffer from severe chronic fatigue that comes and goes. I noticed that trying to eat more grains and veggies left me feeling really hungry all the time and I was eating too many chips and things like that. I still ate eggs and some fish and now I see a need to cut out the grain after this past weekend. I had so many grain and starchy things that I truly felt the full brunt, finally, of my fatigue condition. As well, hardly any of the vegans I saw looked healthy at all and they never stopped mentioning animal mistreatment and the wine was even vegan (meaning not filtered by animal guts) and some fed their canines vegan diets, and I felt some of them were just very extreme and that’s not what I would want in my life either. But mainly, I was really put off to the idea of going vegetarian or vegan when I took in what these people really looked like – some of them have very sallow complexions and they looked pretty wrinkled prematurely some of them….But overall, I didn’t get that sense of glowing health about these folks at all – nor psychological health. They were very obsessive. As for me, I am having to now try something different because trying to eat less meat put me on other foods and I just became more exhausted. I don’t like eating animals at all either, but I really have to see that I can make the best, most humane choices I can – and thank them for giving me the nutrients I probably really need by now. Living with Chronic fatigue is not fun and I got worse on the legumes and grain this and that. This Thanksgiving really showed me how sick it made me.
Simone
January 10, 2015 at 3:57 pm

Guys, guess what: any kind of diet done wrong is bad.
I am a Vegan, I monitor my calories and nutrients intake daily with a diet tracking software, I have gathered a ton of information before going on this diet so I can know what to eat and what not to eat, I take my supplements just in case, I feel great, I’ll start eating fish again if I’ll stop feeling great and see if I’ll feel any better, I exercise a lot because dieting without exercise is dumb, and even dumber is going on a vegan diet and not calibrating it properly, eating junk “vegan” food and maybe smoking a pack of cigarettes while you’re at it.

There is only one point really: respect life. You are life, what you eat is life, the planet is life. Find the right compromise between those three and you have the perfect diet, and much more than that. Yes, we need to accept that death is a part of the life cycle. Eckhart Tolle and the Dalai Lama eat meat, that says something. There is no respect for your health or the lives of other living creatures if you do not eat whole foods, if you buy meat from the meat industry, and if you don’t calibrate your diet properly. A nutrition plan that puts your life in danger is moronic, be it vegan or all about meat. A nutrition plan that puts the environment in danger is equally moronic. A nutrition plan that takes lives unnecessarily, well, you got the drill. Finding the right balance between the three elements is not easy, but that’s the goal indeed. It’s not a race on who’s right and who’s wrong.
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