It would be nice if that were true I guess; that veganism was somehow the 'fountain of youth'. It's something that I've seen repeated a lot by both vegetarians and vegans, as well as on some 'green living' websites. In this post I'll go through the studies that have been done on vegetarians, vegans and how long they live, as well as look at some of the possible reasons for the findings.
This is one that I bet we've all heard, or that perhaps you've said. Vegans are often accused of not getting enough nutrients, looking 'sickly' and pale and 'in need of a good steak'. As it turns out, vegans are actually able to get all the nutrients they need from plants. Except for B12, which I'll explain soon.
Veganism has been around for decades and there are people who have been vegan and healthy for decades. Plant-based diets have been looked at by the Dietitians Association of Australia (n.d.) and found to be healthy if planned correctly. There are, however, concerns and things to think about when moving on to a plant-based diet in regards to absorption, availability and more. In this post I'll cover iron, essential fatty acids, B12, calcium and vitamin D. Sometimes I wonder if the people who say this have never seen all the vegan cookies, cakes, burgers, fries, brownies, icecream and other 'junk food' that are plant-based. It's entirely possible to eat a plant-based diet and be fat. There's a lot of amazing food out there and some people like to eat a lot of it, and that is okay! Some people don't even need to eat a lot of it in order to be fat; there are many different things at play in a person's body and lifestyle that will have an effect on their body size and composition. And guess what – they don't owe anyone an explanation for their fatness.
I think part of the reason that people say that a plant-based diet will make you skinny is because we have an idea in our heads that skinny equals good and healthy. Diets and looking thin are constantly pushed by many forms of media; websites, magazines and tv shows (see Figure 1). There are even some famous celebrities, such as Kelly Osbourne and Alanis Morissette, who have tried a plant-based diet in order to lose weight. It turns out though, that you can be thin and unhealthy, unfit, undernourished and have a terrible personality. Thin does not equal good. |
Vegan Myths
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