I'll be honest. I'm not a vegetarian or a vegan but...

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Going vegan is easier and healthier than you'd think

by Zach Subar - 27/09/07


I'll be honest. I'm not a vegetarian or a vegan, but when it comes down to it, I can't think of many good reasons to eat meat other than the taste.

Let's face it, when we eat meat, we are consuming animals that were once breathing, living and, in all fairness, never really deserved to die. It's so inhumane and so viciously cruel that in a time and a city where there is so much food to be had, this act of slaughter seems so very primitive.

I hear your protests. We're at the top of the food chain, right? It's our right to eat the animals below us, like cows and pigs. Isn't that the reason they even exist in the first place? Please. Being the exceptionally smart humans we are, we have the capabilities to procure for ourselves other types of food that haven't been slaughtered just for the sole purpose of being eaten. In New York City - the city of imported Mauritian sugars and restaurants devoted entirely to peanut butter - we, especially, have the power to do this.

It's the other common argument against vegetarianism - that the diet doesn't provide enough nutrients to allow you to lead a healthy life - that I want to address here. Is it possible to have a balanced diet without eating meat products?

Having a balanced diet might, on the surface, seem hard enough. So for a vegan - someone who eats no animal products whatsoever, including dairy and eggs - it might seem damn near impossible. Common thought would dictate that many nutritional odds are stacked against vegans, and that is what intrigues me so.

Don't forget that meat on its own is a great source of iron, and for most individuals, the only source of the vitamin B12, a nutrient that plays a crucial role in maintaining a healthy nervous system. But not only is meat off-limits to vegans, so is calcium-rich milk, cheese and yogurt. Eggs, which are high in protein and nutrient content, are gone. Forget ice cream - you wouldn't even be able to go and remind yourself of what a spoonful of Chunky Monkey tastes like.

But, to my surprise, if you're willing to put in a little bit of time and effort, a vegan diet can be nutritionally plausible.

Many of the very same dairy products that provide us with the calcium our body needs also have high amounts of saturated fat (an unhealthy type of fat). Not eating these foods can often make it easier for vegans to eat less fat than their nonvegan counterparts. Avoiding eggs and red meat also helps eliminate common sources of cholesterol.

As for the nutrients that vegans may be missing (such as iron and calcium), a 2005 study, titled "Nutritional Adequacy of a Very Low-Fat Vegan Diet," found that vegans, with enough attention to detail, are able to consume the vast majority of significant nutrients that the body requires.

By eating a diet very similar to the one the USDA recommends in its food pyramid - replacing dairy and meat with two servings of a fortified soy protein beverage per day - participants were able to consume enough of all the important nutrients with the exception of vitamin D (a nutrient found in fortified milk products and absorbed in ultraviolet sunlight). Because of this, the study recommended participants take a vitamin D supplement if they were not getting enough sun.

Also, dark, leafy vegetables, such as broccoli and kale, are good sources of calcium and iron, so you can potentially make up for calcium deficiencies. Whole grains, such as whole wheat bread and pasta, also provide some calcium.

Eating vegan can certainly be a burden at times. For example, when dining out, the smallest sprinkle of parmesan cheese on an otherwise vegan dish of pasta primavera is enough to make it forbidden.

Then again, there is plenty of peanut butter, falafel and stir-fry out there to be had. While not always the most convenient, vegan food really isn't that hard to find. If you're willing to be committed to the vegan diet, it can be healthy without requiring you to take too many vitamin supplements (which the body can't absorb as well as food). However, vegans should continue to take at least a B12 supplement, since the vitamin is only found naturally in meat products.

It's very easy to not be a vegan. That's why, up to this point, I've never been one. I like the taste of meat, and when I eat it, I know protein and iron are entering my body. But the sheer inhumanity of the whole process - from the conditions in which animals often have to live to the basic idea of killing another creature - are enough to make me want to switch. And now I know that going vegan can even be healthy.

You should think about it, too.


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