Pros and cons of Vegan diets

Veganism is a type of vegetarian diet that excludes meat, eggs, dairy products, and all other
animal-derived ingredients. Many vegans also do not eat foods that are processed using animal
products, such as refined white sugar and some wines.

Vegans will also likely avoid the use of all personal and household products tested on animals and
avoid purchasing and using all animal-derived, non-food products, such as leather, fur, and wool.
There is some debate as to whether second-hand animal products, such as a leather jacket from a
thrift store, can be included in a cruelty-free vegan lifestyle or not.

What Do Vegans Eat?

This is perhaps the most common question about veganism. A vegan diet includes all grains,
beans, legumes, vegetables, fruits, and the nearly infinite number of foods made by combining
them.

In addition, many vegan versions of familiar foods are available, so vegans can eat vegan hot
dogs, ice cream, cheese, and non-dairy yogurt, along with the more familiar veggie burgers and
other meat substitute products like vegan chicken recipes. Many foods are associated with
veganism, such as soy milk, non-dairy milk substitutes, and tofu. You certainly don't have to like
tofu in order to eat vegan and you can enjoy any of these foods without being vegan.

Types of vegans

 Vegan: They do not consume animal products or animal by-products like meat, poultry,
fish, eggs, milk/milk products, honey etc. Also, they don’t use animal products like silk,
wool, leather etc for commercial use. In other words, these are individuals who not only
do not eat animals, but who also choose not to use products that come from animals.

 Lacto-Vegetarian: These individuals don’t consume meat, poultry, fish or eggs. But they
readily consume milk and milk products like yogurt, and cheese. Most of the Vegetarians
in South Asian subcontinent fall under this category.

 Ovo-Vegetarian: They avoid meat, poultry, fish and DAIRY. But, allow themselves to
consume eggs.

 Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian: People under this level restricts meat, poultry and fish. However,
they consume egg as well as dairy. This is the most common type of vegetarian across the
globe.
Pros of Vegetarianism:

 Improves colon health: Fibers present in a plant-based vegetarian diet helps to maintain a
healthy colon by improving the good bacteria within it. That’s because fiber is what
helps feed those healthy bacteria. It also helps to clean the colon when supplemented
with optimal water intake. This is Because fiber can act like a chimney sweeper and
remove any excess waste. The risk of colon cancer and constipation decreases with a high
fiber vegetarian diet. On the flip side, meats and poultry takes time to digest and thus
disrupts the natural balance in the body. They also don’t feed the friendly bacteria in our
guts which are required to maintain a healthy gut lining.

 Improves the heart rate: A vegetarian diet can help lower cholesterol, and blood pressure,
aiding in the prevention of heart disease. A vegetarian diet can help to achieve these
benefits as long as it includes food sources with potassium and dietary fiber, such as
vegetables, fruits, legumes and whole grains.

 Reduces risk of Kidney stones: Diet high in animal proteins leads body to excrete calcium,
oxalate and uric acid. These are the major components of kidney stones. A diet high in
animal protein have higher risk of Kidney stones in the world (15% of men and 7% of
women) than diets rich in Vegetarian proteins.

 Reduces risk of Cancer: Vegetarians show up to 40% less chance of developing cancer.
Also, diets high in animal protein were associated with a 4-fold increase in cancer death
risk compared to high protein diets based on plant-derived protein sources (figures based
on 2014 study). The changes of contamination are high among meat eaters, on the flip
side, consuming enough fruits and vegetables as part of vegetarian diet will help to build
up strong immunity and fight cancer cells.

 Lowers risk of Diabetes: Consumption of meat and processed meat increases the risk of
Type 2 Diabetes in both men and women. On the other hand, vegetarian diets rich in
whole grains, nuts, legumes and fibers improves the glycemic control in the people who
already have diabetes.

 Capable of delivering complete nutrition: When Vegetarian meals are optimally planned,
all essential amino acids, vitamins and minerals can be supplied to the body

 Weight loss: Vegetarian diet being high in fiber and low in fat helps one to reduce weight
or at least prevent gaining those extra pounds from the high fat non vegetarian food.

 Helps alleviate World’s hunger: There has been debate about insufficiency of our food
supply if the entire world refuses to eat a primarily vegetarian diet. Grains and vegetarian
food are required to feed animals and rear livestock in order to produce more meat (Over
10 pounds of plant protein is fed to produce one pound of beef). If that food were
diverted for human consumption, world’s hunger can be alleviated.

 Ethical view-point: Merciless killing of animals in the name of producing a food supply is
on the rise. Cutting out animal products from our diet is a gentler kinder way to live as
these warm blooded animals have emotions and can experience stress, pain and fear too.
 The less demand there will be for meat products, the fewer animals will be raised for
slaughter.

 For the sake of Nature: There are negative effects of raising livestock on environment.
They produce more greenhouse gases than cars. Being vegetarian is one way to reduce
carbon footprints and save the planet.

Cons of Vegetarianism:

 Lack of Nutrition: Strict vegans/vegetarians might be missing on some of the nutrients like
Omega 3 fatty acids (crucial for brain function), Vitamin B12, Vitamin D(crucial for bone
health). Meeting protein needs gets hard, too, if meals aren’t planned well. While there
are many good sources of iron for vegetarians, the bioavailability of that is lesser
compared to non- vegetarian sources of Iron.

 May still not be such a healthy choice: Vegetarianism doesn’t automatically mean you
have made a healthy choice as it largely depends on the meal choices one makes. A
vegetarian diet (if majorly relying on sugar, processed food, fries, refined food, high
fructose corn syrup, and carbonated beverages) can possibly be harmful meal choices. An
Oreo cookie is vegan. That doesn’t make it healthy.

 Use of herbicides and pesticides: To improve production of crops and maintain quality.
Numerous chemicals are used in the soil, residues of which can be found in the plant and
can find its way to the human body.

 The Notion that Vegetarians live longer can be a myth: Undoubtedly choosing high
fibrous fresh vegetarian meal is the best choice. Choosing not-so-healthy vegetarian meals
coupled with a faulty lifestyle like excessive smoking, frequent drinking, lack of physical
activity etc., can decrease your life expectancy.