Veganism: Healthy, or harmful?
There are many reasons that make people choose the vegan lifestyle: some do it for the sake of keeping their food free of bad karma, some commit for the sake of the planet, others simply because they find the way people treat animals cruel, and choose not to be a part of that in any kind of way. While these are without a doubt, all noble reasons, the question of health when it comes to not eating any sort of animal product, has still not been answered in full, vegans claim, that their way is the healthy way. Most supporters of the vegan lifestyle point out that animal product free diets are high in fiber, rich in nutrient, free of cholesterol, and low in fat. Not eating animal fat reduces your chances of encountering specific health problems, among them being diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, and heart disease. Animal fat has also been linked with causing several kinds of cancer. However, although the vegan diet indeed reduces health risks in some instances, it also raises a whole other chapter of medical issues. A friend of mine who is currently working a locum doctor job warns us, that even the most well-informed vegans, are very likely to be faced with malnutrition at one point. According to them, vegan diets are causing minor health problems, that often tend to fly under the radar, until they become serious. There are substances in animal foods, that are impossible to replace with anything else, and this is why critics believe, that a vegan diet is just as unhealthy as a diet, that is based on too much meat, if not even more so.The ball on this issue has been passed back and forth for many years now, with the answer not feeling any closer now than it has at any point. Fact is, that if the entire population would decide to go vegan, we could feed the entire world population much better than we are at the moment, simply because we would get more food, for the same price. Another fact is, that in a world where 90% of the developed world eats too much salt, and refined sugar, saturated fats, artificial colors, and all kinds of E’s are praying for us right out of the packets which contain our food, going all natural seems like a clever way to quickly eliminating all poison that is being fed to us by the food industry. However, the human body is designed to process meat at least once in a while, and it is a very solid question to ask if cutting out all animal products isn’t a potentially harmful thing to do. One thing is certain: it surely isn’t the easiest. Just think of going vegan for a moment. Now think of all the ice cream you can’t have. Ever again. To me, that is reason enough to admire vegans, and their will power. As for the consequences of their actions, I’m sure time will tell who is playing on the right team: the vegans, the meat eaters, or those who eat a balanced diet of everything. My money is on the latter.