Did anyone ever tell you that eating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables will make you grow up to be big and strong? Well, they were right, and now we have a whole lot more science backing us up since the first time you heard that statement. In fact, not only will fruits and vegetables make you healthier as you grow up in to adulthood, it can actually extend your life.
So, here we will take a look at the facts about veganism with an emphasis on newcomers or those who are not completely convinced to give it a try yet. Perhaps you will leave here still unconvinced about the merits of a plant-based diet, but you may learn a thing or two anyway.
Delightful Data on Plant-Based Diets
If you are not already a vegan then there is a very good chance that the usual emotional arguments to stop eating meat have not swayed you. That doesn’t make you a bad person – it just means you want to hear the facts with less hysteria. So, we will go over a few of the benefits here, both to you and the planet, and it’s all backed up by data.
Agriculture contributes more greenhouse gas emissions than all types of transport, and livestock used to produce animal-based foods and products are one of the biggest culprits. This is because more land is needed, along with more water, when rearing animals compared to growing grain. For example, in a 2011 report by The Environmental Working Group and CleanMetrics, it is stated that 27 kg of CO2 is produced for every 1 kg of beef. It’s even worse for lamb (partly because a lot of it is imported in to the US which increases emissions) at 39.2 kg of CO2 for every 1 kg of lamb.
So that’s good for the planet, but what about you? There has been much research done about you in over the last couple of decades as well. In 2008 a study was released by Loma Linda University in California in which they assessed whether there was a difference in the rate of type 2 diabetes in participants who were on different diets. There were over 60,000 participants including vegans, pesco-vegetarians, semi-vegetarians, and non-vegetarians. The conclusion the researchers came to was that everyone else had a lower risk of type 2 diabetes compared to the non-vegetarians, with the strictest vegans having the lowest risk of all.
When it comes to losing weight, there are more studies than you could count about that. One interesting study in particular followed 291 employees from GEICO spread out across 10 of their corporate offices. This 2013 study lasted for 18 weeks, with half of the participants making no changes to their regular diet, and the other half starting a low-fat vegan diet. The results were that the vegans lost more weight (9.5 lbs) compared to the non-vegans (0.2 lbs). The vegans had a higher intake of fiber than the non-vegans, while also consuming less fat and cholesterol.
Supplements for Success
Particularly if you are new to veganism and plant-based diets, you may want to consider supplementing the new food you are eating. There are all kinds of quality plant-based supplements like ashwagandha available to buy online which will help to keep you feeling good and also get enough nutrition while you are still learning how to create the perfect vegan menu for yourself.
Let’s look at vitamin B12 as an example – good sources of this include eggs, meat, poultry, milk, cheese, and so on. But for vegans the sources of vitamin B12 are plant foods, mushrooms, and very few other options. To account for this, many soy-based and other non-dairy foods (such as almond milk drinks) are fortified with vitamin B12, but you could also just take it in tablet form as a supplement.
Tips for Newbies
When you are new to something and just getting in to it you can get a bit overwhelmed with all of the information, statistics, and opinions – some of which will vary wildly from source to source – so we have put together a short list of quick tips for newbies to veganism.
● Be positive – If you start your vegan diet imagining yourself being shackled and sent to prison, because you dread losing your favorite foods, then you will not enjoy yourself and you will be doomed to fail.
● Cook your own food – Particularly in the early stages you should do as much of your own cooking as possible. This is partly so that you’ll learn about all of the new ingredients you’ll be coming across, but also because pre-made vegan food generally tastes terrible.
● Be prepared when traveling – When you are just starting a plant-based diet, you’re going to struggle to find meals when you’re on the go. You’ll get used to it in time and you’ll find the right places to go, but for now you should consider bringing food with you or keeping “emergency” food in your car.
Now that you have some ideas about how beneficial a plant-based diet could be in your situation, and how the vegan lifestyle can be backed up by data, you’ve still got a long way to go in your journey. Luckily for you, there are a lot of resources you can read for free online, plenty of books to buy, and many hours of videos to watch. Or you could always just try to work it out for yourself as you go.
I was diabetic for 13 years and was taking metformin 1000 mg twice daily. Last A1C was 15. My symptoms have always been stomach and bowels. I am a 54 year old male. the metformin wasn’t really working so this year, our family doctor started me on Natural Herbal Gardens Diabetes Disease Herbal mixture, With the help of Natural Herbal Garden natural herbs I have been able to reverse my symptoms using herbs, my symptoms totally declined over a 7 weeks use of the Natural Herbal Gardens Diabetes disease natural herbal formula. My diabetes is totally reversed! Visit their website naturalherbalgardens . c o m I am thankful to nature
Hello Miles and thanks for stopping by and taking the time to share your amazing story. So pleased to hear that you are lucky enough to have a doctor who believes in natural remedies. Perhaps the word is getting out there at long last. Diabetes is a preventable disease and can often be cured with diet and lifestyle changes.
Best wishes for continued good health.
Sandy
Veganism is healthy diet but fortified foods like Marmite or even better vitamin supplements can help vegans take all nutrition they need.
Hi Iraklis,
That’s true but some vegans who are concerned with animal rights do not like to use Marmite because it is made by Unilever and they are heavily involved in animal testing.
Ideally people should get tested for nutritional deficiencies to see if they need to take supplements. Some vegans make sure they take a yeast extract to make sure they get enough B12. It may be more difficult for them to get adequate Vitamin D.
Good health,
Sandy
I changed some of the fruits an started splementing and it made a huge change. I am pre-diabetic and some sugar in fruits was peaking my sugar.
Hello Juan,
Glad to hear that you have had an improvement in your condition. A low carb diet has been proven to help pre-diabetes and diabetes type 2. An interesting experiment by a doctor in England that was shown as a TV programme recently showed a group of 7 patients who were overweight and had health problems like type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure. They ate a low carb diet for 2 weeks and all but 1 lost more than 7 pounds. One man’s type 2 diabetes, which he’d had for for 17 years, was barely detectable after only 2 weeks on the diet. They had to eat less of the “beige carbs” and more what the doctor presenter called “green carbs” found in fruit and vegetables.
Good health,
Sandy
Energy from the sun is consumed by plants only. Plants gives more enegy than protein because it is the primary consumer of energy that comes from the sun. Animals are only secondary. If we eat meat, we only eat a quarter of what the plants consumed. If we eat veggies we are also consuming the energy that detoxify our body.
Hello Jong,
Yes, you are right. Animals eat plants so when we eat their meat we get the sun’s energy as a by-product. Best to get it at source.
It does take energy to detox and that is the reason most detox diets recommend avoiding hard to digest food which would take the bodies energy away from the detoxification function.
Good health,
Sandy
Well said, I only wish it was easier to go Vegan in smaller towns. Where I live our produce is never the best and it the number one product here is beef. I tend to go to a lot of frozen fruits. Its not has good has fresh but it works. I also detox twice a year.
Well frozen is better than none at all if fresh is hard to get. What about vegetables? Do you have to get frozen veg as well? Good to hear you detox twice a year. These days its good to eat a diet that helps to push those detox pathways all the time as we are constantly being bombarded with toxins. Thanks for dropping by.
Good health,
Sandy