If you are someone who is bothered about the cruelty against the animal, then I am sure you want to give it a try for a vegan diet. By molding yourself to veganism this artilce is all about “Beginners Guide for Vegan Diet”, you will keep farm animals out of the slaughterhouse and see tremendous positive changes in your health.
Nevertheless, the exclusion of meat from the diet itself has a lot of concerns related to the fulfillment of adequate dietary nutrition requirements by an individual, specifically those that come from animal products. This article will guide you toward veganism and provide insights into the topic. You will also learn why to accept veganism and how to start a vegan diet without missing nutrients.
Table of Contents
What is veganism?
Veganism is a pattern of living in which individuals exclude all animals-source and their by-products from their diet and life, whether leather shoes, jackets, or any items made or have the essence of animal slaughtering [1]. In contrast, to multicellular animals, vegans can consume micro-organisms like bacteria and yeast in probiotics or other foods since they are not sentient (the ability to suffer or experience pain).
Most of the time, vegans are confused with vegetarians because of the similarity to eating foods prepared using the ingredient from the plant kingdom. However, vegans are different from vegetarians since they do not eat even dairy products, or eggs, unlike vegetarians, who may or may not exclude them.
One can relate the vegan diet to ethical beliefs, environmental concerns, culture, social values, and, most importantly, immense health benefits.
Why should you choose vegan?
Vegan diet for weight loss
A study conducted on participants of 57 and lower age showed a reduction in BMI, a decrease in the severity of dyslipidemia, and lower blood glucose. Decreasing Body mass in a vegan diet does not demand exercise; instead, change is observed due to a reduction in Fat mass and fat-free mass. The calorie meals and increased fiber intake in vegans also explain weight loss [12].
However, weight loss or lower BMI has been observed in the case of vegans eating whole food plant-based diet mainly including vegetables, seeds (chia seeds, flax seeds, etc.), nuts, whole grains, and beans excluding unhealthy fast-food options available for vegans as well.
Unique health benefits of a vegan diet
A study of 25 omnivores and 21 vegans revealed that people who followed a vegan diet had lower blood pressure, fasting triacylglycerol, glucose concentration, and better biochemical profile of cardioprotective and beta-cell protective. In fact, desk-bound vegans following a raw vegan diet for a very long had endurance comparable to exercisers following the Western diet. They even showed reduced BMI, lipids, lipoproteins, glucose, insulin, and carotid artery intima-media thickness [5, 6].
Most speculated that the same benefits could be obtained with a vegetarian diet. A comparative study between vegetarians and vegans found that although they share a lot of expected benefits, vegan has the better edge in lowering odds ratios for developing type 2 diabetes and the lowest BMI as compared to all diets [3, 4].
Vegan Gut Microbiota: protection against metabolic syndrome
Obesity puts pressure on gut microbiota to harvest increased energy requirements, leading to low-grade inflammation and decreasing Bacteroidetes [7]. The F. prausnitzii is a bacterium that plays a crucial role in protecting against metabolic diseases, intestinal disorders, inflammation, and obesity; hence, it mainly flourishes in a healthy person’s gut. Interestingly, F. prausnitzii abundance was higher in vegans even as compared to vegetarians [8]. The prevalence of beneficial gut bacteria may be associated with the ingestion of plant polysaccharides like Inulin.
Vegan Gut Microbiota: protection against inflammatory diseases
It is widely accepted that a shift to a vegan diet rapidly changes the gut profile. The same was observed in the treatment of Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), where within one month of the adoption of a vegan diet significantly altered the fecal microflora and bacterial cellular fatty acids and change in intestinal microflora within one year of a vegan diet. Nevertheless, change in fecal flora and intestinal flora was linked with improvement in RA activity [9, 10].
Studies have proved that a vegan diet is beneficial in protecting against autoimmune diseases. For instance, a study by an Adventist cohort found that a vegan diet was responsible for a lower risk of hypothyroid disease [11].
How to start a vegan diet: Vegan Foods
As the craze for vegans increases day by day, most people want to be vegan. However, whether to become vegan is a personal decision, chosen in a self-conscious and reflective manner rather than following what was established (in the case of children) [14]. Starting a vegan life is a continuous process and more awareness about the nutrition profile of food.
First, you need to understand you are not just avoiding meat, poultry, fish & seafood, Bee products, and Dairy foods; you are avoiding the nutrient profile essential for your body specifically abundant in these items.
To full fill, the gap and alternative sources of plant-based vegan foods must be included in the diet.
As a replacement for protein from poultry and fish, it is advisable to eat allowed plant-based proteins source Tofu, tempeh, soybean and derivatives, seitan, quinoa, etc.
There are arguments that going vegan deprives you of vitamin B complex, specifically vit. B12, since animal products are the major source. However, the availability of fortified foods such as soy milk, almond milk, nutritional yeast, and Marmite is essentially enough for daily requirements.
For fulfillment f other Vit B complexes, you can intake whole grains, cereals, and pseudo cereals, which are also the source of complex carbs, fiber, and several minerals.
Iron deficiency can be problematic for both vegans and omnivores, therefore, regular check is essential. Don’t be thrilled, since having an adequate amount of iron in your diet is quite easier with the inclusion of kale, spinach, black treacle, dried apricots, nuts, tofu, legumes, and so on.
Although Dairy products rule over calcium, a substantially large number of sources can provide calcium, for example, broccoli, kale, grains, and fortified dairy substitutes.
Most of you might have questions about leaving fish products; from where to get Omega-3 fatty acids and other good fats? Thankfully, we have a wide range of seeds and nuts like Chia seeds, flax seeds, and almonds hazelnuts to shower you with omega-3-fatty acids.
The Sprouted and fermented plant-based vegan foods like Ezekiel bread, tempeh, miso, natto, pickles, Kimchi, etc., provide probiotics, vit. K2 and improve mineral absorption.
Before becoming vegan thorough knowledge of alternate, plant-based sources of all macro- and micronutrients will save you from being deficient which may become the reason for disease. Another essential factor you need to know is that you are turning to a better lifestyle thus, you need to avoid the fast-food option available and opt for healthy whole-plant-based vegan foods sources.
Limitation of Vegan diet
Despite the immense benefits of a vegan diet in terms of a healthy gut, prevention of disease, and obesity, an increased tendency to binge eating is observed. The study showed that pathologically vegans displayed a higher affinity towards binge eating than Omnivores, which was speculated as cognitive restraint from eating meat. Even though, body dissatisfaction levels were higher in Omnivores than in vegans [13].
Conclusion
As we all know, the cause of 90% of disease is associated with gut and obesity; however adoption of vegan provides a unique regulated gut profile which is the cause of reduction in inflammation, obesity, metabolic syndrome, insulin signaling, and atherosclerosis. One might be motivated by the health benefits of vegan to try veganism, but before beginning with the diet plan, is sure to have strong willpower to ban meat from your life and open the door for healthy plant-based foods.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Is a vegan diet healthy?
Without any doubt vegan diet is super healthy since it repairs your body and changes the gut microflora composition by increasing the abundance of beneficial protective bacterium, thereby protecting against many chronic diseases.
Is a vegan diet expensive?
Consumption of plant-based vegan food is not expensive at all, such that during the conversion to vegan, people tend to eat a lot of processed versions of vegan foods like vegan burgers, vegan brats, etc. Instead, one can cook a vegan diet with simple, inexpensive ingredients available in the nearby market.
Is diet coke vegan?
According to Coca-Cola UK, they don’t use any animal derivatives in most drinks. Also, according to the Coca-Cola USA website, they do not use carmine as a dye eventually extracted from the scale of insects in diet coke. Hence, it may be drunk by vegetarians and vegans. Disclaimer: Please check the label of other Coca-Cola products since they may or may not contain carmine if you are a vegan.
Can a vegan diet cause weight loss?
First of all, veganism is not a diet plan in which you will opt for a few days to lose weight; it is a pattern of living that you will follow for the rest of your life if you begin. However, a study by Gabrielle et al., 2016 found that vegan diet followers have low body mass indexes. And the same was proven in randomized trials where the participants on a vegan diet lost more weight than other plant-based diets [2].
