How Healthy is Vegan?

Vegan diets used to be virtually unheard of a few decades ago. They were considered somewhat radical and quite new age to most people. The vegan diet was restricted to more progressive areas like California and places that have always been in on the fresh and healthy food movement from the beginning.

However, veganism has definitely gone more mainstream in the past ten years, coming to areas of the world that had previously never heard of this “radical” diet.  Why is it considered radical by some? Well, you have to cut out not only meat, but you cut out all animal fats.

This includes cutting out dairy products such as eggs, milk and cheese. You would be shocked to know of all the staple products that we eat as Americans that do not qualify as a vegan food. Even a lot of breads and pastas have some form of eggs in them, so there are often times even special pasta noodles, soups and breads that are vegan friendly.

A lot of vegans swear by their diet. I have actually eaten vegan for week stretches at a time, and I can see the merits of it. I just am not quite so strong willed, and I do eventually need to break down and indulge in some dairy or some meat or other animal fats.

There are definitely some benefits to the vegan diet. For instance, many believe that we stop producing the special enzyme that we produce as infants one year into our life for digesting dairy. Many believe this is the reason that so many adults have issues with digesting and processing dairy products.

Eating a vegan diet also means that you likely would have to dramatically increase your healthier foods, such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.  This would include nuts as well. Vegans just have to be careful that they are getting enough filling protein in their diet, and enough vitamins and minerals as it would be easy to skip the foods that provide these nutrients if one gets stuck on things like special pastas and starches.

Legumes are a great choice, and nuts like walnuts and almonds provide healthy fats as well as healthy protein. Coconut oil is a good choice to cook foods in which can give the healthy fats as well as a filling sensation.  Coconut milk, avocadoes and other nuts are also good sources of protein as well as healthy fats to round out the vegan diet.