A vegan diet is not only good for your health Losing weight Eat more vegetables and your biological age may decrease.
In an effort to encourage people to make the switch, researchers at Stanford University California Discovered volunteers who ate plant-based foods for just eight weeks Signs of aging are reduced compared to people who continued to eat a normal diet.
While there are many benefits to eating more vegetables and generally cutting back on foods like red meat, going vegan is not without potential health pitfalls.
By consuming only plant-based foods, vegans risk missing out on several essential nutrients, such as calcium, iron and vitamin B12, that are abundant in an omnivorous diet. National Health Service Warning!
Not getting enough of these can lead to problems like fatigue, dizziness, palpitations, and even osteoporosis.
Here, MailOnline finds out more about the potential hidden health costs of going vegan and what you can do to avoid them.
Your vitamin B12 intake may be limited…
B12 deficiency is one of the more well-known pitfalls when going vegan.
Vitamin B12 is necessary for maintaining both healthy blood and a healthy nervous system.
Most people don’t need to worry about vitamin C as it’s abundant in meat, fish and dairy products, but vegans may be at risk of a deficiency.
People who are deficient in vitamin B12, or whose red blood cells are underdeveloped and larger than normal. According to the NHS, the medical term for this condition is megaloblastic anaemia.
This can make people feel weak and tired and can cause shortness of breath, headaches, loss of appetite, vision problems, memory problems and other cognitive changes.
Vegans have limited options for sources of vitamin B12, but breakfast cereals and fortified unsweetened soy milk drinks are good sources, the NHS says.
Eating Marmite or other yeast extracts and nutritional yeast flakes are also good ways to get some vitamin B12 as they are fortified with the vitamin.
Vegan omega-3s may not reduce heart disease…
Omega-3, found in oily fish such as mackerel and salmon, is known to support heart health and reduce the risk of heart disease.
In fact, the NHS recommends eating around 140g of oily fish per serving at least once a week to ensure you receive its benefits.
However, on a vegan diet this can be much more difficult.
The NHS has warned that omega-3 fatty acids from plants may not have the same effect on reducing the risk of heart disease as those found in oily fish.
However, there are some vegan-friendly sources of omega-3 that can contribute to a balanced diet.
Flaxseed oil, vegetable oils, chia seeds, shelled hemp seeds, and walnuts are all good sources of omega-3.
However, limiting your salt intake and eating plenty of fruits and vegetables also contribute to your overall heart health.
Make sure you eat your vegetables to keep your bones healthy…
Eating a vegan diet means avoiding milk, cheese and yogurt, which are good sources of calcium.
Lack of calcium, which is essential for maintaining healthy bones and teeth, can lead to rickets (weak and soft bones) in children and osteoporosis (brittle bones) in older adults.
According to the NHS, adults need 700mg of calcium a day, roughly the amount found in 100g of cheddar cheese.
Typically, people get most of their calcium needs from dairy products, but there are also good sources of calcium for vegans.
Green leafy vegetables such as broccoli and cabbage are good sources of calcium.
However, 100g of broccoli contains just 47mg of calcium, so you’d have to eat a lot of it to meet your daily intake.
Other plant-based foods high in calcium include fortified unsweetened soy, pea and oat drinks and tofu, which contain 350 mg of calcium per 100 g.
The NHS also advises vegans to eat sesame seeds, tahini and pulses to boost their calcium intake.
In the UK, eating bread also helps maintain healthy calcium levels, as calcium is added by law to white and brown flour to increase the general intake of the population.
Eating dried fruits such as raisins, prunes, figs and dried apricots is not only one of your five servings of fruit a day, but they are also a great source of calcium.
However, the NHS warns that dried fruit should be eaten with meals, rather than as a snack between meals, to reduce the impact of sugar on your teeth.
Plant-based iron to prevent anemia…
Iron is essential for the production of red blood cells.
If you don’t get enough iron, you risk becoming anemic.
Fatigue, shortness of breath, palpitations, paler skin, and headaches are all telltale signs of iron deficiency.
Vegan diets can be high in iron, but the iron in plant-based foods is not absorbed by the body as well as the iron in meat, so it’s important to eat the right foods.
The British Dietetic Association advises vegans to consume foods and drinks that contain vitamin C, which makes iron from plant sources easier to absorb.
Examples of foods rich in Vitamin C include oranges (both fresh and juiced), strawberries, bell peppers, Brussels sprouts, and potatoes.
According to the NHS, men aged 19 and women over 50 need 8.7mg of iron per day, while menstruating women aged 19 to 49 need around 14.8mg of iron per day.
By comparison, ground beef contains about 5.8 mg per 160g, and lentils contain 4.9 mg per 125g.
According to the NHS, pulses, wholemeal bread, fortified breakfast cereals, green leafy vegetables, nuts and dried fruit are all good sources of iron.
Just because you don’t eat meat doesn’t mean you’re healthy…
Ultra-processed foods (UPF), which are high in fat, salt and sugar, have long been criticised for increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke.
And the plant-based UPF isn’t all that great either.
Vegan Hamburgers, sausage rolls, breaded “chicken,” etc., while good sources of protein, are considered primarily UPF.
By definition, UPFs are foods that have undergone various modifications to extend their shelf life or make them more appealing to consumers, or both.
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An easy sign that a food product is UPF is whether it contains unrecognizable colorants, sweeteners, preservatives or other ingredients you probably won’t find in your kitchen cupboard, product critics say.
Another clue is the amount of fat, salt and sugar lurking in each pack, and UPF often contains high levels of these.
When choosing convenient vegan meals, it’s best to avoid pastries and breaded foods, which are often high in saturated fat.
For example, a Greggs vegan sausage roll contains 18g of fat, 8.7g of saturated fat and 1.8g of salt.
“I think most people assume all plant-based foods are healthy but, just like foods from animal sources, many plant-based foods can contain salt, sugar and saturated fat,” Dr Duane Mellor, dietitian and spokesman for the British Dietetic Association, previously told MailOnline.
“You can also check the front-of-pack label to see how much salt, sugar and saturated fat a product contains to help you make healthier food choices,” he added.
Foods that contain more than 5 grams of heart-harming saturated fat are considered “high saturated fat” and should be consumed in moderation.
That’s because too much saturated fat in your diet can lead to heart disease.
The NHS recommends that men should eat no more than 30g of saturated fat per day, and women no more than 20g.
