Lots of opinions abound when discussing whether or not to go Vegan. Those that support the lifestyle would tell you that they feel healthier, more energized, and overall better than when they ate meat. Those opposed state that most Vegetarians have trouble keeping a balanced diet, and that if it was good enough for the cavemen, then we shouldn’t look down on the meat. I’m not here to decide for you one way or another which diet is right for you. No matter what your choice of diet, I always say 3 things.
1. Eat a balanced meal
2. Don’t avoid whole macronutrients
3. No two people are the same, so no diet is going to be right for everyone.
The first point is obvious. Balanced meals are necessary for everyone. Our body has multiple needs and consumes great quantities of all forms of food each year. They say that we eat 2.5 million pounds of pizza each year. Not to be outdone we also eat 1.5 billion pounds of peanut butter! Point is that we consume a lot of food, so we need to watch how we are balancing our diet and not just consume a single meal-type each day. Variety is the spice of life they say!
The second point is where most opponents of the Vegan or Vegetarian lifestyle enter. Most Vegetarians are very good at eating all kinds of vegetables, but because complete proteins require multiple types of beans and grains, it can be much harder for a vegetarian to get all the protein their body requires. Not that they will not be getting the amount of protein in grams, but more importantly the specific different types of amino acids.
The body has 9 essential amino acids. They are:
- Isoleucine
- Leucine
- Lysine
- Methionine
- Phenylalanine
- Threonine
- Tryptophan
- Valine
- Histidine
There are 12 ‘nonessential’ amino acids which are:
- Alanine
- Arginine
- Aspartate
- Cysteine
- Glutamate
- Glutamine
- Glycine
- Proline
- Serine
- Tyrosine
- Asparagine
- Selenocysteine.
The difference between these amino acids is simply that the body NEEDS to consume the first 9 no matter what, but the other 12 are not absolutely required in a diet. The first 9 are not synthesized by the body but are taken in from the food that we eat. The fact that these 9 are found in animal products makes people believe that this is the only way to eat a balanced diet. Proponents of the Vegan/Vegetarian lifestyle would point out that you can find these same proteins in vegetables as well, but you just have to do what is called Protein combining.
Protein combining is where we take a vegetable with several of the essential amino acids and combine it with another grain or vegetable that has the rest of those essential amino acids. This does not have to be done at the same time either. According to a study published in the American Society for Clinical Nutrition, “Consumption of complementary proteins at different meals over the course of the day should assure the achievement of an adequate state of nitrogen(protein) retention and utilization. Therefore, an undue emphasis on amino acid balance at each meal is inappropriate in the context of usual diets in healthy populations.”(http://www.ajcn.org/content/59/5/1203S.full.pdf#page=1&view=FitH pg. 8)
The third point I make is simply an extension of everything I have said on this blog so far. You are different than your parents, you are different than your siblings and you are different than your friends. No two people have the exact same needs and so if you are someone who feels like they would like to go Vegan or just doing a short vegetarian diet, make sure that you are fulfilling your body’s needs and not trying to do something that isn’t right for you.
Conclusion
Regardless of if you are Vegan or not, it is important to understand the lifestyle and how it affects your body. For those that feel that it is the right way to live, I urge you to make sure that you are watching what you are consuming and make sure that you are balancing out your diet properly. A quick google search will turn up multiple ways to balance out the grains and vegetables that you are planning to enjoy. Personally I couldn’t give up all meat myself, but during a cleanse, or just to switch things up it is always something to consider.
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