After recently reading about various celebrities jumping on the vegan band wagon, such as Brad Pitt, Beyonce and Vivienne Westwood, which they are calling Veganuary, this latest diet fad kinda scares me. This is because this diet does not always suit all and those it may suit invariably get it wrong, (as it is fairly easy to get wrong) and end up deficient in vitally important vitamins and minerals. Don’t get me wrong a huge portion of the diet is really healthy. What diet that focuses around fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds and pulses isn’t healthy? You are sure to be topped up on antioxidants and a lot of the vitamins and minerals, but you may be lacking in omega 3 (as this is poorly absorbed from nut/seed sources), protein (as many of the good sources of protein come from eggs, fish, poultry or red meat and again may be easily absorbed from these sources), iron (which is best absorbed from meat sources) and B12 (which is obtained also from only eggs, fish dairy and meat products). I get that so much of the farming industry today is unethical due to the way animals are treated, the meat, dairy products, or eggs are full of hormones and antibiotics and the quality of the meat is actually far from what it used to be in terms of omega 3 content, as it comes from corn fed sources, or worse, instead of being grass fed, so it’s not surprising more and more people are turning to veganism or vegetarianism. However, if you are going to cut so much out of your diet you need to make sure you are supplementing with the right things to replace any of the nutrients lost through following this diet. If you are supplementing with a well absorbed form of iron, B12, omega 3 and vegan source of protein, such as a protein powder to increase your intake of these you will should fine! If not then please consider this if you are already a vegan or thinking of becoming a vegan! Some people despite supplementation may well still feel not quite right on this diet, as you may be one of those people that need just that little bit extra protein, so if it’s not through ethical choice and through a fad alone, in this case I would give up veganism! If it is a life choice, then just make sure you stay healthy on this diet!
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