093_Should Everyone Eat a Vegan Diet? - Pros and Cons | The Game Changers

Of increasing popularity is the adoption of a vegetarian or “plant-based” diet due to health concerns as well as those wishing to take a higher level of responsibility for the environment as well as the treatment of animals.   In this episode, I want to discuss several things with you that are worth considering when making this kind of lifestyle change as well as some (hopefully) helpful educational, nutritional and supplemental strategies to help aid you in your journey, including:   - What’s the difference between vegetarian, vegan, and plant-based? Is one better than the other? - What merit does the “Game Changers” movie have with respect to the benefits of being vegan and what did they get terribly wrong? Who benefits from a movie like this? - Do vegetarians live longer than omnivores? - Vegetarian diets and muscle building, strength, and athletic performance. - Are animal proteins and plant proteins created equal? - Establishing protein goals for vegetarians.   - What nutrients/micronutrients are missing in a vegan diet? - How to supplement a vegan diet   - What (in my opinion) is a valid reason to make the switch and what is not and how we can stop arguing over nonsensical ideologies.   Let’s start with the basics: Terminology (Most to least restrictive)   Veganism: The strictest vegetarian diet. Excludes ALL animal products from the diet, including food products derived from animals (for example: milk, eggs, and in some cases honey). Some vegans even avoid using animal products made from leather or wool and avoid plants that are not organically grown.   Lacto Vegetarianism: “Lacto” means “dairy,” and this variation thus includes milk products, but no eggs or meats of any kind (fish, poultry or red meat).   Lacto-Ovo Vegetarianism: “Ovo” means “egg,” which is why egg products, but no meat, is included in this vegetarian variation.   Pesco-Vegetarianism: Are similar to lacto-ovo vegetarians, but also eat fish and crustaceans.   Semi-Vegetarianism or “flexitarianism”: Occasionally consume meat, but try to choose vegetarian options when possible. Some flexitarians exclude red meat completely, but still eat chicken and fish.   Plant-Based: Plant-based or plant-forward eating patterns focus on foods primarily from plants. This includes not only fruits and vegetables, but also nuts, seeds, oils, whole grains, legumes, and beans. It doesn’t mean that you are vegetarian or vegan and never eat meat or dairy. Rather, you are proportionately choosing more of your foods from plant sources.   Vegetarian Diets and Health: Do Vegetarians Live Longer than Meat-Eaters?   Vegans and vegetarians are probably some of the most health-conscious people on the planet - they tend to have a higher education, exercise more, sleep more, smoke less, and drink less alcohol. This also means that when you compare these people to the general U.S. population of non-vegetarians (less educated, less active smokers), avoiding meat is but one of a myriad of differences between them.   Observing differences in health outcomes is relatively easy but determining the cause of those differences is virtually impossible because of the confounding variables (education, exercise, smoke less, drink less alcohol, etc…).   But when adjusted for lifestyle, it turns out that the vegetarian diet doesn’t make us live longer. A 2017 meta-analysis looking at observational data from 130,000 vegetarians and 15,000 vegans, comparing them to a control group of non-vegetarians, reached this conclusion. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26853923)   Another major problem with this type of comparison is generalizing about what a “meat-based” diet constitutes  - which in reality is comparing vegetarian diets to the Standard American Diet (SAD) Diet.   Let’s take a look at the top 10 sources of calories in the US and you tell me if you think it’s the meat that’s the problem:   Grain-based desserts (cakes, cookies, donuts, pies, crisps, cobblers, and granola bars) Yeast breads Chicken and chicken-mixed dishes Soda, energy drinks, and sports drinks Pizza Alcoholic beverages Pasta and pasta dishes Mexican mixed dishes Beef and beef-mixed dishes Dairy desserts   Now despite the fact that everything on this list tastes fantastic, it’s easy to see how there’s far more, from a dietary perspective, to the sickening of the American population that just a meat-based diet.   I’d argue that doing literally anything but the SAD diet would positively impact health and longevity, with going more “plant-based” certainly being one of those things… but also low carb, keto, Mediterranean, the banana diet, the potato diet, the Atkins diet, etc… because all of these diets would effectively eliminate one or multiple of the calorically dense and potentially nutritionally void food of the foods or beverages that I just mentioned.   The problem is that when you have so many variables that can and do change—often simultaneously—when leaving the SAD, it is very difficult to determine what the actual health effects are coming from, probably because it’s coming from some combination of all of the dietary and lifestyle changes, i.e. in the case of transitioning from a SAD diet to a plant-based diet, one would start to eat more vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, and nuts and seeds. They eat less refined carbohydrates, sugar, and saturated fat. They exercise more and may put more of an emphasis on stress management as well as social support. During the transition, they may quit smoking, quit or reduce the consumption of alcohol, and focus more on getting adequate sleep. While we could debate the evidence for and against each one of these interventions, the point is that there are many changes taking place, in addition to cutting out animal products, that are consistent with what many people believe to be healthy living.   So tell me why we need to be looking at this in black or white?   Because of these two points that I have the biggest problem with the way the Game Changers movie represents itself. Certainly it’s not with the diet itself but because the movie references subpar and often inaccurate science to mislead the viewer in a dogmatic and ideological way when there’s clearly nuance and a healthy balance to be considered.   I think it’s great that it’s helping motivate people to want to lead healthier lifestyles but I’m vehemently opposed to using biased viewpoints and politically and financially charged dietary drama (probably to help feed Netflix views) to push an agenda on us when it’s so difficult to know what’s right or wrong for us with the scope of the nutritional landscape as it is.   If you’re interested in a reference that debunk many of the Game Changers Health Claims, check out the references below because I’m just not going to waste my time on the idiotic claims made.   Vegetarian Diets and Environmental Impact:   I’m actually not going to dive into this. It’s terribly complex, extremely emotionally fueled  - understandably so - and definitely not my area of expertise nor something I’m really interested in examining.   Here’s my opinion and what I can say:   I think that commercially raised, farmed, and slaughtered, meat is a problem. Particularly, I’m referring to Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) - industrial-sized livestock operation. They grossly mistreat their animals, feed them a diet that’s not conducive to health which affects the quality and health of the meat, use tons of antibiotics and hormones, and are massive contributors to global pollution, through both our water and air.   If it was that or being vegan, I think we’d be better off going vegan.   But, fortunately, there’s a lot that we can do choose a healthier way of eating for ourselves, the animals, and the environment.   Eat less meat - Meatless Monday - and implement more intermittent fasting Choose meats from local farms that are sustainably farmed and fed on pasture. Hunt your own meat (see my friend Curtis Jackson’s hunting academy: ) Use higher protein non-meat foods, like beans, lentils, and chia seeds as nutrient-dense sources of protein   If you’re passionate about this topic and want to learn more, I’d suggest following Diana Rogers - @sustainabledish (https://www.instagram.com/sustainabledish/) on IG as a resource to better understand the role of...