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Should you become a vegan?

Becoming a vegan can be a very healthy or unhealthy choice.
It's up to you which one it will be.
 

Very nutritious and super tasty vegan tacos (all made from scratch in less than 1 hour): whole wheat/chickpea flour tortillas, chickpea and veggie filling, sweet potato fries (optional, but very good), pickled cabbage, cilantro, and avocados. You get the fiber, protein, carbs, healthy fats (olive oil), and a variety of veggies with phytonutrients, antioxidants, etc.


Have you heard conflicting info about veganism? Here is the reality:

Veganism can be very healthy if you are informed, disciplined, and follow these guidelines:

  • You must supplement your diet with calcium, B12, and iron (see details below).
  • You should consume 25-50 grams of complete protein every day, which is not difficult at all. More than 50 grams per day comes with health risks (see details below). If you are trying to increase lean muscle mass, you should aim for 75 grams of protein per day, distributed evenly in 3 meals. Here are some simple solutions for complete protein, but more details are below:
    • Any kind of legume: lentils, chickpeas, beans, or soybeans (tofu). Tofu can be added to most dishes or used to make yogurt. Combine legumes with grains (whole wheat is best if you can handle it) to achieve a more complete protein.
    • Quinoa
    • Oats with pumpkin seeds (great for breakfast, especially if you add vegan yogurt)
  • Consume diverse, colorful, whole foods that provide nourishment for your body and your microbiome. Every day, eat as many of these types of foods:
    • Leafy vegetables (lettuces, collard greens, mustard greens...)
    • Cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kale, cabbage...)
    • Legumes (lentils, chickpeas, beans, and soybeans). With some exceptions, these should be soaked for at least 12 hrs, then rinsed well before and after cooking. If you have the time, lentils and chickpeas should be sprouted for 1-2 days.
    • Rice/potatoes/corn/grains. The portions of these should be appropriate for your level of exercise. If you have a sedentary lifestyle, you should eat small amounts, especially for dinner. If you are a competitive athlete, you will need a lot.
    • Other colorful veggies (all cooked to reduce the lectins and inactivate plant viruses): tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, peas, carrots, okra, purple sweet potatoes, beets, turnips, etc.
  • Consume extra virgin olive oil in almost every meal
  • Use herbs (oregano, basil, rosemary, thyme...) regularly
  • Use spices in almost every meal (definitely add cinnamon to your granola)
  • Consume omega 3s daily, via a handful of nuts (especially walnuts and pistachios), chia seeds, or seaweed sheets
  • Eat 1-2 pieces of fruit per day


Veganism can be very unhealthy and lead to malnourishment and illness if you don't follow the above guidelines and/or you eat junk food, such as:

  • White wheat products: pasta, bagels, white bread, donuts, store-bought pastries...
  • Highly processed foods, which include modern vegan burgers.
  • Any food that does not look like it came from a plant
  • Any foods or ingredients that have artificial chemicals: detergents (polysorbate...), preservatives (benzoate, sorbate...), artificial sweeteners, thickeners (guar gum...), etc.
  • Most of the restaurant foods.
  • Deep fried or breaded foods.
  • Sugary drinks
  • Large quantity of fruit juices (more than a cup a day is probably bad)
  • Anything with lots of added sugar, which is now separately shown on the nutrition information, so food companies cannot deceive you. Just go to Trader Joe's and compare craisins with and without sugar.


Here is why you should eat more plant-based foods even if you don't become a vegan:

Is plant-based diet best for everyone?
I don't think this is the case. Given the huge diversity of the gut microbiome in the human population and differences in our genetics, there is no one diet that is best for everyone. However, adding more vegan meals and more veggies/fruits to any diet is certainly good for most people.

Can vegans eat anything that is plant-based?
Unfortunately, probably not. We are still learning about the interactions among diet, microbiome and our immune system, but it's already clear that not all veggies, fruits, and grains are good for everyone. Some people have strong reactions, like food allergies. Others have food sensitivities that can cause many chronic conditions, both physical and mental. The most common reason that some plants, fruits or grains are not good for a person is that they contain ingredients that are harmful to the person, either directly or after microbiome processing. Data-driven, personalized diet recommendations for every person will become ubiquitous very soon.
  

Nutrients that vegans should get from supplements:

Calcium:
Most people should get 500-1000 mg of calcium per day, and women over 60 should get at least 1000 mg per day. Calcium is found in small amounts in vegetables, and larger amounts in fortified vegan foods, such as orange juice, tofu, and non-dairy milks. Unless you are sure you are getting enough calcium from your food, you should consider taking a calcium supplement.

 
https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Calcium-HealthProfessional/


Iron
Most people should get ~20 mg of iron per day (kids need less). As you can see below, beans and dark chocolate have plenty of it, and some other veggies have it too. Again, if you are not sure you are getting enough iron, please consider taking iron supplements.

https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iron-HealthProfessional/


Vitamin B12
Many people know that meat is the only source of vitamin B12. What most people don't know is that B12 in meat was produced by the gut bacteria of animals. Only specific (~20) bacterial species are able to produce B12. Animals do not possess the genes for its production. That is great, because humans also have a gut microbiome, so we should have plenty of B12 made by our gut bacteria, right? Unfortunately, that may not be the case. Before the massive antibiotic use and sterile lifestyles, these bacteria were likely common, but not today. In fact, E. coli and Propionibacterium freudenreichii are the only B12-producing bacteria we have seen in >100,000 stool samples my company has analyzed.

There is now evidence that B12 can be absorbed from the colon, but I still recommend vegans take B12, because the amount of B12 produced and absorbed is uncertain, and it's very easy to supplement.
https://ajcn.nutrition.org/article/S0002-9165(23)66118-0/fulltext
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5282855/
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2019.00048/full
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2017.00368/full
 

Can you get enough protein from a vegan diet?
This is a controversial topic because many people propagate misinformation. Here is some important info:

  • All plants contain the identical 20 amino acids as meat, including all essential amino acids.
  • Meat and eggs have a higher quality protein than plants. However, many plant combinations have very good quality of protein, so eat a variety of plants and you should be fine.
 
 
 This graph shows that many plants have similar ratio of amino acids as chicken and eggs.
 
  • Many plants have non-optimal ratios of amino acids, so you have to combine two different plants and get a more complete protein, similar to meat.
    • One such combination is:
      • Oats (which have less than ideal amount of lysine), and
      • Pumpkin seeds or pistachios, which are rich in lysine.

Amino acid profile of legumes, eggs, and chicken:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6769807/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7142600/
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/12/2272

 

Too much protein may increase the risk of many chronic diseases

Everyone has the ability to digest a certain amount of protein per meal. The rest goes into the colon, where it can be made into potentially harmful chemicals by the gut microbiome. Some of the harmful chemicals produced by colonic protein fermentation are phenylacetylglutamine (PAG), ammonia, cadaverine, putrescine, etc. These may cause systemic inflammation, kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, cancer, etc. In addition, if the protein source comes with lecithins, then the microbiome may produce TMA, which also causes many health issues (via TMAO). The only way to know if your body is fermenting proteins and/or making TMA is to do a functional gut microbiome test.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867420301604
https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCHEARTFAILURE.122.009972
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5084895/
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2020.595759/full

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