Being vegan is trending. PIONEER HEALTH tells you what makes this eating lifestyle so special
What is A Vegan Diet?
It is a complete plant-based diet that includes all meals and beverages made from plant products. It completely eliminates all animal-based products including dairy. Unlike vegetarians, vegans do not consume any dairy or eggs. The vegan diet also aims at eliminating the harm to any living being. A vegan plate is all about excluding meat, poultry, fish and dairy and replacing them with vegetables, fruits, nuts, and grains.
— Dietician Aanchal Agrawal, Healthians
The Good
- Contains reduced saturated fats
- Vegan diet is rich in fiber which aids digestions and leads to healthier bowel movements. Fiber-rich diet helps lower the risk of colon cancer
- Vegan diet is rich in various nutrients like magnesium, potassium, folate, Vitamin C, E & phytochemicals
- Vegan foods are also full of antioxidants
- Helps maintain blood pressure level
- Vegan diet is also popular for its weight loss benefits
- It helps lower the risk of heart diseases
- A vegan diet is helpful in reducing arthritis pain
- A healthy vegan diet is good for the kidneys & recommended for better management of sugar levels
— Aanchal Agrawal
The Bad
Switching to a completely plant-based diet has side-effects like:
- It affects your energy levels, making you sluggish and less active on the switch
- Sudden hunger pangs and intense cravings can come with vegan diet
- Adverse effects can include deficiencies in nutrients like iron, zinc and Vitamin B12
- Arachadonic acid is critical for healthy cell-to cell junctures in the skin and intestinal tract, and for life-saving inflammation response. Best sources are animal fats and organ meats. Vegan diet lacks this necessary nutrient
- Difficulty eating away from home
— Aanchal Agrawal
Why no non-veg
Though diet and disease are invariably related, new researches are proving that the long-term consumption of animal food increases the incidence of many diseases.
Nutritionally, meat, fish, eggs and dairy products do not contain fibre, Vitamin C and iron but are high in saturated fats. To avoid cancer, heart attacks and high blood pressure, we need to eat low cholesterol & high fibre foods.
The feeling of heaviness after a meal is caused because the human digestive system is not able to handle the protein overload of meat products. This results in putrefaction of food which often manifests into indigestion, bad breath, heartburn and foul stools.
Moreover, flesh foods like meat, fish, chicken and others contain naturally occurring toxins due to decaying cells in their flesh. Even eggs and dairy products contain much more pesticide than commercially sprayed fruits and vegetables. Antibiotics and hormones are used to control the levels of disease as well as to contain the animals growing rapidly in confinement. The use of antibiotics in animal rearing results in the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria which poses a health risk to humans.
People eating vegan diets appear to be better at producing as well as using insulin. Muscle cells can come from the fat we eat or the stored body fat. The researches have shown that as the amount of fat in the diet starts getting lower, insulin increasingly starts working better.
— Kajal Bhatia, certified whole food nutritionist
The substitute
Protein
It is very easy for a vegan diet to meet the recommendations for protein. The key is to eat a varied diet. Vegan sources include lentils, chickpeas, tofu, peas, peanut butter, soy milk, almonds, legumes and many others.
One cup of vegetarian baked beans gives you 12 grams of protein!
Iron
Soybeans, dates, lentils, kidney beans, chickpeas, black-eyed peas, black beans, prune juice, beet greens, tahini, peas, bok choy, raisins, watermelon, millet, kale powder are some of the vegan sources.
One cup cooked kidney beans gives you 5.2 mg of iron.
Calcium & Vitamins
Calcium, needed for strong bones, is found in dark green vegetables, tofu made with calcium sulfate, calcium-fortified soy milk, broccoli, celery and orange juice, morringa (drumstick) powder or leaves and many other foods commonly eaten by vegans. Lower animal protein intake may actually reduce calcium losses. Naturally occurring vitamins derived from fruits, vegetables, & botanicals enhance health long-term.
High fiber diet
Go for whole wheat, quinoa, oatmeal, barley, rye, buckwheat and brown rice.
— Vegan Nutritionist Ira Rattan, founder, Vegan India Cooking School
To be or not to be
The milk debate
Recent researches and experiences of many people over the years have shown that avoidance or reduction of dairy milk does lead to a preventative health. It often leads to restoring of clinical balances in disorders like diabetes, hypercholesterolemia and weight gain, Milk also contains the hormones that are produced in the cow due to the artificially induced and prolonged lactation. Many people are unable to digest milk. This precipitates into various symptoms like bloating, outbreaks of acne to name a few.
— Kajal Bhatia
Protein-packed Recipe
Vitamin Elixir
Ingredients
- Urbana kale powder 1 sachet
- Fresh Corrinder 25 grams
- Kiwi 1
- Apple 1
- Amla 1 big
- Lemon juice 1 lemon
Method
- Take corrinder, kiwi, apple, amla and blend it well in the mixer. Add urbana kale power and lemon juice and blend well again.
- Kick start your day with rejuvenating your cellular health
— Vegan Nutritionist Ira Rattan, founder, Vegan India Cooking School
