Veganism

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==Claims==
 
==Claims==
  
Vegans make many claims about the health benefits of removing animal products from ones diet. These include reversing cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and other ailments. Scientific literature can substantiate many of these claims, such as the reversal of coronary artery disease<ref>[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7500065 "A strategy to arrest and reverse coronary artery disease: a 5-year longitudinal study of a single physician's practice"]</ref> and increasing insulin sensitivity<ref>[http://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343%2805%2900279-2/abstract "The effects of a low-fat, plant-based dietary intervention on body weight, metabolism, and insulin sensitivity"]</ref> through the adoption of a vegan diet alone. Foods such as eggs, meat and dairy products have been consistently shown to decrease a person's health proportional to the quantities consumed; the large amounts of fat and cholesterol in these foods as well as a lack of antioxidants and other factors increases the risk of disease. As with any diet, consideration must be given to ensure adequate intake of vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin B12 which is absent from plant foods.  
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Vegans make many claims about the health benefits of removing animal products from ones diet. These include reversing cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and other ailments. Scientific literature can substantiate many of these claims, such as the reversal of coronary artery disease<ref>[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7500065 "A strategy to arrest and reverse coronary artery disease: a 5-year longitudinal study of a single physician's practice"]</ref> and increasing insulin sensitivity<ref>[http://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343%2805%2900279-2/abstract "The effects of a low-fat, plant-based dietary intervention on body weight, metabolism, and insulin sensitivity"]</ref> through the adoption of a vegan diet alone. Foods such as eggs, meat and dairy products have been consistently shown to decrease a person's health proportional to the quantities consumed; the large amounts of fat and cholesterol in these foods increases the risk of disease. As with any diet, consideration must be given to ensure adequate intake of vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin B12 which is absent from plant foods.  
  
 
Many vegans believe that the early human diet was a plant based diet. The diets of human ancestors were primarily based upon plants for much of their evolutionary history (Australopithecus and early Homo species) although diets varied across regions, with some populations consuming more animals than others. Study of strontium/calcium ratios in skeletons<ref>[http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047248485710202 "Strontium calcium ratios (Sr/Ca) and strontium isotopic ratios (87Sr/86Sr) of Australopithecus robustus and Homo sp. from Swartkrans"]</ref> show that the niche of early Homo species may have included exploitation of underground plant resources such as starchy roots and tubers, contradictory to the prevailing belief that meat was a universally present component of the diet. Although physiological comparisons of humans and other hominid species suggest that there is an increased adaptation for the digestion of meat (e.g. longer small intestine) in humans, these adaptations are not large enough to support a large consumption of meat; and dairy products were entirely absent from the adult human diet for the entirety of its evolution, until recently, with the domestication of cattle and other animals.
 
Many vegans believe that the early human diet was a plant based diet. The diets of human ancestors were primarily based upon plants for much of their evolutionary history (Australopithecus and early Homo species) although diets varied across regions, with some populations consuming more animals than others. Study of strontium/calcium ratios in skeletons<ref>[http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047248485710202 "Strontium calcium ratios (Sr/Ca) and strontium isotopic ratios (87Sr/86Sr) of Australopithecus robustus and Homo sp. from Swartkrans"]</ref> show that the niche of early Homo species may have included exploitation of underground plant resources such as starchy roots and tubers, contradictory to the prevailing belief that meat was a universally present component of the diet. Although physiological comparisons of humans and other hominid species suggest that there is an increased adaptation for the digestion of meat (e.g. longer small intestine) in humans, these adaptations are not large enough to support a large consumption of meat; and dairy products were entirely absent from the adult human diet for the entirety of its evolution, until recently, with the domestication of cattle and other animals.

Revision as of 08:50, 3 December 2012

Veganism is a lifestyle, or to some a philosophy, that aims to minimize the exploitation of animals as much as possible. As such it is a subset of vegetarianism.

Vegans go beyond conventional vegetarianism, which is a matter of diet, and will not wear leather, for example. Some even won't wear wool or silk. Vegans also typically go much further than vegetarians in their diets, eschewing, for example, honey, which is an animal product (from bees), as well as dairy-derived products such as whey and casein which can be found in many vegetarian foods. As with many ideas, individuals must still make their own judgments about where to draw the lines.

"Freegans" are a related sub-group of fussy eaters. Many are vegans who will not buy anything containing animal products - but may not have such an issue with eating or wearing them if they are thrown away or in second-hand stores. The motivation here appears to be unwillingness to financially support the animal agriculture industry while at the same time making sure nothing already derived from it goes to waste.

Contents

Claims

Vegans make many claims about the health benefits of removing animal products from ones diet. These include reversing cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and other ailments. Scientific literature can substantiate many of these claims, such as the reversal of coronary artery disease[1] and increasing insulin sensitivity[2] through the adoption of a vegan diet alone. Foods such as eggs, meat and dairy products have been consistently shown to decrease a person's health proportional to the quantities consumed; the large amounts of fat and cholesterol in these foods increases the risk of disease. As with any diet, consideration must be given to ensure adequate intake of vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin B12 which is absent from plant foods.

Many vegans believe that the early human diet was a plant based diet. The diets of human ancestors were primarily based upon plants for much of their evolutionary history (Australopithecus and early Homo species) although diets varied across regions, with some populations consuming more animals than others. Study of strontium/calcium ratios in skeletons[3] show that the niche of early Homo species may have included exploitation of underground plant resources such as starchy roots and tubers, contradictory to the prevailing belief that meat was a universally present component of the diet. Although physiological comparisons of humans and other hominid species suggest that there is an increased adaptation for the digestion of meat (e.g. longer small intestine) in humans, these adaptations are not large enough to support a large consumption of meat; and dairy products were entirely absent from the adult human diet for the entirety of its evolution, until recently, with the domestication of cattle and other animals.

Benefits

  • Much lower in saturated fat and a lack of dietary cholesterol.
  • No animals were harmed in the making of your meals, clothes, etc.
  • Vegetables require less water than animals (liters of water used in production/kilogram of food).
  • Some estimates place the contribution of livestock on greenhouse gas emissions at 51%[4].

Criticisms

It is known that vegetarian diets, that still contain animal products, have some health benefits, although it can be argued that such studies are not internally valid. However, vegan diets do remove vital nutrients from the diets of practitioners. Among the many subgroups of vegetarianism, vegans are especially at risk for nutritional deficiencies:

  • Vitamin B12 deficiency leading to anemia and/or neurological problems[5]
  • Iodine deficiency leading to thyroid problems [6]

It is therefore essential that vegans include a vitamin B12 supplement into their lifestyle (nutritional yeast, for instance) to prevent deficiency, and that they consume foods high in iodine such as seaweed or use iodised table salt.

In 1926, Minot and Murphy found that a man was cured of pernicious anemia with liver extracts, a discovery for which they received the Nobel Prize for medicine in 1934. Ricke and Smith isolated crystalline vitamin B12 in liver extracts in 1948. Vitamin B12 (Cyanocobalamin) is a vitamin that is synthesized in nature only by microorganisms. It is necessary for animals and is present in every animal tissue at very low concentrations (1 ppm in the liver). A B12 deficiency causes pernicious anemia. The need for vitamin B12 in some animals is covered by taking or absorption of vitamin B12 produced by gut microorganisms. But humans only get vitamin B12 from food, since vitamin B12 synthesized by microorganisms in the intestine cannot be assimilated.

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. "A strategy to arrest and reverse coronary artery disease: a 5-year longitudinal study of a single physician's practice"
  2. "The effects of a low-fat, plant-based dietary intervention on body weight, metabolism, and insulin sensitivity"
  3. "Strontium calcium ratios (Sr/Ca) and strontium isotopic ratios (87Sr/86Sr) of Australopithecus robustus and Homo sp. from Swartkrans"
  4. "Livestock and Climate Change"
  5. "The electroencephalogram in veganism, vegetarianism, vitamin B12 deficiency, and in controls"
  6. "Iodine intake and iodine deficiency in vegans"
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