Is a vegan diet healthier than eating meat and dairy?

[AlanPater]

I actually listened to the video, short and sweet.

24 November 2021|Fitness

Identical twins Hugo and Ross Turner are adventure athletes that are always trying to find ways to improve their performance.

https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p0b5x2z7/is-a-vegan-diet-healthier-than-eating-meat-and-dairy-

Edited November 27, 2021 by AlanPater

[Deniz]

I'm not a professional dietician or doctor but in my own experience(I tried both 1.5-year carnivore and 1.5-year vegan).

If your goal is bodybuilding, extreme muscle mass, increase testosterone, etc. carnivore diet can be easier but it can cause high Mtor, igf-1 and probably age you faster. In my opinion, if you doing vegan you must do it perfectly, supplementing right and calculating risks. If you don't do it correctly it can cause severe malnutrition in the long term and can be aging you faster. The quality of food is also important.

In my belief, if your goal retard aging vegan-heavy diet is a better option.

[Gordo]

Thankfully there is a pretty simple way to monitor for heart disease progression :

Carotid Intima-Media Thickness Test (CIMT)

So it's pretty easy to see if your diet is likely to lead to the number one cause of death or not. After that it's all about preventing cancer. Processed meat is a known carcinogen. Anything that spikes IGF-1 also fuels cancer if/when you get it. Early cancer detection blood tests are an interesting emerging technology and could help a person further reduce cancer risk. 

 

After you get past heart disease and cancer, well eventually some organ will just wear out or accumulate too much damage and you are dead anyway. At best maybe you can slow the damage by slowing metabolism but take that too far and it's not a great way of living and may even harm one's productive capacity. Probably better to use one's remaining time, energy, and resources to contribute towards technology development that will clear damage and/or replace cells/organs in aging humans. 

[Mike41]

Development of an EAT-Lancet index and its relation to mortality in a Swedish population
 

https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/advance-article/doi/10.1093/ajcn/nqab369/6427338?inf_contact_key=defc54727afb117669da6c14cf1b90ac16358d5485884e2f31e6019a0d26c8b0
 

about as good as your gonna get in dietary studies comparing diet components and mortality.  Bottom line: 25% lower mortality in the group of those who ate the most vegetables, legumes, nuts, fruits and whole grains! Ho Hum indeed!

Edited December 22, 2021 by Mike41

[Saul]

Ho hum means they also get a good nights sleep?

😀

  ---  Saul

 

[drewab]

To me, the question could be further refined. I think it's clear that for most individuals a diet with generous quantities of animal products (even organic and wild-caught) is not as optimal as a whole-food plant-based diet that is free from refined products, added sugar, oils, and salt. I do wonder about how it compares to a diet that is quite similar but that contains say 5% of calories from animal products, but that still contains 50-100g of fiber daily and a wonderful spectrum of plant foods. I doubt the difference is large either way, so it probably doesn't matter. I personally eat a nearly exclusive WFPB diet that is free from refined products, is virtually SOS free, and is nearly entirely organic. I've had very extensive bloodwork and cardiovascular workups and it seems to work very well for me. I've had no deficiencies come up in the 10+ years I've been doing this and I currently supplement with vitamin D and vitamin B-12. Intermittently I supplement with magnesium, zinc, and a few other items, but those 4 are the ones I have taken more regularly. 

So Alan, to answer your question, I suggest you evaluate your own metrics of health and arrive at your own conclusion. What's your answer? (Even if it's just speculation or based on your own experience). 

[Saul]

WFPB means "whole food plant based"; what is "SOS" other than Morse code?

  --  Saul

 

[AlanPater]

5 hours ago, drewab said:

So Alan, to answer your question, I suggest you evaluate your own metrics of health and arrive at your own conclusion. What's your answer? (Even if it's just speculation or based on your own experience). 

Health is absence of illness.

[drewab]

On 12/24/2021 at 4:38 PM, Saul said:

WFPB means "whole food plant based"; what is "SOS" other than Morse code?

  --  Saul

 

SOS stands for salt, oil, and sugar. 

 

On 12/24/2021 at 8:04 PM, AlanPater said:

Health is absence of illness.

That is certainly one definition of health, but to me, the absence of illness doesn't suggest the possibility of thriving and living a great life (as difficult as that may be to define). Having said that, it would be difficult for some people to thrive when experiencing illness. The WHO has a different stance on health and states: Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

I noticed Alan that you didn't attempt to answer my question though. What do you think - is a vegan diet healthier than eating meat and dairy?

[AlanPater]

Yes, drewab, well-being.  You allowed me to recall a post I had on a paper that described it that way.  One might argue that lack of physical, mental and social well-being are diseases.  Agoraphobia is probably a disease to psychologists.  I even do not think old age is a disease, something gives out or it can also be even multi-organ failure.

[Ron Put]

Another argument regarding why vegan is healthier.