healthy vegetarian diet

when i ask my vegan friends why they’revegan, they often say for health reasons. actually, they often say ohmygod, how canu eat meat you heartless savage?! and then they sometimes tack on ‘healthreasons’. but when i ask my other friends why they’remeat eaters, they also say for health reasons. most meats are high in iron, full of protein,and animal products contain things like zinc

healthy vegetarian diet, and calcium. so is a vegan diet actually good for you? is a vegan diet healthier than a regular diet? [sciq intro]

it doesn’t get much more extreme than avegan diet: well, there are fruitarians but that’s just like – crazy. whether for ethical reasons, religious reasonsor any other reason, the health aspects of any diet need to be fully understood beforetaking them on. so, are there any health benefits to beinga vegan? well yeah, there are actually a ton of healthbenefits, like healthier gut microbiota these microorganismslive in our intestines are are vital to digestion, vitamin production and even our immunity. since the cholesterol in food only comes fromanimal products, vegans are inherently cholesterol

free: and don’t worry about that “goodcholesterol,” a healthy body produces it just fine on it’s own. vegans also have a lowered risk of ischemicheart disease & cancer, though not cardiovascular disease. women are said to have easier menopause andmost report lower levels of stress and of course there’s the weight loss somethinga lot of americans struggle with. so by that account vegan diet seems prettyawesome! and nowadays, you don’t really have to sacrificea lot in flavor: we hardly rely on seasonal foods anymore and quality vegan meals justget easier and easier to come by.

so, why aren’t we all vegans??? well now, let’s look at some of the downsides – actually – there’s mainly just one – vitamin and mineral deficiency. now, frankly, this is something that manyomnivores have and can be easily rectified in most cases. truth is, we could all benefit from takinga good look at our diets and figuring out what we need to add or subtract. a vegan or anyone considering a diet changeshould totally get a blood test to see what they are lacking in, and adjust accordingly.

many vegans lack in vitamin b-12 and d aswell as calcium, iron, zinc, and omega-3 fatty acids. but its ok, you can find most of these vitaminsand minerals in vegan foods, for example, calcium is found in white beans, squash andjust about all leafy greens which are also a great source of iron, as are peaches, beansand dried fruit. as you no doubt remember from our “gluten-freevideo,” zinc is found prominently in whole grains like wheat and rye, so therefore alsoin cake, bread, and pasta - my favorite foods. as for omega-3, if you’re still worryingabout those, you need to watch our video on fish oil and get you some knowledge.

you might be asking why a video on vegan diets. well i got inspired to check it out afterwatching my hero arnold schwarzenegger advertising eating less meat, as a way of combating climatechange. i didn’t want to believe it was true sincewhere i was born, in australia, being a vegetarian is basically a federal crime. but overall i was pretty shocked to see thata vegan diet can be a healthier choice, especially if you really monitor your vitamin intake. but will i switch to a vegan diet? no.

why? because they just haven’t figured out howto make a vegetarian steak. but what do you guys think? i know that we are all concerned about climatechange so any of you changed your diet, cut out beef or milk products so you can helpcutout methane gas? or have any of you changed your diet for healthreason? let us know in the comment below. hi everyone! i'm jayde lovell, resident science nerd atthe young turks network.

you're watching sciq, and we know you don'twant to miss an episode, so click the subscribe button down below.