First question: Are you vegan? If no, why not? Won’t you get enough protein from plants? Do you think that vegan meals taste like crap? Or where will you get calcium from? Don’t let these myths about the vegan diet mislead you. Read the article and you will see that you don’t have to worry. 🙂
If you are new here or you don’t know a lot about veganism, I recommend you to read these articles first:
- Learn What You Can’t Eat on a Vegan Diet
- 20+ meal ideas that make you want to go VEGAN
- 10+ Reasons Why Going Vegan is The
BEST Choice For You
I assume you have a lot of questions – I remember that I had and still have some – and you don’t really know what to think or who to believe. I understand you completely. That is why I created this article to make the fog go away. Let’s see the myths about the vegan diet!
Disclosure: Bear in mind that some of the links in this post are affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase I will earn a small commission. Keep in mind that I only recommend products because I love them and not because of the commission I receive from your purchases. You will buy the product(s) on the same price, and the decision is yours, and whether or not you decide to buy something is completely up to you.
Disclosure 2: I am no doctor or dietitian, and these are my own experiences and all the information I share with you can be found in the book: How not to die, if not, I link the source.
MYTHS ABOUT THE VEGAN DIET
1. The Vegan Diet is Unhealthy
That should be the first among the myths about the vegan diet because a lot of people say that. Honestly, it can be true. If you eat vegan chips and chocolate all day that is definitely unhealthy! But no diet is healthy that consist of only 1 or 2 things. If you eat meat and nothing else that is probably the worst diet of all!
When I say vegan I mean whole food plant-based. In that diet, you eat mostly unprocessed or slightly processed food. These can be raw veggies and fruits, whole grains, seeds and nuts or even tofu/tempeh. So if you eat these and avoid all the animal products, oil, sugar and white flour, this diet can be even healthier than any diet!
If you are suffering from a disease, just go vegan, do sports and you will feel better. High blood pressure, diabetes or even cancer can be cured on a plant-based diet.
Just read Dr Greger’s book: How not to die and you will see how it works. He starts his book with the story of his grandmother, who suffered from heart disease and the doctors sent her home to die. She was only 65 years old! But she didn’t give up, she went to Nathan Pritikin’s clinic, followed a plant-based diet and she walked out healthy. She lived for 31 years more and died at the age of 96. I think it is unbelievably amazing!
2. We Can Only Get The Nutrients From Animal Products
That is a big misunderstanding. I won’t be vegan if I couldn’t get enough nutrients from plants. A vegan lifestyle is absolutely sustainable and not that hard to follow than most non-vegans say.
I know that your biggest concern is calcium and protein. If you don’t drink milk, how on Earth can you get enough calcium? It is simpler than you’d think. 🙂 Just look at this
Calcium
The recommended amount for an adult is about 1000 mg calcium/day. One glass of milk (250 ml) contains 312,5 mg calcium. That’s not bad, but a cow’s milk is not for humans, and it has hormones, pus, fat and cholesterol. One glass of milk is 105 calories, which is quite much for just one drink.
Let see an alternative, Alpro almond drink for example. This is the original version, so it is sweetened, but it is only 55 kcal/250 ml and contains 300 mg calcium. Which is a little bit less than in milk, but almond milk is not that fattening. And I think it tastes so much better! (And no one had to suffer for it…)
If you make chia pudding with some almond drink that is a really good and healthy dessert. Here is a quick recipe:
You will need 2 tablespoons of chia seeds and half a cup of almond milk. Mix them together and let it rest in the fridge for at least 2 hours. Chia seed with some kind of liquid makes a pudding consistency. It is so good and easy. 🙂
The nutrients in 1 serving:
- 167,5 kcal
- 5 g protein
- 327 mg calcium
- 93, 8 mg magnesium
This is pretty good, don’t you think?
Protein
And what about protein? Protein is overrated. A lot of bodybuilders are obsessed with protein, protein shakes, protein bars, etc. But they probably don’t know is that they do more harm than good to themselves. Overdosing protein can cause serious problems in your body.
What happens when you eat to much protein?
High animal protein intake can have a strong effect on normal human kidney function by causing a condition called hyperfiltration that drastically increases kidney function. A few hours after the meat is consumed, the kidney will switch to hyperfiltration mode. If you regularly eat meat, your kidney can overload, which leads to kidney failure.
Plant protein consumption does not cause any extra pressure on the kidneys, you can eat them safely.
The other reason is that animal protein is so harmful to kidney function that it usually produces more acid. This is because animal protein generally contains higher levels of sulfur-containing amino acids, such as methionine, which produce sulfuric acid in the body’s metabolism. Fruits and vegetables, however, usually form alkalis, which promotes the neutralization of the kidney acids.
“Animal protein may also play a role in cancer risk. IGF-1, insulin-like growth factor 1, is a cancer-promoting growth hormone that is released in excess when we eat animal protein. This is presumably why those who eat less meat, egg white, or dairy proteins have significantly lower levels circulating within their bodies within weeks of making the dietary switch.” –writes Dr Greger on his site.
If you want to know more this topic, read this book by Dr Greger.
See this cute infograph for the best plant-based protein sources.
What about iron?
Iron is an essential nutrient required to build haemoglobin molecules that are present in red blood cells. People who don’t consume enough iron develop anaemia, and often feel chronically tired and low-energy.
How can you get it from plants?
3. Plants feel pain
This is cute, but even if it would be true, it doesn’t give you permission to eat animals, who definitely feel pain and there is no such thing as humane slaughter…
Anyway, plants don’t have central nervous systems, nerve endings, or brains. That means, they don’t feel pain, they don’t bleed and they won’t get mad if you want to eat them.
4. Soy is BAD for you
I hear that a lot, even my family says that… This is one of the most divisive questions. A lot of articles and studies say that soy is healthy, you need to eat it. But you can hear it from many sources that it causes cancer, it is high in estrogen, etc.
What is the truth? I believe in his innocence. 🙂 Soy is our friend, and wants nothing but good for us.
“Phytoestrogens are naturally present in soybeans. When people hear the word estrogen in the phytoestrogen expression, they believe that soy has an estrogenic effect. This is not necessarily true. Phytoestrogens are attached to the same receptors as their own estrogen, but their effect is weaker, so they can act to block the effects of their own strong animal estrogen.” – writes Dr Greger in his book: How not to die
“Soya seems to reduce the risk of breast cancer with its anti-estrogen effect while helping to relieve menopausal hot flash symptoms, which is a pro-estrogenic effect.”
So, I think you can eat soy, and you eat it already, because it is in almost everything, just look for the labels. My favourite forms of soy are soy milk, tofu and tempeh. They are also high in protein, iron and calcium. 😉
5. Vegan meals will leave you hungry
Are you afraid that you will starve to death on a vegan diet? Do you think vegans eat only salad? Let me tell you something.
Not really calories make you feel full, but fibre and water. What has fibre in it? Plants. Meat is not a plant (not even fish 😀 ). Of course, you have to eat your daily calorie dose, because the calorie is really energy, but on a plant-based diet, you can actually eat more for the same calorie!
It looks quite satisfying, doesn’t eat? And there are lots and lots of meals you make vegan. Check out my article here!
6. Vegan diet makes you weak
You will be fragile, weak and tired… Other myths about the vegan diet. But these are not true at all! It is quite the opposite. When you switch to a whole foods plant-based (vegan) diet, you will have more energy, you will sleep better and you can build muscle too.
Let’s take a look at the animal world. There are the gorilla, the elephant, the hippo, they are all herbivorous. And yet, they are the strongest animals in the world.
Also, there are a lot of vegan athletes and bodybuilders. They are active, full of energy and they eat plants! Just look at them and you won’t have doubts. 😉
7. It is not good for infants or children
Kids have to eat well and have to get all the nutrition they need to grow. Yes, it is true. But it is proven that the vegan diet is suitable for all ages. It doesn’t matter that you are a child (even a newborn), an adult or an old person. This is just another one from the myths about the vegan diet.
In fact, it will do more harm than good if you give your baby dairy milk or meat. And if the child would know, he/she wouldn’t want to eat that cute chicken or rabbit. It is kinda cruel to give meat to a child…
Researchers have discovered that there is a correlation not only between eating grilled meat in the third trimester and the lower birth weight: pregnant mothers exposed to such meat steam are also more likely to have a lower weight child. These babies also had a smaller head size, which is the indicator value of the
It essentially refutes the claim that vegan women are more likely to have a disabled child. Of course, there are some cases when genetics play a huge role, but I think if you do anything to live healthily you can decrease the chance to have a disabled child.
8. It is hard to be vegan
It is so hard, I can’t give up cheese/milk/chicken… These are just excuses and you know it. It is easier than you would think. You just need to change your perspective. See things as they really are. That bacon on your plate with the scrambled eggs is nothing else but a killed and processed pig and the period of a hen… Do you really want to eat that? It is the hard truth, you can deny it, but it won’t change the facts.
Think of plants like miraculous pills that give you real energy. Because plants are really amazing, they have all you need, it is easy to access them, and they are cheap.
Leaving behind animal products is easy, you just have to stop eating them. The tricky part is what to eat now. But this is why I am here for you. I try to share awesome and easy recipes with you. And not I am the only one. There are a lot of vegan recipe blogs on the internet. And if you like books I can recommend some for you:
- BOSH!: Simple Recipes. Amazing Food. All Plants. The Fastest-Selling Vegan Cookbook Ever
- 15 Minute Vegan: Fast, modern vegan cooking
- The How Not To Die Cookbook: Over 100 Recipes to Help Prevent and Reverse Disease
- Feed Me Vegan
- Vegan: The Cookbook
And there are so much more, thank God! I am truly happy that veganism and the vegan diet is so popular nowadays.
Making a vegan meal is just like making any meal, you don’t have to learn cooking again, it is enough to change the ingredients. You will see.
9. We are omnivores with canines
The 9th of the myths about the vegan diet is that we are omnivores, which means we can eat anything. We can, but we don’t have to. That also means that we can live by eating plants, we don’t need meat.
What about canine teeth? It is not enough to be carnivores… Can you imagine yourself running and hunting for a rabbit for example, and kill it and eat it with your teeth? That would be really extreme.
Our teeth are flat and blunt, and they are capable of lateral movement just like natural herbivores. Our stomach produces weak hydrochloric acid as opposed to the natural carnivores that contain strong hydrochloric acid. The gut of carnivores is three times shorter than ours, which is important because the animal parts are poor in fibre. The flesh that a lion eats goes through its gut fast, but because our gut is longer the meat starts to rot inside… That is why you feel sick after consuming a steak or something.
So you heard the top 9 myths about the vegan diet. Do you still believe them?
Write a comment and let me know what you think, and share this article with your skeptical friends. 😉
See you next time!
Love,
Suzie
Hello, I am Suzie the face behind Suzinpsire. I am here to share my passion for gastronomy, vegan lifestyle and travel. I believe that if you want something in life you should give something first. This is why I blog. 🙂
