A BAD VEGAN DIET VS GOOD OMNIVORE DIET

[Dfather81]

Hello all. New to the forum and new to being vegan. I started out about 4 months ago taking away meat from my diet and the quickly took out all animal products. So far over the past 4 or 5 months everything's been pretty good. I do feel better but I do still struggle with what my diet consist of. Starting out I was very healthy. I consumed pressed juices and tons of veggies and some rices. That was primarily my diet. Then I started to drift away from eating healthy every meal. I started incorporating tofu or fake meat products ( ex. Gardein) maybe every other day. Soon after that I have some type of product like that everyday or so. I recently have noticed myself eating not good but still vegan. Instead of lots of fruits and veggies I'll have vegan pizza or a pasta or tofu something. That's not a healthy diet period whether omnivore or vegan. I have been wondering lately though about whether going back to a healthy omnivore diet would be better because I feel like I can't really stay very full for long eating like this, however eating a healthy omnivore diet (little organic lean meats) would potentially satisfy both the little craving for meat and keep me fuller for longer. Please don't bring up a ethical point of view on this. I'm just wondering for health purposes only. My main question really is what would be healthier, a good omnivore diet or a poor vegan diet. We all can agree that processed foods are bad and at what point is organic lean meats like chicken better than say gardein or beyond meat products? Thanks for your help.

 

[Jamie in Chile]

I think it's fair to say that the health* of a diet is dependent more on the specifics rather than whether it is vegan or not.

However, I don't think that fake meat products are likely to be less healthy than than meat are they? I think if we compare say soy type products to meat we have an advantage of lower fat and cholesterol, and very little disadvantage.

What I would add is it depends on you. At one extreme, if you are obese and have previously suffered one heart attack due to high cholesterol, for instance, a vegan diet is better for you by a huge amount. However, at the other extreme, if you are underweight or at your ideal weight, and have difficulty putting on weight, and a low cholesterol, there isn't going to be any obvious advantage to a vegan diet overall in terms of health.

* assuming we're talking about human health only, and not animal or environmental/ecological health.

For most people, I think a whole plant foods focused diet is best, but even 20-30% of your food being processed junk might not be that bad?

You may need to eat larger portions and/or more snacks on a vegan diet to feel full. I eat a vegan diet and I feel just as full as I snack more.

 

[Gail Robins]

Hm - I eat 3 meals a day with no snacks and never get hungry. And I'm eating so much less than I ever ate before going vegan with no food cravings at all. Sometimes I crave peanuts - haven't figured out why. Does anybody know?

 

[Jamie in Chile]

If you have a low fat diet, could your body be craving a source of healthy fat? Just guessing.

 

[Gail Robins]

Hm - that's a thought. I don't try to eat low-fat, but maybe I do for periods. I'll have to remember to add coconut oil to my smoothies and soups so I'm getting good fat.

 

[gab]

Hi Gail, from reading around, I understand that there is no such thing as 'good fat'. The little there is in plants naturally (without it being extracted as oil) is enough.

This article below for example:

https://www.drmcdougall.com/health/...introduction/fat-cholesterol-primary-poisons/