Is a Vegan Lifestyle Really Healthier?

I have been a meat eater all my life, I was raised on meat and I come from a long line of carnivores. I always thought that eating a vegan diet was just for tree-hugging hippies. Now don't get me wrong, I love tree-hugging hippies, but the vegan lifestyle just wasn't for me. I like my steaks and hamburgers; in fact they are my favorite foods. A big juicy hamburger with all the fixin's, now that's for me!

I had my first child about two years ago. I gained a lot of weight during my pregnancy. Before that I was always fairly thin, I would gain a little weight but I could go on a diet for a few weeks and it would come right off. After my pregnancy, things changed. My metabolism was at a snail's pace. I began to try every diet out there. I've been on Atkins, South Beach, Weight Watchers, etc... Nothing was working. In fact, when I would start to diet I would actually gain weight. Now that's depressing! I was at my highest weight ever, when I found the book Eat to Live by Joel Fuhrman, M.D.

I was at the local Whole Food's store, searching through the books for some kind of weight loss help. I saw a bright cover and at the bottom it read "Lose 20 Lbs. or more in 6 weeks". This sounded great but I thought, "What is the catch"? I am not one to really read through books before I buy them, so I thumbed through a few pages. The book suggested eating more vegetables to lose weight. Who would have thought? I decided to give it a try, so I purchased the book and went home to start reading.

Over the next week, I spent all my free time reading Eat to Live. I knew before purchasing the book that vegetarians eat dairy and possibly some fish. I also knew that vegans ate no animal products what so ever. My new book was talking about not eating any animal products at all. It is not mandatory for the diet it is a choice. However, by the time I finished the book I was sold on veganism.

I learned so much! For example, I never knew that vegetables had protein. Peas are 30% protein and a Burger King cheeseburger is only 24% protein. Of course you have to eat a lot of peas to get enough protein. If you combine the peas with other veggies and some tofu you are getting massive amounts of nutrients and enough protein.

I also did not realize that there are more naturally occurring harmful toxins in animal product than there are in vegetables treated with pesticides. Even if you choose not to buy organic, you could cut out meat and dairy and be better off. You would be eating fewer toxins.

It is possible to get all of the RDA of every nutrient without eating any animal products. Did you know that Bok Choy has about three times more calcium than milk (per 100 calories)? It is also not necessary to combine foods in order to make a complete protein. This is something that kept me away from any type of a vegetarian lifestyle. I always thought vegetarians and vegans had to eat beans and corn together, or some other complicated food mixing, in order to get a complete protein. It turns out this is not true. One simply has to eat enough different things over several days for the nutrients to be absorbed properly. If you ate some corn on Monday and some beans on Thursday, then you would have a complete protein. This makes things so much easier!

I am now on day five of my new vegan lifestyle. Eat to Live states that you will feel worse before you feel better. The body doesn't like to give up all those fatty foods and animal products. I have felt a little worse but I can also see that things are getting better. My blood pressure has gone down and I've lost 4 lbs already. I still have a long way to go. I will do a follow up article when the 6 weeks are up and let everyone know if I am still going strong.

So far though, I would recommend considering going vegan. Regardless of how you feel about eating animal products, this diet is definitely healthier than the average American diet.

Resources:

Eat to Live; Furman, Joel