Vegan Diets are Healthier

This debate is about a vegan diet. Vegans are distinct from vegetarians in not eating any fish, dairy, eggs, or animal byproducts, whereas various types of vegetarianism permit some of these things. The resolution is that a vegan diets well-planned by a lay person are healthier than the corresponding non-vegan well-planned diets. A lay person is a person without specialized training or fanatical zeal. There are No Examples of Vegan Populations with Better Health If a vegan diet is healthier than surely Pro would lead off by pointing to some group of vegans somewhere who have better health than the average non-planning meat eater who survives on the typical dietary disasters overloaded with fat, cholesterol, and surplus calories. However, Pro did lead with such data, no where in the debate did he ever point to a single group of vegans with better health than people who eat meat promiscuously. I fully expected that there would be some vegan monks who live forever on soybeans. But no, Pro presented no data on vegans than put them ahead of hamburger gobblers, let alone careful balanced eaters. Broad studies show that the best health is enjoyed by people who have low-meat diets or fish diets. Vegans and those undisciplined meat eaters have the worse health. Vegetarians consuming dairy are somewhere in between in health. Pro made a small error in the saying that vegan data was skewed by having lots on non-smokers in the study group; actually it was the vegetarians who benefited from being non-smokers. Small groups of people adopt particular diets based upon tradition or religious beliefs. With these groups we expect to get closer to "well-planned" goals. Again, the big winners were groups having low-meat diets. Okinawans have the longest life expectancy in the world; there diet has fish and small amounts of meat. Vegetarians of the lax varieties do well; vegans are no to be seen in the most healthy populations. Theoretical Nutrition Because Pro has no data showing vegan populations having health better than meat-eaters, he must construct a theoretical argument based upon nutrients that would be in the hypothetical well-planned vegan. Pro points to all vitamins, fiber, and unsaturated fats available to vegans. He shows that there are vegan foods with enough protein and iron to avoid deficiencies. I agree. there are many healthful nutrients in vegetables. Pro points out that supplements are available to augment the Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D shortfalls characteristics of vegan diets. I again agree. It is possible to obtain a healthy diet within the bounds of vegan eating. But being theoretically able to have good health on a vegan diet does not suggest that a vegan diet is healthier than a non-vegan All the vegetables are available to those who also consume meat. At best the vegan diet can be equally healthy. The resolution requires Pro to prove that a vegan diet is not just equal, but superior. In fact, a diet containing almost entirely meat and fish can provide required nutrients. “What the diet of the Far North illustrates, says Harold Draper, a biochemist and expert in Eskimo nutrition, is that there are no essential foods—only essential nutrients. And humans can get those nutrients from diverse and eye-opening sources.” Health Hazards Pro correctly points out that unplanned meat diets tend to have too many calories an too much saturated fat. Well-planned diets with meat do not have too much. Vegan diets tend to have too little protein, vitamin B12, iron, omega-3s, Vitamin D, calcium, and iodine. Careful planning can avoid those shortfalls, but vegans typically do not do the needed planning, so vegan health is typically no better than unplanned meat eating. Since a balanced diet of meat and vegetables has all of the vegetable nutrients, the only way a meat diet can be less healthy is if there is something inherently bad in meat. Cholesterol, saturated fat, and calories are not inherently bad. Planning solves the potential hazards of getting too much. Vegans can get too much saturated fats from oils (coconut, palm, cottonseed), Saturated fats induce the liver to make cholesterol, so there is a cholesterol hazard. Vegans can certainly get too many calories (sugar, french fries, donuts, etc.). That too can be avoided by planning. The only potential inherent harms in meat are cancer risk from processed meats (like ham) or from more than 18 ounces of red meat per week. That's avoided by not eating processed meats, and eating less than 18 ounces of red meat. There is no identified risk from white meat, fish, dairy, or eggs. Hence there is no unavoidable risk in a diet that includes meat. A study by the WCRF claimed a correlation between red meat and cancer above the 18 ounce point. The study was examined by a scientific consulting company, Exponent, and found to be flawed. Pro claimed that Exponent could not be trusted for the sole reason that their results defended the meat industry. If that logic were true, then we should discount forensic evidence for the defense in a criminal trial on the sole grounds the expert is for the defendant. Pro claimed that I had presented nothing that indicated that it was a scientific controversy. What I presented were the very specific scientific objections raised by Exponent. Moreover, WCRF revised their report by publishing an errata in response to the objections. Clearly the objections were scientific. While admitting scientific errors, WCRF refused to modify their conclusions. In the process, they betrayed an anti-meat-industry bias. The burden of proof is upon Pro, and Pro did not respond to the specific scientific objections made. Vegan Diet Planning Making a well-planned balanced diet is not altogether trivial. Meat eaters must avoid too much red meat, too much saturated fat, and must avoid process meats. they must not consume too many calories. Vegans have a much more difficult task. They must make sure they do not consume too many calories or too much saturated-fat vegetable oil. The must also be sure they get enough protein, vitamin B12, iron, omega-3s, Vitamin D, calcium, and iodine. A profession nutritionist recommended that vegetarians track nutrients daily. The planning is greatly complicated by the vegan ground rule of no meat by-products. Pro said that all vegans need do is read the labels on food packages. That is insufficient because labels do not say what is animal based and what is plant based. The reference I gave tells that lecithin and gelatin are animal products. That's not common knowledge. Some vitamin supplements are animal-derived, others are plant-derived and that information is not disclosed. Minor or trace ingredients, like animal-based clarifiers in beer, are not disclosed. Restaurants do not have ingredient labeling. Even with labeled foods, reading every label and researching what is animal-derived is not an everyday task. We know that vegans don't do the needed planning because their health is no better than unplanned meat-eaters. Low-meat balanced diets have little or no problem with planning. A balanced diet is healthiest The American Heart Association, American Institute for Cancer Research, the American Institute for Health, and the World Cancer Research Fund all recommend a low-meat balanced diet for the best health. None recommend a vegan diet and Pro presented no authoritative recommendation for a vegan diet. Pro ignored many of my arguments. He never disputed that the source of nutrients doesn't matter. He didn't dispute that only calories cause obesity. Vegan diet is in practice less healthy, and at best it can only equal a low-meat balanced diet. The resolution is negated. ----- Thanks to Pro for a good topic and a fine debate. I learned much from researching this debate. For one thing, be sure to eat seal brains along with the blubber for good health.