Vegan Diets are Healthier

1. Well-Planned Diets are to be Compared The resolution is "Resolved: Well planned vegan diets are healthier than their meat-based counterparts." The counterpart to a well-planned vegan diet is a well planned meat-based diet. I take a "meat-based diet" to be any diet that includes meat on a regular basis. For example, if a vegan diet is used with some of the protein from beans replaced with protein from fish, then Pro must prove that the departure from strict vegetarianism results in poorer health. I contend that any diet, vegan or non-vegan. that provides all of the nutrients needed, and at the same time avoids excessive amount of unhealthy nutrients will produce the same nutrition-based health. Pro's initial argument, I claim, amounts to saying that a well-planned vegan diet is less healthy than a poorly planned diet with meat. Vegans are extraordinarily health-conscious compared to the average. Why else would a person eschew a great variety of tasty foods in favor of a restricted diet? Okay, sometimes people are vegetarians for religious reasons, but they are nonetheless diet-conscious -- they are not casually consuming whatever tastes good. It should not be surprising that any person who is fanatical about diet or health will end up with better health than one who is not., all other things equal. Comparing the average vegan with the average non-vegan does not support the resolution, since the average non-vegan is not adhering to the "well-planned diet" requirement. For example, the longest-lived population in the world are the residents of Okinawa. They do not eat a vegan diet, They eat a balanced diet that includes animal proteins in reasonable quantities along with vegetables. "Meat, poultry, and eggs account for just 3% of the diet, fish about 11%." http://www.wellnessletter.com... Okinawans are not typical non-vegans, but they are a good approximation having the "well-planned" non-vegan diet. Their health is better than most vegetarian societies. 2. Cholesterol is Fine in Moderation Pro points to cholesterol as a critical dangerous component of meat. Cholesterol is one of those things necessary for health, but harmful in excess. In is something like vitamin D in that the body can manufacture it or it can be obtained from food. Too little Vitamin D causes a deficiency disease, but too much is extremely toxic. A vegetarian can get too much cholesterol from diet. "... coconut oil may be cholesterol free, but is highly saturated and more dangerous than seafood, as it causes the liver to produce more harmful cholesterol. Saturated fat also raises triglyceride levels and thickens the blood. ... Seafood, on the other hand, contains cholesterol, but also the protective polyunsaturated fats that cause the liver to produce less harmful cholesterol and more protective HDL cholesterol. ... That's why, rather than worry about high cholesterol foods, you should pay attention to foods high in saturated fats." http://www.all-about-lowering-cholesterol.com... A well-planned vegan diet will avoid that problem, but so will a well-planned non-vegan diet, both by avoiding saturated fats. 3. Obesity is From Calories, not Meat Obesity causes health risks. However, it is certainly the case that some vegans are obese and many non-vegans are not obese. For example, a study showed "Roman gladiators were overweight vegetarians and not the muscle-bound men portrayed by actors" http://www.abc.net.au... All that matters is how many calories the person consumes, not whether the calories are plant or animal. "Obesity is most commonly caused by a combination of excessive dietary calories, lack of physical activity, and genetic susceptibility, '" http://en.wikipedia.org... Again, it is reasonable that vegans are obese than average people, because vegans are diet conscious, vegetables have lower energy density than meat, and to many people meat tastes better. However, a well-planned non-vegan diet also has the proper amount of calories. 4. Statistics Show No Vegetarian Advantage If there were, as Pro claims, some inherent health problem with non-vegan diets, than vegans should have a consistent health advantage. Even though vegans tend to be health conscious, the statistics show no advantage. A metastudy compiles the data from many studies into one. "The metastudy reported mortality ratios, where lower numbers indicated fewer deaths, for fish eaters to be 0.82, vegetarians to be 0.84, occasional meat eaters to be 0.84. Regular meat eaters and vegans shared the highest mortality ratio of 1.00. The study reported the numbers of deaths in each category, and expected error ranges for each ratio, and adjustments made to the data. However, the "lower mortality was due largely to the relatively low prevalence of smoking in these [vegetarian] cohorts." http://en.wikipedia.org... Other studies of certain selected vegetarian populations show some marginal advantage in life expectancy, but it seems that non-diet factors are responsible, Other factors are not-smoking, higher income and lower stress levels. A National Geographic Study http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com... gives a sense of the factors. Those long-lived Okinawans have low stress and void smoking along with a fish-centric diet. 5. Science Favors a Balanced Diet The National Institutes of Health recommends a balanced diet that includes meat, fish, and dairy. http://www.nlm.nih.gov... A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association Nutrition Committee states: "...consume a diet rich in vegetables and fruits; choose whole-grain, high-fiber foods; consume fish, especially oily fish, at least twice a week; limit intake of saturated fat to 7% of energy, trans fat to1% of energy, and cholesterol to 300 mg/day by choosing lean meats and vegetable alternatives, fat-free (skim) or low-fat (1% fat) dairy products and minimize intake of partially hydrogenated fats; minimize intake of beverages and foods with added sugars; choose and prepare foods with little or no salt;" http://circ.ahajournals.org... It might be argued that vegan diets are healthier because it's easier for the average person to make a well-planned diet. It's easier in some ways, because it's likely that vegans will get more fiber and less saturated fat without much extra effort. However, the disadvantages are more than an offset. Vitamin B12 is in virtually all meat, but " vegans will lack B12 unless they consume B12-containing dietary supplements or B12-fortified foods." http://en.wikipedia.org... Deficiency of B12 produces pernicious anemia, which s fatal if untreated. "Vegetarians often have normal hemoglobin, but low iron stores (ferritin) in liver, muscles and bone marrow. Iron absorption is improved by including Vitamin C (75 mg per meal or about 6 oz orange juice) along with an iron supplement (as much as 50 mg per day) and high iron foods." http://www.dietitian.com... Those who eat little red meat can also have iron deficiency, but the body naturally cravings for red meat when iron is low, so the problem is more easily recognized. "For the most part, vegetarians get adequate protein if they eat a balanced vegetarian diet. In fact a healthy vegetarian diet usually exceeds protein requirements. ... The best way to make sure you're getting enough nutrients , including protein, is to keep track of the foods you eat on a daily basis." http://vegetarian.lovetoknow.com... In sum, vegan diets are no healthier than meat-based diets. Both must be "well-planned."