We all know that eating fruits and vegetables will make us healthy; and we also know that eating processed foods damages our health. Currently there are countless diets and lifestyles that promise to improve our health, whether they are plant-based, ketogenic diets, or intermittent fasting, to name a few. But there is one thing that most of these diets agree on: refined or industrialised foods are harmful to our body and we should reduce their consumption.
We have observed a trend where some people following vegan or vegetarian diets started feeling low on energy and discovered deficiencies in their blood tests, making them completely change back to a conventional diet. We believe that any extreme is unhealthy and want to share our opinion on the matter.
Greater awareness
There is irrefutable evidence about the health benefits of plant based diets, as long as they are mostly based on whole foods, from organic farming, and with correct preparation. It is often the case, that people who start eating a vegetarian or vegan diet gradually become more aware of the foods they eat, read the labels more carefully and generally become more careful with the food they consume. Switching to a vegetarian/vegan diet can produce health improvements simply by including more healthy foods and changing eating habits. Simple examples are swapping white flour for whole grain flour and starting to eat whole grains, increasing the amount of fruits and vegetables, and reducing or abandoning certain (or all) animal products.
Unfortunately many people, only actually make changes in their diet and lifestyle after becoming ill or being shocked into a plant based diet after finding out the truths behind the animal industry. Food directly influences our physical body, which is why, a change in the diet can greatly benefit one's health, and vegetarian and vegan diets based on whole foods are ideal in most cases.
Now, there are some factors to take into account when "improving" one's diet. There are several vegetarians and vegans who, after some years of “healthy" eating, start developing nutritional deficiencies to a greater or lesser extent. With this article we do not intend to question anyones habits or ideologies, but to bring light on the matter. We believe that by taking the necessary measures, any individual can be sufficiently nourished, be them vegan, vegetarian or an omnivore. But we want to discuss the measures that can be taken to avoid these nutritional deficiencies or imbalances.
A bit of history…
If we read up on the current evidence about our prehistoric past, our ancestors were omnivores, hunting and gathering all their food. Their diet varied depending on their location and the season. Some consumed more plant products than others, but dairy products were non-existent. Animals were always consumed, more so in cold places where fruits and vegetables were scarce and less so the more one moved towards tropical climates.
Agriculture and animal farming made the consumption of grains and eventually to the consumption of milk products possible. Later in history, a few religious groups tended to be vegetarian, such as the Hindu society, Buddhists, and Jainists, each one for their own moral or spiritual reasons. There is no further evidence of vegan cultures in the past; they all consumed animal derived products.
A bit of news ...
Foods that are considered of great nutritional value, today are adulterated and processed in such a way that they lose much of their goodness, and often producing more problems than benefits. This happens with most of the products that are obtained in the conventional market. The more industrial processing the food undergoes before being consumed, the worse its final quality will be. Starting from the seeds used, the soil, all the way to the final product you can find at the supermarket. Our modern convenience based lifestyle has sacrificed a lot in quality.
People eating a primarily plant based diet have many nutritional benefits but they can also suffer from imbalances. Supplementation of certain nutrients can help reduce some of these imbalances. This is where a question of great controversy arises: If one must supplement when eating a vegetarian or vegan diet, why is it considered better by many?
A diet that includes certain animal products such as eggs from free range hens, butter or cheese made locally, organic, agro-ecological or biodynamic, yogurt and milk kefir, among others, can help when it comes to potential deficiencies, specially if these are consumed as “supplements” and not abused on a daily basis.
It is possible to obtain these products without animal abuse (although we recognise that this statement is subjective). It is a different story when one considers eating meat, it is a much more complex issue that requires discussions and special considerations, but what is certain is that there is not only a single way to keep livestock, but there are more benevolent and positive alternatives in terms of sustainability and the regeneration of ecosystems.
We do not argue that the way animals are treated when raised for consumption is disgusting. Modern animal farming has lost all sense of right and wrong. The animals are miserable, tortured and pumped with antibiotics and steroids. The consumption of anything deriving from these animals cannot be good for you in any way or form. Vegan activists aim to bring awareness on this matter as the majority of people are completely unaware of what is going on, or choose not to “see”. Sometimes the path they choose is more aggressive, making it hard for some people to listen. The good news is that there are more and more businesses selling vegan products, not only food but also cosmetics, cleaning products, clothing and footwear free of animal abuse. We see veganism as a reaction to the current reality of the food industry.
So what can you do?
Humans could live without eating animal products, but the evidence so far is that humans and animals are interdependent in certain ways, and this does not have to be a negative thing. There are alternatives to industrialised animal production and their derivatives that can promote the health of the entire ecosystem.
These "new" ways of raising animals imitate ancestral ways as well as what happens naturally in the wild, bringing new information that benefits the whole. "Regenerative agriculture" uses animals in plant production systems to improve and regenerate soil, which is the basis of a healthy and sustainable ecosystem in the long term.
The soil exploited for conventional agricultural production (GMO mono-crops) is increasingly deteriorating due to the abuse and misuse of all the chemicals and pesticides that are used several times per season, and the long term production of single crops that slowly strip the soil of all its nutrients. Using simple and inexpensive management we can avoid all this, save a lot of time and money, and promote greater health and biodiversity in the ecosystems involved.
We believe in finding the middle ground. When debating eating or not eating animal products we can chose for ourselves what we feel is best but we also have to accept the fact a large part of today's population can not imagine their life without them. So what we can do is promote and support small producers that are doing it right.
At the end of the day supply follows demand, so if more and more people demand change in the way their food is produced, moderate their consumption, demand humane healthy environments for all beings, healthy ecosystems, only then can real change happen.
This is a big step towards achieving the realistic change that many vegetarians and vegans are fighting for, not fighting against a reality that hardly changes no matter how loud we shout, but by proposing mechanisms that can benefit everyone in one way or another, that generate more healthy individuals, healthier societies and a healthier environment on planet Earth, which what we most care about.
We believe in an ancient Iroquois philosophy that says: “In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.”