Is the veganism/vegetarianism new age fad a secret attack on our health??
I have debated with many vegans/vegetarians over a long period & also researched the health benefits & downsides of various diets & these are my findings:
Humans have most definately had a past of hunter/gatherer ancestors.
We are constantly told that cholesterol is bad for us or at least that LDL cholesterol is bad for us but HDL cholesterol is good for us. The truth is however that both LDL & HDL cholesterol is good for us!!! Both of these cholesterols are just transportation systems for fatty acids. LDL cholesterol is what our brains are made of & is important for repairs to the arterial walls of our cardiovascular system. So despite the bad press LDL has been given, it is an important & necessary part of a healthy diet!
Longevity: I have seen research papers indicating that omnivores & vegetarians live to about the same age but vegans don't live as long.
I believe people should be very careful about getting involved in vegan diets particularly & at least question the cumulative longterm effects of veganism on mental health. I would also recommend NOT putting children on vegan diets because whilst they are developing & growing it could severely impact on the health of their central nervous systems etc.
Fats have been targetted as evil monsters by mainstream health advisors but saturated fats obtained from quality, organic, grass-fed livestock meat are easily broken down & utilised by the human body & are a very simple molecule for our guts to handle.
If nothing else, this should be food for thought!!!
Thanks to you for starting the conversation.
Since they're widely cited, you have likely already read this research, but others who view this post may not have. These are among the broadest based papers I've seen to date on the effects of varying degrees of vegetarianism compare with other food habits in the US and UK.
http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/1710093
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4073139/
(whole lot of additional reading to be found in the references of the second article)
Of course it's also worth considering that reduced mortality among vegans is due simply to the increased consumption of plants, which would be to argue that perhaps it is the case that the typical omnivore is malnourish due to poor diet in general, while the vegan may be taking better care to eat a healthy diet overall.
Fats are indeed a critical part of any vegan diet, and you are correct to note the impacts to brain function that could result from insufficient intake of the good fats. A vegetarian diet should always include portions of nuts, seeds, and other fatty plants like avocado or cacao. Luckily for us, our bodies make cholesterol from the primary nutrients: fat, protein, and carbohydrate. In fact, all of these are easy to consume as a vegan, although some care should be taken to be sure EFAs are complete. If there's one supplement a vegan should consider, it's an Omega-3 complex of some kind for the ALA.
There is more to veganism than just dietary or health benefits, and to many long-time vegans such as myself, those benefits may only be considered a pleasant side effect, or not even considered at all. Many of us in it for the long haul have chosen this lifestyle for environmental or very personal ethical reasons, like allowing grass-fed animals to stay that way until the end of their natural lives.
Cheers!