A vegan lifestyle offers a range of health benefits.
If you're looking to lose weight, a vegan lifestyle can help. Eating vegan food may also help maintain your heart health. Further more, a vegan diet may offer protection against type 2 diabetes and certain cancers.
1. Vegan Food is richer in certain nutrients
Switching to a vegan diet from a typical Western diet means you'll be eliminating meat and dairy products. This will lead you to rely more heavily on other foods. In the case of a whole food vegan diet, replacements take the form of:
Whole grains
Fruits
Vegetables
Beans
Legumes
Nuts
Seeds
Since these foods make up a larger portion of a vegan diet than a typical western diet, they can lead to a higher daily intake of certain beneficial nutrients.
Several studies have reported that vegan diets tend to provide more fiber, antioxidants, and beneficial plant compounds. They also appear to be richer in potassium, magnesium, folate and vitamins A, C & E. Like any other diet, a poorly planned vegan diet may not provide sufficient amounts of vitamin B12, vitamin D, calcium, iodine or zinc.
2. Eating vegan can help you lose excess weight
An increasing number of people are turning to plant based foods in hopes of shedding excess weight.
Many observational studies suggest that vegans tend to be thinner and have lower body mass indexes than non-vegans. In addition, several randomised controlled studies report that vegan diets are more effective for weight-loss than other diets including a non-vegan Low Fat diet, Mediterranean diet, and standard Western diet.
Note: Vegan diets may help promote weight-loss without the need to actively focus on cutting calories.
3. A vegan diet appears to lower blood sugar levels and improve kidney function
A vegan diet may also provide benefits for type 2 diabetes and declining kidney function.
Indeed, vegans tend to have lower blood sugar levels and higher insulin sensitivity and may have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Even if you don't go fully vegan, increasing your intake of healthy plant foods and decreasing your intake of meat & dairy products may reduce your type 2 diabetes risk.
A 2006 study even reported that a vegan diet lowers blood sugar levels in people with diabetes more than the recommended diet from the American Diabetes Association(ADA). In one 2009 study, 43% of participants following a vegan diet were able to reduce their dosage of blood sugar-lowering medication compared to only 26% of participants who followed a ADA recommended diet.
Lower Risk of Diabetes Complications
In general a vegan diet is thought to lower the risk of complications for people with type 2 diabetes. People with diabetes who substitute meat with plant protein may reduce their risk of poor kidney function. Further more, several studies report that a vegan diet may help relieve pain caused be peripheral neuropathy, a common condition in people with diabetes.
4. Going vegan may protect you from certain types of cancers
According to the World Health Organisation, at least one-third of all cancers can be prevented by factors in your control, including diet.
Vegans generally eat more beans, legumes, fruits and vegetables than non-vegans. This may explain why a 2017 study found that vegans may benefit from a 15% lower risk of developing cancer. For instance, eating legumes may reduce your risk of colorectal cancer by 9 - 18%.
And according to Americas National Cancer Institute, eating more plant based foods reduces your risk of several types of cancers, including stomach, lung, mouth, and throat cancers. It may also reduce the risk of colon, prostate, and pancreatic cancers. Further more, vegan diets generally contain more soy products which may offer some protection against breast cancer.
Benefits of avoiding meat
Avoiding animal products may also reduce the risk of prostate, breast, stomach and colorectal cancer. Red meat, smoked meat, or processed meat and meat cooked at high temperatures are thought to promote certain types of cancers.
Effects of avoiding dairy
Some studies suggest that dairy products may increase your risk of prostate cancer.
5. A vegan diet is linked to lower risk of heart disease
Eating fresh fruit, vegetables, legumes and fiber is linked to a lower risk of heart disease.
A well planned vegan diet generally includes all these foods in amounts higher than the standard western diet. Observational studies comparing vegans with non-vegans report that vegans may benefit from up to a 75% lower risk of developing high blood pressure.
Further more, several randomised controlled studies found that vegan diets are much more effective at reducing blood sugar, LDL cholesterol, and total cholesterol levels compared to other diets. This may be particularly beneficial to heart health, since reducing high blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels may reduce your risk f heart disease by as much as 46%.
6. A vegan diet can reduce pain from arthritis
Studies have shown that a vegan diet has positive effects in people with different types of arthritis.
One small study randomly assigned people with arthritis to either continue eating their omnivore diet or switch to a whole food, vegan diet for 6 weeks. Those on the vegan diet reported higher energy levels and better general functioning than those who didn't change their diets. Several other studies suggest a vegan diet may improve symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, including pain, joint swelling, and morning stiffness.
The vegan diets higher antioxidant, probiotic and fiber content, as well as its lack of certain trigger foods, could be responsible for these benefits.
Thank you for taking the time to read our post on the 6 Health Benefits of Eating Vegan. Your health is important and it's why we pride our selves on providing you with the best evidence based research available for you to make healthy decisions. If you need help transitioning to a vegan diet or are already a vegan but need to make healthier food choices visit our website www.plantchef.online and discover our healthy vegan oasis. Our menu boasts over 60 delicious vegan meals which is guaranteed to make your healthy lifestyle a lot more exciting.
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Source: Healthline, Alina Petre, MS, RD (NL), American Diabetes Association, American National Cancer Institute, World Health Organization