Vegan Diet Benefits and Risks
People around the world implement a variety of dietary and nutritional plans to achieve and maintain their health and wellness. Often, these choices can vary from one culture and set of traditions to another. Some dietary strategies focus on fats or other trending topics, and as a result, they come and go quickly. Other dietary strategies, such as the vegan diet, have more staying power.
We’re going to talk about the potential benefits and risks of choosing a vegan diet. People choose to be vegan for a variety of reasons such as tradition, culture, ecological reasons, or ethical beliefs. Some people choose to be vegan simply because, based on several studies, it’s good for your overall health.
Vegan Diet Benefits and Risks
My Experience as a Vegan
I personally have experienced being a vegan. 25 years ago, when I was a freshman in university, I went through a personal tragedy that made me want to be a vegan. My grandfather died of a heart attack much too early in his life. I had watched him eat a lot of fried foods and meats, and as an aspiring scientist, my first instinct was to look up dietary research. Sure enough, I found several articles that showed how being a vegetarian or vegan can reduce major risk factors for cardiovascular disease and some types of cancer.
I was only a vegan for one year because as a freshman in college, I found it difficult socially to keep up with. My friends wanted to go out to eat hamburgers and hot wings, so I often found myself on the outside looking in. I chose to gradually reintroduce meat in a responsible way and that choice has stuck to this day. I eat a lot of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, healthy proteins, and healthy fats. When it comes to protein and dairy products, I make smart and ethical choices around what I choose to consume.
Being a Healthy Vegan
There is a healthy way to be a vegan as well as an unhealthy way. Some people switch to veganism and end up consuming primarily refined carbohydrates, thinking they’re making healthy choices. Unfortunately, that can lead to deficiencies in micronutrients like vitamins and minerals, and macronutrients like essential proteins.
If you’re not mindful of your food choices as a vegan, you may become deficient in calcium, iron, or zinc. It’s important to eat dark leafy greens, nuts, and seeds for calcium and iron. Amino acid deficiencies can be common if you’re not eating enough nuts, seeds, whole grains, beans, and legumes. The vegan diet also does not contain any natural vitamin B12 so it’s recommended that you use a supplement.
Beans and legumes tend to be low in an amino acid called methionine but high in lysine, both of which are essential amino acids. Grains are the opposite though, low in lysine but high in methionine. Therefore, it’s important to get both beans and grains in your diet, which will help you maintain good health on a vegan diet.
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“Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper”. Most individuals are backward to that. They have a scant breakfast or they skip breakfast altogether. They have a modest lunch, and they have a huge dinner. This can be detrimental for 
Cruciferous vegetables are high in indoles, sulforaphane, DIM, and kaempferol. Each of these components have been independently studied to reduce risk factors for the development of certain types of cancer. We also know that cruciferous vegetables are very helpful for both phase one and phase two detoxification pathways in the liver. We’re all carrying chemicals so we could do with a little help in detoxification. Include cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, and chard in your diet.
If possible, wherever possible, eat organic. They contain higher amounts of essential vitamins and minerals than non-organic produce. In addition, non-organic produce has been shown to contain a higher level of pesticide, herbicide, and fungicides. There are 12 foods that are particularly high in these chemicals: strawberries, spinach, kale, nectarines, apples, grapes, peaches, cherries, pears, tomatoes, celery, and potatoes. If eating organic is too expensive, try to just eat organic for these 12 foods at least so as to avoid the consumption of these chemicals. Plus, organic foods inherently contain higher amounts of essential probiotics, the healthy bacteria for our gut, for our brain, for our immune system.
Caffeine is the only drug that is present naturally or added to widely-consumed foods. In fact, caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive drug in the world, and one of the most comprehensively studied ingredients in our food supply. It is mildly addictive, which is one possible reason why makers of soft drinks add it to their products. Many coffee drinkers experience withdrawal symptoms such as headaches, irritability, sleeplessness, and lethargy or fatigue when they 
Historically, the addition of caffeine was limited to soda-type beverages. Over the past decade, caffeine has been added to a diverse variety of foods and non-food items to promote arousal, alertness, energy, and elevated mood. The recent increase in caffeine-containing food products and energy drinks, as well as changes in patterns of consumption of the more traditional sources of caffeine, has increased scrutiny by health authorities and regulatory bodies of the overall consumption of caffeine and its potential cumulative effects on behavior and body physiology. Of particular concern is the rate of caffeine intake among populations potentially vulnerable to its negative effects.
A 15 to 20-ounce serving ranges anywhere from 150 to 400 milligrams per serving. The average amount of caffeine in an eight-ounce cup of coffee is about 95 milligrams, but we do not drink coffee as our grandparents did. They had a cup or two of Joe in the morning to get the day started. We go and get a huge cup of coffee, and that influences the caffeine intake.
Earl Grey tea contains about 110 milligrams per serving, the highest amount of caffeine amongst teas. The typical black tea ranges between 50 and 80 milligrams per serving. Iced tea ranges from 50 to 60 milligrams per serving, and green tea contains about 30 to 50 grams per serving.
Most soft drinks range between 35 and 50 milligrams per serving. Energy drinks can vary wildly between 100 and 350 milligrams per serving.
Chocolate contains caffeine, typically between eight and 15 milligrams per serving, though the amount of caffeine in chocolate varies by the percentage of cocoa it contains.
Certain medications contain caffeine, like Excedrin and Mydol, about 60 milligrams per dose. It’s included because research has shown that the addition of caffeine improves the potency of certain pain medications. Over the counter weight loss supplements typically contain caffeine as well.
We do know that caffeine has some benefits for mental alertness and mental performance. Coffee and tea are also high in antioxidants and many studies show that they can be potentially good for your health.
Caffeine and coffee may, in fact, reduce risk factors for certain conditions like gallbladder disease, Parkinson’s disease, and type two diabetes. However, it can worsen certain health conditions such as aggressive and violent behavior, anxiety, heart arrhythmias or palpitations, bipolar disorders, essential tremors, fibrous cystic breasts changes, GERD or acid reflux, 
Caffeine withdrawal disorder is diagnosed with an individual who experiences clinically significant impairment related to withdrawal symptoms after abrupt stopping of caffeine intake, including headache, difficulty concentration, fatigue, nausea, flu-like symptoms, and changes in mood. These symptoms of caffeine withdrawal typically begin 12 to 24 hours after stopping caffeine and may continue for three to seven days.
In women, this effect slows the metabolism of caffeine during pregnancy and when taking oral contraceptive pills. Oral contraceptives are estimated to double the half-life of caffeine in the system. We know that cigarette smoking doubles the rate of caffeine clearance by increasing liver enzyme activity, which may explain the higher rate of caffeine consumption among smokers. Substantial alcohol intake increases the half-life of caffeine and decreases its clearance.
Trans fat is an unsaturated fatty acid and a by-product of partially hydrogenated oils. It’s found in many processed foods, including margarine, coffee creamers, fast foods, frozen pizza, snack foods, and baked goods. Trans fat is also found in some peanut butter. It is frequently used by the food industry because it improves the stability of flavor and shelf life of food. It seems that the primary reason trans fats were added to the food system was due to the scrutiny of saturated fat that researchers had in the 1950s and ’60s. Considering the benefits to shelf life, flavor stability, and flexibility of food, manufacturers were gladly making the change from saturated fat to trans fat.
In 2015, the United States Food and Drug Administration announced its decision to eliminate trans fats from food in the United States by 2018. Even though the FDA has recognized the negative health effects of trans fats and is taking steps to remove it, trans fat is still prevalent in our food. While the American Dietetic Association recommends no more than 1% of your daily caloric intake come from trans fats, unclear nutrition labels mean a lot of trans fats are still sneaking into your diet. Anything labeled as “partially hydrogenated fat” or “zero grams of trans fat”, doesn’t mean that there’s no trans fat in the product. This is because the FDA previously allowed products to be labeled with “zero grams of trans fat” as long as the product had less than 0.5 grams of trans fat in it. Multiple servings of “zero” grams of trans fats foods can result in much more than the recommended amount.
Now, there is a difference between processed trans fats and natural sources of trans fats. There are natural sources of trans fats that are produced by ruminant animals such as cows, sheep, and goats. The milk or dairy that they produce contain trans fats. The studies are quite clear that industrial, synthetic forms of trans fat cause an increase in risk factors of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, but the same is not true from the naturally-occurring trans fat from ruminant animals.
Some people cannot stop themselves from eating too much processed foods, in effect, eating their way into shorter lifespans caused by chronic conditions. It’s wise to be aware of both the evidence and your personal food habits and triggers for overeating junk food. The bottom line is that no amount of trans fats from industrial, synthetic forms has been deemed safe. On the other hand, you can eat sugar — as long as you do so extremely responsibly.
Artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, neotame, saccharine, sucralose, cyclamate, and alitame, have all been studied. The truth is that we do not yet know the full impact of artificial sweeteners. What we do know is that artificial sweeteners can trick the brain into thinking that you’re not eating something as sweet as it is, and so you tend to over-consume food. Researchers for Harvard University found that individuals who drink a lot of diet soda or take in a lot of artificial sweeteners may lose their taste for natural sugars found in fruits and vegetables. That’s where the problem lies — when you tend to overconsume processed sugars and artificial sweeteners with disregard to the natural sugars found in fruits in vegetables.
High-fructose corn syrup is a blend of both glucose and fructose where both molecules are joined together, but it’s highly processed. The metabolic response by the body in reference to mostly leptin and insulin levels are negative when it comes to high-fructose corn syrup. Currently, it’s been concluded by an expert panel that high-fructose corn syrup and sucrose do not have that much difference influence on body composition and obesity. But make no mistake, high-fructose corn syrup is not blameless when it comes to adult obesity. It does cause obesity when over-consumed and is constantly correlated with increases in obesity and the development of diabetes. Sugar-sweetened beverages are associated with chronic inflammation, which can be related to increased risk for diabetes and heart disease.
Processed sugar has been related to development of obesity, diabetes, fatty liver disease, 
There are a number of causes for intestinal gas and bloating. It can be due to:
One of the most common causes of intestinal gas and bloating is actually food allergies. About 30-40% of individuals suffer from food allergies. Food allergies can be identified and avoided, and there are a number of ways to do this. There are blood tests and digestive tests you can do. The gold standard is something called “The Food Allergy Elimination Challenge Diet”. This is where you systematically eliminate foods from your diet for a minimum of four days (though 5-10 days is recommended). Then, one-by-one you slowly reintroduce each food to “challenge” your system and see which of those foods may cause gas and bloating.
Any simple sugars can cause gas and bloating problems too. Simple sugars get into the digestive tract and can undergo fermentation. Fermentation is a process where yeast and bacteria in the intestine produce gas, and that gas translates into intestinal gas and bloating.
Researchers have shown that individuals who avoid dietary FODMAP (Fermentable Oligo-, Di-, Mono-saccharides And Polyols) foods see a considerable reduction in the amount of intestinal gas and bloating. FODMAPs are actually short-chain carbohydrates that are osmotically active and fermentable. That means that when they’re in the intestines they alter the exchange of fluid within the intestines, and they cause the fermentation process which exacerbates gas and bloating. A common example of a disaccharide would be lactose, that sugar that’s found in dairy products. A common example of fructose would be honey and fruits. A common example of polyols would be sorbitol, which is found in many types of chewing gum, and also stone fruits such as apricots, plums, peaches, pears. An example of fructans, which is part of the dietary FODMAPs, include wheat, the allium family of vegetables, asparagus, and foods that are high in chicory. An example of high galactan foods would be beans and legumes and cabbage. Eliminating foods on the dietary FODMAPs list may be a clue into reducing your gas and bloating.
Herbal products have been taken for centuries to help with intestinal distress, intestinal gas, and bloating. The most common ones include peppermint, fennel, caraway, chamomile, lemon balm, and ginger. Also, consider taking a high-dose probiotic to help restore healthy flora in your gut. At Zenith Labs there is a very potent probiotic called Probiotic T50, which contains 50 billion organisms of very high quality. If you’re looking for a good probiotic, that is one you should definitely check out.
Eating less than 50g of total carbohydrates a day. This is also classified as a “ketogenic diet”. Apart from nutrient deficiencies, adopters of this diet may also experience “keto flu”, especially during the first two to three weeks of the dietary transition. Keto flu symptoms include low energy, fatigue, malaise, sore muscles, and trouble sleeping.
A large study done back in 2010 showed that out of the 27 essential micronutrients (vitamins and minerals that are typically included in a well-balanced whole food diet), six micronutrients plus four minerals can become deficient on a 
Potassium: Potassium-rich foods include spinach, chicken breast, salmon, beef, avocado, broccoli, asparagus, and mushrooms. Eat these foods while you’re on a ketogenic diet.
Vitamin B7: Also known as biotin, vitamin B7 can be found in meats, eggs, nuts and seeds, salmon, dairy, avocados, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, mushrooms, and dark leafy green vegetables.
The commonly recommended dose of Vitamin D is about 600 IUs if you take it as a supplement, but natural sunlight is always best. Not only is getting vitamin D around midday more efficient and more effective, but it might also be safer than getting some later in the day. One study found that afternoon sun exposure may actually increase your risk for dangerous skin cancers. Some scientists recommend exposing only around a third of your body area to the sun.
Vitamin E: Another vitamin that can become deficient on a keto diet. Make sure you get enough of these vitamins in your diet. Vitamin E rich foods include nuts and seeds, vegetable oils, seafood, avocado, bell peppers, mango, and dark leafy green vegetables.
Molybdenum: Molybdenum is rich in beans and legumes, peas, lentils, nuts and seeds, dark, leafy green vegetables, eggs, and tomatoes.
Now, that’s not to overlook how important daily movement and therapeutic exercise is to the prevention of weight gain. Simply walking for 20 minutes a day, three to five times a week is highly recommended. If you’re able to incorporate more vigorous exercise in your routine, that’s even better.
However, there’s one simple tip that dozens of studies have shown will help prevent weight gain: don’t skip breakfast! Let’s take a look at six of the most impressive studies.
The second study showed that obesity was 1.5 times higher in individuals who did not consistently eat breakfast.
Dozens more studies that show the importance of eating breakfast daily. It’s a simple habit you can incorporate in your life, starting now! Remember, simple changes can affect the trajectory of your entire life moving forward. Incorporating breakfast in your daily routine is important for maintaining a healthy weight, and will reduce risk factors like cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, and more.
Historically, our hunter and gatherer ancestors ate a tremendous amount of fruit. Today, it’s estimated that less than 10% of most Western populations consume adequate amounts of whole fruits and dietary fiber. The recommended daily intake is 40 to 50 grams of fiber every day. Yet only about 3% of men and 6% of women habitually consume over 14 grams of fiber per day. This intake is about half of the recommended levels.
In 2016, a dose-response randomized control trial with 122 individuals consuming fruit found that the fiber content of fruit and vegetables was more important than the polyphenol (or antioxidant) content found in those fruits and vegetables.
Now, there are a few caveats you should know about. There are high glycemic fruits and low glycemic fruits. These are different and can 
Studies show that fasting — when done right — can actually stabilize blood sugar levels, reduce body fat, and combat inflammation. In fact, many cultures attribute their long, healthy lifespans to regular fasting. Here’s the catch: You can’t just stop eating. There’s a very specific and measured way you need to incorporate 
