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A Meatless Diet Is Better for You--And the Planet
- Scientific American, July 14, 2023
A Meatless Diet Is Better for You—And the Planet
Vegetarian and especially vegan diets can promote better health, help mitigate climate change and reduce inhumane factory farming
The idea that we need to eat meat to get enough protein and iron, a false assumption of some Paleo diet acolytes (https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/human-ancestors-were-nearly-all-vegetarians/), is a common misconception. It ignores the abundance of protein and iron in many plant-based foods such as nuts, seeds and legumes. Similarly, consuming dairy is not necessary to obtain adequate dietary calcium, as this mineral is abundant in soy, lentils, beans, nuts, seeds, grains, leafy greens and cruciferous vegetables.
Likewise, while we typically associate omega-3 fatty acids with fish, fish themselves incorporate these into their tissue by eating algae and seaweed, which we can consume directly without the concerns of exposure to accumulated mercury and microplastics in fish flesh. Indeed, a whole-food, plant-based diet can provide all essential nutrients except for vitamin B12, which is made by bacteria in soil and ingested by animals, thereby incorporated into their tissue, milk, and eggs. While modern sanitation allows humans to consume clean produce uncontaminated by dirt or feces, we can easily and cheaply obtain oral B12 supplements.
Furthermore, significantly reducing our consumption of meat would carry vast benefits. As cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death around the world, poor diet has now surpassed tobacco smoking as the top risk factor for death in the U.S, where life expectancy has now stagnated, in large part because of a plateau in mortality from cardiovascular disease. Eating highly processed foods and red meat has been repeatedly demonstrated to promote underlying mechanisms of cancer and cardiovascular disease, such as inflammation and damage to the lining of blood vessels.
Mounting evidence points to the benefits of a whole-food, plant-based diet. A meta-analysis of scientific studies from 2017 found that a vegetarian diet is associated with a 25 percent relative risk reduction for coronary heart disease and an 8 percent relative risk reduction for cancer, with a vegan diet conferring a 15 percent relative risk reduction for cancer. The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified processed meat as carcinogenic, and (unprocessed) red meat as probably carcinogenic to humans. Finally, randomized controlled trials have also demonstrated the benefits of a Mediterranean diet (essentially a whole-food, plant-predominant diet) in both the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease, with enhanced benefits from greater adherence to a provegetarian (more plant-based) dietary pattern.
- More at link: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-meatless-diet-is-better-for-you-and-the-planet/
Vegetarian and especially vegan diets can promote better health, help mitigate climate change and reduce inhumane factory farming
The idea that we need to eat meat to get enough protein and iron, a false assumption of some Paleo diet acolytes (https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/human-ancestors-were-nearly-all-vegetarians/), is a common misconception. It ignores the abundance of protein and iron in many plant-based foods such as nuts, seeds and legumes. Similarly, consuming dairy is not necessary to obtain adequate dietary calcium, as this mineral is abundant in soy, lentils, beans, nuts, seeds, grains, leafy greens and cruciferous vegetables.
Likewise, while we typically associate omega-3 fatty acids with fish, fish themselves incorporate these into their tissue by eating algae and seaweed, which we can consume directly without the concerns of exposure to accumulated mercury and microplastics in fish flesh. Indeed, a whole-food, plant-based diet can provide all essential nutrients except for vitamin B12, which is made by bacteria in soil and ingested by animals, thereby incorporated into their tissue, milk, and eggs. While modern sanitation allows humans to consume clean produce uncontaminated by dirt or feces, we can easily and cheaply obtain oral B12 supplements.
Furthermore, significantly reducing our consumption of meat would carry vast benefits. As cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death around the world, poor diet has now surpassed tobacco smoking as the top risk factor for death in the U.S, where life expectancy has now stagnated, in large part because of a plateau in mortality from cardiovascular disease. Eating highly processed foods and red meat has been repeatedly demonstrated to promote underlying mechanisms of cancer and cardiovascular disease, such as inflammation and damage to the lining of blood vessels.
Mounting evidence points to the benefits of a whole-food, plant-based diet. A meta-analysis of scientific studies from 2017 found that a vegetarian diet is associated with a 25 percent relative risk reduction for coronary heart disease and an 8 percent relative risk reduction for cancer, with a vegan diet conferring a 15 percent relative risk reduction for cancer. The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified processed meat as carcinogenic, and (unprocessed) red meat as probably carcinogenic to humans. Finally, randomized controlled trials have also demonstrated the benefits of a Mediterranean diet (essentially a whole-food, plant-predominant diet) in both the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease, with enhanced benefits from greater adherence to a provegetarian (more plant-based) dietary pattern.
- More at link: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-meatless-diet-is-better-for-you-and-the-planet/
Note: This is an opinion piece by By Sarah C. Hull, assistant professor of medicine (cardiology) at the Yale School of Medicine, where she also serves as associate director of the Program for Biomedical Ethics.
22 replies
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When my wife and I first decided to cut way back on meat, we ate a lot of cheese (to get that satisfying wad of fat that comes with a carnivorous gut-bomb, I guess). When you've been conditioned your whole life that a "good meal" is one that leaves you feeling suffused with saturated fat, it's a new experience to have a leaner lipid profile.
When I started getting alarming results from my annual checkup blood work, I realized it was time to quit kidding myself. I'm to the point now where a meal of lentils, seaweed salad, chickpeas, dates, and quinoa (as I had for lunch) is both delicious and satisfying. So glad to have made the transition many years ago. I kind of like living, and would like to keep doing it for two or three more decades.