Vegan Diet Essay

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Topic 1: I would not say that a vegan diet is necessarily more healthful than a regular old animal food diet. I would say that there are benefits to both types of diets. I actually don’t know much about vegan diets but I would say that I have a stereotype about the people that are on vegan diets which I know I need to work on changing. There are definitely some benefits to a vegan diet where no animal products are consumed. Our book discusses the probability that a vegan diet will reduced the amount of bad fats eaten and in turn help lower risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes. It also helps that the majority of food a vegan consumes are vegetables and fruits so they are taking in more anti-oxidants and good fiber. According to our text vegans may have a hard time getting adequate amounts of protein, calcium, zinc, iron and vitamin B if they do not remain mindful of what they are consuming. On the website VRG.org (Vegetarian Resource Group) they offer a sample menu for a day of vegan eating that will provide enough nutrients, including protein, for a vegan to remain healthy. Here is the menu: Protein (grams) Breakfast: 1 cup Oatmeal 6 1 cup Soy Milk 7 1 medium Bagel 10 Lunch: 2 slices Whole Wheat Bread 7 1 cup Vegetarian Baked Beans 12 Dinner: 5 oz firm Tofu 12 1 cup cooked Broccoli 4 1 cup cooked Brown Rice 5 2 Tbsp Almonds 4 Snack: 2 Tbsp Peanut Butter 8 6 Crackers 2 TOTAL 77 grams As you can see a vegan diet can provide plenty of protein if the right foods are consumed each day! Proteins are not equal in value. Take beans for example, one cup of black beans produces 15 grams of proteins whereas one cup of soybeans produc... ... middle of paper ... ...ch leads to cutting out carbohydrates can cause numerous health issues. Some of them are hypoglycemia, increased risk for heart disease and apparently increased risk of some types of cancer. The debate also discusses that high protein diets can impair brain function. To me, this sounds extremely dangerous! However, at the end of this article it does begin to discuss that participants in a study of the Atkins diet showed some positive things as well. Like most things we’ve learned so far in this class I’m realizing that there are good and bad sides to each nutrient and idea. There is no right or wrong perfect answer. Moderation seems to be a consistent theme. Being mindful of how much of something you consume and aiming to consume the good carbohydrates, proteins and fats as opposed to the bad ones. There are a lot of things to keep in mind while trying to be healthy!

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