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A vegan diet is one where people exclude any food that comes from an animal such as eggs, dairy, meat, fish, birds and even honey in their daily diet.
In fact, the Organization World Health Organization (WHO) continually emphasizes that a healthy diet helps protect us from malnutrition in all its forms,
as well as non-communicable diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer.
Although not abundant information on the position of the WHO regarding vegan diets, both population and individual recommendations, consist of achieve a healthy caloric balance and weight, reduce caloric intake from of fats, change saturated fats for unsaturated fats and eliminate trans fatty acids.
One of the few studies available in this regard is Plant-based diets and their impact on health, sustainability and the environment, document from its European Regional Office that reads the following:
“For people who prefer not to eat some or most foods of animal origin, well-planned healthy plant-based meals can provide adequate levels of micronutrients. For people who prefer a more moderate approach, substantial health benefits can be achieved even through incremental reductions in animal foods and substitutions with healthy plant foods. However, for any plant-based diet, it is prudent to consider the types and quality of plant foods included in the diet.”
Self-medication, ultra-processed vegetables and other risks of veganism
There warn about the problems of consuming ultra-processed vegetables that are gaining more and more followers, as well as regarding the possible nutrient deficiency if we do not plan the diet well (B12 and others).
The promise of many vegan diets is to help people control your weight, for this, Carrie Forrest, Master of Public Health specialized in Nutrition (MPH, for its acronym in English) explains some dangers of the vegan diet.
In his post, Forrest argues that a vegan diet does not necessarily mean that it is healthy, since does not exclude a large amount of processed foods, sugar or gluten.
For example, vegans have an increased risk of anemia due to lack of heme iron. Although plant foods do contain a form of iron, it is called nonheme iron and is much less absorbable by the body.
The increased risk of depression due to a low intake of omega-3 fatty acids from fish fatty acids and a higher intake of omega-6 fatty acids from foods such as nuts.
Soy protein sources can cause hormonal disorders and increased intake of heavy metals.
There may also be a vitamin B deficiency12, as well as an excess in the consumption of carbohydrates and there is even the risk of suffer from eating disorders such as orthorexia.
Given these warnings, it is essential that when deciding to follow a vegan diet, you have medical supervision nutrition ional to avoid vitamin deficiencies that can seriously affect your health.
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