Going Vegan: Is Vegan Healthy?

India is a land of diverse cultures and religious beliefs. According to the ancient and medieval Hinduism texts, the consumption of meat is not prohibited, but it is strongly recommends ahimsa- non-violence against all life forms including animals. This is the reason why a major part of India’s population follows vegetarian diet. A strict vegetarian can consume everything except for animal meat and eggs.

Wait! Then who are Vegans?

A vegan is someone who is associated with philosophy that rejects the ‘commodity status’ of animals. The Vegans refrain from using animal products, particularly in their diet. Now you must be thinking that Vegetarians and Vegan are the same, right? The answer is absolutely NO.

The Vegans do not use anything that contains animal meat or their by-products. They don’t even use diary products like milk, cheese, yogurt and cottage cheese and products made up of animal skin and even medicines, cosmetics, soaps (that contains animal by-products) for that matter. The reasons to take up Veganism can vary from person-to-person like animal cruelty, environment, adulteration or condition (disease or allergy).

FAQ: Can Vegan play sports or take up weight training?

In India, most people are not aware about Veganism. The questions like, “I am a Vegetarian. Can I become bodybuilder or a fitness athlete?” are very common to hear. This is the reason why most of the vegetarians don’t even go to gym, as they think they won’t be able to meet their daily protein requirement.

Going by this logic, a Vegan will have protein-deficiency and will not be able to perform the daily tasks, forget about weight training or sports. This is absolutely wrong! The Vegans also have products like soy milk, soy cheese (tofu), lentils, beans, vegetables that are not only rich in protein and other macronutrients, but also rich in vitamins and minerals. There are plant-based, Vegan protein powders available in the market, if you think that your food source is not enough for you.

The Vegans can certainly take-up any sport or can hit the gym, without even thinking for a second. Like any other non-vegetarian and vegetarian, you also have ample of products to choose from.

If you still think that Veganism can’t be healthy, then you must check out the Benefits of going Vegan!

1.  Unable to loose weight? Try the Vegan diet!

If you are someone who is trying to loose weight for sometime, but unable to reach your expectations, then you must try the Vegan diet plan. The reason behind my recommendation is the amount of grains, fruits and vegetables involved in the diet. The Vegan diet is said to be high in fibre, and high-fibre, plant-based foods will make you feel fuller and more satisfied for longer.

When you are start following Veganism, you will not be consuming any dairy product. This means that the amount of saturated fatty acids in your diet will also go down, thus making it healthier. The food you are going to consume will mostly have Low GI (Glycemic Index) items, which is good and recommended, if you are trying to manage your weight.

2.  Bye-Bye Cholesterol

Though, Cholesterol is usually considered bad for health, studies have proven that cholesterol isn’t that bad as we think, if taken in moderation. On the contrary, it is important for a human being, in order to maintain membranes and modulate membrane fluidity over the range of temperatures.

The animal meat and dairy products are very high in cholesterol. Their daily consumption (in higher amount), could lead to cardiovascular diseases in the long run.

If you are someone who is suffering from obesity or heart issues, then it is recommended that you eliminate all the high cholesterol foods from your diet. I will suggest you to go vegan in this case, as you will automatically stop the over-consumption of cholesterol, which could help overcoming you health issues.

3.  No more High Blood Pressure

Remember, in my last post I had mentioned about the major hypertension condition I had, two-years ago. No, I won’t lie and say that I also followed a strict Vegan diet in order to overcome it, but yes I did added some vegetarian food items like potatoes, whole wheat bread (or chapatti), white rice (in moderation), lentils and dry-fruits that helped me in my journey. Rich in fibre and low on sodium are some of the key characteristics of these vegetarian (and vegan) food sources. 

These sources are known be low on sodium and high on potassium. In my last post on Potato, I had mentioned that this combination plays a very important role in lowering down your blood pressure. The fibres from fruits and vegetables are also known to have blood pressure maintaining quality.

4.  Finally a reason to give-up sugar!

When you follow a vegan lifestyle, it is recommended to avoid sugar. It is primarily because many sugar mills use animal bone charcoal in order to refine sugar. The charcoal is used to remove colour, impurities and other minerals from it and make it more refined and transparent. If you are a fitness freak with sweet tooth, then I will advise you to go Vegan! The reason is once you start following this diet, you can avoid sugar.

How will this help with your cravings, you ask? Well, first of all, you will be consuming fibre-rich and low GI food. This will help you with your cravings, as your blood stream will have a constant supply of sugar from carbohydrate. If you still think, its not helping, then you can add artificial sweeteners to your diet like Stevia and Fructose (fruit sugar). These sweeteners are not only natural, but they are also safe and healthy!

5.  No more Hormone consumption!

If you are still think that above reasons are not enough for you to take up Veganism, then this one will surely be. You know we live in an imperfect world and it’s nothing like what we see. There is adulteration in everything, right from the dairy to the meat products. Yes! It’s true and especially if you live in India, then you must be used to all the media reports coming up everyday on adulteration in dairy products. The use of synthetic chemicals in the milk is a quite common thing to hear in our country.

What's even more shocking is the amount of adulteration in the meat industry too. Yeah, it’s the sad reality! The growth hormones are given to the animals in order to speed up their growth and I'm not just talking about India here, but this malpractice is carried out all over the world. The artificial hormones are ultimately consumed by you and can lead to issues like cancer and tumor.

Now, you may argue that you will consume only organic meat and milk. Sure, you can do! But, the organic dairy products and meat are not readily available in most of the countries and if its available, then its expensive and beyond the reach of most people.

6.  Diabetes: The Global Evil

Yeah, that was the title I had given to one of my post on Diabetes. There too, I had mentioned that in order to fight Diabetes, you must follow a balanced diet. You meals must comprise of green leafy vegetables (1/2), dietary fibre, grains and dietary fat (1/4) and protein (1/4). 

Guess what! The vegan diet is ideal for that purpose. You can easily have everything right from the leafy vegetables, to healthier soy milk and nuggets (in moderation), grains, fruits (in moderation) and nuts. These things make the vegan diet an ideal choice for a diabetic. In order to know more about Diabetes, you can click here.

7.  More Energy, More Output!

The vegan diet can help in improving your productivity. You ask, how? Well, the answer is the amount of Low GI carbohydrate you consume. When you follow veganism, your amount of Low GI carbohydrate increase that not only helps you stay full, but also helps in providing more energy throughout the day. 

The more amount of carbohydrate you consume, the more energy you have to perform and even hit the gym after office or play some sport. The only thing you have to do here is to increase the amount of protein in your diet. I will advise you to consult a Nutritionist in this case.

I know there are many fitness experts out there. But, most of them never talk about Veganism. The reason why I’m doing this is to educate people and clear the air around this topic. You can adopt a vegan lifestyle, especially when you dealing with heart problem, diabetes and obesity. Please note that I’m not forcing you turn vegan, but this article is to educate you and after reading, if you want to give it a shot, then try it for at least 15 days to see the difference.

I want to dedicate this article to PeTA- People for Ethical Treatment of Animals. PeTA is an organisation that is actively doing tremendous job in order to save animals from cruelty all over the world. This article is a way to support their #ReasonsToGoVegan campaign. If you want to know to learn more about PeTA and their work or if you would like to make a contribution, then you can visit their official website of PeTAIndia. If you want to try the Vegan diet, then get yourself a Vegan starter kit from the PeTA India website for free.

Take Pledge to Try Vegan!

I hope you like this article. If you have any suggestions or doubts regarding this topic, then you can reach out to be directly- Yash Gupta.

If you want quick updates, you can like the official page of Tech & Nutrition on Facebook or download the T.A.N App from the Amazon Appstore (for Android Only).

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."                                                             

                                                                                                                               ― Mahatma Gandhi