RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – As a BBC News report explains, in the UK alone the number of people on a vegan diet has increased by 350 percent over the past ten years.
However, this dietary trend is alarming some experts, particularly when individuals follow a vegan diet simply because it is fashionable.
“When people become vegan because of some religion, they tend to know how to do it properly. In other words: they know how to make up for the nutritional shortfalls of not eating meat and dairy products,” says Catherine Collins of the British Dietetics Association to the BBC.
“However, we haven’t seen this with people who become vegans to be like other people they see on the Internet,” she adds.
For instance, celebrities like US actress Gwyneth Paltrow have romanticized vegan food.
“These people see pictures of Gwyneth Paltrow and want to do the same thing. They want to be trendy, but they’re putting their own long-term health at risk,” Collins alerts.
The vegan diet does not allow the ingestion of any kind of animal foods, such as meat, fish, milk, cheese, eggs and honey. Additionally, there are even more restricted vegans who choose not to cook their vegetables, which follow a diet called crudiveganism.
Nutrition experts warn of the lack of important proteins, vitamins and nutrients, which come from such restrictions.
In an interview with BBC World, Jesús Román, president of the Spanish Society of Nutrition and Food Sciences, said the vegan diet “is complex and must be adopted with adequate knowledge”.
“When a group of foods is eliminated, in this case very broadly, since all foods of animal origin are discarded, there are a number of nutrients that are very difficult to obtain by eating only vegetables,” he said.
The problem of vitamin B-12
Vitamin B-12 is essential for the development of healthy red blood cells, helping to prevent severe diseases such as anemia.
And this is where the problem lies: B12 is only present in animal products (and in a few types of algae).
“In order to survive for a long time, since it takes time for vitamin B-12 deficiency to manifest itself, vegans must imperatively take supplements of this vitamin”.
Proteins
If you only eat vegetables, specialists advise you to include certain key products such as seeds, dried fruit, soy-based foods, vegetables, lentils and grains in your diet in order to obtain the protein your body needs to function as it should.
The role of protein in the human body is essential because it helps build and maintain healthy muscles, organs, skin and bones.
Iron, calcium and omega-3 fatty acids
According to Román, it is difficult to ingest enough iron when following a vegetarian diet, as the substance is more easily absorbed from animal than plant foods.
Therefore, the intake of large portions of dark green leaves, whole grains, beans or peas, lentils, enriched cereals and dried fruits is recommended.
To increase iron absorption, it is also recommended to eat vitamin C rich foods such as cabbage, tomatoes, broccoli, strawberries and lemon.
However, calcium is critical for maintaining strong bones and teeth. Therefore, those who do not consume dairy products and follow a vegan diet should ingest soy milk or fruit juice, cereals or even tofu with added calcium as substitutes.
On the other hand, omega-3 fatty acids help promote the development and maintenance of healthy tissue, protect the brain and eyes, and promote cardiovascular health. In other words, if you do not consume eggs or fish, the recommendation is to take a nutritional supplement to cover this deficiency.
Finally, Román alerts that the first step before adopting a vegan diet is to know if you are healthy and seek help from a nutrition specialist who can guide you and help you choose the foods you should include on your menu.
He further recommends that the followers of this diet undergo regular blood tests to determine if there is a shortage of any particular nutrient.