For many reasons, veganism seems to be on everyone’s radar right now. Whether the Veganuary campaign has caught the public imagination, celebrity hype is making people re-think their health, or individuals are driven by environmental issues or animal welfare, it’s a hot topic.

With all this noise about going plant-based, I’ve been overwhelmed by the number of people suddenly contacting me to say they're interested in making the switch and do I think it works for everyone?

As a nutritional therapist and advocate of personalised nutrition solutions, my view is that whilst there are multiple reasons why the world needs to eat more plant-based foods and less red meat, we are individuals and there is not a one-size fits all healthy diet. So, I want to share with you here why it’s a good idea to dig a bit deeper into what is a complex and multi-factorial topic before you take the plunge.

HEALTH PROS AND CONS

If you’ve been following the vegan trend on social media, you might think it’s THE healthiest way to eat going. On the health-side of things, there is no doubt that many people switching to a plant-based diet can reap some pretty immediate benefits to how they feel. If they ate a lot of meat and very little plant food to begin with, transitioning to a healthy vegan diet may be a real improvement if it’s associated with increased consumption of non-processed vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, nuts and seeds, with all the associated health benefits, and it reduces consumption of pro-inflammatory processed meats, refined grains, and sugars.

When you eat a ‘rainbow’ of plant foods, you consume a diverse range of phytonutrients that different coloured fruit and veg contain, and in turn you benefit from the many unique health enhancing properties of those phytonutrients. You’re also consuming a cross section of different fibres which interact with your gut microbiome, giving it substrate to feed off and flourish and generating beneficial compounds that the body absorbs. This is why encouraging my clients to incorporate more plant-foods into their daily meals is my ultimate favourite dietary health tip.

But isn’t meat bad for us? If you watched The Game Changers recently, a star-studded documentary-movie, singing the praises of plant-based eating for athletes, then you might believe so. The Game Changers is hugely compelling and I'm sure well-intentioned. In fact, I loved seeing some high profile athletes thrive on plant-foods. But, it's so important to realise that the picture presented in The Game Changers was not a balanced, big-picture view.

Rather than helping educate on why plant foods are so beneficial, much focus was on the demonisation of meat. In fact, I felt that all animal protein was written-off as inflammatory with no differentiation between the nutritional properties of different animal proteins, no acknowledgement of the well-researched anti-inflammatory benefits of omega-3 found primarily in oily fish, and no constructive conversation around the quality or provenance of food, whether it be animal- or plant-based. By quality, I mean highly refined/ultra-processed foods versus whole-foods. Yet I believe this is key to health, what ever style of eating is adopted. I mean is a vegan who lives on tacos or pizza with vegan cheese really going to thrive?

There was also no real talk of the long-term impact or sustainability of vegan eating. Whilst it’s true that supplementation can be beneficial what ever style of eating a person adopts, I personally aspire to get most of what I need from food first. With vegan, that is a non-starter because, despite the amazing nutritional properties plants do have, animal products are typically more nutrient-dense and provide the human body with some nutrients in bioavailable formats which plants don’t.

So, with an improperly planned vegan diet without adequate supplementation there is a higher long-term risk of risk nutrient deficiencies - especially, vitamin B12, calcium, iron, zinc, omega-3, vitamins A and D, and certain amino acids. Such deficiencies can take time to manifest (sometimes months, sometimes years), with symptoms including fatigue, malaise, mood and psychological changes, and poor growth or development in children.

If you are a professional athlete with a nutritionist and chef at hand to produce regular hearty servings of beans, lentils and tofu, you may be able to avoid the deficiency potholes with relative ease, but how will the average British citizen manage? I just saw a news story that reported hairdressers across the country noticing a relatively decline in women’s hair quality (an external sign of an internal imbalance). The main life-style change, they discovered through conversation, was these women going plant-based.

RESTRICTION & ENJOYMENT

Say you have the nutritional theory of vegan eating clear in your mind, what about in practice? Well, I believe if the motivation is high enough, it is absolutely possible to enjoy healthful life-long plant-based eating. Some people making the switch, may even savour the creative challenge of planning and preparing different foods whilst ensuring meals are both balanced and satisfying.

However, as a nutritional therapist, I see in my clinic that, for some people, radical dietary changes can take a considerable amount of effort and vigilance which can detract from their overall enjoyment and experience of food and eating. I also feel that any style of eating which promotes extreme rules, restrictions or requires a high amount of will power to follow, runs a risk of interfering with your intuitive relationship with eating and natural desires for different foods at different times.

Of course, veganism could feel intuitively the way you want to go for all the 'right' reasons - but if you consider veganism a ticket to weight-loss, have an eating disorder, or your relationship with food already causes you anxiety, then I really recommend you re-think your approach and get some professional support in this area first.

WHAT ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT?

From an environmental perspective, my reading and viewing has convinced me that the world needs to reduce meat consumption and desperately needs to address the mass factory farming which is devastating vast areas of our planet and the industries driving methane and carbon emissions. However, having read around this, the solution may not necessarily be the extreme of turning the world vegan - but, in my view, by eating LESS meat, and focussing on holistic, sustainable farming practices (of both animals and plants) which support soil regeneration.

(Incidentally, if you still want to eat animal products but are concerned about reducing your ecological impact, consider meats and fish with lower carbon footprints, such as pork, poultry and fish – these foods have similar carbon footprints to vegetarian and vegan foods.)

WHAT APPROACH DO I TAKE?

Clients often ask me how I eat. Personally, I don’t position myself in any diet ‘camp’ but to label it I would say I’m predominantly plant-powered - which means the most part of my daily diet is based on plant foods. So I eat a huge amount of vegetables, fruits, legumes, rice, oats, nuts, seeds, herbs and spices and these form of the basis of most of my meals.

I don't eat much meat all and never have (I’m probably in a minority saying I’ve never tried a McDonald’s burger in my life!), but I do incorporate seafood, oily fish, organic eggs and goats/sheep dairy in my daily/weekly diet - and, to the surprise of many, a quarterly steak tartare (I know, weird!). I aim to purchase any animal produce from local, organic suppliers.

I’m sensitive to two common problem foods, gluten and soy, and if I consume too much they aggravate my gut. As I already take relative care to avoid these on the most part, knocking out fish and all animal products would feel too restrictive to me, and I personally feel better with some animal protein in my diet.

All this works intuitively for me and my body, and I have to say, I enjoy the flexibility and the variety.

SUMMARY AND NEXT STEPS

I hope this has helped open to your eyes to some different perspectives. There is so much more to talk about on this topic!

Education is key and my hope is that more information resources and attention-grabbing docu-movies will continue to emerge, taking a more balanced, well-rounded view than say The Game Changers. It could be we are on a vegan honeymoon right now and the rise in popularity of veganism is itself part of a much needed 'course correction' we need to address both the health and environmental issues affecting our society and the planet.

If you’re reading this and you’re not currently vegan or vegetarian, and are eating high levels of meats and few plant foods, then building in more healthful plant foods to your diet and reducing meat consumption is most likely a very good idea for your health. By taking a flexible approach, you may reap multiple benefits without being completing meat-free.

If you want to make the switch to a fully plant-based diet for longer than just January, and have concerns about how to do it ‘well’ to avoid the nutritional traps, clear-up misconceptions, and to make sure it works in the context of your own health and daily life, then I recommend seeking the guidance of a nutritional therapist who can help you tailor your approach to your personal needs and lifestyle.

For a kick-starT…

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