The Effects of Vegetarianism and Veganism

Abstract

This paper addresses some critical aspects of the dietary habits and effects of vegetarianism and veganism. It touches upon the health benefits such as reduced risk of chronic disease such as heart disease and cardiovascular disease. It also addresses the argument opposing these diets due to the increased nutritional deficiency of nutrients such as calcium that are critical to everyday health. To add on, a hypothesis is suggested that counters the argument of a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle being the healthiest route to follow. The methods section addresses the technique of an experimental design used to study how the effects of a vegetarian impacted individuals in terms of risks for disease and cancer. Different articles were found using keywords that are relevant to the topic, and were further filtered using additional criteria such as large sample size. The results and discussion section touches on the different findings from various online articles, and two research articles. Many of them argue common points such as vegetarianism and veganism reducing people’s risk to disease and cancer by large percentages when compared to people who incorporate meat into their diets. The two research articles implemented actually counter each other. One talks about the benefits whereas the other talks about the negative health risks such as nutritional deficiency and a risk of poor bone health. Following a vegetarian and vegan diet undoubtedly decrease the risk to several diseases and do lead to an overall healthier lifestyle, however, there are other factors that need to be further analysed such as individual’s physical activity, and other habits such as smoking and drinking. Nonetheless, the main point is proven, which is that these plant based diets do serve very beneficial when it comes to the reduction of susceptibility to various health issues.

Introduction

A vegetarian lifestyle is followed by millions of people around the world. Some follow this lifestyle due to the culture and/or religion, and some follow this lifestyle simply for its apparent health benefits. Plant based diets are known to greatly decrease the risk of many health issues and diseases. Although some research shows that following a plant based diet can reduce the risk to certain health issues, there are several other lifestyle factors that need to be taken into account when considering what lifestyle approaches can decrease the risk in disease. Some of these other lifestyle factors can be, dietary habits, activity level, and whether an individual smokes/drinks. One can be a follower of a vegetarian diet, but without exercise and proper nutrition, and overuse of smoking and drinking, one can still easily be susceptible to disease. Research also shows that other lifestyle changes such as increased exercise and decreased alcohol/tobacco consumption greatly decreases the chance of disease. A hypothesis to counter the strictly vegetarian lifestyle is that race, activity level, and other lifestyle factors implement a major role in the chances of contracting deadly disease, and implementing only a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle is not always the healthiest option for human beings.

Methods

There were specific methods used in the first research paper analyzed. Basically, what the researchers did was go into a database that had numerous published articles that were related to the research issue at hand. Afterwards, they tried to choose the most relevant articles using search terms that would correlate with the topic such as “vegetarian.” To further clarify, “ In order to identify relevant articles, we conducted an independent literature review usingPubMed/Medline and EMBASE databases through 28 January, 2014. The following search terms were used: “Adventist vegetarian health” (49 articles); “vegan Adventist health” (46 articles); “Adventist vegetarian cancer” (32 articles); “Adventist health BMI” (28 articles); “Adventist mortality vegetarian” (16 articles); “lacto-ovo-vegetarian Adventist” (11 articles); “Adventist health study dietary pattern” (8 articles); “Adventist vegetarian diabetes” (6 articles); and “dietary patterns Adventist mortality” (3 articles).” (Tai L & Sabaté 2014). This excerpt here shows exactly what methods were used to retrieve data for the experiment, and to answer the question they were trying to address. After the articles were found, they were filtered even more using a specific criteria. “For the purpose of this study, only relevant articles were included using the following inclusion criteria: (1) large prospective cohort studies of Adventists; (2) reports with clearly defined dietary patterns as exposures; and (3) data of vegetarians compared to non-vegetarians (lacto-ovo-vegetarians and/or vegans) on cardiometabolic factors, cancer-related sites, and/or mortality. Exclusion criteria were: animal studies, case studies with small sample size, studies of Adventists outside of the US and Canada; studies reporting only nutrients, foods, and food groups as dietary exposures; and studies not reporting relevant health outcomes.” (Tai L & Sabaté 2014).  This showed how each of the discovered articles were further broken down to be utilized and analyzed to attempt to answer the research question, and understand the relationships that vegetarianism and/or veganism has with different factors, one of them being cancer. The study’s subjects were not screened or selected for the appropriate characteristics, nor were they assigned to specific groups or conditions. There was a sufficient number of subjects being analyzed in this scenario. To add on, there was a proper use of statistical analysis, such as standard deviation. Another thing that made the study more sufficient was that researchers looked at multiple relationships with vegetarianism, such as cancer, and diseases such as heart disease and cerebrovascular disease. This was the basic idea of how the methods section was done in the paper by Lap Tai Le and Joan Sabate.

Results/Discussion

Multiple online sources reported relatively similar results but there were some that countered the others. To start off, in the research paper called, “Beyond Meatless, the Health Effects of Vegan Diets: Findings from the Adventist Cohorts” , “For BMI, vegetarians were approximately 2–4 points lower than non-vegetarians. After adjusted for relevant confounders, vegetarians had 55% lower odds of developing hypertension. The odds of developing type-2 diabetes was 25% to 49% lower for vegetarians compared to non-vegetarians in different cohorts. The odds of developing metabolic syndrome (MetS) for vegetarians were about half compared to non-vegetarians.” (Tai L & Sabaté 2014). To add on, the article states, “Vegetarians experienced a modest, 8% risk reduction for overall-cancer. For cancer-specific sites, vegetarians had approximately half the risk of developing colon cancer. Also, vegetarians had 23% risk reduction for cancer of the gastrointestinal tract. Vegetarians experienced a 35% risk reduction for prostate cancer compared to non-vegetarians. Similarly, vegetarians tended to have lower risk for cancer of the respiratory tract and overall-cancer.” (Tai L & Sabaté 2014). Other studies done by Harvard Medical School also show the perks of being vegetarian and its ability to reduce risk against illnesses. For example, “There’s some evidence that vegetarians have a lower risk for cardiac events (such as a heart attack) and death from cardiac causes. In one of the largest studies — a combined analysis of data from five prospective studies involving more than 76,000 participants published several years ago — vegetarians were, on average, 25% less likely to die of heart disease.” (Harvard’s Women Health Watch 2009). There are other articles that support the hypothesis that vegetarianism/veganism are not very sufficient diets to follow due to the nutritional deficiency that comes with it. Although it is true that there is a greatly reduced risk of heart disease and other illnesses, it is also true that nutritional deficiencies are a costly drawback to vegetarianism/veganism. For example, “Animal products do contain healthy nutrients like protein, vitamin B12, vitamin B6 and iron. Someone eating vegan or vegetarian could be missing these important elements.” (Blackburn 2017). In a research article done by Winston J Craig, entitled, “Health Effects of Vegan Diets”, the author talks about different essential nutrients that vegans potentially miss out on. One of them being Vitamin D. “In the EPIC-Oxford study, vegans had the lowest mean intake of vitamin D (0.88 μg/d), a value one-fourth the mean intake of omnivores.” (Craig 2009). Furthermore, “Compared with lacto ovo vegetarians and omnivores, vegans typically have lower plasma vitamin B-12 concentrations, higher prevalence of vitamin B-12 deficiency, and higher concentrations of plasma homocysteine (72). Elevated homocysteine has been considered a risk factor for CVD (73) and osteoporotic bone fractures (74). Vitamin B-12 deficiency can produce abnormal neurologic and psychiatric symptoms that include… dementia, mood and motor disturbances, and difficulty with concentration (75).” (Craig 2009). These are some of many findings from the different experimental research sources, and articles that discuss the effects of vegetarianism/veganism.

Conclusion

From the findings, it can be concluded that vegetarianism and veganism both do drastically decrease the risk of deadly diseases such as heart disease and cardiovascular disease. However, whether or not these diets are the only ways for one to protect themselves from certain health issues is very debatable. As previously stated, both diets come with nutritional deficiencies that also have their own lasting, and health damaging effects. Following a well balanced diet with meat and vegetables, along with other lifestyle habits such as exercise all combined would be best for an individual’s health. It cannot be discredited though, that plant based diets have severe health benefits, and those who follow them can definitely enjoy the decreased risks to health issues.  

 

References

Blackburn, Kellie Bramlet. “Can a Vegetarian Diet Lower Cancer Risk?” MD Anderson Cancer Center. Oct. 2017. Retrieved from www.mdanderson.org/publications/focused-on-health/October2017/vegetarian-diet-and-cancer-rsk.html.

Craig, Winston J. (March 2009). Health Effects of Vegan Diets. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 89 (5): 1627S–1633S. Retrieved from https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/89/5/1627S/4596952.

Harvard’s Women Health Watch. (October 2009). Becoming a Vegetarian. Harvard Health Publishing. Retrieved from https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/becoming-a-vegetarian

Ladock, Jason. (August 2018). Disadvantages of being Vegetarian. HealthGuidance. Retrieved from https://www.healthguidance.org/entry/11183/1/disadvantages-of-being-a-vegetarian.html

Le, Lap Tai &  Sabaté, Joan. (June 2014). Beyond Meatless, the Health Effects of Vegan Diets: Findings from the Adventist Cohorts. Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, Loma Linda University, CA. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4073139/