Veganism

Veganism is an ideological and illogical choice applied to diet. Vegans do not eat meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy, or honey, and do not use leather, fur, silk, wool, cosmetics, and soaps derived from animals.

Veganism is unhealthy  and incoherent for a variety of reasons.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/01/vegan-woman-lifestyle_n_5063565.html

Of note, is that some 79% of vegans are women and 59% of vegetarians are women as well. Vegans tend overwhelmingly to be Leftists that earn substantially more money than average.

https://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/176565

(1982) Dong & Scott record that 92% of vegans, 64% of lactovegetarians, 47% of lacto-ovovegetarians, and 20% of semivegetarians are deficient in vitamin-B12. Their blood counts are similar to non-vegetarians, but their blood quality is worse on average. Most had mean corpuscular volume just above 100 femtolitres, indicating slight macrocytosis.

The vegan diet sans an extensive regimen of supplementation is usually woefully deficient in a number of nutrients — B12, Creatine, Carnosine, DHA, EPA, ALA, saturated fats, cholesterol, &c. — and in nearly all circumstances fails to achieve both proper protein intake and proper protein ratios.

http://www.jssm.org/vol3/n3/2/v3n3-2pdf.pdf

(2004) Hoffman & Falvo discuss protein, specifically asking "which is best?"

They discuss a variety of items, including comparisons between animal and vegetable sources of proteins, different types of protein uses and needs, and the need for them in the diet. They find that animal sources are nearly always complete proteins, meaning they contain all essential amino acids, while vegetable sources are nearly always incomplete proteins, missing one or more essential proteins and carrying them in reduced quantities compared to meat.

http://jn.nutrition.org/content/138/10/2021S.full

(2008) Barbul discusses proline (a protein found in meats but less so in vegetables) and it's necessity for collagen synthesis. If this protein is not had or is not had in adequate amounts a person may have a precocious senescence, wrinkles, and worsened bone quality.

The primary vegan-appropriate sources for proline like peanuts, mustard, gluten, soy and so on, tend to also cause histaminergic reactions and lead to inflammation.

http://aminoacidinformation.com/high-lysine-foods-list/

Vegans and vegetarians tend to have lysine deficiencies.

The primary vegan-approved sources for lysine are legumes, quinoa, seitan (gluten) and pistachos. Legumes, quinoa, and gluten all tend to lead to inflammation, contain items like saponins, lectins, phytic acid, aflotoxins, phytoestrogens, trypsin inhibitors, poly-unsaturated fatty-acids, n-6, and much more that leads to irritability and reduced well-being in addition to being both unsavoury and unhealthy in general.

Additionally, none of these sources of lysine are complete proteins themselves and would require additional eating in order to compensate. These are very often processed and thus high in sodium as well.

http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/17657359

(2007) Lord et al. show that greater animal protein intake is associated with muscle mass preservation in old age. Vegetable protein is not associated.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10584048

(1999) Campbell et al. compared resistance training (RT) while using a normal omnivorous diet to the lactoovovegetarian (LOV) diet and found that: "Consumption of a meat-containing diet contributed to greater gains in fat-free mass and skeletal muscle mass with RT than did an LOV diet."

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19678968

(2009) Aubertin-Leheudre & Adlercreutz compare a normal omnivorous diet to a vegetarian diet and found that: "Finally, animal protein intake was the independent predictor of muscle mass index. Thus, a vegetarian diet is associated with a lower muscle mass index than is an omnivorous diet at the same protein intake. A good indicator of muscle mass index in women seems to be animal protein intake."

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-of-nutrition/article/div-classtitlethe-influence-of-creatine-supplementation-on-the-cognitive-functioning-of-vegetarians-and-omnivoresdiv/E2D37729902DDFA6CFC85767AD0421FC

(2011) Benton & Donohoe compared the influence of creatine supplementation on the cognitive functioning of vegetarians and normal omnivores.

Their research revealed that creatine supplementation — usually deficient in the diets of vegetarians — significantly improved their cognitive function while not greatly affecting omnivores, indicating a vegetarian insufficiency.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1691485/

(2003) Rae et al. show that creatine supplementation improves cognitive functioning in vegetarians, whom are usually deficient in this essential chemical.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14600563

(2003) Burke et al. show that supplementation of creatine improves muscular strength, performance, and gains in vegetarians, within whom the chemical is typically deficient.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00726-010-0749-2

(2010) Everaert et al. show that vegetarianism is associated with a carnosine deficiency and subsequently reduced strength and muscular function.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10951108

(2000) Wang et al. show that carnosine is protective against senescence, and as a result vegetarians will likely enter senescence earlier due to lacking it.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1043452609570039

(2009) Hipkiss shows that carnosine is a protective compound that helps to prevent degeneration in the body and that without it the body will degrade more rapidly. This is typically deficient in vegetarians.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18305382

(2008) Kornsteiner, Singer & Elmadfa find that vegetarians and vegans tend to have very low n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (omega-3) status, ie, they tend to have too low a level of omega-3 fats as a result of their diet.

Vegetarians and vegans tend to be deficient in their protein intake anyway but they also have an n-6/n-3 ratio of 10/1 — worse than the average American.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11083485

(2000) Lee et al. compare omnivore and vegetarian serum fatty acid levels and lipid profiles.

Their analysis reveals that the vegetarian diet contains adverse effects in terms of fats, cholesterol, their lipid profiles, and their results. Vegetarians tend to have far too little EPA and DHA alongside a far too high linoleic acid level. This means that; A) the health of those people will be worse than their omnivorous counterparts, and; B) their children will not develop properly if they are reared with this diet.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9637947

(1998) Gerster attempts to determine whether or not adults can adequately convert alpha-linoleic acid (ALA; 18:3n-3) to eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; 20:5n-3) and docasahexaenoic acid (DHA; 22:6n-3).

He finds that, no, humans do not convert ALA enough to meet their EPA and DHA needs -; specifically, while ALA conversion can be sufficient towards EPA, it is woefully insufficient with regards to DHA. This means that individuals whom do not consume complete sources of these fats will likely not see them in their diet and will; A) miss out on their positive effects, and; B) suffer negative effects as a result.

Vegetarians are profoundly inadequate in DHA and EPA.

http://jap.physiology.org/content/82/1/49.full

(1997) Volek et al. discuss the role of dietary nutrients and resistance exercise in an individual's levels of testosterone and cortisol.

They find that saturated fats, which vegetarians and vegans tend to avoid, are a significant predictor of greater testosterone levels, failing to fulfill their role as the dietary bogeyman they're so often characterised as.

https://goo.gl/us6nDM
https://goo.gl/DzVvKT
https://goo.gl/quc4Jh
https://goo.gl/IehGmM

(Raben et al. 1992; Howie & Shultz, 1985; Hill & Wynder, 1979; Bélanger, 1989) all find that vegetarians and vegans have much lower testosterone levels than meat-eaters.

Thus, the vegan and vegetarian diet does not have many benefits, especially for men. The inflammation benefits do not arise unless protein levels are insufficient due to restriction or unless extreme levels of supplementation are had. In-fact, this diet is only feasible — not expedient — with extensive supplementation.

http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=205916

(2007) Gardner et al. compare the Atkins, Zone, Ornish, and LEARN diets for change in weight and related risk factors.

Relevant information is that the Atkins diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet and the Ornish diet is a low-fat, near-vegan one.

To compare, the Atkins group lost 10,4 lbs while the Ornish group lost only 5,6, Atkins led to better blood pressure, Atkins led to healthier HDL levels, Atkins led to twice as much improvement in triglyceride levels, and the Atkins diet was rated as easier to follow than was the Ornish diet.

Studies such as the Seventh-Day Adventist Studies which purport to show health benefits and reduced mortality in vegetarians and vegans are notoriously badly conducted as they are nearly-universally observational studies and not experimental studies.

Vegetarians are generally more health conscious, leading to the reports these studies bring and skewing perceptions of vegetarian diets when there was in-fact nothing useful being shown in the studies and nothing of worth that can be confirmed. Since all the results were self-reports without any care for selection, normalisation of samples, controls, or confounding biases, these studies cannot be said to be any worth. A proper experimental study which shows causation and monitors improvement would be far more useful than observational studies that rely on surveys and little more.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8842068

(1996) Key et al. confirm the above point that those studies were indeed skewed by the health consciousness of singular groups within the studies and not by the diets themselves.

The authors here analyzed eleven thousand health conscious people and found that the mortality differences between the groups disappeared compared to the Adventist studies which relied on surveying. This change was merely due to both groups, instead of just one group, being health conscious.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16873779

(2006) Barnard et al. showed that a vegan diet was more effective against diabetes than the official diet recommended by the American Diabetes Association, however....

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2633336/

(2008) Westman et al. showed that a low-carb diet was more effective for this purpose and in addition to this, offered a number of other beneficial health effects.

Proponents of veganism and vegetarianism will typically make the erroneous claim that meats are bad for cardiovascular health and are necessarily carcinogenic based on what are called the "China Studies." Within these studies, oft-touted as the "holy bible of veganism," Dr. Campbell cherry-picks observational data in order to "prove" his particular dietary ideology (read: veganism) is the best for everyone. These claims have been rebuked repeatedly and his work has been largely debunked.

To read more:

https://deniseminger.com/2010/07/07/the-china-study-fact-or-fallac/
http://www.cholesterol-and-health.com/China-Study.html

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/early/2013/07/31/ajcn.113.062638.abstract

(2013) Lee et al. find that red meats are not deleterious to health. Men eating red meats had a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and women eating red meats had a lower risk of cancer. Neither had increased risks as a result of their red meat consumption.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20479151
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23497300

(Micha, Wallace & Mozaffarian, 2010; Rohrmann et al. 2013) show that there's no association between red meat consumptions and cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or heightened mortality.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21540747
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20663065
https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/diet/cooked-meats-fact-sheet

(Alexander et al. 2011; Alexander & Cushing, 2011; National Cancer Institute) find that there is only a very weak link between increased cancer risk and red meat consumption and that this link is explained, not by the meat itself, but by over-cooking.

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/early/2010/01/13/ajcn.2009.27725.abstract
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9635993
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19364995

(Siri-Tarino et al. 2010; Ravnskov, 1998; Mente et al. 2009) show that saturated fat does not lead to heart disease or cardiovascular disease and has no or a negative association.

http://www.bmj.com/content/346/bmj.e8539
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=189529

(Rong et al. 2013; Hu et al. 1999) show that there is no link between egg consumption and cardiovascular risk, diabetes, high cholesterol, hyperlipidemia, or other deleterious health factors. It remains an error to assume that cholesterol is bad for consumption when it is an entirely necessary precursor to the body's hormones.

The only actual arguments for veganism and vegetarianism are ethical or spiritual, not dietary, logical, or scientific -; in-fact, the arguments against veganism and vegetarianism reside in these former domains.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3046316

(1988) Acosta remarks on the availability of essential amino acids and nitrogen in vegan diets.

"Vegan children often fail to grow as well as their omnivorous cohorts despite protein intakes that exceed RDA. Explanations for inadequate growth include deficiencies of energy, calcium, zinc and vitamins B-12 and D. Due to decreased bioavailability, amino acids and nitrogen in vegan diets may be inadequate to support normal growth. Bioavailability of amino acids and nitrogen may be decreased by dietary fiber, food processing and storage, inadequate energy, and other unknown factors."

The decreased bioavailability of essential aminos acids due to factors unrelated to their intake is a marked deleterious side-effect of typical veganism without heavy supplementation.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6812012/

(1982) Shinwell & Gorodischer show that totally vegetarian diets often lead to deleterious effects on infant nutrition and subsequent development.

Breast milk quality was virtually destroyed by the vegetarian diet: "Samples of breast milk showed low levels of carbohydrate (1.6 to 3.5 gm/100 ml), protein (0.8 to 1.4 gm/100 ml), and fat (2.4 to 4.1 gm/100 ml)."

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3501277/

(2012) Ripps & Shen discuss the role of the amino acid taurine in the body.

"Taurine is an organic osmolyte involved in cell volume regulation, and provides a substrate for the formation of bile salts. It plays a role in the modulation of intracellular free calcium concentration, and although it is one of the few amino acids not incorporated into proteins, taurine is one of the most abundant amino acids in the brain, retina, muscle tissue, and organs throughout the body. Taurine serves a wide variety of functions in the central nervous system, from development to cytoprotection, and taurine deficiency is associated with cardiomyopathy, renal dysfunction, developmental abnormalities, and severe damage to retinal neurons. All ocular tissues contain taurine, and quantitative analysis of ocular tissue extracts of the rat eye revealed that taurine was the most abundant amino acid in the retina, vitreous, lens, cornea, iris, and ciliary body. In the retina, taurine is critical for photoreceptor development and acts as a cytoprotectant against stress-related neuronal damage and other pathological conditions. "

An insufficient taurine intake can lead to reduced or stunted development, a variety of negative side-effects to health at all ages, and an essential weakening of the eyes, nervous system, and neurological function.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3354491

(1988) Laidlaw et al. show that vegans tend to have taurine deficiencies.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3676193

(1986) Rana & Sanders compared taurine concentrations in the diet, plasma, urine, and breast milk of vegan and omnivorous mothers.

Their comparison reveals that vegan mothers tend to have taurine levels less than half that of omnivorous mothers and their protein levels are synonymously lower.

Veganism and vegetarianism often stunt child growth - more than enough reason to label the ideology a public health danger.

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/82/2/327.full.pdf+html

(2005) Rosell et al. show that compared to meat-eaters, vegans have 53% lower levels of EPA and 59% lower levels of DHA on average. These are the two most important fats for neural development.

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/78/1/131.long

(2003) Herrmann et al. show that omnivores, lactovegetarians or lactoovovegetarians (LV-LOV), and vegans have differing B12 levels.

11% of omnivores were found to have low holotranscobalamin II, compared to 77% of LV-LOV and 92% of vegans. 5% of omnivores have elevated methylmalonic acid levels, compared to 68% of LV-LOV, and 83% of vegans. Hyperhomocysteinemia was founded in 16% of omnivores, 38% of LV-LOV, and 67% of vegans.

In all, the vast majority of both diet-restricting groups were B12 deficient with significant and noticeable side-effects.

B12 deficiency can lead to weakness, numbness, neuropathy, and heart disease.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3875920/

(2013) Gröber, Sisters & Schmidt show that B12 deficiency expresses itself by "a wide variety of neurological manifestations such as paraesthesias, skin numbness, coordination disorders and reduced nerve conduction velocity," and, "progressive brain atrophy," alongside, "an increased risk of dementia, notably Alzheimer’s disease."

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21939984

(2011) Dobnig shows that vitamin-D is essential for health in a wide variety of areas including the bones.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9771862

(1998) Trang et al. show that although vitamin-D is found in plants (as vitamin-D2), it is not as potent as Cholecalciferol (D3), the type of vitamin-D found in fish and dairy products. Thus, vegan diets require supplementation or extreme levels of consumption to compensate.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21092700

(2010) Ambroszkiewicz et al. show that vegans tend to have deficient levels of calcium and vitamin-D intake. Children are affected more greatly by this choice of diet.

"Our results suggest that an inadequate dietary intake of calcium and vitamin D may impair the bone turnover rate and cause a decrease in bone mineral density in vegans. The parameters of bone density and bone metabolism should be monitored in vegans, especially children, in order to prevent bone abnormalities."

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21139125

(2010) Craig shows that there are a variety of nutritional inadequacies in vegetarian and vegan diets. Notably: vitamin-A, vitamin-D, vitamin-B12, ω-3 fatty acids, calcium, iron, and zinc.

Without extensive supplementation it is a toilsome effort to acquire all of these nutrients in sufficient amounts, for a vegan.

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/100/Supplement_1/459S.long

(2014) Gibson, Heath & Syzmlek-Gay show that iron and zinc nutrition is a concern for vegetarian infants and young children.

Iron and zinc deficiencies can lead to anorexia, poor growth, and immune issues. Typically in adults, this may also elevate the risk of liver disease.

Behavioural and brain impairments may result from insufficient iron intake. Also: plant-based diets may lead to higher consumption of phytate and polyphenols, inhibiting iron absorption.

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/78/3/633S.long

(2003) Hunt shows that vegetarians tend to have lower bioavailability of iron, zinc, and other trace minerals.

Moreover, vegetarian diets tend to reduce the absorption of zinc by approximately 35% compared to an omnivorous diet.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19906248

(2009) Zeisel & da Costa show that choline is essential for health; brain function, cell transmission, and metabolism are all based on it.

https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/80400525/Data/Choline/Choln02.pdf

The USDA reports that most choline sources are meat. Vegans may thus be at a heightened risk.

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/70/3/543s.full

(1990) Weaver, Proulx & Heaney elaborate on ways in which vegetarians may achieve adequate dietary calcium.

Their study shows that while many plant sources of calcium exist, they also tend to contain oxalate and phylate, both of which inhibit calcium absorption.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19475341

(2009) Valenzuela et al. show that heme iron is only found in meat and is far more easily absorbed than the iron found in plant foods.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10466165

(1999) Sanders shows that iron and B12 are often deficient in plant-based diets and that bioactive substances present in foods of plant origin significantly decrease the bioavailability of minerals and requirements for vitamins.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3063534/

(2010) Ahad & Ganie show that iodine deficiency can have a variety of deleterious effects including mental retardation, thyroid dysfunction, and other health problems.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12748410

(2003) Krajcovicová-Kudlácková et al. show that roughly 9% of omnivores, over a quarter of vegetarians, and 80% of vegans suffer from iodine deficiency.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22381456

(2012) Rayman shows that selenium deficiency can predict thyroid deficiency, impaired reproductive function, and a lacking of the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects selenium normally provides.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15325679

(2004) Turner-McGrievy et al. show that vegans tend to have lower levels of selenium compared to regular people.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21561431

(2011) Pekala et al. reveal that carnitine is an important mineral for a variety of bodily mechanisms ranging from metabolism and muscular function.

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/50/2/301.abstract

(1989) Lombard et al. show that lactoovovegetarians and strict vegetarians - both adults and children - tend to have significantly lower carnitine levels than omnivores, often to the point of deficiency.

LVOs and vegetarians were not different from one another, indicating that eggs and milk are not an adequate source of carnitine with that instead being found in meat.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21753065

(2011) Stephens et al. show that vegetarians have reduced skeletal muscle carnitine transport capacity and levels. This coincides with their low average testosterone and strength levels.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4705437/

(2016) Schmidt et al. compare plasma concentrations and intakes of amino acids in male meat-eaters, fish-eaters, vegetarians and vegans.

Their analysis reveals that herbivores don't ingest as much glycine, despite having higher blood levels. They may be undergoing a "starvation response," leading to this.

"Vegans have the lowest concentrations of methionine, tryptophan, lysine, leucine, cystine, proline, tyrosine, phenylalanine, serine, alanine, threonine, isoleucine and valine, all of which are essential amino acids."

Low leucine leads to worsened metabolism and reduced ability to grow, methionine insufficiency leads to an inability to undergo methylation, tryptophan is critical for serotonin and melatonin synthesis, lysine is important for immune function and functions as an anxiolytic, tyrosine and phenylalanine are important for dopamine synthesis, and proline is important for collagen production. Low levels of all of these will undoubtedly reduce quality of life.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26502280

(2015) Schüpbach et al. show that 58% of vegetarians tend to be vitamin-B6 deficient, 34% are niacin deficient, and 47% of vegans are zinc deficient.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1797957

(1991) Vudhivai et al. conclude that 29% of vegetarians are deficient in vitamin-B6 and should be classified as a vulnerable  group for vitamin-B6 deficiency. A quarter are deficient in vitamin-B2 as well.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7852684

(1995) Janelle & Barr show that vegetarians have lower intake of vitamin-B2.

https://www.ernaehrungs-umschau.de/fileadmin/Ernaehrungs-Umschau/pdfs/pdf_2016/04_16/EU04_2016_Special_DGE_eng_final.pdf

(2016) Richter et al. show that vegans tend to be deficient in protein, especially indispensable amino acids, long-chain n-3 fatty acids, other vitamins (riboflavin, vitamin D) and minerals (calcium, iron, iodine, zinc and selenium), and do not recommend a vegan diet for pregnant or lactating women, or infants, children, or adolescents.

They recommend that if someone wishes to pursue a vegan diet that they permanently supplement for key nutrients like B12. A significant portion of them are deficient in as diverse a set of nutrients as B2 to B6 to B3 to B12 and so on.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8269890

(1993) Rauma et al. show that Finnish rheumatoid patients put on a vegan diet tended to have too little niacin.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12383122

(2000) Thane & Bates show that vegetarian preschool children tend to be deficient in niacin, ferritin, fat, and cholesterol.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/19269799/

(2009) Brenna et al. shows that plant-based ALA does not convert to DHA or EPA very efficiently. This means that vegans will nearly inexorably end up with too low a level of DHA and EPA.

“The majority of evidence from isotopic tracer studies show that the conversion of ALA to DHA is of the order of 1% in infants, and considerably lower in adults”

The fat of plants is insufficient. The diet of plants alone is woefully insufficient without an extensive and likely costly regimen of constant supplementation.