Welcome to Nutrition Bites. The no nonsense podcast where you get the truth about food so you can eat what you want and be healthy. I’m your host Maggie and welcome to the series! Eating plant-based is no longer a trend, it’s an established lifestyle. But word on the street has been that a completely meat-free diet is how you actually achieve ultimate health. Now is this really true? On the menu today, eating vegetarian.
During a recent trip to Spain I got to embark on my favourite tourist activity, eating. Exploring cultures through food is one of my favourite pleasures in life and Spanish cuisine is a perfect place to do just that. The eat-a-million-things-at-once invention that is tapas is a genius way to sample an entire region’s delicacies in one meal. And boy did I take advantage of that. Now I was travelling as part of a group, and due to my enthusiasm for mealtime, and likely uncontrollable desire for efficiency, I was given the task of ordering for the table. And while normally I would revel in this duty, there was a catch. One of the group members was a vegetarian. And in a land famous for chorizo, seafood paella, and putting meat or fish in pretty much everything, it became really difficult to find appropriate options for them. Of course we were able to make it work, but it did get me thinking about the restrictions of a vegetarian diet. Which is odd considering how much vegetarian food I personally consume. But that’s the thing - I still eat meat. Like when I’m at a tapas restaurant in Spain, or at a friend’s for dinner. See, I follow what the news outlets call a “flexitarian” diet. Essentially a vegetarian diet for non-commital folks. It’s centred around plants with the occasional inclusion of meat. But there’s no hard and fast rules. And by and large, it's a pretty healthy way of eating. After all, many experts and organisations advise us to eat less meat. But I wonder, how much healthier is strict adherence to a vegetarian diet compared to just eating less meat overall? Let’s dig in.
My first exposure to a vegetarian diet came from The Simpsons. Probably not the ideal form of education, but hey it was the 90s. In a hallmark episode the newly vegetarian Lisa struggles with navigating a carnivorous society, and is famously taunted by her family with the catchy jingle “you don’t win friends with salad”. But despite the low-key bullying Lisa stuck to her guns and stayed a vegetarian for the remainder of the show. Now her motivations for going veg were due to concerns over animal welfare, a common reason for choosing this diet. Another modern-day motivator for switching to this way of eating is the impact of livestock production on the environment. But vegetarianism has actually existed for thousands of years, and the original reason for going meat-free was religion.
Back in 3200 BC, ancient Egyptians believed that abstaining from meat would help with reincarnation. Fast forward some time and hop across the Mediterranean Sea and you’ll find that spiritual reasons also guided legendary math icon Pythagoras, yes, Mr. a2+b2=c2 himself, to follow a meat-free diet. And today, religion remains the primary reason why many people in India, the largest sect of vegetarians in the world, abstain from meat. But in examining our long history with vegetarianism, questions remain about what the diet actually restricts.
At the centre of the vegetarian diet is the exclusion of meat, or, meat from land animals to be specific. But there are many different subtypes of this way of eating that outline other items for inclusion or exclusion. Think of it like a spectrum. On the least restrictive end is pescetarianism, a diet which allows for the inclusion of fish, seafood, dairy, and eggs. On the other end of the spectrum is veganism, which calls for the exclusion of all foods that come from animals (sea creatures included). In between these two ends you have a variety of mix and match diets. Like one that excludes eggs but keeps dairy, and one that’s directly the opposite. Now the choice of which type of vegetarian diet to follow is largely up to individual preferences. Some people find eggs unappealing and others can say the same about milk, which, according to Gen Z, is an outright embarrassing drink to consume these days anyways. But regardless of what type of vegetarian diet one follows, from a health perspective they’re all treated more or less the same. And that’s because meat-free diets in general share a similar nutritional profile.
Compared to an omnivore, which is an animal that eats both plants and animals, a vegetarian’s diet generally differs in two key ways: a higher intake of fruit and veg, and a higher intake of plant-based proteins like from legumes and beans. And these two differences alone have a pretty phenomenal impact on the nutritional quality of the diet. Firstly, all of these foods are amazing sources of fibre, an important nutrient that most of us need to eat more of. Secondly, consuming lots of fruit and veg leads to an increased intake in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. And lastly, the absence of meat usually means a lower intake of saturated fat - a nutrient many of us consume too much of. These three nutritional features, high fibre, lots of micronutrients, and low sat fat, are likely responsible for the associated health benefits of going veg. But before we touch on those, it is important to also highlight where the vegetarian diet falls short.
Lack of protein and iron are the two famous critiques of the vegetarian diet. But these have actually been debunked. Many health experts now claim that most vegetarians have no problem meeting their protein and iron needs. Besides, with the rise of vegetarian athletes, including basketball player Chris Paul, MMA fighter Nate Diaz, and soccer star Alex Morgan, eating plants is clearly powerful. Now where people should draw their attention is on Vitamin B12 - a micronutrient important for red blood cells and the nervous system. Because B12 is an animal- derived nutrient, many vegetarians, and especially vegans, are at risk of becoming deficient. Similarly, eating an animal-free diet may result in a low intake of omega-3s, Vitamin D and Vitamin K. Fortunately, supplementation is an easy fix for these micronutrient gaps. And when you take a step back and evaluate the vegetarian diet overall it definitely has more nutritional advantages than disadvantages. The same, can also be said about its impact on our health.
Research states that vegetarians tend to have lower blood pressure, improved cholesterol levels, a lower BMI, and better blood sugar levels compared to omnivores. All of these health indicators are really important markers for the development of chronic disease. So it makes sense that observational research repeatedly shows that eating vegetarian leads to a much lower incidence of cancer (specifically colon cancer), a lower risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes and a significantly decreased risk of developing heart disease.
But despite this really solid evidence there is one surprising drawback. Remember, nothing in nutrition is good for you 100% of the time - so, why should this be any different? In 2019, a famous and well-regarded observational study found that vegetarians had significantly higher rates of stroke compared to meat-eaters. Which is odd considering how a diet high in fruit, veg and fibre, and low in saturated fat, is recommended to prevent strokes. Scientists have tried to rationalise this surprising association by blaming B12 deficiency, which on its own is linked to an increased risk of stroke. But I’d wager that they’re grasping at straws and pretty confused about this. My take on it? Just like with life, science is weird! Sometimes you don’t have an explanation for the way things turn out - especially if it’s only been seen in one study. But apart from this one negative association, which I’m sure will be well researched in the years to come, overall the vegetarian diet is generally very healthy.
Now while this conclusion is confidently agreed upon by a lot of experts, this wouldn’t be a science podcast if I didn’t poke just a few holes in the research. One of the biggest limitations in conducting observational studies on vegetarians is the fact that they just just tend to be healthier people. On average they are much less likely to smoke cigarettes and excessively drink alcohol, and much more likely to get adequate exercise. Three things which are known to improve your health! And because of this it becomes more difficult to isolate the influence of their diet alone. Of course there are some mathematical tricks up every statistician’s sleeve to help account for these lifestyle factors, but it’s not always simple or doable.
Another critique of this research relates to the bite-sized conclusion that tends to be the focus once published. In short, the guarantee that a vegetarian diet is healthier for you. And here’s where that’s wrong. Because just like with the members of your favourite boy band, not all vegetarian diets are created equal. The exclusion of meat or animal products alone does not automatically make a diet nutritious. You can still be a vegetarian or vegan and mostly consume pop, chips, oreos and deep fried tofu nuggets. The marketing minions of food companies have done an especially good job of convincing the masses that the terms “plant-based” and “vegan” equals healthy, but that’s not always the case. Tons of highly-processed vegetarian and vegan products are chock full of sugar and saturated fat, and would not be considered junk food.
But even if a vegetarian diet is well-planned, with tons of fruits, veg, fibre,and plant-proteins one fundamental question remains. Are all the health benefits of this diet due to the absence of meat, or because of the increase in all the other good stuff? Right now scientists can’t answer that. But insight into a different type of diet may help us think through this.
If you watched the Oprah show in the mid-2000s you may have heard of the Secrets of The Blue Zones. No, this was not some Blue Man Group performance experience or up and coming oceanic mystery novel. This was a health concept - one that took daytime television by storm. The Blue Zones refer to five geographic areas where people allegedly have low rates of chronic disease and live longer than anywhere else in the world. These locations are specific towns in Japan, Italy, Costa Rica, Greece and California. Now one of the fundamental explanations for the health and longevity of the Blue Zone residents is their diet. Despite these locations being culturally and geographically different, they share a significant amount of dietary similarities. The most notable is that it is a predominantly plant-based diet. Meat is seen as a celebratory luxury, consumed only occasionally, no more than a few times a month, and in small portions. The rest of the so-called “Blue Zone diet” is made up of fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds, and lots of fish. Although some people doubt the validity of the Blue Zone concept, many health scientists argue that a diet similar to the one described here, is ideal for the general population. And this only serves to cast a little more doubt on the necessity of strict exclusion of meat for long-term health.
Now why is this such an important point to make? Well it all comes down to steering the general population in a dietary direction that is net positive. If you are already vegetarian I’m not trying to convince you to stop. So long as your diet is balanced, diverse, and you take any supplements as recommended by your health team, keep on with those mushroom burgers and tofu sandwiches! But the reality is that over 80% of the globe regularly eats meat, and it’s nearly impossible to convince them to go cold turkey (figuratively and I guess literally as well). Despite all the pop culture talk about veganism and the need to reduce our meat intake, the actual number of strict vegetarians is not increasing. But what has seen a rise, and at an incredibly rapid pace, are the number of folks decreasing their meat intake without complete restriction. More than ever people are experimenting with cooking meatless meals, dining out at vegetarian restaurants, and even working towards a steady “flexitarian” diet. And the stats backs it up - people are curious about an occasional meat-free way of life.
Finding a diet which provides all the nutrients we need, leads to short and long-term health, aligns with our moral and spiritual beliefs, is planet-friendly and tasty is a challenge. Fortunately we know that a diet built on a foundation of fruit, veg, and plant-based proteins can tick a lot of these boxes. But while reducing our meat intake is absolutely good for our health, complete elimination may not be necessary. And that can be a relief for a lot of people who want to eat in a way that is better for them and the planet, but can’t fathom a lifetime commitment to going meat-free.
Flexibility in our diets is so important. Giving ourselves room to eat out-of-the-ordinary food when our options are limited, or if we have a once-in-a-lifetime culinary opportunity, can help ensure long-term adherence. Of course, if your reason for going meat-free is based on religious, moral, or ethical reasons then your comfort in making exceptions may be different. And that’s totally cool. But for everyone else, hopping on the mostly plant-based train can result in similar health benefits as a vegetarian diet, while still allowing you to enjoy the occasional meat treat.
That’s been the bite for today. Stay hungry.