A Vivacious Voice for Veganism: Don’t Do It To Diet at Her Active Life

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A Vivacious Voice for Veganism: Don’t Do It To Diet

Posted May 13, 2008 at 12:00 PM by Katie Drummond

Section: Her Health, Her Motivation, Her Nutrition, Healthy Eating, Her Story

ENTER IMAGE NAME BETWEEN QUOTES - USE ENGLISH NOT FILE NAMING STRUCTURE Long before Skinny Bitch gracelessly proclaimed the weight loss benefits of a vegan lifestyle, women and men have been adopting vegetarianism for so-called “health reasons.” Translation: they wanted to lose weight. While you can’t deny the overwhelming research that promotes veganism as a means to achieving a healthy body weight, among other benefits, I have a big problem with the lifestyle being mistaken for a diet.

First and foremost, veganism is an entire way of living – one that includes abstaining from consuming or using animal products and byproducts (this goes beyond simply avoiding full-fat cheese and includes skipping leather shoes and honey-infused shampoos). Furthermore, it is a lifestyle adopted for reasons that are more compelling than taut tummies and trim thighs. Any positive impact on personal health that results from eschewing steak and eggs is a peripheral benefit in the larger scheme of things. In other words, a vegan believes in animal rights – not in the right to wear a size zero.

I don’t deny it: a low-fat vegan diet can definitely help you lose weight. One study of over 55,000 people by Tufts University found that 40% of meat-eaters were overweight or obese, while only 25% of vegetarians were. But remember that this refers to a well-planned, nutritious vegan diet. Using soy milk in your cookie recipes won’t make them healthy, it will only make them vegan. The two are not synonymous. Eating entirely vegan foods can help with weight loss, but it can also help with weight gain and lead to poor health – I know many vegans who enjoy a few too many cupcakes, far too often.

You can enjoy tremendous health benefits by eating healthily – lower blood pressure, better cardiovascular health, and a reduced risk of many types of cancer. Veganism can play a large role in overall wellness, and many credit this way of eating with their high energy levels and lovely youthful zest. Can you get that youthful zest by doing plenty of yoga and eating meat as well? Probably. That’s why veganism asks you to dig a little deeper, and adopt a new lifestyle – for good - instead of switching to a new diet – for ten more pounds.

My role in this column is not to preach to you, but to offer suggestions and insight into veganism and its role in health and fitness. Certainly, what you eat is a big part of being vegan – and it can, if planned with nutrition in mind, play a role in weight loss. But my suggestion for anyone considering veganism for weight alone is to reconsider and do some research. Go vegan for real reasons – reasons that will stick with you in a way that other diet motivations won’t – even when grandma’s non-vegan pecan pie makes the rounds at Thanksgiving. I hope you’ll skip it not for your waistline, but because of the way you lead your life (and I hope you’ve prepared your own vegan version, too!).