Can You Get Enough Calcium on a Plant-Based Diet?
The idea that you can only get enough calcium and maintain healthy bones by consuming lots of dairy products is a myth, primarily driven by clever marketing from the dairy industry. Nutritionally speaking, dairy isn’t necessary for your diet, and many people around the world, especially Asians, are lactose intolerant.
Plant-based foods are fantastic sources of calcium. Dark leafy greens, seeds, almonds, tofu, and legumes are all rich in calcium and can help you meet your daily needs without dairy.
Download this list of the most healthful calcium sources.
Can You Get Enough Protein on a Plant-Based Diet?
Plants have plenty of protein to meet your daily needs. Even athletes and bodybuilders can thrive on a plant-based diet, proving you don’t need animal products to build muscle.
It’s actually pretty easy to get enough protein on a plant-based diet. I’ve even written an article about it, with a handy list of high-protein plant-based foods.
A Plant-Based Diet Isn't Filling Enough
Plant-based foods can really keep you satisfied. Take legumes, for instance – they’re packed with fibre and protein, making them super filling. Whole foods, in general, are not just filling because of their high fibre content, but they’re also incredibly nutrient-dense.
Plant-Based Meals Have Too Many Carbs
A plant-based diet doesn’t automatically mean it’s high in carbs. While these diets can include more carbohydrates from fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes, the overall carb content depends on your food choices and dietary patterns.
Factors Influencing Carb Content:
High-Carb Choices: Grains (rice, oats), legumes (beans, lentils), starchy vegetables (potatoes, corn), and fruits are rich in carbs.
Low-Carb Choices: Non-starchy vegetables (leafy greens, broccoli), nuts, seeds, and plant-based proteins (tofu, tempeh) are lower in carbs and can balance your diet.
Remember, carbs from whole foods like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are healthy and nutrient-rich. It’s the refined carbs you should limit.
Three large cohort studies found that high-quality carbs, proteins, and fats from whole plant foods were linked to slower weight gain over time, unlike animal proteins, fats, and refined carbs which were associated with faster weight gain.
Bottom Line: Soy is not only safe but can be a beneficial part of a balanced diet, offering a range of essential nutrients and health-promoting compounds.
What is in Soy?
Health Benefits:
Like any diet, it’s all about your food choices. There are also junk-food plant-based diets high in fake meats, sugary snacks, and highly processed foods.
Health Benefits:
Why the Shift?
In summary, while it’s possible to follow an unhealthy plant-based diet filled with processed foods, a well-balanced whole-food plant-based diet focusing on whole foods like fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes can be incredibly healthy and beneficial.
Many vegans, or those considering a vegan lifestyle, don’t avoid meat because they dislike its taste. Instead, they choose a plant-based diet for its health benefits and to make a statement about the kind of world they want to live in. This decision often stems from concerns about animal cruelty, deforestation, and environmental issues linked to unsustainable farming practices needed to meet the ever-growing global demand for meat.
Vegans eat plant-based meat alternatives to enjoy familiar flavours and textures without contributing to animal suffering or environmental harm. Adopting a vegan lifestyle can significantly reduce one’s carbon footprint and overall environmental impact.
Choosing fake meat allows vegans to enjoy the culinary experiences they love while aligning with their ethical and environmental values.
It’s different for many people, but many vegans oppose eating animals, regardless of living conditions, because the concept of “happy animals” does not address the ethical concerns many vegans have about using animals for food.
Other people, like myself, pursue a primarily plant-based diet because we have realised that we’re on an unsustainable trajectory with our current demand for meat. There are no “happy animals” at this unprecedented high and still rising global animal protein demand. We have to raise animals in unnatural ways to cover this demand. We simply don’t have enough space to raise ruminants, for example, in a manner that allows them to live a ‘happy life.’
The demand for large quantities of cheap meat forces farmers to adopt intensive farming practices. Tens of thousands of chickens, for instance, are crammed into sheds where each chicken has less than 0.07 square meters (0.67 square feet) of space. On average, a farmer earns just 42 cents per broiler chicken. This minimal value is reflected in the often poor farming practices, where the welfare of the animals is severely compromised.
Catching teams must work quickly to be cost-effective. They handle up to 1,500 birds per hour, resulting in many injuries. Chickens often suffer from dislocated hips, broken wings, and internal haemorrhaging due to the rough handling during the rapid catching process.
Eating Meat Is Natural
While eating meat is indeed a natural behavior observed in many animals, using nature as a moral guide for human behavior is flawed. In the wild, many actions, like killing for food or even more disturbing behaviors such as infanticide, are considered ‘natural,’ but these actions are far from acceptable in human society. We have the capacity to make ethical choices that extend beyond survival instincts.
The issue isn’t necessarily that humans eat meat; it’s how we treat animals to sustain an industry that makes meat cheaply and abundantly available at every meal. The cruelty and environmental damage caused by factory farming are major concerns. By drastically reducing individual meat consumption, we can help limit this harm, making more ethical food choices that respect both animals and the planet.
Plant-Based Isn't Sustainable
Plant-based diets usually need fewer resources, generate less greenhouse gas, and leave a smaller environmental footprint than animal-based ones.
Our World in Data has some fantastic graphs showing this: ‘Food: greenhouse gas emissions across the supply chain‘ and ‘Land use of foods per 1000 kilocalories.’
