It’s important that people who eat a vegan diet pay attention to their vitamin and mineral intake. Because several key nutrients are mainly found in meat and animal products, vegans can be at risk. New research suggests that the lifestyle choice is linked to cardiovascular disease, perhaps because of certain deficiencies.
People who follow a vegan lifestyle — strict vegetarians who try to eat no meat or animal products of any kind — may increase their risk of developing blood clots and atherosclerosis or “hardening of the arteries,” which are conditions that can lead to heart attacks and stroke. That’s the conclusion of a review of dozens of articles published on the biochemistry of vegetarianism during the past 30 years. The article appears in ACS’ bi-weekly Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
Duo Li notes in the review that meat eaters are known for having a significantly higher combination of cardiovascular risk factors than vegetarians. Lower-risk vegans, however, may not be immune. Their diets tend to be lacking several key nutrients — including iron, zinc, vitamin B12, and omega-3 fatty acids. While a balanced vegetarian diet can provide enough protein, this isn’t always the case when it comes to fat and fatty acids. As a result, vegans tend to have elevated blood levels of homocysteine and decreased levels of HDL, the “good” form of cholesterol. Both are risk factors for heart disease.
It concludes that there is a strong scientific basis for vegetarians and vegans to increase their dietary omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin B12 to help contend with those risks. Good sources of omega-3s include salmon and other oily fish, walnuts and certain other nuts. Good sources of vitamin B12 include seafood, eggs, and fortified milk. Dietary supplements also can supply these nutrients.
Reference: American Chemical Society
This is a horrible article that is not only misleading but useless. Every vegan and vegetarian knows what they need to supplement and most of us do. If you eat properly you do not need to supplement at all, my sister is a 15 year vegetarian, marathon runner who has never supplemented. Meat eaters lack WAY more nutrients then vegetarians do, this is proven. Not to mention the blood pressure of the average vegan is 133 which puts them in the ‘damn near impossible to ever have a heart attack’ category. Don’t mislead people with this garbage, tell the truth. Eating meat has DIRECTLY been linked to cancer, heart attacks and obesity. Being vegan, has not. In fact overall vegans and vegetarians not only are healthier then their meat eating counter parts, they also live longer.
Any responsible vegan supplements both B12 and ensures they get omega 3, 6 & 9 fatty acids (available from flax). It’s not like vegan diets exclude these things.
A largely whole foods, organic vegan diet including these items will virtually bulletproof your health. Eating animal protein is completely unnecessary for any health benefit and increases your odds of getting today’s most common ailments including heart disease, cardiovascular disease and many forms of cancer.