Going vegan or going hungry?

An apple a day keeps the doctor away...

Last blog post received so many interesting comments that I wanted to continue a little bit more on the nutrition thread. During the Christmas break, I stumbled upon a few programs on BBC tv. The one program was about the benefits of vegan lifestyle, and the other was about how fasting for 24-72 hours every now and then can be beneficial for your health. The indications were so strong that I got really curious about both. But I also have some questions that I haven't found the answers to.

Fasting
Now let's start with this one, since I do in fact have some experience with this. Three times, during 2014 and 2015, I completed a three-day juice program. At that time, I did it mainly for weight management, but now I have learned that the benefits are so much more. In fact, the 2016 Nobel Prize winner in medicine and physiology, Yoshinori Ohsumi, got the prize exactly because of his research showing the benefits of hunger on the renewal of human cells.  The bottom line of the story is that when we go hungry (less than 500 kcal a day) for 1-3 days, the growth of new cells in our body slows down, and instead the body starts repairing existing cells. For a person with high cholesterol and blood pressure, such a diet can reduce the values to normal, even just after fasting once (then you have to do it every now and then to keep the good effect). Even for healthy people, this process is documented to slow down aging, and it might cancel or postpone the risk of serious diseases.
  
Vegan diet
The benefits of vegan diet seem to be very comparable to the benefits of fasting. Animal protein is one of the foremost promoter of the growth of new cells in our bodies. The production of new cells is good when we are young, but as we get older it also means quicker aging. Vegans, in average, not only live longer, but they also age better. Meaning that they stay healthy and young looking until very old age. Vegans are also in average slimmer, they almost never suffer from heart strokes, and there is a lower occurrence of cancer among them.

The benefits of going hungry or going vegan seem to be endless. And since benefits of both methods seem pretty similar, we can probably choose which one we would like to apply, if any. If the idea of going hungry a day or three every now and then (it is really not that difficult) seems doable, perhaps that is easier for you than to change your whole diet. Or perhaps anyways you have reduced animal products quite a lot, and the way to a vegan lifestyle is not so long. I must admit that I got inspired to try another juice program; I'm starting already on Monday!

Now, let us be more critical. Of course if you compare vegan lifestyle or periodic fasting to "normal" unhealthy eating habits (yes, unfortunately normal - meaning average - eating habits are unhealthy), the benefits are huge. But what if you are, like me, a person who is quite careful about what you eat, and avoid unhealthy fats, sugar, white flour, starch, prefabricated foods, and fried foods? What if your diet already contains a lot of vegetables and otherwise consists of fruit, lean meats, whole grains and nuts? Unfortunately I could not find any studies that compare such a life style with that of a vegan. One of the arguments used by vegan sites is that our ancestors did not eat meat or animal products. But we live longer today than our ancestors, and our brains have evolved a lot since their times. Could this be due to animal products? And how about athletes who want to improve running form or body strength? Are we not dependent on muscle growth?

I am sure both "sides" of the debate can give convincing answers to my questions one way or the other. While I was thinking about these things, I ended up watching another program on Norwegian NRK tv, this time, about areas in Europe where people live longer and stay healthier than the average European. Now, these places had very little in common in their diets. Toulouse in France (lots of duck, blue cheese and red wine), Iceland (almost no vegetables, lots of dried meat, fresh fish), and a small place in Italy (lots of olive oil, vegetables and fresh made pasta). The conclusion of the researchers was that there might be some components in these diets that are balancing out each other. However, they had one thing in common: almost no industrially processed foods.

What seems to be sure is that average European diet nowadays contains too much meat and animal products, and too much processed or prefabricated food. So, even if you don't want to go vegetarian or vegan, cutting down on meats and animal products is definitely a good idea. Avoiding processed and prefabricated foods (instant soups, sauces, cereal, packed snacks, etc) is probably even more important. Fasting a day or three, a few times a year, especially on resting days when you are not planning heavy exercise, can also be a good component to add to your routine.

For myself, I am inclined to continue with my dairy-free diet. I am enjoying it more and more, and it is surprisingly easy. I feel light and energized, and my form is actually improving. I have also discovered how much calcium there is in green vegetables, especially kale! I have calculated that I get more than enough of calcium without any dairy. So I was probably getting too much calcium earlier. That might also be a slow down of form, I have read. On top of my dairy-free diet, I am eating more fish and less meat, and I have almost stopped eating chicken. A couple of times a year, like after Christmas and after summer holidays, I might do a three-day juice program, to balance the effects of junk food and too much wine ;-)

Say yes to new adventures! (Better an "oops" than a "what if"...)