Advantages and Disadvantages of a Vegetarian Diet -  Part 2 

Achievement of Ideal Body Weight

Vegans are generally reported to exhibit lower body weights, which may indicate that a vegan diet can prevent development of obesity. The precise mechanisms involved have not been fully substantiated but may related to a reduced fat intake, a reduced efficiency of conversion of carbohydrates into fat, the satiety increasing effects of high fiber foods or several other factors.

Improving Diabetic Health with a Vegetarian Diet

A low fat, high fiber diet has also been shown to improve metabolic parameters in diabetics and can assist diabetics with achievement of ideal weight. A vegetarian diet that limits or eliminates consumption of eggs and full-fat dairy products will in many cases be an effective dietary approach for diabetics who are overweight or obese. 

A low fat, high fiber diet is more difficult to achieve with an omnivorous diet however it is possible if very low fat meats such as chicken breast are consumed along with the restriction of other sources of fats.  However a proportion of diabetics do not respond well to such a regime as is the case when triglycerides or insulin remain elevated and these individuals may fare better if a portion of the carbohydrate intake is substituted with monounsaturated fats as is the case with elevated triglycerides or insulin. This approach may be achieved with either an omnivorous or vegetarian diet.

Protein and a Vegetarian Diet

The major disadvantage of a vegetarian diet is the difficulty in obtaining an adequate intake of high quality protein.

This is less likely to be a concern with lact-ovo vegetarians as both egg and dairy products are considered to have an indispensable amino acid that closely matches human requirement and are also of high digestibility. However obtaining adequate protein intake and absorption may be challenging with a vegan diet as plant proteins generally have reduced digestibility and are deficient in one or more of the indispensable amino acids.

A larger quantity of plant proteins will need to be consumed in order to obtain the same amount of usable protein in comparison to animal sources and the diet may require more planning so that complementary protein sources are included in the daily diet.

In addition the vegan sources of protein are accompanied by significant quantities of carbohydrates, as with legumes and grains, or fats, as with nuts and seeds.  Thus when attempting to increase the protein intake in a vegan diet as may be required in illness or convalescence, this may be difficult to achieve without also increasing the carbohydrate and/ or energy intake to a level above that which is desirable. 

In these situations it may be necessary to rely on protein powders to supplement the dietary intake. The question of adequate protein intake especially applies to vegetarians following restrictive diets for in order to reduce weight as total energy consumption and subsequently protein intake will be reduced.

These obstacles are less likely to be encountered in an omnivorous diet as animal proteins have a high biological value.

See Also:

The Raw Secrets - The Raw Vegan Diet in the Real World

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