Lisa Lillianstrom | Perspective Contributor

Being vegan isn’t for everyone

Veganism seems to be a route that people may go on for health reasons, however, it can be a difficult journey since there are many benefits that come from eating meat and dairy.

A vegan diet does not provide enough nutrients and vitamins to sustain healthy living, specifically for newborns. Babies under one years old have very specific nutritional needs that cannot be met with soy milk. Soy does not contain the nutrients needed for growth, and the lack of nutrients can lead to deficiencies that can be deadly because babies are still growing and developing, according to an Oct. 30 Livestrong article.

“Once you start restricting food groups or large chunks of food groups, you start running into problems like vitamin and mineral deficiency,” Karen Kuperberg, a registered dietician, said in a Jan. 12 2017, Today’s Parent article.

There are also many people that may be allergic to soy they cannot switch from dairy milk to soy milk. Additionally, for those with nut allergies, almond milk is not an option.

Some food items that do not contain animal byproducts are expensive. As a result, being vegan isn’t always financial smart.

“I don’t believe that veganism is accessible to everyone,” Ally Sloka, junior actuarial science major, said. “If vegan platforms were aimed toward poorer areas to try to get people to eat healthier, then I’d be more on board.”

Meat is considered important in a person’s diet. It has a high nutrient density, and contains a wide variety of nutrients in a relatively small amount of food.

“The protein in meat helps in building and repairing body tissues and improving muscle activity… Without providing your body with the right nutrients, no amount of efforts to build a muscular figure will help and meat is by far the best source of those nutrients,” according to a May 11 Organic Facts article.

Hair and skin are made of protein, and your body uses protein to help build and repair tissues is an important building block of bones, muscles, cartilage, skin, and blood. Which is why meat and dairy are essential to one’s diet as they have protein, according to a May 11 Organic Facts article.

“Even though there are other sources of protein, meat is one of the best sources,”  Karli Telima, junior early childhood education major said.

The vegan lifestyle is pushed on people from activists groups on campus trying to guilt everyone into giving up meat. However, students need to make the choice for themselves.

Veganism isn’t for everyone and it is not always a realistic choice for students.

MacKenzie Meadows | Digital Editor

Veganism has crucial health benefits

Going vegan doesn’t just save animals, but it can also save your health. Humans are hooked on meat, but they are not designed for meat-eating. Health and being an animal activist aside, human teeth are not made to efficiently eat meat. Thus, based on evolution, humans are actually herbivores.

Humans do have canines but also have more important teeth, such as molars. Molars are the teeth humans use to chomp and chew on food, not the canines. Other animals who have molars include chimpanzees and mammals, such as pigs. If humans were designed to eat meat, the use of utensils to cut the meat would not be necessary, according to vegan activist and researcher, Lydia Hunter.     

There are also several health benefits to being vegan; more vitamins and minerals important to human consumption are found in high volumes of plant-based foods. When people switch from meat-eating to plant-eating, the intake of vitamins and other nutrients are more beneficial, according to Neal Barnard of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. The intake of protein for vegans is highly questioned, but there is a simple answer to ease the worry of proper protein intake.

“I’ve never seen a case of protein deficiency, as long as there’s adequate consumption of calories. The recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for optimal protein intake is 0.8 kg/lean body mass. So that would be 44 grams for females which equals the same amount in three cups of cooked beans, and 54 grams for males which is about four cups. This is enough protein for 99 percent of the population and beans, nuts, grains and vegetables could cover this amount easily.” Dr. Garth Davis, who specializes in diet and nutrition, said.

Veganism benefits the environment by humanely protecting animals. The production of one pound of hamburger meat equals 5 kg CO2 emission, which is about the same as using a car for three weeks. Around 18 to 51 percent of man-made pollution comes from the meat industry. Additionally, animals are suffering the most; the current mass extinction of species is impacting 86 percent of mammals, 88 percent of amphibians and 86 percent of birds, according to a Jan. 2017 Nutriciously article.

An even more important benefit to eating plant-based hits very close to home, feeding those who are in poverty ridden countries, including areas in the U.S.. Approximately 70 percent of the grain grown in the U.S. alone is to feed livestock, which is enough to feed 800 million people. Being vegan could also save up to 724,925 gallons of water per person each year, according to the Jan. 2017 Nutriciously article.

Veganism gets a bad reputation as a result of the extreme activism of some and the pushing behavior of beliefs by others. People should not think of veganism or vegans as harsh radicals because of a small percentage of the masses. Being vegan is much more than the pushing of an agenda; it’s changing the already damaged world little by little every day.