Vegan Diet Vs American Diet

A Balanced Omnivore Diet vs. a Vegan Diet

In the United States, many Americans have the misconception that an omnivore diet primarily consists of consuming large portions of meat, dairy, and seafood instead of vegetables, fruits, nuts, and legumes. To inform, in this society, advertisements generally promote large portions of fast foods, which are not nutritious and increase Americans’ risk of developing various health diseases. Nowadays, concerned Americans are changing their eating habits by excluding certain food groups from their diets. Indeed, many are following a vegan diet because of the poor treatment of animals, religious beliefs, health concerns or influence. To compare, a vegan diet excludes meat, dairy, and seafood. On the other

By eating an adequate portion of meat per day, Americans can live a healthy life. If Americans do not eat meat they will be deficient in protein, vitamin B12, and iron. Indeed, these vitamins and nutrients help our body function by regulating the body’s cells, tissues, organs, neurological function, and DNA synthesis. To inform, meat contains vitamin B12 which is not found in plant-based supplements for the vegan diet.

However, vegans believe that taking away the life of a living organism and eating it is cruel and unnecessary. They inform others that meat is high in saturated fat and cholesterol, which can cause an increase in diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and kidney disease. As a result, this causes a fear in many Americans and persuades them to change their diet. Therefore, they believe that they should exclude meat from their diet, and replace it with supplements, vegetables, and fruits to provide the necessary vitamins and nutrients to live a healthy

Heather Fields and his colleagues discovered that vegans have a high risk of being deficient in six nutrients. Vegans have a high risk of being deficient in the nutrients: iron, calcium, zinc, protein, omega-3, vitamin D, and vitamin B12. In fact, deficiency in iron can lead to anemia. A low intake of calcium can cause low bone mass (Health Line). A low consumption of zinc can cause loss of appetite, an impaired immune system, and growth retardation (Zinc H.P.). Deficiency of protein makes your skin more vulnerable to allergies and irritation. Since vegans do not consume seafood they are deficient in the nutrient omega-3. To inform, the lack of omega-3 can cause heart problems, poor blood circulation and memory, and fatigue. Also, deficiency of vitamin D can cause a decrease in bone mineral density and may also lead to bone abnormalities, which overall can harm American’s immune system (Joseph M. Cohen). In addition, symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency lead to numbness in the body, gross motor problems such as walking and balancing, anemia, fatigue, memory loss, paranoia, and hallucinations (Elizabeth Shimer Bowers). To inform, Harvard Health Publishing said that vegans are at a high risk of being deficient in vitamin B12 because plants do not provide this nutrient. All of these nutrients which vegans lack affect Americans’ growth and development, physical and mental well being, energy and increases their risk of developing health