Food for Thought

"I think people shouldn't just embark on a vegan diet because it's on trend, and they're following some Instagram guru."
"They should delve deeper and understand that there are nutrient shortfalls."
"Full-blown B12 deficiency is not very common in today's society. [Deriving enough vitamin D the 'sunshine vitamin' from diet is of greater concern , vital for the health of bones, teeth and immune system]."
"Vitamin D-rich foods are mainly oily fish, eggs and things like that [difficult to attain on a vegetarian and vegan diet]."
Helen Bond, dietitian, consultant, spokesperson, British Dietetic Association

Vegan and vegetarian diets could affect your chances of a heart attack (Photo: Getty)

"We observed lower rates of ischaemic heart disease in fish eaters and vegetarians than in meat eaters, which appears to be at least partly due to lower body mass index and lower rates of high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, diabetes associated with these diets."
Oxford University researchers

“It is based on results from just one study and the increase is modest relative to meat eaters,”'
“Relevance to vegetarians worldwide must also be considered. Participants were all from the UK where dietary patterns and other lifestyle behaviours are likely very different from those prevalent in low and middle-income countries where most of the world’s vegetarians live.”
Professor Mark Lawrence, Public Health Nutrition, Deakin University, Australia

"It does seem that the lower risk of coronary heart diseases does exceed the higher risk of stroke, if we look at the absolute numbers."
"There is some evidence which suggests that very low cholesterol levels might be associated with a slightly higher risk of hemorrhagic stroke."
"[Similarly, other research points to deficiencies of some nutrients, like vitamin B12, may be linked to a higher risk of stroke]."
Tammy Tong, Study lead researcher, nutritional epidemiologist, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford

A major study published last week in the British Medical Journal by researchers from Oxford University concludes there is a 20 percent higher risk of stroke among vegetarians and vegans as compared with people those diets include red meat; for that matter any kind of meat. It is the authors' educated guess that this might occur as a result of vegetarians lacking sufficient blood cholesterol. Close to 50,000 Britons were tracked for this study for a period of 18 years.

Conventional wisdom claims vegetarianism represents a healthier alternative to a carnivorous diet, quite the opposite of what this research concludes, in part. Yet, according to nutritionists, an increased risk of stroke represents merely one of the many health risks to complicate the health of vegetarians and people should be aware before they decide to opt for the kind of diet that depends solely on vegetables to the exclusion of meat entirely.

Dietitian Helen Bond feels the results of the Oxford study should be viewed with serious concern. Although the 20 percent accelerated risk in practical terms is "quite small", sample size taken into account (equating to three additional cases of stroke per 1,000 people over ten years), those whose diets avoid meat entirely fail to understand the entire implications of their choice on their health outcomes.

Nutritionist Emma Derbyshire wrote recently in the British Medical Journal that vegans face the potential of deficiency in choline, a nutrient critical for brain health, and one found commonly in eggs, milk and beef. Choline influences memory, mood and muscle control. Although vegans could conceivably reach requisite levels of choline from alternate sources, it is not fully understood by most vegans to impel them to take the necessaryremedial action.

As for B12, also critical to brain health, it is sourced only through the inclusion of animal products in the balanced diet. Lacking this critical vitamin, a greater risk of being fatigued is foreseen, along with a weakening of the immune system.

Food for thought, at the very least.

The research found a 20 per cent increase [Photo: Getty]

“It’s important to emphasize that we’ve looked at two outcomes here. The lower risk of heart disease does seem to outweigh the higher risk of stroke", cautions study co-author Tammy Tong, nutritional epidemiologist. For while the study did focus on a slightly elevated risk of stroke for vegans, it also confirmed that according to other studies, vegetarians and vegans may have a lower risk of heart disease than meat-eaters.

Ten fewer cases of heart disease per 1,000 people over 10 years, versus three more instances of strokes in the same population.