Blog

In part one, I discussed whether it’s possible to get enough vitamin D, calcium and vitamin K2 – three nutrients that are vital to bone health – on a vegan diet, without using supplements. We discovered that it is possible, but only if you get lots of sunlight, eat plenty of greens, properly prepare your nuts and seeds, and eat natto. In this post I’ll wrap it up by looking at iron, zinc, vitamin A, and vitamin B12. Then we can finally answer the question: Is it possible to be healthy on a vegan diet without the use of supplements? [Read more…] about Is it Possible to be Healthy on a Vegan Diet? [Part Two]

In my last post in this series on veganism, I looked at anthropological evidence to establish that as a species in our natural habitats, humans are omnivores, and we thrive on an omnivorous diet. But although we are still humans (most of us, anyways), we don’t quite live in our natural habitats anymore, so what applied to the natives that Weston Price studied doesn’t necessarilyapply to us. In a modern-day setting with greater access to a variety of foods, can humans thrive on a vegan diet without needing to supplement? Is it biologically possible for humans to get what they need on a diet devoid of animal products?

In this two-part post, I’ll try to answer that question by looking at some of the nutrients that are hardest to come by on a vegan diet. In part one, we’ll look at three nutrients that are vital to bone health: vitamin D, calcium, and vitamin K2. [Read more…] about Is it Possible to be Healthy on a Vegan Diet? [Part One]

This is part three of my series on veganism. Follow the links to read part one and part two!

One source of disagreement between vegans and meat eaters is the question of what humans are supposed to eat. Many vegans claim humans are herbivores, while meat-eaters assert that humans are omnivores. So what are we, anyways? Herbivores? Carnivores? Omnivores? Most of you probably know the answer to this already, but it doesn’t hurt to look at the evidence. To answer this question, it makes sense to start with what humans eat in their ‘natural habitat,’ when they’re completely undisturbed by modern civilization. As such, this post will look at what traditional hunter-gatherer cultures ate! [Read more…] about Are Humans Herbivores?

This is part two of a series on vegan diets. If you haven’t read part one, you can read it here!

Before diving into the meat main part of this series, I think some clarification is necessary. Not all vegan diets are created equal, and the type of vegan diet in question is going to have a huge impact on every topic I want to discuss: nutrition, sustainability, anthropology, and ethics, to name a few. Other than the fact that all vegan diets are devoid of animal products, they can be as different and varied as the people who choose to eat them. As with anything, it’s a sliding scale, but for my purposes I’ve split them into three main categories. I’ve also tried to give them names that will make it easier for me to reference that particular type in the future (: [Read more…] about Plant-Based Diet or Plant-Based Diet?