Firstly, by vegetarian I mean someone who does not eat the flesh of animals. This includes fish and chicken.
Dr. Michael Greger M.D. ("The Vegan MD") has a very informative and witty lecture Optimum Vegetarian Nutrition: Surprising New Research on Omega 3's and B12.
In a nutshell, vegetarians & vegans don't live any longer than omnivores – as shown in a study of 28,000 subjects. Vegetarians & vegans have the same rates of coronary heart disease as omnivores but double the rates of Alzheimer's Disease. WHY? There are two reasons.
1) Vegetarians and vegans don't eat oily fish and most don't eat cracked or ground-up linseeds either. This means that the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fats in their diet is way too high. This increases the risk of diabetes, certain cancers and heart disease.
2) Only animal produce naturally contains Vitamin B12. Lack of B12 in the diet raises the level of homocysteine in the blood, which attacks artery walls. This raises the risk of heart disease and Alzheimer's Disease. What to do?
1) Eat 25g (women) or 50g (men) of powdered brown or golden linseeds per day or add 10g (women) or 20g (men) of flax-seed oil to food per day or take 10 (women) or 20 (men) 1000mg flax-seed oil capsules per day. Or supplement with ~1000mg/day vegan DHA.
2) Eat foods fortified with vegan B12 or supplement with vegan B12.
'Nuff said?
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