Holistic Health
Benefits of vegetarian eating are
more nuanced than they seem
Cutting out meat has health and sustainability benefits, but so does a balanced diet
T
hough the benefits of eating a plant-based diet
are well-documented, the challenges of moving
the world’s population towards vegetarianism
are formidable. In fact, the goal may not even be ideal,
much less realistic.
In 2018, an Oxford University review caused a stir in
the West after highlighting the link between red meat
and highly processed-meat and greater mortality rates
and diseases, including colorectal cancer.
With the global population expected to reach almost
10 billion by 2050, and land needed for raising animals
for meat becoming more scarce, more people were
already turning to vegetarianism for its perceived
benefits concerning sustainability, even before the
Oxford review.
The logic used to support a plant-based diet
is nuanced, however, and often ignores the fact
that meat animals still have their place, argues Dr
Joanna McMillan, a Scottish nutritionist, author, and
commentator based in Australia.
“The environmental arguments for plants versus
animals are more complex than made out,” she told
Global Health Asia-Pacific. “It’s true that there’s a
general consensus that collectively we need to reduce
our demand for meat and dairy, while increasing our
intake of plant foods. However, some areas of land are
better suited to animals grazing and cannot be used for
planting crops.”
Likewise, vast areas of land farmed for the
production of monocrops such as soy, corn, or wheat
are “hugely problematic” for the environment, she adds.
Loss of topsoil and natural habitats to create land
for crop farming can destroy eco-systems and animal
populations. Chemical pesticides and synthetic
fertilisers also pose dangers to the environment, while
water for farming is becoming scarce.
“Animal farming actually turns much of the by-
products from plant farming into more nutrient-dense
food for us. What would happen to all these farm
animals were we all to turn to only eating plants?” Dr
McMillan asked. “In short, plant agriculture on the scale
required to feed a growing world population is not
without problems.”
Health-wise, there are nutrients we only get from
animal foods, namely vitamin B12, and we primarily get
long-chain omega-3s from seafood, with small amounts
in eggs and grass-fed meat.
Other nutrients we only get from plants such
as vitamin C, polyphenols, fibres of all types, and
numerous other phytochemicals, suggesting a
healthy diet is balanced between animal products
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MARCH 2020
and plant-based food. But that should not put people
off vegetarianism because supplements can fill the
nutrition gap.
At the end of the day, Dr McMillan believes the
quality of the food we consume is much more important
than its meat-plant ratio.
“If we come to eat more whole-plant foods, then
terrific. Very few people in the developed world are
eating enough. Were we all to shift to more whole plants
and concentrate on removing the junk foods from our
diets, we would see significant changes in health,” she
said.
GlobalHealthAndTravel.com