Thanks for all your help guys, but I don't really need to see a doctor or a dietitian. The last two mornings I have been eating fruit salad for breakfast and it seems to be keeping my sugar craving at bay. I just wasn't eating enough fruit.
With all due respect, vegans are the healthiest people on the planet if they're eating sufficient greens and fruits.
Evidence indicates that a variety of diets can be optimal for human health, with no single diet being perfect.
None of the "
blue zones"- the longest lived places on the planet, are vegan, and only one of them is fully vegetarian. The other blue zones have decent intake of fish, and at least some meat. Vegan diets have not been studied over generations to prove healthiness, and when they are studied, they do show some nutrient deficiencies on a statistical level, along with some health benefits. An interesting study showed that among people who buy their food at health stores, omnivores and vegetarians showed no difference in health outcomes, and both were far healthier than the general population. Another study (
here's a link) performed on 77,000 seventh day adventists showed that the pescetarian adventists (those that were vegetarian + seafood) had far lower levels of colorectal cancer than vegan adventists.
A lot of people seem to fall into a pattern of adopting a diet and then proclaiming that this diet is the best. I understand the temptation to do it, and have been inclined myself to do it when I've spent time as vegetarian, vegan, pescetarian, omnivore, etc. but in reality the subject of diet is a very complex, nuanced thing, with multiple peaks for ethics, sustainability, and nutrition. No matter what our diet is, it's useful to be vigilant for possible nutritional deficiencies, especially if it's a restrictive diet.
You shouldn't be recommending seafood to vegans, especially bivalves. Bivalves are filter feeders, which means you are eating the crap that they ate to filter their habitat.
That's actually a common misconception about bivalves. That's a topic you might want to look more into.
The filter in plankton and other sources of food, and then filter them out. Unless there is an acute problem in the local water, such as an algae bloom, shellfish are considered very safe for consumption with low levels of measured toxins compared to many other types of seafood and food in general. No pesticides, gmos, etc. either.
Also, there's actually been substantial discussion in vegan and vegetarian forums, websites, etc within the own community about certain bivalves, due to their lack of central nervous system, sustainable harvesting practices in many cases, and because they fill in some of the potential nutritional deficiencies of an otherwise vegan diet. There are actually arguments that eating bivalves in place of certain other food types, like grains, can result in
fewer animal deaths, due to a lack of pesticides and other practices of agriculture (including organic agriculture) that kill bugs, fish,mice, snakes, and other small animals.
But to each their own.
They are far from being a source of any nutrition, except for B12 but how many people normally eat bivalves regularly?
Oyster Nutrition
-Oysters have basically the highest level of zinc of any food (188% RDA from 3 ounces of oysters), which is useful considering that some studies show vegans statistically have lower zinc levels. (
Study 1,
Study 2). Oysters are also extremely high in B12 (408%), Copper (112%), Selenium (187%), Iron, and Manganese, and decent for Riboflavin, Niacin, Phosphorous, Vitamin C, protein, and long-chain omega 3 fatty acids. .
Clam Nutrition
-Three ounces of clams provide 1400% RDA of B12. They're also high in iron, selenium, manganese, vitamin c, riboflavin, niacin, copper, phosphorous, protein, and decent with potassium and long-chain omega 3 fatty acids.
Mussel Nutrition
The link provides the info, but again, extremely high in B12, long-chain omega 3 fatty acids, and a host of other nutrients that could fill a short paragraph.
In comparison, a healthy food like broccoli is high in vitamin k1 and vitamin c, and not a whole lot else. Even kale, a commonly cited superfood, is only high in about 4 nutrients (vitamins a, c, and k1, plus manganese). Further, the types of nutrients that vegetables and fruits are low in tend to be the ones that bivalves are high in, which is why just a few ounces per week makes a good combo to an otherwise plant-based diet.
Anyone who eats an omnivorous diet is just as at risk for a B12 deficiency as any vegan, but no one ever discusses the B12 issue with the former. It is only ever brought up with vegans and vegetarians. What actually causes a B12 deficiency are intestinal disorders, like Crohn's disease, or liver damage from excessive alcohol consumption. Being a vegan will not cause a B12 deficiency. In fact, the more ROS you have in your body, the less likely your body will use the B12 you consume anyway. So it's important to consume antioxidants in which vegans get more of in their daily diets.
Multiple studies have shown vegetarians and vegans as a statistical group having lower measured levels of B12 than the general population.
Example sources:
1,
2.
But again, to each their own. My goal was to help and provide some info rather than debate.
