Myths About Cutting Out Animal Products That Should Have Died Years Ago

Despite the overwhelming evidence that eating a plant-based diet is the best diet that humans can eat, popular culture is yet to catch up. And part of the problem has to do with some of the myths about eliminating animal products from your life.

These myths are deeply embedded in the culture. But, since they’re myths, they aren’t true and could be leading to real damage to your health.

*This is a collaborative post 

Myth 1: Vegans Only Eat Side Dishes

It might seem that vegans only eat side dishes because of their penchant for potato salads, in fact any salads, but this simply isn’t true. Vegan lasagna that substitutes the animal products for beans, mushrooms, and cashew cream, is delicious. Vegan curries without meat are delicious. Even vegan bangers and mash, with sausages made from soy, make an easy evening meal.

Myth 2: You Can’t Eat Dessert On A Plant-Based Diet

Vegan desserts are delicious, In fact many of my most favourite desserts ever have been vegan, even though they don’t rely on traditional baking staples like egg and dairy. It turns out that many of the desirable properties of eggs and milk can be replicated by special plants, like flax and soy. Vegan desserts are just as creamy and delectable as their non-vegan counterparts - and usually, a heck of a lot better for your health.

Myth 3: Vegans Don’t Get Enough Protein

The protein myth is one of the most deep-seated and pervasive myths in our culture. It comes out of research in the 1960s and 1970s which investigated why so many children in the developing world had nutritional deficiencies. Scientists believed that “protein malnutrition” was a major catastrophe in developing countries, and that modern science had to find ways of growing animal food more cheaply.

Over the years, though, the science changed. It was soon discovered that people didn’t need copious amounts of animal protein in their diets to fend off malnutrition: in fact, they didn’t need any animal protein at all. All plant food contains all essential amino acids - the basic building blocks used for all the proteins the human body needs. Plant protein was described as “lower quality” by early investigators because the profile of amino acids was dissimilar to that of the human body. But it later turned out that the body’s protein requirements are exceptionally low. Babies grow to double their size in the space of a few months drinking only human breast milk, which is just 9 per cent protein. The average woman needs about 8 per cent of daily calories from protein, or nearly as much protein as there is in the average bowl of oatmeal - not a huge amount.

Myth 4: People On Plant-Based Diets Have Eating Disorders

The media often highlights such cases for sensationalism, While it’s true that some people have eating disorders, it’s not the case that there’s a even a tiny percentage that overlap with veganism. Most people choose veganism because they want to stop exploiting animals for food, not because they want to restrict what they eat. For many people, it’s a difficult journey, but they persevere because they know their actions are making a difference.

* This is a collaborative post
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