Read the label

A vegan or vegetarian diet won't guarantee better health, but attention to detail should bring benefits.

- Jennifer Bowden

Question:

I recently read in a newspaper article that vegan products were often less healthy when compared with regular food products. Vegan ready meals had more salt and sugar than meat-based ready meals, and plant-based yogurts had less protein and more calories than regular dairy yogurts. I thought vegan diets were supposed to be healthier?

Answer:

Vegan and vegetarian diets, when well planned, are linked to a range of health benefits. However, the critical point here is the "well planned" part of the statement. Because there are many vegan diet options, and not all are healthy. As you've read, food products are not automatically more nutritious because they are vegan.

Vegans abstain from using animal products, including in their diet. They eat plant-based foods such as vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts and seeds, and plant-derived processed foods. They do not eat meat, fish, dairy products, eggs or food products containing those ingredients.

Vegetarians, in contrast, add dairy products and eggs to their plant-based diets.

Although plant-based diets are at risk of being deficient in protein, iron, vitamin D, calcium, iodine, omega-3, and vitamin B12, a well-planned plant-based diet can meet all the nutrition requirements of otherwise healthy adults - except for vitamin B12, which vegans must acquire through dietary supplementation.