“But humans are made to eat meat!”
One common, and very annoying, argument that people bring up when discussing veganism is this notion that humans are ‘made to’ or ‘have to’ eat meat.
Of course, humans are omnivores. This means that we can obtain nutrients from both plant and animal sources – but we are not obligate omnivores, so biologically we do not have any need to eat meat.
We require nutrients that are found in meat and other animal products, but there is not a single nutrient that cannot be obtained from vegan sources. Let’s cover the key nutrients that are often mentioned.
Protein
B12
Iron
A complete guide to vegan nutrition
You will find a pretty comprehensive guide to vegan nutrition in the Your Guide to Going Vegan This June booklet that was sent to you when you first signed up to the Summer Vegan Pledge. There’s also this video below by our friend Paul Kerton AKA Hench Herbivore.
A vegan diet is healthy!
Every major dietetic and nutritionist organisation around the world states that a well-planned vegan diet is healthy and can even have health benefits.
Further reading
The Vegan RD: www.theveganrd.com
The Vegan Society: www.vegansociety.com/resources/nutrition-and-health
The NHS Eat Well advice for vegan diets: www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/the-vegan-diet
Vegan Health, evidence-based vegan nutritional advice: www.veganhealth.org