[vegan_wgat]

Throwaway for obvious reasons.

What's the current academic consensus on nutritional deficiencies of vegan / lacto-vegeterian diet?

I grew up on a lacto-vegeterian diet in India. I can't shake off the feeling that I would've had a better physique and growth if I had access to non-vegetarian food during my youth.

[0x20cowboy]

> It is the position of the American Dietetic Association that appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. Well-planned vegetarian diets are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence, and for athletes.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19562864/

[vegan_wgat]

How much difference in cost between 'well planned vegeterian diet' and normal healthy diet with animal products?

[lm28469]

> normal healthy diet with animal products

Most people don't eat a "normal >healthy< diet with animal products". It takes as much work to have a meat based healthy diet as a vegetarian based healthy diet.

[uptime]

This. Any healthy diet today involves actively choosing and avoiding products marketed to us. Eating meat is not magical, and I called myself a vegetarian for a while when I was really a carb-etarian and my fitness suffered.

[cute_boi]

I think its just a propaganda by meat industry that you need to eat meat to live a healthy life. If you take vitamin b12 properly or take fortified foods you should be ok. (Also, the vitamin b12 is supplied to animal in many industry, so people shouldn't use vitamin b12 to argue to vegans.)

[BlargMcLarg]

The propaganda argument could be turned around, too. There are more than enough vegan companies trying to make a quick buck out of this. You take your average vegan burger package, it's stuffed with the same crap as a regular premade burger, except it uses tofu or beans instead of ground beef.

Regardless, the bigger problem is the lack of long term research we have on mindful omnivores vs mindful vegetarians vs mindful vegans, etc. Most comparisons are between mindful vegans and omnivores living off of incredibly poor diets.

[ricardobayes]

There are even vegan body builders so I would probably say that's not necessarily true.

[vegan_wgat]

Yes but I think they are heavy on the lacto part, which I don't think a common person can follow.

[BlargMcLarg]

They are full vegan, but the majority heavily supplement or juice. Both which aren't things the average person will do and which a significant portion won't have access to.