People love talking about diet (not so many people are ready to move from talking to dieting though).
It’s almost like a religion - people literally fight to prove superiority of their diet over any other. I hear all the time things like “vegan diet is good for your health” or “you will be deficient in certain vitamins on the vegan diet”. Sorry to disappoint you guys, but both sentences make absolutely no sense. Talking about veganism as a diet is pointless. Even in its early days, before veganism became a philosophy, a lifestyle or even almost religion for some, it wasn’t exactly a diet. It rather was general guidance mostly telling what not to eat. Seriously, by saying “don’t consume animal foods” you don’t actually provide any actionable nutritional advice. I mean, it’s a good way to point someone in the right general direction, but it’s far from being descriptive not to mention prescriptive. Seriously, do you want to tell me that someone on beer, chips and gummy bears is on the same diet as someone who lives off raw fruit and vegetables? Both are vegan no doubt…
People want to know what to eat, in what proportions and even how much because they can actually follow it and measure and compare results. People need real nutritional advice. WFPB (whole foods plant-based) is a better example of that. At least it will tell you to eat predominantly whole foods such as vegetables, fruit, whole grains, legumes, seeds, nuts, and green leaves. Much better. To me still not prescriptive enough, not to mention it’s not goal-oriented and this is what most people need. Athletes are typically very aware of that paradigm since they are always “bulking”, “cutting or “maintaining”. In normal people’s language, it would mean gaining weight, losing weight (which rarely makes sense unless your frame cannot carry that much weight, losing fat does) or maintaining. These goals will significantly affect your dietary approach. Other things will do as well. For example, if you are a pregnant woman you should consider a different approach to nutrition than a college athlete. Same if you are an older person or have a medical condition. Runners and other endurance athletes have different nutrient needs than strength athletes (within various strength athletic disciplines you will find some slight variations too).
For this reason, I refuse to talk about the vegan diet. It just doesn’t make sense to me. My goal is to help people achieve their specific goals, whatever they are. This is why in my blog and the BeHealthyVegan informational portal I will cover different situation- and goal-based approaches to nutrition. Every upcoming post in the Nutrition section will cover one goal/situation combo to help you navigate through a boatload of nutritional “facts” that potentially have to do absolutely nothing with you. This should give you a decent understanding of the “what” part. I’m also adding a NutriHack section to the blog to cover the “how”. Starting a new diet is easier than making it sustainable and most people fail there. I’m going to share many useful tips and techniques (that work from the experience of many people) to help you stick to it and reach your long-term goals.
Let me know what goals/situations you are interested in and I will prioritize those in my posts.
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