Chew on this! More and more celebrities are turning to veganism. But is it a fix-all for everybody?

Every other day, you read about some celebrity or the other switch to vegan diets across the media. At times, even an acquaintance has made such a declaration. And you have to admit, making a lifestyle change like that sounds cool. But is it good for you?

We spoke to a health expert and co-founder and director, K11 Fitness Academy, strength coach, fitness lifestyle coach Kaizzad Capadia, who explains the science behind veganism.

What's vegan, really? He busts some widely-accepted 'truths' first. "Although the word 'vegan' should signify abstinence from all animal meats and animal produce, it rarely, if ever, is that. The problem with being a vegetarian is that first-class sources of protein that have all the essential amino acids in the right ratios to initiate protein synthesis (building of tissue) in the human body; are all from animal sources. Thus a vegetarian not only gets inferior quality of protein with an incomplete Amino Acid profile, they also get an extremely low level of that inferior protein. So, it becomes next to impossible for a true vegetarian to improve body composition and in fact gives in to age related degeneration faster than the physiological rate of aging."

Types of vegetarians The vegetarian lobby, he says, constantly gives examples of people who call themselves vegetarians and have achieved excellence in some form of athletic activity, when science clearly states that improvements in physical capacity, performance and body composition are impossible without adequate first class animal protein in your diet. "What they don't tell you is that the word Vegetarian has a lot of interpretations", he says. "In Scandinavian countries, one can call oneself a vegetarian, simply by abstaining from red meat (beef). They are known as pollotarian vegetarians, but do fall under the category of vegetarian. Then we have the pescatarian vegetarian who have fish and seafood apart from eggs and dairy. Next are lacto-ovo vegetarians who eat eggs and dairy. Then come the lacto-vegetarians. They are the ones that fit the definition of a vegetarian as we know of in India, which is exclusion of all animal meats and eggs, but the inclusion of milk and milk products. Please note that although we consider dairy to be vegetarian in India, it still is very much a food from an animal source and thus provides us with the right essential amino acid ratios and is capable of causing protein synthesis in the human body", he adds.

Dairy Fair "100 grams of Paneer will give you 20 grams of casein protein. The other component of milk protein whey, is the most superior form of protein known to man. It not only has the highest biological value amongst all first-class animal source proteins, but also has tremendous immune-boosting properties. But the problem with milk is that although the quality of protein is top-grade, the quantity sucks. A glass of milk will unfortunately will give you only 5 grams of protein, out of which 1 gram will be whey and the remaining 4 grams will be casein. So if I want 20 grams of the superior whey, I'll have to drink 20 glasses of milk and with that much of the milk sugar - Lactose going in, it will surely cause me gastric distress and make me sit on the pot all day," he chuckles. What does come to our rescue, he says, is technologically advanced forms of extraction such as Cross Flow Micro-Filtration processes that can extract whey from milk with minimal, if at all, de-naturing. "So whey protein supplements from reputable brands, that many people view with suspicion is actually extremely healthy for you and there are no side effects. in fact, due to the all pervasive Lactose Sensitivity, one could say a glass of milk could have side effects on your gastric system, but extracted whey protein is only the goodness of milk. This milk produce derived by extraction - whey, then becomes a saviour of sorts for lacto-vegetarians, in providing them with adequate protein & filling up the protein deficiencies that are created by following a lacto-vegetarian diet."

A lost cause "The last category of vegetarians are actually the genuine vegetarians. They call themselves vegans and will not touch any form of animal protein including milk and milk products. There is no hope for them. They are the most malnourished and deficiency-ridden of all vegetarianand do face physical developmental issues with unacceptably high rates of galloping age-related degeneration," he says.

It is a proven fact that vegan diets cause undernourishment, impede growth & development. In the US, parents found bringing up their children on a Vegan Diet, can be imprisoned & lose their children to child services. YES, it is a criminal offence to force your child to be a Vegan. As an adult, you are free to practice VEGANISM, just like you are allowed to smoke cigarettes. The parallel Capadia is drawing here is that just as Smoking is not a crime, but forcing your child to Smoke Cigarettes amounts to child abuse, so does forcing your child to grow up on a Vegan Diet.

The argument made According to Capadia, "Because we need to kill animals for food, for high quality protein, emotionally, this is the reason why people are not willing to think that the non-vegetarian diet is the way to go. Nonsensical arguments about the fact that we are not like the carnivores, are made by the vegetarian lobby. But of course we are not like the carnivores. Our teeth structure doesn't obviously match the carnivores, our intestinal length doesn't match the carnivores but what is not mentioned is that we are neither like herbivores. "Mature scientific thought process will tell us that we, as Homo-Sapiens are neither carnivores not herbivores, we are omnivores. This flexibility of being able to metabolize both plant & animal sources of nutrition has allowed us to survive & multiply in all kinds geographical locations. We have survived longer than many animals. We're not getting extinct, we're actually multiplying. Our intestinal length is special to us homo-sapiens. Our teeth structure is special to us homo-sapiens. So I really hope this lays to rest, this eternal stupid argument presented by the Vegetarian Lobby, once and for all," he says

Difficult to digest When asked, what about the fact that non-vegetarian food is more difficult to digest than vegetarian food? That it apparently takes 72 hours to digest and rid the food from the body, Capadia retorted, "Firstly that 72 hours thing is ridiculous. Yes, it takes more time, but that is actually a benefit. That is what you call as the thermic value of food. This means that if you eat 100 calories from eating any animal meat, you absorb only 80 calories, because 20 calories is spent on the digestive process. In fact, fibrous green leafy vegetables like methi, palak and broccoli will sit in your stomach as long as the meats. Metabolism of these foods will take up to 4-5 hours. Paneer that gives us the beneficial Casein Protein will take even longer to digest, maybe around 6-7 hours. If you must worry, then beware of foods like Idlis, Dosas, Poha, Kurmura etc that, transit the gut really fast, flood your blood stream with sugar & in the process spike your insulin levels & over time lead to obesity & insulin resistance. In closing, Capadia warns, "Misunderstanding these concepts of gut transit time, is what has made us the diabetic capital of the world, with one out of three Indians being a diabetic, and this despite increased awareness about health & fitness.

See more here:
Veganism: A Gandi Baat?