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Just to give another example beyond omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B12 is in no non-animal derived food sources, it is stored by the body for years. Once you run

Just to give another example beyond omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B12 is in no non-animal derived food sources, it is stored by the body for years. Once you run out however, it has severe and potentially deadly consequences. Look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_B12_deficiency http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_B12_deficiency for a description of the symptoms and consequences. They can go as far as brain damage and memory loss. Of course there is Vitamin B12 fortified food by now, but this demonstrates that humans are not supposed to be on a vegan diet. Then there is protein intake, if you don't want to eat meat then you have to usually combine two sources of protein each day to get all the nescessary amino acids, because (almost?) no plant source has all of them. And no it does not matter that Gorillas only eat plants and they are really strong too, that has little to no relevance as A) their digestive system is not identical to that of humans and B) they have convenient access to just the food they need. I'm not nescessarily a big fan of eating meat or animal products, because I am aware of the production conditions and environmental impact. But I would rather not have to follow several advice books in order to have a healthy diet.

hrjet 12y ago
Thanks to all the replies in this thread; I am little wiser about Omega-3 sub-types now. Personally, I don't shy away from reading and getting more info if it helps me avoid meat. I am not a strict vegan; eggs and milk products are par for my course. So, I think I can cope up with a little less meat on my plate. Aside, in the part of the world where I live, it is more common to be a vegetarian than a meat-eater. AFAICT, the vegetarians are not worse-off health-wise. I suspect that the ability to cope up with various nutrition deficiencies might vary among populations.
- bane 12y ago
  Interestingly, the nutrients which are typically deficient in vegan diets, are not typically deficient in vegetarian diets. Almost any animal protein source, like eggs, trivially resolves almost every nutritional deficiency in the vegan diet -- and at surprisingly small quantities. Often animal protein sources are not well understood as being part of traditional vegetarian diets as well - e.g. the Jain diet.

hrjet 12y ago

Thanks to all the replies in this thread; I am little wiser about Omega-3 sub-types now. Personally, I don't shy away from reading and getting more info if it helps me avoid meat. I am not a strict vegan; eggs and milk products are par for my course. So, I think I can cope up with a little less meat on my plate. Aside, in the part of the world where I live, it is more common to be a vegetarian than a meat-eater. AFAICT, the vegetarians are not worse-off health-wise. I suspect that the ability to cope up with various nutrition deficiencies might vary among populations.

bane 12y ago
Interestingly, the nutrients which are typically deficient in vegan diets, are not typically deficient in vegetarian diets. Almost any animal protein source, like eggs, trivially resolves almost every nutritional deficiency in the vegan diet -- and at surprisingly small quantities. Often animal protein sources are not well understood as being part of traditional vegetarian diets as well - e.g. the Jain diet.