Nutrition Hotline
What's Next for Vegans?
By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD
QUESTION: What do you think will happen with regard to vegan nutrition in the next 40 years?
ANSWER: This is an exciting question! I'd like to think that most people will be eating environmentally friendly, health-promoting vegan diets. That may seem like a stretch, but when I think about how few people even knew how to pronounce “vegan” 40 years ago and how many more people are following a vegan diet today, it doesn't seem so impossible. Additionally, with widespread concern about the environmental effects of our food choices and the increasing awareness of the inherent cruelty of animal agriculture, vegan diets are getting a lot of positive attention.
With more people eating vegan diets, scientists who study nutrition and health will be better able to assess the effects of long-term vegan diets on diseases like diabetes, hypertension, cancer, and heart disease. We'll know more about the nutritional needs of vegans through the life cycle, and we will have a better sense of which nutrition recommendations will change if they are predicated on use of a vegan diet. For example, are omega-3 fats (EPA and DHA) needed to reduce the risk of heart disease if someone is eating a whole-foods vegan diet and getting plenty of alpha-linolenic acid (another omega-3 that can be used by our bodies to make EPA and DHA)?
Phytates and oxalates are two substances that are found in plant foods and interfere with our absorption of minerals such as iron, zinc, and calcium. Selective breeding and changes in processing techniques are being studied as ways to reduce the effect of a substance like phytate on mineral absorption.1,2 If successful, widespread use of these techniques could make it even simpler to meet nutritional requirements with vegan diets.
Although staples of a vegan diet like beans/legumes, grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds have long been available, the past 40 years have seen an upsurge in vegan convenience foods that appeal to those looking for variety and a quick meal or snack. Growth in vegan prepared foods over the past few years has been amazing and is expected to continue. As someone committed to healthy eating, I hope that manufacturers will work to make these foods healthier than their non-vegan counterparts with attention to saturated fat, added sugar and sodium, and appropriate fortification with vitamins and minerals.
I cannot ignore the environmental impacts of human food choices. I hope that lots of attention will be paid to the effects of agriculture and food production on the environment and that there will be a great deal more emphasis on the development and use of sustainable practices.
REFERENCES:
1 Hummel M, Talsma EF, Taleon V, et al. Iron, zinc and phytic acid retention of biofortified, low phytic acid, and conventional bean varieties when preparing common household recipes. Nutrients. 2020;12(3):658.
2 Troesch B, Jing H, Laillou A, Fowler A. Absorption studies show that phytase from Aspergillus niger significantly increases iron and zinc bioavailability from phytate-rich foods. Food Nutr Bull. 2013;34(2 Suppl):S90-S101.
