Is a Vegan Diet Healthy?

The first question is what is a Vegan diet? A Vegan Diet means not eating any "food or other products derived from animals" (Oxford English Dictionary). That means no beef, pork, lamb, chicken, turkey, fish, shellfish, insects, dairy, eggs, or honey.

The second question is whether or not such a diet is healthy. It is. But don't take my word for it. Read the books by T. Colin Campbell, Cardwell B Esselstyn, Jr., Micheal Greger, Dean Ornish, John A. McDougall, Joel Fuhrman, and many others.

Don't believe the doctors? How about the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (formerly the American Dietetic Association)? This is the largest organization of food and nutrition professionals in the world. It is the position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics:

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 (Source).

But just because you are eating Vegan doesn't mean you are eating healthy. There are a number of meat analogs that mimic meat in taste, texture, and unhealthiness. The only healthy Vegan eating is whole food plant-based eating, with no added salt, oil, or sugar. Don't kid yourself beyond beef is not healthy food. It's Vegan, yes. But so are potato chips and oreo cookies.