On average, switching to a vegan or vegetarian diet lowers cholesterol, but by less than many expect, and a trial average cannot promise the same result for every individual. A 2023 meta-analysis of 30 randomised trials finds an LDL drop of about 12 mg/dL — and shows who gets less than that, and why.
An E number tells you what a substance does in food, not what it is made from. E120 is carmine, extracted from dried cochineal insects, and the colour with the best-documented allergy reports. E904 is shellac, the resinous secretion of a scale insect, harvested with the insects still in the raw material. E920 is L-cysteine, authorised from fermentation, from chemical synthesis and from the hydrolysis of keratin from poultry feathers, with nothing on the label to say which. And E441 is not on the current approved list at all, because gelatine is regulated as an ingredient rather than as an additive.
People eat a fairly constant weight of food each day, so the calories packed into each gram decide the total. In a 16-week randomised trial, moving to a low-fat vegan diet cut dietary energy density from 1.1 to 0.7 kcal/g while the weight of food eaten stayed the same, and daily intake fell 357 kcal below the control group with no calorie limit set. The paper also shows where each food group sits, and why lower is not a goal for everyone.
Seitan is the most protein-dense food on most vegan shelves, and the one whose protein is most digestible: 97% true ileal digestibility. It still scores last on protein quality, because lysine is limiting, and a ready-made block carries 447 mg of sodium per 100 g. For coeliac disease and IgE-mediated wheat allergy it is not a food at all, and a 2026 survey found the highest mycotoxin levels of any plant-based category in seitan.
A new risk assessment pooled mycotoxin measurements from 413 plant-based meat alternatives and drinks in Italy and the UK, then modelled 25%, 50% and 100% replacement of meat and milk. Four toxin groups drove every threshold exceedance, children came out highest, and the studies that measure people rather than model them disagree with each other.
A portion of cooked beans gives about as much protein as two small eggs, plus fibre, iron and folate. This guide covers what one portion gives you, how much a vegan should aim for, a day meal by meal, cooking kidney beans safely, and why gas usually fades within a few weeks.
Serum B12, the test most vegans are given, is the weakest one on the list. A meta-analysis of 17 studies and a review of 141 studies set out what serum B12, homocysteine, ferritin, 25(OH)D, zinc and urinary iodine can and cannot tell you.
In the UK Biobank cohort, 416,584 adults free of kidney disease were followed for an average of 12.9 years. Vegetarians had a 19% lower risk of a chronic kidney disease diagnosis than high meat eaters. The study is observational, and its vegetarian group contains only 367 vegans.
In 1892 Tolstoy wrote a preface to the Russian translation of Howard Williams’ The Ethics of Diet. Published in English as The First Step, it argues that self-restraint is the first step of a moral life — and contains the Tula slaughterhouse passage. It is an ethical argument, not a nutritional one.
Five publicly available chatbots were given the same 58 vegetarian and vegan nutrition questions. Every product produced answers that trained reviewers judged potentially unsafe, and the flagged answers clustered on vitamin B12, iodine, selenium, pregnancy and symptoms needing a clinician.
Last updated: · Vegan Sağlık Editorial Team · info@vegansaglik.com
With your consent, we use Google Analytics cookies to see which articles are read; the data is processed outside Türkiye. Cookie Policy