A Nutritional Comparison- For those who doubt the health of a vegan diet

Over the course of my first day of being "vegan" (I'm 2 meals in and I've said no to croissants, muffins, egg and cheese sandwiches, popsicles with natural flavor, ice cream, pizza and chocolate), I've run into a lot of people expressing concern or doubt that I'll reach my daily nutritional requirements.

My first comment is that people have the same risk of not getting enough vegetables, eating too much candy and chocolate and eating too much refined sugar and carbohydrates whether they are vegetarian, vegan or a meat eater.  And actually, if you're avoiding butter, egg and flavorings (vegan) you have to look harder for junk food you can eat. And lets not forget that protein isn't the only thing our bodies need.

Anyway...as I am a full blown nerd, and a (almost) master in public health, I have prepared the following "day on the table of" listing to show you just how off our general assumptions are about what we eat. Keep in mind that the list below doesn't go into vitamins, servings of veggies or fruits or types of fat (note that fat from animals is always partly saturated, and comes with a lot more cholesterol than plant derived fats)

According to the USDA, I require the following daily (based on my height and weight):

Carbohydrates: 308-446 grams
Fiber: 25 grams
Protein: 65 grams (this is a high estimate, so going too far above is unhealthy)
Fat: 61-102 grams

To compose the meals below, I picked out foods I would have eaten before I was a vegetarian, and food I would eat now that I'm vegan. I stuck to whole foods, assuming I prepared them mostly at home (which I do). The amounts I picked were an estimate of what I'd eat. I then searched for each food item using this nifty tool from the USDA. Please also note that I didn't change my mind about the menu after I looked up the nutritional values. I just wrote down what I'd normally eat, and went with it, to make this as genuine as possible.

How to read this post:

(meal) spinach, tomato, mushroom
Carbs: 5g, 10g, 20g (35g)

Should be read as "5g of carbs in spinach, 10g of carbs in tomato, 20g of carbs in mushroom, for a total of 35g of carbs for this meal."

Breakfast:
(M): english muffin with 1 poached egg, 2 slices cheese and 2 slices canadian bacon
Carbs: 26, 0.35, 1, 1             (28.35)
Fiber: 1.5, 0, 0, 0                    (1.5)
Protein: 4.4, 6.25, 13.9, 11.4 (36)
Fat: 1, 4.7, 18.56, 4              (28.26)

(V): 10 grain hot cereal (2 servings), soy milk, strawberries
Carbs: 56, 8, 12.75 (76.75)
Fiber: 10, 1, 3.3      (14.3)
Protein: 12, 7, 1      (20)
Fat: 2, 4, 0.5            (6.5)

Lunch:
(M): ceasar dressing (2T), romaine lettuce, with chicken and parmesan cheese
Carbs: 1, 4.6, 0, 0.7         (6.3)
Fiber: 0, 3, 0, 0,               (3)
Protein: 0.5, 1.7, 58, 7.6 (67.8)
Fat: 17, 0.4, 7, 5.5          (29.9)

(V) spinach, pears, almonds and dried cranberries salad, vinaigrette
Carbs: 3.3, 25, 20, 33, 25 (106.3)
Fiber: 2, 5, 11, 2, 0             (20)
Protein: 2.6, 0.6, 19.5, 0, 0 (22.7)
Fat: 0.3, 0.1, 45, 0.55, 6     (52)

Dinner:
(M): fresh pasta, tomato sauce, broccoli, parmesan
Carbs: 28.4,17.6, 5, 0.7 (51.7)
Fiber: 0, 3.3, 3, 0             (6.3)
Protein: 6, 2.2, 3, 7.6     (18.8)
Fat: 1.2, 3.4, 0, 5.5        (10.1)

(V): fresh pasta, tomato sauce, broccoli, tofu
Carbs: 28.4,17.6, 5, 3.6 (54.6)
Fiber: 0, 3.3, 3, 1.3          (7.6)
Protein: 6, 2.2, 3, 14      (25.2)
Fat: 1.2, 3.4, 0, 7           (11.6)

TOTALS:
(M)
Carbs: (28.35), (6.3), (51.7) = 86.4 [vs 308-446]
Fiber: (1.5), (3), (6.3)           = 10.8 [vs 25g]
Protein: (36), (67.8), (10.1) = 113.9 [vs 65g]
Fat: (28.26), (29.92), 10.1) =   68.3 [vs 61-102]

(V):
Carbs: (76.75), (106.3), (54.6) = 237.7 [vs 308-446]
Fiber: (14.3), (20), (7.6)            = 41.9 [vs 25g]
Protein: (20), (22.7), (25.2)       = 67.9 [vs 65g]
Fat: (6.5), (52), (11.6)               = 70.1 [61-102s]

So it looks like the vegan gets closer to the daily requirement of carbs (I can add more carbs!), is at about twice the recommended amount of daily fiber (check out what the mayo clinic has to say about fiber). It should also be pointed out that the sources of carbs in the vegan's diet are mostly complex carbs, which keep the blood sugar more even (medline has this to say)

The vegan is right where she needs to be for protein intake, getting even more than the generous recommendation, while the meat eater may actually be getting too much protein--even without having meat with dinner! (check out what the Mayo Clinic has to say about high protein diets). I think I'd rather take a little flatulence over an increased risk of kidney and liver problems, heart disease and cancer.

And the meat eater and vegan are about even in fat intake. Though it should be pointed out that well over half the fat in the vegan's menu is from the almonds. We know that almonds have good stuff in them (see here). If fat were a big concern, the vegan could have substituted seitan, tempeh, tofu or edamame in the salad as low-fat protein sources. The fat in the meat eater's diet is almost entirely from meat and cheese, and therefore definitely contains saturated fat and cholesterol (you can't really argue with me that those are healthy things)

I certainly feel better about my choices now. How about you?