Veganism for Weight Loss: Debunking myth from fact

Within the past decade, as veganism has taken off across the globe, many misconceptions, falsehoods, and blatant lies about veganism have circulated. Un-truths about what it does to your weight, and what kind of body you can expect to have based on a vegan diet have made their rounds across media platforms, diet blogs, and through word of mouth. And perhaps one of the most widespread misconceptions we hear often is the assumption that by going vegan you can expect to drop immense weight- quickly, and effortlessly. This kind of rapid weight loss should never be a deciding factor in your switch to a vegan lifestyle- not only because you may not garner these results, but also because a vegan diet affects every body differently. Some people actually start to gain weight after switching to veganism! It all depends on what kinds of foods you’re actually putting into your body, your natural metabolic processing, and of course, whether you’re getting enough physical exercise or not.

We wanted to decipher myth from fact and share information about a plant-based diet that will help you meet your vegan lifestyle with realistic expectations, awareness, and education. This information will help you make dietary decisions and purchases at the grocery store moving forward, so here we go!

First things first

Vegan does not always mean healthy. There is a ton of “vegan food” which doesn’t contain any animal byproducts or meat, yet could have a negative impact on your health. Sugar candy, for example, could be considered vegan. But does that make it safe or healthy to consume? Probably not. It simply means there were not animals or animal by-products used in the product. Vegan labeling can be exceptionally misleading, especially for teens or for people who don’t know a lot about nutrition. A lot of vegan food still contains refined sugar, gluten, corn syrup, starch, and other additives and preservatives that, generally speaking, are not healthy for you.

Yet, despite all of this, there is a lot of fantastic vegan food, healthy vegan restaurants, and recipes that you can follow and implement into your cooking if you know how to decipher ingredients. The next time you buy something that claims to be vegan, make sure to look at the label and see what’s really going into the product. Oftentimes, synthetic flavoring or sugars are used in order to retain flavor. Your best bet while going vegan is to try a plant-based diet. This singles out foods that are predominantly vegetables, fruits, and nuts.

Vegan VS Plant-based

The big difference between veganism and a plant-based diet is that “vegan” just refers to any food not containing animal by-products, while “plant-based” is purely clean, whole foods that don’t use a lot of processing or additives. Examples of plant-based food would be:

Fruits: Berries, citrus fruits, pears, peaches, pineapple, bananas, and avocados

Vegetables: Kale, spinach, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, asparagus, peppers

Starchy vegetables: Potatoes, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, and more

Now that we have a basis of understanding what Veganism is and what it isn’t, let’s examine how a vegan and a plant-based diet can affect a physical body in various ways.

Body Language

Too many people nowadays make the switch to veganism without doing their homework, and enter into this new diet and lifestyle ill-informed and unprepared. What’s more, the motives for a vegan lifestyle vary greatly. For some, adopting veganism is all about consideration and protection for animals. For others, it’s less of a choice but rather rooted in dietary limitations or food allergies from being hypersensitive to dairy, meat, or gluten. And then of course, for most, it’s because being vegan or plant-based just feels better- lighter, brighter, more sustained energy and focus throughout the day, and a healthier physique. So how can rejecting animal products and synthetic foods lead to weight loss?

Vegetables play a large role in weight loss for the vegan diet. Not to assert that if you become vegan, you’ll lose weight overnight- but you could start to see a positive progression of your physical form. It all depends on your lifestyle choices, your form of veganism, and your body’s natural ability to metabolize carbs, fats, proteins, and sugars.

If you’re a vegan that loves vegetables, chances are, your body is feeling happy and well-equipped to process all the good foods you consume.

Why are veggies so epic!?

Vegetables are packed with necessary vitamins, proteins, and fibers that replenish our body’s stores and give us the energy to continue living out each day. Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin B, iron, magnesium, and other nutrient-rich minerals are found in most veggies and are super important in maintaining energy levels and metabolizing food. Fiber helps your system break down and process food so eating a healthy amount of fiber will keep your digestive tract healthy and high-functioning. Iron is extremely important in maintaining healthy blood flow that doesn’t clog or slow. This also contributes to good heart health. Magnesium is helpful for many reasons, but one of the best benefits is that it helps regulate your body’s hormones- particularly your serotonin and dopamine levels. These are responsible for producing endorphins and allowing “happy hormones” to naturally recreate. Bodies that have a well-functioning thyroid (the internal system that regulates all of these hormones) tend to regulate weight more efficiently than hypothyroid (underactive thyroid) and speed up the metabolic process. Consuming a good amount of veggies daily, and reducing your carbohydrate and refined sugar intake will feed your body only the foods it needs to thrive, and not have to waste energy processing foods that do nothing for us. This proves that the foods we consume either help us or hinder us. We literally are what we eat!

High-carb vegan foods and saturated fats such as pasta and fries (found in a lot of fried foods, starches, and meats) tax our internal systems and are broken down and stored as unused fat that line our bodies until it can be burned. Especially if you’re an adult over the age of 25, there’s a good chance you aren’t getting the full amount of daily exercise your body really needs to be able to burn the fat. Children have an easier time getting away with eating carbs and fat calories because their metabolism is still thriving, and they exercise all throughout their day, which allows them to burn those carbs.

This shows that it’s not exactly a vegan diet that will transform your body, but your food choices, and your exercise regimen. We vote for plant-based, and that’s why at Bago Health we make all of our vegan products from organic, plant-based foods available! Founded in Los Angeles and now run through Joshua Tree, California, Bago Health provides all the vegan staples you could need feeding your family in Southern California! From vegan cashew cheesecakes to dressings, sauces, and dips, we have all of your plant-based needs available for delivery! Check us out today online and order your custom package!