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Veganism: A Gandi Baat?

Chew on this! More and more celebrities are turning to veganism. But is it a fix-all for everybody?

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Every other day, you read about some celebrity or the other switch to vegan diets across the media. At times, even an acquaintance has made such a declaration. And you have to admit, making a lifestyle change like that sounds cool. But is it good for you?

We spoke to a health expert and co-founder and director, K11 Fitness Academy, strength coach, fitness lifestyle coach Kaizzad Capadia, who explains the science behind veganism.

What's vegan, really?
He busts some widely-accepted 'truths' first. "Although the word 'vegan' should signify abstinence from all animal meats and animal produce, it rarely, if ever, is that. The problem with being a vegetarian is that first-class sources of protein that have all the essential amino acids in the right ratios to initiate protein synthesis (building of tissue) in the human body; are all from animal sources.
Thus a vegetarian not only gets inferior quality of protein with an incomplete Amino Acid profile, they also get an extremely low level of that inferior protein. So, it becomes next to impossible for a true vegetarian to improve body composition and in fact gives in to age related degeneration faster than the physiological rate of aging."

Types of vegetarians
The vegetarian lobby, he says, constantly gives examples of people who call themselves vegetarians and have achieved excellence in some form of athletic activity, when science clearly states that improvements in physical capacity, performance and body composition are impossible without adequate first class animal protein in your diet. "What they don't tell you is that the word Vegetarian has a lot of interpretations", he says.
"In Scandinavian countries, one can call oneself a vegetarian, simply by abstaining from red meat (beef). They are known as pollotarian vegetarians, but do fall under the category of vegetarian. Then we have the pescatarian vegetarian who have fish and seafood apart from eggs and dairy. Next are lacto-ovo vegetarians who eat eggs and dairy. Then come the lacto-vegetarians. They are the ones that fit the definition of a vegetarian as we know of in India, which is exclusion of all animal meats and eggs, but the inclusion of milk and milk products. Please note that although we consider dairy to be vegetarian in India, it still is very much a food from an animal source and thus provides us with the right essential amino acid ratios and is capable of causing protein synthesis in the human body", he adds.

Dairy Fair
"100 grams of Paneer will give you 20 grams of casein protein. The other component of milk protein whey, is the most superior form of protein known to man. It not only has the highest biological value amongst all first-class animal source proteins, but also has tremendous immune-boosting properties. But the problem with milk is that although the quality of protein is top-grade, the quantity sucks. A glass of milk will unfortunately will give you only 5 grams of protein, out of which 1 gram will be whey and the remaining 4 grams will be casein. So if I want 20 grams of the superior whey, I'll have to drink 20 glasses of milk and with that much of the milk sugar - Lactose going in, it will surely cause me gastric distress and make me sit on the pot all day," he chuckles.
What does come to our rescue, he says, is technologically advanced forms of extraction such as Cross Flow Micro-Filtration processes that can extract whey from milk with minimal, if at all, de-naturing. "So whey protein supplements from reputable brands, that many people view with suspicion is actually extremely healthy for you and there are no side effects. in fact, due to the all pervasive Lactose Sensitivity, one could say a glass of milk could have side effects on your gastric system, but extracted whey protein is only the goodness of milk. This milk produce derived by extraction - whey, then becomes a saviour of sorts for lacto-vegetarians, in providing them with adequate protein & filling up the protein deficiencies that are created by following a lacto-vegetarian diet."

A lost cause
"The last category of vegetarians are actually the genuine vegetarians. They call themselves vegans and will not touch any form of animal protein including milk and milk products. There is no hope for them. They are the most malnourished and deficiency-ridden of all vegetarianand do face physical developmental issues with unacceptably high rates of galloping age-related degeneration," he says.

It is a proven fact that vegan diets cause undernourishment, impede growth & development. In the US, parents found bringing up their children on a Vegan Diet, can be imprisoned & lose their children to child services. YES, it is a criminal offence to force your child to be a Vegan. As an adult, you are free to practice VEGANISM, just like you are allowed to smoke cigarettes. The parallel Capadia is drawing here is that just as Smoking is not a crime, but forcing your child to Smoke Cigarettes amounts to child abuse, so does forcing your child to grow up on a Vegan Diet.

The argument made
According to Capadia, "Because we need to kill animals for food, for high quality protein, emotionally, this is the reason why people are not willing to think that the non-vegetarian diet is the way to go. Nonsensical arguments about the fact that we are not like the carnivores, are made by the vegetarian lobby. But of course we are not like the carnivores. Our teeth structure doesn't obviously match the carnivores, our intestinal length doesn't match the carnivores but what is not mentioned is that we are neither like herbivores.
"Mature scientific thought process will tell us that we, as Homo-Sapiens are neither carnivores not herbivores, we are omnivores. This flexibility of being able to metabolize both plant & animal sources of nutrition has allowed us to survive & multiply in all kinds geographical locations. We have survived longer than many animals. We're not getting extinct, we're actually multiplying. Our intestinal length is special to us homo-sapiens. Our teeth structure is special to us homo-sapiens. So I really hope this lays to rest, this eternal stupid argument presented by the Vegetarian Lobby, once and for all," he says

Difficult to digest
When asked, what about the fact that non-vegetarian food is more difficult to digest than vegetarian food? That it apparently takes 72 hours to digest and rid the food from the body, Capadia retorted, "Firstly that 72 hours thing is ridiculous. Yes, it takes more time, but that is actually a benefit. That is what you call as the thermic value of food. This means that if you eat 100 calories from eating any animal meat, you absorb only 80 calories, because 20 calories is spent on the digestive process. In fact, fibrous green leafy vegetables like methi, palak and broccoli will sit in your stomach as long as the meats. Metabolism of these foods will take up to 4-5 hours. Paneer that gives us the beneficial Casein Protein will take even longer to digest, maybe around 6-7 hours. If you must worry, then beware of foods like Idlis, Dosas, Poha, Kurmura etc that, transit the gut really fast, flood your blood stream with sugar & in the process spike your insulin levels & over time lead to obesity & insulin resistance.
In closing, Capadia warns, "Misunderstanding these concepts of gut transit time, is what has made us the diabetic capital of the world, with one out of three Indians being a diabetic, and this despite increased awareness about health & fitness.

He concludes, "Only awareness will not make us a fit nation. Doing things scientifically right will make us fit. Thus what you erroneously believe to be the path to health and fitness (dietary fat-free diets) is actually a path to diabetes and obesity.

B-TOWN VEGAN-WAGON
Mallika Sherawat

Madame M was quoted as saying "Today, everything is chemical-laden trash, even the milk is not healthy these days, therefore we must take extra care of what we consume." In September 2013, Mallika alongside actresses Jacqueline Fernandez and Celina Jaitly lent their support to support an Indian version of the popular 21-Day Vegan Kickstart program. (This program is based on research by Neal Barnard, M.D., is designed for anyone wanting to explore the health benefits of a vegan diet).

Kangana pic
Few months ago, Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut decided to ditch being non-vegetarian and become a vegan. Hailing from the Himachal region, the actress was brought up a non-vegetarian. But that lifestyle has changed since Kangs that it has had a positive, calming and de-stressing effect on her life. She also hopes to set an example for her fans.

HOLLYWOOD VEGANS
Olivia Wilde

Hottie Olivia recommends the vegan lifestyle so much that she has her own website WildeThings.org to promote the vegan way of life.

Jennifer Lopez
JLo went vegan and admits it has given her loads of energy: "Being vegan, it's basically no dairy, no meat, everything is just plant based and just from the ground...I love that I'm eating more greens. It makes you feel so much better." The diva said she'd recommend going vegan, but she really misses butter: "Butter is the one thing I miss! Butter makes everything taste better."

Tobey Maguire
Toby Maguire got bitten by the vegan bug in the year 2009, shunning all animal products.

Lea Michele
Glee starlet Lea Michele too turned vegan for both health and animal rights reasons. "It's about being good to your body and the planet. I'm a foodie, but I think it's much more fun to find things on the menu that are good for me," she was quoted as saying.

Joaquim Phoenix
Born to eco-conscious parents, veganism seem to have naturally appealed to Joaquim Phoenix. Apparently, the actor was as offered several big commercial breaks in commercials for meat and milk products when he started his career, but vegan that he is, he turned them all down.

Moby (musician)
Passionate about veganism, Moby named his 1996 album Animal Rights and opened a vegan café called TeaNY in New York.

Woody Harrelson
Woody isn't just a vegan, he's also an advocate of the raw food diet. People who follow the raw food diet consume fruit, vegetables and nuts in its most natural form to get the maximum nutrients out of them.

Bill Clinton
After undergoing several bypass surgeries, Bill Clinton adopted a vegan diet in 2010he former US President underwent multiple bypass surgeries and adopted the vegan diet in 2010.

Russell Brand
After watching "Forks Over Knives," a documentary on rejecting processed food to control common diseases, Brit bad boy Russell Brand and long time vegetarian converted to veganism in 2011.

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