by Andrea Ghiselli
From the point of view of the mixture of nutrients that must reach our body, a mixed, plant-based diet would be ideal, so as not to miss out on that 10-20% of calories from animal products
I follow a vegan diet consisting of vegetables, fruit, legumes, whole grains, extra virgin olive oil, oilseeds, vegetable drinks. I do not consume ready-made processed vegetable products, which are often rich in salt and fat. Excluding ethical reasons, would it be reasonable from a health point of view to also introduce foods of animal origin?
Andrea Ghiselli, director of the first level Master in Food Science and Applied Dietetics, Unitelma Sapienza responds (GO TO THE FORUM)
Let’s think about two main factors, plus a third anthropological one. First point: the nutrient composition. Obviously different from food to food, let alone from kingdom to kingdom. Some components are expressed more (or only, in the case of vitamin B12) in the animal kingdom. Others, such as fibre, exclusively in vegetables. Therefore, from the point of view of the mixture of nutrients that must reach our body, a mixed, plant-based diet would be ideal (that is, with 80%, but also 90%, of energy from cereals, fruit, vegetables, legumes, dried fruit in shell and vegetable oils), so as not to miss out on that 10-20% of calories from animal products, especially fish and dairy products.
The chemistry of foods
You might answer: Ok, this was a long time ago, today with the possibility of supplementation I can take B12 and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids without resorting to meat, milk, fish. Here we are dealing with the chemistry of foods, that is, what is inside them, which is certainly useful but nutrition is anything but. Even if today hundreds of self-styled nutritionists are all the rage on social media with food chemistry: courgettes contain courgette which is very good for the heart… and so on. But then, after the laboratory that broke down foods into their components, there is the most interesting part: real everyday life.
Diet and mortality
What happens when a food is consumed, the paths it takes, what it becomes and what it induces, the interactions with the microbiota and with the metabolism, so many of the substances highlighted by the chemist become others, with different characteristics. For example, the digestion of some milk peptides results in the production of other peptides that have a hypotensive effect. But there’s more: if I consume one thing I exclude another and therefore we must know that the composition of food is another thing compared to nutrition. Having said this, we have strong evidence that the consumption of some animal products is protective against mortality from all causes.
Energy from animals
So I should answer yes, the introduction of animal products improves the diet, but in reality we have no certain evidence that it improves the state of health. We have indirect evidence. Finally, the anthropological discussion: we are born omnivores, evidently we draw health from both plant and animal products. In nature, thousands of years ago, it was very difficult for man to obtain energy from animals. Some insects, some remains of animals hunted by others, but few. Exactly as we should do today, despite the great availability of foods of animal origin: do by virtue what our ancestors did by necessity.
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February 3, 2024 (modified February 3, 2024 | 3:48 pm)
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