Can unhealthy vegan diets cause brain damage?

Posted on 28 January 2010

An article by Adam Kochanowicz for the Vegan Examiner

“Vegans face a serious criticism regarding their diet when it comes to research on neurological problems. It’s not hard to find articles that study groups of non-vegans and vegans, and that show the latter group demonstrates a higher rate of neurological damage. This data looks very frightening and seems to give credence to those who reject many of the health benefits of veganism as myth. So why do we still suggest you should go vegan and should not worry about your brain falling apart?

Much of the research under question is not flawed.  A B-12 deficiency is a serious matter and can lead to faster rates of brain decay later in life.  However, the statements on this undisputed fact become misleading when we make inferences about vegans. The argument is essentially that because vegans tend to have higher rates of B-12 deficiency, veganism itself is an unhealthy way of living and that at least some animal products are necessary.

If practiced correctly, a vegan diet is extremely healthy, animal products are in no way necessary for optimal human health.”

Fallacy: Veganism causes brain decay

Adam goes on to argue that it’s not veganism itself that causes a deficiency in vitammin B-12, it’s individual vegans themselves that cause the deficiency and they need to take special care to make sure they incorporate the vitamin into the diets.

A related misconception to this issue is that vitamin B-12 only comes from animals. This is not true. B-12 is found in many animal food products, but it is microorganisms present in animals that synthesize B-12, not the animals themselves. There are many vegan B-12 supplements and B-12 fortified foods available that eliminate the need to consume animal products. This is one of the so-called disadvantages of veganism that can easily be overcome.

Fallacy: Vegan, among diets, is unhealthy

Adam also suggests that the research data is being used incorrectly to arrive at misleading and innaccurate conclusions.

If we analyse any group or category of people (meat-eaters, vegans, vegetarians), there will be both people with good and less-than-good diets that we could infer some sort of correlation or trend to. This is no surprise. Not all vegans are health experts, just as other people are not too. But this health data remains important to vegans.  Vitamin B-12, calcium and iron are the 3 nutrients that vegans should pay most attention to.  But they can all easily be found from vegan sources.

Adam also questions “why veganism gets singled out as some strange, unhealthy, or unnatural diet.  Much of our bodies are highly suitable for plant-based nutrition … and surely succeed over the diets of many critics… vegans hear a lot of criticism about their diet (much of it is incorrect) while diseases related to high blood pressure top the list of natural killers of human beings.”

Vegans may have a few small and specific nutritional issues, buit this is insignificant when compared to meat and dairy diets high in fats, cholesterol, sugar and preservatives.

Fallacy: Supplements are for vegans only

Some think that, despite all the obesity, disease, cancer and general poor health, people live perfectly well on non-vegan diets, and supplements are for vegans. This perceived disadvantage of veganism is incorrect. Adam points to the similarity between goiter and vitamin B-12 deficiency as a case in point. Goiter is caused by iodine deficiency and was a major public health issue in the early 20th century. This symptom quickly disappeared once manufacturuers learnt to iodize salt. “Now, whenever you see a packet or box of salt, you’re likely to see “iodized” in the name. Most of us don’t have to worry about Goiter because we take supplements [iodine, to counter goiter] and don’t even realize it.”

So we can deduce that vitamin B-12 deficiency would likely no longer be an issue if vegans received a similar response from food manufacturers to this health issue. Some foods are now appearing fortified in vitamin B12, so perhaps we have alreadt turned the corner with this issue.

Adam concludes: “Most of us don’t have perfect levels of every single nutrient we need as human beings. What these nutrients are vary from person to person, diet to diet, and culture to culture. You don’t have to worry about your brain decaying as a vegan. Simply be informed when making your transition and surround yourself with positive, like-minded people.”

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For more on healthy rather than unhealthy vegan diets read our the vegan nutrition article.