[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]A vegan diet is not intrinsically or automatically healthier than any other diet. A daily intake of chips and nothing else would technically be a vegan diet – but no-one can argue that it would be healthy.

Indeed it IS arguable that much of the improvement in diet among vegans is a result of education about the food they are eating rather than going meat free per se.

Nevertheless, done well, a plant-based diet certainly has potential health benefits. It stands to reason that such a diet will be higher in fibre and lower in saturated fat. Vegans are often slimmer than meat eaters. The increased intake of legumes and vegetables and the absence of meat and dairy can be thanked for that.

The lower weight is often associated with healthier blood pressure readings and reduced cholesterol levels. Combine a high intake of plant foods with such spices as turmeric, ginger, garlic and onions and you have a recipe for some protection against cancer, strokes and heart disease.

Sounds perfect doesn’t it?

Hmmm – well – not quite. As with everything in life there’s pros and there’s cons and following a vegan diet is no exception.

The Downside
When it comes to getting your micronutrients a vegan diet, if not sufficiently varied, is open to being nutritionally poor.

With its absence of dairy products the vegan diet is lacking in easy and quality sources of calcium, vitamin D, vitamin B12, zinc and omega-3 fatty acids.

It follows then that anyone following a vegan diet is going to have to make sure they get enough of these nutrients through their food.

But that’s not all. Along with the above, another nutritional minefield for the vegan to negotiate is that of amino acids.

Amino Acids: They’re Completely Essential
There’s no doubt that a varied vegan diet will provide you with enough protein. But the doubting Thomases of meat-free diets voice the concern that meat-free protein sources may not be complete protein – by which they mean amino acids.

Amino acids are the building blocks of protein – of life even. They are vital to pretty much every function your body has to perform.

Out of the numerous amino acids 9 are classified as ‘essential’. This means that, unlike the others, your body cannot make them. Therefore we have to ingest them – either in our food or as a supplement.

The 9 essential amino acids your body needs are: histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine.

In order to be ‘complete’ a protein must contain all 9 of these essential amino acids in approximately equal amounts.

Meat is certainly a complete protein. But it’s not the only contender. Eggs and other dairy products are also completely complete. So that’s the vegetarians sorted then. But getting sufficient amino acids is much harder for vegans. Unless the diet is consistently varied amino acid deficiencies can result. And we all know that having a sufficiently varied and healthy diet – of any kind – doesn’t always happen.

But you can make sure that your body gets what it needs to bridge those inevitable nutritional gaps with appropriate supplementation.

Here at Health4All we have a number of supplements to support your intake of amino acids, among them L-Carnitine. L-Carnitine performs essential functions in your metabolism. By acting as a receptor molecule for different fatty acids, this naturally occurring protein compound contributes towards providing you with an effective supply of nutrients and energy in your body.  It’s vital to have enough because 70% of the metabolic energy required by the heart is supplied by fatty acids and no other organ in your body has higher concentrations of L-Carnitine.

Because of its unique chemical properties, L-Carnitine is able to cross into your brain easily, providing neuroprotective benefits – it directly stimulates the production of acetylcholine, a powerful neurotransmitter. Many current studies of L-Carnitine and age-related changes in memory or mood have shown L-Carnitine to be of benefit in delaying those changes.

Fruit and vegetables contain little or no L-Carnitine. So if you are a vegetarian or vegan it’s unlikely you will be getting adequate levels of L-Carnitine in your diet so our supplement will certainly be of benefit to you. Our L-Carnitine capsules are 100% vegan so you can take them without worry.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]

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