Nutritional Impact of Vegan Diet Compared to Milk: A Review

Abstract

The rise in veganism has raised significant interest and debate regarding its impact on human health and nutrition. Veganism, a stricter form of vegetarianism, excludes all animal products, including dairy, eggs and honey. While the vegan population continues to grow globally, misconceptions about its nutritional adequacy remain prevalent. A comprehensive approach to the nutritional aspects of veganism, compares it with traditional milk-based diets and highlights the challenges of maintaining adequate nutrition on a vegan diet. While vegan diets can offer health benefits, they often lack essential nutrients such as vitamin B12, vitamin D, calcium and certain protein, which are readily available in dairy products. Milk is often considered as a nutritionally complete food, provides high-quality proteins, essential fatty acids, vitamins and minerals crucial for overall health. Notably, the absence of dairy in a vegan diet can lead to deficiencies, especially in vulnerable populations such as infants, children, elderly persons, pregnant women and athletes. Hence, experimental evidences and research needs to be conducted to better understand the clinical relevance of the vegan diet. In addition, detailed guidelines should be established to accommodate the various dietary compositions across the vegan spectrum. Also, accurate information relating to vegan food products is needed to be disseminated to public through various resources of communication.