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Why vegan junk food may be even worse for your health

bbc.com

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Re: Why vegan junk food may be even worse for your health

#21

Post by Thorentis »

newscracker wrote: post #2

I’m willing to sacrifice some karma on this. What a trash article that selectively picks information (some of it not really true and some of it easily overcome in today’s world). Whatever diet you follow, if you don’t care about what you eat or don’t eat and in which combinations, your health will not be what could be expected for a person of the same profile who cares about what they eat. Processed (also called “jun…

By eating food that is more unhealthy for you in order to save the planet, it means that you have valued the planet's health above your own. I find this to be irrational. I am all for finding the cleanest, most environmentally friendly way of feeding humans. But if the result is less good for human consumption, then I am simply substituting one evil for another, and nobody can take any moral high ground over it.

Re: Why vegan junk food may be even worse for your health

#22

Post by DailyHN »

cageface wrote: post #19

I know we interpret very broadly what topics are considered “hacker” news here. But I, for one, think the topic of nutrition and particularly vegan nutrition seems to generate a lot more heat than light on HN. There are plenty of other places online people can go to discuss this. I wouldn’t mind seeing this site stick a little closer to its hacker roots.

But Soylent!!!

Re: Why vegan junk food may be even worse for your health

#23

Post by bsdz »

blunte wrote: post #4

Any manufactured food will be less healthy than natural foods. I'm rather suspicious of this article. It smells a bit like a meat industry funded piece. Vegans I know are not trying to replace meat with manufactured substitutes. They eat while foods instead, including spinach and kale, which has a lot of iron.

> I'm rather suspicious of this article. It smells a bit like a meat industry funded piece.

The authors of these BBC articles (Worklife/Future) are quite independent. They are typically asked to research and write about a specific topic. Some times they can't help but bring their own bias to the discussion.

Re: Why vegan junk food may be even worse for your health

#24

Post by spodek »

Using the word "food" even in "junk food" for ultra-processed stuff like these products seems confusing. I felt a new term would clarify and propose doof, "food" backward, which I explain in this podcast episode https://shows.acast.com/leadership-and-the-environment/episo....

Use of the term has spread, used by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, and more.

Re: Why vegan junk food may be even worse for your health

#25

Post by [deleted] »

Thorentis wrote: post #21
newscracker wrote: post #2

I’m willing to sacrifice some karma on this. What a trash article that selectively picks information (some of it not really true and some of it easily overcome in today’s world). Whatever diet you follow, if you don’t care about what you eat or don’t eat and in which combinations, your health will not be what could be expected for a person of the same profile who cares about what they eat. Processed (also called “jun…

By eating food that is more unhealthy for you in order to save the planet, it means that you have valued the planet's health above your own. I find this to be irrational. I am all for finding the cleanest, most environmentally friendly way of feeding humans. But if the result is less good for human consumption, then I am simply substituting one evil for another, and nobody can take any moral high ground over it.

[deleted]

Re: Why vegan junk food may be even worse for your health

#26

Post by crucio »

cageface wrote: post #19

I know we interpret very broadly what topics are considered “hacker” news here. But I, for one, think the topic of nutrition and particularly vegan nutrition seems to generate a lot more heat than light on HN. There are plenty of other places online people can go to discuss this. I wouldn’t mind seeing this site stick a little closer to its hacker roots.

I disagree. This is a huge area which is ripe for innovation. Eating crap food is a huge problem for society and many don't even realise what they are doing to their bodies or the planet.

Re: Why vegan junk food may be even worse for your health

#27

Post by ianleeclark »

Thorentis wrote: post #21
newscracker wrote: post #2

I’m willing to sacrifice some karma on this. What a trash article that selectively picks information (some of it not really true and some of it easily overcome in today’s world). Whatever diet you follow, if you don’t care about what you eat or don’t eat and in which combinations, your health will not be what could be expected for a person of the same profile who cares about what they eat. Processed (also called “jun…

By eating food that is more unhealthy for you in order to save the planet, it means that you have valued the planet's health above your own. I find this to be irrational. I am all for finding the cleanest, most environmentally friendly way of feeding humans. But if the result is less good for human consumption, then I am simply substituting one evil for another, and nobody can take any moral high ground over it.

> By eating food that is more unhealthy for you in order to save the planet, it means that you have valued the planet's health above your own.

It's entirely possible that these products, in conjunction with a vegan diet, are better overall than a meat-eating diet with similar junk foods. The starting point is this: a generally healthier vegan diet vs. a generally less-healthy omnivorous diet.

> But if the result is less good for human consumption, then I am simply substituting one evil for another, and nobody can take any moral high ground over it.

If the conversation of veganism vs. eating meat is centered around the cost/benefit analysis of junk-foods available to both diets, then the moral distinction between the two has already been overlooked. I really don't think there's a generally applicable moral framework that doesn't require veganism.

Re: Why vegan junk food may be even worse for your health

#28

Post by crucio »

nerdponx wrote: post #3

Junk food is junk food. It's called "junk" for a reason. If you're a vegan for health reasons and eating a lot of junk food, you are missing the point of being vegan for health reasons.

Junk vegan food is seen by most as a transition food to allow those that eat crap food to keep eating crap food, but without the animal abuse and environmental impact that meat/dairy cause.

Many people have struggled to jump from a traditional western diet straight into a whole grain plant based diet.

Re: Why vegan junk food may be even worse for your health

#29

Post by selectodude »

randomchars wrote: post #15
Tade0 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm looking at the list and see nothing out of the ordinary. Which one of those are unhealthy?

I'd like to reverse the question; which one of those are healthy, especially compared to the real version?

They don’t belch hundreds of pounds of methane into the air, which helps.

Re: Why vegan junk food may be even worse for your health

#30

Post by WoefullyInept »

I personally know several vegans that have had minor health problems because of their diet. You can eat a very healthy diet as a vegan, the problem is most people are not educated or motivated enough to get proper variation in their diet.

Its much easier for the general public to eat a varied diet by not restricting themselves to veganism.

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