A vegan diet protects against heart disease and some forms of cancer and lowers blood sugar better than traditional diets for diabetics. People who want to lose weight and reduce their risks of diseases associated with aging might benefit from choosing a plant-based diet. If you're over 50 and choose a vegan diet to lose weight, you will need to be diligent about getting enough calcium, B12 and other important vitamins and minerals that naturally occur in an omnivore's diet.
Age and Caloric Needs
Vegans could lose about a pound a week if they consume 500 fewer calories a day than they need. Recommended caloric intake for 50-year-olds trying to lose weight on a vegan diet are about 1,500 calories a day for women and 1,800 for men. Metabolism slows with aging and varies by person, but a rough guideline would be for dieters to reduce their caloric intake by about 10 percent for each decade past 50.
Vegan Guidelines for Calorie-Restricted Diet
The basic food pyramid guidelines for vegans older than 50 are the same as for anyone on a vegan, 1,500-calorie-a-day diet: six servings of grains, three servings each of fruits and vegetables and 6 oz. of protein. Vegans also need the calcium equivalent of about four servings of dairy products. Calcium deficiency is associated with osteoporosis. Vegans do not consume eggs and dairy products but can meet their calcium needs by drinking fortified soy, almond and rice milk, fortified orange juice and fortified breakfast cereals, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Food Choices
Careful food choices can keep dieting vegans healthy and lower their risk for nutritional deficiencies that could cause problems over 50. Vegans can fulfill their protein requirements with tofu and other soy products, legumes, nuts, seeds, soy beverages and tempeh, according to Leslie Beck, a registered dietitian. Adults older than 50 need about 1,500 mg of calcium daily---500 mg more than younger adults---and can meet this need by consuming calcium, almonds, dark green vegetables or fortified cereal, or by taking supplements. .
Vitamin Supplements
Vegans can obtain vitamin B12 and vitamin D, both of which are found in abundance in animal products, in fortified breakfast cereals. Fortified soy products and nutritional yeast also contain B12. Beck recommends vegans older than 50 take vitamin D supplements to ensure that they get the needed 1,000 international units daily. Anemia among older vegans can be prevented by eating leafy green vegetables, enriched cereals, whole grains, legumes, lentils and nuts. Foods such as strawberries, red pepper and citrus help with iron absorption, Beck says
Vegan Diet and Weight Maintenance
It might be easier for those following a vegan diet to keep weight off. M. Rosell and other researchers at the University of Oxford found that vegans were less likely than other vegetarians, fish eaters or meat eaters to gain weight. The study, published in 2006 in the "International Journal of Obesity" found that among the 22,000 people observed, vegans gained the least amount of weight over five years. While the average participant gained 4.4 lbs., vegans gained an average of 1.25 lbs.
Protection Against Age-Related Diseases
A vegan diet offers protection for some diseases associated with aging. Beck says studies have linked vegan diets to lower incidences of colon cancer and heart disease, lower cholesterol levels and lower blood sugar levels. In a study published in a 2009 issue of the "Journal of the American Dietetic Association," researchers from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, the University of Toronto and Georgetown University found that people with Type 2 diabetes who followed a low-fat vegan diet instead of a conventional diet recommended by the American Diabetes Association improved their health in four important ways: they lost weight, lowered their blood sugar and LDL cholesterol---the bad cholesterol---and reduced their need for medicine to control their diabetes.
References
- "The Globe and Mail"; Vegan diet has surprising stick-ti-it-iveness; Leslie Beck; Feb. 4 2009
- "Biotech Business Week"; George Washington University, U.S. researchers publish recent findings; Sept. 3 2007
- "USA Today"; Vegan diets: a bone of contention; Kim Painter; August 10, 2009
- "International Journal of Obesity"; Weight gain over 5 years in 21,966 meat-eating, fish-eating, vegetarian, and vegan men and women in EPIC-Oxford; M. Rosell, P. Appleby; T. Key; September 2006
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