Is Miley Cyrus no longer Vegan?
Scrolling through social media today I was shocked to see yet another celebrity switch from a. plant- based diet. This time, it was Miley Cyrus. The actress has been outspoken about her plant- based lifestyle and love animals since several years now and honestly it was quite heart breaking for me to read through this.
Right before Miley mentioning that she started including a little bit of seafood in her diet, she mentions being 'stronger' before but now sensing her body falling apart. This to me stood as a sign that maybe she was not following a healthy diet to begin with. I mean you could be a 'junk food vegan' and even though you are still staying away from things that can give you a heart attack, your diet still could make you sick.
Miley has been vegan since 2013 and also spoke about how 'great' she feels except recently. This is a clear indication that she probably started of with guidance and a good diet but only recently let food habits slip.
Miley mentioned taking avocados for omega 3's but did not find it to be enough. Well in reality, flaxseeds, greens, kidney beans have much more omega 3:6 ration than avocados. I wonder if she was even tracking her intake and sought professional help? Joe Rogen (who oddly seems to absolutely enjoy bashing Vegan's) and her then later discuss about the inflammation caused by plant- based food which made me honestly laugh loud. A whole food plant- based is the most anti- inflammatory diet on the planet.
Now not saying this could not be true in Miley's case, but the only source of inflammation on a plant- based diet is excess consumption of oil's. This is important because most oil's are extremely high in omega 6 fatty acids. If this were true in Miley's case, then it is but obvious that she had an omega 3 deficiency. Excess consumption of omega 6 (like on a junk vegan food diet) interferes the conversion of short chain ALA's to EPA's and DHA's.
Miley mentions 'overtraining' and does not consider this to be an effect of her inflammation. She talks about being obsessed with working out and naturally, the nutritional requirements of an athlete are different from a lay man. I wonder if Miley's trainer took this into consideration and tweeked her nutrition accordingly.
I am in no way saying fishes do not have omega- 3s, but read the below points on why fishes are not the best source to get your omega 3 fatty acids from.
How did the concept of seafood consumption for health even come about?
It was commonly believed that Eskimos settled in the colder parts of the world with a diet predominantly high in fish and very low in vegetables and fruits had very low prevalence of heart diseases. In fact, a bunch of danish researchers also went to confirm the same. This because big news and high intake of omega 3 fatty acids from fish was linked with lower rates of coronary heart diseases.
However, this was never proved! In fact the Danish team did not even examine the cardio vascular status of the Eskimo's, they just made an assumption due to the low prevalence of the disease.
This concept though has been proven false begenning as old as a thousand years! Frozen remains of eskimos dating 100s of years back have signs of CVDs.
Now, even with numerous studies and research articles linking fish and sea food to higher rates of heart attacks, the omega- 3 supplemental and food industry seems to be growing yearly on research that was not true to begin with in the first place.
Fish consumption and depression.
Does nutrition intake and food patter have anything to do with depression really? If so, it's like the chicken and egg story, which comes first? Do depressed people tend to make bad food choices or does a bad diet lead to depression.
Well studies have linked higher carotinoid and phytonutrient levels (both found in abundance in plant- based food) may predict the development of depressive symptoms. Countries with the consumption of higher plant- based food and lower consumption of meat and eggs have lower rates of depression.
What's surprising is the below study which links higher risk of depression and suicide among people with consumption of seafood and long chain omega- 3 fatty acids such as EPA and DHA:
This is not a singular study, but multiple studies show a linear relationship between intake of seafood with developing depressive symptoms. Scientists have correlated the possible mercury content in seafood with causing neurological damage in the human brain.
Fish consumption and diabetes.
Fish consumers across the globe have as much as a 38% increase in diabetes. Even having a single serving of fish a week may increase your risk of diabetes by about 5%.
How does this happen?
Similar to consuming dairy or animal protein's from meat, increased consumption of fish and seafood increases the oxicative stress in the body and targets the pancreatic cells through the process of molecular mimicry. Read the below blog to understand more:
SSeafood we currently consume is also heavily contaminated with dioxins, PCB's and other pollutants which has been linked to elevated blood glucose levels in the body.
Mercury and PCB exposed brain of teens whose mothers ate a lot of fish clearly shows decreased brain activity. This is one of the reasons that expecting mothers are suggested to avoid seafood not only during pregnancy, but for years before they plan on having a child.
But what about omega-3 deficiencies?
Miley mentioned including fish into her diet for omega- 3's and feeling a lack of energy. Though it is important to ensure you are getting an adequate doze of omega- 3's on a plant- based diet, comparing the risk's of consuming seafood VS vegan sources, it is a wise option to stick with the vegan alternatives.
Even if there were a 1% chance for you to develop mercury poisoning or diabetes, why would you risk it?
Ideally, the minimum requirement for short chain omega- 3 fatty acid ALA is about 1/2% of your daily caloric requirements. This is easily fulfilled by a handful of walnuts or a tbsp of ground flaxseed powder per day. Now this ALA is further elongated into long chain EPA and DHA (these are essential for the body).
But new studies come out ever so often that prove that we might not be making enough EPA and DHA, leading to multiple supplemental industries taking advantage of this fact and offering omega 3 supplements. While the 'minimum' requirement changes from person to person, the fact still remains that fishes themselves do not make their own omega 3 fatty acids. Fishes in fact also depend on 'seaweed' to get their daily doze of omega's in.
Just cut the middle mad and include a plant- based supplement made from seaweed itself to get your omega's in. Saves you the risk of dying from diabetes and heart diseases.
Miley Cyrus mentions feeling 'unhealthy' due to a lack of omega 3 fatty acids. I wonder if she even tried a plant- based supplement instead of seafood?
All I am saying is to look at the present research and seek professional help to make right choices with regard to your nutrition. The internet is bombed with information, yet not a single reliable research study links a whole food plant- based diet to inflammation or coronary heart diseases. Miley mentions including gluten back in her diet and increasing her exercise intensity. I highly doubt her vegan diet is to be blamed for her feeling sick, because when she stared the same years ago, she herself mentioned that it was life changing.
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