Effects of Consuming Animal Products on Health

Veganism and Health
Written By Akshat Vora

Dr. Jina Shah

Consuming animal products, including dairy has been consistently shown to have adverse impacts on human health [Scroll to the end for the references used for this article].

Additionally, early studies show benefits of vegan diets, beyond vegetarian diets, in all causes of mortality, cancer, and cardiovascular mortality.

  • Vegans have decreased total cholesterol, LDL, glucose levels, and BMI, less incidence of and mortality from cardiovascular disease and 8% less cancer incidence. Vegans have 15% less cancer incidence than the general population.

  • Plant based diets have benefits for prevention of cardiovascular disease, stroke, hypertension and obesity.

  • Unhealthy components of dairy products include saturated fat, lactose, galactose, estrogen hormone, insulin-like growth factor, and other antibiotics.

Life-threatening risks

Those who consume animal products have a higher risk of death from all causes, while those consuming mostly plant protein have a lower risk of dying from all causes, as well as specifically from cardiovascular disease and dementia. Milk and milk products are considered animal products. Their effects on the body are similar to meat, not like other plant sources of food.

  • There is no benefit of dairy products on bone density, and many studies show harms.

  • The effects of whole milk are especially detrimental.

Cancer

  • Breast and ovarian cancers are associated with dairy product consumption in women.

  • Milk consumption, especially with high fat content, is associated with an increase in breast cancer (and soy product intake with a decrease in breast cancer risk) and dying from breast cancer.

  • Consuming lactose and dairy products is linked to the risk of ovarian cancer.

  • There is also a strong body of evidence linking milk consumption to prostate cancer in men.

  • Men who were vegan had less prostate cancer compared to those who were non-vegetarian (including those who were lacto-ovo vegetarian) in a study of Seventh-Day Adventists and in the European Prospective Investigation study.

  • In a prospective study, it was found that high consumption of milk in adolescence led to a threefold risk of advanced prostate cancer later in life.

  • A larger meta-analysis confirmed the association between dairy intake and prostate cancer, and moreover showed that non-dairy sources of calcium, such as plant milks, kale, and broccoli, have protective effects.

  • Even after a prostate cancer diagnosis, men who consumed the most (three or more servings) dairy products had a higher risk of dying from all causes or from prostate cancer compared to those who consumed less than one dairy product per day.

  • A study of male physicians confirmed that whole milk increased the risk of dying from prostate cancer.

Diabetes

  • Plant-based diets have been shown to be effective in preventing and treating Type 2 diabetes.

Dementia and Cognitive Impairment

  • The risk of Alzheimer’s dementia is associated with meat, eggs, and high-fat dairy products. Some consider it a disease affecting the blood vessels of the brain, with the same harmful effects in the brain as these products have on the blood vessels of the heart.

  • Men and women eating the most dairy had higher rates of Parkinson’s disease.

Hypertension

  • Vegans have lower blood pressure than vegetarians and meat-eaters, with body mass index associated in one study but not in another.

Fractures

  • Total calcium intake is important, but dairy consumption is not associated with a decreased risk of fractures.

BMI

  • Vegans had the lowest Body Mass Index compared to lacto-ovo, pesco, semi, and non-vegetarians.

Children

  • For children and infants, allergies, constipation, and lactose intolerance are all associated with dairy consumption.

Dr. Jina Shah

Dr. Jina Shah

MD, MBE, MPH

Jina Shah is a lifelong Jain and decades-long vegan. She is Board Certified in General Preventive Medicine and Family Medicine, with Master’s degrees in Public Health and Bioethics. She has worked in global public health, vaccine development, pharmaceutical bioethics, and cancer drug safety. She serves on the board of Ahimsak Eco-Vegan Committee of JAINA and has spoken at various Jain events nationally and internationally. The readers are encouraged to read her information-rich blog at veganjains.com.

References

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Akshat Vora
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