41% of men are interested in veganism, but new research reveals concerns about health and unsupportive friends

From politics.co.uk 

A new report from The Vegan Society, Veganism and Masculinity: Challenging Stereotypes and Embracing Change, has revealed that 41% of non-vegan men are either planning to go vegan or have some interest in going vegan, but concerns around the taste of vegan food, nutrition, and lack of support from family and friends are potential barriers to the lifestyle.

Previous research by The Vegan Society has shown that there is a gender imbalance within the vegan population and their new report aims to understand why this is. The report explores the views of both vegan and non-vegan men around veganism, seeks clarity on the barriers that prevent men from adopting a vegan diet and aims to better understand how these barriers can be overcome.

Research within the report shows that the most significant factors deterring men from a vegan lifestyle include taste, health, and nutrition concerns. Men also experience gender specific barriers due to the perceived link between meat eating and notions of what it means to be “masculine”. In addition to this, 47% of men who were interested in veganism said that they were concerned about unsupportive family and friends.

With over 80 billion land animals killed per year for food and evidence that a global shift to a vegan diet would see climate emissions decrease by 70%, it is imperative to try and break down the barriers that stop people trying a vegan diet and to tackle the misconceptions around taste and nutrition.

Outlining some of the steps that can be taken to encourage men to adopt a vegan lifestyle, The Vegan Society highlight the need to produce supportive resources, in particular, information on nutrition, recipe ideas and the evidence supporting veganism.

A sense of community is also essential, explain the society, and there needs to be a focus on opportunities for “transitioning vegans to make new connections and find supportive social circles”, with the research suggesting that many vegan men had an easier time going vegan when done with partners or with the help of supportive vegans and non-vegans.

The Vegan Society’s Research and Policy Officer, Alexander Huntley, commented on the findings of the research:

“We know that women are more likely to be vegan than men, but our recent research suggests that there are more men open to the idea of going vegan than previously thought. This finding highlights the importance of encouraging men, specifically, to adopt a vegan lifestyle and providing resources to help them overcome potential barriers.

The report calls attention to factors preventing men from adopting a vegan lifestyle, which gives us a great foundation of knowledge to support our work and inform our creation of resources that can tackle misconceptions around vegan food and help provide a sense of community for those considering veganism.

We encourage any men who are interested in veganism to visit our Vegan and Thriving pages which are full of information, advice and words directly from vegan men about their vegan journey and how their veganism relates to their masculinity.”

https://www.politics.co.uk/opinion-former/press-release/2024/07/30/41-of-men-are-interested-in-veganism-but-new-research-reveals-concerns-about-health-and-unsupportive-friends-are-barriers-to-the-lifestyle/

Short-term vegan diet may slow aging, but questions remain

From livescience.com

A small trial in identical twins has shown that going vegan for two months may slow aging, but the findings should be interpreted cautiously, experts say

Following a vegan diet for a couple months may slow aging, new research hints.

However, these findings shouldn't be overhyped, experts cautioned, in part due to limitations in how the study was conducted.

In a small clinical trial that included 21 pairs of healthy identical twins, one twin from each pair ate a vegan diet while the other twin followed an omnivorous diet, which included plants, meat, eggs and dairy. The twins followed these diets for eight weeks. The idea behind using identical twins is that, given their shared genetics, the influence of diet can then be isolated and studied more easily.

The twins, who were around 40 years old on average and mainly women, ate meals the researchers prepared for them for the first month of the study. For the second month, the participants cooked for themselves, after receiving nutrition classes.

The researchers analyzed the participants' blood before they started their diets, four weeks in, and then again at the end of the study. They looked for changes in the chemical tags on top of DNA within the twins' cells; specifically, they assessed molecules called methyl groups, which latch onto DNA and change the extent to which specific genes are "switched on." They do this without altering the underlying DNA code — a phenomenon known as epigenetic modification.

Changes in methylation patterns are associated with accelerated rates of aging, and scientists have previously studied these changes in order to make "epigenetic clocks" that can be linked to organisms' maximum life spans.

At the eight-week mark, the twins who ate a vegan diet had significantly reduced levels of DNA methylation, compared to before they started the study, the researchers found. Their omnivorous siblings, however, showed no significant changes in DNA methylation during this time.

The team used established tests to see if the methylation changes seen in the vegan group were tied to any specific aging processes. They found they were tied to "younger" scores for organs like the heart and liver, as well as bodily processes including inflammation and metabolism. At least one of the tests that they used is licensed by TruDiagnostics, an epigenetics testing company that also funded the new study.

These findings suggest that going vegan could have anti-aging effects, at least in the short term, the team said. They described their research in a study published Sunday (July 28) in the journal BMC Medicine.

"This trial suggests that a healthy plant-based diet may be superior to a healthy omnivorous diet in changing epigenetic markers that are potentially related to improved healthspan," Dr. Luigi Fontana, a professor of medicine and nutrition at the University of Sydney who was not involved in the research, told Live Science in an email. ("Healthspan" refers to the amount of time a person remains healthy during their life, rather than just alive.)

However, the new findings should be treated with caution, Fontana noted.

Firstly, the study was only two months long, which raises the question of whether these epigenetic changes are temporary, Fontana said. Aging is a lifelong process, so future studies would need to investigate whether these findings can be replicated in the long term, he said.

Another potential caveat of the study is that the twins who followed the vegan diet lost around 4.4 pounds (2 kilograms) more than the omnivores. This is because they were eating substantially fewer calories, lead study author Varun Dwaraka, head of bioinformatics at TruDiagnostics, told Live Science. As such, it could be that these weight changes somehow contributed to the observed changes in DNA methylation.

Notably, calorie restriction has been shown to slow aging in mice and in monkeys, as well as in some early clinical trials in humans.

"What we would hope for in the next analysis is to start to disentangle these aspects," Dwaraka said. Future trials could ensure that the participating twins consume the same amount of calories, regardless of their diet, he said.

Going vegan not only affected measures of biological aging but also changed the types of immune cells circulating in the participants' blood, said Daniel Belsky, an associate professor of epidemiology at Columbia University. Belsky was involved in the development of one of the epigenetic tests used in the study but not in the study itself.

The measures of biological aging were taken from immune cells, so what appears to be an effect of a vegan diet on aging could be an "artifact" of a short-term immune response to this way of eating, Belsky told Live Science in an email.

Nevertheless, the new study suggests that epigenetic tests can help estimate how different diets affect the aging process, Dwaraka said. Going forward, the team plans to investigate whether following other diets — such as keto or paleo diets, for instance — could produce similar anti-aging benefits.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not meant to offer medical advice.

https://www.livescience.com/health/ageing/short-term-vegan-diet-may-slow-aging-but-questions-remain

 

Juicy Marbles Launches New Plant-Based Baby Ribs With An Updated Recipe

From plantbasednews.org

Juicy Marbles' Baby Ribs are packed with plant-based protein 

Juicy Marbles just launched an updated version of its “world-first” plant-based ribs on edible bones: the nutritious, clean-label “Baby Ribs.”

The brand particularly emphasized the nutrient density, tender texture, and simpler ingredient list for its new-and-improved vegan ribs. According to Juicy Marbles, its updated “Marble 3.0” recipe has a natural “meaty, umami-rich” flavour, more essential micronutrients, and no thickeners or binders.

Compared to the original version, Juicy Marbles’ Baby Ribs also feature a slightly more compact 350g size. The brand said that this creates the “perfect ‘bone-to-flesh’ ratio, ensuring meat both sticks to the bone and tears away in luscious, juicy chunks.”

Juicy Marbles said that this new updated version is its “cleanest, most nutrient-dense recipe” yet, boasting 35g of soy and pea protein per serving along with zinc, selenium, B vitamins, and iron, with no binding agents or preservatives. Baby Ribs are non-GMO and each serving contains 51 percent of the RDI for fibre. They take just 15-20 minutes to prepare.

“We all want our food to be tasty, but we want it to be nutritionally sensible as well,” said co-founder and Chief Brand Officer Vladimir Mićković in a statement. “We want to eat foods that do our bodies good, and that’s what food companies should provide.”

                                Juicy Marbles

The edible soy-based “bones” make Juicy Marbles’ vegan ribs even more protein-dense

Plant-based meat can be ‘fun from every angle’

Juicy Marbles is best known for its vegan thick-cut steak, complete with authentic fat marbling. The award-winning and frequently satirical Slovenian brand was founded back in 2019 and uses its proprietary protein texturing technology to create whole cuts of plant-based meat. It aims to out-compete animal proteins in taste, price, and convenience.

Juicy Marbles first launched a limited-release filet mignon-style plant-based steak in 2022, and at the end of the same year announced the “Whole Cut Loin,” which it described as the largest piece of plant-based meat ever conceived.

Last year, the brand dropped its first Bone-In Ribs. The soy protein-based bones in both the original and updated versions are made from sidestreams of plant-based meat production. They are also compostable, but can be baked or fried to make high-protein snacks, or cooked down to make a savoury stock.

“To some, bones from plants may be an ideological provocation, but we shouldn’t take these things too seriously. It’s just fun from every angle,” said Juicy Marbles co-founder Vladimir Mićković at the time. Since we made the bones ourselves, we could actually question the concept of bones in general. We could challenge ourselves to make them useful.”

US customers can purchase Juicy Marbles Baby Ribs from the official website as of July 24, 2024. They cost USD $59, $94, and $139 for a two, four, and six-pack, respectively with the largest option shipped for free. The product will hit UK and EU shelves by the end of the year.

https://plantbasednews.org/news/alternative-protein/juicy-marbles-plant-based-baby-ribs/

A vegan diet can reduce your biological age, new study finds

From independent.co.uk

The findings are based on a small study of 21 pairs of identical twins 

Scientists have found that a vegan diet may be the solution to fighting old age.

A plant-based diet may reduce a person’s biological age, the new research suggests.

After eight weeks, there were also decreases in the ages of the heart, hormone, liver, and inflammatory and metabolic systems, the study found. These changes were not seen in those whose diet included meat, eggs, and dairy.

Those who ate a vegan diet also lost two kilogrammes more on average than those who ate did not, due to them consuming 200 fewer calories through the meals provided during the initial four weeks of the study.

According to the experts, the weight loss could have contributed to the observed differences in biological age between both groups.

Some experts suggest that, long-term, a vegan diet may result in nutritional deficiencies and may not suit all ages, while others say the differences could have been down to the weight loss.

The findings are based on a small study of 21 pairs of identical twins aged 39, half of whom ate a vegan diet, while the other sibling ate an omnivorous diet.

By the end of the study, the researchers observed decreases in biological age estimations based on levels of DNA methylation – a type of chemical modification of DNA that is used to estimate biological age.

Biological aging refers to the decline in functioning of tissues and cells in the body, as opposed to chronological age.

Previous research has reported that increased DNA methylation levels are associated with aging.

However, Varun Dwaraka, of epigenetic testing company TruDiagnostic Inc, and Christopher Gardner of Stanford University, California, and colleagues, said it is unclear how much the differences between the pairs can be attributed to the differences in diet.

Following a vegan diet could be linked to a reduction in biological age, a study has suggested (David Davies/PA) (PA Archive)

Further research is needed to investigate the relationship between diet, weight and aging, in addition to the long-term effects of vegan diets, they add.

Tom Sanders, Professor emeritus of Nutrition and Dietetics, King’s College London (KCL), who was not involved in the study, said the research found some difference in terms of aging for vegans, but does not consider the fact that vitamin and mineral deficiencies often take years to appear.

He added that research also suggests a vegan diet may not be good for the health of older people.

Prof Sanders said: “Although observational studies indicate that vegan diets may have favourable effects on health in middle age (such as a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes), this is not the case in older vegans who seem more likely to suffer from muscle loss, low bone density and neurological disorders which have a significant impact on the quality of life.

“Indeed, life expectancy does not differ in vegans compared with those who select mixed diets.”

Dr Duane Mellor, dietitian and spokesman for British Dietetic Association, said that although the study compared a vegan diet to an omnivorous diet, these diets were not entirely matched in terms of calories.

He explained: “It is possible that a reduction in energy intake could potentially have altered how the participants’ DNA was changed.”

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/vegan-diet-biological-age-study-b2587496.html