It seems like everything is on a ‘side’ these days, and dietary preferences are no exception. And if X is to be believed, there’s an overwhelming school of thought around two major types: people who follow animal-based diets, and people who follow plant-based diets.
Both sides have a seemingly endless number of supporters, each armed with near-endless amounts of research and anecdotes. Considering most of the nutritional landscape has been deeply marred by influencers — not to mention a nearly endless supply of dietary fads — it’s no easy thing to decide what’s scientifically viable versus what’s hearsay and/or commercially funded drivel.
I believe strongly in embracing the empowered and informed patient, which begins by providing information and research to let individuals choose their own path.
Far be it from me to decide between plant and animal-based diets for you, so without further ado, I’ll let you look at the research and come to your own conclusions.
Article overview
- Animal-based and plant-based diets differ significantly in terms of nutrient density, bioavailability, anti-nutrients, and long-term health outcomes.
- Animal-based diets often provide better outcomes to those with existing autoimmune and chronic diseases. However, plant-based diets with whole, real foods and mindful food selections have their own merits.
- Both animal- and plant-based diets can fall short when they are processed, largely come from fast food or restaurant chains, and ignore the principle of N = 1.
How animal-based diets vs plant-based diets match up
Any discussion of the efficacy of various diets cannot and should not happen in a vacuum. Here, they’re going to be analyzed by the most critical thing they accomplish: how they work with the human body, as well as how they don’t.
To take a purely objective approach, here’s what the research has to say:
Nutrient density and bioavailability
These two terms refer to how nutrient-rich a certain food is, and how well your body can pull these nutrients out.
Research tells us that certain nutrients in plant-based diets are far less accessible than those in animal-based diets, including iron and protein.
This also suggests that plant-based milks, fake fats, and vegan “meat” aren’t the superfoods we’ve been told they are. They also contain harmful ingredients that can potentially injure your metabolic health.
For example:
- Almond, oat, soy, and coconut milks. These comprise the greater share of plant-based milks, but are also considered ultra-processed. Many contain ingredients such as guar gum, carrageenan, and dicalcium phosphate, which are positively associated with inflammation. Animal milk, conversely, is 87% water, with the remaining 13% made of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals.
- Fake fats, like EPG, can decrease the absorption of certain vitamins. They also don’t necessarily provide vitamins and other essential micronutrients as you might find in butter and tallow. These saturated fats don’t cause vitamin-stripping, and don’t need to be created in a lab.
- Vegan meat products are some of the most highly processed food items in the grocery store, and contain anti-nutrients (more on this later). Not only is the ‘protein’ content in these foods less bioavailable to the human body, but they also contain a large amount of carbohydrates. These can spike your blood sugar, encourage insulin resistance, and even result in prediabetes. True animal-based meat has an entirely opposite effect.
It’s clear that plant-based diets don’t offer as many benefits as is often claimed. And very interestingly, meat-based diets don’t offer as many disadvantages as you might have been told by heart health influencers.
Anti-nutrients
One of the biggest challenges of plant-based diets is dealing with chemical compounds known as ‘anti-nutrients.’ These are natural or synthetic compounds that bind to vitamins and minerals or interfere with digestive enzymes. They ultimately reduce your ability to absorb certain nutrients, which can have numerous consequences on your metabolic health.
Let’s look at oxalates, for example, which are found in ‘superfoods’ like almonds, spinach, sweet potatoes, and beets. Oxalates namely interfere with calcium absorption and are associated with kidney stones in both men and women.
There are also phytates in grains, seeds, and legumes, which make substances like zinc, folate, and iron less bioavailable to the body.
There are many other anti-nutrients to be found:
- Lectins: Compounds in nightshades, lentils, and beans that can damage gut lining. If you already have a condition like leaky gut syndrome, they’ll likely exacerbate it.
- Tannins: Common in legumes, coffee, and tea. They directly interfere with iron absorption.
- Goitrogens: Can disrupt iodine uptake and impair thyroid function, especially for those with established autoimmune disease. Particularly common in cabbage, kale, and broccoli.
Animal-based diets contain far fewer anti-nutrients when compared with plant-based diets. This alone tips the scales in favor of meat-based diets for many, especially those with existing autoimmune or chronic disease.
Long-term health outcomes
You’ve likely heard many times before that plant-based diets are linked with longer lifespans and better health than meat-based diets.
But when we look into the research, is that actually true?
Saturated fat, for example, picked up a nasty reputation as a heart-health risk during the Seven Countries Study. And yet, modern research continues to reveal its benefits while casting a shadow on its supposed relationship to heart disease. Not only is there no scientific basis for limiting saturated fat intake, but it may in fact limit the impacts of heart disease and reduce all-cause mortality in female populations.
And then there’s the ever-popular Blue Zones study, which claims that plant-based eating is the secret to longevity. But if you look more deeply into the data, you might discover a very different story. People in regions like Okinawa, Sardinia, and the Nicoya Peninsula, for example, all regularly consume pork, goat, beef, and seafood. Additionally, the high-meat-consuming Hong Kong boasts one of the highest life expectancies in the world.
Now, let’s compare this to what we know about animal-based diets:
- The nutrient density (and lack of anti-nutrients) can help support better physiological function in aging populations.
- It’s something that humans have been eating for thousands of years.
- It assists with muscle development alongside resistance training, which is directly linked to strength and longevity.
An animal-based diet could very well point toward a longer, happier healthspan for its followers.
So, which diet is best?
As you can see, an animal-based diet can help with lower inflammation, higher healthspan outcomes, and long-term heart health compared to plant-based diets. But this is only the case when your diet is minimally processed, you cook at home, and practice responsible consumption.
The truth is, there’s not necessarily a binary here — although I myself am a dedicated carnivore. It’s possible to eat both a plant-based and an animal-based diet, provided you’re making good decisions and following the updated dietary guidelines for Americans.
This includes following proper human food patterns like:
You can learn more about the proper human diet in my guide: how to eat metabolically healthy with five different popular diets.
Where do they both fall short?
Both animal-based diets and plant-based diets should be rooted in whole, real foods that are prepped at home and are low in processed ingredients.
When that isn’t the case, both diets can prove deleterious to your health.
So make sure to avoid:
- Processed meat and vegetable products. I often refer to these as ‘near-food objects,’ as both processed meat and processed ‘plant-based products’ are directly linked with worse health outcomes. That’s why you need to know where your food comes from. A grass-fed steak will be infinitely better than a TV meatloaf dinner, for example.
- Fast food ‘healthwashed’ meals. There’s no way to know what’s hidden in certain dishes, including seed oils, preservatives, and added sugars. And keep in mind restaurants are well-known for compromising nutrition for cost control. It’s no wonder that frequently eating out is linked with heart disease. So I highly recommend cooking at home as much as possible.
- Not listening to your body. At the end of the day, N = 1. If you’re trying a certain diet and not seeing the results you want, or even seeing negative results in your lifestyle or bloodwork, it’s time to reconsider what your next steps should be. Working with a doctor who ‘gets’ it will be invaluable here.
Learning more about a proper human diet
When it comes to getting the most out of your diet, knowledge is the key. That’s why I wrote my new book, Stay Off My Kitchen Table. It walks you through how to understand the impact food has on our health beyond the conventional talk about calories and macros, and shows that what really matters is not just what we consume but what our body absorbs.