A False Vegan Health Claims & Simplifying Nutrition | Matt Ruscigno

Are vegan health claims exaggerated? Can you be just as healthy eating animal products? And what’s the “best” way to eat vegan? In this video, Registered Dietitian Matt Ruscigno shares his unique approach to vegan sports nutrition and why he feels it's important to not exaggerate the benefits of eating vegan. Check out the rest of the vegan athlete series: The Vegan Athlete Series: http://bit.ly/VeganAthleteSeries

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I’m the first person who will tell you that
going vegan is an astronomically beneficial

decision for the planet, other humans, certainly
the animals, and your health…sometimes.

There are so many ways to eat vegan that in
reality it doesn’t always equate to glowing

health. Still, vegans abound who have seen
profound improvement in their health through

dietary change and athletes who’ve seen
significant improvement in performance and

recovery. But are these success stories based
in science? Or can we be just as healthy consuming

animal products? Well my guest today has a
unique take on the matter as a vegan ultra-athlete

and Registered Dietitian.

Hi it’s Emily from Bite Size Vegan and welcome
to another vegan nugget. Nothing gets people

up in arms so much as the debate on the perfect
way of eating, especially when you get into

all the various factions of vegan dietary
approaches. It gets intense and health claims

abound along with conflicting advice.

Well endurance ultra-athlete and Registered
Dietitian Matt Ruscigno holds what is rather

controversial view, at least in vegan circles,
that eating vegan isn’t necessarily the

only way to be healthy. If you missed my first
video with Matt where he shares what he eats,

be sure to check it out up there or in the
description.

So let’s hear from Matt about eating vegan
for athletic performance, and in general,

as well as the importance of not exaggerating
health claims:

Matt, I want to thank you so much for
taking time out of your busy schedule to be

on the channel.

I’m honored to be here. Thank you
for having me.

Can you speak a bit to, I mean, we
talked earlier about kind of what you eat

and your philosophy with your own food but
can you speak kind of as a registered dietitian

about eating vegan for athletic performance,
like what, what’s really the, of course

there’s not “the” ideal but what is
something that people should try to trend

towards as athletes?

Right, great question and it’s something
on my mind especially right now having been

at Vida Vegan Con in Austin where I gave a
presentation on why we shouldn’t exactly

exaggerate health claims in vegansim because
being healthy and being vegan aren’t the

same thing and the science is very complicated
and you know when I’m wearing my professional

hat, the truth is you can eat animal products
and be healthy. You know, there are people

who do it, there are people who have had great
results from Paleo. You know, they’ve lowered

their cholesterol levels to which we vegans
say “No, they’re eating all that meat

their cholesterol’s going to skyrocket”.
It’s like well there’s some published

research that says they’re actually lowered
cholesterol levels eating Paleo, and we have

to be realistic about these results and that
they exist. It’s naive to think the only

way to be healthy is to be vegan. Now that
said, of course, I’m an ethical vegan and

my stance is that you can be just as healthy
while being vegan. And we have actual research

that says people who eat more plant foods
live longer, they have lower rates of chronic

disease, all that stuff that’s based on
good, actual peer-reviewed research. And that’s

great to have and I think it really gives
strength to our argument but to say that you

have to be vegan to be healthy I don’t think
is true. And so for athletes, it’s the same

sort of thing where you can perform just as
well and we have the examples you know, we

have Scott Jurek, Rich Roll, we have the whole
PlantBuilt team, all those folks that are

really kicking ass while being vegan but to
say that you have, that you are better to

be vegan is, well, we don’t quite have the
research. We just have a lot of people who

have given their own personal stories.

For someone who is interested in athletics
or already is an athlete and is interested

in transitioning to a vegan diet, what would
you recommend as far, because a lot of people

have fears about, you know, well, how am I
gonna get this how am I gonna get that which

ends up not being quite as complicated, I
think, as people think but what would you

tell someone who is looking to that and wants
to make sure they can maintain their level

of performance?

Yeah absolutely, what I do, I get a
lot of clients like this that are very intelligent

and they’re vegan-ish or an athlete-ish
and they say “I read all these books what

do I actually do?” and my philosophy is
you need to start where you are. You know,

do you really wanna be raw and 80/10/10 or
did you just read the book and you think it’s

great. Is this this really practical for you,
do you have reasons to believe that this is

better than any other way of eating. So it’s
all about starting where you are. You know,

can you veganize the stuff that you’re already
eating and see how that feels. If you like

broccoli and you’re familiar with cooking
broccoli, add it to more things, eat more

of it. If you want to do some meat substitutes
for a little while, go right ahead. If you

want to keep doing them, go right ahead. Just
make sure you are indeed eating actual fruits,

vegetables, whole grains, beans are very important
for vegans and especially athletes, you know

lots of nutrients, lots of protein, all those
amino acids, it’s really an important part

of a healthy vegan diet in my opinion.

You read about how they have kind of
anti-nutrient agents and if you soak them

then it takes that out, is that something
that you ascribe to or that you know much

about? Do you do that with your own?

I think a lot of people are concerned
about these anti-nutrients and phytates and

what not and when it’s true, those are present
in some plant foods but really the research

shows that people who eat plant foods aren’t
getting nutrient deficiencies from these so-called

anti-nutrients. So on paper yes they’re
there but in reality it doesn’t seem to

matter for most people. When we get into like
young kids or someone who needs to restrict

their diet for a certain reason, sure, maybe
you want to look closely at it but for most

people it’s really not an issue. We really
get hung up on these very fine points and

I think that that’s one, confusing and two,
difficult for people who just want to eat

well, you know and I get a lot of people who
come from sort of a normal US cultural diet

and they’ve never heard of any of these
things and those of us who are kind of seasoned

in it are like well you can’t eat GMO, it
has to be local, it has to be organic and

no you shouldn’t eat kale because it has
goitrogens and it’s like what the heck are

you talking about, I just want to eat more
fruits and vegetables so you know let’s

keep it simple. Let’s keep it simple and
not get hung up on these very fine points.

Alright well, Matt I just want to thank
you again for taking time out of your schedule

to be with us and for sharing your knowledge.

Yeah absolutely, and thank you for having
me. It was great to talk with you. I love

talking about all this stuff and thank you
for all the work that you do.

I hope you enjoyed hearing from Matt on his
approach to simplifying vegan nutrition.

While I completely agree that we vegans need
not and should not falsely inflate the health

or any other benefits of eating vegan, the
astounding devastation of eating animals makes

doing so completely unnecessary. As I’ve
said before in my videos, we don’t have

to make things up—they’re bad enough as
it is.

For me, it all boils down to the fact that
whether or not we can be just as healthy consuming

animal products, doing so remains profoundly
devastating to the environment, diverts global

food and water resources, and most importantly
violently ends the lives of trillions of beings

every year. And that is not up for debate.

I’m interested to hear what you think of
Matt’s approach. Do you think it’s possible

to eat animal products and be healthy? Do
you think there is or needs to be an “ideal”

way of eating vegan? Let me know in the comments!

Be sure to check out the links in the description
to connect with Matt at this website where

he offers nutrition counseling services, and
at his own vegan athlete video series Strongest

Hearts where be profiles incredible vegan
athletes.

If you enjoyed this video, give it a big thumbs
up. If you’re new here, do hit that big

red subscribe button down there for more awesome
vegan content every Monday, Wednesday, and

some Fridays and to not miss out the on the
rest of the Vegan Athlete series. If you want

to help support Bite Size Vegan, check out
either of the support links in the video description

below or click on the Nugget Army icon or
the link in the sidebar. Now go live vegan,

keep nutrition simple, and I’ll see you
soon.

I do have to admit that we vegans can get
a little carried away with exaggerated health

claims.

When you go vegan, you’ll never get another
pimple!

If you go vegan you’ll never fart again!

You’ll be able to run a marathon tomorrow!

Being vegan means never having to blow your
nose again!

Did your head come off? Go vegan and it will
pop right back on!

Nothing cures decapitation like a healthy
vegan diet!

When you go vegan, you’ll be a better dancer!

A better lover!

A better friend!

You’ll rule the world!

When you go vegan, you’ll never have body
odor again!