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Beyond the Blogs: What Do Actual Doctors and Dietitians Say About Veganism?

  • Writer: Emanuele Bortolotto
    Emanuele Bortolotto
  • Jul 26
  • 8 min read

Updated: Sep 7

My latest obsession has been the wild and contradictory world of online nutrition advice. It’s a chaotic place. In one corner of the internet, you’ll find a charismatic man with suspiciously white teeth and no medical degree, who claims that a vegan diet of pure fruit will allow you to communicate with the moon. 🌕 In another corner, you’ll find an equally charismatic man, also with no medical degree, who insists that a diet of pure meat will grant you the power to wrestle a bear.

It’s a digital shouting match, a confusing Tower of Babel where every self-proclaimed guru has a podcast and a line of expensive supplements. It's almost impossible for a normal person to know who to believe. So, as an investigator, I decided to do something radical. I decided to ignore all of them.

Instead, I embarked on a quest to find out what the actual, official, and often very boring professional organizations have to say. I’m talking about the big ones: the national dietetic associations, the major health providers, the people in sensible shoes who base their recommendations on decades of peer-reviewed evidence, not on a fever dream they had after eating a weird mushroom. So, what do dietitians and doctors really say about veganism? Let's find out.


The Tower of Babel: Why Is Nutrition Advice So Confusing?


Before we get to the official verdict, I think it’s important to understand why the online landscape is so chaotic. The problem with the internet of online wellness is that everyone has a megaphone, but very few people have a license. It’s a world where a guy with great abs and a blender can have more influence than the entire American Heart Association.

In my investigation, I found it’s crucial to understand the difference between the titles people use:

  • "Nutritionist": This is often a legally unprotected term. In many places, anyone can call themselves a nutritionist, regardless of their education.

  • Registered Dietitian (RD) or Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN): This is a protected title. An RD is a food and nutrition expert who has met strict academic and professional requirements, including a bachelor's degree, a supervised practice program, and a national board exam. They are the real, credentialed experts. 🧑‍⚕️

  • "Doctor": The internet is full of people with the word "doctor" in their username. Some are medical doctors (MDs), but many have PhDs in unrelated fields, or are chiropractors or naturopaths. Their advice is not the same as that from a medical doctor specializing in nutrition.

My quest was to ignore the noise and go straight to the top of the food chain: the official position statements of the largest, most respected dietetic organizations in the world. These statements are not based on one person's opinion; they are the result of a rigorous review of the entire body of scientific evidence.


The Verdict from the Big Leagues: What the Official Organizations Say


So, what did I find when I blew the dust off these official documents? I found something that was, for all the online drama, shockingly clear and consistent.


The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND) - USA 🇺🇸


This is the big one. The AND is the largest organization of food and nutrition professionals in the United States, representing over 100,000 credentialed practitioners. Their official position paper on vegetarian diets is the most cited, most comprehensive, and most influential document on the topic. And what does it say? I’ll quote the most important part directly:

"It is the position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics that appropriately planned vegetarian, including vegan, diets are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits for the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. These diets are appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, adolescence, older adulthood, and for athletes."

Let’s just pause and appreciate how monumental that statement is. It is a clear, unambiguous endorsement. It says that not only is a vegan diet safe, but it can be beneficial. It says it's appropriate not just for healthy adults, but for pregnant women, for babies, for children, and for athletes. This isn't a tentative maybe; it's a confident, evidence-based declaration.


The British Dietetic Association (BDA) - UK 🇬🇧


Across the pond, the message is the same. The BDA is the professional body for dietitians in the UK. Their official policy confirms that a well-planned vegan diet can "support healthy living in people of all ages." They provide resources for the public on how to achieve a healthy vegan diet, focusing on the same key nutrients and principles as their American counterparts. They state that plant-based diets are associated with a lower risk of chronic diseases like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers.


Dietitians of Canada 🇨🇦


Heading north, I found the same consensus. Dietitians of Canada, the professional association for Canadian dietitians, officially states that a "well-planned vegan diet can meet all of your nutrient needs." They offer public guidance on how to build a healthy vegan plate, again emphasizing the same key nutrients of concern that require careful planning.


And Many, Many More…


My investigation found the same position echoed by countless other major health bodies, including the national dietetic associations of Australia and New Zealand. Major healthcare providers like Kaiser Permanente in the US have gone so far as to recommend that their own physicians "advise patients to consider a plant-based diet." The global scientific and dietetic consensus is remarkably, almost boringly, consistent.


Deconstructing "Well-Planned": The Official Fine Print


Now, I can hear the skeptics shouting. "Aha! But what about the fine print?!" And they are right to do so. Every single one of these endorsements comes with the same, crucial, two-word qualifier: "well-planned."

The official support for veganism is not a blanket endorsement for any diet that simply excludes animal products. It is a conditional statement. It is an acknowledgment that while a vegan diet has the potential to be incredibly healthy, it also has the potential to be a nutritional disaster if it is not done with care and attention.

So, what does "well-planned" actually mean, according to these organizations? It means you have to be a responsible adult and make sure you are getting a few key nutrients that are either exclusively found in animal products or are harder to get from plants. This is the homework. This is the part that requires effort.


Vitamin B12: The Non-Negotiable


Every single one of these organizations is absolutely clear on this. You cannot get B12 from plants. You must get it from a supplement or from consistently eating heavily fortified foods. There is no debate on this. It is a mandatory requirement.


Iron: The Absorption Challenge


The official position papers all highlight the need for vegans to pay attention to iron. They acknowledge that plant-based (non-heme) iron is less bioavailable. Their recommendation is to eat plenty of iron-rich foods like lentils, beans, and tofu, and to always consume them with a source of Vitamin C to enhance absorption.


Calcium & Vitamin D: The Bone Partnership


The dietetic associations stress the importance of building a vegan diet that is rich in calcium. They don't say you need milk. They say you need calcium. They recommend a focus on calcium-set tofu, fortified plant milks and yogurts, and low-oxalate leafy greens like kale and bok choy. They also universally recommend that people, especially those in northern latitudes, ensure they have an adequate source of Vitamin D, usually from a supplement, to allow for that calcium to be absorbed.


Omega-3 Fatty Acids (DHA & EPA): The Brain Food


The official guidance recognizes that the conversion of plant-based ALA (from flax, chia, walnuts) to the more important long-chain fatty acids DHA and EPA is inefficient. For this reason, many now recommend that vegans, particularly during pregnancy and childhood, consider a direct, algae-derived DHA/EPA supplement.


Iodine & Zinc: The Supporting Players


These are two other minerals that the experts say to watch. They recommend using iodized salt or sea vegetables to ensure adequate iodine intake for thyroid health, and focusing on zinc-rich foods like legumes, nuts, and seeds.


Questions from the Internet: "Okay, but why is my own family doctor so skeptical about veganism?"


This is a fantastic and very common question. My investigation revealed a simple, if slightly depressing, answer: many doctors receive very little nutrition education during their medical training. A survey of US medical schools found that students received, on average, fewer than 20 hours of nutrition instruction over their entire degree. A doctor can be a brilliant surgeon or diagnostician, but they are often not an expert in nutrition unless they have pursued that education on their own. Registered Dietitians, on the other hand, spend their entire careers studying this. The skepticism from some doctors often comes from a place of caution, a fear of the unknown, and an awareness of the risks of a poorly planned diet.


Questions from the Internet: "So all the big organizations agree. Is there any real scientific debate left?"


Yes and no. The debate is no longer about if a vegan diet can be healthy. That question, among the world's nutrition experts, is largely settled science. The answer is yes, provided it is well-planned. The current, ongoing debate is about the nuances. It’s about the optimal amount of certain nutrients, the long-term effects of different plant-based fats, the precise role of the microbiome, and the best strategies for public health. But the foundational question of its safety and adequacy is no longer a major point of scientific contention.



The Conclusion: The Signal in the Noise


So, after my deep dive into the staid, formal, and surprisingly consistent world of official nutritional science, what is the final verdict? What do doctors and dietitians really say about veganism?

They say that a well-planned vegan diet is a safe, healthy, and viable option for everyone. They say it can be a powerful tool for preventing and treating some of our most common chronic diseases. They say it requires your attention, your diligence, and a reliable B12 supplement.

The online world will continue to be a chaotic mess of angry gurus and contradictory claims. But my investigation has found that behind all that noise, there is a clear, consistent, and surprisingly simple signal. The actual experts, the ones who do the research and write the textbooks, are in remarkable agreement. The science is in. Now, the choice is yours. ✅

The foundation of the official support for veganism is the mountain of evidence showing what it does to your body. For a deep dive into that, check out my investigation: [What a Vegan Diet Actually Does to Your Body].


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