Dr. Matthew Nagra, ND

12/13/2025

Vegan kids are SHORTER!! Another day, another headline fearmongering about vegan diets.

These headlines stem from a new systematic review and meta-analysis including 59 cross-sectional studies and 48,626 omnivorous, vegetarian, and vegan children. They found that vegan and vegetarian kids tended to weigh less and be a tad shorter than the meat eaters. However, the authors make clear that the kids also tended to be within a normal range of growth, and that the small differences in height often diminished when diet quality and parental height were accounted for.

Regarding nutrition, the researchers are pretty clear that, in studies where vegans were not supplementing, vitamin B12 deficiency was more common, but when it is being supplemented, vegans often have similar or even greater B12 status than meat eaters. They also note that, when they limit their analysis to only the higher quality studies, the differences in nutrient intake or status are smaller. A previous systematic review on plant-based kids shows that, yes, vegans/vegetarians do have need to be mindful about getting enough of certain nutrients, but meat eaters need to be mindful about other nutrients. It’s not like regularly consuming meat solves all nutritional concerns. The nutritional concerns just change. 

The vegan/vegetarian children in the new meta-analysis had lower total and LDL-cholesterol levels, which sets them up for a lower risk of CVD down the road, which is an important benefit since CVD begins to develop in childhood.

The authors sum up their results by stating that vegetarian/vegan diets can be nutrient-rich and support healthy growth when carefully planned, and that they may confer benefits, while also aligning with ethical and environmental values.

References:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41382333/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37892416/
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199806043382302

12/12/2025

Are vegans deficient in creatine?

Aman Duggal (can’t tag him) is wrong on multiple counts. Even if vegetarians improved after creatine supplementation, that doesn’t mean they were deficient. Our bodies make the creatine we need to avoid deficiency, and multiple nutrients have therapeutic or performance-boosting effects at doses far above what’s required to prevent a deficiency state.

In the study he cited, vegetarians and omnivores did cognitive tests, took either creatine or a placebo, then repeated the tests. With placebo, vegetarians performed just as well as meat eaters. With creatine, vegetarians actually outperformed them. Meat eaters dropped in performance on the second test; vegetarians maintained performance.

He framed it as vegetarians were worse and creatine brought them up to meat-eater levels. In reality, vegetarians did no worse without creatine and did better with it, contradicting his entire claim. If anything, this study supports plant-based diets + creatine as “optimal.”

Furthermore, he claimed that only small amounts are needed to boost cognitive function, but the study he referenced used much higher doses (~4x) than even the amounts recommended for athletic performance, and he didn’t provide any evidence supporting cognitive benefits at low doses.

Overall, evidence on creatine and cognition is limited, with some research suggesting benefits for those with certain genetic conditions, under sleep deprivation, or after a mild concussion.

So no, this isn’t evidence of a deficiency in vegan diets. And this wasn’t the only topic he was wrong about. He made several egregious errors throughout the podcast.

References:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21118604/
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/17/3/525
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1756464621002176

12/08/2025

This is terrible reasoning. Sure, we produce LDL and it plays a role in the body, but that doesn’t mean that high amounts aren’t harmful. Do you know what else plays a role in our body and is produced by our liver? Glucose (aka sugar)! Even when in ketosis due to a very low carbohydrate, ketogenic diet, our liver still makes glucose and certain cells like red blood cells ONLY use glucose for energy. They can’t use ketones. So by his logic, having high blood glucose isn’t a bad thing because glucose is important and our body produces it. But I’m guessing he wouldn’t take that position.

The reality is that having high LDL-cholesterol or high blood glucose levels over the long-term is damaging to our health, and his attempt at exonerating LDL-c could really harm people who listen.

References:
https://www.lipidjournal.com/article/S1933-2874(19)30267-3/fulltext
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32474749/

12/07/2025

See you at Vegan Camp Out 2026!

VCO 2026! 🎉 Celebrating 10 years of VCO 🎈 29 names, with 17 of which being brand new to VCO! Over 130 talks, music performances, DJ sets and classes in total (most still to be announced)! There may even be more Main Stage speakers/artists announced soon 👀

🎫 Tickets - ticketpulse.co.uk/vco26
💅 Glamping - woodvilleproject.co.uk/festival/vco
⛺ Tent Hire - tinyurl.com/2b72xe84
🛀 Spa/Hot Tub/Sauna - anthroposfestival.org/vco-spa

Join the 2026 Facebook event here 👉 Vegan Camp Out 2026: 10 years of VCO!

12/05/2025

Dave Asprey could not be more wrong about almond milk.

1. Producers may use the unsightly almonds to produce milk or almond flours (who cares?), but they also can use the standard ones that are sold directly for consumption. Regardless, this doesn’t have any bearing on the health value of almond milk, and funny enough, it was consumed in Medieval times and appears in virtually every Medieval cookbook according to historian, Ken Albala. Some of the reasons being that it stored better than dairy, could be used as a substitute during religious fasting, and in parts of Europe where almonds had to be imported, it was a sign of prestige as a luxury item.

2. He claims that almond milk is made with “a few almonds,” canola oil, high fructose corn syrup, and flavourings, but then shows an ingredients label without canola oil or syrup. Talk about a self-own.

3. He claims that almond milk is high in phytates, but almond milk is actually very low in phytates with most samples containing less than could be quantified in one study.

4. Finally, he claims that almond milk is high in oxalates, and it is higher than other plant milks, but also often comes paired with a high dose of calcium, which can mitigate the impact of oxalates, so it’s not a major concern for the vast majority of people, but those who are prone to kidney stones may benefit from limiting intake.

References:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/nut-milks-are-milk-says-almost-every-culture-across-globe-180970008/
https://www.discovermagazine.com/people-went-crazy-for-almond-milk-in-the-middle-ages-42226
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32156408/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20515779/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34045136/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17538185/

12/03/2025

The American food environment promotes obesity! When we look at countries like Japan, they have a fraction of the obesity rate that is seen in the USA, and this in part due to greater accessibility to healthy foods and less accessibility to high calorie, hyperpalatable foods.

This clip is from my recent appearance on ’s Middle Ground.

Watch the full episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi1yLEltiy0&

References:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38432237/
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/199990

12/01/2025

Gabrielle Lyon either lying or extremely confused because Americans, on average, consume about 66g of added sugar per day, which is far less than the 329g of beef she said Americans consume weekly. But also, why just look at beef rather than red meat as a whole (eg, beef, pork, lamb)? It’s not just beef that can increase CVD and colorectal cancer risk, but red meat as a whole. If we do that, we see that Americans also consume more red meat daily (about 74g) than added sugar.

But really, who cares? It’s not either-or. We can accept that it’s best to limit both red meat and added sugars, especially in the form of sugary beverages. Also, the numbers that have been cited are averages. There are some people who consume far more than that and boast about it despite those amounts increasing CVD and colorectal cancer risk, then there are people like me who consume zero, who would bring the average down. It’s like looking at average cigarette consumption in America and seeing that the average is a couple ci******es per day, even though most people don’t smoke and those who do often smoke about a pack of 20 ci******es a day.

But again, one of the major differences here is that nobody is recommending smoking, just like nobody is recommending sugary sodas, but there is an abundance of people on social media recommending high intakes of red meat that can ultimately harm those who follow that advice.

References:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36678136/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21070685/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37264855/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34455534/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35900882/

carnivore paleo vegan plantbased keto lowcarb protein animalprotein plantprotein hearthealth cancerprevention colorectalcancer diet fatloss weightloss

11/28/2025

How much protein is optimal?

Watch or listen to the full episode of with on your favourite podcasting app or .

Link in bio

11/24/2025

I’m still waiting for a link to this apparent study that referenced in our recent debate.

Watch the full episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi1yLEltiy0&

11/21/2025

Does protein cause cancer by increasing IGF-1? Some advocates of low protein diets seem to think so, but the evidence doesn’t appear to be on their side.

Watch or listen to the full episode of with on your favourite podcasting app or .

Link in bio

References:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cam4.3345
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31431306/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19746296/

Full episode: https://drmatthewnagra.com/the-proof-with-simon-hill-ep-390-the-protein-debate-is-over/

11/19/2025

Collagen is a very popular animal protein these days, but it’s actually incomplete (completely missing the amino acid, tryptophan) and does not stimulate muscle protein synthesis nearly as much as pea protein.

While we don’t have direct comparisons between collagen and plant proteins for actual muscle gains, we do see that collagen falls short of whey, while pea protein can match whey protein. So given all this information, it’s likely that pea protein (and others like soy protein) are superior to collagen for building muscle.

References:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38762187/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35042187/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38999765/

11/17/2025

Did you know that the genetic influence on weight may be as high as 70%! Twin studies suggest it’s anywhere from 40 to 70%, which further supports that obesity is not simply caused by a lack of willpower as some will suggest.

See the full debate on ’s channel! (Link also in bio) https://youtu.be/Pi1yLEltiy0?si=grkaVge2PHcdNQoU