Diets
In this context, I use the term diet to mean an eating lifestyle, not a small/terminal period of modified eating habits.
Vegetarianism/Vegan
As of 04/01/2019, I am still not a vegetarian or vegan. That being said, I've often been intrigued by the practice and can certainly recognize its benefits!
What is it?
Vegetarianism is abstaining from consumption of "flesh" from other animals. As such, this does not preclude the consumption of animal products in general, such as eggs or milk.
Veganism is complete abstaining from consumption of all animals products, many go as far as not consuming even honey as it comes from bees.
Benefits
Fitness - While this is purely anecdotal, a colleague of mine maintains great muscularity and strength capabilities on a vegan diet.
Moral - Moral arguments surrounding animal welfare are certainly fair.
Sustainability
An often toted saying by the vegan community is something along the lines of: changing to a vegan or vegetarian diet would have a greater environmental benefit than taking all automobiles off the road. While it's hard to accurately measure this claim, it is undoubted that there is a non-negligible environment impact of consumption of meat products when related to plant products.
Some proponents of the meat-market make the claim that overall agricultural practices in vegetable and fruit harvest can be even more destructive in general. I find this too hard to really logically follow, as the overall energy expenditure in the manufacture and procurement of any individual plant is measurably lower than the lowest energy cost animal products (such as eggs.)
Overall Health
As suggested by Harvard Health, it seems that with careful planning, all necessary macro and micro nutrients necessary for healthy body function can be obtained through a Vegan diet, perhaps with additional oral supplements for supposed vitamin deficiencies.
An emphasis should be put on "careful planning," as a diet of soda and chips is technically vegan but certainly does not provide all of the necessary nutrients required for healthy metabolism and body functions.
Drawbacks
Ultimately, I don't continue to eat meat out of some odd, primal desire to kill and consume animals. To make the jump to a vegan or vegetarian diet the following items would have to be addressed for me:
Taste of Meat - Various meats, especially red meats, carry a flavor that is hard to describe and even harder to replicate.
Nutrient Deficiencies - Omnivorous humans who do not even observe or track their diets just do not seem to get the same deficiencies in B12, Omega-3, Iron, Zinc and more than Vegans do. If there was a comprehensive plan to address all of these deficiencies, that would provide more reason to make the jump.
Culture - American culture is simply too centered around animal products to viably abstain completely from its consumption without making incredibly concerted efforts. That being said, I cook about 95% of what I eat so this is the least insurmountable effort for me at this time.
Fitness - This is partially anecdotal and I mean no offense to those involved, but even the most touted Vegan bodybuilders do not seem to be able to stand up to the average meat-eating bodybuilder from my observation. Perhaps a vegan athlete would do well in physique divisions, but in the higher Bodybuilding divisions (the kind you would find Arnold Schwarzenegger in) I don't think they can even approach that standard.
Insights
Freakonomics did an excellent podcast episode which included interviews with Patrick Brown, founder of Impossible Foods. One point brought up by Brown which I found incredibly compelling is the idea of advancing environmental or moral agenda by changing the market. The example he gives is that whaling is falling as a viable energy market option not because of a moral argument for the treatment of whales, but because of the introduction of kerosene to the market. As such, his company is attempting to provide all of the same sensations of red meat in their Impossible Burgers, which seem to be gaining great traction with pilots in Cheesecake Factories as well as Burger King. The macronutrient profile of the patty also seems to be rapidly approaching those of comparable meat products as well!
I also recall one time consuming Chipotle Sofritas (a tofu-based protein) as part of a promotion that I actually enjoyed. That being said, I never ordered it again and continued to consume my chicken bowls. Upon observation now, the fat content vs protein content of the product seems to be too high to meet my tight macronutrient goals as well.
Keto
There have been a few points in my life where I attempted a Ketogenic Diet in some capacity.
What is it?
In it's simplest form, the Keto diet is consumption of high fat, moderate protein, and incredibly low carbohydrate. The ultimate goal is to put the body in a state of ketosis, where your body is deprived of glucose typically derived from carbohydrates and converts fat into ketone bodies for energy.
Benefits
Weight Loss - There is undeniable loss of weight, sometimes extreme amounts in short periods of time, resulting from the diet.
Medicinal - The diet was introduced primarily for medicinal purposes for drug-resistant epilepsy and has proven results in reduction of the symptoms, as well as uses against other neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's.
Drawbacks
Dietary Sustainability - Due to the restrictive nature of the diet, those on it are usually in a binary state: they are either keto and therefore losing a lot of weight or they are back on their typical diets and gaining all the weight back.
Environment Sustainability - Again, converse to the vegan diet, Ketogenic diets promote consumption of meats that have the highest environmental impacts such as pork, beef and high-fat fishes.
Culture - Much like how American habits around consumption of animal products run contrary to the Vegan diet, habits around consumption of processed grains and sugar certainly run against the Ketogenic diet.
Fitness - Similarly to vegan bodybuilders, Keto bodybuilders can make great gains in musculature and probably some of the most incredible advances in lean-ness. That being said, the muscle-building capabilities of insulin cannot be ignored and inability to produce the same spikes around training periods will likely keep Keto athletes out of the echelons of high bodybuilding divisions as well.
Insights
Kurzgesagt gives a very detailed view on meat
Apparently all essential Vitamins, including the elusive Vitamin C, are bio-available if an entire animal is consumed, as evidenced by Inuit diets which consist almost entirely of seal meat
Muscle cuts are high in energy, but low in vital minerals
Chicken is generally considered the healthiest meat option.
Red Meats,
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