The Myths of Vegetarianism

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I subscribe to Dr. ph Mercola's Optimal Wellness

Newsletter (free via email) and in the latest

newsletter I noticed a link to this article:

http://www.mercola.com/2000/apr/2/vegetarian_myths.htm

It struck me as very relevant to this list and then I

was delighted to notice Sally Fallon's name among the

footnotes!

Enjoy!

Sol

p.s. For those of you who don't know me I started this

list a while back and promptly became the most

inactive member! Well, I've had a number of diet and

healing adventures since the list started and I'm back

full circle to integrating the Native Nutrition

principles back into my life. For me, however, I'll

need to omit gluten and dairy, having recently taken a

gluten/casein peptide test which reveals that my body

doesn't break down the proteins in gluten or casein

very well. But, in any case I'm back on a high protein

, high fat diet with a fair amount of fermented

carbohydrates. As my digestive tract has some healing

to do I'm very interested in predigested foods.

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

***For me, however, I'llneed to omit gluten and dairy, having recently taken agluten/casein peptide test which reveals that my bodydoesn't break down the proteins in gluten or caseinvery well.***

Hey Sol :-)

I have a child who is autistic. I don't know how much you know about autism, but most have EXTREME problems with gluten and casein. had been gluten and casein free for almost 2 years before we found out about Nourishing Traditions, which made for a very limited diet, as I'm sure you know. If she got even a crumb from a cookie, etc, she was back to constant high pitched screaming, slamming her head into walls, biting her hands and arms, maniacal laughing, feeling no pain, etc etc etc, pretty much full blown autistic behavior. When starting with some of the recipes in Nourishing Traditions, I strongly felt that these foods should be good for her (my litmus test to know if a particular diet was actually good was if could handle it or not). Handing her that first muffin to eat was one of the hardest things I have ever done, knowing that she could be in pain and we might have a week or two of pure hell because of it, but I closed my eyes and handed it to her, praying harder than I ever have before. There was no negative reaction what-so-ever!!!!! is now able to eat ALL of the same foods that we do, and she is making tremendous progress. I used to be able to see almost every bone in her body. Her body just was not absorbing any nutrients at all because of a leaky gut. This got somewhat better when we went GFCF, but it is WAY better now that we have switched to this diet and lifestyle, and ESPECIALLY since we have made sourdough a big basis of our diet. She is gaining weight!!! I know most don't realize how big of a deal this is, but she is 4 yrs old and was in size 18-24 month clothes for over two years! We have been eating well for about 6 months now, and she is now in size 4T!!!!! This is a HUGE amount of growth, and I KNOW it is because her body is actually absorbing nutrients for the first time since that fateful day we had her vaccinated and she was sent spiraling into autism. The dark circles under her eyes are gone, she now looks like a little girl instead of a stick, she is understanding a lot of language and trying to speak a lot herself :-) :-) :-), and she is so happy most of the time. I don't know if this is appropriate, but most autistic children's poop is the worst thing a person could ever face, it stinks like you wouldn't believe, is generally black or a hideous green, and it is always the consistency of diarrhea. This is especially bad because most are not potty trained, so it is pretty nasty to change a 4 yr old's diaper like this. We had just resigned ourselves to the fact that it would always be this way, but since changing our diet, she is having TOTALLY NORMAL BOWEL MOVEMENTS! This is completely unheard of in the autistic community, and I, as chief diaper changer, cannot even begin to tell how grateful I am.

Basically, I am telling you all of this to show that just because you had a peptide test (I am very familiar with this test, it is a big one in the autism community, as well as countless others), showing you can't handle gluten or casein, it may not apply to foods that are prepared properly. My mom is a celiac, but she is eating a lot of soaked grains and properly prepared breads now, and has no problem with them. She has not been able to go to the bathroom without an enema for quite a few years now, but since starting to eat some of these foods, she is getting better, and only needs one maybe once a week now. I am sure that one will fall away soon, as her body is HEALING. She has tried EVERYTHING you could possibly imagine before to heal herself, but nothing worked until now. Maybe a little too much info ;-). but I just really want to show you that you might not need to avoid these things, and you might actually be better not to, as long as they are prepared CORRECTLY.

If however, you decide that you can't, I would be happy to share some of the tons of gfcf recipes I have accumulated over the years, many of which can be pretty adapted to a Nourishing Traditions diet. I had developed such good recipes that even my husband, who is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, couldn't tell which foods were gluten free.

Best wishes to you!

rochester@...~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Click here for the best diet and nutrition information you will ever find!www.westonaprice.org~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*"What is gained from consulting a specialist and surrendering all judgment is often more than outweighed by a permanent loss of one's own volition." -- Gatto ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

[Guest guest]

The Myths of Vegetarianismby Byrnes, PhD, RNCP_http://www.westonaprice.org/Myths-of-Vegetarianism.html_(http://www.westonaprice.org/Myths-of-Vegetarianism.html)Originally published in the Townsend Letter for Doctors & Patients, July2000. Revised January 2002. This paper is posted at:_http://www.powerhealth.net/selected_articles.htm_(http://www.powerhealth.net/selected_articles.htm) ."An unflinching determination to take the whole evidence into account isthe only method of preservation against the fluctuating extremes offashionable opinion."â€"Alfred North WhiteheadBill and sat before me in my office in a sombre mood: they had justlost their first baby in the second month of pregnancy. wasparticularly upset. "Why did this happen to me? Why did I miscarry my baby?"Theyoung couple had come to see me mostly because of 's recurrentrespiratory infections, but also wanted some advice as to how they could avoid theheartache of another failed pregnancy.Upon questioning about her diet, I quickly saw the cause of herinfections, as well as her miscarriage: she had virtually no fat in her dietand was also mostly a vegetarian. Because of the plentiful media rhetoricabout the supposed dangers of animal product consumption, as opposed to thealleged health benefits of the vegetarian lifestyle, had deliberatelyremoved such things as cream, butter, meats and fish from her diet. Althoughshe liked liver, she avoided it due to worries over "toxins." and Bill left with a bottle of vitamin A, other supplements and adietary prescription that included plentiful amounts of animal fats and meat.Just before leaving my office, looked at me and said ruefully: "Ijust don't know what to believe sometimes. Everywhere I look there is allthis low-fat, vegetarian stuff recommended. I followed it, and look whathappened." I assured her that if she and her husband changed their diets andallowed sufficient time for her weakened uterus to heal, they would be happyparents in due time. In November 2000, Bill and happily gave birth totheir first child, a girl.The Evolution of a MythAlong with the unjustified and unscientific saturated fat and cholesterolscares of the past several decades has come the notion that vegetarianismis a healthier dietary option for people. It seems as if every health expertand government health agency is urging people to eat fewer animal productsand consume more vegetables, grains, fruits and legumes. Along with theseexhortations have come assertions and studies supposedly proving thatvegetarianism is healthier for people and that meat consumption is associatedwith sickness and death. Several authorities, however, have questioned thesedata, but their objections have been largely ignored.As we shall see, many of the vegetarian claims cannot be substantiated andsome are simply false and dangerous. There are benefits to vegetariandiets for certain health conditions, and some people function better on lessfat and protein, but, as a practitioner who has dealt with several formervegetarians and vegans (total vegetarians), I know full well the dangerouseffects of a diet devoid of healthful animal products. It is my hope that allreaders will more carefully evaluate their position on vegetarianism afterreading this paper.Myth #1:Meat consumption contributes to famine and depletes the Earth's naturalresources.Myth #2:Vitamin B12 can be obtained from plant sources.Myth #3:Our needs for vitamin D can be met by sunlight.Myth #4:The body's needs for vitamin A can be entirely obtained from plant foods.Myth #5:Meat-eating causes osteoporosis, kidney disease, heart disease, andcancer.Myth #6:Saturated fats and dietary cholesterol cause heart disease,atherosclerosis, and/or cancer, and low-fat, low-cholesterol diets are healthier forpeople.Myth #7:Vegetarians live longer and have more energy and endurance thanmeat-eaters.Myth #8:The "cave man" diet was low-fat and/or vegetarian. Humans evolved asvegetarians.Myth #9:Meat and saturated fat consumption have increased in the 20th century,with a corresponding increase in heart disease and cancer.Myth #10:Soy products are adequate substitutes for meat and dairy products.Myth #11:The human body is not designed for meat consumption.Myth #12:Eating animal flesh causes violent, aggressive behavior in humans.Myth #13:Animal products contain numerous, harmful toxins.Myth #14:Eating meat or animal products is less "spiritual" than eating only plantfoods.Myth #15:Eating animal foods is inhumane.Myth #1: Meat consumption contributes to famine and depletes the Earth'snatural resources.Some vegetarians have claimed that livestock require pasturage that couldbe used to farm grains to feed starving people in Third World countries. Itis also claimed that feeding animals contributes to world hunger becauselivestock are eating foods that could go to feed humans. The solution toworld hunger, therefore, is for people to become vegetarians. These argumentsare illogical and simplistic.The first argument ignores the fact that about 2/3 of our Earth's dry landis unsuitable for farming. It is primarily the open range, desert andmountainous areas that provide food to grazing animals and that land iscurrently being put to good use (1).The second argument is faulty as well because it ignores the vitalcontributions that livestock animals make to humanity's well-being. It is alsomisleading to think that the foods grown and given to feed livestock could bediverted to feed humans:Agricultural animals have always made a major contribution to the welfareof human societies by providing food, shelter, fuel, fertilizer and otherproducts and services. They are a renewable resource, and utilize anotherrenewable resource, plants, to produce these products and services. Inaddition, the manure produced by the animals helps improve soil fertility and,thus, aids the plants. In some developing countries the manure cannot beutilized as a fertilizer but is dried as a source of fuel.There are many who feel that because the world population is growing at afaster rate than is the food supply, we are becoming less and less able toafford animal foods because feeding plant products to animals is aninefficient use of potential human food. It is true that it is more efficient forhumans to eat plant products directly rather than to allow animals toconvert them to human food. At best, animals only produce one pound or less ofhuman food for each three pounds of plants eaten. However, this inefficiencyonly applies to those plants and plant products that the human can utilize.The fact is that over two-thirds of the feed fed to animals consists ofsubstances that are either undesirable or completely unsuited for human food.Thus, by their ability to convert inedible plant materials to human food,animals not only do not compete with the human rather they aid greatly inimproving both the quantity and the quality of the diets of human societies.(2)Furthermore, at the present time, there is more than enough food grown inthe world to feed all people on the planet. The problem is widespreadpoverty making it impossible for the starving poor to afford it. In acomprehensive report, the Population Reference Bureau attributed the world hungerproblem to poverty, not meat-eating (3). It also did not consider massvegetarianism to be a solution for world hunger.What would actually happen, however, if animal husbandry were abandoned infavour of mass agriculture, brought about by humanity turning towardsvegetarianism?If a large number of people switched to vegetarianism, the demand for meatin the United States and Europe would fall, the supply of grain woulddramatically increase, but the buying power of poor [starving] people in Africaand Asia wouldn't change at all.The result would be very predictable -- there would be a mass exodus fromfarming. Whereas today the total amount of grains produced could feed 10billion people, the total amount of grain grown in this post-meat world wouldlikely fall back to about 7 or 8 billion. The trend of farmers sellingtheir land to developers and others would accelerate quickly. (4)In other words, there would be less food available for the world to eat.Furthermore, the monoculture of grains and legumes, which is what wouldhappen if animal husbandry were abandoned and the world relied exclusively onplant foods for its food, would rapidly deplete the soil and require theheavy use of artificial fertilizers, one ton of which requires ten tons ofcrude oil to produce (5).As far as the impact to our environment, a closer look reveals the greatdamage that exclusive and mass farming would do. British organic dairyfarmer and researcher Mark Purdey wisely points out that if "veganicagricultural systems were to gain a foothold on the soil, then agrochemicaluse, soilerosion, cash cropping, prairie-scapes and ill health would escalate." (6)Neanderthin author Ray Audette concurs with this view:Since ancient times, the most destructive factor in the degradation of theenvironment has been monoculture agriculture. The production of wheat inancient Sumeria transformed once-fertile plains into salt flats that remainsterile 5,000 years later. As well as depleting both the soil and watersources, monoculture agriculture also produces environmental damage byaltering the delicate balance of natural ecosystems. World rice production in1993, for instance, caused 155 million cases of malaria by providing breedinggrounds for mosquitoes in the paddies. Human contact with ducks in the samerice paddies resulted in 500 million cases of influenza during the sameyear.(7)There is little doubt, though, that commercial farming methods, whether ofplants or animals produce harm to the environment. With the heavy use ofagrochemicals, pesticides, artificial fertilizers, hormones, steroids, andantibiotics common in modern agriculture, a better way of integrating animalhusbandry with agriculture needs to be found. A possible solution might bea return to "mixed farming," described below.The educated consumer and the enlightened farmer together can bring abouta return of the mixed farm, where cultivation of fruits, vegetables andgrains is combined with the raising of livestock and fowl in a manner that isefficient, economical and environmentally friendly. For example, chickensrunning free in garden areas eat insect pests, while providing high-qualityeggs; sheep grazing in orchards obviate the need for herbicides; and cowsgrazing in woodlands and other marginal areas provide rich, pure milk,making these lands economically viable for the farmer. It is not animalcultivation that leads to hunger and famine, but unwise agricultural practices andmonopolistic distribution systems. (8)The "mixed farm" is also healthier for the soil, which will yield morecrops if managed according to traditional guidelines. Mark Purdey hasaccurately pointed out that a crop field on a mixed farm will yield up to fiveharvests a year, while a "mono-cropped" one will only yield one or two (9).Which farm is producing more food for the world's peoples? Purdey well sums upthe ecological horrors of "battery farming" and points to future solutionsby saying:Our agricultural establishments could do very well to outlaw thebusiness-besotted farmers running intensive livestock units, battery systemsandbeef-burger bureaucracies; with all their wastages, deplorable cruelty,anti-ozone slurry systems; drug/chemical induced immunotoxicity resulting inB.S.E. [see myth # 13] and salmonella, rain forest eradication, etc. Our futuredirection must strike the happy, healthy medium of mixed farms,resurrecting the old traditional extensive system as a basic framework, thenbolstering up productivity to present day demands by incorporating a more updatedapplication of biological science into farming systems. (10)It does not appear, then, that livestock farming, when properly practiced,damages the environment. Nor does it appear that world vegetarianism orexclusively relying on agriculture to supply the world with food are feasibleor ecologically wise ideas.Myth #2: Vitamin B12 can be obtained from plant sources.Of all the myths, this is perhaps the most dangerous. While lacto andlacto-ovo vegetarians have sources of vitamin B12 in their diets (from dairyproducts and eggs), vegans (total vegetarians) do not. Vegans who do notsupplement their diet with vitamin B12 will eventually get anemia (a fatalcondition) as well as severe nervous and digestive system damage; most, if notall, vegans have impaired B12 metabolism and every study of vegan groups hasdemonstrated low vitamin B12 concentrations in the majority of individuals(11). Several studies have been done documenting B12 deficiencies in veganchildren, often with dire consequences (12). Additionally, claims are madein vegan and vegetarian literature that B12 is present in certain algae,tempeh (a fermented soy product) and Brewer's yeast. All of them are falseas vitamin B12 is only found in animal foods. Brewer's and nutritionalyeasts do not contain B12 naturally; they are always fortified from an outsidesource.There is not real B12 in plant sources but B12 analogues--they are similarto true B12, but not exactly the same and because of this they are notbioavailable (13). It should be noted here that these B12 analogues can impairabsorption of true vitamin B12 in the body due to competitive absorption,placing vegans and vegetarians who consume lots of soy, algae, and yeast ata greater risk for a deficiency (14).Some vegetarian authorities claim that B12 is produced by certainfermenting bacteria in the lower intestines. This may be true, but it is in aformunusable by the body. B12 requires intrinsic factor from the stomach forproper absorption in the ileum. Since the bacterial product does not haveintrinsic factor bound to it, it cannot be absorbed (15).It is true that Hindu vegans living in certain parts of India do notsuffer from vitamin B12 deficiency. This has led some to conclude that plantfoods do provide this vitamin. This conclusion, however, is erroneous as manysmall insects, their feces, eggs, larvae and/or residue, are left on theplant foods these people consume, due to non-use of pesticides and inefficientcleaning methods. This is how these people obtain their vitamin B12. Thiscontention is borne out by the fact that when vegan Indian Hindus latermigrated to England, they came down with megaloblastic anaemia within a fewyears. In England, the food supply is cleaner, and insect residues arecompletely removed from plant foods (16).The only reliable and absorbable sources of vitamin B12 are animalproducts, especially organ meats and eggs (17). Though present in lesseramountsthan meat and eggs, dairy products do contain B12. Vegans, therefore, shouldconsider adding dairy products into their diets. If dairy cannot betolerated, eggs, preferably from free-run hens, are a virtual necessity.That vitamin B12 can only be obtained from animal foods is one of thestrongest arguments against veganism being a "natural" way of human eating.Today, vegans can avoid anemia by taking supplemental vitamins or fortifiedfoods. If those same people had lived just a few decades ago, when theseproducts were unavailable, they would have died.Myth #3: Our needs for vitamin D can be met by sunlight.Though not really a vegetarian myth per se, it is widely believed thatone's vitamin D needs can be met simply by exposing one's skin to the sun'srays for 15-20 minutes a few times a week. Concerns about vitamin Ddeficiencies in vegetarians and vegans always exist as this nutrient, in itsfull-complex form, is only found in animal fats (18) which vegans do notconsumeand more moderate vegetarians only consume in limited quantities due totheir meatless diets.It is true that a limited number of plant foods such as alfalfa, sunflowerseeds, and avocado, contain the plant form of vitamin D (ergocalciferol,or vitamin D2). Although D2 can be used to prevent and treat the vitamin Ddeficiency disease, rickets, in humans, it is questionable, though, whetherthis form is as effective as animal-derived vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol).Some studies have shown that D2 is not utilized as well as D3 in animals(19) and clinicians have reported disappointing results using vitamin D2 totreat vitamin D-related conditions (20).Although vitamin D can be created by our bodies by the action of sunlighton our skin, it is very difficult to obtain an optimal amount of vitamin Dby a brief foray into the sun. There are three ultraviolet bands ofradiation that come from sunlight named A, B, and C. Only the "B" form is capableof catalyzing the conversion of cholesterol to vitamin D in our bodies (21)and UV-B rays are only present at certain times of day, at certainlatitudes, and at certain times of the year (22). Furthermore, depending on one'sskin colour, obtaining 200-400 IUs of vitamin D from the sun can take aslong as two full hours of continual sunning (23). A dark-skinned vegan,therefore, will find it impossible to obtain optimal vitamin D intake by sunninghimself for 20 minutes a few times a week, even if sunning occurs duringthose limited times of the day and year when UV-B rays are available.The current RDA for vitamin D is 400 IUs, but Dr. Weston Price's seminalresearch into healthy native adult people's diets showed that their dailyintake of vitamin D (from animal foods) was about 10 times that amount, or4,000 IUs (24). Accordingly, Dr. Price placed a great emphasis on vitamin Din the diet. Without vitamin D, for example, it is impossible to utilizeminerals like calcium, phosphorous, and magnesium. Recent research hasconfirmed Dr. Price's higher recommendations for vitamin D for adults (24).Since rickets and/or low vitamin D levels has been well-documented in manyvegetarians and vegans (26), since animal fats are either lacking ordeficient in vegetarian diets (as well as those of the general Western publicwho routinely try to cut their animal fat intake), since sunlight is only asource of vitamin D at certain times and at certain latitudes, and sincecurrent dietary recommendations for vitamin D are too low, this emphasizes theneed to have reliable and abundant sources of this nutrient in our dailydiets. Good sources include cod liver oil, lard from pigs that were exposedto sunlight, shrimp, wild salmon, sardines, butter, full-fat dairy products,and eggs from properly fed chickens.Myth #4: The body's needs for vitamin A can be entirely obtained fromplant foods.True vitamin A, or retinol and its associated esters, is only found inanimal fats and organs like liver (27). Plants do contain beta-carotene, asubstance that the body can convert into vitamin A if certain conditions arepresent (see below). Beta-carotene, however, is not vitamin A. It is typicalfor vegans and vegetarians (as well as most popular nutrition writers) tosay that plant foods like carrots and spinach contain vitamin A and thatbeta-carotene is just as good as vitamin A. These things are not true eventhough beta-carotene is an important nutritional factor for humans.The conversion from carotene to vitamin A in the intestines can only takeplace in the presence of bile salts. This means that fat must be eaten withthe carotenes to stimulate bile secretion. Additionally, infants andpeople with hypothyroidism, gall bladder problems or diabetes (altogether, asignificant portion of the population) either cannot make the conversion, ordo so very poorly. Lastly, the body's conversion from carotene to vitamin Ais not very efficient: it takes roughly 6 units of carotene to make oneunit of vitamin A. What this means is that a sweet potato (containing about25,000 units of beta-carotene) will only convert into about 4,000 units ofvitamin A (assuming you ate it with fat, are not diabetic, are not an infant,and do not have a thyroid or gall bladder problem) [28].Relying on plant sources for vitamin A, then, is not a very wise idea.This provides yet another reason to include animal foods and fats in ourdiets. Butter and full-fat dairy foods, especially from pastured cows, are goodvitamin A sources, as is cod liver oil. Vitamin A is all-important in ourdiets, for it enables the body to use proteins and minerals, insures propervision, enhances the immune system, enables reproduction, and fightsinfections (29). As with vitamin D, Dr. Price found that the diets of healthyprimitive peoples supplied substantial amounts of vitamin A, again emphasizingthe great need humans have for this nutrient in maintaining optimal healthnow and for future generations.Myth #5: Meat-eating causes osteoporosis, kidney disease, heart disease,and cancer.Oftentimes, vegans and vegetarians will try to scare people into avoidinganimal foods and fats by claiming that vegetarian diets offer protectionfrom certain chronic diseases like the ones listed above. Such claims,however, are hard to reconcile with historical and anthropological facts. Allofthe diseases mentioned are primarily 20th century occurrences, yet peoplehave been eating meat and animal fat for many thousands of years. Further,as Dr. Price's research showed, there were/are several native peoples aroundthe world (the Innuit, Maasai, Swiss, etc.) whose traditional dietswere/are very rich in animal products, but who nevertheless did/do not sufferfrom the above-mentioned maladies (30). Dr. Mann's independent studiesof the Maasai done many years after Dr. Price, confirmed the fact that theMaasai, despite being almost exclusive meat eaters, nevertheless, had littleto no incidence of heart disease, or other chronic ailments (31). Thisproves that other factors besides animal foods are at work in causing thesediseases.Several studies have supposedly shown that meat consumption is the causeof various illnesses, but such studies, honestly evaluated, show no suchthing as the following discussion will show.OsteoporosisDr. Herta Spencer's research on protein intake and bone loss clearlyshowed that protein consumption in the form of real meat has no impact on bonedensity. Studies that supposedly proved that excessive protein consumptionequalled more bone loss were not done with real meat but with fractionatedprotein powders and isolated amino acids (32). Recent studies have alsoshown that increased animal protein intake contributes to stronger bone densityin men and women (33). Some recent studies on vegan and vegetarian diets,however, have shown them to predispose women to osteoporosis (34).Kidney DiseaseAlthough protein-restricted diets are helpful for people with kidneydisease, there is no proof that eating meat causes it (35). Vegetarians willalso typically claim that animal protein causes overly acidic conditions inthe blood, resulting in calcium leaching from the bones and, hence, a greatertendency to form kidney stones. This opinion is false, however.Theoretically, the sulphur and phosphorous in meat can form an acid when placed inwater, but that does not mean that is what happens in the body. Actually,meat contains complete proteins and vitamin D (if the skin and fat are eaten),both of which help maintain pH balance in the bloodstream. Furthermore, ifone eats a diet that includes enough magnesium and vitamin B6, andrestricts refined sugars, one has little to fear from kidney stones, whetheroneeats meat or not (36). Animal foods like beef, pork, fish, and lamb are goodsources of magnesium and B6 as any food/nutrient table will show.Heart DiseaseThe belief that animal protein contributes to heart disease is a popularone that has no foundation in nutritional science. Outside of questionablestudies, there is little data to support the idea that meat-eating leads toheart disease. For example, the French have one of the highest per capitaconsumption of meat, yet have low rates of heart disease. In Greece, meatconsumption is higher than average but rates of heart disease are low thereas well. Finally, in Spain, an increase in meat eating (in conjunction witha reduction in sugar and high carbohydrate intake) led to a decrease inheart disease (37).CancerThe belief that meat, in particular red meat, contributes to cancer is,like heart disease, a popular idea that is not supported by the facts.Although it is true that some studies have shown a connection between meateatingand some types of cancer (38), its important to look at the studiescarefully to determine what kind of meat is being discussed, as well as thepreparation methods used. Since we only have one word for "meat" in English, itis often difficult to know which "meat" is under discussion in a studyunless the authors of the study specifically say so.The study which began the meat=cancer theory was done by Dr. Ernst Wynderin the 1970s. Wynder claimed that there was a direct, causal connectionbetween animal fat intake and incidence of colon cancer (39). Actually, hisdata on "animal fats" were really on vegetable fats (40). In other words, themeat=cancer theory is based on a phony study.If one looks closely at the research, however, one quickly sees that it isprocessed meats like cold cuts and sausages that are usually implicated incancer causation (41) and not meat per se. Furthermore, cooking methodsseem to play a part in whether or not a meat becomes carcinogenic (42). Inother words, it is the added chemicals to the meat and the chosen cookingmethod that are at fault and not the meat itself.In the end, although sometimes a connection between meat and cancer isfound, the actual mechanism of how it happens has eluded scientists (43). Thismeans that it is likely that other factors besides meat are playing rolesin some cases of cancer. Remember: studies of meat-eating traditionalpeoples show that they have very little incidence of cancer. This demonstratesthat other factors are at work when cancer appears in a modern meat-eatingperson. It is not scientifically fair to single out one dietary factor inplacing blame, while ignoring other more likely candidates.It should be noted here that Seventh Day Adventists are often studied inpopulation analyses to prove that a vegetarian diet is healthier and isassociated with a lower risk for cancer (but see a later paragraph in thissection). While it is true that most members of this Christian denomination donot eat meat, they also do not smoke or drink alcohol, coffee or tea, allof which are likely factors in promoting cancer (44).The Mormons are a religious group often overlooked in vegetarian studies.Although their Church urges moderation, Mormons do not abstain from meat.As with the Adventists, Mormons also avoid tobacco, alcohol, and caffeine.Despite being meat eaters, a study of Utah Mormons showed they had a 22%lower rate for cancer in general and a 34% lower mortality for colon cancerthan the US average (45). A study of Puerto Ricans, who eat large amounts offatty pork, nevertheless revealed very low rates of colon and breast cancer(46). Similar results can be adduced to demonstrate that meat and animalfat consumption do not correlate with cancer (47). Obviously, other factorsare at work.It is usually claimed that vegetarians have lower cancer rates thanmeat-eaters, but a 1994 study of vegetarian California Seventh Day Adventistsshowed that, while they did have lower rates for some cancers (e.g., breastand lung), they had higher rates for several others (Hodgkin's disease,malignant melanoma, brain, skin, uterine, prostate, endometrial, cervical andovarian), some quite significantly. In that study the authors actuallyadmitted that:Meat consumption, however, was not associated with a higher [cancer] risk.And that,No significant association between breast cancer and a high consumption ofanimal fats or animal products in general was noted. (48)Further, it is usually claimed that a diet rich in plant foods like wholegrains and legumes will reduce one's risks for cancer, but research goingback to the last century demonstrates that carbohydrate-based diets are theprime dietary instigators of cancer, not diets based on minimally processedanimal foods (49).The mainstream health and vegetarian media have done such an effective jobof "beef bashing," that most people think there is nothing healthful aboutmeat, especially red meat. In reality, however, animal flesh foods likebeef and lamb are excellent sources of a variety of nutrients as anyfood/nutrient table will show. Nutrients like vitamins A, D, several of theB-complex, essential fatty acids (in small amounts), magnesium, zinc, phosphorous,potassium, iron, taurine, and selenium are abundant in beef, lamb, pork,fish and shellfish, and poultry. Nutritional factors like coenzyme Q10,carnitine, and alpha-lipoic acid are also present. Some of these nutrients areonly found in animal foods--plants do not supply them.Myth #6: Saturated fats and dietary cholesterol cause heart disease,atherosclerosis, and/or cancer, and low-fat, low-cholesterol diets arehealthierfor people.This, too, is not a specific vegetarian myth. Nevertheless, people areoften urged to take up a vegetarian or vegan diet because it is believed thatsuch diets offer protection against heart disease and cancer since they arelower or lacking in animal foods and fats.Although it is commonly believed that saturated fats and dietarycholesterol "clog arteries" and cause heart disease, such ideas have been showntobe false by such scientists as Linus ing, , Mann, Yudkin, Abram Hoffer, Enig, Uffe Ravnskov and other prominentresearchers (50). On the contrary, studies have shown that arterial plaque isprimarily composed of unsaturated fats, particularly polyunsaturated ones,and not the saturated fat of animals, palm or coconut (51).Trans-fatty acids, as opposed to saturated fats, have been shown byresearchers such as Enig, Mann and Fred Kummerow to be causative factors inaccelerated atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease, cancer and other ailments(52). Trans-fatty acids are found in such modern foods as margarine andvegetable shortening and foods made with them. Enig and her colleagues have alsoshown that excessive omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid intake fromrefined vegetable oils is also a major culprit behind cancer and heart disease,not animal fats.A recent study of thousands of Swedish women supported Enig's conclusionsand data, and showed no correlation between saturated fat consumption andincreased risk for breast cancer. However, the study did show, as did Enig'swork, a strong link between vegetable oil intake and higher breast cancerrates (53).The major population studies that supposedly prove the theory that animalfats and cholesterol cause heart disease actually do not upon closerinspection. The Framingham Heart Study is often cited as proof that dietarycholesterol and saturated fat intake cause heart disease and ill health.Involving about 6,000 people, the study compared two groups over several years atfive-year intervals. One group consumed little cholesterol and saturatedfat, while the other consumed high amounts. Surprisingly, Dr Castelli,the study's director, said:In Framingham, Mass., the more saturated fat one ate, the more cholesterolone ate, the more calories one ate, the lower the person's serumcholesterol ... we found that the people who ate the most cholesterol, ate themostsaturated fat, [and] ate the most calories, weighed the least and were themost physically active. (54)The Framingham data did show that subjects who had higher cholesterollevels and weighed more ran a slightly higher chance for coronary heartdisease. But weight gain and serum cholesterol levels had an inverse correlationwith dietary fat and cholesterol intake. In other words, there was nocorrelation at all (55).In a similar vein, the US Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial,sponsored by the National Heart and Lung Institute, compared mortality ratesandeating habits of 12,000+ men. Those who ate less saturated fat andcholesterol showed a slightly reduced rate of heart disease, but had an overallmortality rate much higher than the other men in the study (56).Low-fat/cholesterol diets, therefore, are not healthier for people.Studies have shown repeatedly that such diets are associated with depression,cancer, psychological problems, fatigue, violence and suicide (57). Women withlower serum cholesterol live shorter lives than women with higher levels(58). Similar things have been found in men (59).Children on low-fat and/or vegan diets can suffer from growth problems,failure to thrive, and learning disabilities (60). Despite this, sources fromDr Spock to the American Heart Association recommend low-fatdiets for children! One can only lament the fate of those unfortunateyoungsters who will be raised by unknowing parents taken in by such genocidalmisinformation.There are many health benefits to saturated fats, depending on the fat inquestion. Coconut oil, for example, is rich in lauric acid, a potentantifungal and antimicrobial substance. Coconut also contains appreciableamountsof caprylic acid, also an effective antifungal (61). Butter fromfree-range cows is rich in trace minerals, especially selenium, as well as allofthe fat-soluble vitamins and beneficial fatty acids that protect againstcancer and fungal infections (62).In fact, the body needs saturated fats in order to properly utilizeessential fatty acids (63). Saturated fats also lower the blood levels of theartery-damaging lipoprotein (a) (64); are needed for proper calciumutilization in the bones (65); stimulate the immune system (66); are the preferredfood for the heart and other vital organs (67); and, along with cholesterol,add structural stability to the cell and intestinal wall (68). They areexcellent for cooking, as they are chemically stable and do not break downunder heat, unlike polyunsaturated vegetable oils. Omitting them from one'sdiet, then, is ill-advised.With respect to atherosclerosis, it is always claimed that vegetarianshave much lower rates of this condition than meat eaters. The InternationalAtherosclerosis Project of 1968, however, which examined over 20,000 corpsesfrom several countries, concluded that vegetarians had just as muchatherosclerosis as meat eaters (69). Other population studies have revealedsimilar data. (70) This is because atherosclerosis is largely unrelated to diet;it is a consequence of aging. There are things which can accelerate theatherosclerotic process such as excessive free radical damage to the arteriesfrom antioxidant depletion (caused by such things as smoking, poor diet,excess polyunsaturated fatty acids in the diet, various nutritionaldeficiencies, drugs, etc), but this is to be distinguished from thefatty-streakingand hardening of arteries that occurs in all peoples over time.It also does not appear that vegetarian diets protect against heartdisease. A study on vegans in 1970 showed that female vegans had higher ratesofdeath from heart disease than non-vegan females (71). A recent study showedthat Indians, despite being vegetarians, have very high rates of coronaryartery disease (72). High-carbohydrate/low-fat diets (which is whatvegetarian diets are) can also place one at a greater risk for heart disease,diabetes, and cancer due to their hyperinsulemic effects on the body (73).Recent studies have also shown that vegetarians have higher homocysteine levelsin their blood (74). Homocysteine is a known cause of heart disease.Lastly, low-fat/cholesterol diets, generally favoured to either prevent ortreatheart disease, do neither and may actually increase certain risk factorsfor this condition (75).Studies which conclude that vegetarians are at a lower risk for heartdisease are typically based on the phoney markers of lower saturated fatintake, lower serum cholesterol levels and HDL/LDL ratios. Since vegetarianstendto eat less saturated fat and usually have lower serum cholesterol levels,it is concluded that they are at less risk for heart disease. Once onerealizes that these measurements are not accurate predictors of proneness toheart disease, however, the supposed protection of vegetarianism melts away(76).It should always be remembered that a number of things factor into aperson getting heart disease or cancer. Instead of focusing on the phony issuesof saturated fat, dietary cholesterol, and meat-eating, people should paymore attention to other more likely factors.These would be trans-fatty acids, excessive polyunsaturated fat intake,excessive sugar intake, excessive carbohydrate intake, smoking, certainvitamin and mineral deficiencies, and obesity. These things were allconspicuously absent in the healthy traditional peoples that Dr. Price studied.Myth #7: Vegetarians live longer and have more energy and endurance thanmeat-eaters.A vegetarian guidebook published in Great Britain made the followingclaim:You and your children don't need to eat meat to stay healthy. In fact,vegetarians claim they are among the healthiest people around, and they canexpect to live nine years longer than meat eaters (this is often becauseheart and circulatory diseases are rarer). These days almost half thepopulation in Britain is trying to avoid meat, according to a survey by the FoodResearch Association in January 1990. (77)In commenting on this claim of extended lifespan, author Craig Fitzroyastutely points out that:The ' nine-year advantage ' is an oft-repeated but invariably unsourcedpiece of anecdotal evidence for vegetarianism. But anyone who believes thatby snubbing mum's Sunday roast they will be adding a decade to their yearson the planet is almost certainly indulging in a bit of wishful thinking.(78)And that is what most of the claims for increased longevity in vegetariansare: anecdotal. There is no proof that a healthy vegetarian diet whencompared to a healthy omnivorous diet will result in a longer life.Additionally, people who choose a vegetarian lifestyle typically also choosenot tosmoke, to exercise, in short, to live a healthier lifestyle. These thingsalso factor into one's longevity.In the scientific literature, there are surprisingly few studies done onvegetarian longevity. , PhD, in his massive review study onheart disease, showed that as animal product consumption increased among somestudy groups, death rates actually decreased! (79) Such results were notobtained among vegetarian subjects. For example, in a study published by Burrand Sweetnam in 1982, analysis of mortality data revealed that, althoughvegetarians had a slightly (.11%) lower rate of heart disease thannon-vegetarians, the all-cause death rate was much higher for vegetarians (80).Despite claims that studies have shown that meat consumption increased therisk for heart disease and shortened lives, the authors of those studiesactually found the opposite. For example, in a 1984 analysis of a 1978 studyof vegetarian Seventh Day Adventists, HA Kahn concluded,Although our results add some substantial facts to the diet-diseasequestion, we recognize how remote they are from establishing, for example, thatmen who frequently eat meat or women who rarely eat salad are therebyshortening their lives. (81)A similar conclusion was reached by D.A. Snowden (82). Despite thesestartling admissions, the studies nevertheless concluded the exact opposite andurged people to reduce animal foods from their diets.Further, both of these studies threw out certain dietary data that clearlyshowed no connection between eggs, cheese, whole milk, and fat attached tomeat (all high fat and cholesterol foods) and heart disease. Dr. commented,In effect the Kahn [and Snowden] study is yet another example of negativeresults which are massaged and misinterpreted to support the politicallycorrect assertions that vegetarians live longer lives. (83)It is usually claimed that meat-eating peoples have a short life span, butthe Aborigines of Australia, who traditionally eat a diet rich in animalproducts, are known for their longevity (at least before colonization byEuropeans). Within Aboriginal society, there is a special caste of the elderly(84). Obviously, if no old people existed, no such group would haveexisted. In his book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, Dr. Price has numerousphotographs of elderly native peoples from around the world. Explorers suchas Vilhjalmur Stefansson reported great longevity among the Innuit (again,before colonization). [85]Similarly, the Russians of the Caucasus mountains live to great ages on adiet of fatty pork and whole raw milk products. The Hunzas, also known fortheir robust health and longevity, eat substantial portions of goat's milkwhich has a higher saturated fat content than cow's milk (86). In contrast,the largely vegetarian Hindus of southern India have the shortestlife-spans in the world, partly because of a lack of food, but also because ofadistinct lack of animal protein in their diets (87). H. Leon Abrams' commentsare instructive here:Vegetarians often maintain that a diet of meat and animal fat leads to apre-mature death. Anthropological data from primitive societies do notsupport such contentions. (88)With regards to endurance and energy levels, Dr Price traveled around theworld in the 1920s and 1930s, investigating native diets. Withoutexception, he found a strong correlation between diets rich in animal fats,robusthealth and athletic ability. Special foods for Swiss athletes, for example,included bowls of fresh, raw cream. In Africa, Dr Price discovered thatgroups whose diets were rich in fatty meats and fish, and organ meats likeliver, consistently carried off the prizes in athletic contests, and thatmeat-eating tribes always dominated tribes whose diets were largely vegetarian.(89)It is popular in sports nutrition to recommend "carb loading" for athletesto increase their endurance levels. But recent studies done in New Yorkand South Africa show that the opposite is true: athletes who "carb loaded"had significantly less endurance than those who "fat loaded" before athleticevents (90).Myth #8: The "cave man" diet was low-fat and/or vegetarian.Humans evolved as vegetarians. Our Paleolithic ancestors werehunter-gatherers, and three schools of thought have developed as to what theirdiet waslike. One group argues for a high-fat and animal-based diet supplementedwith seasonal fruits, berries, nuts, root vegetables and wild grasses. Thesecond argues that primitive peoples consumed assorted lean meats and largeamounts of plant foods. The third argues that our human ancestors evolvedas vegetarians.The "lean" Paleolithic diet approach has been argued for quite voraciouslyby Dr.'s Loren Cordain and Boyd Eaton in a number of popular andprofessional publications (91). Cordain and Eaton are believers in the LipidHypothesis of heart disease--the belief (debunked in myth number six, above) thatsaturated fat and dietary cholesterol contribute to heart disease. Becauseof this, and the fact that Paleolithic peoples or their modern equivalentsdid/do not suffer from heart disease, Cordain and Eaton espouse the theorythat Paleolithic peoples consumed most of their fat calories frommonounsaturated and polyunsaturated sources and not saturated fats. Believingthatsaturated fats are dangerous to our arteries, Cordain and Eaton stay in stepwith current establishment nutritional thought and encourage modern peoplesto eat a diet like our ancestors. This diet, they believe, was rich inlean meats and a variety of vegetables, but was low in saturated fat. Theevidence they produce to support this theory is, however, very selective andmisleading. (92) Saturated fats do not cause heart disease as was shownabove, and our Paleolithic ancestors ate quite a bit of saturated fat from avariety of plant and animal sources.From authoritative sources, we learn that prehistoric humans of the NorthAmerican continent ate such animals as mammoth, camel, sloth, bison,mountain sheep, pronghorn antelope, beaver, elk, mule deer, and llama (93)."Mammoth, sloth, mountain sheep, bison, and beaver are fatty animals in themodern sense in that they have a thick layer of subcutaneous fat, as do themany species of bear and wild pig whose remains have been found at Paleolithicsites throughout the world." (94) Analysis of many types of fat in gameanimals like antelope, bison, caribou, dog, elk, moose, seal, and mountainsheep shows that they are rich in saturates and monounsaturates, butrelatively low in polyunstaurates. (95)Further, while buffalo and game animals may have lean, non-marbled musclemeats, it is a mistake to assume that only these parts were eaten byhunter-gatherer groups like the Native Americans who often hunted animalsselectively for their fat and fatty organs as the following section will show.Anthropologists/explorers such as Vilhjalmur Stefansson reported that theInnuit and North American Indian tribes would worry when their catches ofcaribou were too lean: they knew sickness would follow if they did notconsume enough fat (96). In other words, these primitive peoples did not likehaving to eat lean meat.Northern Canadian Indians would also deliberately hunt older male caribouand elk, for these animals carried a 50-pound slab of back fat on themwhich the Indians would eat with relish. This "back fat" is highly saturated.Native Americans would also refrain from hunting bison in the springtime(when the animals' fat stores were low, due to scarce food supply during thewinter), preferring to hunt, kill and consume them in the fall when theywere fattened up (97).Explorer Hearne, writing in 1768, described how the Native Americantribes he came in contact with would selectively hunt caribou just for thefatty parts:On the twenty-second of July, we met several strangers, whom we joined inpursuit of the caribou, which were at this time so plentiful that we goteveryday a sufficient number for our support, and indeed too frequentlykilled several merely for the tongues, marrow, and fat. (98)While Cordain and Eaton are certainly correct in saying that our ancestorsate meat, their contentions about fat intake, as well as the type of fatconsumed, are simply incorrect.While various vegetarian and vegan authorities like to think that weevolved as a species on a vegan or vegetarian diet, there exists little fromtherealm of nutritional anthropology to support these ideas.To begin with, in his journeys, Dr Price never once found a totallyvegetarian culture. It should be remembered that Dr. Price visited andinvestigated several population groups who were, for all intents and purposes, the20th century equivalents of our hunter-gatherer ancestors. Dr. Price was onthe lookout for a vegetarian culture, but he came up empty. Price stated:As yet I have not found a single group of primitive racial stock which wasbuilding and maintaining excellent bodies by living entirely on plantfoods. (99)Anthropological data support this: throughout the globe, all societiesshow a preference for animal foods and fats and our ancestors only turned tolarge scale farming when they had to due to increased population pressures(100). Abrams and other authorities have shown that prehistoric man's questfor more animal foods was what spurred his expansion over the Earth, andthat he apparently hunted certain species to extinction. (101)Price also found that those peoples who, out of necessity, consumed moregrains and legumes, had higher rates of dental decay than those who consumedmore animal products. In his papers on vegetarianism, Abrams presentsarchaeological evidence that supports this finding: skulls of ancient peopleswho were largely vegetarian have teeth containing caries and abscesses andshow evidence of tuberculosis and other infectious diseases (102). Theappearance of farming and the increased dependence on plant foods for oursubsistence was clearly harmful to our health.Finally, it is simply not possible for our prehistoric ancestors to havebeen vegetarian because they would not have been able to get enough caloriesor nutrients to survive on the plant foods that were available. The reasonfor this is that humans did not know how to cook or control fire at thattime and the great majority of plant foods, especially grains and legumes,must be cooked in order to render them edible to humans (103). Most people donot know that many of the plant foods we consume today are poisonous intheir raw states (104).Based on all of this evidence, it is certain that the diets of ourancestors, the progenitors of humanity, ate a very non-vegetarian diet that wasrich in saturated fatty acids.Myth #9: Meat and saturated fat consumption have increased in the 20thcentury, with a corresponding increase in heart disease and cancer.Statistics do not bear out such fancies. Butter consumption has plummetedfrom 18 lb (8.165 kg) per person a year in 1900, to less than 5 lb (2.27kg) per person a year today (105). Additionally, Westerners, urged on bygovernment health agencies, have reduced their intake of eggs, cream, lard, andpork. Chicken consumption has risen in the past few decades, but chickenis lower in saturated fat than either beef or pork.Furthermore, a survey of cookbooks published in America in the lastcentury shows that people of earlier times ate plenty of animal foods andsaturated fats. For example, in the Baptist Ladies Cook Book (Monmouth, Illinois,1895), virtually every recipe calls for butter, cream or lard. Recipes forcreamed vegetables are numerous as well. A scan of the Searchlight RecipeBook (Capper Publications, 1931) also has similar recipes: creamed liver,creamed cucumbers, hearts braised in buttermilk, etc. British Jews, as shownby the Jewish Housewives Cookbook (London, 1846), also had diets rich incream, butter, eggs, and lamb and beef tallows. One recipe for German waffles,for example, calls for a dozen egg yolks and an entire pound of butter. Arecipe for Oyster Pie from the Baptist cookbook calls for a quart of creamand a dozen eggs, and so forth and so on.It does not appear, then, that people ate leaner diets in the lastcentury. It is true that beef consumption has risen in the last few decades,butwhat has also risen precipitously, however, is consumption of margarine andother food products containing trans-fatty acids (106), lifeless, packaged"foods", processed vegetable oils (107), carbohydrates (108) and refinedsugar (109). Since one does not see chronic diseases like cancer and heartdisease in beef-eating native peoples like the Maasai and Samburu, it is notpossible for beef to be the culprit behind these modern epidemics. This, ofcourse, points the finger squarely at the other dietary factors as the mostlikely causes.Myth #10: Soy products are adequate substitutes for meat and dairyproducts.It is typical for vegans and vegetarians in the Western world to rely onvarious soy products for their protein needs. There is little doubt that thebillion-dollar soy industry has profited immensely from theanti-cholesterol, anti-meat gospel of current nutritional thought. Whereas, not so longago, soy was an Asian food primarily used as a condiment, now a variety ofprocessed soy products proliferate in the North American market. While thetraditionally fermented soy foods of miso, tamari, tempeh and natto aredefinitely healthful in measured amounts, the hyper-processed soy "foods" thatmost vegetarians consume are not.Non-fermented soybeans and foods made with them are high in phytic acid(110), an anti-nutrient that binds to minerals in the digestive tract andcarries them out of the body. Vegetarians are known for their tendencies tomineral deficiencies, especially of zinc (111) and it is the high phytatecontent of grain and legume based diets that is to blame (112). Though severaltraditional food preparation techniques such as soaking, sprouting, andfermenting can significantly reduce the phytate content of grains and legumes(113), such methods are not commonly known about or used by modern peoples,including vegetarians. This places them (and others who eat a diet rich inwhole grains) at a greater risk for mineral deficiencies.Processed soy foods are also rich in trypsin inhibitors, which hinderprotein digestion. Textured vegetable protein (TVP), soy "milk" and soy proteinpowders, popular vegetarian meat and milk substitutes, are entirelyfragmented foods made by treating soybeans with high heat and various alkalinewashes to extract the beans' fat content or to neutralize their potent enzymeinhibitors (110). These practices completely denature the beans' proteincontent, rendering it very hard to digest. MSG, a neurotoxin, is routinelyadded to TVP to make it taste like the various foods it imitates (114).On a purely nutritional level, soybeans, like all legumes, are deficientin cysteine and methionine, vital sulphur-containing amino acids, as well astryptophan, another essential amino acid. Furthermore, soybeans contain novitamins A or D, required by the body to assimilate and utilize the beans'proteins (115). It is probably for this reason that Asian cultures that doconsume soybeans usually combine them with fish or fish broths (abundant infat-soluble vitamins) or other fatty foods.Parents who feed their children soy-based formula should be aware of itsextremely high phytoestrogen content. Some scientists have estimated a childbeing fed soy formula is ingesting the hormonal equivalent of five birthcontrol pills a day (116). Such a high intake could have disastrous results.Soy formula also contains no cholesterol, vital for brain and nervoussystem development.Though research is still ongoing, some recent studies have indicated thatsoy's phytoestrogens could be causative factors in some forms of breastcancer (117), penile birth defects (118), and infantile leukemia (119).Regardless, soy's phytoestrogens, or isoflavones, have been definitely shown todepress thyroid function (120) and to cause infertility in every animalspecies studied so far (121). Clearly, modern soy products and isolatedisoflavone supplements are not healthy foods for vegetarians, vegans, or anyoneelse, yet these are the very ones that are most consumed.Myth #11: The human body is not designed for meat consumption.Some vegetarian groups claim that since humans possess grinding teeth likeherbivorous animals and longer intestines than carnivorous animals, thisproves the human body is better suited for vegetarianism (122). Thisargument fails to note several human physiological features which clearly indicatea design for animal product consumption.First and foremost is our stomach's production of hydrochloric acid,something not found in herbivores. HCL activates protein-splitting enzymes.Further, the human pancreas manufactures a full range of digestive enzymes tohandle a wide variety of foods, both animal and vegetable. Further, Dr.Walter Voegtlin's in-depth comparison of the human digestive system with thatof the dog, a carnivore, and a sheep, a herbivore, clearly shows that we arecloser in anatomy to the carnivorous dog than the herbivorous sheep. (123)While humans may have longer intestines than animal carnivores, they arenot as long as herbivores; nor do we possess multiple stomachs like manyherbivores, nor do we chew cud. Our physiology definitely indicates a mixedfeeder, or an omnivore, much the same as our relatives, the mountain gorillaand chimpanzee who all have been observed eating small animals and, in somecases, other primates (124).Myth #12: Eating animal flesh causes violent, aggressive behavior inhumans.Some authorities on vegetarian diet, such as Dr Ralph Ballantine (125),claim that the fear and terror (if any, see myth #15) an animal experiencesat death is somehow "transferred" into its flesh and organs and "becomes" apart of the person who eats it.In addition to the fact that no scientific studies exist to support such atheory, these thinkers would do well to remember the fact that a tendencyto irrational anger is a symptom of low vitamin B12 levels which, as wehave seen, are common in vegans and vegetarians. Furthermore, in his travels,Dr Price always noted the extreme happiness and ingratiating natures of thepeoples he encountered, all of whom were meat-eaters.Myth #13: Animal products contain numerous, harmful toxins.A recent vegetarian newsletter claimed the following:Most people don't realize that meat products are loaded with poisons andtoxins! Meat, fish and eggs all decompose and putrefy extremely rapidly. Assoon as an animal is killed, self-destruct enzymes are released, causingthe formation of denatured substances called ptyloamines, which cause cancer.(126)This article then went on to mention "mad cow disease" (BSE), parasites,salmonella, hormones, nitrates and pesticides as toxins in animal products.If meat, fish and eggs do indeed generate cancerous "ptyloamines," it isvery strange that people have not been dying in droves from cancer for thepast million years. Such sensationalistic and nonsensical claims cannot besupported by historical facts.Hormones, nitrates and pesticides are present in commercially raisedanimal products (as well as commercially raised fruits, grains and vegetables)and are definitely things to be concerned about. However, one can avoidthese chemicals by taking care to consume range-fed, organic meats, eggs anddairy products which do not contain harmful, man-made toxins.Parasites are easily avoided by taking normal precautions in foodpreparations. Pickling or fermenting meats, as is custom in traditional societies,always protects against parasites. In his travels, Dr Price always foundhealthy, disease-free and parasite-free peoples eating raw meat and dairyproducts as part of their diets.Similarly, Dr Francis Pottenger, in his experiments with cats,demonstrated that the healthiest, happiest cats were the ones on the all-raw-fooddiet. The cats eating cooked meats and pasteurized milk sickened and died andhad numerous parasites (127). Salmonella can be transmitted by plantproducts as well as animal.It is often claimed by vegetarians that meat is harmful to our bodiesbecause ammonia is released from the breakdown of its proteins. Although it istrue that ammonia production does result from meat digestion, our bodiesquickly convert this substance into harmless urea. The alleged toxicity ofmeat is greatly exaggerated by vegetarians."Mad Cow Disease," or Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), is mostlikely not caused by cows eating animal parts with their food, a feedingpractice that has been done for over 100 years. British organic farmer MarkPurdey has argued convincingly that cows that get Mad Cow Disease are the veryones that have had a particular organophosphate insecticide applied to theirbacks or have grazed on soils that lack magnesium but contain high levelsof aluminum (128). Small outbreaks of "mad cow disease" have also occurredamong people who reside near cement and chemical factories and in certainareas with volcanic soils (129).Purdey theorizes that the organophosphate pesticides got into the cows'fat through a spraying program, and then were ingested by the cows again withthe animal part feeding. Seen this way, it is the insecticides, via theparts feeding (and not the parts themselves or their associated "prions"),that has caused this outbreak. As noted before, cows have been eating groundup animal parts in their feeds for over 100 years. It was never a problembefore the introduction of these particular insecticides.Recently, Purdey has gained support from Dr. Brown, a Britishbiochemist who has also argued for a non-infectious cause of BSE. Brownattributes BSE to environmental toxins, specifically manganese overload (130).Myth #14: Eating meat or animal products is less "spiritual" than eatingonly plant foods.It is often claimed that those who eat meat or animal products are somehowless "spiritually evolved" than those who do not. Though this is not anutritional or academic issue, those who do include animal products in theirdiet are often made to feel inferior in some way. This issue, therefore, isworth addressing.Several world religions place no restrictions on animal consumption; andnor did their founders. The Jews eat lamb at their most holy festival, thePassover. Muslims also celebrate Ramadan with lamb before entering intotheir fast. Jesus Christ, like other Jews, partook of meat at the Last Supper(according to the canonical Gospels). It is true that some forms of Buddhismdo place strictures on meat consumption, but dairy products are alwaysallowed. Similar tenets are found in Hinduism. As part of the Samhaincelebration, Celtic pagans would slaughter the weaker animals of the herds and curetheir meat for the oncoming winter. It is not true, therefore, that eatinganimal foods is always connected with "spiritual inferiority".Nevertheless, it is often claimed that, since eating meat involves thetaking of a life, it is somehow tantamount to murder. Leaving aside thereligious philosophies that often permeate this issue, what appears to be at handis a misunderstanding of the life force and how it works. Modern peoples(vegetarian and non-vegetarian) have lost touch with what it takes to survivein our world--something native peoples never lose sight of. We do notnecessarily hunt or clean our meats: we purchase steaks and chops at thesupermarket. We do not necessarily toil in rice paddies: we buy bags of brownrice; and so forth, and so on.When Native Americans killed a game animal for food, they would routinelyoffer a prayer of thanks to the animal's spirit for giving its life so thatthey could live. In our world, life feeds off life. Destruction is alwaysbalanced with generation. This is a good thing: unchecked, the life forcebecomes cancerous. If animal food consumption is viewed in this manner, it ishardly murder, but sacrifice. Modern peoples would do well to rememberthis.Myth #15: Eating animal foods is inhumane.Without question, some commercially raised livestock live in deplorableconditions where sickness and suffering are common. In countries like Korea,food animals such as dogs are sometimes killed in horrific ways, e.g.,beaten to death with a club. Our recommendations for animal foods consumptionmost definitely do not endorse such practices.As noted in our discussion of myth #1, commercial farming of livestockresults in an unhealthy food product, whether that product be meat, milk,butter, cream or eggs. Our ancestors did not consume such substandardfoodstuffs, and neither should we.It is possible to raise animals humanely. This is why organic, preferablyBiodynamic, farming is to be encouraged: it is cleaner and more efficient,and produces healthier animals and foodstuffs from those animals. Eachperson should make every effort, then, to purchase organically raised livestock(and plant foods). Not only does this better support our bodies, asorganic foods are more nutrient-dense (131) and are free from hormone andpesticide residues, but this also supports smaller farms and is therefore betterfor the economy (132).Nevertheless, many people have philosophical problems with eating animalflesh, and these sentiments must be respected. Dairy products and eggs,though, are not the result of an animal's death and are fine alternatives forthese people.It should also not be forgotten that agriculture, which involves both theclearance of land to plant crops and the protection and maintenance ofthose crops, results in many animal deaths (133). The belief, therefore, that"becoming vegetarians" will somehow spare animals from dying is one with nofoundation in fact.The Value of VegetarianismAs a cleansing diet, vegetarianism is sometimes a good choice. Severalhealth conditions (e.g., gout) can often be ameliorated by a temporaryreduction in animal products with an increase of plant foods. But such measuresmust not be continuous throughout life: there are vital nutrients found onlyin animal foods that we must ingest for optimal health. Furthermore, thereis no one diet that will work for every person. Some vegetarians and vegans,in their zeal to get converts, are blind to this biochemical fact."Biochemical individuality" is a subject worth clarifying. Coined bynutritional biochemist , PhD, the term refers to the fact thatdifferent people require different nutrients based on their unique geneticmake-up. Ethnic and racial background figure in this concept as well. A dietthat works for one may not work as well for someone else. As a practitioner,I've seen several clients following a vegetarian diet with severe healthproblems: obesity, candidiasis, hypothyroidism, cancer, diabetes, leaky gutsyndrome, anemia and chronic fatigue. Because of the widespread rhetoricthat a vegetarian diet is "always healthier" than a diet that includes meat oranimal products, these people saw no reason to change their diet, eventhough that was the cause of their problems. What these people actually neededfor optimal health was more animal foods and fats and fewer carbohydrates.Further, due to peculiarities in genetics and individual biochemistry,some people simply cannot do a vegetarian diet because of such things aslectin intolerance and desaturating enzyme deficiencies. Lectins present inlegumes, a prominent feature of vegetarian diets, are not tolerated by manypeople. Others have grain sensitivities, especially to gluten, or to grainproteins in general. Again, since grains are a major feature of vegetariandiets, such people cannot thrive on them. (134)Desaturase enzyme deficiencies are usually present in those people ofInnuit, Scandinavian, Northern European, and sea coast ancestry. They lack theability to convert alpha-linolenic acid into EPA and DHA, two omega-3 fattyacids intimately involved in the function of the immune and nervoussystems. The reason for this is because these people's ancestors got an abundanceof EPA and DHA from the large amounts of cold-water fish they ate. Overtime, because of non-use, they lost the ability to manufacture the necessaryenzymes to create EPA and DHA in their bodies. For these people,vegetarianism is simply not possible. They MUST get their EPA and DHA from food andEPA is only found in animal foods. DHA is present in some algae, but theamounts are much lower than in fish oils. (135)It is also apparent that vegan diets are not suitable for all people dueto inadequate cholesterol production in the liver and cholesterol is onlyfound in animal foods. It is often said that the body makes enoughcholesterol to get by and that there is no reason to consume foods that contain it(animal foods). Recent research, however, has shown otherwise. Singer's workat the University of California, Berkeley, has shown that the cholesterol ineggs improves memory in older people (136). In other words, these elderlypeople's own cholesterol was insufficient to improve their memory, butadded dietary cholesterol from eggs was.Though it appears that some people do well on little or no meat and remainhealthy as lacto-vegetarians or lacto-ovo-vegetarians, the reason for thisis because these diets are healthier for those people, not because they'rehealthier in general. However, a total absence of animal products, whethermeat, fish, insects, eggs, butter or dairy, is to be avoided. Though itmay take years, problems will eventually ensue under such dietary regimes andthey will certainly show in future generations. Dr. Price's seminalresearch unequivocally demonstrated this. The reason for this is simpleevolution: humanity evolved eating animal foods and fats as part of its diet, andour bodies are suited and accustomed to them. One cannot change evolution ina few years.Dr. Abrams said it well when he wrote:Humans have always been meat-eaters. The fact that no human society isentirely vegetarian, and those that are almost entirely vegetarian suffer fromdebilitated conditions of health, seems unequivocally to prove that aplant diet must be supplemented with at least a minimum amount of animalprotein to sustain health. Humans are meat-eaters and always have been. Humansare also vegetable eaters and always have been, but plant foods must besupplemented by an ample amount of animal protein to maintain optimalhealth.(137)Author's Notes:The author would like to thank Sally Fallon, MA; Lee Clifford, MS, CCN;and Dr. H. Leon Abrams, Jr., for their gracious assistance in preparing andreviewing this paper.This paper was not sponsored or paid for by the meat or dairy industries.Recommended Further Reading:_The Weston A. Price Foundation_ (http://www.westonaprice.org/)_Why I am Not a Vegetarian_(http://www.acsh.org/healthissues/newsID.760/healthissue_detail.asp)_Beyond Vegetarianism_ (http://www.beyondveg.com/)_The Cholesterol Myths_ (http://www.ravnskov.nu/cholesterol.htm)_The Paleolithic Diet Page_ (http://www.panix.com/~paleodiet/)_The Great Fallacies of Vegetarianism_(http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/00509.htm)_National Animal Interest Alliance_ (http://www.naiaonline.org/)_Animal Rights.net_ (http://www.animalrights.net/)References1. (a) S Fallon and M Enig. Nourishing Traditions, (New Trends Publishing;Washington, D.C.), 2000, 5; ( _Breeds of Livestock_(http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds) . Oklahoma State University, Department ofAnimalScience.2. _Breeds of Livestock_ (http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds) . OklahomaState University, Department of Animal Science.3. W Bender and M . Population, Food, and Nutrition. PopulationReference Bureau;1997.4. 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Gen Comp End 83:447-457;(f) Braden and others. The oestrogenic activity and metabolism of certainisoflavones in sheep. Australian J of Agric Res, 1967, 18:335-348.122. (a) Why Not Meat? (Part 2), Down to Earth News, (Honolulu; HI),Dec/Jan 1998, 1-4; ( Ralph Ballantine. Transition to Vegetarianism.(HimalayanInstitute Press; PA), 1994.123. WL Voegtlin. _The Stone Age Diet_(http://www.paleodiet.com/comparison.html) . (Vantage Press, Inc.; NY), 1975,44-45.124. (a) HL Abrams. A diachronic preview of wheat in homonid nutrition. JAppl Nutr, 1978, 30:41-55;( J Goodall. In the Shadow of Man. Boston:1971.125. R. Ballantine, op. cit.126. Why Not Meat? (Part 3). Down to Earth News, (Honolulu; HI). Feb/March1999, 1-3.127. F Pottenger, Pottenger's Cats--A Study in Nutrition. (Price-PottengerNutrition Foundation, CA), 1997.128. (a) M Purdey. Are Organophosphate Pesticides Involved in theCausation of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)? J of Nutr Med, 1994, 4:43-82;( Ecosystems supporting clusters of sporadic TSEs demonstrate excesses ofthe radical-generating divalent cation manganese and deficiencies ofantioxidant co factors Cu, Se, Fe, Zn. Does a foreign cation substitution atprion protein's Cu domain initiate TSE? Med Hypotheses 2000 Feb 54:2 278-306;© High-dose exposure to systemic phosmet insecticide modifies thephosphatidylinositol anchor on the prion protein: the origins of new varianttransmissible spongiform encephalopathies? Med Hypotheses 1998 Feb 50:2 91-111.129. Ibid.130. D Brown. BSE did not cause variant CJD: an alternative cause relatedto post-industrial environmental contamination. Med Hypotheses, 2001, 57:5.131. V Worthington. Nutritional quality of organic versus conventionalfruits, vegetables, and grains. J Altern Comp Med, 2001, 7:2:161-173.132. S Fallon. _Nasty, Brutish, and Short?_(http://www.westonaprice.org/Nasty-Brutish-and-Short.html) The Ecologist, February 1999.133. R Audette. Neanderthin, (St. 's Press; NY), 1999, 194-5.134. (a) K Sullivan. _The Lectin Report_(http://www.krispin.com/lectin.html) , , accessed on January 2, 2002; ( DLFreed. Do dietary lectins causedisease? Brit Med J, 1999, 318:1023-1024.135. J Ross. The Diet Cure. (Penguin Books; NY), 1999, 102-113.136. MG Enig. Know Your Fats, 56-57.137. HL Abrams. The relevance of Paleolithic diet in determiningcontemporary nutritional needs. J Appl Nutr, 1979, 1,2:43-59.About the Author: Byrnes, BA, MA, DR(AM), was a nutritionist and naturopath who grewup in New York and attended Hunter College in New York City where hereceived his BA in Comparative Religion. After moving to Los Angeles, hecompleted his MA in Humanities at California State University at Dominguez Hills.He then received his Diploma in Homeobotanical Therapy from theAustralasian College, USA, a state-licensed college in Lake Oswego, Oregon, and hisDoctorate of Alternative Medicines from the Alternative Medicines ResearchInstitute (AMRI), a licensed and registered educational institution inGibraltar, European Union, affiliated with the Open International University ofComplementary Medicines, Colombo, Sri Lanka. He later received his GraduateDiploma in Naturopathy from the Canadian Alternative Medicines ResearchInstitute (CAMRI), Vancouver, British Columbia. CAMRI is licensed andregistered with the Private Post-Secondary Education Commission of BritishColumbia.Dr. Byrnes had over 100 articles and papers published in health magazinesand professional journals around the world. He was an honorary board memberof the Weston A. Price Foundation and an editorial board member of theAustralian holistic magazine WellBeing. He also authored four books: DigestionMade Simple (Whitman Books; 2002); Diet & Heart Disease: It’s NOT What YouThink (Whitman Books; 2001); Overcoming AIDS with Natural Medicine(Healing Light Ministries; 2001); and _The Lazy Person's Whole Foods Cookbook_(http://www.wholefoodscookbook.com/) (Healing Light Ministries; 2001).CopyrightNotice:The material on this site is copyrighted by the Weston A. PriceFoundation.