Para quem ainda tem dúvidas: "Mitos e verdades o vegetarianismo"

[Butterfly_21]

Repetida.

[Butterfly_21]

Repetida.

[Nicole]

O Lu isso é pedir muito a essas almas iluminadas superiores!
É que se todos deixássemos de comer carne já não ia dar gozo nenhum "ser diferente" ou defender o indefensável, porque assim eles eram 'apenas' iguais a toda a gente
Concerteza que se todos deixassem de comer carne, estas almas iam inventar outra cruzada e arranjariam novos "moinhos de vento" contra os quais combater. Talvez se tornassem "Vegetarianos que comem apenas Alface ou legumes verdes clarinhos", contra os que comem vegetais de outras cores.....quem sabe!

Tal como há pessoas que gostam de comer carne, há aquelas que não gostam. É uma opção de vida e ainda me custa a perceber porque é que a criticam tanto. Ainda mais porque, tal como a Butterfly disse, uma alimentação ovo-lacto-vegetariana não apresenta quaisquer riscos para a saúde. Começo a achar que tanta crítica advém de um complexo qualquer, sobretudo porque quem defende no fórum uma alimentação sem carne é chamado ou de “amiguinhos dos animais” ou de “almas iluminadas superiores”. Ao contrário de outras pessoas que se acham detentoras da verdade absoluta não parti para a ofensa, e por acaso até me senti ofendida com os termos “amiguinhos dos animais” ou “almas iluminadas superiores”, sobretudo pelo contexto. Afinal, quem parece ter o complexo de superioridade não sou eu.
Eu jamais disse que escolhi não comer carne por querer “ser diferente”. Sinto - me melhor agora do que me sentia quando comia carne e alterei os meus hábitos alimentares. Se quem come carne se sente melhor assim, é convosco. Nos posts anteriores, o meu objectivo não era promover o vegetarianismo, era justificá-lo perante os foristas.

A lógica não é aplicável às nossas convicções morais, expressas em juízos de valor, necessariamente subjectivos. Quer brincar aos brincar aos silogismos? Vamos lá então, que eu também tive Filosofia...

Isto promete ... E disto Paulo, o que dizes ?

[Butterfly_21]

Tal como há pessoas que gostam de comer carne, há aquelas que não gostam. É uma opção de vida e ainda me custa a perceber porque é que a criticam tanto. [...] Começo a achar que tanta crítica advém de um complexo qualquer, sobretudo porque quem defende no fórum uma alimentação sem carne é chamado ou de “amiguinhos dos animais” ou de “almas iluminadas superiores”. [...] Afinal, quem parece ter o complexo de superioridade não sou eu.
Eu jamais disse que escolhi não comer carne por querer “ser diferente”. Sinto - me melhor agora do que me sentia quando comia carne e alterei os meus hábitos alimentares. Se quem come carne se sente melhor assim, é convosco. Nos posts anteriores, o meu objectivo não era promover o vegetarianismo, era justificá-lo perante os foristas.

Concordo totalmente. Mas aqui na Arca basta alguém declarar-se vegetariano ou defender este regime alimentar para partirem logo do princípio que é algum activista duma seita religiosa radical...

O mais cómico no meio disto tudo é que nem sou totalmente vegetariana... Ainda como peixe... E a minha intenção com este post foi simplesmente esclarecer eventuais dúvidas sobre o vegetarianismo, nunca fazer a apologia desmesurada do veganismo (há quem nem saiba distinguir entre ambos e meta tudo no mesmo saco)... Enfim.

[Butterfly_21]

Mitos e verdades o vegetarianismo

Isto faz-me uma certa confusão. Desde que entrei para a arca nunca vi por exemplo um tópico que falasse sobre os beneficios do figado mal passado a quem tem anemia, ou sobre a roda dos alimentos tal como a conhecemos hoje. Ou seja, os comedores de carne não estão interessados em defender ou em falar sobre a sua escolha alimentar.

Por outro lado, tópicos sobre vegetarianismo são à "pazada".

Penso que é natural. Sendo os vegetarianos ainda uma minoria, e havendo tantos mitos que nos metem na cabeça desde crianças ("Se não tens fome come ao menos a carninha e deixa o arroz."), é normal que sintam mais necessidade de afirmar as suas convicções. Os adeptos da alimentação omnívora não precisam de o fazer.

Está implicito nestes tópicos que vegetarianismo é = a amar animais.

E a LuMaria tornou-se vegetariana porquê? Quer partilhar connosco? Ou tem vergonha de admitir que o fez pelo mesmo motivo que a maioria dos vegetarianos - como forma de defender os direitos dos animais -, devido a uma experiência laboral traumatizante num aviário? Porque não o assume agora? Já o assumiu. Agora tem medo de ser atacada?

Parece quase uma religião. Junta-te a nós, sê amigo do ambiente, dos animais, sê superior!

Credo... Que raio de ataque a quem se limitou a colocar um post meramente informativo sobre o vegetarianismo. Sempre que se fala em vegetarianismo aparecem comentários deste tipo. O estranho é que nunca defendi ideias destas.

Pergunto aos vegetarianos que adoram iluminar os não iluminados, o que acontecería ao mundo se biliões de pessoas virassem vegetarianas? Que acontecería se de repente deixássemos todos de comer carne? Conseguem visualizar o apocalipse?

Consigo, neste caso porque o mundo tem população a mais e os recursos não iriam chegar para todos. Mas também consigo visualizar um apocalipse a médio-longo prazo da forma pela forma como as coisas estão a evoluir. A produção intensiva de carne para consumo já deu provas dos seus vários riscos (pesquisar no Google por "encefalopatia espongiforme", "peste suína africana" e "gripe das aves"... Isto para mencionar só o mais mediático e não falar da quantidade de antibióticos que são administrados ilegalmente aos animais para consumo humano... ).

[Butterfly_21]

Mitos e verdades o vegetarianismo

Isto faz-me uma certa confusão. Desde que entrei para a arca nunca vi por exemplo um tópico que falasse sobre os beneficios do figado mal passado a quem tem anemia, ou sobre a roda dos alimentos tal como a conhecemos hoje. Ou seja, os comedores de carne não estão interessados em defender ou em falar sobre a sua escolha alimentar.

Por outro lado, tópicos sobre vegetarianismo são à "pazada".

Penso que é natural. Sendo os vegetarianos ainda uma minoria, e havendo tantos mitos que nos metem na cabeça desde crianças ("Se não tens fome come ao menos a carninha e deixa o arroz."), é normal que sintam mais necessidade de afirmar as suas convicções. Os adeptos da alimentação omnívora não precisam de o fazer.

Está implicito nestes tópicos que vegetarianismo é = a amar animais.

E a LuMaria tornou-se vegetariana porquê? Quer partilhar connosco? Ou tem vergonha de admitir que o fez pelo mesmo motivo que a maioria dos vegetarianos - como forma de defender os direitos dos animais -, devido a uma experiência laboral traumatizante num aviário? Porque não o assume agora? Já o assumiu. Agora tem medo de ser atacada?

Parece quase uma religião. Junta-te a nós, sê amigo do ambiente, dos animais, sê superior!

Credo... Que raio de ataque a quem se limitou a colocar um post meramente informativo sobre o vegetarianismo. Sempre que se fala em vegetarianismo aparecem comentários deste tipo. O estranho é que nunca defendi ideias destas.

Pergunto aos vegetarianos que adoram iluminar os não iluminados, o que acontecería ao mundo se biliões de pessoas virassem vegetarianas? Que acontecería se de repente deixássemos todos de comer carne? Conseguem visualizar o apocalipse?

Consigo, neste caso porque o mundo tem população a mais e os recursos não iriam chegar para todos. Mas também consigo visualizar um apocalipse a médio-longo prazo da forma pela forma como as coisas estão a evoluir. A produção intensiva de carne para consumo já deu provas dos seus vários riscos (pesquisar no Google por "encefalopatia espongiforme", "peste suína africana" e "gripe das aves"... Isto para mencionar só o mais mediático e não falar da quantidade de antibióticos que são administrados ilegalmente aos animais para consumo humano... ).

[LuMaria]

Credo! Até me assustei! Desculpe-me mas às vezes assusto-me com grandes posts...

Ora bem, não tive uma experiência traumática com nenhum aviário, tive sim uma experiência muitissimo desagradável com um emprego de Verão que me fez abrir a pestana e descobrir que o mundo não era propriamente o que pensava. Tinha 16 anos e foram precisos mais alguns até deixar de comer carne.

Toda a vida vivi rodeada de N animais e mantive sempre uma convivência de grande amizade com eles. Tão grande que o facto de os ver cozinhados no prato me tirou o apetite. Resolvi deixar de comer carne, sem alaridos, sem problemas e convicta. E pronto, end of story, decisão minha e apenas minha. Não faço alarde do que como. E estou-me nas tintas para a problemática soja versus impotência sexual ou o clube dos insuficientes B12.

Mas no meio do seu discurso todo, só não respondeu à questão que lhe fiz: O que acontecería ao nosso martirizado planeta se todos nos transformássemos em "éticos" vegetarianos? Ou a "ética" vegetariana está reservada só para uma pequena minoria?

[Butterfly_21]

Se todos nos tornássemos vegetarianos, as explorações de animais para consumo teriam de se transformar em explorações agrícolas. Seria suficiente para todos? Não sei, visto que como já referi, o mundo tem população humana a mais (li uma vez, algures, que se a espécia humana se extinguisse, não faria falta nenhuma aos ecossistemas). Mas também não nos prevejo grande futuro pelo caminho que estamos a seguir, não acha? Basta ver a profusão de doenças relacionadas com o consumo de carne - algumas ainda não provadas, outras já provadas cientificamente.

Quanto à ética minoria, lembre-se que faz parte dela. E se todos fizessem como a LuMaria?

Eu também não faço alarido do que como. Comecei a falar do assunto devido à profusão de tópicos sobre o vegetarianismo neste fórum, opção essa que eu, naturalmente, defendo.

O estranho é que ultimamente toda a gente se lembrou de afirmar que este assunto nada tem a ver com os direitos dos animais, mas muitos nada dizem quando aparecem pessoas a colocar tópicos onde simplesmente se critica a PETA, ou se critica ou ridiculariza a alimentação vegetariana, ou tópicos com assuntos do génro "As plantas também sentem dor". E agora pergunto eu: que tem isso a ver com direitos dos animais? Porque foi tão criticado um tópico com simples esclarecimentos sobre o vegetarianismo, quando por aqui se vêm assuntos tão mais díspares dos direitos dos animais? Esses já não merecem comentarios? Ou merecerão apoio, como fez o PauloC ao aplaudir um tópico do casadiscaes com os seus habituais ataques à PETA?

[LuMaria]

Se todos nos tornássemos vegetarianos, as explorações de animais para consumo teriam de se transformar em explorações agrícolas. Seria suficiente para todos? Não sei, visto que como já referi, o mundo tem população humana a mais (li uma vez, algures, que se a espécia humana se extinguisse, não faria falta nenhuma aos ecossistemas). Mas também não nos prevejo grande futuro pelo caminho que estamos a seguir, não acha? Basta ver a profusão de doenças relacionadas com o consumo de carne - algumas ainda não provadas, outras já provadas cientificamente.

Mais uma vez não responde à minha questão. Pergunte-se a si propria como sería possivel alimentar biliões de vegetarianos. A resposta vai surgir de certeza.

Quanto à ética minoria, lembre-se que faz parte dela. E se todos fizessem como a LuMaria?

O que é que eu faço?

Eu também não faço alarido do que como. Comecei a falar do assunto devido à profusão de tópicos sobre o vegetarianismo neste fórum, opção essa que eu, naturalmente, defendo.

Mas defende porquê? Porque acha que contribui para o bem estar animal? Será que contribui? Ou apenas serve para nós proprios nos ilibarmos de culpa? Toma remédios? Usufrui da medicina? Então e a tal de ética? E a culpa? Morre cega?
Vegetarianismo... apenas mais uma forma de nos alimentarmos. Nasce do facto de já não nos conseguirmos alimentar de animais. Contribuimos assim para o seu bem estar? Não, não me parece. Trabalhamos para a nossa paz de espirito, mais nada.

O estranho é que ultimamente toda a gente se lembrou de afirmar que este assunto nada tem a ver com os direitos dos animais, mas muitos nada dizem quando aparecem pessoas a colocar tópicos onde simplesmente se critica a PETA, ou se critica ou ridiculariza a alimentação vegetariana, ou tópicos com assuntos do génro "As plantas também sentem dor". E agora pergunto eu: que tem isso a ver com direitos dos animais? Porque foi tão criticado um tópico com simples esclarecimentos sobre o vegetarianismo, quando por aqui se vêm assuntos tão mais díspares dos direitos dos animais? Esses já não merecem comentarios? Ou merecerão apoio, como fez o PauloC ao aplaudir um tópico do casadiscaes com os seus habituais ataques à PETA?

Bom... os tópicos da PETA ainda compreendo. Realmente referem-se ao sentido deste sub fórum "direitos" dos animais. Poderão ser cansativos, mas têm sido muito elucidativos para constatar o quanto os defensores dos animais são doidos varridos e até perigosos.

O assunto das plantas é algo que me transtorna. Sabe que quando lhes dou musica ficam mais bonitas? Sabe que detestam mudar de casa? Sabe que há pessoas com quem elas simplesmente não se dão e morrem? Faz pensar não faz?

Acredito que o vegetarianismo é apenas uma forma de estarmos melhor connosco. Ou seja, sentir que não contribuimos para o sofrimento animal. Mas é mentira sabe? Contribuimos sempre e todos os dias, portanto, não vejo ligação nenhuma entre vegetarianismo e bem estar animal, ou direitos do animal, uma coisa nada tem a ver com a outra. Eventualmente um matadouro que aplique regras de bem estar animal, no transporte, no abate sem sofrimento desnecessário, faz muito mais por eles do que nós que não os ingerimos.

[Butterfly_21]

Mais uma vez não responde à minha questão. Pergunte-se a si propria como sería possivel alimentar biliões de vegetarianos. A resposta vai surgir de certeza.

Aqui vai a resposta que tanto pede, baseada no facto de grande parte do destino das explorações agrícolas actuais serem a alimentação de animais para consumo humano (claro que os tópicos do casadiscaes criticando as plantações de soja não mencionam esse pequeno detalhe):

"A criação de animais é um grande fator de impacto ambiental: 70% dos grãos plantados nos EUA são usados para alimentar os animais e não o ser humano. E 33% no mundo todo. [...]

Gasta-se de 4Kg a 14Kg de grãos (em ração) para produzir 0,5Kg de carne e somente cerca de 35 a 40% do peso total do boi é aproveitado como carne para as pessoas. A maior parte não é utilizada.

Há também a questão da Amazônia e da biodiversidade. O consumo de carne afeta países como o Brasil, pois os EUA precisam de mais e mais hambúrgueres, contribuindo para a destruição das florestas. A floresta é destruída para a criação de gado ou para o plantio de grãos como soja que vão servir de ração para o gado.

[...]

PESSOAS QUE PASSAM FOME NO MUNDO

Apenas 4 bilhões de pessoas são bem nutridas num mundo hoje com mais de 6 bilhões de habitantes.

Se todos nós fôssemos vegetarianos, a atual produção de alimentos poderia alimentar 7 bilhões de pessoas.

Claro que este é apenas um elemento, pois há outras coisas envolvidas no porquê de haver fome no mundo, entre elas, a distribuição dos alimentos, a política, etc, mas é uma questão importante."

Fonte: Dilip Barman, em http://www.svb.org.br/15congresso/dilip ... ariano.htm

Quanto à ética minoria, lembre-se que faz parte dela. E se todos fizessem como a LuMaria?

O que é que eu faço?

Não comer carne... Afinal foi o que me perguntou a mim: se a ética subjacente ao vegetarianismo era um privilégio apenas para alguns... Quando a própria LuMaria não come carne...

Eu também não faço alarido do que como. Comecei a falar do assunto devido à profusão de tópicos sobre o vegetarianismo neste fórum, opção essa que eu, naturalmente, defendo.

Mas defende porquê? Porque acha que contribui para o bem estar animal? Será que contribui? Ou apenas serve para nós proprios nos ilibarmos de culpa? Toma remédios? Usufrui da medicina? Então e a tal de ética? E a culpa? Morre cega?
Vegetarianismo... apenas mais uma forma de nos alimentarmos. Nasce do facto de já não nos conseguirmos alimentar de animais. Contribuimos assim para o seu bem estar? Não, não me parece. Trabalhamos para a nossa paz de espirito, mais nada.

Defendo-o porque sei que é um regime alimentar completo e é uma boa forma de evitar as doenças derivadas do consumo de carne. Sabe, antes de eliminar a carne da minha alimentação, andava sempre constipada, e ninguém me tira da cabeça que isso poderia estar relacionado com a quantidade de antibióticos que administram aos animais.

Questões éticas, embora acredite na sua validade... são outras questões.

têm sido muito elucidativos para constatar o quanto os defensores dos animais são doidos varridos e até perigosos.

Todos?

O assunto das plantas é algo que me transtorna. Sabe que quando lhes dou musica ficam mais bonitas? Sabe que detestam mudar de casa? Sabe que há pessoas com quem elas simplesmente não se dão e morrem? Faz pensar não faz?

Parece-me que está a cair no radicalismo de que acusa os outros.

Acredito que o vegetarianismo é apenas uma forma de estarmos melhor connosco. Ou seja, sentir que não contribuimos para o sofrimento animal. Mas é mentira sabe? Contribuimos sempre e todos os dias, portanto, não vejo ligação nenhuma entre vegetarianismo e bem estar animal, ou direitos do animal, uma coisa nada tem a ver com a outra. .

Com isto concordo. No entanto, aplico a regra do mal menor às minhas acções: se posso evitar fazer mal, evito. E ao não comer carne estou a evitar dar continuidade a um comércio quase sempre cruel. E não me venham com teorias da treta de que os animais são bem-tratados dos matadouros... Regra geral, acredito que não são. Moro ao pé de uma vacaria e não é a primeira vez que vejo os animais dentro dos camiões de transporte a morderem as grades... entre outras coisas que nem vale a pena falar.

Eventualmente um matadouro que aplique regras de bem estar animal, no transporte, no abate sem sofrimento desnecessário, faz muito mais por eles do que nós que não os ingerimos

Nem a LuMaria concorda com isto, caso contrário não seria vegetariana.

[Butterfly_21]

Parece quase uma religião. Junta-te a nós, sê amigo do ambiente, dos animais, sê superior!

Já agora, em relação a este seu comentário, se quiser veja este link: http://www.vegetarianismo.com.br/auto-criticaVII.html.

Sei que existem vegetarianos radicais que nem sequer se relacionam com não-vegetarianos. Nunca tive a infelicidade de conhecer nenhum. Infelizmente, conheço, isso sim, muitos omnívoros radicais, que tratam os vegetarianos como um bando de fanáticos que só comem soja.

[LuMaria]

Só tenho pena que o meu tempo para pesquisa neste momento esteja reduzido a uma corrida desenfreada. Mas não esquecerei de ir buscar alguns textos.

Butterfly, enquanto eu usufruir de assistência médica. Enquanto me vestir, enquanto alimentar os meus animais com carne não tenho a pretensão de achar que sou muito altruista ou "ética". Sou apenas uma pessoa com uma alimentação ligeiramente diferente porque a consciência mo dita assim e o estomago também. Não tenho grande mérito por não comer carne e isso de certeza não faz de mim melhor que ninguém. Não posso vender um produto que não tenho.

É verdade, nunca senti que me olhassem como uma doida ou uma fanática como disse acima. Portanto, nem sei a que se refere

[Butterfly_21]

Butterfly, enquanto eu usufruir de assistência médica. Enquanto me vestir, enquanto alimentar os meus animais com carne não tenho a pretensão de achar que sou muito altruista ou "ética". Sou apenas uma pessoa com uma alimentação ligeiramente diferente porque a consciência mo dita assim e o estomago também. Não tenho grande mérito por não comer carne e isso de certeza não faz de mim melhor que ninguém. Não posso vender um produto que não tenho.

Eu também não disse isso. Simplesmente ajo de acordo com a minha consicência.

É verdade, nunca senti que me olhassem como uma doida ou uma fanática como disse acima. Portanto, nem sei a que se refere

Olhe, refiro-me a evitar dizer a pessoas que não conheço bem que não como carne, devido a algumas experiências um bocado chatas... Normalmente perguntam sempre porquê e eu limito-me a explicar que é por motivos de saúde... mas mesmo essa explicação costuma dar mais polémica que o aborto.

[casadiscaes]

Se estamos numa de verdades sobre o vegetarianismo...

The Myths of Vegetarianism
Part 1 of 2
Contrary to the claims of some health exponents, diets which are strictly vegetarian and do not include animal foods are a recipe for ill health.
(Click here to go to Part 2)
(References further down this page)

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Extracted from Nexus Magazine, Volume 9, Number 3 (April-May 2002)
PO Box 30, Mapleton Qld 4560 Australia. [email protected]
Telephone: +61 (0)7 5442 9280; Fax: +61 (0)7 5442 9381
From our web page at: www.nexusmagazine.com


by Stephen Byrnes, PhD, RNCP
© 2000, 2002
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.PowerHealth.net


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An unflinching determination to take the whole evidence into account is the only method of preservation against the fluctuating extremes of fashionable opinion.

-- Alfred North Whitehead



THE EVOLUTION OF A MYTH
Along with the unjustified and unscientific saturated fat and cholesterol scares of the past several decades has come the notion that vegetarianism is a healthier dietary option for people. It seems as if every health expert and government health agency is urging people to eat fewer animal products and consume more vegetables, grains, fruits and legumes. Along with these exhortations have come assertions and studies supposedly proving that vegetarianism is healthier for people and that meat consumption is associated with sickness and death. Several authorities, however, have questioned these data, but their objections have been largely ignored.

As we shall see, many of the vegetarian claims cannot be substantiated and some are simply false and dangerous. There are benefits with vegetarian diets for certain health conditions, and some people function better on less fat and protein, but, as a practitioner who has dealt with several former vegetarians and vegans (total vegetarians), I know full well the dangerous effects of a diet devoid of healthful animal products. It is my hope that all readers will more carefully evaluate their position on vegetarianism after reading this paper.



MYTH #1: Meat consumption contributes to famine and depletes the Earth's natural resources.
Some vegetarians have claimed that livestock require pasturage that could be used to farm grains to feed starving people in Third World countries. It is also claimed that feeding animals contributes to world hunger because livestock are eating foods that could go to feed humans. The solution to world hunger, therefore, is for people to become vegetarians. These arguments are illogical and simplistic.

The first argument ignores the fact that about two-thirds of our Earth's dry land is unsuitable for farming. It is primarily the open range, desert and mountainous areas that provide food to grazing animals, and that land is currently being put to good use.1

The second argument is faulty as well because it ignores the vital contributions that livestock animals make to humanity's well-being. It is also misleading to think that the foods grown and given to feed livestock could be diverted to feed humans:

Agricultural animals have always made a major contribution to the welfare of human societies by providing food, shelter, fuel, fertilizer and other products and services. They are a renewable resource, and utilize another renewable resource, plants, to produce these products and services. In addition, the manure produced by the animals helps improve soil fertility and, thus, aids the plants. In some developing countries the manure cannot be utilized as a fertilizer but is dried as a source of fuel.

There are many who feel that because the world population is growing at a faster rate than is the food supply, we are becoming less and less able to afford animal foods because feeding plant products to animals is an inefficient use of potential human food. It is true that it is more efficient for humans to eat plant products directly rather than to allow animals to convert them to human food. At best, animals only produce one pound or less of human food for each three pounds of plants eaten. However, this inefficiency only 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 of substances 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 in improving 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 in the world to feed all people on the planet. The problem is widespread poverty, making it impossible for the starving poor to afford it. In a comprehensive report, the Population Reference Bureau attributed the world hunger problem to poverty, not meat-eating.3 It also did not consider mass vegetarianism to be a solution for world hunger.

What would actually happen, however, if animal husbandry were abandoned in favour of mass agriculture, brought about by humanity turning towards vegetarianism?

If a large number of people switched to vegetarianism, the demand for meat in the United States and Europe would fall, the supply of grain would dramatically increase, but the buying power of poor [starving] people in Africa and Asia wouldn't change at all.

The result would be very predictable: there would be a mass exodus from farming. Whereas today the total amount of grains produced could feed 10 billion people, the total amount of grain grown in this post-meat world would likely fall back to about 7 or 8 billion. The trend of farmers selling their 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 would happen if animal husbandry were abandoned and the world relied exclusively on plant foods for its food, would rapidly deplete the soil and require the heavy use of artificial fertilisers, one ton of which requires ten tons of crude oil to produce.5

As far as the impact on our environment is concerned, a closer look reveals the great damage that exclusive and mass farming would do. British organic dairy farmer and researcher Mark Purdey wisely points out that if "veganic agricultural systems were to gain a foothold on the soil, then agrichemical use, soil erosion, 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 the environment has been monoculture agriculture. The production of wheat in ancient Sumeria transformed once-fertile plains into salt flats that remain sterile 5,000 years later. As well as depleting both the soil and water sources, monoculture agriculture also produces environmental damage by altering the delicate balance of natural ecosystems. World rice production in 1993, for instance, caused 155 million cases of malaria by providing breeding grounds for mosquitoes in the paddies. Human contact with ducks in the same rice paddies resulted in 500 million cases of influenza during the same year.7

There is little doubt, though, that commercial farming methods, whether of plants or animals, produce harm to the environment. With the heavy use of agrichemicals, pesticides, artificial fertilisers, hormones, steroids and antibiotics common in modern agriculture, a better way of integrating animal husbandry with agriculture needs to be found. A possible solution might be a return to "mixed farming", described below.

The educated consumer and the enlightened farmer together can bring about a return of the mixed farm, where cultivation of fruits, vegetables and grains is combined with the raising of livestock and fowl in a manner that is efficient, economical and environmentally friendly. For example, chickens running free in garden areas eat insect pests, while providing high-quality eggs; sheep grazing in orchards obviate the need for herbicides; and cows grazing in woodlands and other marginal areas provide rich, pure milk, making these lands economically viable for the farmer. It is not animal cultivation that leads to hunger and famine, but unwise agricultural practices and monopolistic distribution systems.8

The "mixed farm" is also healthier for the soil, which will yield more crops if managed according to traditional guidelines. Mark Purdey has accurately pointed out that a crop field on a mixed farm will yield up to five harvests 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 up the ecological horrors of "battery farming" and points to future solutions by saying:

Our agricultural establishments could do very well to outlaw the business-besotted farmers running intensive livestock units, battery systems and beef-burger bureaucracies, with all their wastages, deplorable cruelty, anti-ozone slurry systems, drug/chemical-induced immunotoxicity resulting in BSE and salmonella, rainforest eradication, etc. Our future direction must strike the happy, healthy medium of mixed farms, resurrecting the old traditional extensive system as a basic framework, then bolstering up productivity to present-day demands by incorporating a more updated application of biological science into farming systems.10

It does not appear, then, that livestock farming, when properly practised, damages the environment. Nor does it appear that world vegetarianism and exclusively relying on agriculture to supply the world with food are feasible or 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 and lacto-ovo vegetarians have sources of vitamin B12 in their diets (from dairy products and eggs), vegans (total vegetarians) do not. Vegans who do not supplement their diet with vitamin B12 will eventually get anaemia (a fatal condition) as well as severe nervous and digestive system damage. Most, if not all, vegans have impaired B12 metabolism, and every study of vegan groups has demonstrated low vitamin B12 concentrations in the majority of individuals.11 Several studies have been done, documenting B12 deficiencies in vegan children--deficiencies which often have had dire consequences.12 Additionally, claims are made in vegan and vegetarian literature that B12 is present in certain algae, in tempeh (a fermented soy product) and in brewer's yeast. All of them are false, as vitamin B12 is only found in animal foods. Brewer's and nutritional yeasts do not contain B12 naturally; they are always fortified from an outside source.

There are not real B12 vitamins in plant sources but B12 analogues; these are similar to true B12 but not exactly the same, and because of this they are not bioavailable.13 It should be noted here that these B12 analogues can impair absorption of true vitamin B12 in the body due to competitive absorption, placing vegans and vegetarians who consume lots of soy, algae and yeast at a greater risk for a deficiency.14

Some vegetarian authorities claim that B12 is produced by certain fermenting bacteria in the colon. This may be true, but it is in a form unusable by the body. B12 requires intrinsic factor from the stomach for proper absorption in the ileum. Since the bacterial product does not have intrinsic factor bound to it, it cannot be absorbed.15

It is true that Hindu vegans living in certain parts of India do not suffer from vitamin B12 deficiency. This has led some to conclude that plant foods do provide this vitamin. This conclusion is erroneous, however, because many small insects, their faeces, eggs, larvae and/or residue, are left on the plant foods these people consume, due to non-use of pesticides and inefficient cleaning methods. This is how these people obtain their vitamin B12. This contention is borne out by the fact that when vegan Indian Hindus migrated to England, they came down with megaloblastic anaemia within a few years. In England, the food supply is cleaner and insect residues are completely removed from plant foods.16

The only reliable and absorbable sources of vitamin B12 are animal products, especially organ meats and eggs.17 Though present in lesser amounts than meat and eggs, dairy products do contain B12. Vegans, therefore, should consider adding dairy products to their diets. If dairy cannot be tolerated, eggs, preferably from free-run hens, are a virtual necessity.

That vitamin B12 can only be obtained from animal foods is one of the strongest arguments against veganism being a "natural" way of human eating. Today, vegans can avoid anaemia by taking supplemental vitamins or fortified foods. If those same people had lived just a few decades ago when these products were unavailable, they would have died.



MYTH #3: Our needs for vitamin D can be met by sunlight.
This is not really a vegetarian myth per se, but it is widely believed that one's vitamin D needs can be met simply by exposing one's skin to the Sun's rays for 15 to 20 minutes a few times a week. Concerns about vitamin D deficiencies in vegetarians and vegans always exist, as this nutrient in its full-complex form is only found in animal fats,18 which vegans do not consume and more moderate vegetarians only consume in limited quantities due to their meatless diets.

It is true that a limited number of plant foods, such as alfalfa, sunflower seeds and avocado, contain the plant form of vitamin D: ergocalciferol, or vitamin D2. Although D2 can be used to prevent and treat the vitamin D deficiency disease rickets in humans, it is questionable whether this form is as effective as animal-derived vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol). Some studies have shown that D2 is not utilised as well as D3 in animals,19 and clinicians have reported disappointing results using vitamin D2 to treat vitamin D-related conditions.20

Although vitamin D can be created by our bodies by the action of sunlight on our skin, it is very difficult to obtain an optimal amount of vitamin D by having a brief foray in the sunshine. There are three ultraviolet bands of radiation that come from sunlight, i.e., A, B and C. Only the "B" form is capable of catalysing the conversion of cholesterol to vitamin D in our bodies,21 and UV-B rays are only present at certain times of day, at certain latitudes, and at certain times of the year.22 Furthermore, depending on one's skin colour, obtaining 200-400 IUs of vitamin D from sunlight can take as long as two full hours of continuous sunning.23 A dark-skinned vegan, therefore, will find it impossible to obtain optimal vitamin D intake by sunning himself for 20 minutes a few times a week, even if sunning occurs during those 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 seminal research into healthy native adults' diets showed that their daily intake of vitamin D (from animal foods) was about 10 times that amount, or 4,000 IUs.24 Accordingly, Dr Price placed a great emphasis on vitamin D in the diet. Without vitamin D, for example, it is impossible to utilise minerals like calcium, phosphorus and magnesium. Recent research has confirmed Dr Price's higher recommendations for vitamin D for adults.25

Considering that cases of rickets and/or low vitamin D levels have been well documented in many vegetarians and vegans,26 that animal fats are either lacking or deficient in vegetarian diets (as well as those of the general Western public who routinely try to cut their animal fat intake), that sunlight is only a source of vitamin D at certain times and at certain latitudes and that current dietary recommendations for vitamin D are too low, it is important to have reliable and abundant sources of this nutrient in our daily diets. Good sources include cod liver oil, lard from pigs that were exposed to 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 from plant foods.
True vitamin A, or retinol and its associated esters, is only found in animal fats and organs like liver.27 Plants do contain beta-carotene, a substance that the body can convert into vitamin A if certain conditions are present (see below). Beta-carotene, however, is not vitamin A. It is typical for vegans and vegetarians (as well as most popular nutrition writers) to say that plant foods like carrots and spinach contain vitamin A and that beta-carotene is just as good as vitamin A. These things are not true, even though beta-carotene is an important nutritional factor for humans.

The conversion from carotene to vitamin A in the intestines can only take place in the presence of bile salts. This means that fat must be eaten with the carotenes to stimulate bile secretion. Additionally, infants and people with hypothyroidism, gall bladder problems or diabetes (altogether, a significant portion of the population) either cannot make the conversion or do so very poorly. Lastly, the body's conversion from carotene to vitamin A is not very efficient: it takes roughly six units of carotene to make one unit of vitamin A. What this means is that a sweet potato (containing about 25,000 units of beta-carotene) will only convert into about 4,000 units of vitamin 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 our diets. Butter and full-fat dairy foods, especially from pastured cows, are good vitamin A sources, as is cod liver oil. Vitamin A is all-important in our diets, for it enables the body to use proteins and minerals, ensures proper vision, enhances the immune system, enables reproduction and fights infections.29 As with vitamin D, Dr Price found that the diets of healthy primitive peoples supplied substantial amounts of vitamin A, again emphasising the great need humans have for this nutrient in maintaining optimal health now and in future generations.



MYTH #5: Meat-eating causes osteoporosis, kidney disease, heart disease, and cancer.
Oftentimes, vegans and vegetarians will try to scare people into avoiding animal foods and fats by claiming that vegetarian diets offer protection from certain chronic diseases like the ones listed above. Such claims, however, are hard to reconcile with historical and anthropological facts.

All of the diseases mentioned are primarily 20th century occurrences, yet people have been eating meat and animal fat for many thousands of years. Further, as Dr Price's research showed, there were/are several native peoples around the world (the Innuit, Masai, Swiss, etc.) whose traditional diets were/are very rich in animal products, but who nevertheless did/do not suffer from the abovementioned maladies.30 Dr George Mann's independent studies of the Masai, done many years after Dr Price's, confirmed the fact that the Masai, despite being almost exclusive meat-eaters, nevertheless had little to no incidence of heart disease or other chronic ailments.31 This proves that other factors besides animal foods are at work in causing these diseases.

Several studies have supposedly shown that meat consumption is the cause of various illnesses, but such studies, honestly evaluated, show no such thing, as the following discussion shows.

Osteoporosis

Dr Herta Spencer's research on protein intake and bone loss clearly showed that protein consumption in the form of real meat has no impact on bone density. Studies that supposedly proved that excessive protein consumption equals more bone loss were not done with real meat but with fractionated protein powders and isolated amino acids.32 Recent studies have also shown that increased animal protein intake contributes to stronger bone density in men and women.33 Some recent studies on vegan and vegetarian diets, however, have shown them to predispose women to osteoporosis.34

Kidney Disease

Although protein-restricted diets are helpful for people with kidney disease, there is no proof that eating meat causes such disease.35 Vegetarians will also typically claim that animal protein causes overly acidic conditions in the blood, resulting in calcium leaching from the bones and, hence, a greater tendency to form kidney stones. However, this opinion is false.

Theoretically, the sulphur and phosphorus in meat can form an acid when placed in water, but this does not mean that 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, if one eats a diet that includes enough magnesium and vitamin B6 and restricts refined sugars, one has little to fear from kidney stones, whether one eats meat or not.36 Animal foods like beef, pork, fish and lamb are good sources of magnesium and B6, as any food/nutrient table will show.

Heart Disease

The belief that animal protein contributes to heart disease is a popular one that has no foundation in nutritional science. Outside of questionable studies, there is little data to support the idea that meat-eating leads to heart disease. For example: the French have one of the highest per-capita consumptions of meat, yet have low rates of heart disease; in Greece, meat consumption is higher than average, but rates of heart disease are low there as well; and in Spain, an increase in meat-eating (in conjunction with a reduction in sugar and high-carbohydrate intake) was found to lead to a decrease in heart disease.37

Cancer

The belief that meat, in particular red meat, contributes to cancer is also a popular idea that is not supported by the facts. Although it is true that some studies have shown a connection between meat-eating and some types of cancer,38 it is important to look at the studies carefully to determine what kind of meat is being discussed as well as what preparation methods were used. Since we only have one word for "meat" in English, it is often difficult to know which "meat" is under discussion in a study unless the authors of the study specifically say so.

The study which began the "meat equals cancer" theory was done by Dr Ernst Wynder in the 1970s. Dr Wynder claimed that there is a direct, causal connection between animal fat intake and incidence of colon cancer.39 Actually, his data on "animal fats" were really on vegetable fats.40 In other words, the "meat equals cancer" theory is based on a phony study.

If one looks closely at the research, however, one quickly sees that it is processed meats like cold cuts and sausages that are usually implicated in cancer causation,41 and not meat per se. Furthermore, cooking methods seem to play a part in whether or not a meat becomes carcinogenic.42 In other words, it is the chemicals added to the meat and the chosen cooking method that are at fault, not the meat itself.

In the end, although sometimes a connection between meat and cancer is found, the actual mechanism of how it happens has eluded scientists.43 This means that it is likely that other factors besides meat are playing roles in some cases of cancer. Remember, studies of meat-eating traditional peoples show very little incidence of cancer. This demonstrates that other factors are at work when cancer appears in a modern meat-eating person. It is not scientifically fair to single out one dietary factor for blame, while ignoring other, more likely candidates.

It should be noted here that Seventh Day Adventists are often studied in population analyses to prove that a vegetarian diet is healthier and is associated with a lower risk for cancer (but see a later paragraph in this section). While it is true that most members of this Christian denomination do not eat meat, they also do not smoke or drink alcohol, coffee and tea, all of 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, Utah Mormons showed in a study that they had a 22% lower rate for cancer in general and a 34% lower mortality rate for colon cancer than the US average.45 A study of Puerto Ricans, who eat large amounts of fatty pork, nevertheless revealed very low rates of colon and breast cancer.46 Similar results can be adduced to demonstrate that meat and animal fat consumption does not correlate with cancer.47 Obviously, other factors are at work.

It is usually claimed that vegetarians have lower cancer rates than meat-eaters, but a 1994 study of vegetarian California Seventh Day Adventists showed that, while they did have lower rates for some cancers (e.g., breast and lung), they had higher rates for several others (Hodgkin's disease, malignant melanoma, brain, skin, uterine, prostate, endometrial, cervical and ovarian), some quite significantly. In that study, the authors actually admitted that "Meat consumption, however, was not associated with a higher [cancer] risk" and that "No significant association between breast cancer and a high consumption of animal fats or animal products in general was noted".48

Further, it is usually claimed that a diet rich in plant foods like whole grains and legumes will reduce one's risks for cancer, but research going back through the last century demonstrates that carbohydrate-based diets are the prime dietary instigators of cancer, not diets based on minimally processed animal foods.49

The mainstream health and vegetarian media have done such an effective job of "beef-bashing" that most people think there is nothing healthful about meat, especially red meat. In reality, however, animal-flesh foods like beef and lamb are excellent sources of a variety of nutrients, as any food/nutrient table will show. Nutrients like vitamins A, D and several of the B-complex vitamins, essential fatty acids (in small amounts), magnesium, zinc, phosphorus, potassium, iron, taurine and selenium are abundant in beef, lamb, pork, fish, shellfish and poultry. Nutritional factors like coenzyme Q10, carnitine and alpha-lipoic acid are also present. Some of these nutrients are only 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 are healthier for people.
This, too, is not a specific vegetarian myth. Nevertheless, people are often urged to take up a vegetarian or vegan diet because it is believed that such diets offer protection against heart disease and cancer, since they are lower or lacking in animal foods and fats.

Although it is commonly believed that saturated fats and dietary cholesterol "clog" arteries and cause heart disease, such ideas have been shown to be false by such scientists as Linus Pauling, Russell Smith, George Mann, John Yudkin, Abram Hoffer, Mary Enig, Uffe Ravnskov and other prominent researchers.50 On the contrary, studies have shown that arterial plaque is primarily 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 by researchers such as Enig, Mann and Fred Kummerow to be causative factors in accelerated atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease, cancer and other ailments.52 Trans fatty acids are found in such modern foods as margarine and vegetable shortening and foods made with them. Dr Enig and her colleagues have also shown that excessive omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid intake from refined vegetable oils is also a major culprit behind cancer and heart disease, not animal fats.

A recent study of thousands of Swedish women supports Dr Enig's conclusions and data. It showed no correlation between saturated fat consumption and increased risk for breast cancer. However, the study did show, as did Enig's work, a strong link between vegetable oil intake and higher breast cancer rates.53

The major population studies that supposedly prove the theory that animal fats and cholesterol cause heart disease, actually do not prove it upon closer inspection. The Framingham Heart Study is often cited as proof that dietary cholesterol and saturated fat intake cause heart disease and ill health. Involving about 6,000 people, the study compared two groups over several decades at five-year intervals. One group consumed little cholesterol and saturated fat, while the other consumed high amounts. Surprisingly, Dr William Castelli, the study's director, said:54
"...the more saturated fat one ate, the more cholesterol one ate, the more calories one ate, the lower the person's serum cholesterol ... we found that the people who ate the most cholesterol, ate the most saturated fat...ate the most calories, weighed the least and were the most physically active."

The Framingham data did show that subjects who had higher cholesterol levels and weighed more ran a slightly higher chance for coronary heart disease. But weight gain and serum cholesterol levels had an inverse correlation with dietary fat and cholesterol intake. In other words, there was no correlation at all.55

In a similar vein, the US Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial, sponsored by the National Heart and Lung Institute, compared mortality rates and eating habits of 12,000+ men. Those who ate less saturated fat and cholesterol showed a slightly reduced rate of heart disease, but had an overall mortality 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 with lower serum cholesterol live shorter lives than women with higher levels.58 Similar findings have been noted 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 from Dr Benjamin Spock to the American Heart Association recommend low-fat diets for children! One can only lament the fate of those unfortunate youngsters who will be raised by unknowing parents taken in by such genocidal misinformation.

There are many health benefits to saturated fats, depending on the fat in question. Coconut oil, for example, is rich in lauric acid, a potent antifungal and antimicrobial substance. In addition, coconut contains appreciable amounts of caprylic acid, also an effective antifungal.61 Butter from free-range cows is rich in trace minerals, especially selenium, as well as all of the fat-soluble vitamins and beneficial fatty acids that protect against cancer and fungal infections.62

In fact, the body needs saturated fats in order to properly utilise essential fatty acids.63 Saturated fats also lower the blood levels of the artery-damaging lipoprotein (a);64 are needed for proper calcium utilisation in the bones;65 stimulate the immune system;66 are the preferred food for the heart and other vital organs;67 and, along with cholesterol, add structural stability to the cell and intestinal wall.68 They are excellent for cooking, as they are chemically stable and do not break down under heat, unlike polyunsaturated vegetable oils. Omitting them from one's diet, then, is ill-advised.

With respect to atherosclerosis, it is always claimed that vegetarians have much lower rates of this condition than meat-eaters. The International Atherosclerosis Project of 1968, however, which examined over 20,000 corpses from several countries, concluded that vegetarians had just as much atherosclerosis as meat-eaters.69 Other population studies have revealed similar data.70 This is because atherosclerosis is largely unrelated to diet; it is a consequence of ageing.

There are things which can accelerate the atherosclerotic process, such as excessive free radical damage to the arteries from antioxidant depletion (caused by such things as smoking, poor diet, excess polyunsaturated fatty acids in the diet, various nutritional deficiencies, drugs, etc.), but this is to be distinguished from the fatty-streaking and hardening of arteries that occurs in all peoples over time.

It also does not appear that vegetarian diets protect against heart disease. A study on vegans in 1970 showed that female vegans had higher rates of death from heart disease than non-vegan females.71 A recent study showed that Indians, despite being vegetarians, have very high rates of coronary artery disease.72 High-carbohydrate/low-fat diets (which is what vegetarian 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 levels in their blood.74 Homocysteine is a known cause of heart disease. Lastly, low-fat/cholesterol diets, generally favoured either to prevent or treat heart disease, do neither and may actually increase certain risk factors for this condition.75

Studies which conclude that vegetarians are at a lower risk for heart disease are typically based on the phony markers of lower saturated fat intake, lower serum cholesterol levels and HDL/LDL ratios.

Since vegetarians tend to eat less saturated fat and usually have lower serum cholesterol levels, it is concluded that they are at less risk for heart disease. However, once one realises that these measurements are not accurate predictors of proneness to heart disease, the supposed protection of vegetarianism melts away.76

It should always be remembered that a number of things factor in as to whether a person gets heart disease or cancer. Instead of focusing on the phony issues of saturated fat, dietary cholesterol and meat-eating, people should pay more attention to other, more likely factors. These would be trans fatty acids, excessive polyunsaturated fat intake, excessive sugar intake, excessive carbohydrate intake, smoking, certain vitamin and mineral deficiencies, and obesity. These things were all conspicuously absent in the healthy traditional peoples whom Dr Price studied.

Continued next issue...


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Author's Notes:
Thanks to Sally Fallon, MA, Lee Clifford, MS, CCN, and Dr H. Leon Abrams, Jr, for their gracious assistance in preparing and reviewing this paper.

This paper was not sponsored or paid for by the meat or dairy industries.

Editor's Notes:
The full text of the article, including endnotes, is also available on the author's website at:
http://www.powerhealth.net/selected_articles.htm.
Dr Stephen Byrnes's article was originally published in the Townsend Letter for Doctors & Patients, July 2000, and was revised in January 2002.
About the Author:
Stephen Byrnes, PhD, RNCP, enjoys robust health on a diet that includes butter, cream, eggs, meat, whole milk, cheese and liver. He is the author of Diet & Heart Disease: It's NOT What You Think and Digestion Made Simple (Whitman Books, 2001), and The Lazy Person's Whole Foods Cookbook (Ecclesia Life Mana, 2001). He is based in the USA. Visit his website at: http://www.PowerHealth.net.

Recommended Reading/Research
The Weston A. Price Foundation:
http://www.westonaprice.org
Why I am Not a Vegetarian:
http://www.acsh.org/publications/priori ... arian.html
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/
PETA Sucks:
http://www.petasucks.cc
Animal Rights.net:
http://www.animalrights.net
Endnotes:
1. (a) S Fallon and M Enig. Nourishing Traditions (New Trends Publishing, Washington, DC), 2000, 5; (b) Breeds of Livestock. University of Oklahoma, Department of Animal Science; posted at http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds.
2. Breeds of Livestock. University of Oklahoma, Department of Animal Science; posted at http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds.
3. W Bender and M Smith. Population, Food, and Nutrition. Population Reference Bureau;1997.
4. B Carnell. Could vegetarianism prevent world hunger? Posted at http://www.animalrights.net/faq/topics/ ... unger.html, and accessed on January 3, 2002.
5. M Purdey. The Vegan Ecological Wasteland. Journal of the Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation [hereafter referred to as Jnl of PPNF], Winter 1998; also posted at http://www.westonaprice.org.
6. Ibid.
7. R Audette with T Gilchrist. Neanderthin (St Martins, NY), 1999, 2002.
8. S Fallon and M Enig, Nourishing Traditions, 6.
9. M Purdey, op. cit.
10. Ibid.
11. (a) L Dunne. The Nutrition Almanac, 3rd ed. (McGraw Hill, New York), 32-33; (b) AL Rauma and others. Vitamin B-12 status of long-term adherents of a strict uncooked vegan diet ("living food diet") is compromised. J Nutr, 1995, 125:2511-5; (c) MG Crane and others. Vitamin B12 studies in total vegetarians (vegans). J Nutr Med, 1994, 4:419-30; (d) I Chanarin and others. Megaloblastic anaemia in a vegetarian Hindu community. Lancet, 1985, Nov 2:1168-72; (e) M Donaldson. Vitamin B12 and the Hallelujah Diet; posted at http://www.chetday.com/b12.html; (f) MS Donaldson. Metabolic vitamin B12 status on a mostly raw vegan diet with follow-up using tablets, nutritional yeast, or probiotic supplements. Ann Nutr Metab, 2000, 44(5-6):229-234 .
12. (a) S Ashkenazi and others. Vitamin B12 deficiency due to a strictly vegetarian diet in adolescence. Clin Pediatr, 1987, 26:662-3; (b) G Cheron and others. Severe megaloblastic anemia in 6-month-old girl breast-fed by a vegetarian mother. Arch Fr Pediatr, 1989, 46:205-7; (c) T Kuhne and others. Maternal vegan diet causing a serious infantile neurological disorder due to vitamin B12 deficiency. Eur J Pediatr, 1991, 150:205-8; (d) MC Wighton and others. Brain damage in infancy and dietary vitamin B12 deficiency. Med J Aust, 1979, 2:1-3.
13. (a) PC Dagnelie and others. Vitamin B12 from algae appears not to be bioavailable. Amer J Clin Nutr, 1991, 53:695-7; (b) L Lazarides. The Nutritional Health Bible (Thorsons Publishing, CA), 1997, 22-23; (c) V Herbert. Vitamin B12: plant sources, requirements, and assay. Amer J Clin Nutr, 1988, 48:852-8.
14. (a) IE Baille. The first international congress on vegetarian nutrition. J Appl Nutr, 1987, 39:97-105; (b) A Smith. Soybeans: Chemistry & Technology, vol 1 (Avi Publishing, CT), 1972, 184-188.
15. L Dunne. Nutrition Almanac, 22-23.
16. (a) HL Abrams. Vegetarianism: An Anthropological/Nutritional Evaluation, J Appl Nutr, 1980, 32:2:53-87; (b) M Rose. Serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels in Australian adolescent vegetarians. Lancet, 1976, 2:87.
17. (a) L Dunne. Nutrition Almanac, 31; (b) J Groff and S Gropper. Advanced Nutrition and Human Metabolism (Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, CA), 3rd edition, 1999, 298.
18. WA Price. Nutrition and Physical Degeneration (Keats Publishing, CT), 1989, 256-281. On page 279, Price stated that: "It will be noted that vitamin D, which the human does not readily synthesize in adequate amounts, must be provided by foods of animal tissues or animal products. As yet I have not found a single group of primitive racial stock which was building and maintaining excellent bodies by living entirely on plant foods."
19. RL Horst and others. Discrimination in the metabolism of orally dosed ergocalciferol and cholecalciferol by the pig, rat, and chick. Biochem J, 1982, Apr 20:4:185-9.
20. Krispin Sullivan, CN, personal communication on January 3, 2002.
21. (a) H Glerup and others. Commonly recommended daily intake of vitamin D is not sufficient if sunlight exposure is limited. J Int Med, 2000, 247:260-8; (b) BL Diffey. Solar ultraviolet radiation effects on biological systems. Phys Med Biol, 1991, 36:299-328.
22. (a) K Sullivan. The miracle of vitamin D. Wise Traditions, 2000, 3:11-20. Also posted at http://www.westonaprice.org; (b) RM Sayre and others. Vitamin D production by natural and artificial sources. Photo Medical Society Meeting, 1998, March 1 - Conference Proceeding.
23. (a) Sullivan, op. cit.; (b) LY Matsuoka and others. In vivo threshold for cutaneous synthesis of vitamin D3 in skin. Nutr Rev, 1989, 47:252-3.
24. Price, op. cit., 256-281.
25. R Vieth. Vitamin D supplementation, 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations, and safety. Am J Clin Nutr, 1999, 69:842-56.
26. (a) M. Hellebostad and others. Vitamin D deficiency rickets and vitamin B12 deficiency in vegetarian children. Acta Paediatr Scand, 1985, 74:191-5; (b) E. Zmora and others. Multiple nutritional deficiencies in infants from a strict vegetarian community. Am J Dis Child, 1979, 133(2):141-4; (c) ED Shinwell, R Gorodischer. Totally vegetarian diets and infant nutrition. Pediatrics, 1982, 70(4):582-6; (d) P Millett and others. Nutrient intake and vitamin status of healthy French vegetarians and nonvegetarians. Am J Clin Nutr, 1989, Oct 50:718-27; (e) C Lamberg-Allardt and others. Low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations and secondary hyperparathyroidism in middle-aged white strict vegetarians. Am J Clin Nutr, 1993, Nov 58:684-9; (e) T Outila and others. Dietary intake of vitamin D in premenopausal, healthy vegans was insufficient to maintain concentrations of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and intact parathyroid hormone within normal ranges during the winter in Finland. J Am Diet Assoc, 2000, 100:434-41.
27. J Groff and S Gropper, op. cit., 317.
28. (a) Dunne, op. cit., 14; (b) S Fallon. Vitamin A Vagary. Jnl of PPNF, Summer 1995. Also posted at http://www.westonaprice.org; (c) I Jennings. Vitamins in Endocrine Metabolism (Charles Thomas, London), 1970, 39-57.
29. (a) I Jennings, op. cit., 39-57; (b) J Groff and S Gropper, op. cit., 323-6.
30. WA Price, op. cit.
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71. Ellis, Path, Montegriffo. Veganism: Clinical findings and investigations. Amer J Clin Nutr, 1970, 32:249-255.
72. EA Enas. Coronary artery disease epidemic in Indians: a cause for alarm and call for action. J Indian Med Assoc 2000 Nov; 98(11):694-5, 697-702.
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74. (a) Herrmann, Schorr, Purschwitz, Rassoul, Richter. Total homocysteine, vitamin B (12), and total antioxidant status in vegetarians. Clin Chem, 2001, 47(6):1094-10; (b) D Mazzano and others. Cardiovascular risk factors in vegetarians. Normalization of hyperhomocysteinemia with vitamin B(12) and reduction of platelet aggregation with n-3 fatty acids. Thromb Res 2000, Nov 100:153-60.
75. (a) L Corr and M Oliver. The low-fat/low cholesterol diet is ineffective. Eur Heart J, 1997, 18:18-22; (b) G Taubes. The Soft Science of Dietary Fat. Science, 2001, Mar 30 291:5513 2536-45; (c) DM Dreon and others. A very-low-fat diet is not associated with improved lipoprotein profiles in men with a predominance of large, low-density lipoproteins. Amer J Clin Nutr, 1999, 69:411-8.
76. (a) U Ravnskov. The Cholesterol Myths, 47-113, 79-80; (b) A Ascherio and others. Dietary fat and risk of coronary heart disease in men. Brit Med J, 1996, 313:84-90.
77. B McConville. The Parents' Green Guide (Pandora, London), 1990.
78. C Fitzroy. The Great Fallacies of Vegetarianism. Posted at http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/00509.htm; accessed on December 27, 2001.
79. R Smith and E Pinckney. Diet, Blood Cholesterol, and Coronary Heart Disease: A Critical Review of the Literature - Vol 2. Vector Enterprises, CA, 1991. A shortened adaptation of Smith's section on vegetarianism and longevity was published in Jnl of PPNF, 1998, 22:4:27-29. See also S Fallon and M Enig. Wise Choices, Healthy Bodies. Wise Traditions, 2000, Winter, 15-21. Also posted at http://www.westonaprice.org.
80. ML Burr and PM Sweetnam. Vegetarianism, dietary fiber, and mortality. Amer J Clin Nutr, 1982, 36:873.
81. HA Kahn and others. Association between reported diet and all-cause mortality. Amer J Epidem, 1984, 119:775.
82. DA Snowden and others. Meat consumption and fatal ischemic heart disease. Prev Med, 1984, 13:490.
83. R Smith and E Pinckney. Diet, Blood Cholesterol, and Coronary Heart Disease: A Critical Review of the Literature - Vol 2, op. cit.
84. WA Price. Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, 163-187.
85. V Stefansson. The Fat of the Land (Macmillan; NY), 1956.
86. (a) GZ Pitskhelauri. The Long Living of Soviet Georgia (Human Sciences Press, NY), 1982; (b) Thomas Moore. Lifespan: What Really Affects Human Longevity (Simon & Schuster, NY), 1990.
87. HL Abrams. The relevance of paleolithic diet in determining contemporary nutritional needs. J Appl Nutr, 1979, 31:1,2:43-59.
88. HL Abrams. Vegetarianism: An anthropological/nutritional evaluation. J Appl Nutr, 1980, 32:2:53-87.
89. WA Price. Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, 23-44, 129-163.
90. J Raloff. High Fat Diets Help Athletes Perform. Science News, 1996, 149:18:287.
91. (a) L Cordain and others. The paradoxical nature of hunter-gatherer diets: meat-based, yet non-atherogenic. Eur J Clin Nutr, 2002, 56, Suppl 1, S1-S11; (b) S Boyd Eaton with M Shostak and M Konner. The Paleolithic Prescription: A Program of Diet & Exercise and a Design for Living (Harper & Row Publishing, CA), 1986.
92. S Fallon and M Enig. Guts and Grease: The Diet of Native Americans. Wise Traditions, 2001, Spring, 40-47. Posted at http://www.westonaprice.org.
93. DJ Stanford and JA Day, eds. Ice Age Hunters of the Rockies (University Press of Colorado, CO), 1992.
94. S Fallon and MG Enig. Caveman Cuisine. Jnl of PPNF, 21:2:1-4. Also posted at http://www.westonaprice.org.
95. USDA data, prepared by JL Wehrauch with technical assistance from J Borton and T Sampagna, presented as a reference table in S Fallon and M Enig, Guts and Grease: The Diet of Native Americans, op. cit.
96. V Stefansson. The Fat of the Land, op. cit.
97. (a) Ibid. (b) S Fallon and M Enig. The Cave Man Diet. Jnl of PPNF, 1997, Summer. Also posted at http://www.westonaprice.org.
98. S Hearne. The Journals of Samuel Hearne, 1768, and posted online at http://web.idirect.com/~hland/sh/sh006.htm
99. WA Price. Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, 279.
100. (a) HL Abrams. The Preference for Animal Protein and Fat: A Cross-Cultural Survey. Food and Evolution: Toward a Theory of Human Food Habits. M Harris and EB Ross, eds. (Temple University Press; PA), 1987, 207-223; (b) HL Abrams. The relevance of paleolithic diet in determining contemporary nutritional needs. J Appl Nutr, 1979, 31:1,2:43-59; (c) MN Cohen. The Food Crisis in History. (Yale University Press; CT.), 1977.
101. (a) Ibid. (b) J Bronowski. The Ascent of Man. (Little, Brown; MA.), 1972; (c) PS Martin. Pleistocene Overkill. Natural History, 1967, 76:32-8.
102. (a) HL Abrams. The Relevance of Paleolithic Diet in Determining Contemporary Nutritional Needs. J Appl Nutr, 31:1-2 (1979), 43-59; (b) Susan Allport. The Primal Feast. (Harmony Books; NY), 2000; (c) Human Skeletons in Human Society in Prehistoric Italy. University of Southampton, Dept. of Archaeology. Posted at http://www.arch.soton.ac.uk/Research/Italy/, accessed on January 7, 2002.
103. HL Abrams. Fire and cooking as a major influence on human cultural advancement: An anthropological/botanical nutritional perspective. J Appl Nutr, 1986, 38:1,2:24-31.
104. WA House and RM Welch. Effects of Natural Antinutrients on the Nutritive Value of Cereal Grains, Potato Tubers, and Legume Seeds. Crops as Sources of Nutrients for Humans. (American Society of Agronomy; WI.), 1984.
105. S Rizek and others. Fat in Today's Food Supply. J Amer Oil Chem Soc, 1974, 51:244.
106. MG Enig. Trans Fatty Acids in the Food Supply: A Comprehensive Report Covering 60 Years of Research, 2nd edition. (Enig Associates; MD.), 1995.
107. Rizek and others, op cit.
108. CW Enns and others. Trends in Food and Nutrient Intakes by Adults: NFCS 1977-78, CSFII 1989-91, and CFSII 1994-95. Fam Econom Nutr Rev, 1997, 10:4:2-15.
109. (a) J Beasley and J Swift. The Kellogg Report. (Institute of Health policy and Practice; NY), 1989, 144-5;(b) J Yudkin and others. Ann Nutr Metab, 1986, 30:4:261-6.
110. (a) E.H. Tiney. Proximate composition and mineral and phytate contents of legumes grown in Sudan. J Food Comp Analy, 1989, 2:67-78; (b) R Anderson and W Wolf. Compositional changes in trypsin inhibitors, phytic acid, saponins, and isoflavones related to soybean processing. J Nutr, 1995, 518S-588S.
111. (a) A Bedarova and others. [Comparison of nutrient intake and corresponding biochemical parameters in adolescent vegetarians and non-vegetarians]. Cas Lek Cesk, 2000, Jul 139:396-400; (b) JN Freeland-Graves and others. Zinc status in vegetarians. J Am Diet Assoc 1980 Dec 77:655-6; (c) AL Rauma and others. Antioxidant status in vegetarians versus omnivores. Nutrition 2000 Feb 16:111-9; (d) E Ginter and others. [Nutritional status in adults on an alternative or traditional diet]. Cas Lek Cesk, 2001, Mar 140:142-6; (e) R Simoncic and others. Influence of vegetarian and mixed nutrition on selected haematological and biochemical parameters in children. Nahrung 1997 Oct 41:311-4; (f) MR Lowik and others. Long-term effects of a vegetarian diet on the nutritional status of elderly people (Dutch Nutrition Surveillance System). J Am Coll Nutr 1990 Dec 9:600-9; (g) RD Bhattacharya and others. Copper and zinc level in biological samples from healthy subjects of vegetarian food habit in reference to community environment. Chronobiologia, 1985, Apr-Jun; 12(2):145-153; (h) JR Hunt and others. Zinc absorption, mineral balance, and blood lipids in women consuming controlled lactoovovegetarian and omnivorous diets for 8 wk. Amer J Clin Nutr, 1998, Mar;67(3):421-30; (i) M Krajcovicova-Kudlackova and others. [Nutritional risk factors of a vegetarian diet in adult lacto-ovo vegetarians]. Bratisl Lek Listy, 2000, 101:38-43.
112. (a) BF Harland and others. Nutritional status and phytate: zinc and phytate x calcium:zinc dietary molar ratios of lacto-ovo vegetarian Trappist monks: 10 years later. J Am Diet Assoc 1988; 88: 1562-6; (b) R Ellis. Phytate:zinc and phytate X calcium:zinc millimolar ratios in self-selected diets of Americans, Asian Indians, and Nepalese. J Am Diet Assoc, 1987, 87:1043-7; c) RS Gibson. Content and bioavailability of trace elements in vegetarian diets. Am J Clin Nutr 1994; 59(5 Suppl): 1223S-1232S.
113. (a) AS Sandberg. The effect of food processing on phytate hydrolysis and availability of iron and zinc. Adv Exp Med Biol, 1991, 289: 499-508; (b) U Svanberg and A-S Sandberg. Improved iron availability in weaning foods using germination and fermentation. In: Nutrient Availability: Chemical and Biological Aspects. Southgate DAT, Johnson IT, Fenwick GR, eds. (Cambridge University Press; UK), 1989, 179-81; c) Larsson M, Sandberg A-S. Phytate reduction in bread containing oat flour, oat bran or rye bran. J Cereal Sci 1991; 14: 141-9.
114. S Fallon and MG Enig. Tragedy and Hype: The Third International Soy Symposium. Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, 2000, July and August. Also posted at http://www.westonaprice.org
115. Ibid.
116. L. Dunne. The Nutrition Almanac, 3rd edition, 306.
117. M Fitzpatrick. Soy Isoflavones: Panacea or Poison? Jnl of PPNF, Fall 1998. Also posted at http://www.westonaprice.org
118. (a) N L Petrakis and others. Stimulatory influence of soy protein isolate on breast secretion in pre-and postmenopausal women. Cancer Epid Bio Prev, 1996, 5:785-794; (b) C Dees and others. Dietary estrogens stimulate human breast cells to enter the cell cycle. Env Health Perspec 1997, 105(Suppl 3):633-636.
119. Vegetarian diet in pregnancy linked to birth defect. Brit J Urology Int, January 2000, 85:107-113.
120. T Abe. Infantile leukemia and soybeans--a hypothesis. Leukemia, 1999, 13:317-20.
121. (a) Y Ishizuki and others. The effects on the thyroid gland of soybeans administered experimentally in healthy subjects. Nippon Naibunpi Gakkai Zasshi, 1991, 767: 622-629; (b) R L Divi and others. Anti-thyroid isoflavones from the soybean. Biochem Pharmac, 1997, 54:1087-1096.
122. (a) K D R Setchell and others. Dietary estrogens - a probable cause of infertility and liver disease in captive cheetahs. Gastroenterology, 1987, 93: 225-233; (b) A S Leopold. Phytoestrogens: Adverse effects on reproduction in California Quail. Science, 1976, 191:98-100; (c) HM Drane and others. Oestrogenic activity of soya-bean products. Food Cosm Tech, 1980, 18: 425-427; (d) S Kimura and others. Development of malignant goiter by defatted soybean with iodine-free diet in rats. Gann, 1976, 67:763-765; (e) C Pelissero and others. Estrogenic effect of dietary soy bean meal on vitellogenesis in cultured Siberian Sturgeon Acipenser baeri. Gen Comp End 83:447-457; (f) Braden and others. The oestrogenic activity and metabolism of certain isoflavones in sheep. Australian J of Agric Res, 1967, 18:335-348.
123. (a) Why Not Meat? (Part 2), Down to Earth News, (Honolulu; HI), Dec/Jan 1998, 1-4; (b) Ralph Ballantine. Transition to Vegetarianism. (Himalayan Institute Press; PA), 1994.
124. WL Voegtlin. The Stone Age Diet. (Vantage Press, Inc.; NY), 1975, 44-45. Also posted at http://www.paleodiet.com/comparison.html.
125. (a) HL Abrams. A diachronic preview of wheat in homonid nutrition. J Appl Nutr, 1978, 30:41-55; (b) J Goodall. In the Shadow of Man. Boston: 1971.
126. R. Ballantine, op. cit.
127. Why Not Meat? (Part 3). Down to Earth News, (Honolulu; HI). Feb/March 1999, 1-3.
128. F Pottenger, Pottenger's Cats--A Study in Nutrition. (Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation, CA), 1997.
129. (a) M Purdey. Are Organophosphate Pesticides Inv

[casadiscaes]

continuando...

The Myths of Vegetarianism
Part 2 of 2
Anthropological studies showing that no tribal peoples are strictly vegetarian suggest we need to include animal foods in our diets to maintain good health.
(Click here to go to Part 1)

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Extracted from Nexus Magazine, Volume 9, Number 4 (June-July 2002)
PO Box 30, Mapleton Qld 4560 Australia. [email protected]
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From our web page at: www.nexusmagazine.com

by Stephen Byrnes, PhD, RNCP
© 2000, 2002
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.PowerHealth.net


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MYTH #7: Vegetarians live longer and have more energy and endurance than meat-eaters.
A vegetarian guidebook published in Great Britain made the following claim:
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 can expect to live nine years longer than meat-eaters (this is often because heart and circulatory diseases are rarer). These days almost half the population in Britain is trying to avoid meat, according to a survey by the Food Research Association in January 1990.77

In commenting on this claim of extended lifespan, author Craig Fitzroy astutely points out that:
The "nine-year advantage" is an oft-repeated but invariably unsourced piece of anecdotal evidence for vegetarianism. But anyone who believes that by snubbing mum's Sunday roast they will be adding a decade to their years on 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 vegetarians are: anecdotal. There is no proof that a healthy vegetarian diet, when compared to a healthy omnivorous diet, will result in a longer life. Additionally, people who choose a vegetarian lifestyle typically also choose not to smoke; they choose to exercise; in short, they choose to live a healthier lifestyle. These things also are factors in one's longevity.

In the scientific literature, there are surprisingly few studies done on vegetarian longevity. Russell Smith, PhD, in his massive review study on heart disease, showed that as animal product consumption increased among some study groups, death rates actually decreased!79 Such results were not obtained among vegetarian subjects. For example, in a study published by Burr and Sweetnam in 1982, analysis of mortality data revealed that, although vegetarians had a slightly (0.11%) lower rate of heart disease than non-vegetarians, the all-cause death rate was much higher for vegetarians.80

Despite claims that studies have shown that meat consumption increased the risk for heart disease and shortened lives, the authors of those studies actually found the opposite. For example, in a 1984 analysis of a 1978 study of vegetarian Seventh Day Adventists, H. A. Kahn concluded:
Although our results add some substantial facts to the diet-disease question, we recognize how remote they are from establishing, for example, that men who frequently eat meat or women who rarely eat salad are thereby shortening their lives.81

A similar conclusion was reached by D. A. Snowden.82 Despite these startling admissions, the studies nevertheless concluded the exact opposite and urged people to reduce animal food intake in their diets. Further, both of these studies threw out certain dietary data that clearly showed no connection between eggs, cheese, whole milk and fat attached to meat (all high-fat, high-cholesterol foods) and heart disease. Dr Smith commented:
In effect, the Kahn [and Snowden] study is yet another example of negative results which are massaged and misinterpreted to support the politically correct assertions that vegetarians live longer lives.83

It is usually claimed that meat-eating peoples have a short lifespan, but the Aborigines of Australia, who traditionally eat a diet rich in animal products, are known for their longevity (at least before colonisation by Europeans). Within Aboriginal society there is a special caste of the elderly.84 Obviously, if no old people existed, no such group would have existed.

In his book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, Dr Price has numerous photographs of elderly native peoples from around the world. Explorers such as Vilhjalmur Stefansson reported great longevity among the Innuit (again, before colonisation).85 Similarly, the people of the Caucasus Mountains live to great ages on a diet of fatty pork and whole raw milk products. The Hunzas, also known for their robust health and longevity, drink substantial portions of goat's milk, which has a higher saturated fat content than cow's milk.86 In contrast, the largely vegetarian Hindus of southern India have the shortest lifespans in the world, partly because of a lack of food but also because of a distinct lack of animal protein in their diets.87

H. Leon Abrams's comments are instructive here:
Vegetarians often maintain that a diet of meat and animal fat leads to a premature death. Anthropological data from primitive societies do not support such contentions.88

Dr Price travelled around the world in the 1920s and 1930s, investigating native diets with regard to endurance and energy levels. Without exception, he found a strong correlation between diets rich in animal fats and robust health and athletic ability. Special foods for Swiss athletes, for example, included bowls of fresh, raw cream. In Africa, Dr Price discovered that groups whose diets were rich in fatty meats and fish, and organ meats like liver, consistently carried off the prizes in athletic contests, and that meat-eating tribes always dominated tribes whose diets were largely vegetarian.89

It is popular in sports nutrition to recommend "carb-loading" for athletes to increase their endurance levels. But recent studies done in New York and South Africa show that the opposite is true: athletes who "carb-loaded" had significantly less endurance than those who "fat-loaded" before athletic events.90



MYTH #8: The "cave man" diet was low-fat and/or vegetarian. Humans evolved as vegetarians.
Our Palaeolithic ancestors were hunter-gatherers, and three schools of thought have developed as to what their diet was like. One group argues for a high-fat and animal-based diet supplemented with seasonal fruits, berries, nuts, root vegetables and wild grasses. The second argues that primitive peoples consumed assorted lean meats and large amounts of plant foods. The third argues that our human ancestors evolved as vegetarians.

The "lean" Palaeolithic diet approach has been argued for quite voraciously by Drs Loren Cordain and Boyd Eaton in a number of popular and professional publications.91 Cordain and Eaton are believers in the "lipid hypothesis" of heart disease--the belief (debunked in Myth #6; see part one) that saturated fat and dietary cholesterol contribute to heart disease. Because of this, and the fact that Palaeolithic peoples or their modern equivalents did/do not suffer from heart disease, Cordain and Eaton espouse the theory that Palaeolithic peoples consumed most of their fat calories from mono-unsaturated and polyunsaturated sources and not saturated fats. Believing that saturated fats are dangerous to our arteries, Cordain and Eaton stay in step with current establishment nutritional thought and encourage modern peoples to eat a diet like our ancestors. This diet, they believe, was rich in lean meats and a variety of vegetables but was low in saturated fat.

However, the evidence they produce to support this theory is very selective and misleading.92 Saturated fats do not cause heart disease, as was shown above, and our Palaeolithic ancestors ate quite a bit of saturated fat from a variety of plant and animal sources.

We learn from authoritative sources that prehistoric humans of the North American 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 the modern sense, in that they have a thick layer of subcutaneous fat, as do the many species of bear and wild pig whose remains have been found at Paleolithic sites throughout the world.94

Analysis of many types of fat in game animals like antelope, bison, caribou, dog, elk, moose, seal and mountain sheep shows that they are rich in saturates and mono-unsaturates but relatively low in polyunsaturates.95 Further, while buffalo and game animals may have lean, non-marbled muscle meats, it is a mistake to assume that only these parts were eaten by hunter-gatherer groups like the Native Americans, who often hunted animals selectively for their fat and fatty organs, as the following section will show.

Anthropologists/explorers such as Vilhjalmur Stefansson reported that the Innuit and North American Indian tribes would worry when their catches of caribou were too lean: they knew sickness would follow if they did not consume enough fat.96 In other words, these primitive peoples did not like having to eat lean meat.

Northern Canadian Indians would also deliberately hunt older male caribou and elk, for these animals carried a 50-pound slab of back fat on them which 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 the winter), preferring to hunt, kill and consume them in the fall when they were fattened up.97

Explorer Samuel Hearne, writing in 1768, described how the Native American tribes he came into contact with would selectively hunt caribou just for the fatty parts:
On the twenty-second of July, we met several strangers, whom we joined in pursuit of the caribou, which were at this time so plentiful that we got everyday a sufficient number for our support, and indeed too frequently killed several merely for the tongues, marrow and fat.98

While Cordain and Eaton are certainly correct in saying that our ancestors ate meat, their contentions about fat intake, as well as the type of fat consumed, are simply incorrect.

While various vegetarian and vegan authorities like to think that we evolved as a species on a vegan or vegetarian diet, there exists little from the realm of nutritional anthropology to support these ideas.

To begin with, in his journeys Dr Price never once found a totally vegetarian culture. It should be remembered that Dr Price visited and investigated several population groups who were, for all intents and purposes, the 20th-century equivalents of our hunter-gatherer ancestors. Dr Price was on the 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 was building and maintaining excellent bodies by living entirely on plant foods.99

Anthropological data support this. Throughout the globe, all societies show a preference for animal foods and fats, and it seems that our ancestors only turned to large-scale farming when they had to, due to increased population pressures.100 Abrams and other authorities have shown that prehistoric man's quest for more animal foods was what spurred his expansion over the Earth, and that he apparently hunted certain species to extinction.101

Price also found that those peoples who out of necessity consumed more grains and legumes, had higher rates of dental decay than those who consumed more animal products. In his papers on vegetarianism, Abrams presents archaeological evidence that supports this finding: skulls of ancient peoples who were largely vegetarian have teeth containing caries and abscesses and show evidence of tuberculosis and other infectious diseases.102 The appearance of farming and the increased dependence on plant foods for our subsistence was clearly harmful to our health.

Finally, it is simply not possible for our prehistoric ancestors to have been vegetarian because they would not have been able to get enough calories or nutrients to survive on the plant foods that were available. The reason for this is that humans did not know how to cook or control fire at that time, 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 do not know that many of the plant foods we consume today are poisonous in their raw states.104

Based on all of this evidence, it is certain that our ancestors, the progenitors of humanity, ate a very non-vegetarian diet that was rich in saturated fatty acids.



MYTH #9: Meat and saturated fat consumption have increased in the 20th century, with a corresponding increase in heart disease and cancer.
Statistics do not bear out such fancies. Butter consumption has plummeted from 18 lb (8.165 kg) per person a year in 1900 to less than 5 lb (2.27 kg) per person a year today.105 Additionally, Westerners, urged on by government health agencies, have reduced their intake of eggs, cream, lard and pork. Chicken consumption has risen in the past few decades, but chicken is lower in saturated fat than either beef or pork.

Furthermore, a survey of cookbooks published in America in the 19th and early 20th centuries shows that people of earlier times ate plenty of animal foods and saturated fats. For example, in the Baptist Ladies Cook Book (Monmouth, Illinois, 1895), virtually every recipe calls for butter, cream or lard. Recipes for creamed vegetables are numerous as well. A scan of the Searchlight Recipe Book (Capper Publications, 1931) also has similar recipes: creamed liver, creamed cucumbers, hearts braised in buttermilk, etc. British Jews, as shown by the Jewish Housewives Cookbook (London, 1846), also had diets rich in cream, 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. A recipe for oyster pie from the Baptist cookbook calls for a quart of cream and a dozen eggs, and so forth and so on.

It does not appear, then, that people ate leaner diets in the last century. It is true that beef consumption has risen in the last few decades, but what has also risen precipitously, however, is consumption of margarine and other food products containing trans-fatty acids,106 lifeless, packaged "foods", processed vegetable oils,107 carbohydrates108 and refined sugar.109

Since one does not see chronic diseases like cancer and heart disease in beef-eating native peoples like the Masai and Samburu, it is not possible for beef to be the culprit behind these modern epidemics. This, of course, points the finger squarely at the other dietary factors as the most likely causes.



MYTH #10: Soy products are adequate substitutes for meat and dairy products.
It is typical for vegans and vegetarians in the Western world to rely on various soy products for their protein needs. There is little doubt the billion-dollar soy industry has profited immensely from the anti-cholesterol, anti-meat gospel of current nutritional thought. Whereas, not so long ago, soy was an Asian food primarily used as a condiment, now a variety of processed soy products proliferate in the marketplace.

While the traditionally fermented soy foods of miso, tamari, tempeh and natto are definitely healthful in measured amounts, the hyper-processed soy "foods" that most 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 and carries them out of the body. Vegetarians are known for their tendencies towards mineral deficiencies, especially of zinc,111 and it is the high phytate content of grain- and legume-based diets that is to blame.112 Though several traditional food-preparation techniques such as soaking, sprouting and fermenting 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 in whole grains) at a greater risk for mineral deficiencies.

Processed soy foods are also rich in trypsin inhibitors, which hinder protein digestion. Textured vegetable protein (TVP), soy "milk" and soy protein powders, and popular vegetarian meat and milk substitutes are entirely fragmented foods, made by treating soybeans with high heat and various alkaline washes to extract the beans' fat content or to neutralise their potent enzyme inhibitors.114 These practices completely denature the beans' protein content, rendering it very hard to digest. MSG, a neurotoxin, is routinely added to TVP to make it taste like the various foods it imitates.115

On a purely nutritional level, soybeans, like all legumes, are deficient in cysteine and methionine, vital sulphur-containing amino acids, as well as tryptophan, another essential amino acid. Furthermore, soybeans contain no vitamins A or D, required by the body to assimilate and utilise the beans' proteins.116 It is probably for this reason that Asian cultures that do consume soybeans usually combine them with fish or fish broths (abundant in fat-soluble vitamins) or other fatty foods.

Parents who feed their children soy-based formula should be aware of its extremely high phytoestrogen content. Some scientists have estimated a child being fed soy formula is ingesting the hormonal equivalent of five birth control pills a day.117 Such a high intake could have disastrous results. Also, soy formula contains no cholesterol, which is vital for brain and nervous system development.

Though research is still ongoing, some recent studies have indicated that soy's phytoestrogens could be causative factors in some forms of breast cancer,118 penile birth defects119 and infantile leukaemia.120 Soy's phytoestrogens, or isoflavones, have been definitely shown to depress thyroid function121 and to cause infertility in every animal species studied so far.122

Clearly, modern soy products and isolated isoflavone supplements are not healthy foods for vegetarians, vegans or anyone else, 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, like herbivorous animals, and longer intestines than carnivorous animals, this proves the human body is better suited for vegetarianism.123 This argument fails to note several human physiological features which clearly indicate a design for animal product consumption.

First and foremost is our stomach's production of hydrochloric acid, something not found in herbivores. Hydrochloric acid activates protein-splitting enzymes. Further, the human pancreas manufactures a full range of digestive enzymes to handle a wide variety of foods, both animal and vegetable.

Dr Walter Voegtlin's in-depth comparison of the human digestive system with that of the dog (a carnivore) and the sheep (a herbivore) clearly shows that we are closer in anatomy to the carnivorous dog than the herbivorous sheep.124 While humans may have longer intestines than animal carnivores, they are not as long as herbivores; nor do we possess multiple stomachs like many herbivores; nor do we chew cud. Our physiology definitely indicates a mixed feeder or an omnivore--much the same as our relatives the mountain gorilla and chimpanzee, who have all been observed eating small animals and in some cases other primates.125



MYTH #12: Eating animal flesh causes violent, aggressive behaviour in humans.
Some authorities on vegetarian diets, such as Dr Ralph Ballantine,126 claim that the fear and terror (if any; see Myth #15) an animal experiences at death is somehow "transferred" into its flesh and organs and "becomes" a part of the person who eats it.

These thinkers would do well to note that no scientific studies exist to support such a theory, and also remember the fact that a tendency towards irrational anger is a symptom of low vitamin B12 levels--which, as we have seen, are common in vegans and vegetarians.

In his travels, Dr Price always noted the extreme happiness and ingratiating natures of the peoples 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 and toxins! Meat, fish and eggs all decompose and putrefy extremely rapidly. As soon as an animal is killed, self-destruct enzymes are released, causing the formation of denatured substances called ptyloamines, which cause cancer.127

If meat, fish and eggs do indeed generate cancerous "ptyloamines", it is very strange that people have not been dying in droves from cancer for the past million years. Such sensationalistic and nonsensical claims cannot be supported by historical facts.

This article then went on to mention "mad cow disease" (BSE), parasites, salmonella, hormones, nitrates and pesticides as toxins in animal products. Hormones, nitrates and pesticides are present in commercially raised animal products (as well as commercially raised fruits, grains and vegetables) and are definitely things to be concerned about. However, one can avoid these chemicals by taking care to consume range-fed, organic meats, eggs and dairy products which do not contain harmful man-made toxins.

Parasites are easily avoided by taking normal precautions in food preparations. Pickling or fermenting meats, as is custom in traditional societies, protects against parasites. In his travels, Dr Price always found healthy, disease-free, parasite-free peoples eating raw meat and dairy products 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-food diet. The cats eating cooked meats and pasteurised milk sickened and died and had numerous parasites.128 Salmonella can be transmitted by plant products as well as animal.

It is often claimed by vegetarians that meat is harmful to our bodies because ammonia is released from the breakdown of its proteins. Although it is true that ammonia production does result from meat digestion, our bodies quickly convert this substance into harmless urea. The alleged toxicity of meat is greatly exaggerated by vegetarians.

"Mad cow disease", or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), is most likely not caused by cows eating animal parts with their food--a feeding practice that goes back over 100 years. British organic farmer Mark Purdey has argued convincingly that cows that get mad cow disease are the very ones that have had a particular organophosphate insecticide applied to their backs, or have grazed on soils which lack magnesium but contain high levels of aluminium.129

Small outbreaks of "mad cow disease" have also occurred among people who reside near cement works and chemical factories and in some areas with a particular type of volcanic soil.130

Purdey theorises that the organophosphate pesticides got into the cows' fat through a spraying program, and then were ingested by the cows again with the animal parts feeding. Seen this way, it is the insecticides, via the parts feeding (and not the parts themselves or their associated "prions"), that has caused this outbreak. As noted before, cows have been eating ground-up animal parts in their feeds for over 100 years. It was never a problem before the introduction of these particular insecticides.

Recently, Purdey has gained support from Dr Donald Brown, a British biochemist who has also argued for a non-infectious cause of BSE. Brown attributes BSE to environmental toxins, specifically manganese overload.131



MYTH #14: Eating meat or animal products is less "spiritual" than eating only plant foods.
It is often claimed that those who eat meat or animal products are somehow less "spiritually evolved" than those who do not. Though this is not a nutritional or academic issue, those who do include animal products in their diet are often made to feel inferior in some way. This issue, therefore, is worth addressing.

Several world religions place no restrictions on animal consumption, and nor did their founders. The Jews eat lamb at their most holy festival, the Passover. Muslims also celebrate Ramadan with lamb before entering into their 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 Buddhism do place strictures on meat consumption, but dairy products are always allowed. Similar tenets are found in Hinduism. As part of the Samhain celebration, Celtic pagans would slaughter the weaker animals of the herds and cure their meat for the oncoming winter. It is not true, therefore, that eating animal foods is always connected with "spiritual inferiority".

Nevertheless, it is often claimed that since eating meat involves the taking of a life, it is somehow tantamount to murder. Leaving aside the religious philosophies that often permeate this issue, what appears to be at hand is a misunderstanding of the life force and how it works.

Modern peoples (vegetarian and non-vegetarian) have lost touch with what it takes to survive in our world--something native peoples never lose sight of. We do not necessarily hunt or clean our meats: we purchase steaks and chops at the supermarket. We do not necessarily toil in rice paddies: we buy bags of brown rice. And so forth, and so on.

When Native Americans killed a game animal for food, they would routinely offer a prayer of thanks to the animal's spirit for giving its life so they could live. In our world, life feeds off life. Destruction is always balanced with generation. This is a good thing. Unchecked, the life force becomes cancerous. If animal food consumption is viewed in this manner, it is hardly murder but sacrifice. Modern peoples would do well to remember this.



MYTH #15: Eating animal foods is inhumane.
Without question, some commercially raised livestock live in deplorable conditions 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 consumption most definitely do not endorse such practices.

As noted in our discussion of Myth #1, commercial farming of livestock results in an unhealthy food product, whether that product be meat, milk, butter, cream or eggs. Our ancestors did not consume such substandard foodstuffs, and neither should we.

It is possible to raise animals humanely. This is why organic, preferably biodynamic, farming is to be encouraged: it is cleaner and more efficient, and produces healthier animals and foodstuffs from those animals. Each person should make every effort, then, to purchase organically raised livestock (and plant foods). Not only does this better support our bodies--as organic foods are more nutrient-dense132 and are free from hormone and pesticide residues--but this also supports smaller farms and is therefore better for the economy.133

Nevertheless, many people have philosophical problems with eating animal flesh, and these sentiments must be respected. Dairy products and eggs, though, are not the result of an animal's death and are fine alternatives for these people.

It should also not be forgotten that agriculture, which involves both the clearance of land to plant crops and the protection and maintenance of those crops, results in many animal deaths.134 Therefore, the belief that "becoming vegetarian" will somehow spare animals from dying is one with no foundation in fact.



BIOCHEMICAL AND GENETIC INDIVIDUALITY
As a cleansing diet, vegetarianism is sometimes a good choice. Several health conditions (e.g., gout) can often be ameliorated by a temporary reduction in intake of animal products and an increase of plant foods. But such measures must not be continuous throughout life: there are vital nutrients found only in animal foods that we must ingest for optimal health.

Furthermore, there is 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 by nutritional biochemist Roger Williams, PhD, the term refers to the fact that different people require different nutrients based on their unique genetic make-up. Ethnic and racial backgrounds figure in this concept as well. A diet that works for one may not work as well for someone else.

As a practitioner, I've seen several clients following a vegetarian diet and having severe health problems: obesity, candidiasis, hypothyroidism, cancer, diabetes, leaky gut syndrome, anaemia and chronic fatigue. Because of the widespread rhetoric that a vegetarian diet is "always healthier" than a diet that includes meat or animal products, these people saw no reason to change their diet, even though that was the cause of their problems. What these people actually needed for optimal health was more animal foods and fats and fewer carbohydrates.

Further, due to peculiarities in genetics and individual biochemistry, some people simply cannot have a vegetarian diet because of such things as lectin intolerance and desaturase enzyme deficiencies. Lectins present in legumes, a prominent feature of vegetarian diets, are not tolerated by many people. Others have grain sensitivities, especially to gluten, or to grain proteins in general. Again, since grains are a major feature of vegetarian diets, such people cannot thrive on them.135

Desaturase enzyme deficiencies are usually present in those people of Innuit, Scandinavian, Northern European and sea coast ancestry. They lack the ability to convert alpha-linolenic acid into EPA and DHA, two omega-3 fatty acids intimately involved in the function of the immune and nervous systems. The reason for this is because these people's ancestors got an abundance of EPA and DHA from the large amounts of cold-water fish they ate. Over time, because of non-use, they lost the ability to manufacture the necessary enzymes 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, and EPA is only found in animal foods. DHA is present in some algae, but the amounts are much lower than in fish oils.136

It is also apparent that vegan diets are not suitable for all people due to inadequate cholesterol production in the liver, and cholesterol is only found in animal foods. It is often said that the body makes enough cholesterol to get by and that there is no reason to consume foods that contain it (i.e., animal foods). However, recent research has shown otherwise. Singer's work at the University of California, Berkeley, has shown that the cholesterol in eggs improves memory in older people.137 In other words, these elderly people's own cholesterol was insufficient to improve their memory, but added dietary cholesterol from eggs was.

Though it appears that some people do well on little or no meat and remain healthy as lacto-vegetarians or lacto-ovo-vegetarians, the reason for this is because these diets are healthier for those people, not because they're healthier in general. However, a total absence of animal products, whether meat, fish, insects, eggs, butter or dairy, is to be avoided. Though it may take years, problems will eventually ensue under such dietary regimes and they will certainly show in future generations. Dr Price's seminal research unequivocally demonstrated this.

The reason for this is simple evolution: humanity evolved eating animal foods and fats as part of its diet, and our bodies are suited and accustomed to them. One cannot change evolution in a few years.

Dr Abrams said it well when he wrote this:
Humans have always been meat-eaters. The fact that no human society is entirely vegetarian, and those that are almost entirely vegetarian suffer from debilitated conditions of health, seems unequivocally to prove that a plant diet must be supplemented with at least a minimum amount of animal protein to sustain health. Humans are meat-eaters and always have been. Humans are also vegetable-eaters and always have been, but plant foods must be supplemented by an ample amount of animal protein to maintain optimal health.138


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Author's Notes:
Thanks to Sally Fallon, MA, Lee Clifford, MS, CCN, and Dr H. Leon Abrams, Jr, for their gracious assistance in preparing and reviewing this paper.

This paper was not sponsored or paid for by the meat or dairy industries.
Editor's Notes:
The full text of the article, including endnotes, is also available on the author's website at:
http://www.powerhealth.net/selected_articles.htm.

Dr Stephen Byrnes's article was originally published in the Townsend Letter for Doctors & Patients, July 2000, and was revised in January 2002.
About the Author:
Stephen Byrnes, PhD, RNCP, enjoys robust health on a diet that includes butter, cream, eggs, meat, whole milk, cheese and liver. He is the author of Diet & Heart Disease: It's NOT What You Think and Digestion Made Simple (Whitman Books, 2001), and The Lazy Person's Whole Foods Cookbook (Ecclesia Life Mana, 2001). He is based in the USA. Visit his website at http://www.PowerHealth.net.

Recommended Reading/Research:
The Weston A. Price Foundation:
http://www.westonaprice.org
Why I am Not a Vegetarian:
http://www.acsh.org/publications/priori ... arian.html
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/
PETA Sucks:
http://www.petasucks.cc
Animal Rights.net:
http://www.animalrights.net
Endnotes:
77. B McConville. The Parents' Green Guide (Pandora, London), 1990.
78. C Fitzroy. The Great Fallacies of Vegetarianism. Posted at http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/00509.htm; accessed on December 27, 2001.
79. R Smith and E Pinckney. Diet, Blood Cholesterol, and Coronary Heart Disease: A Critical Review of the Literature - Vol 2. Vector Enterprises, CA, 1991. A shortened adaptation of Smith's section on vegetarianism and longevity was published in Jnl of PPNF, 1998, 22:4:27-29. See also S Fallon and M Enig. Wise Choices, Healthy Bodies. Wise Traditions, 2000, Winter, 15-21. Also posted at http://www.westonaprice.org.
80. ML Burr and PM Sweetnam. Vegetarianism, dietary fiber, and mortality. Amer J Clin Nutr, 1982, 36:873.
81. HA Kahn and others. Association between reported diet and all-cause mortality. Amer J Epidem, 1984, 119:775.
82. DA Snowden and others. Meat consumption and fatal ischemic heart disease. Prev Med, 1984, 13:490.
83. R Smith and E Pinckney. Diet, Blood Cholesterol, and Coronary Heart Disease: A Critical Review of the Literature - Vol 2, op. cit.
84. WA Price. Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, 163-187.
85. V Stefansson. The Fat of the Land (Macmillan; NY), 1956.
86. (a) GZ Pitskhelauri. The Long Living of Soviet Georgia (Human Sciences Press, NY), 1982; (b) Thomas Moore. Lifespan: What Really Affects Human Longevity (Simon & Schuster, NY), 1990.
87. HL Abrams. The relevance of paleolithic diet in determining contemporary nutritional needs. J Appl Nutr, 1979, 31:1,2:43-59.
88. HL Abrams. Vegetarianism: An anthropological/nutritional evaluation. J Appl Nutr, 1980, 32:2:53-87.
89. WA Price. Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, 23-44, 129-163.
90. J Raloff. High Fat Diets Help Athletes Perform. Science News, 1996, 149:18:287.
91. (a) L Cordain and others. The paradoxical nature of hunter-gatherer diets: meat-based, yet non-atherogenic. Eur J Clin Nutr, 2002, 56, Suppl 1, S1-S11; (b) S Boyd Eaton with M Shostak and M Konner. The Paleolithic Prescription: A Program of Diet & Exercise and a Design for Living (Harper & Row Publishing, CA), 1986.
92. S Fallon and M Enig. Guts and Grease: The Diet of Native Americans. Wise Traditions, 2001, Spring, 40-47. Posted at http://www.westonaprice.org.
93. DJ Stanford and JA Day, eds. Ice Age Hunters of the Rockies (University Press of Colorado, CO), 1992.
94. S Fallon and MG Enig. Caveman Cuisine. Jnl of PPNF, 21:2:1-4. Also posted at http://www.westonaprice.org.
95. USDA data, prepared by JL Wehrauch with technical assistance from J Borton and T Sampagna, presented as a reference table in S Fallon and M Enig, Guts and Grease: The Diet of Native Americans, op. cit.
96. V Stefansson. The Fat of the Land, op. cit.
97. (a) Ibid. (b) S Fallon and M Enig. The Cave Man Diet. Jnl of PPNF, 1997, Summer. Also posted at http://www.westonaprice.org.
98. S Hearne. The Journals of Samuel Hearne, 1768, and posted online at http://web.idirect.com/~hland/sh/sh006.htm
99. WA Price. Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, 279.
100. (a) HL Abrams. The Preference for Animal Protein and Fat: A Cross-Cultural Survey. Food and Evolution: Toward a Theory of Human Food Habits. M Harris and EB Ross, eds. (Temple University Press; PA), 1987, 207-223; (b) HL Abrams. The relevance of paleolithic diet in determining contemporary nutritional needs. J Appl Nutr, 1979, 31:1,2:43-59; (c) MN Cohen. The Food Crisis in History. (Yale University Press; CT.), 1977.
101. (a) Ibid. (b) J Bronowski. The Ascent of Man. (Little, Brown; MA.), 1972; (c) PS Martin. Pleistocene Overkill. Natural History, 1967, 76:32-8.
102. (a) HL Abrams. The Relevance of Paleolithic Diet in Determining Contemporary Nutritional Needs. J Appl Nutr, 31:1-2 (1979), 43-59; (b) Susan Allport. The Primal Feast. (Harmony Books; NY), 2000; (c) Human Skeletons in Human Society in Prehistoric Italy. University of Southampton, Dept. of Archaeology. Posted at http://www.arch.soton.ac.uk/Research/Italy/, accessed on January 7, 2002.
103. HL Abrams. Fire and cooking as a major influence on human cultural advancement: An anthropological/botanical nutritional perspective. J Appl Nutr, 1986, 38:1,2:24-31.
104. WA House and RM Welch. Effects of Natural Antinutrients on the Nutritive Value of Cereal Grains, Potato Tubers, and Legume Seeds. Crops as Sources of Nutrients for Humans. (American Society of Agronomy; WI.), 1984.
105. S Rizek and others. Fat in Today's Food Supply. J Amer Oil Chem Soc, 1974, 51:244.
106. MG Enig. Trans Fatty Acids in the Food Supply: A Comprehensive Report Covering 60 Years of Research, 2nd edition. (Enig Associates; MD.), 1995.
107. Rizek and others, op cit.
108. CW Enns and others. Trends in Food and Nutrient Intakes by Adults: NFCS 1977-78, CSFII 1989-91, and CFSII 1994-95. Fam Econom Nutr Rev, 1997, 10:4:2-15.
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