sidney@faron.UUCP (Sidney Markowitz) (04/30/85)
good books that
>support these claims.
There are many reasons for becoming vegetarian, health being just some of
them. Francis Moore Lappe' states the case well in _Diet for a Small Planet_,
as someone already mentioned. She has modified her position a bit since the
book was written. There was a good interview with her in _East/West Journal_
some time ago, 10 years after the publication of her book. She said that had
been overly concerned with complimentary proteins and getting sufficient
protein. Further research has shown that anyone eating a reasonably varied
grain, bean and vegetable diet will have sufficient proteins if they are
getting sufficient calories. Lappe' said that _Diet_ emphasized dairy and
eggs much more than she would now.
Some of the indicators of the health benefits of vegetarianism: The lower
incidence of cancer and heart disease among vegetarian Seventh Day
Adventists as compared to other populations in the same parts of country;
Low blood pressure and serum cholesterol levels in vegetarians studied at
Tufts and Harvard Medical Schools; The _Dietary Guidelines_ released by a
subcommittee of the U.S. Senate some years ago, recommending a decrease in
meat, dairy, eggs and sugar, and an increase in grains, vegetables and fruit
in the diet of the average American.
An objective look at the evidence would not necessarily to the conclusion
that you should be a strict vegetarian. As an extreme example, how much
negative impact on your health would one bite of steak per year have? Two
per year? So the health evidence could only be for moderation. However, if
you do become vegetarian for a while you may find that aesthetics will tend
to keep you that way -- Meat can get to seem pretty disgusting if you
haven't had it for a while. (half a :-) )
Another aspect of the health negatives of animal food has to do with the
practical side of obtaining it in this country. There has been quite a bit
of discussion recently in _Science_ about the use of subclinical doses of
antibiotics in livestock feed to increase weight. This common practice has
now been linked to several outbreaks of food poisoning, complicated by the
resistance of the bacterial strains to antibiotics. Cases of very young
children in Puerto Rico developing female secondary sexual characteristics
have been ascribed to the levels of hormones fed to the chickens in their
diet. Pesticides and other chemical pollution are concentrated farther up
the food chain.
As for the positive health benefits of vegetarianism, I think that you have
to distinguish between not eating animal food and eating healthily. I know
of people who are vegetarian for one reason or another, but pay very little
attention to what they eat otherwise. A diet of Twinkies and Coke isn't
going to do much good. Junk food is junk food even if it does not come from
an animal. (Besides, Twinkies is not vegetarian -- check the label.)
According to Lappe', you don't have to worry about getting sufficient
protein, unless you are into fasting, fruitarianism, or some such. For
minerals and vitamins, I would suggest looking up the numbers for various
foods and for RDA's and get a feel for how much of what kind of food
provides what levels of nutrition. Then proceed to eat a varied diet with
plenty of vegetables and don't worry about it anymore. There are some hints
that standard nutritional "experts" don't seem to know about: A common myth
is that there is no non-animal source of B-12. Check the values for tempeh
(a fermented soy product) and for spirulina (an algae). Tempeh is a
particularly nutritious and versatile food. The other B vitamins are a bit
easier to get in the vegetable world, I believe. Also, as you check for
different sources of nutrition, don't forget the seaweeds. They are
generally a good source of minerals which are ignored by mainstream
nutritionists.
I have been impressed over the years that every time some new result appears
relating health and diet, the recommended eating habit is already part of a
vegetarian diet containing a varied selection of grains, vegetables,
seaweeds, etc. This includes links between cholesterol and heart disease,
between carotene-containing vegetables and reduced incidence of lung cancer,
between lack of fiber and cancer of the colon.
I'm new to net.veg, so I hope this has not been a repetition of some recent
posting that is no longer on our disk. I look forward to maintaining contact
with other veggies on the net.
--
Sidney Markowitz
ARPA: sidney@mitre-bedford
UUCP: ...{allegra,decvax,genrad,ihnp4,philabs,security,utzoo}!linus!sidney