Low Carb Diets vs Veganism
I was just listening to a Jimmy Moore podcast with former 20-year vegan Lierre Keith.
She makes some very good points about vegan diets being too overloaded with soy protein, and often too low on fat and high on grains. I definitely would agree that a high grain, low fat diet would eventually cause health issues. And she also speaks to the myths that veganism would save the planet, or that you can be a vegan and not kill living things. It’s very interesting and I think she’s got a message worth reading about and listening to.
However, I have a bone to pick with some of her claims.
First of all, I think she engages in some of the same type of broad generalizing that many vegans do. For example, she assumes that a vegan diet MUST be low fat, and MUST include lots of grains. True, many vegans do eat this way, but it’s definitely not the only way they eat. This is very similar to what I often hear from vegetarians and vegans about eating meat- that ALL meat is bad for you. They often don’t consider the vast differences in quality of meats, and how they affect one’s health. For example, grass fed beef is far more healthy for you than grain fed beef.
Secondly, she makes some claims that have not been scientifically proven. She says that all of her health problems were caused by her diet, but then uses confirmation bias as her evidence. She says that her vegan diet gave her low energy, but I have read vegans who claim that they gained energy by cutting out meat. So it’s just one opinion vs. another.
Granted, I have not read Lierre’s book yet, so I may be missing some studies or evidence that she is basing her claims on. And, from what I have read, a lot of the vegan craze was started by the thoroughly debunked China Study, which she also dismisses because of its use of a highly processed form of whey protein (which she says would give anyone cancer!).
There’s more to be said on this topic, as I think Lierre Keith is bringing up some important truths, but of course everyone needs to be highly scientific about any claims, as we always are at Healthy Mind Fit Body!
(BTW, here is Lierre Keith getting a cayenne pepper-laced pie thrown in her face by some vegan activists! That’ll show her I’m sure!)
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Thomas Mangum on Fri, 19th Mar 2010 7:23 pm
Good point about extremes and generalizations.
As predominantly a vegetarian that eats a lot of raw vegan foods, I can say that vegan does not equal healthy. It’s ALL relative. I do feel that RAW vegan is healthier than cooked vegan IN GENERAL. This is only based on MY measured results. That said, it is easier for me to “go out of nutritional whack” eating 100% vegan.
Soy
I’m not convinced that eating soy meat alternatives is healthy when so much attention is given to making it smell and taste like meat. Not for me! I just plain don’t like meat and have no interest in ANYTHING smelling or tasting like it. If I wanted it, I’d eat meat.
Vegan diets overloaded with soy? hmmm, well she hasn’t met me and friends I know that are not into soy. When has any processed food been “healthier” than the real thing?
I get the majority of protein and many fats from hemp seed, hemp protein, nuts, seeds, dark leafy green juices, etc… Trust me, I get plenty!
Thanks for letting me share a perspective and always Kevin, appreciate your posts!
Kevin on Mon, 22nd Mar 2010 6:39 pm
Hey Thomas,
Thanks for the comment, always welcome! Great points. Hemp protein is much better than soy!
Lysle on Sat, 17th Sep 2011 6:01 am
“And she also speaks to the myths that veganism would save the planet, or that you can be a vegan and not kill living things.”
I am a vegan and I have met many vegans and none of them have ever said either of those things (although ‘save the planet’ is a pretty ambiguous idea and I would say that many things help save the planet including veganism). Definitely straw-man arguments. Veganism is a doctrine of reducing animal suffering, not absolute avoidance of death of living things.
I originally found the article searching for confirmation bias in vegans, I think its sorta ironic though that you use it in terms of a vegan using confirmation bias as an argument to stop being vegan? I was looking for the opposite.
Thanks for the comment Lysle!
Just the other day, I was approached by someone asking me to pledge to not eat meat for 30 days. I asked her what it was for, and she mentioned saving animals and helping the planet.
I believe humans were meant to eat animals, and I don’t see how a vegan diet is good for the planet, when you look at all the grains that we would need to farm in order to sustain it for billions of people.
I think it’s an interesting debate and would love to hear others chime in.
Cheers,
Kevin
Michael P (@PizSez) on Sun, 18th Sep 2011 12:17 am
I didn’t claw my way to the top of the food chain so I could eat only what food eats.
Veg*ism ignores human physiology and nutritional needs, as well as being morally and politically idiotic.