But Keith insists that a vegan diet will damage us all–she is 100% certain of this–and it is simply not true. She told me she ate mac 'n cheese every night for dinner!! I FEEL OFFENDED. To start this out let me be clear, the author seems to be mostly of the view of left/liberal, I myself lean more right/conservative so to me some of the language was grating, however I realize the book is not written so much for me, it was written more for vegans. I found this claim particularly bizarre: Really? We should pay attention to the kind and quantity of fats we consume. I think that a lot of bad reviews on this book are written by misguided Vegans who haven't read the book and don't understand what the purpose is. We need the calories to produce big brains. It's as if everyone was saying to me "Believe me, don't believe your lying eyes (and stomach)" . Meat-eating goes back a lot further than your co-worker states. Even if readers pretended and gave you (the author) the benefit of a doubt (you secret Ph. That said, there was much for me to agree on in this book and much for me to learn. It’s the increased consumption of meat and dairy. Sorry, but my personal experience begs to differ. Am J Clin Nutr 2000;71:682–92. In case someone hasn’t mentioned this already, Lierre Keith does mention what she ate as a vegan on KPFA 94.1 Radio on the 29th October 2010, when she states she “binged on eggs and dairy” every chance she got. Vegetarian diets are linked to lower risk for death from ischemic heart disease, according to findings of an evidence-based review. A symbiotic relationship. It is really sad that the publishers would even publish that kind of crap without doing at least some amount of fact checking. It needed b12, which you can only get from animal sources. Many farmers can't survive. Instead, my readings on the subject (as well my own and others' experiences) suggest that B12 deficiency is caused by an absorption problem, not a lower than average intake; and that low B12 intake, or what is currently defined as low, has no direct link to health problems. Everything is easy when you are a middle class white American. And I didn't want to say this in my review because I have absolutely no proof it it, but I agree that she sounds very much like someone who had an eating disorder. Pierre Keith writes in this book, The Vegetarian Myth, about her journey from vegan to meat eater and what she has learned along the way. Her citation is to a passage in Gary Taubes's Good Calories, Bad Calories: 2009;109:1266–1282.). Wow. i see the book more as a call to stop dividing ourselves into groups like meat eaters and vegetarians because we can do that all day but soon we will all have NO food as a result of ravenous agricultural systems & corporations, something drastic has to happen. You could be eating meat but if you make sure it doesn’t become excessive and make sure you get enough greens, variety of colorful fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds you could still be living healthy life. Don’t underestimate how much their *billions* can buy. http://www.economist.com/node/2020047, “Face it, most vegans are fanatics. For example:http://www.wateraid.org/uk/about_us/wateraid_in_the_news/805.asp, http://allafrica.com/stories/200805260442.html. In general, I would agree that it is good to cite and sad that the author of said book did not. Cooking was a major event in our evolution. soaking of grains/legumes, fermenting (as in sourdough bread) and consuming Vitamin C with iron-rich foods. Looking back on the studies done on 229 cultures of indigenous people as you can see that none of them lived as vegans[2]. When I went to the USDA Nutrient Database and compared Cooked lentils, 16070, to Beef, flank, steak, separable lean only, trimmed to 0″ fat, choice, cooked, broiled, 13069 (which I believe to be a far leaner and “healthier” choice of meat than the average North American consumes), the following information was reported: Comparing 100g of cooked lentils to 50g of beef (which have more or less equivalent caloric values of 116 kcal and 118 kcal, respectively), the beef is significantly higher in protein, zinc, Vitamin B12 (lentils have none), riboflavin, and niacin. And at least half of the foods consumed are unfermented foods including tofu, soymilk, and edamame. It gets environmental science wrong. I'm familiar with one study–which I know about only because I read about it in Anna Lappe's book "Diet for a Hot Planet" (so I'm pulling a Lierre Keith by referencing it)–but the researchers said that the data suggest that "leguminous cover crops could fix enough nitrogen to replace the amount of synthetic fertilizer currently in use." I don't know if you're aware, but there is blog that is dedicated to busting myths in "The Vegetarian Myth". Dr. Siri-Tarino has received an honorarium and has been supported by a grant from the National Dairy Council.” It would be difficult to contend that an article with this type of disclosure statement is biased in favor of vegetarianism! The review is if anything too kind to Lierre Keith. I have not had a cold or even a sore throat or phlegm for a decade. Do you agree that wilful ignorance isn’t what the vegan camp needs? It's being done in some small-scale settings, but it's not considering very promising. Slowly. Those impulses and ignorances are inherent to the vegetarian myth. If either or both of these documents are of any interest I can email them to you. Was eating nuts more heavily – that complicated the IBS and diverticulitis. I'm not an expert in the field, but what would be the problem with using properly treated human manure? Lieire Keith seems not to truly understand this as she willing to condone infanticide and/or abortion, destroying cities + mass-transit + honest fair free trade + travel; thus turning Earth into giant open-air prison camp. Here's what she says: It was $15.99 though, so I got the sample. The only nutrient you can’t get from unfortified plant foods is vitamin B12–and it’s easy enough to just eat foods that are fortified with this nutrient or take a supplement. It is not necessary to eat meat just because we have canines, as well it is not necessary to procreate because we have reproductive organs. But your view on soy is misinformed. Earth needs logic, science, compassion, fairness, freedom, pragmatism, polite dialogue, for all people to be invited to join, people to have control over their lives and deaths. Incidentally, you write "a cup of soymilk contains around 7 grams of soy protein." The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice, and Sustainability by Lierre Keith is one of the best books I've read in at least a decade. It’s called human error, and it befalls everyone; even, and sometimes especially, the highly educated. “It’s true that some vegans are too skinny and are not healthy. In this regard, here’s an interesting piece: “Number of Animals Killed to Produce One Million Calories in Eight Food Categories”. A percentage point is the unit for measuring differences between two percentages, so by calling this a 10 percent change, she obscures the fact that the numbers refer to percentages of the number of calories, rather than the total amount of fat. This assumes of course that you are not going to be eating the abundant insects you have in your own back yard, because if you do, then you don’t need the sheep. Soy was probably reported under the "Bean" category. Also vegetarians don’t tend to evolve to be particularly intelligent, as their food source doesn’t move so cognitive ability is not required to develop to such a degree.. 1. Recommended Supplements: A Vegan Nutrition Primer, Preventing Ex-Vegans: Managing Expectations, Preventing Ex-Vegans: The Power of Ethics, Preventing Ex-Vegans: Why Nutrition and Nutritionism Matter, Preventing Ex-Vegans: Why Feeling “Normal” Matters. This point is particularly important because the USDA data (Taubes's source; http://65.216.150.146/Query.htm ) show that our calorie intake increased substantially from the 1960s to 1998 (the period to which he is referring). You people are delusional. Though Ms. Kieth is somewhat off base on a few assumptions, for the most part she is spot on. We have evolved SO much that now we do not NEED to eat animals. I didn't know there even was a book that claimed it was bad for you to be vegetarian/vegan. Nature is a massive feedback control system that is only poorly understood. There's a problem loading this menu right now. I have not read this book, but if the comments from those who have read it are correct, the reader is completely in the dark as to what Keith was putting into her body. Or maybe interview of the long-term "survivors" of a vegan diet? Good luck with that. Because there are far fewer legitimate citations in this review than there are in Keith’s (imperfect) book. Some things did jump out. Keith makes a big point about the fact that humans now eat foods—grains—that our Paleolithic ancestors rarely ate. But Keith insists that a vegan diet will damage us all–she is 100% certain of this–and it is simply not true." Thank you! Nobody warned her, not even her doctors. I *think* that is one reason why chemical fertilizers are used and livestock waste has become a pollutant farmers get rid of in nasty ways. Prime members enjoy FREE Delivery and exclusive access to music, movies, TV shows, original audio series, and Kindle books. Of course sewage sludge and fossil-fuel derived fertilizers work very well productivity-wise, but there are other reasons not to use those. I acknowledge that the lack of global female empowerment is tied in with industrialization, agriculture, and the problems of consumerism, but she should have tied these pieces together in her book rather than throwing them out to be interpreted without support. I am not a fat phobe, since they ban or restrict healthy foods like unsweetened bakers chocolate, creamy unsweetened natural peanut butter, nuts, seeds, unsweetened fortified coconut milk which is so delicious, virgin coconut oil, etc etc,. Even though I had never made a decision to become vegan or vegetarian, I thought it might be a viable option someday for the health benefits. To me it sounds more like she had an eating disorder that just happened to include only plant foods. Cow milk was rarely drank. Just keep spreading the love, veganism sells itself & a plant based diet will prevail , “Keith makes a big point about the fact that humans now eat foods—grains—that our Paleolithic ancestors rarely ate. (There is much more on soy in this book, covering all the usual criticisms, but I’m going to address that in another post; it’s a big topic. This is just my opinion but the author of that book looks and sounds very upset, unbalance and even confused at times during that interview. If you really, REALLY want to live as nature intended….as your genes scream for you to, then accept that you are an omnivore NOT a ruminant. I am a vegan for both moral and health and environmental reasons. None of this gets even a mention in the book. I say omnivore because, as I understand it, B12 supplements are derived from bacteria, and yeast foods from, well, yeast. For some one like me who doesn't have enough knowledge to decide who is right and who isn't in this regard, this was more convincing that the fanatical ranting of extreme thinking people. Of course if a chicken is living healthy happy free and laying bunches of eggs and you or I take and eat a few; that just does NOT feel like poison or murder to me; sorry! By the facts, we are 99.9% genetically identical to our ancestors, hunters and gatherers and then one can assume that we are made to eat the same thing as them. Instead, this book is an effort to honor our deepest longings for a just world. Keith presents NO substantiated facts. I posted an spanish translation of your review, hope you don't mind http://mexicanvegan.blogspot.com/2010/10/resena-de-vegetarian-myth-por-una.html. "What killed us was that early […], Well, even if I knew nothing about dietary needs and nutritional science, it´d be easy for me to see she´s wrong! On a more serious note, I'm glad that you bring up Lierre Keith's conflicting numbers on fat intake because it allows me to nicely illustrate the way she mangles statistics. Even though the writer brings up good questions and speculations she doesn’t follow up her arguments. i wonder if this person Lierre Keith has ever really been a vegan or vegetarian? Thanks for posting that. My health is amazing – aches and pains are almost nil, IBS is almost gone (meaning I only flare up if I eat carbs of any kind), my skin has improved, my thyroid issue is reducing (half the tabs gone now), diabetes isn’t even mentioned in the annual blood tests, iron levels have not been an issue for over several years. Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2017. Any factual article is always useful and welcome. Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2020. How many people have we all encountered who cover their ears like a three-year-old and chant "I can't hear you, I can't hear you?" For those who want to dig deeper into the human nutrition issues, books by Gary Taub and Nina Teicholz go into more detail; if you're interested in sustainable farming there are many good books by Joel Salatin. That’s because this review is a couple of pages, not hundreds, long, and because it’s a summary. A frequent reviewer would never find time to do anything else. Who knew the Happy Meal was the answer to all our dietary problems? As far as finding information on the Internet I try to avoid those sites that have an obvious bias, i.e. This point just sounds so ludicrous to me, a vegan; imagine how it sounds to a faithful carnist who wants to vilify us as unintelligent non-humanists. That is a prime example of argumentum ad verecundium. My mother, in later years, worked in ag information at our local university and they produced crops in a number of ways, experimentally, including without manure. I actually enjoyed this book a lot, and I thought the power of the book was in her systemic view of the food chain and how humans fit into it. Professionals (so-called “experts”) are perhaps MORE likely to be biased since their income and prestige are tied up in their beliefs. You DO need to take a b-12 supplement. I was not convinced by Lierre, or Tasha or Alex. London 1931. Some people called themselves vegan and they live mainly on food like chips and Coca-Cola (which is more likely to be the case of Keith).. of course this would in long term diminish your health. Who knows Lierre Keith ? For example she props up a lot of straw men that she then swiftly attack. To be fair, on page 172 she says that fat intake has dropped by about 25% over the last fifteen years, whereas on page 203, she is referring to the change since the sixties. My iron levels plummeted no matter what I did, developed thyroid issues, IBS, diverticulitis, overweight and diabetes. There was no mention of soy. Again, it’s not to say that I know that they could have recovered their […]. They have to because there is no truth to any of it. I get it. Orr J.B et al. Based upon the fossil evidence it appears much if not all its diet may have included only plant material. . Please follow through with that post about Keith's anti-soy claims. Keith's fans as well as her potential fans vote, spend money as consumers and influence other people. Her interest is in curtailing destructive agricultural practices more than promoting nutritious human diets. Well, YOU can “assume” whatever you like about how we are “made”. You know, the part where she talks about how damaging agriculture has been for our planet, how the human population that would actually be sustainable is a fraction of the current one, how if we really want to do less harm we have to rely on local perennial polyculture…. I follow a vegan diet, and I feel great! Well, that would be great–but unfortunately she says that she has suffered permanent damage from her vegan diet. Starting with Shell fish and birds eggs. Thirty pages later she says it has fallen by 10%. But the experts who have done research in this area point out that girls with anorexia may choose vegetarian diets as a way of masking their eating behavior. My problems with your blog: When I was starving to death, quite literally, from lack of b12, I CRAVED meat and dairy. Those who “tried” veganism and didn’t do well with it no doubt were not eating a balanced diet. I'm interested in any study that can shed any light on this issue whether it proves or disproves what I currently believe. I think you can’t blame vegan/vegetarian for your bad health. So, for anyone interested, here it is: On page 172 she suggests that fat intake has dropped by 25% over the past 15 years. Not to sound condescending, as I do believe that Lierre Keith is an intelligent woman who means well and also makes a lot of relevant and thought provoking points. I have to say that I haven't got past the moral vegetarians section yet. No wonder she was sick) and that she now >>eats mostly animals and their secretions. I also have a diet survey of the nutritional composition of Chinese centenarians from 2001. The people coming the closest to following a real Paleolithic diet are the few hunter/gatherer tribes that remain and of these the ones that are the furthest from civilization and its influences. I think Keith;s point here is important. It isn’t until you introduce agriculture into the mix that it begins to break down. Our decreasing rib cage size was in direct proportion to smaller gut sizes. My husband who was a vegetarian from birth feels the same way and has also moved away from vegetarianism. A look at Lierre Keith's claims against veganism and the validity of her anti-vegan bible 'The Vegetarian Myth.' We are part of a cycle with no end! In addition, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and body mass index appear to be lower in vegetarians than in nonvegetarians, as do rates of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and cancer.”, Journal American Dietetic Assoc. Whatever you might think about Lierre’s writing style, health problems, degree of vegan-ness, etc, her point is that Vegan. Citations please. Wise up veg heads. Food craving is a biological need by definition. The book may be one sided but so is this review. She also referenced two studies, one in Australia and one in […]. Long before I read Kith’s book, I frequently say that I was half dead and now feel alive once again, thanks to b12. Herbivorous species have larger rib cages to accommodate their larger gut size. No one will ever know for sure how we are "meant" to be or eat and that is why we shouldn't attack eachother, but respect everyones individual choices. And even chimps eat meat. So, no more bashing… do some real investigation and use the real information to become a better vegan. When we talk about sustainable food production, I think we all should follow Joel Salatins concept[4]. The page is found only on the publisher's website (thus, is not independent) and does not … And it is a moral trainwreck. Excellent review Ginny. !” from eating meat or dairy; well those who have ever eaten meat or dairy; or any other food; know that her comments on this make NO logical sense; and have NEVER happened for any of us! That, however, does not mean that celibacy in men should be discouraged. So far, I was unimpressed. "she speculates that African-American girls reach puberty faster because they are more likely to be enrolled as infants in food assistance programs like WIC and therefore, to be fed soy infant formula. I am sure she can provide citations for any scientific point, citations that would link to Bonaire peer reviewed journals. Ranting ex-vegans always *swear* that they were "careful" and well versed about nutrition. If animal products aren't used in the commercial production of our food, then petroleum products are. It wouldn’t cause you to feel too much of anything. if around that same time that community was also experimenting with holding live-stock you’d get a positive feedback loop, where the new gene makes holding live-stock far more profitable, while the availability of milk would cause positive selection-pressure for the new gene (they could now have animal protein without killing the animal, so one animal would provide far more nutrition), non-europeans didn’t have the lactose-gene, so for them holding cattle was not worth it (they could only use cows and goats as meat), so they developed alternative protein-sources. But quality isn’t at issue here because there is no research or analysis. Not. Fat is an animal product and vegans do not eat animal products, therefore they will never eat enough of it as it is against their eating dogma. Lol at all the angry vegans. However I think we humans are far to quick to jump on some health issue that is later to be proven either false or harmful and I think more *unbiased* research needs to be done on exactly how our bodies react to our diet. I read Keith’s book and found it to be well founded, well written, intellectually and emotionally honest and scientifically sound. (http://www.bountifulgardens.org/prodinfo.asp?number=BEA%2D0300) This is a long post, and it doesn’t begin to address all of the problems in The Vegetarian Myth. Really? Was soy specified as a unique food or was it lumped into a generalized group called "legumes". Keith is also very loose with her timeframes; one might guess from her exposition the changes in hypertension and high cholesterol are since the 1960s, but clearly they are not. Now that they’ve read ONE incomplete review of it? Guys, this is meat industry propaganda – they are just fighting back. I completely agree with this point. So many good pieces to this book, but I agree with other reviewers about the underlying masculine/feminine issues underlying her work. We’re all ears if you can find a sustainable way to feed the world. Thank you so much! Keith admitted during a radio interview that she "binged on eggs and milk all the time" when she told people she was a vegan. Does she know she wouldnât be here to write such childish statements if not for her father and his father before him, etc. It sounds like this woman just didn't eat a proper vegan diet and had a bad experience – no reason to write a book about it, rather one that condemns something that she simply does not really understand. Unfortunately, since they are a lobbyist group for meat/dairy producers ("farmers"), they are exceptionally anti-veg/vegan, with the result being incessant soy-bashing, and they actually work to create hostility towards those who choose the veg lifestyle. 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