Meatless or Meaningless? (Howard Lyman on The O'Reilly Factor)

[Guest guest]

Wednesday, February 27, 2002

 

 

 

 

 

This is a partial transcript from The O'Reilly Factor, February 26, 2002.

 

 

 

 

We had quite a debate on The Factor last night! We continued our reporting on

the American diet.

 

To watch this segment click here .

 

Here's a preview of what you'll see on streaming video:

 

BILL O'REILLY, HOST: In the Personal Story segment tonight, we continue our

reporting on the American diet. Because illness costs all of us so much money,

Medicaid payments were more than $120 billion last year. Food is coming under

increasing scrutiny. The thinking being that bad food causes illness. Meat and

dairy products are in the middle of all this. And there's a push to keep kids

away from them. But is that healthy?

 

Joining us now from Washington is Howard Lyman, former cattle ranchers, now

president of the pro vegetarian group, Voice for a Viable Future. And he is the

author of the book " Mad Cowboy. " And also from Pittsburgh, Bridget Chufo, a

registered nurse who has founded the Healthy Performance Weight Loss and

Wellness Center.

 

Mr. Lyman, we'll begin with you. You're a vegan. That means you don't eat

anything that comes from any living thing. You just eat vegetables and stuff

from the soil, correct?

 

HOWARD LYMAN, MAD COWBOY AUTHOR: Yes, nothing with a face, liver or a mother.

 

O'REILLY: All right. Now, why did you make that decision?

 

LYMAN: Well, when we stop and look at it, you know, the United States of

America is becoming the most obese nation on the face of the earth. CDC said

between 1991 and '98, 50 percent increase in obesity in the United States.

We're 4 percent of the world's population. We have 30 percent of the world's

diabetes. Main contributing factor for diabetes happens to be obesity. The

average American eight-year-old child today is eating 6.25 burgers a week. A

burger is 40 percent to 60 percent good, old greasy, yellow fat.

 

O'REILLY: All right. But you, yourself, made this decision to alter your diet

because why? You want to live longer?

 

LYMAN: Well yes. You know, here I was, I was well over 300 pounds. My blood

pressure was sky high. My cholesterol was over 300. I sit down and have lunch

and my nose would bleed, you know.

 

O'REILLY: Wow, look, I'm 36-inch waist, OK? And I've maintained my weight

since college. And I eat everything. But I eat in moderation. And I'm pretty

healthy. I don't have any problems in that regard. Average life expectancy,

72 for men, 80 for women in this country. How much longer do you want to live?

 

LYMAN: Well, vegetarians live 10 years longer than people on the standard

American diet.

 

O'REILLY: Is that true, Ms. Shofu?

 

BRIDGET CHUFO, HEALTHY PERFORMANCE WEIGHT LOSS CTR.: Well, I think you're

mixing up some confusion here in the sense that vegetarians, right, nine to 10

years longer. But most vegetarians have a more healthy lifestyle in the sense

that they don't smoke, they don't drink, their exercise, they sleep adequately.

So just eating in a healthier manner, in a vegetarian way, may not be the single

variable that we're talking about here.

 

O'REILLY: Right, but does Mr. Lyman have a point that eating meat and dairy

products and things like that are harmful to you?

 

CHUFO: I agree with you, Mr. O'Reilly. Everything in moderation. The fewer

foods that you can pick from, the fewer nutrients that you're going to get into

your body, especially with the kids. The kids need protein. And they're not

always going to get it from the nuts and the seeds and the tofu and things of

this nature, simply because we have to deal with reality.

 

Reality states that kids are going to eat what they like. And you're going to

have to puree the nuts and the seeds. You're going to have to grind them up

when they're babies because these are not healthy things for kids to eat because

of choking factors. So I think we need to deal with moderation. And we have to

deal in a realistic world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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