Marion Nestle on Vegan Diet, wow, the last line is powerful

February 5, 2010

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/05/FD821BS2H5.DTL

Winnie

February 6, 2010

There are so many problems with what she has to say about vegan diets. At certain points it almost sounds as if some of these statements are coming from a person who has no nutritional knowledge what so ever such as "Diets that restrict meat but include fish, milk or eggs raise no nutritional issues whatsoever". WOW, For starters, has she never heard of cholesterol and the health issues associated with consuming cholesterol for?

When discussing vegan diets for children she goes on to say "Some young children have a hard time getting enough calories from vegetables, grains or beans. I advise vegan parents to pay attention to vitamin B12 and calories, to make liberal use of olive oil and nut butters". It's as if she is implying that your average vegan diet would not include sources of fat such as olive oil and nut butters not to mention other sources such as avocados, seeds etc.

Even though ultimately she is saying a vegan diet is ok, she is still misleading people along the way and giving wrong impressions as well as misinformation.

Warren

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/05/FD821BS2H5.DTL#ixzz0em1OORZy

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/05/FD821BS2H5.DTL#ixzz0elztAeFa

sunny <sunny_outdoors

Fri, Feb 5, 2010 11:20 pm

Marion Nestle on Vegan Diet, wow, the last line is powerful

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/05/FD821BS2H5.DTL

Winnie

February 6, 2010

Warren, I agree - I read the article the same way. It's unfortunate that someone with so much clout in forming food policy cannot see beyond her own personal biases that are based on outmoded information. As an example, in 1998 she wrote an article defending the USDA Food Pyramid. Yikes.

In the Chron article, her opening statements give veganism an unfair diss:

" I don't talk about vegan diets much because I don't see them as a big deal. But such diets deserve discussion, not least because of the passionate opinions they incite, pro and con.

I can't count the number of times I've been asked whether vegetarian diets are nutritionally risky and whether it is even ethical to raise kids as vegetarians, let alone vegans [emphases are mine]. " To me, the opposite is the truth (risky and unethical to raise kids on meat). Yeah, it's best if she " let alone vegans. " No info is better than misinfo.

I had a coincidental conversation with someone the very morning of the article. I don't think he read it either, but in the course of our discussion about adopting kids, he said, " ...you shouldn't adopt kids because then you'd raise them vegan and that would be a very bad thing. " I replied that that was actually untrue, but he was adamant, and when I asked him his source, he gave me the vague, " Doctors. " I pointed him to PCRM.org but I wish I remembered Dr. Spock's assurances that vegan diets for kids are best (but with dairy until age 2).

It all boils down to old school entrenchment. And whether thinking people can break out of it.

peace,

donna

On 2/6/10, wgjii <wgjii wrote:

There are so many problems with what she has to say about vegan diets. At certain points it almost sounds as if some of these statements are coming from a person who has no nutritional knowledge what so ever

Warren

sunny <sunny_outdoors

Sent: Fri, Feb 5, 2010 11:20 pm Marion Nestle on Vegan Diet, wow, the last line is powerful

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/05/FD821BS2H5.DTL

Winnie

-- All roads lead to vegan. Some are merely bumpier than others. -donna