Guest guest Posted October 21, 2008 Report Share Posted October 21, 2008 From the Moderator: I apologise for letting this piece of rubbish pass. My excuse is that I had just got off the plane from Paris. I suggest use of the delete button! John. > > " " > 2008/10/20 Mon PM 09:40:56 CST > aapn <aapn > > Against vegetarianism > > Dear colleagues, > With reference to the recent debate on veganism and > vegetarianism I attach this article against vegetarianism that I came across > recently. I know it will anger many people in this list but feel it is > important to read for the sake of free enquiry; > Regards and best wishes, > > > *http*://www.acsh.org/healthissues/newsID.760/healthissue_detail.asp<http://www.\ acsh.org/healthissues/newsID.760/healthissue_detail.asp> > Why I Am Not a Vegetarian > [image: Printer Format icon] Printer Format [image: Email Information > icon] E-mail Information > By Dr. William T. Jarvis > Posted: Tuesday, April 1, 1997 > > ARTICLES > Publication April 1, 1997 > > Vegetarianism has taken on a " political correctness " comparable to the > respectability it had in the last century, when many social and scientific > progressives advocated it. Today, crusaders extol meatless eating not only > as healthful but also as a solution to world hunger and as a safeguard of > " Mother Earth. " The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) > aggressively attacks the use of animal foods and has proposed its own > food-groups model, which excludes all animal products. > > I disclaimed vegetarianism after many years of observance. Although the > arguments in favor of it appear compelling, I have learned to be suspicious, > and to search for hidden agendas, when I evaluate claims of the benefits of > vegetarianism. Vegetarianism is riddled with delusional thinking from which > even scientists and medical professionals are not immune. > > Don't get me wrong: I know that meatless diets can be healthful, even > desirable, for some people. For example: (a) Men with an iron-loading gene > are better off without red meat, because it contains heme iron, which is > highly absorbable and can increase their risk of heart disease. (b) Because > vegetarian diets are likely to contain less saturated fat than nonvegetarian > diets, they may be preferable for persons with familial > hypercholesterolemia. © Vegetables contain phytochemicals that appear > protective against colorectal cancer. (d) Homocysteinemia (elevated plasma > homocysteine) approximately doubles the risk of coronary artery disease. > Several congenital and nutritional disorders, including deficiencies of > vitamins B6 and B12 and folic acid, can cause this condition. Since folic > acid occurs mostly in vegetables, low intakes of the vitamin are less likely > among vegetarians than among nonvegetarians. (e) Some people find that being > a vegetarian helps to control their weight. Vegetarianism tends to > facilitate weight control because it is a form of food restriction; and in > our overfed society, food restriction is a plus unless it entails a deficit > of some essential nutrient. > > However, one need not eliminate meat from one's diet for any of the > foregoing reasons. Apparently, it is ample consumption of fruits and > vegetables, not the exclusion of meat, that makes vegetarianism healthful. > > *Dog Day Afternoon?* > > The term " vegetarian " is misleading, for it is not a name for people who > favor vegetable consumption, but a code word for those who *dis*favor or > protest the consumption of animal foods. The neologism > *anticarnivorist*better characterizes the majority of those who call > themselves vegetarians. > I call myself a " vegetable enthusiast, " because I strongly encourage eating > lots of vegetables, including legumes, whole grains, and fruits. I believe > that these foods are desirable not only because of their high nutrient > density and low caloric density, but also because of aesthetic and gustatory > factors. Being a vegetable enthusiast doesn't entail rejecting the use of > meat or animal products. > > Most people who categorize vegetarians identify at least five different > kinds, based on which types of animal food they consume: > *Semivegetarians*consume dairy products, eggs, fish, and chicken; > *pesco-vegetarians* consume dairy products, eggs, and fish; * > lacto-ovo-vegetarians*, dairy products and eggs; ovo-vegetarians, eggs; and > vegans, no animal foods. From a behavioral standpoint, I categorize > vegetarians as either pragmatic or ideologic. A *pragmatic* *vegetarian* is > one whose dietary behavior stems from objective health considerations (e.g., > hypercholesterolemia or obesity). Pragmatic vegetarians are rational, rather > than emotional, in their approach to making lifestyle decisions. In > contrast, vegetarianism is a " matter of principle " for *ideologic > vegetarians*; its appropriateness is a given. > > One can spot ideologic vegetarians by their exaggerations of the benefits of > vegetarianism, their lack of skepticism, and their failure to recognize (or > their glossing over of) the potential risks even of extreme vegetarian > diets. Ideologic vegetarians make a pretense of being scientific, but they > approach the subject of vegetarianism more like lawyers than scientists. > Promoters of vegetarianism gather data selectively and gear their arguments > toward discrediting information that is contrary to their dogma. This > approach to defending a position is suitable for a debate, but it cannot > engender scientific understanding. > > Because of the influence of my Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) environment, I > practiced vegetarianism for many years. My wife and I even tried to give up > consuming all animal products, but this didn't work. We sometimes muse aloud > about the morning we put soymilk on our breakfast cereal. We ended up eating > the cereal with a fork because we found the mixture repulsive. We had > another unforgettable experience when we ate with a group of vegetarian > hippies in the Oregon woods. We were there at their request to advise them > on vegetarian eating. They had already prepared the worst-looking vegetarian > stew I have ever seen or tasted. It consisted of raw peanuts and a variety > of half-cooked vegetables. After eating it, I had heartburn for hours. > Digestive distress is legendary among SDAs. > > Reasons for adopting vegetarianism can be very personal. Some years ago I > shared a podium for several days with a vegetarian. It became clear from our > informal conversations that he was not religious; so I asked him why he had > opted for vegetarianism. He told me a touching story about having been a > lonely boy whose closest companion was his pet dog. He said that, peering > into the dog's eyes one day, he had come to see the animal as a fellow > being. Soon he had applied this view to all animals, and since he could not > bear the thought of eating his dog, he could no longer eat other animals. > > *North by Northwest* > > Darla Erhardt, R.D., M.P.H., listed five vegetarian postulates: (1) All > forms of life are sacred, and all creatures have a right to live out their > natural lives. (2) It is anatomically clear that God did not design humans > to eat meat. (3) Slaughter is repugnant and degrading. (4) Raising animals > for meat is inefficient and misuses available land. (5) Animal flesh is > unhealthful because it contains toxins, virulent bacteria, uric acid, impure > fluids, and the wrong kinds of nutrients. 1 I find all of these axioms > flawed: > > 1. The belief that all life is sacred can lead to absurdities such as > allowing mosquitoes to spread malaria, or vipers to run loose on one's > premises. Inherent in the idea that all life is sacred is the supposition > that all forms of life have equal value. The natural world reveals > hierarchies in the food chain, the dominance of certain species over others. > And most creatures in the wild die (usually the victim of a predator) long > before they have reached the genetic limit on their longevity. > 2. The multifarious dietary practices of human populations belie the notion > that humans are designed to be vegetarians rather than omnivores. For > example, Australian aborigines consume insect larvae and reptiles, Eskimos > eat raw meat, and traditional Hindus are vegetarians. > > The first SDA physician, John Harvey Kellogg (1852®?943), was a vegetarian > zealot. Alonzo Baker, Ph.D., his former private secretary, told me of an > incident that occurred circa 1939: Kellogg awakened him in the middle of the > night and ordered him to board the morning train for Cleveland. There, > Weston Price, D.D.S., who had just returned from the mysterious high north, > was to give a report on Eskimo dietary habits. When Baker returned, he > informed Kellogg of Price's finding that Eskimos ate raw meat almost > exclusively (*eskimo* literally means " raw meat eater " ). Kellogg accused > Price of lying. > > Perhaps Kellogg disbelieved Price partly because it was widely known that > the 1898 Yukon gold rushers had suffered extensively from scurvy. People > generally believed that Eskimos derived their vitamin C from berries the > snow had preserved. In fact, Eskimos derive vitamin C from the raw meat of > animals who synthesize ascorbic acid. If they had cooked their meat, they > would have developed scurvy like the gold rushers. (When I visited Northwest > Territories, Canada, in 1973, a Franciscan monk who raised beautiful > vegetables in a greenhouse in Pelly Bay told me that the Inuits, or North > American Eskimos, didn't like their taste and wouldn't eat them.) > > 3. Whether something is repugnant is highly individual. Some Hindus who will > not eat animal foods readily drink their own urine for the sake of health. > And what is repugnant ?or example, chores such as changing a baby's diaper > or caring for sick people ?s not necessarily wrong. Whether such activities > are degrading is a matter of opinion. That most prey are eaten while they > are still alive testifies to the heartlessness of nature compared to > slaughterhouses, where death is generally quick and painless. > 4. The idea that animal-raising is an inefficient way to produce food is > half-baked. Animals pull their weight when it comes to land-use and > food-production efficiency: They graze on lands unsuitable for crop-growing, > eat those portions of plants that are considered inedible (e.g., corn stalks > and husks), and provide byproducts and services that ease human burdens. 2 > Many nomadic populations survive on lands that lack farming potential by > feeding on animals whose nourishment is coarse vegetation humans can't > digest. > > 5. The postulate that toxins render meat unfit as food also lacks merit. > Plants also contain naturally occurring toxicants, many of which are far > more deadly than those of animal flesh. 3 Vegetarian evangelists who revel > in portraying animal foods as unhealthful disregard the fact that those > societies that consume the most animal products enjoy record longevity. They > also overlook the reality that the animals they brand as diseased are > herbivores whose diet consists entirely of raw vegetation. These animals > develop many diseases " despite " becoming vegans after weaning. > > *Ideologic Vegetarianism* > > Much of my professional life has been spent studying health fraud, quackery, > and related misinformation, and their impact on people's lives. I have > discerned a recurrent sequence of behaviors: First, the prospective > vegetarian eliminates reportedly unhealthful foods from his or her diet, > beginning with foods that society considers " bad for you " (e.g., sugar, > coffee, and white bread). Next, if concerns about food safety grow to > neurotic proportions, the person scrutinizes labels and worries about > ingredients indicated by terms he doesn't understand. Then he may patronize > health food stores, where clerks and publications can feed his phobias. He > may treat modern foods as poisonous. Finally, if he deems vegetarianism not > restrictive enough, the " health foodist " may turn to veganism. In my > opinion, it is at this point that vegetarianism becomes hazardous, > especially for children. > > The case of Sonja and Khachadour Atikian illustrates what can happen to > those seduced by ideologic vegetarianism. The Atikians were ÎmigrÎs from > Lebanon who ?ecause of unrelenting media barrages focusing on environmental > pollution, diet, and health ?ecame overly concerned about the safety and > healthfulness of modern foods. Sonja Atikian began shopping at health food > stores instead of supermarkets. Gerhardt Hanswille, a self-styled herbalist > from Germany, taught classes in the rear of a health food store she > patronized. Although Hanswille was not licensed to practice medicine, he saw > 40 to 45 " patients " day. He treated Ms. Atikian for a sore knee, and she > took some of his courses. Hanswille taught that: (a) people should not kill > animals, nor consume animal products; (b) God intended cow's milk to be food > for calves, not human babies; © eating eggs deprives hens of fulfilling > their divinely intended role as mothers; (d) people should not poison > themselves or the earth with the unnatural products of modern living; (e) > using herbs both as food and as medicine is God's way; and (f) the medicines > of doctors are poisons. " Choose whom you will believe, " said Hanswille, " me > or the doctors. You can't have it both ways. " > > Ms. Atikian chose poorly. Except for eating fish occasionally, she followed > the herbalist's advice during pregnancy. She delivered a healthy 8.2-lb girl > named Loreie. Hanswille convinced the Atikians that the newborn would become > a superbaby if they gave her a vegetarian diet of raw, organic foods. He > dissuaded them from having the infant immunized and from continuing to see a > pediatrician. And he induced them to rely on him for healthcare advice. > > Four and a half months after her birth, Loreie's weight was still at the > 75th percentile, but when she was 11 months old, breast-feeding ?er sole > source of animal food ?iscontinued. Fed only fruits, vegetables, and rice, > she eventually stopped growing, slept more and more, and had more and more > infections. As the baby's health spiraled downward, Hanswille assured the > parents that her decline was merely " the poisons coming out of her body " and > that she would eventually become the superbaby they desired. In 1987, > 17-month-old Loreie died of bronchial pneumonia complicated by severe > malnutrition. She weighed 111/4 lbs. The Atikians were charged with failing > to provide their daughter with the " necessaries of life. " Their defense was > that they had truly believed they had been providing the " necessaries of > life " when they followed Hanswille's advice. The judge acquitted them after > the discovery that the prosecution had failed to provide important > information supporting the couple's story. > > Let's run through some other examples of ideologic vegetarian extremism: > > > * It caused mental and growth retardation in two boys underfed from birth to > ages 3 and 5. Their mother had become a vegetarian, later eliminated sugar > and dairy products from her diet, and eventually adopted a macrobiotic diet > (see " Peculiar Vegetarianism " ). 4 > > * Ten cases of nutritional rickets were reported among infants (most of whom > were breast-fed) of strict-vegetarian mothers who had not sought medical > counsel during pregnancy but had obtained advice from health food stores. 5 > > * Scurvy and rickets occurred in two boys, 11/2 and 21/2 years old, whose > parents were adherents of the Zen Macrobiotic diet (see Peculiar > Vegetarianism below). 6 > > * A 36-year-old former college professor attempted to become a " > breatharian " ?ne who supposedly feeds on air alone ?nd died of > malnutrition. First he became a vegetarian, then a fruitarian, then a " > liquidarian " (consuming juices only), and finally, a would-be breatharian. 7 > > > * A 2-month-old boy died because his mother, following the invalid > recommendation for colic in Adelle Davis's *Let's Have Healthy Children*, > overdosed him with potassium. 8 In a television interview, the mother said > that, as she became increasingly estranged toward conventional medicine, she > had adopted vegetarianism and then veganism. > > * A 24-year-old woman who was head of San Jose State University's student > art program died after taking an extract of pennyroyal to induce an > abortion. She was described as " a strict vegetarian who was involved in > holistic medicine. " 9 > > For the ideologist, vegetarianism is a hygienic religion. It enables > believers to practice self-denial. As a religion, vegetarianism attracts the > guilt-ridden. It attracts masochists because it gives guilt a boost. And it > seduces the unskeptical by causing guilt and/or by instilling false guilt. > Guilt leads to self-denial, even asceticism. The belief that salvation is > attainable by eschewing worldly pleasures marked the asceticism of early > Christian zealots. Similarly, health neurotics with medical problems seem to > believe that the more they restrict their alimentary pleasures, the more > their health will improve. Fasting, austere diets, enemas, and the ingestion > of bitter herbs are consistent with the psychological needs of health > neurotics, many of whom shun those voices of conventional medicine and > public health that might disenchant them. > > Of course, I don't blame ideologic vegetarianism per se *entirely* for > tragedies such as those outlined above. Mental or emotional disorders > apparently figure in many instances. In such cases, extremism is more to > blame. This doesn't take ideologic vegetarianism off the hook, however, for > it can fuel or ignite psychological problems. > > *Eating by the Book?* > > SDA vegetarianism is rooted in the Bible, according to which for food God > gave humans " all plants that bear seed everywhere on earth, and every tree > bearing fruit that yields seed " (Genesis 1:29). Meat is said to have become > a part of the human diet after the Flood, when all plant life had been > destroyed: " Every creature that lives and moves shall be food for you " > (Genesis 9:3). Adventists are taught that the introduction of meat into the > human diet at that time decreased the human life span from the more than 900 > years of the first humans to today's " three-score and ten. " > > However, the Bible warns against confusing dietary practices with moral > behavior: > > For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace. > (Romans 14:17) > > Let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink. (Colossians > 2:16) > > One believes he may eat anything, while the weak man eats only vegetables, > let not him who eats despise him who abstains, and let not him who abstains > pass judgment on him who eats. (Romans 14:2-4) > > It also seems to condemn vegetarianism: > > > The Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some in the church > will turn away from Christ and become eager followers of teachers with devil > inspired ideas. These teachers will tell lies with straight faces and do it > so often that their consciences won't even bother them. They will say that > it is wrong to be married and wrong to eat meat, even though God gave these > things to well-taught Christians to enjoy and be thankful for. For > everything God made is good, and we may eat it gladly if we are thankful for > it. ( I Timothy 4:1-4, *Living Bible*) > > SDA Church pioneer Ellen G. White (1827®?915) was a proponent of > vegetarianism even though she did not practice it herself. Like the > Grahamites of her time, she taught that gradually the earth would become > more corrupted, diseases and calamities worse, and the food ?articularly > animal foods ?nsafe. In 1902 she wrote that the time might come when the > use of milk should be discontinued. Although White was an advocate of > science and chiefly responsible for making SDA healthcare a science-based > enterprise, clearly she did not anticipate twentieth-century advances in > public health and medical science. Despite the record longevity now enjoyed > by people in the developed nations, vegetarian zealots within the church > caught up in the doomsday hysteria of the 1990s have decided that the time > has come to give up all animal foods and are fervidly preaching veganism. > > *East of Eden* > > It is possible to provide all essential nutrients except vitamin B12 without > using animal foods. On the other hand, it is possible to provide all > essential nutrients with a diet composed only of meat. Personal dietary > appropriateness ?ncluding the value of a diet as a source of essential > nutrients and its value as a preventative ?or oneself and one's significant > others is the foremost dietary consideration of pragmatic vegetarians. In > contrast, the overriding dietary consideration of ideologic vegetarians > varies with the particular ideology. Typically, their motivation is a blend > of physical, psychosocial, societal, and moral, often religious, concerns. > > A continual problem for SDAs who espouse the " back to Eden " ideology is the > absence of a non-animal food source of vitamin B12. A vegetarian Registered > Dietitian who wrote a column for a church periodical asked me if I thought > vegans could derive vitamin B12 from organic vegetables that were unwashed > before ingestion. I opined that it would be better to eat animal foods than > fecal residues. She agreed. > > A perennial assumption among vegetarians is that vegetarianism increases > longevity. In the last century, Grahamites ?evotees of the Christian > " hygienic " philosophy of Sylvester Graham (1794-1851) ?aught that adherence > to the Garden of Eden lifestyle would eventuate in humankind's reclamation > of the potential for superlongevity, such as that attributed to Adam (930 > years) or Methuselah (969 years). I discussed this matter 25 years ago with > an SDA physician who was dean of the Loma Linda University (LLU) School of > Health. Although he admitted that lifelong SDA vegetarians had not exhibited > spectacular longevity, he professed that longevity of the antediluvian sort > might become possible over several generations of vegetarianism. SDA > periodicals publicize centenarians and often attribute their longevity to > the SDA lifestyle. However, of 1200 people who reached the century mark > between 1932 and 1952, only four were vegetarians. 10 I continue to ask: > Where on Earth is there an exceptionally longevous population of > vegetarians? Hindus have practiced vegetarianism for many generations but > have not set longevity records. At best, the whole of scientific data from > nutrition-related research supports vegetarianism only tentatively. The > incidence of colorectal cancer among nonvegetarian Mormons is lower than > that of SDAs. 11 A review of populations at low risk for cancer showed that > World War I veterans who never smoked had the lowest risk of all. 12 As data > accumulate, optimism that diet is a significant factor in cancer appears to > be diminishing. An analysis of 13 case-control studies of colorectal cancer > and dietary fiber showed that, for the studies with the best research > methods, risk estimates for dietary fiber and colorectal cancer were closer > to zero.13 A pooled analysis of studies of fat intake and the risk of breast > cancer that included SDA data showed no association. 14 > > A meatless diet can facilitate weight control because it is a form of food > restriction. But one need not eliminate meat to maintain a healthy weight, > and there are many overweight vegetarians. Surely prudence and selectivity > overshadow mere abstention from consuming animal products. > > *Daniel's Diet* > > According to the first chapter of the Book of Daniel, Israel's captive whiz > kids ? well favored, and skillful in all wisdom, and cunning in all > knowledge, and understanding science " (verse 4) ?fter subsisting on just > vegetables and water for ten days, impressed the Babylonian king as far > superior to all the magicians and astrologers " in all matters of wisdom and > understanding " (verse 20). Many ideological vegetarians credit vegetables > for group's physical and mental improvement (see " A 'Biblical' Alternativist > Method " ). A more credible proposition is that abstention from drinking wine > caused the improvement, which the story ascribes to God. > > In an interview on the school's Christian radio station in the mid-1970s, an > LLU nutrition graduate student (who was not an SDA) claimed that > vegetarianism produced superior intellects. To make her case, she stated: > > > Linus Pauling says that vitamin C improves intelligence. Vegetarians get > more vitamin C in their diets than meat-eaters. The probable reason why > George Bernard Shaw and Leo Tolstoy were brilliant was because they were > vegetarians. > > The interviewer agreed, extolling the health and intellect of vegetarians. > That Adolf Hitler was a vegetarian went unmentioned during the interview. > Also unmentioned was that Jesus Christ, Mohammed, and other eminent > moralists were not vegetarians. > > Animal behavioral scientists have noted that, to survive, meat-eating > predators must outsmart their vegetarian prey. However, I believe that all > such theories break down because of the difficulty of defining intelligence. > > > SDAs note that meat-eating predators such as wolves and lions have > tremendous speed but lack endurance. However, Arctic sled dogs that run the > 1200-mile Ididarod cover more than a hundred miles per day ? feat no horse, > mule or ox can accomplish. > > The idea that vegetarians have superior physical endurance was reinforced in > 1974 when a group of male vegetarian runners called " the vegetarian seven " > set a 24-hour distance record. This inspired an undergraduate dietetics > major to seek me out as a coach for a group of seven female vegetarian > long-distance runners. I asked her what their motivations were ?omething > every coach needs to know. She said they wanted to demonstrate the > superiority of a vegetarian diet. I asked who would be representing the > meat-eaters. She said that, because the event would not be a standard > competition, no one would represent the meat-eaters. I revealed to her that > three of the male runners had not been vegetarians until training for the > record-setting event but merely had pledged to become so. I also told her: > that genetic factors, principally the capacity for oxygen uptake, determine > distance-running ability; that whether a diet is vegetarian is > inconsequential to distance-running ability; and that a 24-hour run is a > perilous way to try proving vegetarian superiority. " What will you do, " I > inquired, " if seven meat-eating, beer-drinking atheists who are world-class > runners decide to beat your record? " She got the point. And although she > became an accomplished amateur runner, she didn't use her success to > propagandize for vegetarianism. > > John Harvey Kellogg sought to prove that vegetarians were physically > superior by fielding a Battle Creek College football team, which he > personally coached. According to a former player, " Brother " Wright, whenever > Kellogg's players lost, he railed at them for cheating on their diets and > held them captive until one would say he had broken training rules and eaten > meat. Wright stated that sometimes a player would eventually lie that he had > eaten meat just to get the team released. He described Kellogg's efforts as > " a crusade to prove the superiority of vegetarianism. " Ellen G. White's > condemnation of this approach to proving SDA superiority led to a policy > restricting interscholastic sports by Adventist schools. > > *Odorless Doo-doo?* > > The John Harvey Kellogg character in the 1995 film *Road to > Wellville*stated that his feces had no more odor than that of " freshly > baked > biscuits. " One evening I offered a ride home from the university to an > elderly colleague, an avid vegetarian. Upon entering my car, he declared: > " When I drink carrot juice, my bowel movements have no odor. " > > Before I could respond, he said: " Rabbits eat lots of carrots, and their > feces have no odor. " The thought of someone running around sniffing little > piles of rabbit doo-doo almost made me laugh, but I didn't want to be > disrespectful. His idea that rabbits eat many carrots intrigued me. I had > raised them in my boyhood and discovered that, despite the passion for > carrots shown by Bugs Bunny, real bunnies are not particularly fond of > carrots. Furthermore, wild rabbits seldom would have an opportunity to eat > carrots. Luckily the ride was short. > > The late Pulitzer Prize-winning anthropologist Ernest Becker argued that > defecation is most closely associated with humankind's animality and > mortality. 15 During a Bible class at an SDA school, I was taught that > people did not defecate in the Garden of Eden but utilized the food they > ingested in its entirety. Apparently, foul odors did not befit Paradise. > (Perhaps the persistence of the miasmatic theory of disease ?he theory that > diseases are due to foul-smelling emanations from the earth ?ell into the > nineteenth century, when SDA beliefs were developed, reinforced the idea of > a poopless Paradise.) I was also taught that roughage became part of the > human diet after the Fall. Allegedly, this broadening of the diet to include > " the herb of the field " (Genesis 3:18, King James version) occurred because > humans were now under the " death sentence " caused by original sin. Whether > this reportedly was a voluntary dietary change or part of the curse of being > ousted from Paradise is debatable. Some versions of the Bible imply that > " the herb of the field " merely meant " wild foods " (New English Version), not > a new source of food. > > *Heavy " PETAing " * > > In the last century, the pacifist movement was vegetarian because of the > belief that meat-eating animals were fierce and vegetarian animals were > docile. The British poet Percy Bysshe Shelley claimed that the French > revolution had been bloody and the English revolution bloodless because the > French ate more meat than the English. 16 Such invalid notions have been > discredited, but not abandoned. Some boxers still eat raw meat or drink > blood before a fight to increase their aggressiveness. > > People who fancy themselves morally superior often have a mission to convert > humanity to their worldview. The most violent ideologic vegetarians are the > animal-rights activists, who have destroyed animal research facilities and > threatened researchers' lives. Animal-rights groups such as People for the > Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) consider animals on par with humans. On > April 24, 1996, PETA's Ingrid Newkirk appeared on the television > newsmagazine *Day & Date* opposing sport fishing. She began her argument by > seeking commiseration for suffocating fish. Then she said that fish were > unhealthful food because they contained mercury and other environmental > contaminants. The solution, according to Newkirk, was vegetarianism. Her > opponent, a TV talk-show host, pressed her into acknowledging the PETA > creed. The talk-show host described an on-air encounter she had had with > another PETA representative. A scenario had been presented in which the > representative's daughter needed a vital organ from a beloved household pet > in order to survive. The ethical question had been whether the child's life > was worth more than the pet's. The PETA representative had held that the > child had no more value than the pet. Newkirk did not contest the assertion > that PETA considers the life of a child no more valuable than that of a pet. > > > When an LLU medical team transplanted a baboon's heart into an infant whose > pseudonym was " Baby Fae, " animal-rights activists picketed the medical > center. They seemed disillusioned with SDAs, who have no qualms about > prioritizing humans over animals. In October 1992, after a pig's liver had > been transplanted into a 30-year-old woman to enable her to survive until a > human liver was secured, a representative of PCRM engaged in a televised > debate with one of the physicians who had performed the transplant. The > representative lamented that the pig's consent had not been obtained. > > PCRM appears to be largely a personal forum for its leader, Neal Barnard, > M.D., and is said to be substantially funded by PETA. (In fiscal year 1994, > donations and grants to PCRM reportedly totaled more than a million dollars. > 17) Barnard extols the longevity value of vegetarianism. He has claimed: > " It's not genetics or fate that gives people long, healthy lives and cuts > other people short; for those who want to take care of themselves, it all > comes down to diet. " The surgeon argued that pigs were killed daily for > meat, including their livers. The PCRM doctor retorted that the consumption > of animal fat (which is highly saturated) was responsible for most deaths in > modern society. He cited a study conducted by Colin Campbell in China. > Campbell had focused on the relative morbidity for certain diseases without > pointing out that life expectancy in China (66 years) is lower that that in > the United States (75 years). 18 > > Because they consider themselves morally superior, many vegetarians exhibit > no reservations against using mind-control techniques or terrorism to > actualize their agenda. Mind control includes using information selectively > to " educate " people about the alleged superiority of vegetarianism. It may > also include traumatizing people emotionally to condition them against the > use of animal foods. Early in my teaching experience, I attended a meeting > of SDA secondary school health teachers where many said that they converted > students to vegetarianism by taking them on field trips to slaughterhouses > to witness the bloodshed. This strategy offended me even though I was a > practicing vegetarian at the time. Having studied for years how people have > been manipulated by cults and quacks, it is now clear to me that the > slaughterhouse tactic is a form of mind control ?hat it is as unethical as > discouraging little girls from having sex by inducing them to watch a > difficult childbirth. > > Terrorism involves trying to coerce people to behave in ways the > perpetrators desire. In December 1994, to keep people from having turkey for > Christmas dinner, self-described animal-rights terrorists claimed they had > injected rat poison into supermarket turkeys in Vancouver, British Columbia. > The scare caused the destruction of more than $1 million in turkeys. > Apparently, the activists had not foreseen the ensuing slaughter of turkeys > as replacements. > > *Disclosure * > > Research into vegetarianism by vegetarians always involves at least > unconscious bias. All humans have entrenched beliefs ?eliefs whose > rootedness makes doing related scientific research unwise. Kenneth J. > Rothman, Dr.P.H., referred to SDAs in a recent discussion of conflicts of > interest in research: > > > We might expect conflict of interest concerns to be raised, for example, > about Seventh Day Adventists who are studying the health effects of the > comparatively abstemious lifestyle of their fellow Adventists. Whereas > policies at [the *Journal of the American Medical Association*] and *The New > England Journal of Medicine* emphasize financial conflicts, Science asks > authors to divulge " any relationships that they believe could be construed > as causing a conflict of interest, whether or not the individual believes > that is actually so. " In other words, to comply with disclosure policies at > Science, authors might need to disclose to editors their religion and sexual > orientation along with their financial portfolio. 19 > > Although Rothman argues for letting work standing on its own merit rather > than judging cynically any possible connection to a funding source, his > example makes the point that motivations more powerful than money can > distort data. Science fraud can be extremely difficult to detect, because > the perpetrators control the information. As Mark Twain observed, " Figures > don't lie, but liars figure! " > > I don't believe that *all* research done by vegetarians is untrustworthy. My > experience with the ongoing Seventh-day Adventist Health Study (SDAHS), a > series of studies conducted from LLU School of Public Health, has been > largely positive. Its chief researcher, the late Roland Phillips, M.D., > Dr.P.H., was an outstanding scientist in whose objectivity I had the utmost > confidence. He recognized the problem of the influence of social > expectations on SDAs responding to questions about their lifestyle. > Adventist groupthink makes it likely that SDAs will underreport activities > disfavored by the church community (e.g., meat-eating, coffee drinking, and > imbibing) and over-report those that are approved (e.g., dining meatlessly > and exercising). Phillips seemed to feel that the benefits of vegetarianism > per se were limited, and that one must take account of heredity, > socioeconomic status, and the total SDA lifestyle. Abstention from smoking, > access to state-of-the-art healthcare, and strong social support probably > are responsible for most of the health benefits SDAs enjoy. The main problem > with SDA vegetarian science is how the scientific information is used. To > paraphrase an old Pennsylvania Dutch saying: Among SDAs, when the news about > vegetarianism and health is good, " we hear it ever " ; when the news is not > good, " we hear it never. " > > I have received numerous reports from SDA health professionals, and have > personal knowledge of other cases, in which church members' overconfidence > in vegetarianism prevented them from obtaining effective medical care. Some > reports have involved true believers in vegetarianism who were members of > physicians' families. Some denied symptoms, and their denial kept them from > seeking effective intervention in time. Others rejected medical care for > " natural remedies " that emphasized diet. The attitudes evidenced are > consistent with those identified in cancer patients who had turned to > quackery because they believed they had brought the disease upon themselves > and could cure it by " natural " practices. 20 The SDA Church has bent over > backward to document the benefits of the SDA lifestyle and to persuade > members to adopt vegetarian diets. I would like to see the church seek > earnestly to expose the harm that its vegetarian teachings have caused its > members. Alas, there's the rub with ideologic vegetarianism: Objectivity > always takes a back seat to proselytism. > > The data suggest that most SDAs are reasonable in their approach to > vegetarianism. In the 1970s, the SDAHS revealed that only one percent were > vegans. 21 This may change as vegetarianism becomes more popular in the > general population. SDAs tend to be overachievers. If we regard something as > " good, " we strive to adopt it completely. If we consider something " bad, " we > avoid it completely. SDA vegetarian evangelists have become more aggressive > in recent years because of the widespread belief in the SDA community that > doomsday is nigh. > > I recall an SDA church leader's fitting reply to the question of whether he > ate meat: " I eat just enough to keep me from becoming a fanatic! " > > *One Less " Ism " * > > I gave up vegetarianism because I found that commitment thereto meant > surrendering the objectivity that is essential to the personal and > professional integrity of a scientist. As a health educator, I feel I have > an obligation to endeavor to stick to whatever unvarnished facts scientific > research uncovers. I can support pragmatic vegetarianism, but I believe that > crusading vegetarian ideologues are dangerous to themselves and to society. > > *ACSH advisor William T. Jarvis, Ph.D., is a professor of public health and > preventive medicine at Loma Linda University, founder and president of the > National Council Against Health Fraud, and coeditor of The Health Robbers: A > Close Look at Quackery in America (1993). This article is an adaptation of > one published by Prometheus Books (Amherst, New York) in the > November/December 1996 issue of Nutrition & Health Forum newsletter.* > > 1. D. Erhardt, " The New Vegetarians, Part OneÑVegetarianism and its Medical > Consequences, " Nutrition Today, November/December, 1973. > > 2. R. Spitzer. No Need For Hunger. Danville, Ill.: Interstate Printers and > Publishers, 1981. > > 3. National Academy of Sciences. Toxicants Occurring Naturally In Foods. > Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1973. > > 4. J. Wood. " Mother of Starved Children Asks Permission to Give Birth > Again, " San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle, March 27, 1983, p. A5. > > 5. Journal of Nutrition Education 1981; 13:26. > > 6. Newsweek, September 18, 1972, p. 71. > > 7. " Temple Beautiful DietÑDeath for David Blume, " (AP) San Bernardino Sun, > October 15, 1979, p. A-3. > > 8. C.V. Wetli and J.H. Davis. JAMA 1978; 240:1339. > > 9. San Jose Mercury News, August 20, 1994. > > 10. O. Segerberg. Living to Be 100: 1200 Who Did and How They Did It. New > York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1982. > > 11. J.L. Lyon, M.R. Klauber, J.W. Gardner, and C.R. Smart, " Cancer Incidence > in Mormons and Non-Mormons in Utah, 1966-70, " N Engl J Med 1976; 294:129-133 > (p.132). > > 12. J.E. Enstrom. " Cancer Mortality among Low-Risk Populations, " CA ?A > Cancer Journal for Clinicians 1979; 29:352-61. > > 13. C.M. Friedenreich, R.F. Brant, and E. Riboli. " Influence of > Methodological Factors in a Pooled Analysis of 13 Case-Control Studies of > Colorectal Cancer and Dietary Fiber, " Epidemiology 1994; 5:66-79. > > 14. D.J. Hunter et al. " Cohort Studies of Fat Intake and the Risk of Breast > CancerÑA Pooled Analysis, " New Engl J Med 1996; 334:356-61. > > 15. E. Becker. The Denial of Death. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., > Inc., 1973. > > 16. J. Whorton. " Tempest in a Flesh-Pot: Development of a Physiological > Rationale for Vegetarianism, " Journal of the History of Medicine, April > 1977, pp. 119-120. > > 17. Good Medicine, Spring 1995. > > 18. The Population Reference Bureau, Inc., Washington, D.C., 1988. > > 19. K. Rothman. " Conflict of Interest: The New McCarthyism in Science, " JAMA > 1993; 269 (21):2782-4. > > 20. B. Cassileth et al. " Contemporary Treatments in Cancer Medicine, " Ann > Intern Med 1984; 101:105-12. > > 21. " Researchers Release Adventist Health Study Results, " Pacific Union > Recorder, March 12, 1979. > > (From Priorities, Vol. 9, No. 2) > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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