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A narrative is being pushed that going onto a plant-based diet is not only best for the planet but better for our own wellbeing. While the narrative has helped to enrich vegan food companies, it is harming people’s health.
Accumulating studies are suggesting that the metabolic benefits of going vegan are accompanied by a plethora of health risks stemming from the diet’s inherent restrictions which involves avoiding all animal products. Concerns range from a heightened risk of diseases relating to the skeletal and nervous systems, to conditions such as haemorrhagic stroke.
The best approach to a healthy diet is to combine the main benefits of a vegan diet (i.e. the high intake of fruits and vegetables) with a certain amount of protein through meat, fish and eggs.
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The dangers of veganism
The following was written by David Cox and originally published by The Telegraph on 8 September 2024.
The vegan diet is often described in the context of its benefits for weight loss and heart health. Cult documentaries such as Netflix’s The Game Changers have helped push a narrative that going plant-based is not only best for the planet, but better for our own wellbeing.
There are currently an estimated 2.5 million vegans in the UK, a figure which has nearly doubled in the past 12 months alone. This has helped to greatly enrich vegan food companies, with the UK market for meat substitutes worth more than £800 million, making it the second largest in Europe, behind Germany.
Yet at the same time, accumulating studies are suggesting that the metabolic benefits of going vegan are accompanied by a plethora of health risks stemming from the diet’s inherent restrictions which involves avoiding all animal products including meat, fish, seafood, eggs, dairy, and honey. The emerging concerns range from a heightened risk of diseases relating to the skeletal and nervous systems, to conditions such as haemorrhagic stroke.
“We’re basically not designed to be vegans,” says Dr Geoff Mullan, a functional medicine practitioner. “There’s some big macronutrients and micronutrients missing if you’re just eating a vegan diet. You can get plenty of proteins on a vegan diet, but there is a concern that you’re not getting enough of the right type of protein. Plant-based proteins are not the same as animal-based proteins or dairy, and our body doesn’t process them in the same way.”
Even some of the diet’s biggest celebrity advocates have ultimately returned to an omnivorous life after tiring of the restrictive nature of being vegan, combined with some worrying health concerns. Miley Cyrus told Joe Rogan’s podcast: “I was vegan for a very long time, and I’ve had to introduce fish and omegas into my life because my brain wasn’t functioning properly. Now I’m so much sharper than I was and I think that I was, at one point, pretty malnutritioned.
Anne Hathaway also described that she “just didn’t feel good or healthy” while on a vegan diet and recalled that after eating a piece of salmon after several years as a vegan, “my brain felt like a computer rebooting”.
So why can going vegan lead to health concerns and what do nutritional scientists think?
The health risks
While dietary protein can be sourced from plants, plant proteins are not only 50-70 per cent less digestible than animal proteins, but according to the World Health Organisation, animal proteins are regarded as complete protein, meaning they have higher biological value.
One recent study examined the adequacy of a vegan diet in terms of macronutrients through surveying the nutritional intake of vegans across Europe, finding that vegans consumed the least total protein.
Clare Collins, a professor of nutrition and dietetics at the University of Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia, says that problems can arise when people end up starting a vegan or even a vegetarian diet as something of a fad, and thus fail to ensure that what they’re eating meets all their nutrient requirements.
“I think the main danger is whether you’re truly committed to that, or whether it’s just this week I’m a vegan, I’m going to do that for a few months,” she says.
One of the most well-known risks is vitamin B12 deficiency, something which has been linked to neurological problems and blood disorders. Vitamin B12 is found in foods such as meat, poultry and eggs. Other studies have suggested that inadequate vitamin B12 consumption may even raise the risk of cancers, with some epidemiologists finding that postmenopausal female patients with low vitamin B12 levels have a heightened risk of breast cancer. Reduced vitamin B12 levels have also been linked to risk of developing cancerous growths in the cervix and gastrointestinal tract.
While vitamin B12 supplementation is known as being imperative for vegans, Dr Mullan says that most of the vegans he sees in his practice tend to have lower than optimal vitamin B12 and iron levels as well as being deficient in another crucial nutrient, omega-3. Omega-3s are vital for brain health and function as they are concentrated in particularly high levels in brain cells.
“We do quite a lot of blood testing and when I see a blood panel I can always tell that it’s a vegan straight away because the lipid [blood fat] profiles are normally really good, but vitamin B12 and iron levels are always in their boots,” says Dr Mullan. “And their omega-3s are always really bad.”
Dr Mullan explains this is because omega-3s exist in two forms. We typically get so-called long-chain omega-3s such as EPA and DHA from eating fatty fish or omega-3 enriched eggs. However, the omega-3s found in plant-only sources such as chia and flax seeds are shorter-chain omega-3s, which we struggle to process as effectively.
“At best, only somewhere between 5 and 10 per cent of short-chain omega-3s can get converted to a form we can actually use,” says Dr Mullan.
It’s bad for your bones
While consuming calcium-rich vegetables such as kale and broccoli can protect bones, two of the biggest population studies that have monitored vegans over time – one which followed Seventh Day Adventists in the United States and Canada, and the EPIC-Oxford study which tracked the health of around 65,000 meat-eaters, vegetarians and vegans across the UK – have indicated that many vegans don’t actually meet their calcium requirements. As a result, the risk of hip fracture, leg fractures and general bone fractures, has been found to be higher in vegans compared with meat eaters.
Much of this is thought to be because calcium is less easily absorbed from plant foods compared to dairy products, while various studies have also shown that vegans consume insufficient vitamin D which exacerbates calcium shortages.
“Long-term observational studies of vegans find adverse effects on bone density that is probably caused by very low calcium and marginally adequate protein intakes,” says Thomas Sanders, an honorary professor of nutritional sciences at King’s College London. “Although vegan diets may have favourable effects on health in middle-age such as a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes, this is not the case in older vegans who seem more likely to suffer from muscle loss, low bone density and neurological disorders which have a significant impact on the quality of life.”
Greater stroke risk
One particularly alarming finding from the EPIC-Oxford study was that vegetarians and vegans had a 20 per cent greater risk of stroke compared with meat eaters.
This finding has been corroborated by several studies in Japan, suggesting that individuals with a very low intake of animal products have an increased risk of stroke and that key animal-derived nutrients such as vitamin B12, essential amino acids and long chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids have a protective effect against stroke.
Pregnancy complications
Earlier this year a small study conducted by researchers in Denmark suggested that vegan mothers may have a poorer prenatal nutritional status, which can lead to worse outcomes for the foetus and baby.
In particular, the mothers were found to be at a greater risk of preeclampsia, a pregnancy complication that causes dangerously high blood pressure levels, while their babies had a lower birth weight compared to those of omnivores.
Dr Duane Mellor, a registered dietitian, points out that while the study was small and only monitored 18 vegans, the challenges of ensuring that a vegan diet is nutritionally complete can have health consequences. “There can be risks of lower intakes of iron, iodine and vitamins B12 and D which can affect the health of both the mother, along with the development of the baby,” says Dr Mellor.
Depression and mental health
A general concern with restrictive diets is that they can lead to disordered eating habits, and be reflective of a condition called orthorexia nervosa, which is defined as a fixation on health-conscious eating behaviour. This involves obsessive food decisions, self-imposed anxiety, self-punishment, and ritual activities surrounding food preparations. Research has found that both vegetarians and vegans, particularly women, are more prone to orthorexia nervosa.
Some vegans who have subsequently switched back to an omnivorous diet have complained of low energy levels while following a vegan diet. Like Cyrus, her partner at the time, Liam Hemsworth described feeling “low and lethargic” while on the diet.
One scientific review from researchers at King’s College London and the University of Nicosia in Cyprus found 11 studies which suggested that vegetarian or vegan diets are linked to higher rates of depression, potentially due to deficiencies in omega-3 and vitamin B12. Reduced concentrations of omega-3 fatty acids in the brain can cause significant changes in brain function, including changes in neuron size, learning and memory, while both omega-3 and vitamin B12 are involved in the transmission of key brain chemicals.
“There’s also iodine which is essential for making thyroid hormones, which are essential for energy and mental health,” says Dr Mullan. “Iodine is one of the most common deficiencies in vegans because it’s very difficult to get it from plant sources, unless you’re eating lots of seaweed.”
The risks for kids
Generation Z are particularly at the forefront of the shift to a plant-based diet. Back in 2021, 8 per cent of British children were identifying as vegan and 13 per cent as vegetarian, and now some surveys have suggested that more than half of Gen Zers may be choosing to follow a meat-free diet by 2025.
However, there are particular concerns about the consequences of a lack of animal protein in children, such as inhibited growth, lower bone mineral content and density, and poorer developmental outcomes. A review from scientists at UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health found that nearly a third of vegetarian and vegan children do not take vitamin B12 supplements, resulting in deficiencies combined with lower iron stores, greater risk of vitamin D deficiency and inadequate iodine intake.
The issues with vegan meats
Another issue with the shift towards plant-based diets is that many shop-bought plant-based meat or dairy alternatives are ultra-processed foods. Richard Hoffman, a researcher at the University of Hertfordshire, says that rather than being made with ingredients such as lentils, plant-based meats tend to be manufactured with highly refined chemicals, combined with ingredients such as emulsifiers and stabilisers.
“Plant-based meats really should be called fake meats, because they’re designed to mimic meat without actually containing anything resembling meat,” he says. “All these companies are doing their best to get the product to be indistinguishable from meat, but to do that, they have to use all these highly refined ingredients.”
You don’t need to go full carnivore
Ultimately, Dr Mullan says that the best approach is to combine the main benefits of a vegan diet (ie the high intake of fruits and vegetables) with a certain amount of protein through meat, fish and eggs.
“I always say, the majority of your diet should be like a vegan diet with that higher vegetable intake, but adding in eggs, fish and occasionally red meat,” he says.
| Six key nutrients you can’t get from plants and why they’re important |
| Vitamin B12 Vitamin B12 is only found in foods such as meat, poultry and eggs. Because of its role in the metabolism of the nervous system, vitamin B12 is vital for memory, focus and also mood. Emerging research is also connecting vitamin B12 deficiencies with cancer risk. |
| Calcium We typically get calcium from dairy products, and while it is present in some plant foods, the body does not absorb it as well. If the body doesn’t get enough calcium from our diet, it will take calcium from bones, which can weaken them over time, making them brittle. |
| DHA The typical vegan diet has less of a crucial omega-3 fatty acid called DHA than an omnivorous diet. Symptoms of DHA deficiency include fatigue, poor memory, dry skin, heart problems, mood swings or depression, and poor circulation. |
| Iron Haem iron, which is found predominantly in meat, poultry and fish, is far more easily absorbed within the body compared with non-haem iron, found in vegetables, cereals and lentils. Insufficient iron not only raises your risk of anaemia but also mental health conditions such as depression. |
| Zinc As with calcium, it is harder for the body to extract the zinc it needs from zinc-rich plant foods such as nuts, seeds, and whole grains, compared with meat, dairy and eggs. Zinc consumption may be associated with mental health problems, skin conditions, diarrhoea, and alopecia. |
| Selenium Selenium intakes in vegans and vegetarians have been shown to be lower compared to meat or fish eaters. This is because the amount of selenium in a plant depends on the amount of selenium in the soil where it was grown, while red meat, chicken, turkey and seafood are all rich in selenium. Selenium is known as an essential mineral for the immune system and thyroid health. |
Further reading: Don’t give up meat, it’s better for your health than you think, The Telegraph, 2 January 2024
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Out of curiosity, I once looked at the ingredients in a supermarket “plant based ” ready meal and found that the main component was “bamboo fibre, undeniably plant based but doesn’t constitute food. It was just packing and bulk, no nutrition at all.
“NO nutrition at all”? All packaged food products display a label regarding nutrient content. I think that some of these fake meats do indeed have fiber added, but they add nutrients as well. Yah it’s fake food, but so is baloney and salami and Span and that whole ball of wax.
Animal in a can – what’s not to love.
I read Rhodes’s posts often with interest, but this one on veganism is absolute garbage
I’ve been a vegan for 53 years and have no health issues
It’s not only best for the planet and our health, but also the health of the animals, most of whom are prisoners of our pathological appetites. Dairy cows suffer abominably..veganism is the future.
If you are concerned for animal welfare, and you should be because commercial farming is cruel, raise and slaughter your own animals.
You get the benefit of healthy animals and good, tasty meat.
Come now, Glen. You know perfectly well that an overwhelming majority of people can barely stand to watch an animal getting slaughtered, never mind doing it themselves. If the only way most folks could obtain meat was to kill and clean it themselves, vegetarianism would become popular in no time flat.
Well said Samia. I have zero respect for anyone eating meat who doesn’t kill it themselves. Stop paying psychopaths to make your food for you! Also, those animals are tortured, and endure so much stress and anguish in their last moments of life. I’m sure that all goes “right into the meat.” Maybe that explains why the world is such shit these days.
@Chapstick. Friend for life.
I saw plenty of animal killing on the farm as a child & teen and it bothered me plenty and I had to look away, somewhat, though I was fascinated by the guts pouring out of the hanging corpse. (Too much info? Tsk tsk.)
But I kept eating it because I craved it so badly – probably because I had an unbelievably bad sugar habit. You know – carbs and protein have to be in balance. Take enough of one and you ultimately crave from the other end of the spectrum. When I was a little older, I could no longer ignore my feelings (those dastardly things that some people sneer at).
What is your story, if I may ask.
I used to fish a lot as a kid (for food). I always felt bad when killing them, but my father assured me “it’s just the way it is.” I never felt good doing that. He and my brother wanted me to hunt, but I knew what that meant, so I never got into it. Years later, after I got married, I saw one too many animal abuse videos. Pigs thirsting to death in transport vehicles parked in a 100 degree parking lot while the driver was off doing whatever the hell he wanted. Cows trying as hard as they could to escape the slaughter line. I told my wife: “as a start, I want to stop eating pork products.” A week later she would bring bacon home because “it was too good a deal to not buy it.” Then I would eat it because I didn’t want it to go to waste. One day I watched Cowspiracy, then forks over knives. I’ve been vegan for 10 years since. But yeah, I really don’t try to be one of the judgmental types. I have friends and my brother in-law who are avid hunters. My good friend only eats meat he gets himself, he does not buy it at the grocery store. He has all of my respect.
Thank for telling me of your background and how you came to be a vegan. How about your wife?
I wonder who keeps downvoting us when we write something quite neutral in tone.
Propaganda.
Been following DR Anthony Chaffe Carnivorous diet,
Also read the ‘plant paradox’ by Dr gundry.
Iv decided most vegetables are actually bad for you and are peasant foods with high lectins and pesticides.
I had a big pop belly most men get with age. That pop belly is mainly from sugar/refined carbohydrates, and is internal fat around the organs…not good.
Been eating red meat only for 2 weeks.
Apparently the body can get all the nutrients it needs from meat .
My body has gone into ketosis.
Lost 1.25 stone in two weeks.
Kept my muscle mass
Feel incredible
Lots of energy
Pop belly already gone.
This diet kind of turns everything we think we no about food on its head.
Yay Ben!…GO YOU! ; D
You’ve found what works for you, good for you!
Keep doing what you’re doing and listening to your body.
Organic Grass fed meat is the number one best and most nutritious food you can possibly put into your body.
Just ensure that you’re getting enough healthy fats as well.
All the best.
Thanks Nicole 🙂
And how long do you think you can keep this up? I suspect that in time you will be wanting some carbohydrates.
I love meat….iv started eating just two meals a day, so by the time I’m ready for a meal I’m quite hungry.
Not a great fan of carbs anyway.
Miss beer lol 🤣
Not surprised that you miss beer. Alcohol is pure liquid carb.
Yes …the worse type !!
The benefits from this diet are just too good to actually drink beer again.
I want to live a long healthy life and the carnivorous diet is the secret.
💪😊🤗
Your benefits are coming from calorie deficit and cutting out processed food. Good stuff that you’re feeling healthy, but it’s drastically sub-optimal for a human. Our physiology is most closely related to the great apes (chimps, gorillas, orangutans) right down to the Ph of our saliva and length of our digestive tract. A meat-only diet will do you no good in the long-term, and your heart/cardiovascular system will not tolerate it for long.
I found this article just by happenstance, I was not looking for it:
https://eatfor.life/carnivore-diet-an-unseen-trigger-for-anxiety/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=carnivore_diet_an_unseen_trigger_for_anxiety&utm_term=2024-09-13
CARNIVORE DIET AN UNSEEN TRIGGER FOR ANXIETY?
The author is opposed to dogmatism in eating. Me, too. She is not a vegetarian.
Whatever knob shite lol 🤣
I’m RH negative…….so it works for me
Great article Rhoda! : )
Hi Nicole, I didn’t write it but I republished it as it was such a good article. It feels like one of those articles that needs to be kept in some sort of permanent file of important articles. Especially since the “official narrative” is attempting to memory hole what a healthy balanced diet for humans is in favour of enforcing an unholy alliance of lab-grown “vegan” and insectivore diets.
I completely agree and keep a ‘Health’ file myself.
Through all of my studies and research I definitely believe that humans are designed to eat meat and animal products.
Hi Nicole, I agree. We were created as omnivores.
How can you feel it’s good to share articles with zero sources or links? Several “studies” are cited, yet no links to these studies. I read an article recently that said dairy was healthier than people once thought. They had a link. That “study” posted their conflict of interest because they were funded by the dairy association of America. Who funded these studies?
This article is trash. It says:
“Vitamin B12 Vitamin B12 is only found in foods such as meat, poultry and eggs. Because of its role in the metabolism of the nervous system, vitamin B12 is vital for memory, focus and also mood. Emerging research is also connecting vitamin B12 deficiencies with cancer risk.”
This is false. B12 comes from bacteria that are everywhere. Go outside and lick a rock, you’ll get B12. Animals have to consume B12 to have it in them – it’s not magically inside them. Animals on factory farms are given B12 supplements because they don’t get the required amount. The B12 that meat eaters are getting is recycled. The reason some vegans (those who don’t supplement) are low is because produce is washed, so the B12 is washed away. If you have a garden and are outside eating fresh veggies, you’ll likely get the needed amount without supplementing. That said, it’s really easy to supplement. Using B12 as an excuse for eating meat is very lame and lazy.
Thanks for your comment. B-12 supplements were developed long before noticeable numbers of people became vegans or vegetarians. There are an (apparently) increasing number of folks who have to take B-12 supps or shots and they eat meat, which they have done every day of their lives. B-12 deficiency is a condition of assimilation and absorption, not merely lack of intake. So, I would advise meat eaters out there to not be so quick to think they are out of danger; you may be skating on thin ice B-12 wise.
What you say, Chapstick, is mostly correct, but it is not true that unwashed produce automatically contains Vit B-12 and neither does rock licking do you much good. In order for an animal to be able to produce B12 from bacterial action, their food must contain Cobalt. Cobalt is at the center of things here. So, even free ranging animals on an organic-type farm may be deficient in B12.
Therefore, even with cobalt in the soil (on which plants grow and animals feed) B12 uptake by humans is not a sure thing either for people or animals. It just is not that simple. There has been much written on this – and not by vegans or vegetarians, either. And it is correct that animal “producers” give their livestock B-12 AND cobalt, to boot. I have raised animals and their bag of supplements say both B-12 and Cobalt on the label.
Thanks for your comment. A lot of good stuff in there, but I have to disagree with you on the unwashed produce part. Plant sources of cobalt that humans consume include spinach, broccoli, green beans, chard, among many many others. Eating these unwashed provides the needed cobalt to effectively absorb B12. Is it enough B12? Probably, if you were eating your daily calories need’s worth of vegetables. We all know that isn’t happening. So yeah, I’ll give you that part.
Im curious how any animals in the wild or before supplements ever survived…
Thanks! Re cobalt – it is part of the B12 molecule, not an outside factor which promotes digestion of B12. Our guts have to be healthy enough to take cobalt and make B12 – and I am not sure that humans can do that. Here is further info on that topic.
https://frugivorebiology.com/b12-microbiome/
That the intestinal microbiome produces B12 is nothing new. However, there are still doubts that in humans, this suffices to get enough B12 – or get B12 at all. The question is addressed in our in-depth article, but basically, our gut health and microbiome are comprised due to suboptimal habitat and environmental health… but, in optimal, natural conditions, seem very much able to provide us with B12 internally.
In my judgment, simply living in that optimal habitat will not cut it – we have adapted to outside sources of B12 over a long period of time, like it or not. “Optimal, natural conditions”? How do I obtain those? I can’t, so I take my B12 from time to time, which I think is a more humane, morally aware solution than stuffing my pie hole with flesh day in and day out.
Here is a scientific article and you may find it educational if you can plow thru it:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7689651/
Good stuff. Thanks
Everyone: Don’t try and read this if you have ADD. (ADD drugs, by the way, were devised for a meat-eating population, before anyone ever heard the word “vegan” because there weren’t any). I have meat, egg & dairy consuming relatives/acquaintances who were/are on Ritalin.
@Chapstick (& Rhoda). I really think that a vegan/vegetarian VS meat diet is not useful less we also discuss the motivations for following either diet.
Here’s the bottom line, and I did not make this up: vegetarianism followed for “sensible” reasons such as health/ “global warming”/ “save the earth”, etc – can’t be sustained for long because you have to have some deep, emotion-based motivations to be able to stick with it.
Meat eating is a part of our biological background and to be able to sidestep this truth, we have to have a substantial, deep-seated, profound, non-logic-based outlook for choosing to avoid meat. The body and the spirit know even if the conscious mind doesn’t.
For such as me, it is easy to avoid meat. Yes, I occasionally have some dairy product. I eat anything I want, in the moment. I wish I had a dime for every time someone said, to my face, that they know perfectly well that I’m sneaking meat when no one is looking. (SMH. Some people really are a**holes.)
I have read the opinions of a few (not very many) doctors who agree that they would not try to talk vegetarians into eating meat & dairy/eggs if their diet is based on a sympathy with animals or having been born into a family whose vegetarianism is part of long standing religious/cultural background.
Is a vegan diet filled with risks, as this article claims? Sure – so is a meat & dairy-including diet. What – those thousands/millions of people in hospitals; on prescription drugs; chronically suffering, etc. – they are all vegans and vegetarians?
@Rhoda – why are certain illnesses/conditions “greater” in vegans but meat eaters still also have these conditions anyway? Different excuses for different populations according to the writer’s biases?
Let me repeat myself: supplements of this & that were never developed for vegans; they have been around much longer – before veganism (or vegetarianism) became somewhat more popular. Selenium? It’s in meat, because the farmer puts it into the animals’ feed by way of supplement from a bag. I have raised livestock animals myself and, yup, it’s there on the label. Along with iodine, cobalt, b12, copper, etc. etc.etc.
Thanks for reading, or ignoring. Fine with me.
First of all, I am not a vegan and could probably never be one.
I’m commenting here to inform you that every health issue suffered by vegans and/or vegetarians is also to be found in people who eat meat and or dairy products and or eggs. However, I don’t see any meat eater mentioning this.
About the celebrity whose brain rebooted after eating a piece of salmon, I say good on her. We should all eat however we wish and out of any motivation. However, every person I know with a sub-functioning brain eats meat. Every person I know with osteoporosis, etc. eats dairy & meat. Etc. Etc. You get my point, I am sure.
Food supplements – including B12 – were in existence long before veganism (or vegetarianism) was a thing. I have elderly nutrition books which say this. Why do you suppose scientists were developing these supplements if the commonly-consumed meat-, egg- and dairy-centered diets were so wonderful in promoting health? Serious, sincere question and an answer would be welcomed. Thanks.
You won’t get a reply. People don’t like being questioned on their junk, pseudoscience articles.
Thanks Chapstick. But I hope that at least one person will respond, anyway.
Who downvoted me for my neutral comment? Come on – present yourself!
I find this such a contentious topic. It’s important to know who funds all research and who is paid to spout whatever truth or nonsense they do. One of the problems regarding vegan diets is that many vegan foods are simply unhealthy. I know vegans who’ll eat anything as long as it’s vegan-sugar, highly refined food, highly processed so-called food, etc. A plant-strong whole food unprocessed diet would be much healthier. I also don’t believe there’s one perfect diet for everybody-we all have different needs. So, as far as I’m concerned, the jury’s still out on this one.
I generally approve with the line and philosophy of this channel. However, in this case I am sorry to say but you are totally, completely and incontrovertibly wrong.I have been a vegetarian for over 50 years and I consider it among the most useful, critical and helpful (both physically and psychologically) decisions of my life. No doubt the Gods have a hand in it but I am 85 years old. I wrote the only (yes) situational dictionary of Shakespeare works (15 years, 1400 pages) – sold all over the world – & recently completed a book/internet product that has enable me to memorize about 500 Shakespearean quotes and several by other authors. In case you think I make this up check my website http://www.yourdaiyshakespeare.com and the sub-section on my historical video sketches (and contemporary) both in English and Italian. I respect life in all its forms. And I believe that many animals are significantly more intelligent and considered than many men. I strongly recommend abandoning meat as an un-necessary and harmful type of food (considering also the way that animals are treated). JM
Jimmie – I clicked on your website but there is nothing there. Did you perhaps mean “yourdailyshakespeare.com”?
Massive BS in this article. As a 44-year vegan I can easily run rings around people my age As a long-time vegan my IQ is, according to Mensa, in the top 2/10 of 1% of the population. You really think eating the toxic flesh of horribly abused animals will increase intelligence??Eating animals foods weakens us and dumbs us down – why is the Expose promoting lies that are exactly what the globalist plutocrats want us to believe??? When we insist on confining, exploiting, and force-medicating millions of cows, pigs, chickens, and other animals for “food,” we are sowing the seeds for the same to happen to us! Just as we arrogantly proclaim our superiority to “livestock” and exploit and abuse them mercilessly and unnecessarily, we find we are viewed similarly by far more powerful oligarchs who exploit and abuse us, the exploiters and abusers. The only way we can ever have freedom and justice is if we give freedom and justice to those who are at our mercy and vulnerable in our hands. All these tired complete fabrications!!! Where do cows, elephants, and gorillas get their calcium, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, etc.? from plants! Every nutrient that finds its way into the flesh or secretions of animals came originally from plants. We don’t need the “middle animal” and when we kill them, we get a whole plethora of toxins that concentrate in their flesh and tissues. There is an important book that shines light on all this – Food for Freedom: Reclaiming Our Health and Rescuing Our World. The article makes a good point that hyper-processed “vegan” foods are unhealthy – all processed foods are. We do best if we eat organic, whole, plant-based foods, preferable locally grown, preferably grown in our own gardens without animal inputs, as we do here in California. And for goodness’ sake, please don’t promote dairy as beneficial for calcium or anything! It is positively correlated with osteoporosis and a host of cancers and disease.
I luv all life 2.
I am a big animal lover.
But unfortunately that sentiment doesn’t actually help nice people like us.
We need to animal flesh for optimal health. …..
FACT
(Trump gif) WRONG!
A vegan diet is best for the cow, pigs and sheep and chickens murdered by the million. I do not of course mean them eating a vegan diet – it is best for them not to be murdered. Just as you and I do not want to be murdered! You cannot advocate for freedom for humans and murder for others. It is hypocritical. Di unti others as you would have done to yourself. As for my own health – I am 73 . I have never been vaccinated. I went on every freedom March during so-called covid. I have never been to a hospital. I have never had flu and I do not get colds. My bones are strong. I am fully healthy in a vegan diet. There is much evidence to show those of us who do not murder others are healthy. We do not have diabetes. We do not have heart attacks. We are strong. In any case I do not avoid eating other beings for health reasons. I avoid eating other beings because I do not agree with murdering and torturing nonhumans.
Murdered by the billions**
Love you to bits. What a great comment.
I’m puzzled as to WHY you posted this article? It references World Health Organisation, professor this, University there, Little Ormond St. hospital (just exposed for hiring an unlicensed doctor who deliberately killed patients) “The Telegraph “ muckrag.
We can do our own diligence on “personal bodily autonomy “ regarding diet.
The issue of childhood indoctrination would be a strong angle to approach.
The issue of mRNA in meat perhaps?
I’m not a vegan, but the practice of giving soy products “meat names” like ‘tofurkey or’fakon’ seems to be an adversarial petard designed to cause division between the “indoctrinated generations’ & the status quo’s.
Provocative move Rhoda
Please, include various speeds for the audio. I usually listen at x1.5-2.
This is health propaganda. The article wards people off from the supposed ‘plethora of health risks’ of a vegan diet while:
1) not showing how many of the many vegans have died from these ‘dangers’ but rather stating that there are millions of them in the UK alone
2) not emphasizing how easy a lack of iron, B12, or iodine is to find yourself on an omnivorous diet, or how easy these are to fix (without breaking eithere diet),
3) completely ignoring the dangers (eg. excess iron, cholesterol, excess protein, cruelty) of a meat diet,
4) completely ignoring that a vegan diet saves people from ingesting some things such as cholesterol or whatever they’re doing to animals in farms now (mRNA vaccines?)
5) completely ignoring the cruelty of a meat diet and the spiritual benefits associated with avoiding cruelty and terror in your food,
6) ignores the problems the body has to eliminate excess iron,
7) ignores what happens when the body gets too much protein, as well as failing to question what the right percentage of protein is and whether animal or plant matter is closer,
8) ignores features of the human body plan (short snout, grinding teeth, long intestinal transit time, ape body plan) more resembling herbivore than carnivore, and rather states that ‘We’re basically not designed to be vegans’
9) promotes the myth that there is a fundamental chemical difference between meat and plant protein,
10) promotes the myth that there is simply not enough nutrition in plants to support life (please warn elephants also),
11) promotes a myth that vegans are immediately relieved if they taste meat again (actually their bodies have changed and they would have difficulty not throwing up).
Amazingly, after Dr Geoff Mullan warns that “We’re basically not designed to be vegans,” and, “There’s some big macronutrients and micronutrients missing if you’re just eating a vegan diet”, later in the article he says “the majority of your diet should be like a vegan diet”.
This is truth-ignoring propaganda and I am very disappointed to see it published by the Expose.
Yes, the Establishment doesn’t want us eating meat but they don’t want us eating organic vegetables either: they want us eating bugs. That is not veganism.
the root cause of this situation is they ( the powers over us ) have used their poisons to create a problem , the people cry for help and magically the solution is diets and the sheep file up to the cashier. Hegelian Dialectic it’s everywhere.
they create problems with the chemicals we digest and the people cry for help and magically diets appear to fix the problem and the sheep file up to the cashier. Hegelian Dialectic
sorry about the double post but Telus my provider really likes to censor so it’s a task to upload here .
LOL. Rhoda only replies to the ones she agrees with. Nothing to refute the many killer debunks in this here comment section. Way to go Rhoda – fine journalism.
Hi Chapstick, how do you equate comments under an article to journalism?
The comments section is for our readers to put their thoughts.
If you want my thoughts … We’re omnivores and I see no value in arguing back and forth in a comments section about it. If you choose to follow a vegan diet, that is your choice and has no consequence on my life or my well being. I have no desire to get you to revert to your natural state of being an omnivore. And just as I won’t force you to eat meat, or badger or harass you to do so, I expect the same respect from vegans.
It is gracious of you to permit us to speak our piece here and I do appreciate it. Thank you. Freedom of expression at work.
So it’s an opinion piece then? Usually opinion pieces state that in the beginning. Where are the links to the studies cited in the article? That’s what “journalism” means. So many people called it out in the comments, and you have nothing to say. It’s not badgering you to point this out. We’re not omnivores, but you can believe whatever you want. Nothing about our physiology lines up with true omnivores. Our physiology is almost 100% aligned with great apes, who are frugivores. This is not refutable.
Hi Chapstick, how far into the article did you read?
Did you get as far as the statement regarding the article’s source: “The following was written by David Cox and originally published by The Telegraph on 8 September 2024”?
I’m guessing not.
I saw it, and the link wants an email to set up a free account. Not doing that. So that’s your answer here? Did he post links in his article that you omitted? That’s very bad journalism.
You do know B12 is found in animal products because it’s added as a supplement to their feed so people that eat it are basically getting it 2nd hand digested. Why not just take the supplement direct.
Being vegan is the best life choice we can make . For the animals , the planet and for us.
I have been organic whole food vegan for 15 years and yes I’m very healthy 🩷
Being vegan is easy enough to navigate. There is a lot of plants , superfoods , herbal medicine and supplements that give the body optimal nutrition for our longevity health .
We do not have to continue to Accept Violence and oppression of animals . That’s over and people are awakening to the truth. A vegan culture is a positive step forward for humanity and I challenge articles like this that attempt to distort veganism as a global agenda against humanity.
If we were truly omnivores we would not have the emotional reactions we do.
Majority of people do not align with cruelty towards animals and will not kill or watch the killing of animals because it triggers emotional reactions of distress .
Most of us are aware through experience that Animals are like us and have complex emotions.
The false narrative is that we require animal products for our health . That narrative keeps the animal industry operating.
The harming and enslaving of animals is our harm and enslavement . As everything in life is reflected back .
No Rhoda, humans are not omnivores. I am a Biologist and have been eating a plant-based diet for the last 20 years and have great health.
If you compare carnivores, herbivores and humans, it’s clear that we have herbivore characteristics. Our teeth, how the jaw works, our lip and cheek structure, how we drink water, the tongue, the intestines and bowels, our liver and digestive system, our saliva, blood and urine, and how the body cools itself: ALL have the same characteristics as herbivores.
The digestive system of carnivores can expel large amounts of foreign cholesterol, the liver contains uricase, an enzyme to break down uric acid which can break down 10 to 15 times as much uric acid as a herbivore and humans that have a low tolerance for uric acid.
The design of of carnivore’s intestines facilitates rapid expulsion of fleshy matter because is short (3 times as long as the trunk). On the other hand, herbivores and humans have the intestines up to 12 times as long as the trunk and are designed for extracting all nutrients from plant-based foods.
We have hands and feet that contain individual digits with nails and opposable thumbs. Hands are perfectly designed to reach out, grab fruit and peel it. Herbivores are hoofed (cloven) or hands and feet contain individual digits (fingers or toes) with nails. Carnivores: all four feet are clawed (to rip into flesh).
Have you ever seen a human grab another animal, big or even small like a mouse, kill it with their own hands and eat it? Do you think that human babies or young children want to eat or play with cute little animals?
I have hunted and killed animals before, I have seen other people, only a few meters in front of me killing animals in farms “the traditional way”, where you tie the animal and or restrict its ability to escape or move and then cut their throats or target the aorta in the throat with a knife and let them bleed to death. I have looked into their eyes while they are being killed and it’s not nice. They feel pain, they suffer, they are stressed. You can clearly see in their eyes that they are horrified and they don’t want to be killed, they want to live.
I can tell you there is a huge difference between picking an apple from a tree or harvesting vegetables from the garden compared to killing an animal. Go and experience this yourself if you have the guts before you comment anything on this subject.
My cat likes to eat avocado, is he an omnivore? NO, he is a carnivore. Dogs can eat a variety of foods, are they omnivores? NO, they are carnivores. Carnivores are hunters by design and physiologically able to process meat. Humans are not. As a human, can you eat meat? Yes, humans can eat meat, and in some situations, this might be the only food available to survive but that still doesn’t change that our inherent natural physiology is of a herbivore.
Rhoda, do you like dog meat, or cat meat, or rat meat or even human meat? Tell me what’s the difference from cows, pigs, chicken, etc? No, the latter are not food, they are living beings just like you, dogs, etc.
The plane of a group of rugby players crashed in the Andes Mountains in South America and a few survived the crash. Rescue could not find where they were for a long time. After a while, the only way for the people still alive to survive was to eat the flesh from their friend’s dead body. The meat from their friend’s frozen bodies kept them alive. This has been a well documented event if you want to look further, but I think you get my point.
Would you like to have your morning cereal with dog milk, pig milk or women’s breast milk? Oh, you prefer cow’s milk? Why do you think we need cow’s milk or any dairy product? Why do you think that every single mammal on this planet only drinks milk while being a baby and then never again? Are humans some sort of special mammal that needs milk their whole life, and not even human milk but cow’s milk? Go inform yourself on how cow’s milk depletes the body from calcium.
Instead of reposting information from mainstream sources about veganism and making statements (we are omnivores,) go and properly research, investigate, use your inner knowledge and connect to your heart to know why stopping unnecessary killing and suffering of other species is highly beneficial not only to the individual but as a collective on our whole planet.
It’s not about your life or your well-being, like you wrote in one of your comments. It’s about learning that is a priority in our world to raise our collective vibrations to fight against our current state of affairs on the planet (you allegedly are fighting against this global dark force too). Those who refuse to continue to participate in this massive sacrifice of living beings on this planet are doing exactly that, raising the consciousness and frequency vibrations. The number one weapon against humanity is to keep us on a low vibration and eating the dead flesh of animals is one of the main ways to accomplish that. Yes, you do whatever you want, but I bet you that after informing yourself PROPERLY on this issue you will no longer see other animals as just food. And if you do think you have the selfish right to do so, know that you are the same as those who you are pretending to fight against.
Hi Alexander, yes, humans are omnivores. I am a human and have been eating a varied (omnivore) diet including dairy products, eggs, red and white meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, nuts and grains for more than double the time you have been a vegetarian/vegan and I have great health. An example to demonstrate: in the last 15 years I have been to the doctor about three times for health complaints, so that is on average once every five years. This pattern of only needing to go to a doctor every 5 years or more for feeling unwell is not unusual across my entire life.
How do you explain that?
I maintain that I had a great start in life (health wise, physically and mentally i.e. brain development and education) as I was fortunate enough to have a mother who ensured we ate red meat more than twice a week and each day started with a cooked breakfast of egg, bacon, fried tomato and freshly squeezed orange juice.
PS That you are a “biologist” doesn’t make you any more human than me, nor does it make your life experiences any more valuable than mine. Life experiences are funny like that, they have a way of equalising those who believe themselves to have superior knowledge and those who feel humility is the best approach.
Rhoda has nothing but anecdotal evidence, and still has not posted links to any study, either from this reposted article by David Cox, or otherwise.
Hi Chaptstick, I am now viewing you as a troll. That means if you persist in targeting people instead of discussing the topic, I will delete your comments.
For persons who want to go veg or vegan for health or political reasons, yes, you would want to see studies.
For the rest of us, who spontaneously stopped meat & dairy because we just could not stand to consume these things anymore out of purely emotional & psychological motivations – we, or at least I, don’t care about studies or scientific “research”. Those never-ending studies can prove whatever the scientists involved want to see, whether it is pro-meat or anti-meat. Scientific researchers are blinded by their prejudices.
Thanks for reading.
What’s incorrect is the article stating that a vegan diet is unhealthy.
I think Alexander is correct that physiologically we are herbivores.
Majority of humans are choosing to live as omnivores however this does not change the physiological nature of humans .
Humans can be healthy as vegans and humans can be healthy as omnivores.
We can get nutrients from plant , insect and the animal kingdom.
The issue is the violence and mass murder of animals in the animal industry. We know it’s cruel even if it’s justified for health reasons .
Being vegan or having mostly plant and less animal is making a difference for all of life.
The future will move forward to a more vegan way of living. It is a positive not a negative to live in harmony with life by reducing animal suffering.
Lovely comment. I’d say you summed things up. I’d say, eat meat if you feel you have to or want to – but do it with moral awareness.
By the way, I did not downvote you. I don’t as a rule do that to anyone, or at best rarely. I support freedom of expression.
So – are we having a competition here, trying to draw a straight line between our diet and number of trips to Dr. or hospital? If not, why would you bring that up. I could just as soon try and draw a straight line between any other aspect of our lives and trips to the Dr. There are too many variables in everyone’s life to judge anyone’s diet in that way. There’s no parallel universe where in Universe #1 an individual tries meat-centered and in Universe #2 that very same person is vegetarian, and then we look at the outcome.
About those visits to the doctor: I have gone once in the past 20 years (dehydration from vomiting from extreme overwork) and had no treatment, just tests & then advice on activity level. I don’t use this statistic to claim my diet is correct but yours is wrong so I hope you won’t judge anyone else that way.
Thank you, Rhoda. – Samia.
Many people said it. You need to provide sources.