Some of you may remember the 2004 documentary Super Size Me which depicts filmmaker Morgan Spurlock eating three meals from McDonalds every single day for 30 days and always supersizing the meal whenever suggested by a McDonald’s employee.
By the end of the 30 day fast food spree, Spurlock had gained 25 pounds and was suffering from liver dysfunction and depression according to his doctor.
Spurlock’s girlfriend (now ex-wife) during the documentary was Alex Jamieson, author of The Great American Detox Diet and a well known and longtime celebrity vegan.
When ideology trumps scientific facts, however, dietary obsessions die hard. On her blog Delicious Vitality, Jamieson shocked her fans by announcing that she had quit veganism.
A vegan for 13 years, Jamieson said that a whole foods, plant based diet helped her initially resolve some health problems. Â She also said it felt “clean and right” given what she had learned about the industrial food system and how horribly animals are treated in confinement.
Then, she said things began to change a few years ago. Â The burger that used to disgust her made her salivate. Â She had overwhelming urges to order salmon instead of her usual salad with tofu.
She said at first she denied her cravings and figured she was just mineral deficient.
More nuts, more juicing, more sea vegetables. Â For over a year, she tried everything in the vegan playbook to get the cravings to stop.
To her dismay, the cravings for meat and eggs continued and did not abate.
Jamieson writes that about that time she started to notice that most of her clients and readers were not vegan. Â Some of those who were vegan were not thriving and were even sicker and heavier than before they started an all plant based diet.
She noticed that shame was a common emotion experienced by vegans who began to eat meat again. This caused her to hide the secret of her cravings for meat and eggs even more tightly.
Finally, Alex decided that she had to experiment and see how her body responded to animal foods again. With the support of a few trusted friends, she began eating eggs.
Her body welcomed the change and wanted more!
But still she guarded her secret, stealthily buying animal foods and sneaking home to eat them in solitude.
It shocked her to realize that she had developed an eating disorder after 12 years as a vegan! Â The thought then occurred to her that she could help a lot of people by coming out of the closet and admitting her struggle and need for animal foods.
Doing so terrified her, however. Â She recalled the vicious backlash from the vegan community when celebrity vegan Ellen Degeneres admitted that she was eating eggs from her neighbor’s happy chickens.
Not so compassionate after all, are we? Â She thought.
Alex Jamieson describes her new truth with regards to animal foods as follows:
“People can still love animals and care about protecting the environment AND honor their own animal bodies and consume the foods that they need.
I believe you can love and care about animal welfare and still consume them.
I believe humans are animals. And some animals need to eat other animals to be healthy. Some do not.
I believe we should restructure the way animals are raised so that they live in more natural, comfortable, humane surroundings and stop force-feeding them 80% of all antibiotics used in the US.”
I applaud Alex Jamieson for her courage in writing a letter to her fans that will no doubt bring much ridicule and criticism from the vegan community.
Unfortunately, I don’t agree with all of Alex’s new truth. Â She also states that:
“I believe that a vegan, whole-foods diet saved my life and is a delicious, valid, healthy style of eating for many people.
I believe that a vegan diet should be promoted as one of many possible ways to get the body and life that people crave.”
While a vegan diet may prove helpful as a very short term, detoxifying solution for some people, it can never and will never prove to be a valid way to long-term health else there would be at least one traditional culture that practiced it successfully with multiple generations of fertility, healthy children, and degenerative and chronic disease free people demonstrating it’s positive effect.
Such a culture did not and does not exist according to the anthropological studies of Dr. Weston A. Price.
Not a single successful vegan population group could be cited by the science ignoring 2017 vegan documentary What the Health either!
Consider yourself warned, would-be vegans!
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Jess, you’re right that they probably do exist, my sister is one. She has been vegetarian for 41 years. I chose in my teens to eat meat once in a while so I don’t have that kind of length myself.
It’s not for everybody, she’s probably an 0-bld type.
I’m glad this person is being honest. A person’s lifestyle/diet isn’t black and white.
I eat MOSTLY vegan ..however, I do eat wild caught fish and eggs (where I know they are raise humanely).
People shouldn’t expect others to live up to some un-obtainable goal – that is when people feel guilt, shame – and start lieing and hiding things..which is absolutely ridiculous
We are all learning and trying to better…we need to support each other!
Thanks for the post!
I became vegitarian for a short while because I couldnt stand to be a part of the horrible abuse and exploitation of all those poor animals but I craved meat like crazy and finally found a local farm where I can get all the organic grass fed humanely raised meat I need for my family. I agree I dont think we are meant to be veganvegitarians I just think we need to be sure our meat is coming from good sources and isnt full of crap.
There is no such thing as humane meat; you’re just another selfish human. History tends to repeat itself; so it’s possible humans might one day be in the same place as animals, because there was too much greed in human’s hearts. People are all about what they want, and what they can’t have; the sad thing about the whole matter is that animals have no say. They have to suffer and die, just because of someones taste preference. It’s sickening and heartless.
can you please not call her “Girlfriend”? that’s kind of implying that this person, who you call a celebrity vegan (meaning she has some cultural capital and personal merit of her own), is only as important as her relationship with a particular man. people don’t typically substitute “obama’s wife” for “michelle obama” or “first lady.” suggested revised headline might be “alex jamieson, celebrity vegan, ditches veganism,” or “alex jamieson from ‘super size me’ ditches veganism.” that would show professional respect as well as stickin’ it to the patriarchy. neat shit, huh?
We all have to figure out our health issues and many times allergies.
It’s so sad though how negative people were towards her change. What works for some doesn’t always work for others and there’s no need to be disrespectful because it doesn’t fit with what we may hold as our own truth. I applaud her honesty, and believe it will help others to honor their own bodies.
Have you ever seen what happens to “food animals”? “Watch Best Speech You Will Ever Hear” By: Gary Yourofsky , and than you might understand the views of true vegans.
A respite from Veganity.
I’ve never met a life-long vegetarian. In fact, I’ve not met one that went past 25 years even. I’m *sure* they are out there, but it seems most really start to notice the horrible side effects long before that.
Oh brother. I am glad she’s chosen to be healthy rather than be prideful- whatever diet that takes.