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
I have noticed and appreciate that this page allows contrary views to be posted. I think the most important thing is that people learn how to think, not what to think, and we should always keep in mind that what others say is opinion and not necessarily fact, and we must do our own diligence to come to our own conclusions. As truth is the goal, I do not fear open and honest investigation, nor contrary opinions, and am always open to changing my mind about things, which will happen if the right information is given to me. That’s why I post and debate, really, to further my own understanding, not to influence others. I try to offer contrary opinions as gently as possible, clearly defined as my own thoughts, and not fact. It does bother me somewhat when people state things as fact without citations, etc., which is another reason I post, because I’m not entirely sure myself, so I push to get more information. So please, bring all the evidence you can so I can be more informed.
All total, my final views at this time is that pure veganism is extreme (although seemingly successful for some, as previously mentioned..) and we, like gorillas and apparently some sub-human ancestors, can benefit greatly from at least a small amount, around 3%, of animal flesh/products. I furthermore believe lacto-vegetarianism is adequate nutritionally, and evidence supports that cultures in the past 5000+ years who have followed that diet, for whatever reason, have indeed thrived.
I will leave it at that for now. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. It has been educational to dig around for substance to support my theories/position. Perhaps I will do the same for the other side in the near future. Thank you.
I met a very cool former vegan in LA who now owns a popular butcher shop selling grassfed beef, pastured pork and chickens. I asked how she felt about the vegen issue. She said she is an animal rights activist. She said that refusing a food group is a “First World” issue or luxury, when people who are starving in poorer lands would never refuse meat. After being a vegen for many years, she stated that she is making a difference selling humanely raised animals and making an awareness of true animal rights issues instead of ignoring the abuses of commercial farms. Great conversation and one of the best answers I ever heard about the “first world choice”.
I am eager to see if this sets off a wave of “coming out” stories from other vegetarians and vegans who have been “passing.” You know these Hollywood trendsetters….lets hope this sparks some type of movement toward sanity in the diet of our malnourished American brothers and sisters. I will personally cook for anyone looking to transition from a vegan diet to a healthy omnivorous diet featuring all of the nutrient dense foods to heal their bodies.
We all have brains. We can do our own research and make our own dietary decisions. How ’bout, instead of arguing, we all work together to get rid of factory farms and highly procesed, chemical-laden “fake” food? I’m pretty sure we all agree on those points. (Btw, I’m neither vegan nor a heavy meat-eater.)
That is a good point. I am all for whole, minimally processed, organic and non-GMO foods, regardless of whether they are of plant or animal origin. Man is trying so hard to improve on God’s design … all the while getting sicker and sicker … and then expecting to be able to pop a pill or have some other way of a quick ‘miracle cure’ instead of just being temperate and responsible.
I appreciate Dean Wiebe speaking his mind. I used to think a lot of what he believes until I looked at historical and anthropological evidence which totally destroys the myths of veganism.
I think this is valid discussion, not arguing. I don’t see anything personal going on here.
I am all for temporary juicing cleanses, vegetarianism, and veganism. These diets can definitely help reduce and eliminate illnesses; short term.
I have heard of vegetarians and vegans who suddenly have strong urges for meat, which may very well be a vitamin/nutrient deficiency.
Cholesterol containing foods such as meat (only grass fed organic) are important, without them the body can not absorb significant amounts of A,D, E and K.
@Ancestral Fair points, but I think cultures partaking in all sorts of diets have struggled with disease over the years, for many different reasons. I am sure if we try hard we can find a long history of vegan or vegetarianism in certain cultures http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_vegetarianism It is not so easy to look beyond 5000 years ago or so.
@Andrea Scientific facts would help us get to the truth, which is all I’m after. If you have any to contribute that would be awesome. How are our digestive systems different from gorillas? Let’s see: http://i.imgur.com/lUl7dfD.jpg We have longer small intestines and a shorter colon. So we eat more digestible foods, which doesn’t necessarily imply meat, but that we soak or cook or choose softer foods. I think it’s safe to say gorillas have higher nutritional needs than us. http://tinyurl.com/b73ee73. What in animal products can’t be found in vegetables? I’m pretty sure B12 is the biggest and primary concern , esp. for those who have trouble absorbing it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intrinsic_factor It does not appear gut bacteria are a reliable source http://tinyurl.com/axu3d6t. Some vegan/vegetarians supplement. I often heard it said that modern hygienic practices are partly to blame, as bacteria that occur on vegetables and could otherwise contribute to B12 intake are washed away, which is difficult to qualify. Also, meat eaters are not exempt from deficiencies of B12. http://tinyurl.com/b29dbgt
We should bear in mind that the majority of people are currently eating meat, so available information and market forces can only logically be biased in its favour. To get closer to truth, we should keep questioning and playing the devil’s advocate, as I am doing. Stay cool. Remember, “In a controversy the instant we feel anger we have already ceased striving for the truth, and have begun striving for ourselves.” Buddha
We need to acknowledge our differences and respect each other while fighting for our COMMON GOALS! Our enemy is Big Food and the chemical companies, not each other!!
PS- Dean, what you just spouted *is* just propaganda, not real scientific fact.
And the gorilla comparison is absurd, because we don’t have the same digestive tracts or nutritional needs as gorillas.