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Why plant based diets are not able to support human health over the long term and why most adherents go back to eating meat and other animal foods within a few short years.
Sources of conventional health information seem to be trumpeting the catchphrase plant based diet. Notice the word “vegetarian” or “vegan” is not used perhaps because the vast majority of people find such a diet and its common, associative terms unappealing.
Estimates on the number of people who never eat meat varies somewhere between a paltry 3% and 6%.
Even more telling, the vast majority (75%) who identify as vegetarian end up omnivores again within a few years.
Surprisingly, the Vegetarian Resource Group estimates that only 20-30% of people are good candidates for vegetarianism. (1)
Perhaps this is the reason for this new semantic trend which attempts to repackage vegetarianism simply as “a healthy plant based diet”. Note even cow milk substitutes are now called plant based milk instead of simply dairy-free.
The best selling success of the error-ridden book Blue Zones is one commercial example fueling this semantic change.
There is no doubt that an increase in the number of folks eating a “plant based diet” would result in quite a profit boost for Big Ag and Big Food companies that deal in the various stages of production of textured vegetable soy protein (TVP) and other frankenfood substitutes for meat, dairy, and eggs.
Aside from the big profits to be had should more people embrace this manner of eating, could a “plant based diet” even be healthy?
The 2017 documentary What The Health claims plant based diets to be healthy despite being unable to name a single successful vegan population group that ever existed outside of a few small religious sects that did not reproduce.
Little to No Variety in Modern Food Plants
The reality is that the world today depends on a variety of only 150 food plants. Twenty of these account for 90% of our food. And, of these twenty, only three account for half! What are the Big Three? Rice, corn, and wheat – difficult to digest, grain based carbs that ninety percent of the people who ever lived never even ate!
Considering that there are between 30,000-80,000 edible plants in the world and that traditional cultures such as the American Indian regularly consumed about 1,100 of these, it seems virtually impossible that a “plant based diet” of today would contain enough variety to ensure health.
Surely, a modern “plant based diet” could only lead to nutritional deficiencies and ill health in the long run given these statistics. This especially if a primary source of all those veggies is a daily green smoothie.
Despite the American Indian’s consumption of a wide variety of nutritious food plants from soil that was arguably much richer and more fertile than the monocrop farms of today, guess what? They still ate meat!
What about the hunter-gatherers? They sampled between 3,000 and 5,000 plants and still consumed animal foods as well.
“Healthy Plant Based Diet” is an Oxymoron
A “healthy plant based diet” on only 150 food plants at best and less than 20 at worst? That simply doesn’t add up to anything remotely resembling health according to my logic. Not enough variety by a longshot.
Compare this to a person who consumes foods from wild and/or pastured animals. The plant variety these animals sample throughout the year is enormous, which the person eating the meat benefits from indirectly.
Another salient point is that much of the fresh produce plant based fans are eating is hydroponically grown. Hydroponics is much lower in nutrients than plants grown in rich organic soil.
This is why organizations like the Cornucopia Institute are so against the hydroponic invasion of the USDA Organic label over the past decade.
It seems that the term “healthy plant based diet” is nothing more than a semantic marketing ploy contrived for television personalities beholden to their corporate advertising sponsors to pawn off to an unsuspecting public.
Next time you hear the term “plant based diet” and “healthy” used in the same sentence, feel free to roll your eyes and press “off” on the TV remote.
References
Seeds of Change, Kenny Ausubel
Vegetarian Journal
Cornucopia Institute: Why Organics Needs to Be Rooted in Healthy Soil (NOT hydroponics)
More Information
Vegetarians Suffer from More Cavities than Meat Eaters
All Plant-based Diets a High Risk for Fractures
Falling health may have something to do with the fact that they don’t supplement vitamin b12, which is crucial on diet like that, along with other essential b vitamins and may have something to do with what they eat on a daily bases. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that people like Fred Bisci and Kristina are thriving on the diet, whilst others are not, because their not doing it right.
“You’re not doing it right” is not a good argument. If a diet is so intricate and difficult to master that the average Joe can’t do it, it is too risky to undertake. Traditional diets weren’t ever vegan (name one, I dare you) and they were simple to follow. The only historical vegans were monks who weren’t going to reproduce (because plant based diets eventually result in infertility).
Hi Sarah – let me preface by saying we currently eat meat (lots of salmon, chicken and turkey) but my husband and his family have a strong history of heart disease. His father and siblings all passed prematurely in their 30’s and 40’s of cardiac events. His cardiologist has recently suggested a plant based diet and that we read Dr Esselstyn’s book – “Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease” which advocates a plant based diet. Many of Esselstyn’s patient stories and outcomes are impressive and compelling but right off the bat I was concerned about how would we get enough protein and vitamin D from this diet without supplementing?? I’d like to keep my husband around and to be honest, an all plant based diet doesn’t even sound like adequate nourishment so what would you suggest? Esselstyn also eliminates all oil – even olive oil!! He states in his book the Mediterranean diet touted for heart disease only slows the progression, but a plant based diet arrests and reverses heart disease.
I would suggest reading Nutrition and Physical Degeneration .. an in depth study of 14 indigenous, long lived cultures from around the world with virtually no heart disease or other chronic illness. The book details what these cultures ate and most importantly .. what TYPES OF FOODS HAD IN COMMON despite very different looking diets on the surface. See which corresponds most closely to your own genetic heritage (or a mix) and select your food wisely from the whole foods smorgasboard based on this. Also keep in mind that there are many other things that affect health too not just diet. Stress, activity level, sleep, pollution exposure, sensitivity and metabolism of toxins we are exposed to etc. And of course the biggie is genetics. Do the best you can, but remember that some things are simply out of our control ultimately.
I have to disagree on that and I eat meat by the way. Take a look at long term 52 year raw vegans like Fred Bisci who’s about 89 now or raw Kristina’s test results in this video youtube.com/watch?v=iMr7bP5IUeE
Yes, there are a few rare exceptions. It’s even rarer with women especially if they’ve had children, which depletes nutrient stores considerably. The vast majority of vegans and raw vegans fall on incredibly ill health within a few years, however. There is a large raw vegan community not far from me where its members were so starved for nutrition and their dental health had gotten so poor that they were literally eating raw pastured butter with spoons straight out of containers from my raw dairy farmer. Don’t be a vegan statistic! Wake up to the PC propaganda you’ve swallowed before it’s too late. It’s not easy to rebuild nutrient stores and recover health after being vegan … I’ve seen so many people struggle with this over the years.
There are healthy lean bodybuilders on vegan diets, vegans supplement vitamin b12. Some avoid meat because of the kind of meat we’re getting on the market
Not eating meat or other nutrient dense animal foods like eggs is a recipe for health disaster within (on average) 2-5 years. It is nearly impossible to combine incomplete plant proteins in the perfect ratios necessary to maintain vibrant health long term. ALL plant proteins are incomplete in the essential amino acids necessary to maintain health, hence the need for plant protein combining 24/7/365 if one is vegan. Every single bite of meat, dairy or cheese is PERFECTLY balanced protein. Usually serious tooth issues wake people up within a few years that their plant eating diet isn’t maintaining their health adequately. Being lean and being a body builder doesn’t mean you are healthy on the inside! It is a superficial type of healthy which can fall apart very quickly. B12 isn’t the only nutrient that is lacking on a plant based diet. So many problems with it.
I agree! This was totally opinion based. We don’t eat meat and I feel great! Most people think you can’t get what you need without eating dairy and meat. I’ll take my chances. We were never getting what we needed eating dairy and meat either.
From the frying pan into the fire! Check back in a few years and let us know how your dental health is doing. Obviously you weren’t eating pasture based meats and dairy which kept traditional, indigenous societies healthy and vibrant.
Sarah, I’m confused by your opinion…the science is clear that Americans need to eat more fruits/veggies and less meat/dairy. All or nothing in my opinion is difficult to do and certainly sustain, but I’m more curious about what your recommendation is? Also, what does Dr. Ornish have to gain advocating people eat this way?
The science isn’t “clear” at all! If meat and dairy were so “deadly”, then why did numerous ancestral cultures which primarily relied upon them for food NOT have ANY heart disease, diabetes etc?? Also, why did NO culture in history ever allow the women and men who would be marrying/having families to eat plant based diets? They were ALL give sacred foods to have healthy babies and preserve the libido and fertility which were ALL animal based (egg yolks, grassfed butter, organ meats, fish eggs, seafood).
This is the elephant in the room that vegans and plant based diet people cannot answer and just ignore in their propaganda material. Is convincing people that a plant based diet is good a political maneuver to reduce the population and inhibit fertility? I don’t know. But, I do know that it stands to make corporations a lot of money.
Dr. Ornish and others who appear on TV and get big book deals like him are in bed with corporate handlers who stand to make A LOT of money by convincing people to eat their plant based diet frankenfoods and meat substitutes. Small family farms producing healthy, nourishing, grassfed meats and dairy don’t make them any money. The profit potential from swaying public opinion one way or another is always considered. I’ve been invited on these shows myself and you aren’t allowed to give an honest answer on questions … you are “coached” by a producer before going on the air on how to answer and respond to certain questions. This is why I have repeatedly turned down TV appearance offers and even a book deal with a major publisher because I am unable to speak/write freely and honestly.
Well stated Denton. I’m a Dietary Manager and understand the importance of a well balanced diet.
be careful, there are healthy lean bodybuilders on vegan diets, vegans supplement vitamin b12. Some avoid meat because of the kind of meat we’re getting on the market, personally I eat meat, I’m eating chicken breasts almost everyday and I’m against eating meat, in Sweden we special in fish such as cod, salmon, sour herring and crayfish.
Reply to Michael>
“To which the reply, they turned to veganism and their performances fell:. – both Richard Roll and Scott Jurek improved after going vegan.- “Please point at an athlete who was vegan their whole life with supplements.”- not true about either of them, as far as I know.
” There is already words for plants only- vegetarian”….not true, vegetarian means no meat, vegetarians eat yogurt, eggs, biscuits- are these plants?
“Number of species does not represent dietary variety- actual measurement of what they contain is what counts. ” I agree with this.
what should we eat then, Sarah? I guess you are basing this off of your opinion and not science and research. I guess you are also basing it on the United States and not anywhere else in the world where our “plant-based” food may be more natural and have stricter regulations than where you are. Roll your eyes all you want, some of us just want to be healthy and not have only burgers, bacon and other animals in the food we eat every day.