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What is Angelina Jolie’s biggest beauty secret?
By her own admission, a thick, juicy steak!
In interviews prior to the release of her film Salt, Jolie says that she was vegan for a long time and that it “nearly killed” her.
“I found that I was not getting enough nutrition,” says Jolie.
Thankfully, Jolie wised up in time before her health and teeth were irreparably damaged. Many vegans are not as lucky. The fact is that some of the most critical nutrients for health, vitamins A, D,and B12 are simply not found in an exclusively plant based diet.
Vegans cite beta carotene as a plant based source of Vitamin A, but at best, human digestion can only convert a very small percentage of beta carotene into true vitamin A.
People with any sort of gut imbalance, which would be the vast majority of people today, generally cannot convert any beta carotene to true Vitamin A!
Vegans also claim that getting vitamin D from the sun or mushrooms is all that is necessary, but during winter months, it is crucial to be consuming animal based sources of vitamin D, else one is a sitting duck for flu and other wintertime illnesses.
Because the original source of B12 in nature is bacteria, some nutritional sources confuse the issue by maintaining that beneficial B12 is synthesized by gut flora in the colon of humans.
While this may be true, the B12 that is produced this way is not in a usable form as very little if any of this B12 is able to be absorbed across the walls of the large intestine or colon. The reason is that the bacteria produced B12 in the gut is not attached to the “intrinsic factor” (IF), a special protein that is secreted in the stomach.
B12 must attach to an intrinsic factor protein to be absorbed effectively. This happens when B12 that is consumed binds with the intrinsic factor that has been broken down by pancreatic enzymes in the small intestine. The tightly bound B12-intrinsic factor complex then moves through the gut to the Ileum or lower portion of the small intestine and attaches to cell receptors for absorption.
B12 Not Available in ANY Plant Foods
Contrary to claims by the vegan community, usable B12 is not available in algae like spirulina or tempeh (a fermented soy product). The B12 found in these foods is similar to true B12 but not exactly the same thing. The B12 in Brewer’s yeast is due to factory fortification, in other words, it is not naturally occurring in the food.
Studies have indicated that the B12 analogues in algae and tempeh are not bioavailable to the human body – blood levels of the nutrient did not change even after algae or tempeh were added to the diet.
Even worse, these B12 imposters can actually inhibit the absorption of true vitamin B12 as the result of a competitive situation in the digestive system. This puts those that avoid animal foods at an even greater risk for deficiency!
For these reasons, even die-hard vegans who are well researched admit that B12 supplements must be taken when one is on a vegan diet for an extended period of time.
How could a diet such as veganism possibly be a good idea if supplements are required to prevent serious deficiency?
The final nail in the coffin for the vegan diet is the travels of Dr. Weston A. Price back in the 1920’s and 1930’s. For over 10 years, Dr. Price traveled the globe only to discover absolutely no native vegan cultures whatsoever. Even the vegetarian cultures Dr. Price examined had poorer health compared to the meat and seafood eating cultures as evidenced by higher dental caries and lower immunity to degenerative disease.
No ancestral society ever ate vegan!
Why? The culture would have died out in a generation or two from lack of nutrients, low immunity to infectious disease as well as rampant infertility.
Even reviews of What The Health, the popular vegan documentary, point out that the film failed to cite a single healthy vegan population that has stood the test of time.
From Dr. Kaayla Daniel’s article Do Vegetarians Really Live Longer? on vegan tall tales of spry centenarians supposedly living on a plant based diet:
In reality, the Hunza and Vilcabambans consume some meat and raw dairy, and the Okinawans eat far more pork than soy. What’s more, there’s no anthropological evidence of healthy, happy fruitarians sunning in gardens of eden prior to the hunter gatherer eras. Indeed, leading anthropologists present convincing evidence that meat helped us evolve from big bellied, tiny-brained primates to big-brained humans able to leave all-day “grazing” behind and spend the time developing civilization. In other words, eating animal products made us human.
In truth, veganism is a modern phenomena – a political statement against animal abuse and confinement as practiced by CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations).
Not that vegans do not have a good point – eating meat from CAFOs is not a good idea at all! The good news is that one can find humanely raised, antibiotic/steroid free, grassfed meat from locally based family farms. No need to reject meat and animal foods in their entirety by going vegan if you sympathize with the political arguments against eating animal foods!
So find a local farmer you trust and eat your meat, eggs, and dairy with the confidence that humans are omnivores not herbivores and that animal foods are clearly necessary to achieve your best health!
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Hi Sarah,
I’m glad to see you include references in your posts. Kudos!
I was surprised by Dr. Weston’s findings. Jainism, a religion that is founded on the principle of non-violence to all living things, has been around since 900-600 B.C. and many of it’s believers are actually vegan. My husband and I are omnivores and try to eat vegetarian frequently. I wouldn’t even consider a Jain diet. The Jainist commitment to non-violence makes it difficult for them to cause pain to any living thing, plants and micro organisms included. For example, in addition to the vegan diet, Jainism followers refrain from eating any root vegetables. Literature says there are many reasons for this, including that roots give life but also that in pulling up roots you can disturb the small creatures that make their home amongst the roots. A life without carrots or beets?!
Jains are not known to be fringe members of society. Their libraries are some of the oldest in India and there appears to be many famous and well known Jains. I’m not an expert. I have seen their bird hospital though during a recent visit to India.
Vegans in the west is certainly a modern and trendy phenomenon but in the East, it is ancient. Your modern research brings me to wonder how all those people managed to keep a balanced diet.
Food for thought?
Nicole
Hi Nicole, thanks for posting this interesting information. Dr. Price did find some vegetarian cultures but their health could not compare to the omnivore cultures which was actually a disappointment to him, believe it or not! If all of the Jainist members were vegan, the culture would have died out from an inability to reproduce within just a few generations. You mentioned that only some ate this way – perhaps the ones that were celibate or the spiritual leaders for example and the ones bearing children ate animal foods.
Don’t you think it’s rather sensationalist to say that “veganism almost killed Angelina Jolie”? Plenty of people live many, many years on a vegan diet. It was not veganism, but rather poor nutrition, that was a problem for her. Equivocally comparing Jolie’s former diet, which was clearly poorly planned, with all vegan diets lends nothing to the case you are making.
As for the argument that there were no traditional vegan societies, that’s certainly not a surprise. As a perfectly healthy vegan of nearly a decade, I openly acknowledge that the ability to choose veganism (and still maintain excellent health) is a privileged one. It would be impossible to maintain optimum health on a vegan diet without access to things like nutritional yeast (rich in B vitamins) and hemp foods. Regardless of the health or humane treatment of an animal, I, personally, do not feel comfortable using flesh for food and thanks to the wide variety of options available to me, I can meet my nutritional needs in other ways.
These are Angelina’s words, not mine!
Mellisa. Very well said. Obviously she did not have a good balanced diet. As a vegan myself I know how important is to eat wide range of all veggies and fruits and feeling great about it as I don’t torture poor animals neither do support those killing soul less industries. Btw when we talk about generations,what about India, o.k. not vegan but 75 % of population are vegetarians. The truth is that vegan generations are yet to come and this is the beginning of it. People of past generations were not conscious as much as some of us are now. The fact is we are not meant to eat meat neither out bodies are noy build for that. Have a look at our teeth and hands, do they look like I m gonna go and hunt like a tiger does? I dont think so…:-D we are build to pick up fruits,berries and veggies and eat them all! Peace and greener world to all. Its time to wake up and stop killing innocent animals. And to Angelina,somebody give her kyle,spinach,almonds,coconut etc.and she will be fine, because by having anorexia you cannoy blame even the besy way of eating!
It is amazing how Angelina Jolie is blamed for not doing the vegan diet right and therefore failed at it. We don’t really know how Angelina ate when vegan. Everyone is different and not all may succeed on the vegan diet, even if doing it “right.” The “right” diet is different for everyone. Me personally, the vegan diet failed me rather than me fail it. I obsessively researched and spent loads of money on raw vegan supplements and foods that I couldn’t digest which just irritated my system. Felt so much better incorporating pastured animal foods into my diet and letting go of all starches.
I feel that many vegans will eventually come to this position when their health starts to decline on the vegan diet, which will lead them to wake up from the vegan notion that they are failing the diet rather than the diet failing them.
i am a pure carnivore. Notwithstanding which, i read widely. There is a blog: theveganrd.com, which has a page which discusses at length, why vegans should never make a health argument.
i have the highest respect for the vegan approach to animal rights. I strongly disagree with it, but at least they think about the Big Picture. Your average SAD person, isn’t
you are a pure carnivore? really? i somewhat doubt that you kill animals with your teeth and claws and then consume their flesh, raw.
The notion that something having occurred in the past must make it good is an appeal to nature (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_nature) and is simply an invalid form of argument, independent of any evidence. Even past that though, is the strong evidence that our omnivory evolved completely independently of health (http://philosophyforprogrammers.blogspot.com/2010/11/new-pangloss.html).
The specific health claims you list can be debunked by looking at the wikipedia page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegan#Nutritional_concerns_regarding_poorly_planned_vegan_diets).
You seem like a good writer, but please do a little bit of research before posting.
If you believe the American Dietetic Association is a good source for nutritional information, then nothing I say can possibly be of any help to you! The ADA is completely clueless about nutrition .. they hand out 100 calorie snack bags of refined carbs to diabetics in the hospital for heaven’s sake! Refined carbs spike the blood sugar – they don’t stabilize it like healthy, whole fats do! Putting your trust in these Big Pharma, Big Food controlled organizations ensures an eventual disaster for your health.
Actually, recently fats have been implicated in insulin resistance: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12643169 aside from whole plant based sources, fat is one of the most abundantly and unnaturally consumed macronutrients.
Wikipedia is a horribly biased source of information thats made some very callous statements towards alternative health and science before. I would never believe them when it comes to health.
So why are you dismissing nature? You sound like yet another anti-nature reductionist skeptic that refuses to believe nature is actually superior to humans. The apst was better though harder. But hey look at what we gave up for convenience! Now we have an obesity and chronic disease epidemic due to crap food.
It bothers me when peope use the bible to say what a good diet is or is not. The Garden of Eden was good for Adam and Eve, but they sinned and God kicked them out. So, let’s not say their diet, while maybe good for them when they couldnt’ get sick, is still good for us today. The first thing God did when he kicked them out was kill an animal! I’m sorry for sounding so gruff, but I am just so tired of everyone using scripture to make their own way seem right. What about what Paul said, “One person has the trust that will allow him to eat anything, while another whose trust is weak eats only vegetables”. What do vegans say about that? And by the way, Jews were the only ones who were ever under ANY dietary laws anyway. Non-Jews were never under any dietary restrictions.
Nice! Thanks for posting this Layale! My husband and I were just talking about this yesterday! I think what we all need to remind ourselves today is that we are all different in what we need for OUR own bodies as we all have different needs/allergies/issues to address – and to say that JUST veganism or JUST paleo or JUST this or that is right is absurd! BIO-INDIVIDUALITY! My food might be your poison! So let’s all look after what our own body needs, shall we?! And then of course use ur brains and don’t eat junk, processed and refined toxic junk. Just real food that you know what it is and where it comes from!
Yes indeed, we are all different, but the common denominator is that we are omnivores and eating vegan is a recipe for disastrous health over the long term and threatening the fertility of your children and grandchildren. It isn’t all about you and how you feel … it’s about your children’s health too. And for those vegans who say they have healthy children, you didn’t eat vegan as a child did you? This was a choice you made as an adult after you were grown so you had stores of fat soluble vitamins to go on, something your children won’t have if you raise them vegan also.
What about all the poisons these animals are sprayed with, injected with, they enter the bloodsteam of the beast and we ingest all that….don’t reckon that is being addressed here, the Eden diet given to us at Creation did not include FLESH, it consisted of fruits nuts and grains…………I do eat eggs from my own freerange healthy chooks, and IF I were able to own healthy cows would consider including meat in my weekly diet, but look at the side effects/diseases of the animals and you would think twice….
I don’t see Angelina eating CAFO steaks from Sam’s by a long stretch! 🙂
You’re fat and giving people nutrition advice?
Here’s a hint people, take the advice from people living the life you want. If you want to be a fat blogger, than this woman is giving great advice!
“Eden diet”?? “Creation”? WHAT?
Cattle and other ruminants are truly remarkable creatures. Having access to pastured livestock is a huge blessing. It is a real shame that so many of our traditional livestock have to endure incarceration in hell farms. Almost makes me want to get my own acreage.
Ciao,
Pavil
Welcome Pauline! Glad to have you here! 🙂
I often wonder how the evolution of mammals in the bovine family occurred long ago. They are true vegans. A friend of mine once said that if we were meant to be vegans we would have stomachs like cows.
Let me introduce myself: though now retired from a career in health-care foodservice administration my degree in home economics from Oregon State U has continued to provide up-to-date nutritional information. In particular, the Linus Pauling Institute “…focuses on the roles of vitamins, essential minerals, and chemicals from plants play in human nutrition and aging…” is my favorite source. [email protected].
Though not a dietitian I am asked to provide nutritional advice in our community for newly diagnosed, and frightened, diabetics. They return to me, after their first appointment with a diabetes specialist, reporting that my advice was “right on.” I follow my own advice, and maintain an A1c of 5.6.
I enjoy this site…. was introduced to it by a Facebook posting.
Sarah — great post and I so enjoyed your comments to the Chapter Leaders on the Monday of the WAPF meetings!!! ….Good work! I was inspired to hear the bloggers speak and so I started a new one — on food!!! If you’re following S 510 — please stay posted on current status of S 510 and local food security. See my newest post at: http://resilientfarmsnourishingfoods.blogspot.com/2010/12/cultivating-regional-food-security-and.html
Best, Gigi
In her newest cook book, Gwyneth Paltrow has also said that her veg diet wreaked havoc with her health, including her bone density and vit D levels and hormones. She was essentially a wreck. I notice that her kids eat plenty of meat as shown by the pictures and anecdotes she writes.
If celebs like this who can afford the finest quality food, healthcare and personal chefs cannot make a go of strict veg diets, how could the average American?