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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
It is possible to go 100% vegan and yet get all the nutrients. For an extreme example, read “Finding Ultra” – someone who became an ultra marathon/triathlete and only eats vegan.
That said, there is an interesting twist to his tale. He plateaued and wasn’t getting much healthier when he was eating vegan “junk food”. You can find “vegan” sweets, chips, candy bars.
Then he switched to real food, and he carefully controls what he eats, and eats a lot of things that for me would be exotic. He makes everything he eats count, so he has all the nutrition.
Note many “Vegetarians” are lacto-ovo vegetarians, so eggs and dairy can add most things.
Bad food seems to coincide with highly processed, and GMO, and factory farming (of either animals or vegetables).
Those that eat properly raised animal products are healthy.
Those that eat a good and carefully balance diet of only good vegetables are healthy.
Others eat bad food, and then try to take medicine and supplements and go through a lot of effort just to stay well.
Sorry, but it is *impossible* for a human being get all necessary nutrients eating only plant foods which is why *no* traditional culture ever ate this way. Zero. Nada.
Great answer, Sarah. I have purchased your book on fats , and I sure know now where to spend my money on healthy fats. Thank you for your book on fats, and if you ever write a book on the health of protein sources ( eggs, cheeses, meats, fish, etc ), I’d buy and love that too. I admire you very much, and I also have learned a lot about food preparation from your videos.
That’s a great idea Josella! I hadn’t considered that before 🙂
I would LOVE such a book too, Sarah…
Veganism isn’t a call to traditional diets; it is a response to the current industrial paradigm. The simple fact is that it is impossible to provide the entire population of the world, let alone the USA, with animal products without using the factory farm model.
The factory farm model is the most damaging human agricultural system of all time (besides the environment, just look at the health of someone who works somewhere along the production line). And it’s most intensive culprit is animal product production.
I dream of a world with bountyful wildlife and healthy waterways teaming with fish where humans live in balance with the ecosystem and seasons (eating animal products where necessary) but that’s simply not the reality.
99% of the animal products consumed in the Western world come from the factory farm.
I have been a vegan for four years now and a vegetarian for life, never eating meat. I’m a 6 foot 3, 190 lbs professional athlete with no chronic health issues. I use supplements and people may see that as unnatural, but if you believe that the animal products we readily consume are “natural” then you’re living in a fantasy.
Traditional diets are wonderful, but we’ve destroyed such a possibility. When our traditional diet and health is based upon the destruction of the environment and subjugation of less privileged people, it is a fallacy. We can’t have a healthy diet living somewhere breathing polluted air and drinking toxic water. Or with our neighbors sufdering the effects of animal product production…
We can’t be so closed minded, everything is connected and we must see that the links between things are acutally more important than the things themselves.
Don’t agree and I don’t support industrial farms anyway. It is totally possible to eat healthy and not be a vegan or destroy the world. Don’t sacrifice your health for an unattainable and unrealistic ideal. Martyrdom doesn’t solve anything.
So you don’t believe in industrial farms, that’s good but do you actually think we can feed the world on a grass fed diet of beef and dairy? There is no way even if they cleared all the forests for grazing land. Think it would take something like 5 planets to feed the growing population on a meat/dairy diet.
Even in the US everyone couldn’t eat a diet of grass fed beef, just not enough land. People must cut down on all meat/dairy consumption for the good of our one and only planet! Watch the film Cowspiracy.
Im vegan but im 6 months pregnant and my white blood cell count is extremely high. They are investigating. Is there anyway my vegan diet could cause damage? All my other blood work is fine
First of all, veganism has NEVER been about “avoiding meat from CAFOs”. To claim that is insulting the intelligence. As are the nutritional claims made in this post. Most people get their Vitamin D from sunlight, not from food. The human body makes its own Vitamin A. Vitamin B12, although vital, is available in many vegan foods, it’s in Marmite for crying out loud. It’s available in the tiniest corner shop.
Angelina clearly likes the taste of meat. That is no reason for supposedly well-informed people to spread scare stories about veganism.
I have been vegan for 21 years. I work out every week. I’m a blood donor.
Please stop with the misinformation campaign.
I have friends that are vegan. When they spend the weekend at my house I have noticed that they spend a lot of time in the bathroom, use a huge amount of bath tissue, and are afflicted with flatulence.
I’ve been a vegan for 7 years. A very strict one at that. I don’t even eat honey (not because I am necessarily opposed, simply because I have gotten a lot of conflicting information over the years on its production and haven’t been able to sort it all yet to my satisfaction). Anyway, that being said, my parents have insisted (as parents do) on me getting nutritional blood tests every year to make sure I wasn’t becoming deficient in anything. I have obliged them because they offered to pay for it. Not only have I never been deficient in anything, I’ve actually become much healthier overall and, though I try to eat a relatively balanced diet, I’m not really one to split hairs over my food intake and, at times, have had a pretty atrocious diet out of financial necessity. In response to the above claims of deficiency, nutritional yeast and foods fermented with a scoby are rich enough in B12 to keep me going fine. Likewise, I have never had an issue with vitamin D and I live in the NE of the US, with fairly grey dreary winters. Vitamin A I’ve never even thought about, as there are tons of plant-foods rich in it, for some examples: http://www.healthaliciousness.com/articles/food-sources-of-vitamin-A.php (this is by no means a conclusive document or study, but it does give accurate raw data if you care to read further). Moreover, I’ve seen marked decreases in blood pressure, cholesterol, fat retention, stomach-aches, head-aches and illness since I became a vegan. I used to get ill every year, now I’m glad to say, I get a little cold, maybe every 1 1/2-2 years, which generally clears up within a week without any additional medication. This is good for me, since I’m more or less allergic to modern medicine (fixed drug reactions to NSAIDs, Penicilin, Cephalosporin, Ceclore, Sulpha, the entire ‘cycline’ family of drugs, and bactrim). I know I can only be counted as anecdotal evidence here but damn. I also have a lot of vegan friends who could give similar testimonies.
That all said, I don’t think veganism is for everyone or that it will, on its own solve ANY issue. It is a passive life choice I have made in an effort to be more cognizant of what goes into my body and where it comes from. I also did it because I find it unconscionable to consume animals, as if my life held some exceptional value over theirs, such decisions are not mine to make, that is best lest to the ecology of the planet and, perhaps, if it can shed some of its anthropocentric baggage, that of history as well. Veganism is not a tenable sustainable solution for people in extreme climes such as dessert or tundra. Coincidentally though, these are the least populated climates.
Oh and for some perspective. I work in a busy YMCA and middle-school around kids all day long. So I am DEFINITELY exposed to all kinds of illnesses, especially this winter. Disclosing that, I am literally, the ONLY person on a staff of 30+ who hasn’t had a lick of illness this season. Again, anecdotal, but compelling I think.
Greetings from one NE vegan to another. I stand in your assertions that veganism is definitely a lifestyle in which one can thrive. I have been vegan coming on a year now and strength train 6x a week supplemented with HIIT cardio and long distance running. Needless to say I am VERY active and by no means has veganism put a damper on my workouts. I feel better, look better, and train better.
The author above is clearly under the payroll of the livestock industry.
With regards to organically raised meats, here’s a two-cents worth from some health experts and clinical researchers based in the US: Animal products, however they are produced, increase the risk of many diseases.
While concentrations of some contaminants may be decreased, switching to organic meat does nothing to decrease the risk for the diseases that remain the biggest killers of Americans. Cholesterol, fat (especially saturated fat), and animal protein are the major culprits in meat that are associated with higher risks of heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers. They are also associated with the development of the many risk factors that lead to these diseases, including obesity and hypertension.
Dude, get with the awareness out there. Saturated fat and cholesterol don’t lead to heart disease or diabetes. Processed foods, specifically processed carbs are the main factor.
That choice of argument is bunk.
One, it’s not switching to organic meat (which is still often CAFO), it is switching to meat raised out on the field for an entire lifetime. This may or may not be technically organic. Two: if Sarah were in the pay of the meat industry, she’d be pushing CAFO. Anyhow, after I went to a Real Food approach, getting rid of that highly processed stuff, my cholesterol remained the same but my triglycerides and my HDL/LDL ratio improved vastly. And addition, one new study over a large group of people show that fats (other than trans fats) are heart healthy and better for a diet program, over a high carb diet. No, nothing is truly definitive yet, but most of those old High Cholesterol Diets are Bad for You were conducted using *gasp*! hydrolyzed cholesterol. Definitely (like TVP) NOT real food.
I like bacon
in case you finally decide to go healthy, check out veggie strips that are crispier and cruelty free (bean curd are actually tastier if cooked right). Check happycow.net (type your location) and find out delicious-tasting food that are better than bacon. Have fun, Vic!
Hey veggie strip, you are not exactly saving the planet by promoting grains which destroy eco systems and require massive inputs of energy and pesticides. Industrial agriculture has been the most damaging practise to eco systems and please read Cows can save the planet. Oh and I will stick with bacon. Your KoolAid doesn’t cut it for me.
It takes significantly fewer resources to cultivate grains than it does to support livestock.
This is the myth of modern monocropping agriculture which is destroying our environment … if you have the right kind of mixed use farms, which is the way it is supposed to be … animals and agriculture mutually support each other and don’t harm the environment.
Oh dear Alexandra, learn something about farming! I’m so sick of vegans/vegos touting claims who have never even set food outside of a city. Drive through a wheatbelt sometime and see how labour and resource and petrochemical intensive an activity monocrop farming really is, and watch how many animals die in the process. I live in sugarcane country, and see it daily.
Cows don’t need much, besides good soil, grass, sunshine, water and love. Good soil means minerals & biological activity, which means grass farmers (aka good grassfed cattle farmers) actually need to manage their farms in a holistic natural way of nutrient cycling, that puts good stuff back in, and creates a closed loop of land and animal health. Cattle farming (not CAFO) is not simply rape & pillage, destroy and deplete the way crop farmers often do. Large scale monocropped grains are factory farmed. Small scale holistic cropping practices are still a long way from economical production of grains any other way.
Eating meat must also contribute to the functioning of the brain that controls good manners, from the comments on this page, it is evident that vegans lack manners as well as vital vitamins. They are just rude!!!
Bernie: that’s not rudeness you see among vegans. That’s conviction based on sound science. You will have to read tons of medical and science journals next time before posting that comment. If you read more, you will understand why those vegans defend plant-based nutrition with conviction. Look for studies that show that too much meat can damage the frontal lobe of the brain (the seat of decision making). Animal protein is listed among the risk factors for Alzheimers and other brain-related diseases. Another helpful information: Mad cow diseases attacks the brain of the cows and other bovine livestock.
Cardiovascular diseases also originate from animal products. Cholesterol and saturated fat are found mainly in animal products. This explains progressive thinking clinicians and enlightened health care practitioners prescribe diet excluding red meat, poultry, and fish, virtually eliminating cholesterol and animal fat.
And no, it is not veganism that almost killed Angelina Jolie. it is ignorance and poor nutrition. The title of the article is misleading.
And who defends the plants?
Btw, minus mad cow disease, processed carbs and refined vegetable oils are the main culprits in Alzheimer’s and cardiovascular disease. Saturated fat and cholesterol do not contribute to heart disease.
As far as mad cow disease, it stemmed from a pesticide to kill a specific kind of fly that hangs out near cows. This pesticide created a mineral imbalance and toxin overload that lead to mad cow disease. It was a big cover up in England, b/c farmers got pissed at the government for initially enforcing this pesticide. Then when mad cow started, the government enforced mass slaughter of the farmers livestock. Even cows that were in neighboring farms that showed no symptoms were slaughtered.
Ahahahhaha… Aahahahahahahahahaa!!!
That was really funny. You know that every cell of your body requires cholesterol, right?
I’d like to add that Angelina doesn’t exactly look her best in these recent years. Actually, she’s kind of repulsive.
I too, have read and heard about many vegans, especially raw vegans who have reversed diseases and are at the best health of their lives. Like others have stated, veganism did not almost kill Angelina, it was her lack of nutrition. All you corpse munchers need to do yourself a huge favour and read the book “The China Study” or even watch the documentary “Forks Over Knives” and “Food Matters.” It’s possible to live without dead animals lying around in your morgue (aka fridge) and instead fill it up with fresh veggies and fruits. The key is to educate yourself about proper nutrition.
it’s also an irresponsible statement to say juicy steak is her beauty secret… what about healthy vegetarian women who have glowing, youthful skin because of improved circulation and low artery clogging cholesterol levels? seriously, who believe in this s–t that a steak could make you stay young? this is full of B.S.
It is not cholesterol that is clogging arteries. Inflammation in the body irritates the inside of the arteries, and thus the body lays down plaque made of cholesterol to “band aid” the arteries. So, cholesterol/plaque is merely a symptom rather than a cause. What causes/drives the inflammatory response? Refined carbohydrates, grains, sugars, refined vegetable oils, alcohol, smoking…it is a shame that many vegetarian/vegan diets are grain/carb based. Not everyone handles starches well and this can contribute to inflammation.