Veganism

From RationalWiki
(Redirected from Vegan)
Jump to: navigation, search
Deliciously edible!

Food and Diet

link=:category:
Dubious diets
Food woo

A vegan diet is one which consists of no food whatsoever that is made out of or taken from animals, to the extent it is considered feasible. It is therefore a sub-kind of a vegetarian diet — which excludes pieces from dead animals — but goes further by also ditching everything which originates in living animals, such as eggs and milk products. (Cheese, by the way, is often not even vegetarian.)

The word veganism may refer to such a diet, but very often it is used as a synonym for what could more narrowly be described as ethical veganism. Here, people embrace a vegan diet for certain ethical considerations (most notably, Animal rights), and consequently apply the same exclusion principle to other areas, too: They boycott fur, leather and wool; they oppose the use of animals for entertainment, i.e. in circuses, zoos and marine parks; and many are against animal testing. In an even broader sense, veganism may refer to a set of philosophical considerations which are key thoughts of ethical veganism.

There is some dispute on what to call vegan. For example, honey is consumed by a considerable number of people who also regard themselves as vegans, although it's bee barf. For outsiders, such discussions, in their seeming vanity, might bear resemblance to OS Wars. Given that these discussions often focus solely on the semantics of the word “vegan” — and not on the more important, ethics — this seems somewhat legit.

Freeganism is a practice with close ties to veganism, although, for example, some Freegans argue that eating bacteria-laden meat out of the dumpster does not violate their principles because it does not increase its demand.

Vegans do not as a rule care that they may be eating extra animal protein in the form of insects and other minute arthropods in organic food vs. conventional food.[1]

Contents

[edit] Diet Claims

Vegans generally make many claims about the health benefits of removing animal products from ones diet. These include reversing cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and other ailments. The scientific literature can substantiate these claims to some degree, such as the reversal of coronary artery disease[2] and increasing insulin sensitivity[3] through the adoption of a vegan diet alone. However the few studies that have been published on the topic — particularly by vegan proponents like Caldwell Esselstyn and Dean Ornish — have received criticisms of methodology.[4]

Several animal derived foods may pose greater risks to health. The majority of studies consistently show a higher risk of all-cause mortality with consumption of red — and especially processed meat.[5][6][7][8] Red and processed meat may, most notably, increase risk of prostate,[9][10] colon,[11][12][13][14] thyroid,[15] esophageal [16][17][18][19], breast,[20] and other forms of cancer. Especially meat cooked at high temperatures may produce an additional number of carcinogens.[21] Higher meat consumption, particularly processed meat, may also promote a higher risk of diabetes,[22] cardiovascular disease,[23][24][25] and obesity.[26][27][28] Dairy and eggs are generally highly controversial but there is slight evidence that these may increase risk of some diseases as well.[29]

Conversely, higher consumption of certain plant derived foods such as fruits, nuts, and vegetables have shown to have had a generally positive effect on health with reduced risks of the same diseases.[30][31][32] This may partially explain the generally lower incidences of cardiovascular disease,[33] diabetes, cancer [34], obesity, and other diseases among vegans and vegetarians. [35] As with any diet, consideration must be given to ensure adequate intake of vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin B12 which is absent from non-fortified plant foods, but is present in some yeasts.

Some vegans believe that the early human diet was a plant based diet. The diets of human ancestors were primarily based upon plants for much of their evolutionary history (Australopithecus and early Homo species)[36] although diets varied across regions, with some populations consuming more animals than others. Study of strontium/calcium ratios in skeletons[37] show that the niche of early Homo species may have included exploitation of underground plant resources such as starchy roots and tubers, contradictory to the prevailing belief that meat was a universally present component of the diet. Although physiological comparisons of humans and other hominid species suggest that there is an increased adaptation for the digestion of meat (e.g. longer small intestine) in humans, these adaptations are not large enough to support a large consumption of meat; and dairy products were entirely absent from the adult human diet for a large part of its evolution, until recently, with the domestication of cattle and other animals.

[edit] Benefits

  • Much lower in saturated fat and a lack of dietary cholesterol.
  • Fewer animals were harmed in the making of your meals, clothes, etc.
  • Plant foods require less water to produce than animal foods (liters of water used in production/kilogram of food).
  • Plant crops produce more food per acre than livestock animals (pounds of food/acre of arable land).
  • Some estimates place the contribution of livestock to greenhouse gas emissions at 51%.[38] (This includes the CO2 contribution from mechanized farming and transport of the livestock.)
  • Some vegans are motivated to consume only plant-based products for ethical reasons, and view their lack of engagement with the factory farming system present in modern husbandry as a strong benefit.

[edit] Criticisms

While it is accepted that vegetarian diets can have some health benefits, vegetarians and especially vegans can be at risk for certain nutritional deficiencies:

  • Vitamin B12 deficiency leading to anemia and/or neurological problems[39]
  • Iodine deficiency leading to thyroid problems.[40] This is not often an issue due to the iodization of table salt. Vegans can also get adequate iodine from consuming sea vegetables.
  • Iron deficiency leading to anemia.[41] Plant-based (non-heme) iron is harder for the body to absorb,[42] so special care must sometimes be taken to ensure that the vegan's iron levels are adequate.

It is essential that vegans include a vitamin B12 supplement or B12-fortified foods in their diets (nutritional yeast, for instance) to prevent deficiency.

In 1926, Minot and Murphy found that a man was cured of pernicious anemia with liver extracts, a discovery for which they received the Nobel Prize for medicine in 1934. Ricke and Smith isolated crystalline vitamin B12 in liver extracts in 1948. Vitamin B12 (cobalamin) is a vitamin that is synthesized in nature only by microorganisms. It is necessary for animals and is present in every animal tissue at very low concentrations (1 ppm in the liver). A B12 deficiency causes pernicious anemia. The need for vitamin B12 in some animals is covered by taking or absorption of vitamin B12 produced by gut microorganisms. But humans only get vitamin B12 from food or supplements, since vitamin B12 synthesized by microorganisms in the intestine cannot be assimilated.

[edit] Harm no animals

There is also a more background criticism of the "try to harm no animals" claim of vegans. The very world we live in, with cars, computers, 2.2 kids, and specifically the requirements of many vegans and non vegans for out of season fruits and vegetables, as well as more exotic grains places great stress on the natural environment as we cut down forests and kill off natural habitats in favor of farms, orchards, and of course mines, oil fields, etc. For example, starting around 2011, ongoing debates over quinoa, "Are we harming subsistence farmers?" "Is the meat industry worse than the quinoa industry?" "We are destroying precious land for the latest grain fad!" have popped up, each side happy to blame the other for everything from starving farmers to global warming. Many who make these arguments fail to realize cattle are fed on those same grains.[43][44]

Perhaps the best answer is Soylent Green.

It also might be good to note that most of the vegetables (and meat) in US commercial agriculture use migrant labor.[45][46] Who are often paid under the table at much lower rates than legally allowed, not protected by labor laws, and deported when if anyone complains.[47] Labor conditions and pesticide use outside the US are not better for imported foods. So it would be good to be careful about the source of ones food if abuse of sentient beings is a major priority.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] Footnotes

  1. The Grossest Bugs You Don’t Know You’re Eating: Find out which foods contain the most bugs and how to avoid eating them.
  2. "A strategy to arrest and reverse coronary artery disease: a 5-year longitudinal study of a single physician's practice"
  3. "The effects of a low-fat, plant-based dietary intervention on body weight, metabolism, and insulin sensitivity"
  4. "Bill Clinton’s Diet — Harriet A. Hall, MD"
  5. "Red meat and processed meat consumption and all-cause mortality: a meta-analysis."
  6. "Red Meat Consumption and Mortality: Results from Two Prospective Cohort Studies"
  7. "Meat consumption and mortality — results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition"
  8. "Meat intake and mortality: a prospective study of over half a million people"
  9. "Prostate cancer and the influence of dietary factors and supplements: a systematic review."
  10. "Cancer and food"
  11. "Meat consumption and colorectal cancer risk: an evaluation based on a systematic review of epidemiologic evidence among the Japanese population."
  12. "Diet and cancer risk in the Korean population: a meta- analysis."
  13. "Processed meat and colorectal cancer: a review of epidemiologic and experimental evidence."
  14. "Diet and cancer"
  15. "Dietary factors and the risk of thyroid cancer: a review."
  16. "Consumption of red and processed meat and esophageal cancer risk: meta-analysis."
  17. "Meat consumption is associated with esophageal cancer risk in a meat- and cancer-histological-type dependent manner."
  18. "Meat, fish, and esophageal cancer risk: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis."
  19. "Red and processed meat intake and risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma: a meta-analysis of observational studies."
  20. "Risk factors of breast cancer in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: a systematic review and meta-analysis."
  21. "Chemicals in Meat Cooked at High Temperatures and Cancer Risk"
  22. "Red meat consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes: 3 cohorts of US adults and an updated meta-analysis."
  23. "Unprocessed red and processed meats and risk of coronary artery disease and type 2 diabetes — an updated review of the evidence."
  24. "Red and processed meat consumption and risk of stroke: a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies."
  25. "Red and processed meat consumption and risk of incident coronary heart disease, stroke, and diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis."
  26. "Is there a relationship between red or processed meat intake and obesity? A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies."
  27. "Meat consumption and prospective weight change in participants of the EPIC-PANACEA study."
  28. "Risk in Red Meat? — Harrison Wein, Ph.D."
  29. "Dairy cattle serum and milk factors contributing to the risk of colon and breast cancers." (more citations needed)
  30. " Fruits, vegetables and breast cancer risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies."
  31. "Nut consumption and risk of coronary heart disease: a review of epidemiologic evidence."
  32. [etc.]
  33. "Risk of hospitalization or death from ischemic heart disease among British vegetarians and nonvegetarians: results from the EPIC-Oxford cohort study"
  34. "Cardiovascular disease mortality and cancer incidence in vegetarians: a meta-analysis and systematic review."
  35. "Vegetarian Dietary Patterns and Mortality in Adventist Health Study 2"
  36. "The Western Lowland Gorilla Diet Has Implications for the Health of Humans and Other Hominoids"
  37. "Strontium calcium ratios (Sr/Ca) and strontium isotopic ratios (87Sr/86Sr) of Australopithecus robustus and Homo sp. from Swartkrans"
  38. "Livestock and Climate Change"
  39. "The electroencephalogram in veganism, vegetarianism, vitamin B12 deficiency, and in controls"
  40. "Iodine intake and iodine deficiency in vegans"
  41. http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/70/3/586s.short "Dietary intake and biochemical, hematologic, and immune status of vegans compared with nonvegetarians"]
  42. "Food Iron Absorption in Man"
  43. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jan/22/quinoa-bolivian-farmers-meat-eaters-hunger
  44. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jan/16/vegans-stomach-unpalatable-truth-quinoa
  45. UC Davis — Labor: US Fruits and Vegetables
  46. Migrant Farm Workers: Our Nation's Invisible Population
  47. Undocumented workers' grim reality: speak out on abuse and risk deportation
Alternative medicine articles on RationalWiki
Acupuncture - Aromatherapy - Apitherapy - Autism and pseudoscience - Bloodletting/Leeching - Chelation therapy - Chiropractic - Cleanse - Colloidal silver - Colonic - Color therapy - DMSO - Dynamiclear - Ear candling - Faith healing - Fasting - Folk remedy - Geier family - Hair analysis - Health freedom - Heel (company) - Herbal supplement - Heroic medicine (Humorism) - Homeopathy - Kombucha - Laetrile - Lupron therapy - Macrobiotics - Magnetic therapy - Medical marijuana - National Health Federation - Narconon - Oil pulling - Oxygen therapy - Q-Ray - Reflexology - Reiki - Rolfing - Shark cartilage - Shiitake mushroom - Tetrasil - Therapeutic touch - Trepanation - Unani

Promoters: Hulda Clark - Mehmet Oz - Kevin Trudeau
Alternative diets: Alkaline diet - Blood type diet - Ephedrine - Fad diet - Food woo - Human chorionic gonadotrophin - Inedia - Jesus Diet - Lemonade diet- Low-carb diet - Organic food - Paleo diet - Raw foodism - Self help - Weigh down diet

Personal tools
Namespaces

Variants
Actions
Navigation
Community
Tools
support