Do Doctors And Other Scientists Still Think Animal Substances Are Healthy?

*Photo of Dr. Maggie DiNome, advocate of whole-food, plants-only diet for preventing cancer*

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Veganism is not a diet, a health plan or a fitness regimen. In terms of personal action, it’s a moral stance against the intentional use of nonhuman animals by we human animals for any of our interests. In broader terms, it’s a social justice movement concerned with eliminating the intentional exploitation of nonhumans by humans in all of society. Any benefits to human health or the environment caused by following a plants-only diet are merely incidental benefits to being Vegan and not the reason for adhering to the moral stance called Veganism. However, people need to be informed about the health benefits and risks of consuming different substances. When educating, I prefer to use the health info merely to back up the fact that humans do not need animal substances in our diet. This is the only way we’re going to get people to go Vegan, not merely plant-based dieters.

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1) The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (formerly The American Dietetic Association): the world’s largest organization of food and nutrition professionals. The Academy is committed to improving the nation’s health and advancing the profession of dietetics through research, education and advocacy.

“It is the position of the American Dietetic Association that appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. Well-planned vegetarian diets are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence, and for athletes.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19562864

2) The Mayo Clinic: the first and largest integrated not-for-profit medical group practice in the world, employing more than 3,800 physicians and scientists and 50,900 allied health staff. It spends $500 million dollars on research a year.

“However, with a little planning a vegetarian diet can meet the needs of people of all ages, including children, teenagers, and pregnant or breast-feeding women. The key is to be aware of your nutritional needs so that you plan a diet that meets them.”

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/vegetarian-diet/art-20046446

3) Kaiser Permanente: the largest managed care organization in the United States, published an article supporting the adoption of a plant-based diet earlier this spring.

“Healthy eating may be best achieved with a plant-based diet, which we define as a regimen that encourages whole, plant-based foods and discourages meats, dairy products, and eggs as well as all refined and processed foods. We present a case study as an example of the potential health benefits of such a diet. Research shows that plant-based diets are cost-effective, low-risk interventions that may lower body mass index, blood pressure, HbA1C, and cholesterol levels. They may also reduce the number of medications needed to treat chronic diseases and lower ischemic heart disease mortality rates. Physicians should consider recommending a plant-based diet to all their patients, especially those with high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or obesity.”

https://www.thepermanentejournal.org/doi/10.7812/TPP/12-085

***A follow up written by Dr. John McDougall and his son, Dr. Craig McDougall concerning Kaiser Permanente’s warning about potential nutrient deficiencies:

“In our experience of treating more than 5000 patients with a low-fat, whole foods, plant-based (vegan) diet, with follow-up lasting as long as 28 years, we have not seen any deficiencies of protein, iron, calcium, or essential fatty acids.”

https://www.thepermanentejournal.org/doi/10.7812/TPP/13-111

4) The British National Health Service (NHS): is the largest and the oldest single-payer healthcare system in the world. It provides the majority of healthcare in England.

“With good planning and an understanding of what makes up a healthy, balanced vegan diet, you can get all the nutrients your body needs.”

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/how-to-eat-a-balanced-diet/the-vegan-diet

5) Cleveland Clinic: is regarded as one of the top hospitals in the United States. With around 1,700 staff physicians representing 120 medical specialties, this hospital helps patients not only from all 50 states, but from more than 100 other nations.

“There really are no disadvantages to a vegetarian or vegan diet. A vegetarian diet offers many potential health benefits. Choosing vegetarian foods, rather than animal-based ones, for the nutrients you need eliminates much of the saturated fat and cholesterol found in a meat-based diet. A vegetarian diet can help lower cholesterol and blood pressure levels and help cut calories. These changes can reduce your risk of obesity, heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and possibly cancer.”

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/vegetarian

6) University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC): with 4,200 licensed beds and 400 outpatient sites, UPMC is one of the largest medical centers in the world.

“If properly planned, a vegan diet can provide all the nutrients you need. In general, people who don’t eat meat: Weigh less than people who eat meat. Are less likely to die of heart disease. Have lower cholesterol levels. Are less likely to get: High blood pressure; Prostate cancer; Colon cancer; Type 2 diabetes.”

https://www.upmc.com/health-library/article?hwid=abq2485

7) The Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center (UCLA): having research centers covering nearly all major specialties of medicine, UCLA is considered on of the top three hospitals in the US. This hospital has been ranked in the top twenty in 15 of the 16 medical specialties ranked in the US News ranking.

“Some of the health benefits of a vegetarian diet may include: [d]ecreased blood cholesterol levels and blood pressure; [l]ower incidence of heart disease, some forms of cancer, and digestive disorders like constipation and diverticula disease; [l]ower incidence of obesity and some forms of diabetes.”

http://www.dining.ucla.edu/housing_site/dining/SNAC_pdf/Vegetarianism.pdf

8) Dr Michael Greger, MD: a physician, author, and internationally recognized speaker on a number of important public health issues. All proceeds from his speaking engagements and the sale of his books and DVDs are donated to his 501(c)3 nonprofit NutritionFacts.org, the first science-based, non-commercial website to provide free daily videos and articles on the latest discoveries in nutrition.

“These are the top 15 causes of death, and a plant based diet can prevent nearly all of them, can help treat more than half of them, and in some cases even reverse the progression of disease, including our top three killers.”

http://nutritionfacts.org/video/uprooting-the-leading-causes-of-death

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Bonus: List of doctors who are well-known and promote a plants-only diet for curing diseases:
http://www.bigtentvegan.com/doctors-dieticians-and-nutritionists

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If you’re not already Vegan, and you think animals matter morally, then please go Vegan. It’s incredible for the animals, easy and great for you, and wonderful for the planet. If you’re already Vegan, please educate non-Vegans about why they should go Vegan. Please rescue, volunteer, adopt, foster, spay, and neuter the nonhuman refugees of domestication whenever you can. Please feed your nonhuman family Vegan where you can. These things are the most important, morally responsible things to do and are desperately needed by everyone.

To learn more about Abolitionist Veganism and the issues I’ve outlined in this post, check out The Master List Of Vegan Info:
https://legacyofpythagoras.wordpress.com/2014/04/10/master-list-of-vegan-info

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Disclaimer: My only goal with this list is to produce as comprehensive a resource for Vegan information as possible. I am 100% Abolitionist Vegan and 100% against exploitation of nonhuman and human animals, any type of violence against human or nonhuman persons or property, welfare regulation, any form of speciesism, ethnic bigotry, genderism, ableism, heterosexism, etc., any of the large governmental or non-governmental nonhuman animal organizations, “happy meat,” vegetarianism, veg*nism, Meat-Out Mondays, or other forms of reductionism and anything else that makes it seem like any form of violence or exploitation of animals is ok. If any of those positions are endorsed on any site in this list, or any language is used to imply that, it’s not that I included that link because I agree, but simply because I don’t control every bit of information on all of these sites.