This article was originally published as an op-ed in The Jerusalem Post on Thursday, 15 August 2024: https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-814758
I have been writing columns in The Jerusalem Post for a few years about different health and wellness topics. A few months ago, I wrote a column about the advantages of getting our needed protein from plants sources as opposed to animal sources. I make no secret of my preference of plant-predominance in the diet to prevent, and even reverse, chronic disease. To review, I pointed out that animal protein comes with baggage, like saturated fat and cholesterol, whereas plant proteins are free of those problems.
I am appreciative of the many comments this article evoked. It’s good to know that there are many out there reading my articles. One thing I did not expect when I wrote that column was the number of negative comments I received and the angry tone of some of them. So, let’s get a few things straight. Veganism is not necessarily healthy; I am not a vegan. I would like to address some of the comments I received so that we all can benefit.
Eat like a vegan
Eating according to a vegan diet means refraining from eating meat, chicken, fish, eggs, or dairy. It doesn’t necessarily reflect a healthy way to eat. One can eat a whole-food, plant-predominate diet but still eat Oreo cookies, drink Coca Cola, eat donuts, and non-dairy ice cream. An unhealthy way of eating can still be called vegan. Let’s dig a little deeper.
There are variations of being a vegan. Vegetarians would eat dairy and eggs and pescatarians would add fish to the mix (some may eat dairy, some not). Why go in this direction?
There are really three main reasons people might be vegan: health, ethics, and environment. Many choose veganism for reasons of health. They generally eat a whole-food, plant-based diet low in oils, sugars, and salt. Some are what we call ethical vegans. An ethical vegan is someone who not only excludes animal products from their diet but also tries to avoid using animals, animal products, and animal-tested products, when practical. Then there are environmental vegans. These are people motivated by the desire to create a sustainable diet, which avoids the negative environmental impact of meat production.
For those who choose veganism to prevent cruelty to animals and want cleaner air to breathe and cleaner water to drink, I have no criticism. Who wouldn’t want to treat animals well and breathe cleaner air? These are not necessarily my priorities in advocating plant-predominance in the diet, but there is nothing that environmental and ethical vegans say that is at all incorrect.
What were all these comments about?
Someone accused me of being part of a conspiracy to turn the entire universe into vegans. No, there is no such conspiracy, and it’s not my personal goal either. My interest is to present the overwhelming evidence based on many thousands of studies. Eating real, whole-foods, mostly plants, and removing highly processed stuff will not only extend your life but bring you good health and quality of life.
Then there was the old, and now tired, argument that animal proteins have the exact amount of amino acids the human body needs, which we can’t get from plants. Please reread my previous article. The whole point was that this is not what the latest research is showing. That argument is incorrect and outdated. I will add another point to what I wrote last time. We now have research showing that some of the amino acids are more inflammatory than others; mostly methionine. Methionine is prominent in animal products, yet in plants, it is a lot less prominent in comparison to other amino acids. It would seem it’s pretty much the way nature wants it.
There was another comment by someone who said that I may be right, but he would rather die earlier or be ill than give up his meat. Okay, that’s your choice. Try to think beyond tomorrow. I appreciate the short-term pleasure those foods can give you but try to think about the long-term manifestations. Here is a suggestion, why don’t you just have a little bit of meat, chicken, and fish occasionally and eat more plants more often? You don’t have to be 100% whole-food, plant-based to gain benefit. Don’t let perfection be the enemy of good
Some but not all
In the past, we have mentioned the Blue Zones – 5 locations which have been thoroughly studied because their populations live to be over 100 years old. They have a very plant-predominant diet, and they do include very small amounts of meat or fish, and sometimes a tiny bit of dairy. We know that even a diet of 85% whole foods from plants can be highly beneficial to your health. The problem is, the Western diet is now made up of 63% processed foods, 25% animal products, 6% processed plants, and only 6% whole plants. Unless you need to really reverse chronic or autoimmune diseases, it’s more a question of just changing the ratio of your food choices, not giving it up entirely.
Changing the ratio
The data is incredibly obvious. The approach? Increase your fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes. Decrease animal proteins. The more you change the ratio, the better your health will be. Most of my clients, are highly successful with sustained weight loss, disease prevention and reversal with small amounts of meat, chicken, fish and eggs and a large amount of plant-based foods. We do take out the oils, sodium, and sugar.
I hope I have clarified my position and what is the best way to eat for your health. It’s healthy and tasty. The calorie density of plant-based food is so low, you can eat lots and lots of it without gaining weight or causing health issues. I am not a Vegan; I am a healthy whole food plant-based eater who enjoys his food, feels satisfied eating it, and benefits greatly from eating the way I do. It “adds hours to my day, days to my year and years to my life.”
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