Vegan mythbusting Archives - Page 4 of 4

Is Eating Meat Manly? Not So Much It Turns Out

J. Lemm (LOC) from Flickr via Wylio — © 1910 The Library of Congress, Flickr | PD | via Wylio

In my social media feeds in the last few days, a male acquaintance of mine visiting New York has been posting pics of all the huge t-bone, rib-eye, left haunch, right flank, whateverthehelltheyrecalled pieces of dead cow he’s been chowing down on in the New York dead cow restaurants.

Aside from remarking that the portion sizes in these places are RIDICK, and not being able to believe that someone would just keep visiting steak houses in New York when it is a HUGE COSMOPOLITAN METROPOLIS for corns sake, and there are a wealth of restaurants from myriad ethnicities and what a shame to not try any of these; there was something else that struck me.

What struck me was the vibe of the comments these pics received from his male friends.

‘Is that all?’ (a photo of the hugest steak you’ve ever seen)

‘Get rid of the salad, you lightweight’ (said steak had approximately two leaves of arugula on top)

‘I hope that’s your starter?’

‘I’d polish that off in five minutes!’

You get the gist.

It would seem that it’s still perceived in some quarters as being ‘manly’ and ‘tough’ to eat meat. Especially steak. It’s funny how images of chicken or fish don’t get the same reaction. Are they perceived as being girls’ meats?

Firstly, let’s all just try and live up to being good humans rather than striving to be whatever the hell the constructs of ‘manly’ or ‘womanly’ are meant to mean.

This tired old trope of ‘manly’ meaning a strong, buff and ripped, unemotional, steak-chomping, highly sexual, princess-rescuing, world-saving male human needs to be blasted into obsolescence.

And is it really red meat that will help men fight dragons and slay demons with their pinkies, before finishing the day by giving a harem of swooning damsels a good seeing-to?

PLEASE NOTE – I’m absolutely NOT mocking men here, just the dumb gender constructs that some of society clearly still wants them to live by. These are just as harmful to men as those pertaining to women are to women.

But what does meat really do for men? From his book ‘The World Peace Diet,’ I’ll let Dr Will Tuttle explain:

Castrating millions of young male animals has another consequence for human males as well, for by eating the flesh and secretions of these castrated animals, men often gradually lose their sexual ability. Saturated animal fat and cholesterol residues inexorably clog the veins and arteries of their sexual organ and eventually not enough blood can get through to maintain an erection. On top of this humiliating and poetic consequence of macho brutality, eating animal foods has been positively linked with prostate cancer and with lowered sperm counts. Eating cruelty and death may fit a man into the culturally accepted model of tough masculinity, but this absurdity is revealed in his limp, impotent organ.

Er, yep – he went there!

And the embarrassing problem Dr Tuttle refers to here is actually an indicator for a much bigger problem – the killer that is heart disease. The science on that is here.

If that wasn’t enough, animal proteins are nothing but harmful to male fertility.

It turns out that steak really isn’t so dude-ly after all.

How do healthy vegan men compare to meat-eating men in this regard?

Vegan men have significantly higher testosterone levels than meat eaters, as this study shows as reported in the British Journal of Cancer (2000).

And of course, just as animal proteins with their saturated fats are not conducive to fertility, we can reasonably expect it to be the case that a vegan male eating a varied whole food plant-based diet would be more fertile.

It kind of follows that those invested in the concept of meat as ‘manly’ also seem to think meat makes men strong and gives them optimal stamina and endurance. They might want to check out these guys:

The world’s strongest man, Patrick Baboumian, is vegan

The world’s fastest ultra-distance runner, Scott Jurek, is vegan

Plenty of other male athletes, sportsmen and male bodybuilders are all achieving their best performances on a plant-based diet. Check out Brendan Brazier, Rich Roll, and Frank Medrano to name a few!

Susan Levin M.S., R.D., C.S.S.D., a board certified specialist in sports dietetics and director of nutrition education at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine says:

A vegan diet is the perfect combination [for athletes]…It brings you healthy complex carbohydrate, healthy protein, and the vitamins and minerals you need, but avoids the saturated fat and cholesterol that interfere with health and athletic performance.

Conclusion

Let’s just stop projecting silly constructs like ‘manly’ onto any food, or indeed anything or anyone.

BUT, we can quite safely conclude that it’s actually a diet devoid of steak and indeed all animal foods, and one FULL of whole, plant-based foods that helps keep a man healthy, sexual, fertile, strong and at his optimal fitness level.

I Want To Go Vegan, But Doesn’t Soy Cause Man-Boobs & Breast Cancer?

JOH_0280 from Flickr via Wylio — © 2012 star5112, Flickr | CC-BY-SA | via Wylio

First things first.

You do not need to eat soy AT ALL if you go vegan, repeat: NOT AT ALL.

Soy is a great source of protein (among other things) and it used to be thought that to replace all the animal protein you were going to be missing if you went vegan, you’d need to eat a s**t ton of soy products.

Not true.

Protein is in pretty much EVERY plant food. How do you think herbivorous animals get their protein? You don’t see cows, sheep, pigs, elephants, horses or gorillas chowing down on edamame or slurping miso!

If you’re eating a whole food, plant-based diet you’ll be getting plenty of protein. Don’t even worry about it. Even if you’re a junk food vegan (not recommending this at all but just to make the point) you’ll be getting enough protein.

Dr Neal Barnard, from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine:

…soy products are strictly optional. A healthy vegan diet could be based on a Mediterranean tradition, emphasizing vegetables, fruits, chickpeas, and pasta. It could be based on Latin American tastes, with plenty of beans, tortillas, and fresh fruit. Soy products come from the traditions of Asian countries where people are generally thinner and healthier and live longer than Americans. But soy is still entirely optional.

Protein just isn’t a problem, even in a diet devoid of soy.

—————————————————————————–

That said, as long as you’re not allergic to it, soy is a great addition to your diet.

Personally I adore agedashi tofu, and soy milk is my cow’s milk replacement of preference.

But it takes such a long time to bust old myths.

And the myth that soy does all sorts of weird things to your body is a very deeply entrenched one.

Hopefully in time (by force of myself and fellow plant-based professionals writing posts that reference the independent studies that have all found that soy is not only safe, but beneficial), this old chestnut will be destroyed once and for all.

We know soy has been eaten frequently for centuries in several Asian countries, countries that are certainly not known for having a man-boob or breast cancer problem.

In fact, breast cancer in Japan and China was exceedingly rare, until they started adopting the more ‘western’ habits of consuming dairy and larger amounts of meat, then the rates increased to reflect that.

‘But soy contains estrogen, and estrogen causes breast cancer’ you may be thinking.

This sentence is not wrong. Soy DOES contain estrogen, and excess estrogen IS a factor in lots of breast cancers.

However, there’s animal estrogen and plant estrogen. Soy does not contain animal estrogen, it contains ‘phyto’ (plant) estrogen. Isoflavones, the ‘contentious’ phytoestrogens found in soy, have a completely different effect on the body to animal estrogen.

Lets be clear on who the real villain is here!

Animal estrogen from meat and dairy is similar to human estrogen; it functions in the same way as it does in human female bodies – after all, we are animals too. It can therefore accumulate excessively in someone that eats animal products regularly and have any number of negative effects – two of which are breast cancer and man boobs – the exact two main concerns that people have about soy!

Phytoestrogens operate in a totally different way. When we consume them in the form of soy isoflavones they have been shown to be beneficial – even to breast cancer patients and survivors.

Why?

Because they have the effect of regulating your body’s estrogen levels. There is a complex scientific explanation on how they do this, but simply put; if your estrogen levels are low, they can bring them up to a level suitable for your body’s specific needs; if they are too high, they help you excrete the excess.

Magic huh? I don’t mean to get all woo-woo on yo’ ass, but if soy isoflavones (and other beneficial phytoestrogenic plants) are not a gift from the universe then I don’t know what is!

This activity of soy in the body has been studied, and we now know that soy categorically does NOT promote breast cancer. It actually acts as a protective and preventative agent, and can boost longevity in breast cancer survivors.

And no, soy doesn’t make men grow breasts either. Man boobage is due to obesity and the estrogens men are ingesting when they eat animal products.

We also now know that it doesn’t screw with your thyroid either (another once-believed harmful effect of consuming soy).

The ONLY time you need to be careful with regards to soy is if you are on thyroid medication. As is the case with MANY other foods, soy can interfere with thyroid medication efficacy.

But the great news is, you can avoid having thyroid troubles in the first place by following a whole foods, plant-based diet! Sorry if that sounds smug, but if something is true, I’m gonna sing it from the treetops!

As well as being an excellent protein, soy is also a great source of calcium, vitamin C, thiamin and folate. So if you like it, and aren’t soy sensitive, go ahead and get creative with the tofu, miso, tempeh et al.

Don’t forget. The dairy industry is very powerful and must currently be feeling very threatened as more and more people choose dairy milk alternatives. There are big concerns in whose interest it is to propogate myths discrediting soy. If you need reassuring, great; check everything out for yourself, we can never be too informed, but CHECK your sources. Always go for independent, peer-reviewed studies where possible.

Appropriate Responses To ‘Did you Know Hitler Was A Vegetarian?’

Adolf Hitler saliendo de la sede del partido Nazi (Munich, 1931) from Flickr via Wylio — © 2012 Recuerdos de Pandora, Flickr | CC-BY-SA | via Wylio

Ah yes, Hitler.

The person everybody LEAST wants to be compared to.

There are specific reasons why some meat-eaters resort to asking us if we (as vegans or vegetarians) are aware that Hitler was a vegetarian. These are explored very eloquently in this podcast by Colleen Patrick Goudreau.

I am merely going to present you with appropriate responses for when this insane myth gets regurgitated in your presence.

Some responses are ridiculously long – I wanted to get all the points in! But take from them what you think will have the most impact on the offender!

So here we go:

Moron Mcgee: Did you know Hitler was a vegetarian?

You: [choose one or several of the following] -:

1. Your offensive question has two subtexts that you are seemingly eager for me to understand:

a) Hitler was vegetarian – therefore I, as a vegetarian/vegan, am like Hitler

b) Hitler was vegetarian – and also a genocidal maniac. Therefore vegetarianism/veganism promotes genocide

With regard to lovely subtext a):

Mao (responsible for 78,000,000 deaths), Stalin (responsible for 23,000,000 deaths), Leopold II of Belgium (responsible for 15,000,000 deaths), Vlad III (famous for roasting children and feeding them to their mothers) Idi Amin, Pol Pot, Kim Jong Un, Ho Chi Min (AND MANY, MANY OTHER MURDEROUS, TYRANNICAL DICTATORS) were all meat-eaters.

By your logic – this means you, as a meat-eater, must be like them.

With regard to lovely subtext b):

As we can see above, most genocidal despots tend to be meat-eaters. Your logic would therefore assume that it is meat-eating that promotes dictatorial urges and genocide.

2. No, Mr Mcgee, Hitler was categorically not a vegetarian by any accepted definition.

We know he most definitely was not vegan.

The definition of ‘vegetarian’ according to the Oxford Dictionary is:

A person who does not eat meat or fish, and sometimes other animal products, especially for moral, religious, or health reasons.

According to reputable Hitler biographers Robert Payne and Albert Speer, Hitler had a penchant for ham, Bavarian sausages, liver and game. In his book ‘The Life And Death Of Adolf Hitler‘ (1995) Payne states that Hitler’s ‘vegetarianism’ was propaganda spread by Goebbels to make Hitler seem more ascetic and in control of his basest desires:

Hitler’s asceticism played an important part in the image he projected over Germany. According to the widely believed legend, he neither smoked nor drank, nor did he eat meat or have anything to do with women. Only the first was true. He drank beer and diluted wine frequently, had a special fondness for Bavarian sausages…His asceticism was fiction invented by Goebbels to emphasize his total dedication, his self-control, the distance that separated him from other men. By this outward show of asceticism, he could claim that he was dedicated to the service of his people.

In fact, he was remarkably self-indulgent and possessed none of the instincts of the ascetic…Although Hitler had no fondness for meat except in the form of sausages, and never ate fish, he enjoyed caviar. He was a connoisseur of sweets, crystallized fruit and cream cakes, which he consumed in astonishing quantities. He drank tea and coffee drowned in cream and sugar. No dictator ever had a sweeter tooth.

Chef Dione Lucas was not only an eyewitness to Hitler’s meat-eating, but in her book Gourmet Cooking School Cookbook (1964) recounts often being asked, when she was a hotel chef in Hamburg, to make Hitler’s favourite dish – stuffed squab (pigeon).

Not even by the loosest definition of the word are pigeon, sausages and caviar vegetarian.

Another fact that helps promulgate this myth is that on at least one occasion, Hitler was put on a temporary vegetarian fast by his doctor to help combat his problem of excessive flatulence and sweating – caused by excessive consumption of processed meats!

From the book Eternal Treblinka: Our Treatment Of Animals And The Holocaust (2002) by Charles Patterson phD:

Hitler discovered that when he reduced his meat intake, he did not sweat as much, and there were fewer stains in his underwear. He also became convinced that eating vegetables improved the odors of his flatulence, a condition that distressed him terribly and caused him much embarrassment. Hitler, who had a great fear of contracting cancer, which killed his mother, believed that meat eating and pollution caused cancer.

Nonetheless, Hitler never gave up his favourite meat dishes, especially Bavarian sausages, liver dumplings, and stuffed and roasted game.

Patterson writes of when Hitler got into power in 1933:

…he banned all the vegetarian societies in Germany, arrested their leaders, and shut down the main vegetarian magazine published in Frankfurt…during the war Nazi Germany banned all vegetarian organizations in the territories it occupied, even though vegetarian diets would have helped alleviate wartime food shortages.

Why would Hitler have done this if he was vegetarian?

Some have talked about Hitler’s love of animals, particularly of his dogs.

Firstly, he may well have loved his dogs. It is not unheard of to love those beings that surround YOU, but be unable to empathise with those you don’t know. Secondly, it is reported that he loved his dogs because they were subordinate to him and he could control them. Again, Charles Patterson:

Hitler was fond of dogs, especially German shepherds (he considered boxers ‘degenerate’), whom he liked to control and dominate. At the front during World War I, he befriended a white terrier Fuchsl (Foxl), who had strayed across enemy lines. Later, when his unit had to move on and Fuchsl could not be found, Hitler became distraught. ‘I liked him so much,’ he recalled. ‘He obeyed only me.’

Hitler often carried a dog-whip and sometimes used it to beat his dog the same way he had seen his father beat his own dog.

In Hitler 1936-45: Nemesis (2000), another esteemed Hitler biographer, Ian Kershaw, writes:

…but with his dogs, as with every human being he came into contact with, any relationship was based upon subordination to his mastery.

3. You might want to think about why you deemed it appropriate to compare my life choices to those of the most reviled human being of the twentieth century.

I’m just trying to live in alignment with my values of compassion for all life, respect for my health and that of the planet, and taking the best action possible to help combat world hunger – and you want me to know that you think I’m comparable to a dictator that had approximately eleven million Jews, Poles, gays, gypsies and disabled people exterminated.

Do you care to explain more?

4. I’ve already referenced The Eternal Treblinka: Our Treatment Of Animals And The Holocaust by Charles Patterson. This influential book (that has been translated into fourteen languages) very eloquently and eruditely compares intensive animal farming with concentration camps. This is an unarguable and valid comparison. Both deal in commodified beings that are made to work until such time as the person in power decides they are to be slaughtered.

As you condone this practise by buying its end product (meat, milk and eggs), I think you’ll find it’s you that has more in common with Hitler and the Nazi’s beliefs.

5. When selecting a famous vegetarian (even though Hitler wasn’t – so you didn’t even fact check), why, I wonder, didn’t you think of Ghandi or Buddha? Not that I’m comparing ordinary vegetarians like myself to them, but you wanted to bring up a vegetarian person that’s had a huge impact on the world, why didn’t you choose one of these guys? And most would agree that they were both bigger and more influential than Hitler. Why do YOU think it didn’t serve you to reference THEM?

6. [if you are vegan] I am vegan. This is different to being vegetarian. While vegetarianism is better than meat-eating to a point, it is still not avoiding cruelty and barbarism toward animals. Vegetarians still eat dairy and eggs. Milk comes from abused cows whose male babies are often killed, and dairy cows themselves are killed when they are spent. The egg industry is similarly cruel with millions of baby male chicks being gassed, suffocated or put into a meat grinder alive because they are superfluous to requirements.

There has NEVER been a vegan mass-murderer. I urge you to attempt to find one and prove me wrong.

7. F**k off.

8. Only joking about number 7. Sort of.

How To Respond To The Dumb Questions And Comments Vegans Get, Part 2

Probably the dumb comments and questions I’m most eager to ‘kick to the curb’ (do we still say that?) are the ones that present a very skewed perception of a vegan lifestyle.

It’s easy to see how these assumptions come about. If the basis of someones diet is meat and dairy; they may believe that if the meat and dairy is removed there wouldn’t be much left. Thus they feel that a vegan diet is a deprivation diet, or that they would go hungry if they were to be vegan.

You’d be surprised how many people are just not aware of the many kinds of veg and fruit in existence; or have any idea of the wealth of legumes, pulses, beans, grains, nuts and seeds.

And I truly do empathise with anyone who has not ever had the opportunity to be exposed to delicious, hearty, nutritious plant-based dishes, and I would relish the chance to show them some of the infinite possibilities.

BUT…

…What’s annoying is when people with such limited knowledge make wrong assumptions that a vegan diet is lacking in fun and enjoyment, and vocalise this loudly in front of an equally misinformed crowd (that THEY of course feel safe in). They may also ask you related questions with a clear intent to mock.

It’s possible you’ll feel that they are so invested in being what they perceive to be ‘right,’ you’d be talking to a brick wall if you bothered to answer, and that you’d rather conserve your energy for more open-minded free thinkers.

However, if you do gauge it to be worth a bash, here are a few ideas:

Dumb Question: Isn’t veganism really restrictive and limiting?

Answer: [My answer to this one is a little cocky, you may want to ‘nice it up’ a little. Or maybe not :)]

Uh-uh. How many kinds of animals do you eat regularly? Five, tops? Maybe cows, pigs, chicken, lamb and fish? To me, that is limited and dull. Do you even know how many different sorts of plants I eat? From how many world food cultures I eat from? I probably eat more types of beans alone than you do animals. A vegan diet is only limited if you have limited knowledge and imagination – exactly like an omnivore diet in fact!

There are vegan versions of all the basics – non-dairy milks, yoghurts and cheeses; and non-meat burgers, sausages, sandwich slices, even fishcakes! Most dishes that are ‘old favourites’ can be ‘veganised.’

There are plenty of meat eaters whose diets are bland and limited. [I personally know of several people who panic if there is anything other than chicken and potatoes on their plate – use examples from your own experience!].

Most vegans have had to get creative and learn how to find food from all different ethnicities. As a result, we often enjoy a wider range of food than most omnis.

Dumb Comment: Vegans are always hungry.

A: If you eat a whole food, plant-based diet – the complete opposite is true. Brown rice, quinoa and in fact most whole grains expand slightly in the stomach, making you feel pleasantly satiated for longer. If each meal contains a whole grain – you will rarely feel hungry – unless you leave it too long between meals, which would also happen if you were omni. Can you really say that you would be hungry after a hearty lentil or bean or sweet potato stew? Are you hungry after a big bowl of porridge? A bean chilli? A stir fry with noodles? A huge slice of chocolate cake? A pizza? You can pretty much eat the same things as you did before, just veganised – so what’s the difference, hunger wise?

Again, a poorly thought out meat-based diet can leave someone hungry. And again, for someone who believes an animal-based diet is the way to go, you are holding a vegan diet up to higher standards than you hold your own diet.

DC: Vegans don’t enjoy food.

A: You’ve never been to a Middle Eastern/Indian/Ethiopian/Korean/Mexican/Vietnamese restaurant and enjoyed any of the many, many dishes that are vegan by default? Vegans enjoy food as much as omnis, maybe more, because they can indulge knowing it is free of cholesterol, most saturated fat, hormones, antibiotics and bacteria. The truth is that a person that enjoys food as an omni, will enjoy food as a vegan.

And if you are omni – you don’t JUST eat meat and dairy do you? Don’t you also eat vegetable based, soups, dips, stews, salads sometimes? You don’t have any gorgeous fruit smoothies, or lush strawberries and melons in the summer? Don’t you enjoy any of these or are you always just gagging for the meat and the cheese?

DC: Vegans are depriving themselves and don’t live a full life.

A: How are you defining ‘a full life?’ Lots of people are vegan for ethical reasons. They wish to eat and live in alignment with their values. They would consider they live a truer, more connected, authentic and fully conscious life than an animal eater.

And just because you choose not to partake in certain practises, it doesn’t mean you are not living a full life. Just because it’s possible to eat something, doesn’t mean we have to do it. I’m assuming you haven’t tried eating monkey’s brains (as some do in China) or duck eggs with half developed fetuses in them (as LOTS do in Vietnam, Cambodia. Laos, the Philippines, and elsewhere). Do you need to try THESE things to get a fully rounded life experience? Lots of vegans eat a wide range of foods from around the world – many foods that omnis just don’t know about (see points 1 and 3). Are YOU living any less of a full life if YOU don’t eat THOSE foods?

DC: I just wouldn’t be satisfied if I couldn’t eat meat.

A: This is mostly psychological. We are socialised to believe that a full meal consists of some meat, a starch (potato or rice perhaps), and possibly a vegetable, with the meat being the main event, and the veg being a side.

This is a construct. Constructs aren’t true (the clue is in the name). Just because you see a plate of (plant-based) food that may not resemble the plate of food you’ve been used to, doesn’t mean it’s any less satisfying.

In any case, the ‘satisfaction’ you may get from eating meat comes largely from the flavours and the fat content.

Animal flesh on its own is relatively tasteless until it’s flavoured with salt and herbs or spices. We can use the exact same herbs, spices and salt on our pulses, legumes, and beans, that we can on meat – and achieve the same flavours. As for fats, we can use vegetable oils to cook plant-based food, the same way that we do meat. Yes, there probably WILL be less fat involved, and this feeds your perception that meat-free meals are less satisfying. But it’s saturated fat that you are eating less of. This is a good thing. You soon get used to it, and enjoy it.

How To Respond To The Dumb Questions And Comments Vegans Get, Part 1

When you’ve been vegan as long as I have, you’ve heard it all. This may sound sad and jaded, but really it’s FANTASTIC, because it means there is no question or dumb comment that stumps me anymore. I have an answer for every single one, and I’m prepared to share some of them with you now – you’re most welcome!

If you are thinking of transitioning to a plant-based diet, or are easing in that direction, DON’T BE PUT OFF BY THIS POST!! It’s not that I, personally, am enduring dumb comments all the time – I’m really not. It HAS happened from time to time though, and you’ve just got to read any comment section following an internet article on veganism and you’ll see the full gamut of clown biscuits coming out to bleat their fear-driven, non-science based drivel (can you tell they piss me off?)

To be very clear – I have NO problem with curious people asking questions (see next point), but those who just blindly parrot and repeat myths, and/or mock, having done precisely zero research for themselves – well, I have no patience with these chump buckets.

We are currently living in a largely non-vegan world. Even people in countries whose diets, culturally, are not meat-based, are aspiring to eat more meat and dairy as they perceive this to be a more affluent, ‘western’ way, so it’s normal that there are going to be questions from those who follow the dominant carnist narrative. It should actually be encouraged – if the questions are curious and genuine.

It’s pretty easy to tell who is asking a genuine question and who is being a dumbass. If it’s face to face you can easily tell someone’s intention from their energy, and if it’s online, you can tell by their tone. The kind of question they are asking is usually the biggest clue! If they are petulantly stating ‘plants feel pain too, you know,’ it’s kinda obvious they’re just trying to push your buttons. If they’re asking you where you source your iron as they would be concerned about anaemia if they were to go vegan, then take the time and explain (or refer them to me!)

So here are my A’s to those dumb old Q’s:

Dumb question: (seeing as how we’ve already mentioned it) Don’t you know plants feel pain too?

Answer: Lordy, lord, LORD. Plants don’t have a central nervous system, so HOW can they feel pain? Also, if you are so interested in the pain of plants, then maybe you’d better go vegan straight away, because if you eat meat and dairy then MORE plants are killed for you, as not only are you eating plants yourself, but guess what they feed the animals you eat and drink secretions from? You guessed it, plants. Save more plants today by going plant-based, oh plant-saving one.

DQ: Where do you get your protein?

A: From the same place that other strong animals (elephants, horses, gorillas and rhinoceroses) get theirs – from plants.

DQ: Where do you get your calcium?

A: Calcium is a mineral; therefore it comes from the ground. So I get mine from the same place cows get theirs, from green plants that grow in the ground (though these days most conventionally farmed dairy cows don’t graze from the ground, so their feed is supplemented with calcium). It’s far better to get your calcium first hand, than to have it after it’s been through the cow.

DQ: But lions and tigers eat other animals, it’s the circle of life isn’t it?

A: Awww, have you been watching your Lion King DVD again?

Circle of life for them, perhaps. For you – no. They are obligate carnivores. This means they have no choice but to eat animals. Their bodies are built for it. Their intestines are way shorter than ours, so meat can pass through their system in an appropriate amount of time without putrefying. They can run fast enough to catch their prey, and have LONG canines and claws to kill it swiftly and rip it apart. You do not. You eat the animals that are the slowest and most docile and expect others to skin and de-bone them. Lions and tigers can eat the meat fresh and raw, and can even eat slightly less than fresh meat, as they have enzymes in their stomachs that help stop them getting sick. You have to cook it and flavour it to make it safe and tasty for you to eat. And you try eating meat that’s not quite fresh and it’ll be coming out of both ends quicker than you know it. Does your mouth water when you see a dead animal in the middle of the road? Do you get hunger pangs when you see a sheep in a field? No? Then your eating habits resemble a lions to the power of ZERO.

Also – why pick on ONE thing a lion does to emulate because this suits your agenda? If you think you’re like a lion, why not go sniffing other people’s butts, as lions do with each other?

Dumb Comment: But vegans eat soy, and soy farming is destroying the rainforests.

A: While a lot of rainforests HAVE been razed to the ground to grow soy and other crops – you will find (with a minimal amount of research) that the vast majority of these crops are grown for livestock feed. Also plenty of vegans DON’T eat soy. In this world of plenty, soy does not have to be the staple of a nutritious vegan diet. There are lots of alternatives.

DC: You don’t have to be vegan. I don’t eat supermarket meat; I only eat grass-fed, poetry-read, tucked in bed animals. This is sustainable and ok.

A: For whom? The 3 reasons for going vegan are 1) for the animals 2) for health, and 3) for the planet. I’m assuming you are choosing to eat ‘happy’ meat to likewise lean towards a healthier, cleaner and more ethical diet.

The truth is that ‘happy’ meat fulfils none of these criteria. It is barely healthier – it still contains as much artery clogging saturated fat, cholesterol and hormones as mass-produced meat, so you are avoiding none of the diseases caused by these. ‘Happy’ meat is actually LESS environmentally sound, as grass-fed animals emit significantly more global warming methane than factory farmed animals. Also, a lot more land is needed to raise these animals. If everyone in the world eventually decided to eat ‘happy’ meat – there isn’t enough land on the planet to provide this! And you think it’s a more animal friendly way to farm? How? Healthy animals are still slaughtered (often in the same slaughterhouses as conventionally farmed animals) after only a quarter of their natural life-span. Free-range chickens still live in inhumane, barbaric conditions, with all male chicks being superfluous and ground up alive.

DC: Every vegan I’ve ever seen is pale, scrawny and weak.

A: (If I get this comment in person I just point to myself and look quizzically at the bearer of the DC, who will see clearly that I’m healthy, strong and bursting with vitality). How many vegans have you seen? I’ve been vegan twenty-five years and haven’t actually seen that many. There are plenty of meat-eaters who are pale, scrawny and weak. If someone is these things, they are not eating properly whether they’re a vegan or not. Why are you holding vegans up to a higher standard than all the weak, skinny or obese and unhealthy meat-eaters out there?

There are plenty of vegan sportspeople, athletes and bodybuilders who are achieving their best ever performances on a vegan diet.

DQ: But cavemen hunted animals, which means eating meat is natural.

A: Really? From which period did these particular ‘cavemen’ that you are referring to come from? Even if you mean (and you probably do) the paleolithic era, this lasted over two million years. Did every single cave dude eat the same way over that time span? Are you sure? And EVEN IF they did (which they didn’t), the very fact that they needed all those spears and arrows to kill their dinner, instead of just chasing it and ripping it apart like obligate carnivores (see DQ4), kinda shows that even if animals were occasionally a food source, it was not a natural one for them.

DC: My friend went vegan and she got really tired and sick. Her body just NEEDED meat. She felt fine when she went back to eating it; in fact she cried when she took her first bite of beef and felt the strength flood back into her body. (Yes, I swear I’ve read this kind of BS multiple times)

A: Was she a completely healthy meat-eater previously? Was she fully informed on how to nourish herself on a vegan diet? Even the conservative American Dietetic Association knows 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.‘

Just as one should make the effort to ensure they get a full quota of vitamins, minerals nutrients and fibre on a standard diet, so one should on a vegan diet. There is no need for anyone to get tired and weak on a varied vegan diet that contains plenty of energy giving whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds – not just the fruit and veg. No human body NEEDS meat. They can get all the nutrients they would get from meat in plant-based foods, and they’re usually of better quality and more bio-available.

Oops! I realise some of these aren’t exactly snappy answers. But I hope there are some things you can take from them. Try and always keep your cool, and if someone just isn’t listening and continues to come out with BS so they can hear themselves talk – simply walk away. Give your energy and time to the genuinely curious.

Category: Vegan mythbusting