These vegan health articles are presented to assist you in taking a pro-active part in your own health.
See All-Creatures.org Health Position and Disclaimer
The authors of the PNAS article are academics who have devoted their careers to serving the livestock industry, not to studying human health. This explains why they know so little about human nutrition and nutritional epidemiology.
Image by
Steve
Herring
An article published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) claims that it would be a disaster for public health if the population of the United States suddenly went vegan. Yet the authors are not experts on human nutrition or public health. Instead, they are experts on how to feed chickens and cattle. Their conclusions were not based on any studies of the health of vegan human beings. The study's authors even freely admit that plant-based diets have several important advantages for human beings:
Nevertheless, the authors of the PNAS article claimed that a plant-based diet would be deficient in several important nutrients. Yet they did not back up this claim with any studies that showed that vegans are really likely to have health problems as a result of nutrient deficiencies. The authors wrote, "However, without animal-derived foods, domestic supplies of Ca [calcium]; arachidonic, eicosapentaenoic, and docosahexaenoic fatty acids; and vitamins A and B12 were insufficient to meet the requirements of the US population."
That claim is absolutely ridiculous, for the following reasons:
The PNAS article warns us that a shift to a vegan diet would cause big changes to the economy. In particular, it would be disastrous for the livestock industry. (Note that the authors of the PNAS article are academics who have devoted their careers to serving the livestock industry, not to studying human health. This explains why they know so little about human nutrition and nutritional epidemiology.) A switch to a vegan diet would also be a disaster for the pharmaceutical industry. Many people who shift to a low-fat, plant-based diet can stop taking most or all of their prescription medications. These changes would be good for public health, though bad for industry.
PNAS is a prestigious journal. Yet like other prestigious journals, it occasionally publishes bad articles. Likewise, I imagine that PNAS probably also rejects some good articles for bad reasons. I have worked for peer-reviewed journals, and I have also submitted articles to other peer-reviewed journals, so I have seen the problem from both sides, as I explain in this blog post. The mistake that the editors of PNAS made in this case was to fail to have this article reviewed by someone who is a genuine expert in human nutrition and nutritional epidemiology. As a result, they ended up spreading livestock industry propaganda.
Return to Vegan Health Articles
Visit Food Hazards in Animal Flesh and By-products
We began this archive as a means of assisting our visitors in answering many of their health and diet questions, and in encouraging them to take a pro-active part in their own health. We believe the articles and information contained herein are true, but are not presenting them as advice. We, personally, have found that a whole food vegan diet has helped our own health, and simply wish to share with others the things we have found. Each of us must make our own decisions, for it's our own body. If you have a health problem, see your own physician.