Dangers of Vegetarian & Vegan Diets Long-Term
I often get emails from my readers who are vegetarian or vegan and struggling to heal. Much as I respect the ideological and environmental motivators for veggie diets, in physical terms, they are simply not good for the human body.
Dr. Weston A. Price was a dentist in the 1920′s who spent 10 years of his retirement travelling the globe – looking for tribes or villages of people who were extremely healthy. He defined ‘healthy’ as having no degenerative disease and a cavity rate of less than 1%. Pretty good standards if you ask me!
Whenever he found a group of people who met these requirements (from Swiss villages, to Inuit, to African tribes) he studied them, paying particular attention to what they ate. If you would like to read his flagship book on this, it’s called Nutrition and Physical Degeneration (available at Amazon.com) and it’s fantastic.
After studying these incredibly healthy groups of people from various locations around the world, he concluded that there were certain key dietary factors that they all had in common, which resulted in their superb health:
“Price took samples of native foods home with him to Cleveland and studied them in his laboratory. He found that these diets contained at least four times the minerals and water soluble vitamins–vitamin C and B complex–as the American diet of his day. Price would undoubtedly find a greater discrepancy in the 1990s due to continual depletion of our soils through industrial farming practices. What’s more, among traditional populations, grains and tubers were prepared in ways that increased vitamin content and made minerals more available–soaking, fermenting, sprouting and sour leavening.
It was when Price analyzed the fat soluble vitamins that he got a real surprise. The diets of healthy native groups contained at least ten times more vitamin A and vitamin D than the American diet of his day! These vitamins are found only in animal fats–butter, lard, egg yolks, fish oils and foods with fat-rich cellular membranes like liver and other organ meats, fish eggs and shell fish.
Price referred to the fat soluble vitamins as “catalysts” or “activators” upon which the assimilation of all the other nutrients depended–protein, minerals and vitamins. In other words, without the dietary factors found in animal fats, all the other nutrients largely go to waste.
Price also discovered another fat soluble vitamin that was a more powerful catalyst for nutrient absorption than vitamins A and D. He called it “Activator X” (now believed to be vitamin K2). All the healthy groups Price studied had the X Factor in their diets. It could be found in certain special foods which these people considered sacred–cod liver oil, fish eggs, organ meats and the deep yellow Spring and Fall butter from cows eating rapidly growing green grass. When the snows melted and the cows could go up to the rich pastures above their village, the Swiss placed a bowl of such butter on the church altar and lit a wick in it. The Masai set fire to yellow fields so that new grass could grow for their cows. Hunter-gatherers always ate the organ meats of the game they killed–often raw. Liver was held to be sacred by many African tribes. The Eskimos and many Indian tribes put a very high value on fish eggs.”
- Excerpted from the article Ancient Dietary Wisdom for Tomorrow’s Children by Sally Fallon:
http://www.westonaprice.org/traditional_diets/ancient_dietary_wisdom.html
Another explorer who studied native Indian tribes of the Pacific Northwest (and was very impressed with their tall, incredibly strong physiques) found that 80% of their calories came from animal fat. You can read the whole article about that here:
http://www.westonaprice.org/traditional_diets/native_americans.html
For ongoing health, Dr. Hal Huggins recommends that 40% of your calories come from animal fat. He recommends organic butter primarily and some fish oil. Make sure butter is certified organic (and ideally raw and pasture-fed) since all of the cow’s toxins, antibiotics, growth hormones, etc. will go through to the breastmilk and therefore the butter.
It’s very easy to get your daily quota of animal fat from organic butter – this works out to about 1/4 pound per day. Here’s some great and tasty ways to do it:
- Slather cooked veggies, rice, cous-cous or pasta in salted butter.
- Put as much butter as you can on all ‘bread’ items; bread, toast, muffins, scones etc. I love unsalted organic butter about 1/8″ thick either plain on muffins or with jam on toast or scones – it just tastes like lovely cream, yum-yum. I also really like unsalted butter (almost that thick) on crackers topped with a slice of raw cheddar.
- Anytime you fry meat, fry it in butter, add some garlic and nothing tastes better.
- Pan fry, bake, (or steam) any white fish in lots of butter and a bit of soy sauce – enough melted butter to make a ‘gravy’ that you eat with the fish. Sprinkle fish with garlic powder too, if you like. You’ll be amazed at how good this tastes.
- Use the same ingredients (butter, soy sauce, garlic) and sautee shiitake mushrooms – this is a Japanese recipe called simply “Shiitake Butter”. Kids also love these.
- Melt butter into your homemade bone broths – double nutrient whammy with the gelatin and butter and the butter improves the flavor of the broth.
- Scramble 2 eggs in 2 tablespoons of butter. If you have bacon fat from pasture-raised, organic, natural bacon, that too tastes divine.
These are just a few of the ways you can easily and deliciously incorporate a good amount of animal fat back into your diet. I know, it will be hard at first, so start slowly and gradually build up. It takes time to combat the absolute avalanche of “animal/saturated fat is evil and will kill you” propaganda that surrounds us. But don’t worry, your health and tastebuds will soon convince you that you’re on the right path. After 3-6 months of getting enough animal fat from your diet, you will see an improvement in your skin and hair. After a year or two, you will likely appear to be “reverse aging”.
Other healthy oils that benefit your body are:
- Cod liver oil
- Unrefined coconut oil
- Virgin Organic Olive Oil
- Udo’s Oil
For some really great articles on what exactly is wrong with veggie diets and the specific ways they damage your health (and prevent you from healing) please see:
http://www.chetday.com/vegetarianarticles.htm
Note: We are now carrying the High Vitamin Butter Oil recommended by Dr. Price in the Holistic Health Shoppe: http://www.holistichealthshoppe.com/index.php#55
soar higher,
Jini
Great article, I am concerned however, because I’m lactose intolerant! What can I do to incorporate these animal fats into my diet, without upsetting my stomach? I’m currently taking some meds for my Crohn’s disease, and I’m taking a nutritional supplement called Reliv (vitamins in liquid form).
As a Nurse working with people who require cardiovascular surgery (so many heart bypasses for so many clogged arteries), I think it is erroneous in the extreme to label any warnings about saturated fat/animal fat as propaganda! Your article could be considered butter propaganda. There is so much more to health than what we eat; we have so many hang-ups about the relationship between food and our bodies. The fact remains that people in the west generally eat more than they need and exercise less than they need to. We eat energy rich foods that are often nutrient-empty. We really don’t need that much butter to get the good things from it. People who eat meat don’t often know that a piece about the size of one’s palm is sufficient- and not daily! A diet rich in fruit, vegies, grains, cereals, legumes with fats, meat and sugary-treats consumed sparingly is more of a balance. If you can, aim to eat your vitamins and minerals by eating food, as fresh and as unprocessed as you can afford. Don’t get me started on the dollars! It is more expensive to eat organic, fair-trade etc. It is awfully hard when flare-ups and intolerances limit choices in nutrition but it is even harder to cope with the tsunami of misinformation that accompanies food, nutrition and health. AS for real pearls of wisdom, The Dalai Lama says, “Everything in moderation, including moderation.” Food is to be enjoyed and we need to enjoy fuelling and caring for our bodies despite the food politics out there.
Hi Carols,
Are you taking any probiotics? They are a must for your condition. Also, Reliv vitamins contain sugar. I found Passion 4 Life the best liquid vitamin (absorption 98% in 3 min.). They have no sugar (which in your situation should be avoided), no carb, no caffein and no calories. http://www.passion4lifevitamins.com/starinus
Jini … great article!
I my nine year old son has crohns, diagnosis 9 months ago. He is on his 2nd dose of setriods there is so much advices about what diet to follow and they are all so different. What diet have you found makes a difference to stopping flare ups, remembering that he is a nine year old boy ??
Thank you for this article on the dangers of a vegetarian/ vegan diet. I have eliminated red meats from my diet and added more legumes for protein, and feel an overall improvement in my digestion. I feel I need the extra benefits of the minerals and amino acids from wild fish and organic chicken, and I like my ghee butter too much!
As a yoga teacher I have observed some dietary issues among vegetarians such as anemia, jaundice, and excess weight. I am glad you have pointed out that the healthiest diet is not necessarily all plant based. The addition of fish oils and some animal products such as butter (ghee) to a vegetarian diet would be an ideal diet for vitality and disease prevention. ( Don’t forget that animal products are acid producing foods and an alkaline diet is more beneficial for maintaining good health and preventing degeneration and inflammation. The North American diet contains too many acid based foods such as meat, cheese, flour products, sugars etc.which need to be replaced/ balanced with more alkaline foods such as greens, fruit and some grains. The Inuit can eat as much animal fat as they do, because most of their food is unprocessed.)
Keep on digging Jini!
In good health,
Lesley
Thanks for the great comments everyone!
Carlos: There is very little lactose in butter, typically 0.5%, so you should be okay with it, unless you are EXTREMELY sensitive. But in any case, if you are taking L.bulgaricus probiotic (Natren’s Digesta-Lac) then it will help you to digest the lactose.
Kate: I agree with much of what you have wrote and well said! Regarding the points raised about cholesterol, please see this article here, which expounds on an article that appeared in Science, showing how:
“Blood cholesterol levels between 200 and 240 mg/dl are normal. These levels have always been normal. In older women, serum cholesterol levels greatly above these numbers are also quite normal, and in fact they have been shown to be associated with longevity. Since 1984, however, in the United States and other parts of the western world, these normal numbers have been treated as if they were an indication of a disease in progress or a potential for disease in the future.”
http://www.westonaprice.org/knowyourfats/fats_phony.html
Secondly, this next article by Uffe Ravnskov, MD, PhD, outlines all the BENEFITS of high cholesterol and he asserts:
“People with high cholesterol live the longest. This statement seems so incredible that it takes a long time to clear one´s brainwashed mind to fully understand its importance. Yet the fact that people with high cholesterol live the longest emerges clearly from many scientific papers. Consider the finding of…”
http://www.westonaprice.org/moderndiseases/benefits_cholest.html
And finally, here’s a good Q & A by Dr. Tom Cowan, MD where he answers a question about “high cholesterol”:
http://www.westonaprice.org/askdoctor/highcholesterol.html
You can also find lots more about the cholesterol issue on Dr. Mercola’s site:
http://www.mercola.com
Jenny: My book “Listen To Your Gut” contains a series of healing diets that the child follows according to the severity of his symptoms. However, in extreme cases, then many choose to go on “The IBD Remission Diet” (book of the same name). If you go here, you can learn all about it and order the free Quick-Start Package which includes chapter one of the book:
http://www.absorbplus.com
Lesley: Very good point about processed vs. unprocessed foods. I highly agree.
Jini
One more thing on the cholesterol issue:
“Drugs are not the answer. . . unless you are a drug company. The cholesterol-lowering drug “Lipitor” is the best selling drug on the planet. Yet it is well established that cardiovascular disease is not caused by a failure to take enough pharmaceuticals as a child. It is a lifestyle disease.
If a person will not change their lifestyle, their doctor should prescribe niacin (vitamin B-3), the most effective way to lower cholesterol and triglycerides, and raise beneficial HDL. It is also the cheapest way. But most importantly, it is by far the safest way. The president of the American College of Cardiology, Dr. Steven E. Nissen, said, “Niacin is really it. Nothing else available is that effective.” (2)
Additional protection against cardiovascular disease comes from supplementing the diet with vitamin E, vitamin C, and the amino acid L-lysine. If you need pills, take vitamins, not drugs. There is not one death per year from vitamin supplements. There are over 106,000 deaths per year from prescribed pharmaceutical drugs. (3)”
- from Orthomolecular Medicine News Service
My father is a smoker and a drinker, but he follows these guidelines and eats a Weston Price type diet and his cholesterol is fine.
Jini
I’m always into discussions on anything organic, so this read made me feel at home.
I’ll bookmark the site and subscribe to the feed!
Appreciate you message. Friend advice to read you. It’s very interesting. Subscribed on RSS! Wanna read you more!
Hi,
If you are lactose intolerant, try using ghee in your diet. Ghee is clarified butter used extensively in Indian cooking. It is made by boiling butter. It is inherently casein and lactose free..
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Vegetarian and Vegan Diets “not good for the Human Body”??
You are wrong-very wrong.
As a long-term Vegetarian, I have been blessed with never-ending great health and
vitality. I heal faster now as an Adult, than I did when I was a child (meat-consuming).
I also am not deficient in any essential vitamins or minerals. Your reporting is very
much in error, and sides with the Meat Industry.
Please refrain in the future from writing anymore fiction….
Hi Jayne,
Where do you get your protein from?
I know many vegetarians who eat eggs, raw milk, cheese, or fish – all these are excellent sources of protein and if consuming them, then no, you don’t need to eat any meat.
Everybody is free to make their own choices, and I doubt any one diet is suitable for everybody. In my case, I have a gene that sometimes causes an overactive immune system. The bad thing is that can cause inflammation. The good thing is that it fights bacteria and viruses.
The gene, hlab52, is held by many people in the world – especially in areas where the traditional diet was heavily protein based.
Maybe this is unscientific, but if my body has been equipped with a gene that seems specifically designed to assist in meat eating, then i would be silly and ungrateful to become a vegetarian.
Add to this that I live in Japan, where vegetarians are a very rare species. People eat plenty of meat here (no 1 pound prime ribs, though) and live quite well.
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