A 'little' meat

[hangle]

A UsToday article titled 'Clinton's a vegan, but
is the diet unimpeachable' was published today
(Aug 24, 2011) The article cited Marion Nestle,
a New York University nutrition professor.
Her comment "...but I don't want them telling
me that if I eat a little meat, there is something
wrong with my diet. I think animal foods can
have a place in a healthful diet."


Nestle was called on as an expert but

sadly gives an opinion that has little basis
of fact-- evidenced by her qualification 'I
think'. Unfortunately, no large scale study
has been funded to show that a "little" meat
does not contribute to chronic diseases. I
myself would like to know if a "little" can
be accommodated in my vegan lifestyle, at least
serving as a food flavor. As it stands, the evidence
is gross, that is, animal protein is a health
problem for many. And as such, the judicious
and safest course is go with a plant base diet
until fine grain studies can resolve this issue.


Sadly, the people who determine the funding of
health investigations have a treatment model that
covers just chemicals, devices, and surgeries.
Also opposing such studies are the dairy, cattle
associations, and the pharmaceuticals companies.
In any case, I am not holding my breath waiting
for the clarification of animal vs plant protein
controversies.

[Johnstuff]

IMO the occaisoional unhealthy thing (in moderation, not a binge) probably doesn't have a significant impact on overall health. To me veganism is more about ethics than health, it's just convienient that animal products are unhealthy and that a healthy vegan diet is the most healthy diet possible.

I don't like it when folks who arn't vegans (like possibly Bill Clinton) are reffered to as vegans because they're not. A vegan abstains from all animal products, not just 90% of them. That's really missing the point.

[fondducoeur]

I don't really have a problem with what she said, as from my understanding she is not claiming to be vegan. I think a healthy diet probably could contain a "little meat." It does have protein and other nutrients that benefit our body, and in small quantities, the negative aspects probably do not pose real risk to long-term health. However, to answer your question, I don't think your vegan lifestyle could accommodate meat, as I think at that point you would cease to be vegan.

[Firestorm]

A "little" meat may not cause any harm to the health of a human being, but it does cause a great deal of harm to the animals that are killed and tortured to get that "little" meat.

[harpy]

Agreed Firestorm - that's the reason for avoiding animal products as far as I'm concerned. I'm not convinced that occasional meat-eating would make any difference to my health, although as has been noted we don't have enough knowledge to say it definitely wouldn't. But it would definitely harm the animals involved.

[fondducoeur]

I agree with both you harpy and Firestorm; I was just noting that I was not necessarily upset about what the "expert" said from purely a health standpoint. I do think that eating even a little meat is unacceptable from an ethical standpoint, but I don't think she was claiming to be vegan (or ethical).

[maggielassie]

That's the problem with Clinton. He's only a "vegan" (most of the time) for health reasons. I'd bet he does not care one bit about animals. OTOH, his case tends to show people that a plant-based diet as healthy. And I'm glad every time people can see that eating only plants is indeed healthy (unlike what they believe), and maybe they will at least reduce their animal consumption...

However, as Harpy & Firestorm showed in their posts: our true veganism, our boycott of all animal products all of the time, is not about "being healthy", it's about refusing to participate in cruelty to animals... It's just very convenient that it is healthy...