'You are what you eat' on TV

[Trendygirl]

Has anyone been watching you are what you eat? I haven’t because I don’t have a TV, I have managed to catch glimpses of it though. I have heard all about it from my friends and family. It sounds so funny when I hear meat eaters saying how they love pumpkin seeds after watching you are what you eat.

I am a bit ashamed to admit I bought the book the other day. It’s quite good, although it didn’t tell me much I didn’t already know. The book it’s self is a bit wishy washy because at the beginning and at some sections through the book it seems like it advocates a vegan diet but then it gives mixed messages. It states not to eat eggs, meat, dairy etc but then says that when buying chicken that you should by organic chicken. I think that Dr Gillian Mckeith either doesn’t know all the facts or is frightened to tell the public that they should be eating as close to a vegan diet as possible, for the fear of low sales.

It feels really good when friends and family members rave on about the TV series and I point out that almost everything it tells them to eat, is vegan! Its good to know that the diet the series is telling people to eat is getting such good mass media attention even if they don’t outright say that they advocate a vegan diet!

[Tofu Monster]

if you are what you eat, then i must eat lazy fat pigs! except i don't eat piggies!

[Trendygirl]

HE HE!

I must be a nut then

[PinkFluffyCloud]

I've read the book and found it good for reminding myself about 'naughty' habits. People I have spoken with about it are amazed that I don't find ideas like sprouting seeds and eating raw foods new or different, but pre-Veganism I would have found the ideas odd, too, I suppose!

The book definitely leans heavily towards Veganism and says some great things about Cows Milk - like DON'T use it! Maybe she thought she would get a very small readership if she didn't include some meat-eating, pity, though. I generally think this book is a good thing, as is the series, in these days of junk-food and unhealthy living.

The friend of mine who leant me the book was Veggie, but became Vegan after reading it!

[boomer]

Haven't watched a whole one, but the concept is good, anything that encourages people to eat less meat is great. Though none would be fantastic.

Found the magazine the other day ( a thoughtful passenger had left it behind) mostly good advice and a great recipe for sizzling tofu, which I shall try soon. Did find one article strange, about vegetarianism and how it has declined, since the artificial high post BSE, that numbers have dropped. They did quote a person from the vegetarian soc, saying it was expected and is still on the whole a rising %.

[Kevster]

Had a quick flick through the book today in Borders and saw the meat bit at the beginning, but the recipes i saw were vegan so at least it may encourage people to eat more vegan food. If they don't know it's vegan they probably aren't so bothered, if you know what i mean, because otherwise it would mean having some values/ethics or something....

[Evilfluffbunny]

I love that show. Despite the occasional meat dish I think it's very pro veggie. I love it when meat eaters see their new food for the first time and look horrified, but then end up loving it and talking about how much better and full of energy they feel.

I was wondering if Gillian Mckeith is actually vegan/veggie but (as someone else mentioned) not wanting to make her recipes or advice completey vegan for fear of putting people off. She probably sees fish and chicken as the next best thing for avid meat eaters.

[Trendygirl]

If you check out her website http://www.drgillianmckeith.com/recipes.htm you will find that only 1 of the 24 recipes on there is not vegan. I don’t thinks she is vegan though, as I think that she seems pretty keen on using fish a couple times a week. Maybe she just says that though because fish is possibly least bad for you out of all the animal products and its might be easier to get people to give up everything else and only eat a couple of fish meals a week. I guess she recommends fish because of there omega 3 content, however linseeds/flax seeds however have the highest concentration of omega 3’s on the planet.

I went to a meal with friends last night and seen as they all seemed pretty keen on the program ‘you are what you eat’, I pointed out that I had bought the book. I also told them that Dr Gillian Mckeith was basically describing a vegan diet. They looked a little shocked and I had quite a smug look on my face!

[boomer]

.

I went to a meal with friends last night and seen as they all seemed pretty keen on the program ‘you are what you eat’, I pointed out that I had bought the book. I also told them that Dr Gillian Mckeith was basically describing a vegan diet. They looked a little shocked and I had quite a smug look on my face!

I so love that, Nice when people realise we're not all crack pots.

[Evilfluffbunny]

My Mum sometimes buys the new 'You Are What You Eat' magazine and she showed me this ridiculous letter someone had sent in. This isn't the whole letter but here's the bit that annoyed me so much:

'Veggie Annoyed'
I would like you to come off the fence on the outrageous way in which some parents feel some weird moral complusion to be vegetarian or vegan and force their own unhealthy food choices on their blameless offspring. The children have no choice and the health consequences can be far reaching and disasterous. How about a feature on this?

You should not fight shy of controversial subject areas where you can actually change thinking and do some good by alerting people generally to a practice which can be potentially far more damaging than bringing up kids on a diet of high-cholesterol junk. Worth thinking about?

What an arrogant idiot! I've emailed a letter to the magazine (as I'm sure lots of other people have), but please feel free to do the same, especially if you think I've missed out anything important in my own letter.

Here's what I wrote:

I was furious when I read the misinformed and arrogant comments in Peter Allen's letter 'Veggie Annoyed'. There is nothing 'outrageous' or 'weird' about choosing a diet and lifestyle which is compassionate towards animals and the environment and it is also far from 'unhealthy'. Vegetarians have a lower overall mortality rate and are up to 40% less likely to suffer from various cancers as well as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, bowel disorders and heart disease. Maybe Mr Allen should do a little research before making such ridiculous assumptions about vegetarian health.

A well balanced vegan or veggie diet is extremely healthy and children can thrive on it as many case studies have shown, it's only when a diet is unbalanced that it can be potentially 'disastrous', however, the exact same can be said for an unbalanced meat-based diet.

My mother (a vegetarian at the time and now vegan) didn't want to force her beliefs on me when I was born, so I was given a typical meat and veg diet. I turned vegetarian when I was eight years old as I was disgusted at the thought that I was eating animals. I can assure Mr Allen from my own experience that 'forcing' children to be vegetarian is no different than forcing them to eat flesh.

You can write to them at:

You Are What You Eat
Brooklands Magazines Ltd
Westgate
120-128 Station Road
Redhill
Surrey
RH1 1ET

Or Email them at:

YAWYEmag@brooklandsgroup.com

Surely if they get a lot of letters from angry veggies then they're bound to print at least one of them. I was surprised they printed that meathead's one in the first place.

[Evilfluffbunny]

By the way, please try to keep any letters fairly short if you don't want them to get chopped by the editors.

[snaffler]

I will follow your example never scane the magazine but I will send a letter what an uneducated argont man.

[boomer]

I read that letter on my last shift at work, immediatley put fingers to keyboard, so with luck they already have mine.

[Evilfluffbunny]

That's good Surely they'll print one of them....!

What I found really weird was, why would a guy who must have seen the tv show and read the magazine before be so stupid and clueless about a vegetarian diet? I mean, it's going against all the information he's surely read.

[gibby]

the show is really good and her book is great too.

she learnt alot of her stuff from the states - Its nothing new and you can get loads of radio show downloads from Dr Joe esposito who was doing this 15 years ago - he is mega compared to this lady

some of the downloads I gave to friends years and they went veggie over night

but most importantly to keep you sticking to the new diet he expalins what each thing does - and the story of chickens n cancer in 7 weeks is great
or

l meat stays in you gut for 72 hours and the maggots appear - and he give you proof - he never asks you to believe him but to try it out - love n roamnce download

I ahev posted these to friends anon with - dont play this on the disc and they all do - n then call me up and say - I got this great cd

http://www.alternativesouls.com/hh/hhi.html
and look for Dr Joe

you can email him too free for advice


I am also looking for a biz person to bring his supplements into the uk as they are the best - I
have ppl wanting to order this stuff asap

[tails4wagging]

Dr Joe, is good looking as well!!!

[Mystic]

I like Marilyn Glenville's book Natural Alternatives to Dieting. It is similar to Dr McKeith's principles, although is totally against the consumption of poultry and meat. She is fond of fish and yoghurt (for it's bio cultures). The book encourages eating things as close to their natural state as possible, however advises on good convenience foods and the best ones to choose, which is great for people like me who could never be raw and have not got time to screw around in the kitchen. It is realistic - it helped me recover from anorexia by teaching common sense

[littleTigercub]

Thank you for this, Banana, this sounds a good book.

I also used to diet a lot and it took me a while to accept my natural shape (which is a UK size 14) and understand that being well nourished is healthier than being a small size.

I must have been really malnourished, but now I eat well with a good conscience, but I make sure that what I eat is of the best quality that I can afford.

I am very interested in this topic and will definitely check this book out.

littleTigercub

[Aurora]

Dr Joe, is good looking as well!!!

Not quite to my taste Tails

[Evilfluffbunny]

I just realised the latest issue of this magazine should be out now but I can't find it in the shops. Does anyone have a copy yet? I'm just dying to know if any replies to that eejit's letter were printed!

[littleTigercub]

Where can you get this mag from and what is it like? I have never seen it. Do they sell it in Scotland at all?

LittleTigercub

[Evilfluffbunny]

It's based on the tv show of the same name and is just about diet, nutrition etc. I've only seen one copy of it though.

You can get it in Scotland but I'm not sure where exactly, probably just any big newsagents though. I looked in CO-OP today and it wasn't there.

[littleTigercub]

Thank you, I will watch out! (I was addicted to the series!)

littleTigercub

[Aurora]

I got it in my local Co op a couple of weeks back just to see if it was any good........it's mildly interesting, but I won't be taking out a subscription!

[Evilfluffbunny]

Aurora, which issue of the magazine is it you got? If it's the latest one were there any replies printed to that stupid letter?

I'll be really annoyed if they haven't printed any!

[FR]

What an idiot. No matter what diet you feed your child, you are "forcing" it on them. Whether it be a animal based diet, or plant based diet. Might as well choose the better of the two to "force" on them.

[Happiness]

I completely agree FR. Someday when/if I have offspring of my own they will be raised vegan. Period. I still am complete baffled at people who get up on their soap-box and say that vegan/veggie diets are unhealthy and morally wrong. How often do you think omni folks do research on the benefits of their diet compared to vegan/veggie ones? Rarely I bet. While we vegans do hours of research just to be able to reason with these misinformed omnis. *sigh* I guess it comes with the territory.

[adam antichrist]

There is tonnes of research done comparing veg*n diets to omni ones... and all you have to do is look past the findings into who funded it. It is always the meat or dairy or fishing industries that actually pay for these studies, and is comparable to the reports coming out in the sixties and seventies funded by tobacco companies finding that cigarettes were harmless.

There are lots of very well educated people on this forum who will be aware of what I am about to write, but for the benefit of anyone who doesn't know: when a report is published it is done so in whats called a 'peer review journal', specifaclly for the area of expertise. For example, there would be stacks of nutritionists journals, so a report that finds that people will die if they don't eat meat will be published in one of them. However, even if a report is utter crap, if the findings are misleading, if it's obvious that there were grievous mistakes made during any stage of the investigation; it still gets published. Bad reports are ridiculed by the fellow scientists; but once it's published, anyone can quote the statistics etc as an authentic and legitimate source.

A good example is that of the dietician last year who studied vegan diets among starving children in africa, and found that the diets weren't any good because the children were starving. D'uh!!!! And guess who funded her research???
There was much written about the issue on this forum if memory serves, although I don't remember where.

The moral of the story is, just do some background research on where the info comes from and you'll inevitably find the same things: meat industry funded reports find that meat is good for you; people read it, have a panic attack, and write a stupid letter to a health magazine.

Either that or the guy is a meat industry worker!!!!!

[Aurora]

Aurora, which issue of the magazine is it you got? If it's the latest one were there any replies printed to that stupid letter?

I'll be really annoyed if they haven't printed any!

July copy of 'You Are What You Eat'

Letter of the month

One of the letters in You Are What You Eat (Free Range, May 2005) referred to vegans and the 'brown rice brigade' as food facists. Apart from being offensive it is also totally inaccurate. Veganism is based upon an ethos of respect for all life and is at the opposite end of the scale to any form of authoritarianism. It's odd that simply abstaining from specific foods (that the majority eat) can produce such diatribes. Vegans are frequently accused of being humourless ascetics who lack any passion for food. You are very welcome to visit my kitchen anytime to indulge in the endless pleasures of vegan cuisine!

Paul Freestone, email

[Evilfluffbunny]

Would you believe that was a response to another anti-vegan letter and not the one I was originally annoyed about!! I don't understand it as the programme is very veggie-friendly (with the exception of the occasional fish dish or white meat), so I can't understand why they would print rubbish like that in the magazine.

It seems that if they're going to print any response to the letter I mentioned, then it's not going to be until next month.

[Pilaf]

That truely is an annoying letter. It's a fairly standard opinion about veganism. It's not that fellow's fault. He's just ignorant about natural human nutrition. People need to be educated more accurately about veganism, so it doesn't get such a bad rap in pop culture.

[Evilfluffbunny]

YES! They printed my letter in You Are What You Eat magazine!!

I'm well chuffed about that. They printed it with about 3 or 4 other complaint letters but I haven't seen the mag yet (it was my Mum who told me) so I don't know if anyone else from VF who wrote in has got theirs printed. I can let you all know when I see it tomorrow though.

I just hope they don't print any omni replies in the next issue or I'd be really annoyed!

Yaaaay...!!! *has celebration cup of tea*

[cedarblue]

YES! They printed my letter in You Are What You Eat magazine!!

good for you efb, well done

*has celebration cup of tea*

steady on now!!

[Evilfluffbunny]

good for you efb, well done

Thanks!

steady on now!!

Ahem..yes. Well I'd run out of cider so it was either a glass of soya milk or a cup of tea!

[aubergine]

I would urge caution to anyone wishing to take the advice of 'Gillian McFraud'

Here's some background reading.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/badsc...285600,00.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/badsc...315472,00.html

Hmm, I think we should be cautious of people who buy mail-order PHDs. I become amused when authors like Gillian (and others with a range of foods they want to sell you) are basically describing what we already know. She advocates what is to all intents and purposes a Vegan diet, and then straps a bit of meat and fish on the end. People like my mum and my sister like books like this, because they tell them what they want to hear. They want someone to tell them eating some meat or fish is healthy, wheras other people disagree (see 'The Food Revolution' by John Robbins for plenty of pretty conclusive studies that suggest even small amounts of animal products make a big difference).

[Mystic]

I feel I need to defend this woman just a tiny bit - some people really have no idea how to eat, and from a nutrition point of view (not a vegan point of view), I would say she is doing a pretty good job. For omnivores, she is creating a fair balance and letting them know that meat pies are not food. I was brought up on processed food - lots of takeaway, McDonalds and macaroni cheese - and until I studied health at school, I had no idea that what I was eating was just a chemical concoction.

[Kumem]

I feel I need to defend this woman just a tiny bit - some people really have no idea how to eat, and from a nutrition point of view (not a vegan point of view), I would say she is doing a pretty good job. For omnivores, she is creating a fair balance and letting them know that meat pies are not food. I was brought up on processed food - lots of takeaway, McDonalds and macaroni cheese - and until I studied health at school, I had no idea that what I was eating was just a chemical concoction.

I agree. I bought her book quite a while ago and it does have some useful stuff in it. Is it just me though or does she look kind of unhealthy to anyone else? Not massively, as she has shiny hair, bright eyes etc, but she looks so thin and stooped. Very frail.

[Mystic]

Yeah, my boyfriend and I both noticed that - maybe she doesn't take her own advice!

[Kumem]

Maybe we should write to her, tell her to cut out the fish and up her intake of advocados and nuts to put on some weight.

[Mystic]

LOL! I reckon we should

[aubergine]

Ok, I realise that some people will be eating better as a result of reading her books, but she is making a heck of a lot of money from having no real qualification in this field.

There are also readers / viewers that will just add a little bit of salad to their steak & chips to make themselves better, or just eat Vegan for a week or so to 'detox' and just go back to how they were before.

I guess what upsets me is the money. There are people who spend alot of time and effort researching diet, and she's getting very wealthy by giving mixed advice.

The link about the chorophyll advice... what a charlatan.

[essence_uk]

The diets she reccommends are virtually vegan yes for purely factual dietary reasons we all know and understand. There's no sign of ethics in her work as far as I can see, during Michelle McManus special she got in beef fat equivalent in weight of the Pop Idol winner for example.

[gibby]

I dont think she deserves the negative press she got.

Most qualified ppl today in the medical world dont know what their talking about, especially about nutrition.
She has done alot of good and helped many ppl. I would rather their money went in her pocket than into McDonalds etc - and she has influenced alot of friends of mine to cut right down on meat etc.

I think she does the work for the right reason and long may it continue.

Gibby

[Raskolnikov]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/badsc...285600,00.html

The chlorophyll theory is a scream.

Having seen the programme on a few occasions, I have often wondered what she would make of me. Aside from lacking the white meat and fish that she seems to prescribe on a regular basis, I eat all that she deems good and do not touch foodstuffs that she claims are the ones which make people fat... and yet I am around the size of her largest "patients". I am inclined to think that the combination might cause her to self-destruct.

[absentmindedfan]

Doesn't that happen with robots and Catch 22s?Hang on...Gillian Mc Keith is a ROBOT!

[Kumem]

Doesn't that happen with robots and Catch 22s?Hang on...Gillian Mc Keith is a ROBOT!

I believe that it is a well known fact that Yes Gillian McKeith is indeed a robot

[aubergine]

The chlorophyll theory is a scream.

Having seen the programme on a few occasions, I have often wondered what she would make of me. Aside from lacking the white meat and fish that she seems to prescribe on a regular basis, I eat all that she deems good and do not touch foodstuffs that she claims are the ones which make people fat... and yet I am around the size of her largest "patients". I am inclined to think that the combination might cause her to self-destruct.

You have to remember we're not all meant to be the same size. As long as your main bodily functions are in good working order, I'm sure you're doing better than most.

[Raskolnikov]

You have to remember we're not all meant to be the same size. As long as your main bodily functions are in good working order, I'm sure you're doing better than most.

Absolutely!! I agree wholeheartedly. I just wish someone would tell that to my father though.

[aubergine]

Absolutely!! I agree wholeheartedly. I just wish someone would tell that to my father though.

Why, does he give you a hard time?

[Raskolnikov]

Yes, ever since I was 6 or so. Unfortunately he has a rather bullying sort of nature. I've forgiven all, but he still manages the odd jibe now and again!