Vegan Rerun
More meat missives
By Anthony
Pignataro
Ew, who left this here?
I�ve been to a lot of Vegetarian Society of Hawai�i lectures. I�ve seen
lifelong cattle rancher Howard Lyman denounce meat eating. I�ve seen
73-year-old medical doctor William Harris attack the famed Atkins Diet for
saying �good things about bad foods.� I�ve even seen actress Alicia
Silverstone talk about her vegan conversion and the absurdity of drinking
cow�s milk.
On May 12, I saw health consultant Kerrie Saunders speak at the Cameron
Center as part of the latest Vegetarian Society lecture. Though not a
medical doctor, she does hold a doctorate in natural health. She works as
a food and fitness consultant at the McIntyre Health Center in Port Huron,
Michigan.
�One of the biggest myths out there about disease is that Americans are
living much longer,� Saunders, wearing a purple blouse and pants, told the
30 or so attendees. �At our clinic, when we say �Let�s lay off the pop,�
we literally have people say, �What else is there to drink?��
Though interesting, Saunders� message that a plant-based diet is far
healthier than one based on beef, dairy and those tacos they sell at
Jack-in-the-Box that are really tasty but made of some indeterminate meat
was virtually identical to past Vegetarian Society of Hawai�i lecturers.
In fact, Saunders actually poked fun at the notion that no vegetarian
speaker will ever give an audience new information by talking about a 1927
experiment by a Dr. S. Sweeney that showed test subjects� blood �spiked
into the diabetic range� after a couple days on a high-fat diet.
Still, the idea that eating meat exposes people to fats and cholesterol
which don�t exist in plants is old news. Won�t people tune out after
hearing the same message month after month?
�I worry more that the experts will give differing advice,� Laurelee
Blanchard, the Farm Sanctuary campaign coordinator who hosts each monthly
lecture, told me after last week�s meeting. �The redundancy is probably a
good thing. People need to be reminded to eat their vegetables.�
Saunders did provide some new information. She sarcastically noted that
the American Heart Association continues to serve chicken, meat and eggs
at its annual dinners and fundraisers. �In a way,� she said, �this is like
job security.�
She also spoke of the disease Kwashiorkor, which is caused by eating
too little protein. �No one knows anyone in the United States who has
Kwashiorkor,� Saunders said.
Yes, we Americans are well acquainted with protein�fruits and
vegetables, not so much.
�There are 13,000 types of legumes,� she said. �It�s hard to get
bored.�
Saunders also listed the reasons people get osteoporosis, one of which
was �animal protein intake.� She also said, amazingly enough, that the six
nations sporting the highest osteoporosis rates�the U.S. is among them�are
also the top six consumers of cow�s milk.
�You never hear about that in the media,� she said.
At times her talk became technical, focusing on �high LDL,� �calcium
absorption rates� and the �Omega 6/Omega 3� balance. But at other times
she was quite earthy�especially when she gave what she called �the poop
talk.�
Rather than go into detail about such matters, I�ll just quote her as
saying that for vegetarians, �the days of reading a novel in the bathroom
should be over.� MTW |
