Guest guest Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 Pro-vegetarian book leaves out sugar and fat as cancer culprits By Ellison G. Weist Pamplin Media Group, Jun 12, 2007 (1 Reader comment) 'Please Don't Eat the Animals,' by Jennifer Horsman and Jaime Flowers, published by Quill Driver Books. The first line of “Please Don’t Eat the Animals” put me in a foul frame of mind. Mother-daughter authors Jennifer Horsman and Jaime Flowers lead off with “Health and vegetarianism go together.” Immediately I thought of my vegetarian best friend, a dietician with a doctorate in public health who bemoans the number of unhealthy vegetarians she runs into during the course of her work. She’s referring to people who equate not eating meat, fish or chicken with a license to overdose on cheese, sugars and fat-loaded snacks. Perhaps they take their cues from this paperback, which seems to run long on ill-advised blanket statements and scare tactics. Divided into four chapters, the book starts off by discussing “The Healthy Vegetarian.” While the authors make note of several scientific studies, they also draw sweeping, unfootnoted generalizations such as “it appears that meat consumption and cancer go together.” Add to that quotes from no-last-name folks such as “Nancy, of California” and “Doug, of New Mexico,” who offer sad tales of the deaths of meat-eating relatives. Sure, they both admit, maybe their deaths weren’t caused by the fact that they were carnivores but, hey, you never know. In a section titled “Prostate Cancer” a footnoted bullet (Giovannucci et al., 1993) notes that “a dozen studies found dietary fat strongly correlated with prostate cancer.” So how do we know some of those fellows weren’t vegetarians with a passion for doughnuts and potato chips? Then there’s this claim: “Want to lose 20 pounds as effortlessly as humanly possible? Eliminate all animal products from your diet, and watch those pounds melt away.” The authors cite Dr. Dean Ornish, whose books and mostly vegan recipes promote healthy eating. But there’s no mention of Ornish’s additional admonition to eliminate trans fats and most sugars, which also contribute to obesity and weight issues. Horsman and Flowers redeem themselves with their second chapter, “The Environmentally Conscious Vegetarian.” Here they discuss aspects such as land resources and global warming with simplistic but compelling details. The authors credibly point out how much fuel is used and how much waste is expelled into the atmosphere through the transport of food products, much of it related to meat production. Unfortunately this trend toward solid information doesn’t continue in the third chapter, “The Compassionate Vegetarian.” Now we’re back in the land of lurid appeals to emotion, focusing on the treatment of pigs, chickens and cows. Think “Charlotte’s Web” meets “The Jungle.” Confusion reigns in the last chapter, “Spiritual and Religious Aspects of Vegetarianism.” The authors give brief snapshots of different takes on vegetarianism by various religions – but Pope John Paul II is quoted under the “Judaism” section and a passage by Henry David Thoreau winds up in the “Islam” portion. If you are considering a switch to a vegetarian or vegan diet and you respond well to shock and awe, perhaps “Please Don’t Eat the Animals” will help you make the leap. Otherwise there are a dozen better primers such as the legendary “Diet for a Small Planet” by Frances Moore Lappé and “Diet for a New America” by John Robbins. ellisonweist Reader comments Re: Please don't bother with 'Please Don't Eat' As president of "Jewish Vegetarians of North Americs" and author of "Judaism and Vegetarianism," I think it is important that we keep the bottom line in mind. Animal-based diets are having devastating effects on human health and animal-based agriculture is contributing significantly to global warming (more than all forms of transportation, according to a 2006 UN report) and many other environmental threats. More info at JewishVeg.com/schwartz. "Richard H. Schwartz"Peter H Copy addresses and emails from any email account to Mail - quick, easy and free. Do it now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 14, 2007 Report Share Posted June 14, 2007 Hopefully that is the fat in cheese and milk they are talking about, not the fat in nuts and seeds. Jo , Peter VV <swpgh01.t21 wrote: > > Pro-vegetarian book leaves out sugar and fat as cancer culprits By Ellison G. Weist > Pamplin Media Group, Jun 12, 2007 (1 Reader comment) > > 'Please Don't Eat the Animals,' by Jennifer Horsman and Jaime Flowers, published by Quill Driver Books. > > > > > The first line of " Please Don't Eat the Animals " put me in a foul frame of mind. > Mother-daughter authors Jennifer Horsman and Jaime Flowers lead off with " Health and vegetarianism go together. " > Immediately I thought of my vegetarian best friend, a dietician with a doctorate in public health who bemoans the number of unhealthy vegetarians she runs into during the course of her work. > She's referring to people who equate not eating meat, fish or chicken with a license to overdose on cheese, sugars and fat-loaded snacks. > Perhaps they take their cues from this paperback, which seems to run long on ill-advised blanket statements and scare tactics. > Divided into four chapters, the book starts off by discussing " The Healthy Vegetarian. " While the authors make note of several scientific studies, they also draw sweeping, unfootnoted generalizations such as " it appears that meat consumption and cancer go together. " > Add to that quotes from no-last-name folks such as " Nancy, of California " and " Doug, of New Mexico, " who offer sad tales of the deaths of meat-eating relatives. Sure, they both admit, maybe their deaths weren't caused by the fact that they were carnivores but, hey, you never know. > In a section titled " Prostate Cancer " a footnoted bullet (Giovannucci et al., 1993) notes that " a dozen studies found dietary fat strongly correlated with prostate cancer. " > So how do we know some of those fellows weren't vegetarians with a passion for doughnuts and potato chips? > Then there's this claim: " Want to lose 20 pounds as effortlessly as humanly possible? Eliminate all animal products from your diet, and watch those pounds melt away. " > The authors cite Dr. Dean Ornish, whose books and mostly vegan recipes promote healthy eating. But there's no mention of Ornish's additional admonition to eliminate trans fats and most sugars, which also contribute to obesity and weight issues. > Horsman and Flowers redeem themselves with their second chapter, " The Environmentally Conscious Vegetarian. " Here they discuss aspects such as land resources and global warming with simplistic but compelling details. > The authors credibly point out how much fuel is used and how much waste is expelled into the atmosphere through the transport of food products, much of it related to meat production. > Unfortunately this trend toward solid information doesn't continue in the third chapter, " The Compassionate Vegetarian. " > Now we're back in the land of lurid appeals to emotion, focusing on the treatment of pigs, chickens and cows. Think " Charlotte's Web " meets " The Jungle. " > Confusion reigns in the last chapter, " Spiritual and Religious Aspects of Vegetarianism. " The authors give brief snapshots of different takes on vegetarianism by various religions – but Pope John Paul II is quoted under the " Judaism " section and a passage by Henry David Thoreau winds up in the " Islam " portion. > If you are considering a switch to a vegetarian or vegan diet and you respond well to shock and awe, perhaps " Please Don't Eat the Animals " will help you make the leap. Otherwise there are a dozen better primers such as the legendary " Diet for a Small Planet " by Frances Moore Lappé and " Diet for a New America " by John Robbins. > ellisonweist > Reader comments Re: Please don't bother with 'Please Don't Eat' As president of " Jewish Vegetarians of North Americs " and author of " Judaism and Vegetarianism, " I think it is important that we keep the bottom line in mind. Animal-based diets are having devastating effects on human health and animal-based agriculture is contributing significantly to global warming (more than all forms of transportation, according to a 2006 UN report) and many other environmental threats. More info at JewishVeg.com/schwartz. > " Richard H. Schwartz " > > > > > Peter H > > > > > Copy addresses and emails from any email account to Mail - quick, easy and free. Do it now... > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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