If extreme low carbers rank #1 in dietary fervency, then call extreme Vegans a “1(a)”.
As part of my preamble (stop me if you’ve heard this before) I am NOT painting any single group with the same broad stroke and this is no different for vegans.
For the purpose of this piece, I’m going to categorize vegetarians and vegans together – recognizing that just because one is more “strict” doesn’t mean they are any more or less prone to fanatical behavior. The “cultish-ness” of a nutritional ideology isn’t so much in the dietary pattern itself, but in the way it is practiced. If there were a distinct difference in terms of how vegan cults operate vs. the extreme low carb it would be the emotional/ethical investment.
Here are some criteria of what I find to be “sensible” and what I find to be “fanatical” in terms of vegan practitioners.
Sensible Vegans
- Decision to eschew animal products is grounded in personal ethics and not science.
- Practice in a “non-judgmental” way.
- Those who practice with little hypocrisy (wearing leather, feeding pets animal product, etc).
- Those who accept the idea that a healthy diet has NOTHING to do with the presence or absence of animal product.
Fanatical Vegans
- PETA followers/supporters
- Those who label anyone who eats animal products “unkind”
- Environmentally friendly elitism
- Those who believe that eating animal products (in any amount) has negative health implications.
- Those who use the “lipid theory” to validate veganism – namely that cholesterol or saturated fat is correlated with heart disease.
- Use The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine as a scientific “authority”.
- Too much protein will make your kidney’s spontaneously combust.
- The China Study is infallible
- Soy and other vegetable protein is every bit as good as meat sources of protein.
Typical Logical Fallacies
Straw man: “It’s better than that “stuff your face with steak and cheese Atkins diet”.
Appeal to Authority: “Just read the China Study, Dr. Ornish says…,
Ideological Support/Appeal to emotions: “Eating animals is cruel…” “Eating meat is an environmental disaster.”
Resources: The Bad
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
Fat Free Vegan
PETA
Books
Likely a ton of them – although admittedly I haven’t read many of them. Here are a couple of more prominent examples;
The China Study: An interesting observational account that is skewed heavily in favour of low meat diets. Again showing that some populations have survived and even thrived on plant-based diets. For a comprehensive rebuttal to T. Colin Campbell’s tome, check out Denise Minger’s piece.
Skinny Bitch (and Skinny Bastard): The foul-mouthed bestseller by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnoin is high on noise but low on evidence. Lauded for their “no-nonsense” and “in your face” approach, I guess they figured if they used enough shock value to get their point across, people would just simply forget that their book is a heap of ostrich poop. Here’s a well thought-out critique of the book by Jamie Hale
Common Ground
I don’t care for the scare and intimidation tactics used by militant vegan groups such as PETA nor do I have much tolerance for the skewed science of the PCRM. I support and to some degree admire those who have chosen to swear off meat for ethical reasons. Yes, you can be healthy and thrive on vegetarian and/or vegan diets. Those who paint a picture of vegans as weak or frail – I hope you never say that within earshot of UFC fighter Mac Danzig or (if you happen to be on ice) former hockey enforcer Georges Laraque.
In fact, I follow the work of some world-renown strength coaches who happen to be vegan such as; Mike Mahler , Jason Ferrugia and Robert Dos Remedios.
On the flipside, there is an abundance of heavily skewed information from agenda-driven vegan groups. One must tread carefully to seek out unbiased information on vegetarianism/veganism or meat eating in general. Also, some people just simply don’t do well on meat-free diets. Nothing wrong with being a “flexitarian” in my books.
Anybody have suggestions for either sensible or cultish vegan/vegetarian sites?
Image Credit: t-shirt guru
I think that is where I am at right now. I don’t think slaughtering animals can ever be humane, but I really do think that egg and dairy farming truly can be humane- although the factory farmed versions of these are not humane. I drink soymilk instead of cow’s milk because I like the taste better. However, I will consume dairy yogurt and butter at times as well. Eating one egg a day from a free range chicken is alright as well. If I didn’t consume these, it would be because of health reasons but not ethical per se. There may be good health reasons to eat fish, but for ethical reasons I don’t eat it.
I have respect for the concept of veganism from an ethical and nutritional perspective, but believe that, like most ideologies, it can be taken to an unhealthy extreme. Unhealthy physically as well as socially. From a health perspective if you don’t take care to properly balance your intake of food, you can, as with any “diet,” suffer from malnutrition. Socially, veganist elitism creates a rift between the hard-liners and those people interested in pursuing vegetarianism or veganism. It becomes kind of a “one-true-God” type of mentality that alienates people. I think there’s a way to work in cooperation with animals without harming or exploiting them. Properly taking care of cattle and/or chickens in order to collect dairy and eggs is possible; treat them like pets instead of commodities. I’m working my way toward vegetarianism because of ethical and health reasons, but I will never be a vegan because I know of places that supply eggs and dairy obtained through caring, ethical means.
Thank you for saying this, Jennifer. I am a vegetarian, and know many vegetarians and vegans, and none of the ones I know are in PETA. I don’t believe in hassling people about how they eat, yet some non-veg folks hassle *me* if they find out I’m a vegetarian — they seem to consider it a preemptive strike. Sure, there are some very aggressive and annoying veg*ns out there, but I really do think they’re the minority. Ironically, the respectful and non-aggressive ones all fly under the radar and are thus assumed to not be vegetarians, thus confirming some omnivores’ assumptions that “all vegetarians” are zealots. Most of us just want to eat our tempeh in peace and not have people literally waving meat in our face and saying things like “if God hadn’t wanted us to eat animals, why’d he make them sooooo tasty?” and other tired cliches.
Just thought I’d mention–a vegan diet can be every bit as varied as a non-vegetarian diet. You can live on french fries, soda and fake bacon, and be a vegan. That’s an extreme example of course, but vegan does not equal healthy. When I first got into plant-based, eating, I actually thought about joining a local vegan meetup group thinking I could get healthy cooking ideas and find restaurants that offered more plant-based food. Then I found out that every single week, the group meets at a vegan donut shop, and at a local organic coffee shop for vegan lattes and dessert. Needless to say, I passed. These are the vegans who will end up with cancer or diabetes or heart disease, and who the big meat-eaters will point to and say, “well, look at so-and-so, she was a vegan and look what happened to her.” I am not saying this is the case with your friend, or that her diet had anything to do with her child’s health problems, but it’s something to consider.
So, according to you, I’m a fanatic and a hypocrite, and I’m not even a vegan! I eat a diet that is 80-90% WHOLE plant foods (no refined flours, refined sugars and minimal oil), and I don’t eat dairy at all. I don’t do it for the planet, and although I’m an animal lover, it’s not for them, either. I think PETA is pretty much nuts, I still eat honey and wear leather, and I don’t think hunting is immoral. It is 100% for health reasons. I want to prevent the heart disease, diabetes, stroke, cancer, autoimmune disease, multiple sclerosis, and Alzheimers that all run in my family. My dad was only 41 years old when he had his first heart attack. 4 years later, and one day after his first grandchild was born, he had a massive heart attack and a quintuple bypass that he barely survived. I’ll never forget how it felt, seeing him hooked up to all those machines and knowing he might never come home. He’s 59 now and his heart is functioning at well below 50%. He’s also got diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, degenerative back disease, and he’s had 2 strokes and cancer. My sisters are all obese, and one of them, at the age of 33, is already following in my dad’s footsteps. Both of my grandfathers died of heart disease, one of my grandmothers has heart disease, diabetes and has had breast, thyroid and colon cancer, and both of my grandmothers have Alzheimers. I’ve done my own research, and I believe a plant-based diet is the best way to prevent these health problems. I NEVER want my daughter to go through what my dad’s been through, or to have to see me go through those things. You want to talk about vegans being judgemental of non-vegans, but maybe you ought to take a look at yourself, because it goes both ways, sweetheart. Everyone has their own reasons for eating they way that they do, and maybe we should all listen a little more and assume a lot less.
Thank you. I was vegetarian (not vegan) for years but would never have considered for one second making my cats go meat-free as well.
That is just horrible to do to a cat who has no say in the matter.
I think a decision to become vegetarian or vegan is rarely dictated purely by a desire to lose weight or eat healthy. I’m vegetarian myself, but I would never tell people to not eat meat because it’s “unethical” or “unhealthy”. I’m well aware of the nutritional benefits of meat, as well as of it being a source of fat and fat calories. I think we all need to find what’s best for us and what we are okay with, and once we do, we need to be really careful not to push our views on others. When it comes to personal choices, they really need to be personal, and not influenced by anyone else’s beliefs about what’s right or wrong.
According to the post, I’m fanatical.
My friend went on a vegan diet while she was pregnant, and her baby came out with a ton of immune system disorders. She had ashtma and was allergic to a ton of things that I didn’t even know you could be allergic to. When she was about 5 (she’s 8 now) she was diagnosed with panic disorder. Her mom being a vegan was the only aberrational thing that her mom was doing during her pregnancy, but then again i’m not a doctor so this is all just speculation…
Heather, remember me mentioning the small woman who lost weight training for a marathon while eating up to 3000 calories? Here is her statement in reference to Joe D’Amico’s McDonalds diet while training for a marathon, which was even stronger than I had imagined- “losing weight like nobody’s business.”
“This really doesn’t surprise me. When I was training for a marathon I ate upwards of 3000 calories a day (and I’m a small woman) and losing weight like nobody’s business. That much running can undo the high-calorie effect of a junk-food diet, but you can’t run off the chemicals and additives of McDonald’s food. Run a lot, eat a lot–but it’s still better to eat fresher, more natural foods. No way does McDonald’s food have enough vitamins and nutrients to keep you healthy. I hope this guy was at least taking a multi-vitamin!”
I hope you have as much success in weight control running as much as you do. I bicycle about 140 miles a week. I can eat a lot and maintain my 95 pound weight loss, but I still try to eat healthy, so I don’t end up like Jim Fixx, who lost weight by running, but still died of a heart attack.
Hi Heather.
I’m not bragging per se. Just sharing my experience with folks. My story about my weight struggles (if you’re not familar) are in the comments of the recent Low Carb blogs.
But to make a long story short, I am a scientist who (once having discovered a low carb way of eating)(which finally allowed ME control of my weight/health)has experimented with my own macro nutrient profiles to see how it effected me….again, knowing that I NOW had the confidence to lose any weight gains, during my “experimentation”, by reverting back to very low carb eating.
I found (FOR ME!) that the lower I went with carbs, and the higher I went with saturated fats, the better I looked, felt, and indeed, better health (with my Dr.’s approval!)
I did my own further research on Paleo diets, and even more extreme, carnivorous eating, and tested some of the proposed benefitial effects of such ways of eating. And (again, at least for me) I was able to confirm the benefits that many folks choosing extreme low carb eating, were touting.
I know many seemingly very healthy people who eat little or no meat, which is a testament to just how resilient the human body is to a variety of macronutrient profiles.
So if you feel healthy, are healthy and content with what you are eating, then congratulations on having good health! In today’s world, it is becoming quite a minority status!
haha it’s okay, I can laugh at myself (and get indignant based solely on my personal experience not any peer reviewed science, because it matters more too me) with the best of them.
*licks chops/cracks knuckles* I’ll say that it will be at least mentioned ; )
I’ve actually done both- I eat no beef anymore and most of the time I ride my bike for transportation, the only exceptions are when it is raining or I have to pick up someone up. All the land that is now used for crops to feed animals could be reconverted to forests. Grass fed meat may conserve land, but it is not feasible to feed the entire world.
Did this guy just brag about no fruits or vegetables? None of that junky refined carbs I could see, but wow.
I don’t have a super high carbohydrate diet, especially for someone who runs as much as I do (80-100 mpw), but I never have met a fruit or vegetable my body didn’t appreciate!
(Re: the series – I wonder if us “clean eaters” are next on the agenda, hmm…)
I forgot to say that even though Cordain is a low carber, he did say that high saturated fat consumption does lead to hardening of the arteries, but it takes carbs for the actual rupture or myocardial infarction to take place. Carbs would not do this if saturated fat consumption is low. Nuts don’t cause hardening of the arteries, fatty meats do.
This is not true!! I copied and pasted this:
Reasons to go veg:
1. live longer. studies show that on average vegetarians and vegans live 6 years longer than meat eaters.
2. land consumption. 20 vegans can live off the same amount of land required by one meat eater.
3. water consumption. it takes 25 gallons of water to produce 1lb of wheat & 2500 gallons to produce 1lb of meat.
4. toxins. meat contains antibiotics, hormones & toxins produced by stress & pesticide residues that become concentrated from all the crops they have eaten.
5. food poison. 80% of food poisoning is due to infected meat.
6. heart disease. vegetarians have 24% reduced risk of getting heart disease & vegans a 57% reduction.
7. protein. the average american eats twice as much protein as necessary for a healthy diet and much of that is from red meat. getting protein from beans and grains is much healthier and reduces the risk for osteoporosis.
8. hormones. eating animals that have been given hormones to speed growth (a common practice in the meat industry) means those hormones go into your body. not only can this disrupt the natural balance of your hormones, but some of the hormones given to animals have shown to cause tumor growth in humans.
9. antibiotics. antibiotics are frequently given to feed animals, which can lead to bacterial resistance. many of the antibiotics used to treat human infections are also used in feed animals.
10. weight loss. a healthy weight loss is a typical result of a smart vegan diet. eating vegan eliminates most of the unhealthy foods that tend to cause weight issues. 33% percent of americans are obese, while only 2% of vegans are.
11. osteoporosis. bone health depends on a balance of neither too much or too little protein, adequate calcium intake, high potassium, and low sodium. with a healthy vegan diet, all four of these points set a perfect scenario for preventing osteoporosis.
12. puberty. since 1950, girls are hitting puberty on average 4-7 years earlier and boy’s sperm counts have decreased by 25-50% due to the hormones present in non-organic meat and dairy products.
13. alzheimers. meat eaters have double the rate of alzheimers disease as vegans & vegetarians.
14. ecosystems. nitrates & pesticides used on crops grown to feed livestock end up in our rivers and vastly effect the health of micro environments and ecosystems.
15. global warming. the 1,300,000,000 cattle in the world emit 60,000,000 tons of methane per year (methane is a greenhouse gas which leads to global warming).
16. animal cruelty. the animals involved in mass industry farming are exposed to the most cruel, unsanitary and horrific conditions. if you can handle watching it, the ‘meet your meat‘ movie will give you a glance into the common practices of present day industry farming.
17. cancer. vegetarians & vegans have a 40% reduced level of cancer than the general population thought to be because they have a higher intake of vitamins A,C & E.
18. cholesterol. eliminating any food that comes from an animal and you will eliminate all dietary cholesterol from your diet (heart disease is the leading cause of death in america today).
19. rain forests. if they continue to clear american forests to raise cattle at the present rate, in 50 years there will be none left.
20. energy. when following a healthy vegan diet, you will find your energy is much higher.
I Don”t like how your artticle as written as “fact”. I feel that alot of your comments are only opinions, and that there is alot more evidence of cruel standard treatment to animals and the unhealthiness of an animal based diets. And I wouldn’t call veganism “cultish” at all, unless you’re talking about PETA!
at the end- “not particularly low *fat* or low carb.”
I think I was trying to convey that saturated fat is equivalent to drinking alcohol- in moderation it is fine, but too much is harmful. Trans fats are like cigarettes, in which any amount is harmful. There are offsetting factors as well. The lower a person’s refined carb intake, the less harmful it is. Exercise reverses the ill effects of saturated fat and refined sugar. Perhaps refined carbs are not as harmful if one eats very little saturated fat, but together, they are harmful. I don’t eat a very low fat diet, but not very high either, and that is why fruit doesn’t seem to make me fat, as it might for someone who is on a high fat diet. Also, if it is true that Ornish diet does not always get the best results, I suspect it is because a person cannot eat nuts and seeds when they are on his strict diet. There are numerous studies which show the benefits of these for cardiovascular health, and adding these to his diet would make it more effective. I eat a lot of nuts, seeds- ground flaxseed, fruits and vegetables everyday and usually one whole egg and these together have helped me to get my cholesterol down, along with the 95 pound weight loss I have maintained for over a year now. I am vegetarian, not vegan, but not particularly low or low carb, but just simply calorie balanced.
LOL Dan! Your mindset is exactly what mine was about 11 years ago! But, challanging my beliefs (mostly because they were not working to get healthy) I opened my mind, and now 10 years or so later, I eat the fattiest beef I can find…and (other than at a rare party or event where there wasn’t much meat) haven’t had fruits or veggies in over 3 years!
Keep your mind open on the saturated fat issue….all the studies that were done, were done with “normal” carbs included, and as Cordain explained, the sugar is what pulls the trigger. Again, my mindset was EXACTLY as yours is.
If “fat” was so bad for people, why are more and more Dr.’s (mine included) encouraging very low carb ways of eating???
But once again, humans, obviously can sustain on a wide variety of diets, which is good for the population (for if everyone ate like me, there certainly wouldn’t be enough food for everyone.)
Another comment may be coming, but I quickly looked it up about Gardner and found other studies which show that Ornish comes out in top on cardiovascular health. Gardner just did one study among others and many studies did not get the same results his got. Ornish DID agree with Atkins about refined carbs, it must be emphasized. A lot of processed sweets also have trans fats, which are even more harmful than saturated fat. It is not harmful to eat sugar in such things as whole fruits, but I would go easy on even 100% fruit juice. Blackstrap molasses is also very healthy- it has a lot of iron and calcium as well. Red meat is not as harmful if it is lean.
Here is the big meat eater, author of the Paleo diet Loren Cordain INSISTING that saturated fat, esp palmitic acid can be atherogenic. He does advocate grass fed meat, but mainly because it has less saturated fat. http://www.meandmydiabetes.com/2010/03/24/loren-cordain-caution-on-saturated-fats-disaster-with-grains-will-be-public-after-march-25th/ According to this, it would seem that eating a lot of saturated fat makes refined carbs even more dangerous. Saturated fat loads the gun, but refined carbs pull the trigger of heart disease, according to Cordain.
Numerous studies show that Vegetarians and Vegans do have a lower rate of heart disease and cancer than do meat eaters. Here is a statement from the Journal of the American Dietetic Association 2009
Vegetarian diets are often associated
with a number of health advantages,
including lower blood cholesterol levels,
lower risk of heart disease, lower blood
pressure levels, and lower risk of hypertension
and type 2 diabetes. Vegetarians
tend to have a lower body mass
index (BMI) and lower overall cancer
rates. Vegetarian diets tend to be lower
in saturated fat and cholesterol, and
have higher levels of dietary fiber, magnesium
and potassium, vitamins C and
E, folate, carotenoids, flavonoids, and
other phytochemicals.
But it must be stated that the Ornish diet does limit refined carbs. I eat no meat and even more refined carbs than Gary Taubes does, but my cholesterol readings are better than his, even though my cholesterol readings used to be so high that I had to take a high dose of statins. I eat a lot more fiber than Taubes does to offset the harm of refined carbs. Exercise which I do a lot of also mitigates the harm of both saturated fat and refined carbs. AND if the Atkins diet was so heart healthy, then why did Atkins DIE of heart disease?
You should watch “The Battle of the Diets: Is Anyone Winning (at Losing?)” on YouTube. It’s a 90 minute presentation by Christopher Gardner, PhD on studies pitting Atkins against other diets. As a vegan, he’s admits at the end he was appalled to discover that Atkins did a better job at improving all heart disease markers than the other diet plans, including Ornish. I’m not into Atkins (I would find that kind of eating extreme for me,) but I don’t think red meat is nearly as bad for us as say, all the added sugar so many Americans eat.
I wasn’t saying for health reasons, people shouldn’t *any* red meat. The same goes for saturated fat. The main thing is to go *easy* on these things. Trans fats should be eliminated altogether and refined carbs should also be limited- eating a lot of fiber mitigates some of its harm. Yes, grass fed is leaner and probably healthier, but Carb Sane pointed out that it isn’t really that high in omega 3′s. If you want to eat a lot of meat, I would eat a lot of fish, rather than a lot of red meat. I also meant in high as opposed to smaller quantities, red meat is hard to digest and it tends to linger in one’s digestive system. Also, nuts and seeds, as well as oats and barley *lower* LDL, I would prefer that over gambling over the large particles being somehow benign. Numerous studies show that nuts lower the risk of heart disease. I doubt if there are many studies that show that eating lots of red meat *lowers* the risk of heart disease. Yes, you can eat some without getting heart disease, but it doesn’t actually prevent heart disease as well as fish, nuts, seeds, oats and barley does. I won’t eat fish, because of ethical reasons and won’t at all argue health as a reason not to eat it. Since you have no problem eating meat, I would encourage you to eat more fish and just go easy on the red meat.
The UN issued a report a few years back concluding that rearing cattle produced more greenhouse gases than transportation. (link: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?newsID=20772&CR1=warning) I think the way American society runs these days, it’s a lot easier to cut out beef (if not other meat) than it is to stop using any form of motorized transportation.
Scientists are finding that not all LDL is the same. Dietary saturated fat may raise large LDL particles, but it’s simple carbs (ie ‘vegan’ sugar and white flour) that raise harmful, dense LDL. Also, not all red meat is bad for you. Organically raised, grass fed beef has omega-3s in addition to vitamin B12, and it’s leaner than the usual corn fed beef. Granted it’s more expensive, which is why I don’t eat red meat all that often. I can’t say I’ve ever had problems digesting red meat, but soy (especially soy milk) does terrible things to my GI tract.
Please explain the argument that eating less meat is good for the planet. I’d like your take (and others) on this. I’d also like to hear from those who disagree with this idea. Thanks.
I would not make health *the* argument for being Vegetarian or Vegan, but I think some of the statements you made have not been proven. Loren Cordain had no interest in insisting that Palmitic acid is atherogenic and that high protein levels can contribute to Osteoporosis. All sources I read say that saturated fat stimulates the production of LDL by the liver. We can eat some saturated fat but clearly the fat in nuts and fish is far healthier than the fat in red meat. Loren Cordain’s statements prove that Taubes by no means has disproven the lipid hypothesis. All sources I read say that Soy contains complete protein- perhaps you buy the nonsense that the Weston Price Foundation states about Soy. Quinoa also contains complete protein. I think there is good science to believe that getting protein from plant sources is better than getting it from red meat. Remember red meat is also very hard to digest and it also contains no fiber. Lots of studies indicate it is better to eat less red meat to lessen the chances of Colon cancer. Of course processed meats are very unhealthy. It does get a little murkier to argue against eating fish, however. Fish is positively healthy for heart health, which is not the case for red meat.
I read “Skinny Bitch” and I thought it was more than a little bit harsh when it came to meat-eating. I found it a bit offensive and didn’t give it a great review, either. If you want another vegan cultist documentary to watch, a piece called “Change your Food, Change your Life” on Netflix Instant. The host talks about how the only way your body gets cholesterol is by eating animal products, how salmon and eggs are SO bad for you, etc. Yet, she includes the highly-processed Boca crumbles in her every day diet. It’s an interesting and somewhat entertainng little show.
That’s the same conclusion I came to. Just because people decide to go veg/vegan doesn’t mean they’re automatically judging everyone else, whereas those consuming animal products assume they’re being judged.
I actually left the next restaurant I worked at because I found peoples attitudes so difficult to handle compared to the kindness I experienced at the vegan restaurant! It was a seafood restaurant with excellent food. When I told people where I was coming from, I’d hear “I have a serious problem with vegetarians.” I wouldn’t even bother to ask why. Another person asked me accusingly “You’re not a vegetarian, are you??” and I just said no. Getting into a thoughtful discussion about it seemed like a waste of my time.
I didn’t stay there very long.
I definitely see this as well. I think because many people know that the choice of a vegan or vegetarian diet often has a moral/ethical component (though not always), people who eat meat or other animal products feel like you must be judging them for not coming to the same moral conclusion. So they feel the need to defend themselves, whether or not the issue is ever brought up. The same is not true in reverse, as choosing TO eat animal products rarely has a moral component.
Like many issues I expect there is a small very vocal minority (i.e. PETA) that set the tone in the media for the rest. As you say, there are some fanatical meat eaters out there.
If all the heavy meat eaters ate a little less meat, I’m sure it would go easier on this planet that we all share.
I’m a meat and dairy eater who worked the line at a vegan restaurant for 10 months. I’d just like to mention that in the entire time I worked there, no one ever pressured me or gave me a hard time about eating meat/dairy.
What was interesting was that when I would tell meat eaters I was working at a vegan restaurant, they would often go on rants about how they hated vegans and vegetarians. I actually found the meat eaters to be more self-righteous and fanatical. It almost seemed like a defense mechanism.
I still eat meat and I still eat dairy, but I’ve become a more mindful eater. And I have a great respect for those who choose a different lifestyle.
I’m not a vegan so my opinion doesn’t count for much, but I wouldn’t consider one who fed a pet animal products to be a hypocrite. I used to work for a veterinarian and I’ve yet to see a cat do well long-term on vegetarian food. I have, however, seen cats’ health decline markedly on vegetarian diets (especially homemade ones). It’s easier with dogs since they’re far more omnivorous in general than cats, but my feeling has always been that forcing a cat onto a vegan diet is just trading cruelty to one animal for cruelty to another. Cats don’t eat meat because they’re mean; they eat it because they can’t digest most plant foods very well. They don’t really have a choice.
Frankly, my advice to vegans who didn’t want to feed their cats animal products would be to choose a pet that is not an obligate carnivore, so it could be fed a vegan diet without compromising its health.
Hey Mike! Thanks for the heads up – I didn’t realize that. Is Jason back on meat or did he switch to vegetarianism?
Thank you Laura – I will check this out!
Good article, but just an FYI, I’m a huge fan of Jason Ferruggia, but he hasn’t been Vegan for about a year now.
Hi there,
I run a veg oriented site that aims to allow for open debate and a sensible and non fanatical approach to being vegetarian or vegan. Take a look. http://www.veggie.buntch.net