RE: this just blew me away
March 31, 2016 at 3:10 am
(This post was last modified: March 31, 2016 at 3:12 am by Aractus.)
(March 31, 2016 at 2:31 am)Kitan Wrote: There is no logical reference to compare veganism to religion.
Yes there is. It has a number of parallels to religion, but without the unique benefits that religion brings.
(March 31, 2016 at 2:31 am)Kitan Wrote: Except that I know the science does support a healthy vegan diet.
No it doesn't. There are positives and negatives to a vegan diet, just as there are positives and negatives to smoking. Smoking is great for stress, it's therapeutic, it helps with weight-loss in the short term. The bad things about it is that it's highly addictive, causes emphysema, causes lung cancer, increases the risk of CVD, ant it's expensive. Now you can not smoke at all, or you can do what I do and smoke cigars occasionally and get the therapeutic benefits without the risk of emphysema, addiction, and a much lower risk of lung cancer. Or you can smoke cigarettes and die early.
Veganism is no different to smoking. Vegans are only interested in discussing the benefits: it can lower LDL levels, it can help lower blood pressure, it can assist in weight-loss, and there's probably some other benefits I can't think of off hand. Negatives: unable to provide complete nutrition long-term (even excluding B12), reliance on vitamin supplements, greatly increased risk of osteoporosis and anaemia, increased risks of other nutrient deficiencies, lowers testosterone and destabilises other hormones, can be energy deficient, it's anti-social, is difficult to provide a balanced vegan diet.
There is a lack of scientific studies that show a prolonged benefit; and the healthiest known evidence-supported general-purpose diet that exits and is promoted by dietetic associations as well as governments is DASH, and it's just about as far away from vegan as you can get.
For Religion & Health see:[/b][/size] Williams & Sternthal. (2007). Spirituality, religion and health: Evidence and research directions. Med. J. Aust., 186(10), S47-S50. -LINK
The WIN/Gallup End of Year Survey 2013 found the US was perceived to be the greatest threat to world peace by a huge margin, with 24% of respondents fearful of the US followed by: 8% for Pakistan, and 6% for China. This was followed by 5% each for: Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, North Korea. -LINK
"That's disgusting. There were clean athletes out there that have had their whole careers ruined by people like Lance Armstrong who just bended thoughts to fit their circumstances. He didn't look up cheating because he wanted to stop, he wanted to justify what he was doing and to keep that continuing on." - Nicole Cooke
The WIN/Gallup End of Year Survey 2013 found the US was perceived to be the greatest threat to world peace by a huge margin, with 24% of respondents fearful of the US followed by: 8% for Pakistan, and 6% for China. This was followed by 5% each for: Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, North Korea. -LINK
"That's disgusting. There were clean athletes out there that have had their whole careers ruined by people like Lance Armstrong who just bended thoughts to fit their circumstances. He didn't look up cheating because he wanted to stop, he wanted to justify what he was doing and to keep that continuing on." - Nicole Cooke