From: molnar@Bisco.CAnet.CA (Tom Molnar)
Subject: Re: True Vegeterian - is it OK?
Organization: UTCS Campus Access
Distribution: sci.med.nutrition
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 20:21:37 GMT

Shoot, my news server went down as I was typing a reply and now a bug in my
reader won't let me cancel the original.  Bear with me whilst I repeat this
post.  I'll try to cancel the other.

Peter Revesz writes:

# Question of hard-core Vegeterian:
# 
# Is it possible to have a ballanced, healthy diet
# if someone does not eat meat, fish, eggs, milk AT ALL?
# 
# Thank you for the advice.

Peter, of course it is.  But such a diet rubs so many people the wrong
way, they do their darndest to try to find something, anything, to prove
that one couldn't possibly choose to be a strict vegetarian and remain
healthy.  That's a load of baloney.  The pile is even higher the more the
opponent beats his chest and waves degrees around to back up his assertions.
I particularly detest (and therefore scornfully ignore) those who chose to
argue by heaping dirt on opponents in order to discredit claims.  Such
tactics are rampant on both sides of the vegetarian diet issue.

The opponents of strict vegetarian diets always bring up the B12 vitamin
issue.  They do that, because although the amounts we need are
extremely tiny, a deficiency can have serious consequences.  From what
I have read, there probably are people who have a tendency to require
more B12 than than the vast majority, and therefore it is not wise to
claim that one does not have to worry about B12 in the least.  The
smart thing to do is to take a simple multivitamin supplement, which is a
wise choice no matter what the dietary preferences are.

B12 sources are considered to be flesh, and dairy products.  Perhaps
a hundred or more years ago it was possible to get enough B12 through lack
of hygiene as a strict vegetarian, but not today.  So there might be a very
few people who have unusual dietary requirements, and are not suited to
be strict vegetarians.

It's usually a lot more difficult to eat a healthy, balanced diet if
you aren't a strict vegetarian.  If you eat meat, fish, eggs, milk,
cheese, cream, butter, etc. you are almost certainly eating too much
saturated fat, not enough fibre, not enough carbohydrates, too much
cholesterol and too much salt.  You've got to try damn hard to look for
"healthy" choices.

I'm a strict vegetatarian for health reasons.  Period.  At age 28, I
weighed 350 lbs, suffered from dangerously high blood pressure,
cholesterol and gout.  Now, at age 33 and 175 lbs (blood tests prove
exceptionally low cholesterol, excellent cardiovascular health), I will
gleefully compare my state of health to anyone and everyone who says
that my strict vegetarian diet is not healthy.  My checkups have convinced 
me that my diet is excellent.  So I dismiss all dire warnings to the contrary.

Having said all that, let me state that I am not claiming that a strict
vegetarian diet is the optimal or best possible diet.  Mankind is omnivorous.
We can eat just about anything.  But you don't have to eat animal products.
That's the important point.  You do not HAVE to.  A strict vegetarian diet
CAN be a healthy, balanced diet.

Tom