It’s quite possible this will bring on another onslaught from the Paleo diet people, who have, in the past, taken me to task on my unbridled support of a whole-foods, plant-based, low fat, starch-rich diet for the health and well-being of humans as well as dear planet Earth.
Somehow, when we take a stand on a plant-based, vegan diet, we are required to overnight become doctors, nutritionists, dieticians, environmental experts, as well as world-class endocrinologists and chemists. Not necessary to be able to take a stand and share the power of the message: There is no reason we need to eat animal foods and plenty of reasons not to.
As many others have pointed out to me, maybe I should simply take the attack of the Paleo people as a compliment. If my voice is loud enough to take a stand against, then somewhere I must be being heard.
Dr. John McDougall, never backing off from taking a stand and throwing big rocks at big plate-glass windows, has been a loud voice against low-carb diets – the latest incarnation of which is the Paleo Diet – for decades. Dr. McDougall’s June 2012 newsletter hit the e-waves this morning, and it is incumbent upon me to post it here for you.
Here’s you go; click on the link at the close of the excerpt to read the newsletter in its entirety. And for more on the topic of early humans and diet, catch biological anthropologist Nathaniel Dominy, PhD, on topic and on video here: Plant foods, starchy vegetables, early humans, and the human diet
The Paleo Diet Is Uncivilized (And Unhealthy and Untrue)
Low-carbohydrate (low-carb) diets are fueling the destruction of human health and our planet Earth. “Low-carbohydrate” means a diet high in animal foods and low in plant foods. Only plants synthesize carbohydrates (sugars). The body parts of animals, including red meat, poultry, seafood, and fish, and eggs, contain no carbohydrates. Animal secretions (like mammalian milk) contain sugars synthesized by plants (the cow eats the grass that made the sugar). The original Atkins Diet is the ultimate in low-carb eating. This diet works by starving the human body of carbohydrates in order to induce a state of illness (ketosis), which can result in weight loss. People become too sick to eat too much.
In an attempt to remedy the obvious harms to human health caused by very low-carb eating, apologists (including the Atkins Nutritionals) have added fruits and non-starchy vegetables to their programs. This effort is supposed to disguise, and compensate for, the unhealthy effects of consuming animal foods at every meal.
The Paleo Diet: The Newest Promoter of Eating the Planet and Its Inhabitants to Death*
Read Dr. McDougall’s newsletter in its entirety by clicking here.
*
2012 John McDougall All Rights Reserved
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fantastict to read thanks so much and yep keep yelling from the top of your lungs , i know i do, and it is their misfortune not to reef the benefits of a plant based diet. Yes you looses weight with eating high protien but who in their right mind would want to jepodise their weight for their health when eating vegan you do both, cheers Lani
Hi Anna, now how did I know you’d like this article? This would be a great one to put in the notebook for your team at the hospital. thanks as always for your comments, I enjoy each and every time you come by!
Great article Lani!
I totally agree! It is sometimes difficult to be a vegan when the masses are meat-eaters….but keep taking a stand because it makes a difference. There is no arguing with the results one gets, and the difference one can make by adopting a plant-based diet.
It is truly amazing!
Thanks Wendy – honored to be on the same team and thanks for coming in to share your thoughts.
Provide evidence that ketosis is an illness and that people become too sick to eat too much. From the research I did and in my opinion you are totally wrong. Ketosis(unlike ketoacidosis) is not an illness, It’s the human’s switch to burning fats and ketones instead of glucose and fats as fuel.
There is two sides of an argument, some experts say that ketosis is the real preffered state that humans were evolved to live in, and only switched to burning glucose when they found it(easy fuel) and then there are those who say ketosis is a form of survival mechanism, a backup system, so when humans couldn’t find enough carbohydrate rich food to run on glucose, the body would have a back-up system to survive until they found glucose rich food again.
Neither of them say that ketosis is an illness, there is no scientific proof that ketosis is an illness and actually science points to the other side, that ketosis is healthy.
It was also proven that the reason people eat less on a low-carbohydrate diet(wether in ketosis or not, being on a low-carb diet doesn’t actually mean you will go into ketosis) is because of the high-fat/protein combination, which digests slow then most carbohydrates and satisfies you for long, even due to fat packing a load of calories.
There are studies that show the brain runs more efficient on ketones and that the heart also works better on ketones, both prefer ketones as fuel instead of glucose(altough some cells still require glucose, which easily generated from vegtables, proteins and a small amount from fats)
There were studies that showed that ketosis can help against tumors, especially brain tumors. It can also help against Seizures. People who have high cholesterol were able to lower it by going in ketogenic state. Some diabetics were able to lay of meds by going into a ketogenic state. The only danger is to some diabetics who cannot secrete enough insulin, which can lead to dangerous amount of ketones, like glucose can lead them to dangerous amounts of blood sugars.
If you wish for some clinical studies about the subject and opinions from experts, I can post some links to studies here, so you and everyone can have an interesting read.
I understand you are against the consumption of meat from the little I can see(first time visiting the site) but if your going to attack a very healthfull state like ketosis, It would be great if you could link to some clinical studies.
Here are two other articles for consideration to explain ketosis and high protein diets:
http://www.tcolincampbell.org/courses-resources/article/how-the-atkins-diet-works/?tx_ttnews
http://www.drmcdougall.com/res_high_protein_diets.html
Ketosis is not a healthful state for which everday individuals should be aspiring.
I was really entertained reading through this article!
I learned more about vegan diet! Your article is really interesting to read! Thanks for sharing this!