Tag: ex-vegans

I met Lierre Keith for a few days back in the 1990s and again around the year 2000 as we had gotten involved in ( successfully ) fighting some ugly discrimination issues in Massachusetts. About a year ago, I heard about a new anti-vegan book by someone with the same unique name as hers. I hadn’t had contact with her in years, but I hoped, as I typed her name into Google that it wasn’t her. It was.

A lot has been written on the internet about her book and I’ve added my own opinion in a few of those places. Until now, I have been hesitant to write anything about it on my blog. That changed a few days ago when an acquaintance directed me to a youtube video with an audio excerpt of one of her radio interviews .

The upshot is, that there was a quote from her where she admitted that she binged on eggs and milk every chance she got. You can find the full interview on 94.1 kpfa.org under “Terra Verde – October 29, 2010”. The quote mentioned happens a little bit after 5:30.

All of that drama, that came from all directions, over her book, and Lierre Keith never was a vegan.

For all Keith knows about the true origin of her health problems, she could have contracted one of the many diseases produced by factory farmed animal products while she was a “vegan” binging on eggs and dairy.

If you are curious about her book “The Vegetarian Myth” I recommend reading the two reviews linked to below.

Lierre Keith does not have formal credentials or experience in the diverse topics she writes about in “The Vegetarian Myth”. The authors of the reviews linked to below do, and the gist of their reviews is that she has gotten even the basic facts of those subjects wrong, let alone her much more stronger claims.

Judge for yourself …

Review #1
Amazon: A. Perrion May 30, 2010, http://tinyurl.com/2bhvh5n

Review #2
Virginia Messina R.D.: Review of “The Vegetarian Myth”

Seriously, many people try many things and move on after deciding it is not for them. Is there a reason for suspicion when someone goes on publicly for weeks, months or years after something doesn’t work out for them?  How about publishing blog posts, entire blogs, newspaper articles or even books?

Virginia Messina R.D. recently debunked the nutritional misinformation of the latest iteration of the publicly dramatic, histrionic ex-vegan thing.

In the comment section to Messina’s debunking, some people brought up that a common element in these accounts is how the ex-vegan,…..who always SWEARS that they were “very careful” with their diet,  experienced a rush of energy after eating meat again,  a sense of health, well being, bliss, low taxes, etc.

What I want to know is, where was *my* meatgasm?

I don’t repeat this often, as it isn’t flattering. I went vegetarian when I was 14 as part of a health kick. When I was in college I quit for about 2 years, because I thought eating meat would make me more buff and make me more fit.  Neither happened.  I also didn’t experience any rush of energy or feelings of well being after eating meat again.

Anecdotal accounts are not considered to be legitimate evidence, but I think my anecdotal account should count at least as much ( or as little ) as the anecdotal accounts of the meatgasmic.

Aside from those 2 years  in college it has been over 30 years since I went vegetarian. I’ve been a vegan since the early 1990s. I have none of the cardiovascular issues that run in my family. I take no prescriptions or regular medications of any kind. Many people my age and younger do. The only health issues I have are old sports injuries.   I often get mistaken for being younger than I am.

BTW, another pattern emerging among the meatgasmic  is the claim that eating “naturally” and “sustainably” raised animals is actually better for the environment than eating a vegan diet. You would not know it from the way the book is marketed, but Jonathon Safran Foer in his book “Eating Animals” does a stunning refutation of that argument. Foer did 3 years of research for his book and hired a fact checker to QC what he wrote.

Anyway, if a vegan diet is as deficient as the meatgasmic claim,  why has my health been so good and more importantly:

Where was *MY* meatgasm?

 

Note: everything you need to know to have good health on a vegan diet can be fit on ONE page.