Not Vegan
But good
I have
labored over this book for over two weeks, and I want to give it a fair
review. It is an important book and
should not be dismissed with a “Ewh!
Broccoli throw- away” retort.
Reluctantly, I am afraid, I must recommend this book to any of you who
are dead serious about lifetime health.
At 86 I am not so fervid about a prolonged existence, but even I have
modified my diet because of this book – a tiny bit. So, here goes.
The document
in question is entitled How Not to Die,
a monumentally absurd concept on its very face.
What a needed subtitle might say is foods
to eat that may – perhaps – reduce your risk of dying from various common ailments. Die you must. Dying early can be largely prevented, so say
the authors.
The author
is Michael Greger, M.D. Dr. Greger is
fully qualified in the medical field, but seems to earn his living through lectures
and writing. He is assisted by Gene
Stone, an editor-writer-ghost writer who is a practicing, and extoling,
adherent to the vegan lifestyle. As you
probably know, I am a firm believer in omnivorism. Nevertheless, I found much in How Not to Die to be worth
considering. Read it yourself and make
up your own mind.
Unlike
authors of much dietary literature, Dr. Greger backs up his claims,
recommendations, and inflammatory statements with scientific citations; the
final 129 pages are “references cited”.
I checked quite a few; some are what you might call “grey literature”,
but most are from reputable journals.
Thus, we need to take Dr. G seriously.
So what does he say?
Well, he
recommends a totally plant-based diet; in other words, be an all-in vegan. If you can’t avoid meat entirely, at least
stay away from chicken and, surprisingly, many kinds of fish. Shun milk and anything made from it, like
cheese and ice-cream. Don’t drink too
much booze (well, maybe a little won’t hurt), and stay away from soft drinks as
fervently as if they were bottles filled with Black Death. Whenever possible, consume raw stuff in
preference to products made from them; in other words, don’t drink V8 juice,
rather eat the eight vegetables themselves.
And, of
course, get your exercise.
So. I am prepared to concede that, had I subsisted
on broccoli, blue berries, beans and kale all my life I might have been
marginally healthier on average, and
might die a few years later. But would the ultimate total of contentment be
higher? I doubt it.
Our very distant
sort-of simian ancestors almost certainly were arboreal, and probably ate a
plant-based diet. But, for some reason
they eventually swung down from the trees and began to eat animals. Why would they do that, especially if it was
a step backwards in an evolutionary sense?
Well, for one thing, a dead animal represents a far more concentrated
source of energy than a comparable volume of shoots and leaves. But, I maintain, the main reason may have
been that – the dead animal simply tasted a whole lot better! And thus was born the omnivore!
The sad fact
is that I have never encountered a vegan dish that I truly liked. Some are almost passable, and some are okay
but a bit bland and boring. A few I have
fed to the crows. Dr. Greger implies
that a vegan diet will grow on you, given time.
That may be so – but I don’t have that much time!
All that
said, this is a serious, well-researched book.
If you are concerned with diet you can do worse than to study it.
