Forgive me for being ignorant, but you posted the link to the Mercola site. You could have posted the link to the Reuters article instead if that was your point. Or to the study that the article is about. I am not surprised that Reuters will pick up a study that appeals to 95%+ of its readers. And it's but one study. And it doesn't mean that saturated fat is good for you or that it will lower your risk of CVD. And it says nothing about the other diseases of affluence that are associated with meat intake. From the article: "...many studies have shown that dietary saturated fat can raise people's cholesterol, and the new analysis is not going to change recommendations to keep saturated fat intake in check"
Certainly eating a diet rich in vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds is healthy way to eat. But no one here has provided a single piece of evidence that meat and other animal foods eaten in moderation is harmful. Not you, not Nodoji, certainly not the CS. A "vegan" diet is not plant "based" it is plant only diet. Vegans often must supplement with zinc, VitD, B12, essential amino acids to make up for the lack of these in plants. (How can anyone suggest such a way of eating is optimum where supplementation with pills or artificially fortified food products is necessary?) I'm still waiting for a study from any of you vegans (you know who you are) demonstrating that when calories are controlled meat, fish, eggs, dairy added to a plant based diet is deficient in nutrients, harmful to health or results in greater mortality.
You won't get such a study, because a whole foods diet including meats eaten in moderation is not harmful in and of itself. Sadly, hardly anyone eats that way throughout their life. We grow up with a high risk of becoming addicted to refined foods and dairy products (especially cakes, cookies, candy, soft drinks, cheese, butter and ice cream). The average American doesn't eat even a fraction of the healthy whole foods required for good health. The end result is a high incidence of illness, much of which is life-threatening, and these illnesses are starting earlier and earlier. Arterial plaques start in childhood, as early as 2 years of age in some children whose diets are especially dismal. Type II diabetes is occurring in children now, and obesity is nearly the norm. The low fat whole foods vegan diet is proven to arrest and even reverse serious illness. It very likely prevents these illnesses as well, since cultures that eat whole foods, mainly plants, have extremely low rates of the chronic illnesses we consider a normal part of aging. I turned to this diet following a cancer diagnosis because of the extensive research backing it as the optimal diet for disease prevention. Many additional health problems were cured and so I've been eating this way ever since. I have no desire to be in constant pain or to feel tired and sick again. My addiction to the salt/fat/sugar combo is long gone, and I crave whole foods and have no desire for junk food anymore. The ONLY supplement vegans may require is B12 after 3 years on a diet with no supplementation. Plant protein is ample, pure, and complete (you don't have to combine foods either). http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/protein.html All other nutrients are fully supplied as long as you're eating a variety of whole foods. Vitamin D isn't a vitamin, it's a hormone and the highest quality source of it is sunshine. Dairy products and vegan milk products are often fortified with D.
there is no dispute over the fact that healthy diet should consists of foods which are NATURAL, not chemically processed. i'm sorry, but most meats today are processed. http://www.naturalnews.com/032315_meat_industry_secrets.html http://www.naturalnews.com/022288_sodium_nitrite_processed_meat.html red meats always contain blood of the animal. the blood is contaminated with toxins. the difference between eggs, nuts, seeds VS meat is this... they represent the beginning of new life, new organism. meat is a dead animal. worse, you're not eating it right after it was killed. you're eating it weeks or months after its dead! do you know how much chemicals must be put in the meat so it looks kind of **fresh** ?
the bottom line is: people dont want to be healthy. they choose to eat sugar, aspartame, toxins in meat. they LOVE to inject mercury in vaccines to their newborn babies. they want toothpaste with fluoride. they love radiation in cancer therapies. everyone has choice what to put in the mouth and organism. most people will always choose the worst shit out there. just look at the western societies. overweight, sick and depressed. ever been to switzerland? these people are SAD... having the most money comparing to other nations. they are constantly sad...
The role of fat in the way our body allocates its resources is an interesting area .Studies have shown that people who are either underweight or overweight are no more or less inclined to memory loss problems as they age .Yet individuals who have 'pot bellies' but are neither over or underweight have a more than average chance of suffering memory loss.The reasoning is that while there is no question that some fat is needed for metabolism and energy creation , the kind of fat found round the stomach put more strain on the heart which in turns diverts some of the brains neurotransmitters to compensate for the extra cardiac pressure. The moral is watch your bellies gentlemen ...pot bellies can make you stupid . IF you want the link to the research let me know. Sarah T-M
Besides watching out for vitamin B12 and D, vegetarians/vegans need fresh, raw and whole fat sources, such as coconuts or anything native. Cut down on vegetable oils and watch out for omega 6 overload.
I finally took some time to read up on this. The study that Reuters quote is flawed and therefore irrelevant. Look at the study that the article is about, and also the editorial in the same issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, and the postion piece that The European Heart Network posted on the study. To summarize the study is pretty useless, it only shows how one unhealthy diet is no better than another unhealthy diet. Apart from the study being sponsored by the National Dairy Council - conflict of interest - here are some points (read the linked documents, there is more): Half of the heart disease and CVD were adjusted for serum cholesterol which would bias to finding no relationship to saturated fat. The authors ignored fatal coronary heart disease, which saturated fat was positively linked to. About half of the studies used unvalidated dietary assesments methods (which will bias the results). As pointed out in the editorial, the researchers choose to ignore a very large amount of research on cholesterol, saturated fat and CHD. Basically this invalidates the meta study. Another problem with meta studies is you can pick and choose which ones to include. But that is my personal opinion. So it's still safe to assume that saturated fat is bad for you.