Steve Jobs was a fruitarian, now a vegan

[scamateur]

In the end, I think that a vegan diet is moderately healthier in that it includes more one-step nutrients, and it more closely resembles the kind of diet you'd except to see in nature (see many primates, who are largely frugivorous, as an example). I don't think, however, it gives the kind of lifestyle and performance boost many would like to claim it does. If it were really that effective, you'd see many more professional athletes flocking to it.

I actually think that a pescetarian diet is the healthiest.

The primates most like us, that is, those of us humans who live in primitive societies, mostly partake of a diet of "anything they can get." They gather fruit and raise crops and kill and eat animals of all kinds. This all sounds very natural to me. I think our most serious departure from this diet is not what we eat, creature-wise, but how much we eat.

 

[Iscariot]

The primates most like us, that is, those of us humans who live in primitive societies, mostly partake of a diet of "anything they can get." They gather fruit and raise crops and kill and eat animals of all kinds. This all sounds very natural to me. I think our most serious departure from this diet is not what we eat, creature-wise, but how much we eat.

We eat an outrageous amount of meat compared to, for example, Gorillas. But they spend all day eating, something most of us don't have the luxury to do -- and even if you do, it's hard to retrain years of the "three meals a day" mindset.

 

[Mushrooshi]

I am going to keep my meat thank you very much.

 

[wvuwhat]

Hes a billionaire, nothing else to do but to -> immortality, first step is healthy eating!

He'll be frozen like Walt Disney one day. Nothing against it, if I were a million/billionaire, I'd be wanting to be frozen too.

 

[dLight]

Excuse me? You are citing a random discussion forum with no formal sources as "fact"?

Not really, I'm just pointing to a place where there are loads of cited sources - and discussions about the same topic. I could have written a lot more, or posted more specific links of course, but was short in time.

Being a vegan myself, and having lived years without animal products (or protein supplements), and having seen my own blood tests showing that my protein levels are above, and not below the average population, I can confirm that one doesn't need animal products for protein. All the animals meat eaters eat are plant eaters anyway, so the protein in these animals originally came from plants, right?

It's so easy to get enough proteins on a vegan diet that as long as you eat a varied diet, and don't live on vegan junk food, and of course do not avoid the many plants that are known for their healthy protein levels, it's almost difficult to develop a protein deficiency (which is very uncommon, anyway). Once you have changed your eating habits to include all those plants, you don't have to think about protein.

One of the threads in the link I posted contained a poll where vegans voted over their favorite vegan protein sources, and most of the plants in this thread contains circa 10% protein or more (some of them contain a lot more).

It might be possible, but will take large amounts of soy, legumes, and grains.

Lots of vegans hardly eat any soy at all, and you definitely don't need eggs or milk or dairy products for proteins either. The animals meat eaters eat don't drink milk throughout life - and definitely not from another species, and they are eaten for their proteins and amino acids. Lots of plants contain much higher levels of proteins than mother's milk, which is what humans eat in the period of our lives where we're really meant to grow.

After 10 years+ of being vegetarian I started getting a string of infections and blood tests showed that I was missing some essential amino acids, as well as some minerals in sufficient amounts.

I'm sorry to hear that, because I of so many people who have been vegans/vegetarians much longer than this (myself included) and didn't have the haven't had the problems you describe at all. In the 70s,lots of doctors thought that if a vegetarian became sick, it was because he was a vegetarian - this still happens to some degree - but due to the increased information flow due to internet (and other sources), luckily, these myths are about to die.

I'm also sorry if you wanted more specific threads than just links to a subforum about protein on a vegan site, but here are couple of more specific links:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12778049

It is the position of the American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada that appropriately planned vegetarian diets are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. Approximately 2.5% of adults in the United States and 4% of adults in Canada follow vegetarian diets. A vegetarian diet is defined as one that does not include meat, fish, or fowl. Interest in vegetarianism appears to be increasing, with many restaurants and college foodservices offering vegetarian meals routinely. Substantial growth in sales of foods attractive to vegetarians has occurred, and these foods appear in many supermarkets. This position paper reviews the current scientific data related to key nutrients for vegetarians, including protein, iron, zinc, calcium, vitamin D, riboflavin, vitamin B-12, vitamin A, n-3 fatty acids, and iodine. A vegetarian, including vegan, diet can meet current recommendations for all of these nutrients. In some cases, use of fortified foods or supplements can be helpful in meeting recommendations for individual nutrients. Well-planned vegan and other types of vegetarian diets are appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including during pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence. Vegetarian diets offer a number of nutritional benefits, including lower levels of saturated fat, cholesterol, and animal protein as well as higher levels of carbohydrates, fiber, magnesium, potassium, folate, and antioxidants such as vitamins C and E and phytochemicals. Vegetarians have been reported to have lower body mass indices than nonvegetarians, as well as lower rates of death from ischemic heart disease; vegetarians also show lower blood cholesterol levels; lower blood pressure; and lower rates of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and prostate and colon cancer. Although a number of federally funded and institutional feeding programs can accommodate vegetarians, few have foods suitable for vegans at this time. Because of the variability of dietary practices among vegetarians, individual assessment of dietary intakes of vegetarians is required. Dietetics professionals have a responsibility to support and encourage those who express an interest in consuming a vegetarian diet. They can play key roles in educating vegetarian clients about food sources of specific nutrients, food purchase and preparation, and any dietary modifications that may be necessary to meet individual needs. Menu planning for vegetarians can be simplified by use of a food guide that specifies food groups and serving sizes.
PMID: 12778049 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Nutrient deficiencies more common in meat eaters than in vegans

Please trust me, I'm not playing games with my or others' health - I have three healthy kids, have read pretty much everything I've come across about plant nutrition for almost 40 years, and also switched back and forth between vegan/lacto-vegetarian and an omnivorous diet a few times times before I finally landed on a vegan diet for good, and I'm not in doubt that the many dietitians and doctors who support eat vegan are right - both based on my own experience and on have studied tons more of research than you want me to post here!

 

[weckart]

This a myth that has proven itself wrong a long time ago.

The Protein Myth

You are the ghost of Stanley Green and I claim my £5.

 

[EricNau]

MODERATOR NOTE:

All recent activity in this thread has been moved to an appropriate side-discussion in the "Politics, Religion, Social Issues" sub-forum. The new thread can be found here:

Vegetarian Diets (from "Steve Jobs was a fruitarian, now a vegan")​