If a vegan diet is really so healthy, why do doctors, nutritionist, and even the government keep recommending animal products? Can these professionals be trusted to provide sound nutritional guidance?
With all of the information out there about the deleterious effects of animal products, you have to wonder–why are doctors, nutritionists, and other professionals still recommending their consumption? It seems more and more that modern medicine has turned to treating rather than preventing disease, chasing after that next miracle pill, cure, or “fix.” In this interview segment, you can hear vegan activist Gary Yourofsky’s take on this subject as well as learn of some shining examples of excellent physicians concentrated on preventative medicine and compassionate living.
To hear Gary’s entire answer, be sure to watch the video, but here are some nuggets:
“Doctors are the worst people to talk to about health. They’re not taught how to prevent a disease in medical school, they’re taught how to treat a disease in medical school. In fact the official stat in America is that after an 8 year medical degree a doctor only has to take 3.2 hours of nutritional information. So if you want to prevent a quadruple bypass don’t you dare talk to a doctor, but if you need a quadruple bypass–yes, talk to an American doctor.”
Gary goes on to mention that there are, of course, exceptions to this rule, which I’ll elaborate on in a moment. But first I wanted to share another gem from our conversation:
“When is the last time you turned on 5 o’clock news and seen this as a story ‘Bob Smith died from a massive coronary yesterday! What happened to Bob? The grapes got him. He was always walking around with a plum and an avocado and I told him that plum is gonna do you in one day!’ Bulls—. Plums don’t do you in, grapes don’t do you in, bananas don’t do you in. A double-cheese pepperoni pizzas will do you in. Triple cheese bacon burgers do you in. Meat, cheese, milk and eggs will take you down.”
Now, for the notable exceptions to the rule, one excellent organization of doctors who have completely broken free from endorsing animal-products and animal-testing for medical research is the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. PCRM is made up of over 12,000 physicians who are dedicated to dramatically change the way that doctors treat chronic diseases by, as they state on their website, “putting prevention over pills”. I’ve reference PCRM in several of my videos in the past, particularly in my series on animal testing, as they are equally dedicated to shifting medical research to human-relevant studies. Pcrm.org is a veritable cornucopia of resources, all backed by solid science.
Another excellent medical doctor on the forefront of preventative medicine and is Dr. Michael Greger of NutritionFacts.org, with whom I have an entire series covering vegan nutrition concerns.
Now I’d like to hear from you–what experiences have you had with medical professionals in regards to your diet and lifestyle? If you’re vegan, have they cautioned you or even flat out told you that veganism is unhealthy? If you’re not vegan but perhaps were interested in going vegan, have you gotten resistance from medical professionals? Let me know in the comments!
— Emily Moran Barwick