by Eleisha C Newman (Show email address.)

Being Vegan is about adhering to dietary ethics.
From the outset, those who first formed the Vegan Society decided to put moral principles before any perceived self-interest which might be gained through causing suffering to other creatures.
Because Vegans are also self-respecting, developing nutritional knowledge (and acting in accordance with it) has remained a high priority.
That being said, the Vegan Sunflower Mark only indicates that a product is free from animal ingredients. Vegan products may still contain substances permitted under the UK's liberal and retrospective regulations which are injurious to the health of people and companion animals. So, Vegans are interested in knowing what all food is made of and how our body chemistry reacts with it.

Whilst different people do have different food tolerances, there are general rules which apply across the board. It is advisable to eat moderate quantities of a wide range of plant foods daily (fresh fruits and vegetables, herbs and wholegrain cereals, supplemented with recommended levels of vitamin B12). Pure water is also a nutrient required (in quantities that vary between individuals, according to age, stage of pregnancy, work and temperature) and its existence in potable form also depends largely upon plants in our environment. The Vegan Society makes dietary recommendations in some detail. (See “Plant Based Nutrition and Heatlh” by Stephen Walsh, and “Feeding Your Vegan Infant” by Sandra Hood, both available from the Vegan Society.) The UK Government, along with its 5-a-day fruit and veg. rule, has gathered research data too, supporting the same findings despite economic implications which may be unpopular in the short run (website of the UK Office of National Statistics).

Although plants have evolved for reasons other than to satisfy human dietary needs, and toxins are naturally present in many plants at various stages of their lifecycles (and water can occur naturally with contaminants), reliable information about the way our bodies break down and utilise the foods we eat has been encouraging to Vegans. The human body has defence mechanisms which operate alongside its digestive processes, which can combat small quantities of a wide variety of poisons (but not all) found within many plants which also provide nourishment. Although some of these toxins are more poisonous than those digested in animal products, flesh and dairy foods contain a high toxin to low nutritional value ratio which human bodies must be able to work very hard to overcome.

When the body is overworked its natural defences can be disabled for a period of time, permanently after a length of time, and even genetically from parents to offspring. Human bodies do seem to be best adapted to survive on an ethical, plant-based diet, and eating plants can even reverse the ill-effects caused by eating animal substances. If the reverse were true, there would still be Vegans who object to the cruelty of exploiting and killing other creatures, but it is reassuring to know that ethical values are reflected in the evolutionary development of human beings and the created order of the world in which we live.

We eat many things that are not good for us. Molecules from animal substances function dissimilarly in the human metabolism to equivalent molecules of plant origin (eg. proteins). Essential nutrients (such as Vitamin A) can be poisonous if consumed in excess. Excessive intake of some nutrients may create deficiency due to the body’s response mechanisms being triggered and thereby expelling the substance wherever it is found, both new intake and pre-existing reserves (such as Calcium). Conversely, under-eating can result in the body storing deposits which would be best shed.

People who suffer from obesity ought to be advised that their condition may be cured through making long-term and irrevocable changes to the way they live, namely to a wholefoods, plant-based diet combined with regular, healthy exercise. Depriving themselves of nutrition for a short period of time will not result in a lasting transformation of their appearance whilst they persist in the same lifestyle.

It has been firmly established that eating animal products contributes to the development of high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke due to build-up of plaque in the inner walls of the coronary arteries (which sometimes dislodge and cause blockages). The plaque also disables immune system cells, upon which it builds up.

Development of Type 1 diabetes is the result of the body’s immune system attacking itself and preventing insulin developing in the pancreas, so that the body is unable to absorb and process vital sugars. Type 2 Diabetes sufferers produce ineffective insulin. Both types of Diabetes can be eased or reversed with a plant-food diet and exercise.

There are many aspects of contemporary lifestyle which threaten health. Smoking is still the most obvious cause of cancer (and many other diseases), and it adversely affects the development of too large a proportion of children in the UK. Alcohol too, is a direct cause of disease and fatality in addition to the negligence of care which results in exposure to other threats, only one of which is a careless diet. Some commonplace environmental pollutants also cause body cells to develop in ways which may lead to cancer. However, many still suffer from breast cancer, prostate cancer, and cancer of the colon and rectum, which are just a handful of cancers now identifiably linked to diet and animal-based foods. Other cancers which may appear to have other direct causes, may actually be triggered by animal proteins.

Menarche tends to start earlier, and ends later, in women who eat animal flesh. Oestrogen production is high during fertile years, and its production is further stimulated by flesh consumption. Oestrogen is an essential hormone, but too much of it promotes breast cancer in women who have inherited genes which express an ability to develop the disease. Similarly, in women who have inherited a disposition to cervical, uterine and ovarian cancers, onset may be triggered through their body’s response to animal foods. Whereas, plant-foods can leave inherited genes unaffected, and even reverse cancers.

The combination of animal proteins and high quantities of calcium in cow’s milk is associated with the human body’s inability to adapt naturally consumed Vitamin D into a more potent form. This adapted D vitamin is essential for keeping the body’s equilibrium healthy. With the resultant imbalance, a hormone which stimulates cell growth (including cancerous cells) is not regulated, and this scenario is now known to exist where prostate cancer develops in men. It is the dairy produce which creates an environment for the cancer to develop; plant-based foods do not.

Multiple sclerosis, and other auto-immune nervous system diseases in addition to diabetes (such as lupus, and arthritis), along with associated conditions (such as Parkinsons), are similarly a result of auto-immune responses which overreact. They ought to be inhibited by hormones activated by a special form of Vitamin D. The human body can only obtain this type of Vitamin D through that which it makes itself, from sunlight, and/or fresh plant nutrients (not through artificial vitamin supplements). When immune system responses are stimulated to combat animal proteins (which cause a metabolic environment of disequilibrium), inhibitors are needed to prevent over-production of antibodies which cannot distinguish between its own body cells, and those of the animal-food which are causing the problem. These diseases seem to occur when the needed inhibitors are not available or functioning.

When dietary fibre is eaten as part of fresh plants, it forms the binding which holds together all of the vital nutrients that the plants contain, as well as serving as roughage which is essential for the healthy functioning of the bowels. Cancers of the large intestine (colon and rectum) are quite common, but only develop in people who eat predominantly flesh and other animal products. Even where fibre is added to give bulk to the diet of people who do not eat plants, levels of contracting the disease remain high. Whereas where fibre has been removed from the diet of people who eat only plants, the disease is not prevalent. This suggests that whilst eating plants (as opposed to only dietary fibre) may protect from the disease, eating meat either exposes people to it, or directly causes it.

(Thanks to T Colin Campbell, PhD and Thomas M Campbell II for writing “The China Study” and publicising the certain findings of their extensive and authoritative research.)

The Vegan Society bases all nutritional advice upon research which has been carried out without cruelty to humans or animals, and yet still reaches similar overall conclusions as those obtained from reliable, scientifically verifiable and relevant experiments upon people and animals. New evidence is turning up all of the time in support of the wondrous properties of distinct species of plant, for their nutritional, medicinal and other practical uses. Despite deforestation and extinction of species occurring at a horrendous and unnatural rate at this time in history, there are still a huge number of plants whose mysterious properties have yet to be discovered and better understood.

To Vegans, it can seem quite absurd that human beings persist in eating animals and products derived from their dead or suffering bodies, even when all of the evidence suggests that these practices kill humans too. Especially when the plant-food alternative is so attractive. The Vegan Society is an educational charity, because Vegans would like to explain this to everyone, but it can be frustratingly hard to do. Might this news item help to convey the message to our friends, neighbours and relations in and around Lewes?

Source: Eleisha C Newman