The Skinny on our Growing Girth
As the high cost of health care was debated this week in the nation that was once the most powerful on Earth and is now just the fattest, two announcements were made. Time showed a slab of meat on its cover and declared, "The real cost of cheap food" (meat, in particular) costs Americans big-time when it comes to our health. And KFC--whose suppliers have been caught on camera breaking chickens' legs and wings and scalding the birds to death in order to produce "cheap" chicken--came out with a new "sandwich" that substitutes fried chicken parts for bread and is stuffed with artery-clogging and waistline-expanding bacon and cheese. Why would KFC executives decide to do that? For the same reason that there is a Whopper and a Fifth Third Burger: Because they know that people want unhealthy foods almost as much as they want health care.
Also this week, the fat hit the pan over PETA's pro-vegetarian billboard in Jacksonville, Florida, which read, "Save the Whales. Cut the Blubber. Go Vegetarian," and led to the PETA website where people could download our free "Vegetarian Starter Kit" as well as take the "30-Day Veg Pledge." There wasn't a peep about the advertisements for meals that spell death to one million animals per hour and that contribute to our nation's ever-expanding waistlines. There were no angry phone calls and blog messages about the audacity of the purveyors of the chicken and cheese that is turning humans into blubbery masses, or..."whales."
America's obesity epidemic calls for tough love à la Dr. Phil and America's Biggest Loser, not more coddling and mock shock over a billboard pointing out that the majority of fat people need to have some discipline and remember that being fat means being a bad role model to our children, many of whom are now so fat themselves that "teeter-totter" has come to describe their wobbly gait. Only three percent of the population has a medical condition that genuinely prevents them from losing weight. The rest of the obese people hiding behind them are obese because they shovel in food and haven't a clue (or don't want to have a clue) about a healthy diet. They haven't listened to or perhaps haven't heard the polite admonitions from health experts (real ones) urging them to eat their fresh fruits and veggies, whole grains, nuts and beans. So America is getting fatter, largely because we don't realize that killing animals and squeezing the cheese out of them, perhaps especially the cheese, is slowly killing us too.
A study published last year in the journal Obesity found that if current trends continue, nearly 90 percent of adults will be overweight or obese by the year 2030 and the number of overweight children will double. This is a serious health crisis: Research has shown that higher body mass index is associated with a greater risk of premature death from all causes. For example, according to the American Heart Association, obesity contributes to heart disease, America's number one killer. What's more, one out of every six health-care dollars will be spent on costs related to our growing girth.
Going meat-free can make a huge difference. Studies show that vegetarians are, on average, 10 to 20 pounds lighter than meat-eaters and that a vegetarian diet reduces our risk of heart disease by 40 percent and adds seven or more years to our lifespan. A study published in The American Journal of Medicine found that people who eat a low-fat vegan diet (no meat, no eggs and no dairy foods) lose about a pound per week--even without exercising or counting calories.
PETA's billboard was fueled by a healthy respect for all the animals who are raised cruelly and killed in painful ways as well as for our own species's potential to be kind and healthy. I read the communiqués from fat people who said "thank you" and from those who told us where we can go. To all the people considering gastric bypass or tummy-tuck surgery or who tried a low-carb diet and only got constipation and bad breath in return, I say, just try it: Choose the oatmeal with Silk soy milk instead of bacon and milk; the bean instead of the beef burrito; and the mushrooms, tomatoes and peppers instead of the meat balls. All animals would thank you for it if they could, and I'm betting that you will feel better, both inside and out.
Ingrid E. Newkirk is the president and founder of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510; www.PETA.org. Her latest book is The PETA Practical Guide to Animal Rights.
Ingrid Newkirk: Come on Al, Steak or the Earth?
Considering that the meat industry produces 40 percent more greenhouse gas emissions than all the world's transportation systems, we see no reason to back down in our criticism of Al Gore, among others.
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Hi Ingrid- I've been vegan since 2001 & have taught over 50 community ed vegan cooking classes for two school districts. At the beginning of class I always take a survey of who's vegan/vege
Several premises and implications of this article have been thoroughly debunked. The first is that fat people will cost more money from the healthcare system, this is completely untrue and is just playing on peoples assumptions. Fat people die at an earlier age and will use less money on their health, the people who live longest cost the most money because long term care is expensive and the body breaks down as it gets older and needs lost of medical attention. The Second false premise is that going vegan and becoming healthier means that it must be the meat that's making you unhealthy, this is also plain wrong. Every study ever done has empirically proven that calories are the biggest factor in weight loss and weight gain, people who cut meat out are cutting out a great deal of calories and that's why their health improves so much. If vegans gorged their gullets on avacados and nuts they will be just as fat and unhealthy as any meat eater, it's just that it's more difficult to do this as a vegan then as a meat eater. People who can eat meat in moderation and choose fish or chicken over beef and pork do just as well as any vegetarian. The article is right that people overeat meats and cheeses, but that doesn't mean you have to stop eating meat.
There is another than skinny people need to be aware of. Height weight proportionality is not the sum total of the issue - having a healthy lifestyle. There are skinny people who are fat on the inside. You heard right and that's why skinny people get heart attacks and have fat people issues. To get a real understanding of the issue click on the link below.
http://www
And then of course there's that whole Kate Moss heroin chic thing. Definitely not a good life style choice.
If you ever get the opportunity, go to an Asian grocery store. I have gone to Japanese, Viet Namese, and Chinese. I also have gone to pretty much every flavor of Asian Restaurant imaginable. From what I have seen Asians definitely eat meat. When I went to the Chinese store seemed like every part of the pig or cow was in the meat case. My friend Fong Li said we eat it all, we don't waste any of it. Most of the Asian people I know are rail thin. The ones that aren't seem to lean quite a bit on a western style diet. Too many trips to Mickey D's do them in.
Thank you, Ingrid Newkirk, WOMAN WARRIOR.
For your efforts to disabuse human beings of the notion that eating dead flesh can contribute to their health.
For drawing attention by whatever means necessary to the reality of grotesque, redundant, dollar driven research on primates imprisoned in torture chambers as we comment here.
For advocating release of elephants in "entertainment", www.ringli
For all you do, I thank you!
I think that ad accomplished what it set out to: get attention. And gave way for this article, among others. It created buzz. It was extreme, but so are many other ads for many other products. Look at all the ads that sell a product based on sex. namely, making the woman a sex object. The same people who opposed this billboard would be just fine with the other.
People who think eating at KFC is the way to save money on food, might want to consider a vegetarian diet. It does not have to be all organic, all the time. But a veg diet is just as filling, and so much more healthy. You can have a full stomach every breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and still lose weight. I don't even consider it a "diet" because it's not conscious, or difficult.
Okay, it may not be conscious or difficult for you. Many years ago I knew a young woman name Trina. Quite attractive, and a lot of fun to be around. Don't know if this makes a difference but she was biracial technically a mulatto. Trina told me something. She was very committed to be a vegetarian, actually I think a vegan. Yet her diet kept coming up deficient. She literally had to get injections from her doctor. Finally, her doctor convinced her to eat a little tuna or chicken.
To think that your diet is going to work so well or easy for someone else just because it works for you is a serious mistake. Lots of people get their protein in vegan diets from soy products. Other people are allergic to soy, just like people with peanut allergies. Most white people can process milk sugars well into old age, Most everyone else can't process it much beyond their teen years. Lots of people eat dried beans, for other people it causes extreme discomfort. On his death, I only learned that like many others Michael Jackson gave up on a strict vegetarian diet, he was having issues of malnourishment. Perhaps eating meat wrecks people's diets. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean that vegetarianism will fix it. BTW, soy is implicated in senility, and because they feed it to cattle, even people who don't eat tofu or drink soy milk may be adversely impacted.
http://www
Do you know even know what Obese is? It's easy to declare an obesity epidemic when the numbers have been fudged. Weight Loss Industry, Health Care Industry. Yeah.
The scapegoats are fat this time around.
http://www
It's not the numbers that have been "fudged"; it's people.
BTW, your beach couple photo is funny! Both of them are obviously sucking in their guts, big-time. Doesn't exactly support your claim.
Dear Ms.Newkirk
Thank-you for your insight. The unfortunate truth is that obesity is metabolic, and often caused by inappropriate food choices in early childhood, when our bodies are forming dietary patterns. Each individual has different genetic tendencies, and sometimes a family can have cultural habits that counter the optimum diet for them, leaving entire families with "hereditary" health problems that would easily be prevented, and DNA damage reversed within 2 generations, with the right approach to nutrition. Something that we have yet to really understand medically— but the reason so many of us are sick these days, is that there are too many chemicals additives and environmental toxins interfering with our endocrine systems, and affecting the rate at which we can filter out toxins and burn fat.
The solution, of course, is to ingest only good fats, and to avoid adulterated meat products and promote organic farming methods across the board. People need to be empowered to wean themselves from the bad stuff because lifestyle changes take a lot of trial and error, and they take time— all the more so when there are too many negative influences around us. The frightening reality is that even if we begin now with this [sluggish, top-heavy] system to implement change, it will take several generations to undo the accumulation and long-term damage we have done to our food chain. Our very approach to nutrition is intellectually obese; we need to look at the issue through different lenses.
I agree with you, I know that people like to trot out the whole vegetarian thing, however I think that the most glaring real life illustration of the problem is the case of the Pimas. The Pima Indians are one homogeneous group of people that are separated by the U.S./Mexic
A famous writer and ex-vegan by the name of Upton Sinclair, the activist who forced the meat-packing industry to clean up its act many decades ago when he wrote The Jungle, found he couldn't maintain his work levels on a vegan diet.
Writing sadly that he hated to give up veganism, Sinclair did so nonetheless because he found his brain just wouldn't function at an optimal level on fruits, vegetables, juice, nuts, and seeds. He turned to Salisbury steak as his answer.
Although Upton Sinclair was nearly crucified by his vegan friends for changing his diet and writing about the positive results from the change, he maintained that he went where the truth led him.
The comment above is a direct quote from a blog post http://www
Also note that Vitamin B-12 (a nutrient essential for energy and brain function which is found only in animal-based foods and synthesized forms) was not even discovered until 1948, and was not synthesized until 1974 -- 6 years AFTER Sinclair's death. Anyone trying to be strictly vegan before 1974 could face serious health consequences in the long term.
Ultimately, claiming that it is unhealthy to be vegan because Upton Sinclair couldn't do it is both false and shortsighted. An overwhelming number of scientific studies support the assertion that veganism is a perfectly healthy diet for humans.
Here's a link so people can read it for themselves:
http://www
First, no I am not Chet Day. I just found his article informative.
Why don't you provide a link to some of these scientific studies that do not link to a Peta site, or confuse the issue with politics of eating meat. Upton Sinclair is just one of many, many former vegans for whom it didn't work. I know some of them. But of course when someone says it didn't work for them, the response is always "well they just didn't do it right." Nevermind all the vegans that are sickly and pasty-looking who will stick out a little longer.
If you have to take supplements to survive that should tell you it is not a natural or healthy diet. You are claiming it is "perfectly healthy", when in fact it is not, and you are spreading lies that could have serious health consequences for anyone that believes your lies.
Do I need a source that Sinclair gave up veganism? He tried it before synthetic B-12. So he probably ran into the "serious health consequences" you mention.
Why are the biggest mammals in the world vegetarians? Stop eating too much and move! It's easy to stop moving in this culture. Too many hours at the computer. Driving everywhere. We have schools that don't even have physical education any more. Instead of working off stress through physical activity-comfort food is the answer. We eat a diet that was meant for people doing physical labor all day. People use to walk more. It took more physicality to just meet the basic needs of life. Convenience is killing us.
Whales aren't vegetarians.
H Ingrid- I'm 52 & 6' tall. Before I went vegan in 2001, I weighed 330# & was a physical wreck! I had Type 2 diabetes & fatty liver disease .). My total cholesterol was in the 200's & my triglycerides were in the 500's(!). I was also clincally depressed. My doctor suggested weight-loss surgery. Thinking there must be another way, I decided to try going vegan for a month. I felt so good after a couple of weeks I never went back. My only excercise was riding a $99 Target Excercycle in front of the TV until I ran out of breath. I was off glucaphage within 6 months. My latest cholesterol was 139 & my triglycerides are in the low 70's.
When people noticed I was losing weight, they got excited & asked me what kind of 'supplements' I was taking, I told them I went vegan & quit eating animal foods. The hostility started immediately & NEVER let up. I went from being a thin-skinned over-sensitive fatso into a thick-hided vegan. How much weight did I lose? I went from 330# to 175# in 11 MONTHS & have kept it off plus or minus 5# for OVER 8 YEARS NOW. I call myself the 'anti-inspiration' because I haven't inspired anyone to go vegan or even vegetarian. EVERY fat person I knew on my journey back to health is even FATTER now. I think every person who knew me when I was fat would LOVE to see me
can't call yourself "anti-inspiration" anymore. congrats!
Don't take nutrition advice from Ingrid.
http://nat
The citation above is for an article blasting the RAW vegan diet. The vegan diet that PETA generally endorses http://www
Did you miss the part where he explained that he became crippled after a few years? Did you miss the part about the people who died? Cooking a few more of the vegetables doesn't change the diet that much. You need animal fats and B-12 or you will end up the same way. It may take a few years, but you will get there.
By making claims that a vegan diet is perfectly healthy, you are spreading dangerous lies to suit your own agenda.
Ingrid, your messaging is all wrong. This is a very dicey subject. It's tough to communicate the benefits of a vegetarian life to meat eaters. Everyone has at least one, if not five, beloved fat family members, so the fat argument is not going to work. Most people have some, but not enough compassion for animals, other than house pets, so animal cruelty is not going to win converts. I suggest you work more on exposing the agri-corporations for what they are and eventually less people will buy their so called meat products. Trust me, that's the way to go.
My approach to an eating plan is one that is healthful, ecologically sustainable, and which only includes food sources that have been treated in an ethical manner.
Consequently, I do my best to avoid eating feedlot-raised, grain-fed animal products, or any annual monocrops such as grains like wheat or corn, or bean-crops such as soy. In fact, I avoid any plant foods that require a plow to produce. In my opinion, none of these foods pass the health, sustainability, or ethics tests.
Annual plant monocrops require large amounts of fossil fuels, artificial pesticides and other toxins, destroy precious topsoil, and result in the cruel killing of millions of ground-living animals (and plants) by farm machinery. Hardly ethical or sustainable.
As a medical researcher and author of several books on illness prevention, I use nature as a template when it comes to decisions regarding health and an eating plan. Some people still remember nature - she evolved us. Strangely, the eating plan designed by nature looks nothing like what modern nutritionists, or the author of this article, would have you believe. I consider it to be the most healthful, ethical, and sustainable eating plan on the planet.
"The Wellness Project" contains references and other details regarding nature-based food and detox plans.
Roy Mankovitz, Director
http://www
Water, exercise, and sweat is the perfect detox plan for the majority of people on the planet.
I am morbidly obese. After a heart attack and symptoms of diabetes, I decided to get healthy. I tried a vegetarian, mostly vegan, diet for several months. At first, I lost a little weight but my cholesterol remained stubbornly high, as did my blood pressure. After the first few weeks, I gained back the lost weight and began to gain even more. I got very depressed and felt totally defeated--I couldn't even lose weight on a vegan diet; what was wrong with me? Then I decided to try something else. I began to carefully keep track of calories and to stay under 1200 per day. I did cut down on meat but added low-fat diary products. I have lost 24 pounds this summer, plus I have reformed my eating habits and will continue to lose weight. As one of the 'whales' that Ingrid claims to care about, I say a balanced diet is much better for weight loss.
I couldn't agree more, I had a similar experience myself. I tried to go vegan but constantly found myself sick (yes I took protien and B12 sumplements) and felt tired, then I decided to eat small portions of chicken and fish and I did lose weight and felt fine.Truth be told I felt like increasing my water consumption had a much more drastic and immedeate effect on my health and weight. Water is my holy grail, no less then 64 oz. a day and quite often I go over 100 oz., doing that I finally felt for the first time like my appetite was under my control. For a decade I ate when I was thirsty and gained weight, what a waste, but at least now I know what to do.
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