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Previously, i knew that by living a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle you could reduce your risk of obesity and diabetes. i would have never imagined that by simply switching to a plant-based diet, you could reduce your risk of developing conditions like heart disease, suicide, cancer, among other diseases. What is truly sad is the fact that the FDA's guidelines for food are not always reflective of which foods and what kind of diet is suggested for a healthy life. overall, the lecture was informative and eye-opening.
I totally found this video eye-opening too! The dude was really funny and it was interesting to listen to him! I really learned a lot in just an hour. I am a vegetarian so I found this video especially informative. It gave me more confidence to stand up to my mother when she bashes me for eating a only plants. lol. :)
The video talked about the benefits of focusing on a plant-based diet. He discussed factors such as reducing heart disease, slowing growth of cancer cells, as well as stopping the growth of cancer cells, and preventing suicide and more. The overall idea throughout his speech was that the more vegan lifestyle you led, the higher chances for you to avoid the top causes of death, except accidental deaths. I thought it was absurd when he told us that to prevent cancer an "acceptable way to prevent colorectal cancer" was found because it reminded of the ad for a medicine that cause "less major bleeding." He also told us that doctors and those involved in the world of science ignore the public and believe they are unwilling to give up meat because it's never going to happen. That is just wrong. Anyone willing it to give up meat will! They even said that they did not WANT to promote a plant based society because IT WOULD HAVE A DRASTIC ECONOMICAL EFFECT FOR THE FARMERS. What kind of bull is that? Anyway, it was interesting how they found that IGF1, insulin-like growth factor 1, which was present in everything cancer related, could be slowed or stopped by simply adopting a vegan lifestyle or consuming less meat. They found changes an individuals health in a matter of 12 or 14 days in which they only ate plant products. This shows that plants help more than animal products do in protecting your health. Furthermore, he mentioned that the more fiber you eat the longer you will live. Also, more plant foods and fiber mean you stay slimmer. Vegetarians weigh less because fiber is turned into propionate which causes a hypophagic effect and makes you eat less. This is wonderful because just eating plants can keep you alive longer and healthier. I found it funny that the manufacturers of cigarettes thought it would be cool to put berries in cigarettes to make people healthier. They also wanted to inject maggots into meat and spray bacteriophages on meat. ew. NO. Even if I wasn't a vegetarian I would never buy that meat. -.- We sure do try lots of difficult different ways to stay healthier instead of just being healthier. The solution to living longer, healthier and stronger is a lifestyle focused on plant-based diets. This video got me thinking that since plants can reduce risks and prevents and treat diseases like diabetes then why cant it treat other diseases like depression and other brain neurotransmitter related diseases. He hit on depression but I am curious as to how much of a grand change a simple plant based diet and exercise can solve. Oh yeah! It's not just plants, but also strenuous exercise. Just exercising doesn't make you healthier, you need both plan based diet and exercise.
i thought it was odd too that meat industries thought about using maggots to make meat more healthy. that sounds like an oxymoron to me, just saying. i never gave much serious thought into being a vegetarian, but now i will be extra careful of the meats i intake and try to eat more fruits and vegetables.
I do agree that diet and strenuous exercise together can make an individual healthier and that it is not right for corporations to ignore the vegan lifestyle. They should definitely support it. Along with the vegan lifestyle, however, you cannot eat dairy products. Many vegans are much slimmer than meat eaters because they do not have the bone density you get from calcium in milk. People argue you can get the calcium from supplements but calcium supplements are extremely dangerous to take. If you get too much in your system at once, even if you take three pills within three days but too close together you can in essence OD which happens to a lot more people than you would think. I think that the information from the seminar should be readily available to the public by the FDA or another health organization to show the benefits of a plant based diet. In addition, if they want to support vegan and vegetarian lifestyles nutrient supplements should be more regulated and available. If that happens I'd be more than happy to switch over.
I think the seminar was extremely interesting, and I have always considered changing my diet to plant based. However, he does not discuss different lifestyles along a plant based diet. Being a distance runner I have to eat a lot of protein and from what I have been told from other nutritionists I could not subside on an all plant based diet. It would be hard to get enough protein and iron to stay healthy. I already have to take iron supplements as it as, eating both meat and plants For an average American maybe being vegan would be the best path but for me I do not think so. I know his sole purpose was to support the vegan lifestyle but he never mentions the benefits of meat especially if it is cooked properly. A vegan diet would definitely look a lot healthier up against the average American diet because many eat too large of portions or eat out too often. If prepared properly and consumed appropriately I think that eating meat would be about as healthy. Also a lot of the results from his studies and others studies maybe a bit skewed towards vegan because people that stick to a plant based diet would be much more likely to be healthier in other aspects of their lives as a whole. The few healthier meat eaters would not be appropriately represented. I think if he had the time and wanted to display all the options there would be at least some benefit to staying to an omnivorous diet, or at least his results and evidence would seem less statistically significant. I do think that his results are something to look into, but before immediately switching mindsets I think all angles should be taken in to consideration.
I agree that the video is very one-sided in its research. They do not go into detail on how properly prepared meat is beneficial to the public, or how this sortof switch may affect other lifestyles (as you mentioned). Sadly, the food industry seems to have gone downhill with its intentions. However, it would be interesting to see a new broader prospect with research for both sides to this story.
I completely agree with your statement. Everyone is a different and a vegan lifestyle may not always be what is healthy for a person. I also liked that you mentioned that before starting any new life-changing diet and lifestyle, take some time and take with professionals, have a sit-down with yourself and discuss what could potentially happen to you. In addition, I agree with how not mentioning what impact fully cooked meat put a damper on his argument. It left viewer open to making their own possible conclusions that maybe having fully cooked meat, lessens your risk at certain types of deaths
I also agree that the speaker is completely using one-sided research in his talk. Lots of athletes need the iron and protein from meat to be able to get proper nourishment in their bodies, and if prepared properly and consumed in the correct amounts it is beneficial. As you said, if Americans didn't eat out as much and learned how to consume their meats properly they could be just as healthy as the plant-based dieters.
The video had many interesting points on the switching over to a plant-based diet. Who knew that eradicating meat from your diet could help prevent 15/16 (including prescription medication) of the leading causes of death, and who knew that the plants may also be used in treating these disease? It is interesting to me how on several accounts we have read papers and watched videos that exploit what seems to be the FDA's main concern with the public health and food ordeal: keeping the economics of the food industry intact. With so many members of the FDA's board also containing board members for many leading (unhealthy) food industries we must begin to question the true intentions of these board members. Are they sincerely concerned for the public's health or are they more concerned with the paycheck they will receive for ensuring the meat industry stays intact? Although this video is very one-sided in the study of vegan vs. omnivores it highlights the key fact that vegans do put up a greater fight against the many diseases that plague our population. Although the vegan lifestyle would not be for everyone, (The video did not go into detail about how would it affect an individual with a healthier lifestyle than the average American.) this lifestyle may be optimal for those with an already high risk for the leading causes of death. Maybe even those already affected by these diseases may find use in switching to a vegan diet. It could be used as a preventative measure as well, however this would be hard to accomplish with the FDA standing in the way of change.
While he attacks FDA board members who are associated with leading meat industries, how can you know that he (or his friends) isn't a board member of a produce industry? I agree that a vegan diet would be useful for people suffering from diseases, but it isn't necessary for the average person. Animal products should just be consumed in moderation
While I agree that FDA seems pretty conservative and self-serving (in trying to keep their "paycheck"), I would have to say the board actually does care about the public-- in other ways. Killing off the meat industry business would take a huge dump on the economy (as meat is a huge GDP consumption factor), as well as promoting produce industry. But human wants is something the board probably considers as well. Just because going on a vegan diet will ensure a healthier and (more) risk-free lifestyle does not immediately give everyone the incentive to go vegan (especially the meat-lovers). Destroying the meat industries to promote the produce industry, and therefore a more healthier diet, will cause more problems than it will solve. Instead, FDA should address ignorance on the matter (because a vegan diet does really help those who have high risk for the leading cause of deaths, and overall better for those who want to live longer) by advertising the benefits of vegan diet, and letting the consumer choose whether to convert into a vegan or to remain omnivorous.
While the video mentioned various benefits of a plant based diet, it didn't seem very realistic to me, especially since the presentation of research was so one sided. He assumes that diet is the only thing that causes these diseases and that it is the only aspect that can be changed. In reality, genetics and other lifestyle choices, such as exercise, factor into risk levels for these deadly diseases. Diet isn't the only risk factor for leading diseases such as heart disease and cancer. Also, while a plant based diet can be used to prevent and treat diseases, it shouldn't pbe presented as the main way to protect yourself. Emphysema, for instance, is easier to prevent by not smoking, than by cutting animal products out of your diet. Additionally, the collapse of the meat industry would have detrimental effects on American society. While they might not be health related, they would still cause significant problems. Vegans are not going to go out and eat fried foods high in calories and fats so it makes sense that they would be healthier. Because of their dietary restrictions, they would be more likely to avoid fast food/restaurants, and processed foods in general. This type of lifestyle, however, can be very expensive and isn't feasible for all families. He didn't mention any problems associated with a plant based diet(nutrient deficiencies) or the harmful pesticides sprayed onto plant crops. Lindsey Thrift
I agree with your point about how certain aspects of his presentation seemed to be a bit of a stretch - it seems to me that rather than first examining the effects of a plant-based diet and then applying them to the top 15 killers in the United States, Dr. Greger first looked at the list of killers and determined how to apply pro-vegan arguments to them. He makes it seem as though adopting a vegan diet will grant you full immunity from these diseases, which is untrue. While eating a plant-based diet will lower the risk factor, it cannot eliminate it - genetics and chance play roles as well.
The video was very informative with great research backing up his ideas. He stresses a lot on healthier diets, specifically vegan diets, and has data on how vegetable based diets can prevent diseases and clear stress; however, a main point I noticed was that he is a strict vegan himself (since 1990) and I believe that's a huge contributing factor towards a biased viewpoint. Some of his data (the Finland one caught my eye; 80% death rate drop?) seems pretty flowery to me, especially when there are underlying variables that could cause a change in the data. Stats can be manipulated in many ways to explain any phenomena if needed; Finland's drop in death rate could be accounted for by changes in other areas (technological advances or changes in lifestyle beyond just diet). But under his biases, there are many truths. Diet definitely has many benefits to health-- and would be a great change in a place like America, which sadly has a very high rate of obesity. Watching one's diet is sure to lead to a longer life and reduced rate for contracting diseases (and lowering the risk factors for 15 of the top 16 leading causes of death).
The very clear biases of the speaker did make me cautious regarding some of the statistics. For instance, exercise is mentioned in one experiment as opposed to being a constantly noted factor. Genetics aren't really mentioned at all, nor is the environment of the people who take place in the experiments. Certain areas have varying access to consistent supplies of enough of these vegan foods. While yes, vegan diets do help with living longer lives, they are not the only foods human beings can consume. There are diets that work effectively that still permit the eating of meat, and the simple fact of the matter is that many people won't even bother with changing their usual unhealthy life styles. The speech was well thought out, but it won't change many people's minds.
it seems to me that the speaker could be labeled as one of those "violently vegan" types. its one thing to practice a vegan lifestyle and quite another to treat those that don't like children and assume they are not as smart. he is one of those people that pushes his lifestyle on others and tries to make them like him, which probably was what started his website promoting the vegan lifestyle. in relation to his stats, it does make me wary that he could willingly leave out some unfavorable but fair statistics to only show how being vegan would be massively superior to other diets, and not show the ones that may suggest that being vegan has no reaction or consequence at all.
The speaker provides detailed surveys and studies as to how a Vegan diet can reduce risks for the leading causes of death except a few that are not reliant on food at all (accidents) and shows studies that support that Vegan dieting. diet being the only variable looked at in most the studies, there is no debating the impressive information he presents. unfortunately, he is obviously speaking at a vegan convention of sorts because no one acts like he is unless he is preaching to the choir. his "look how much better we are than everybody else" mentality made me increasingly frustrated the more i watched and nearing the end the notes i was writing increasingly held the words jerk, bias, annoying, et cetera. i have no doubt that my life could be prolonged by eating a vegan diet but that lifestyle is not one i want, an idea that would seem ridiculous to the speaker. his research is sound, albeit one sided, but the way he presents it, form his tone to his jokes, makes me want to throw him out a window rather than listen to him seriously.
Amen Michael. I thought the video was definitely interesting, but as an extreme meat lover, I fail to see why I should support the Vegan diet. He provided several defense for his case such as showing how high-fat diets led to chronic inflammatory diseases as well as showing how people who eat meat have a higher cholesterol than those who do not eat meat. On the other hand, he never mentioned the infinite benefits of consuming meat. My sister is a vegetarian and she has difficulty getting the needed protein that a healthy diet demands. Meat is able to help our bodies get this necessary protein which is the building block of skin, cartilage, bones, and muscle. He also used the effect of McDonalds on the body as an example of why meat is unhealthy, which in my opinion, is a completely unfair card to pull considering YOU DON'T EAT MCDONALD'S BECAUSE YOU THINK IT'S GOOD FOR YOU. However, I do think that it was wrong of the FDA to fail to inform the public of the adverse effects of eating meat simply because Americans are stubborn. I think this information should become more public, but I think people also need to consider an argument against a solely plant-based diet.
I strongly agree with you in the sense that Dr. Greger provides a RIDICULOUSLY one sided argument. He doesn't speak about the benefits of eating meat and doesn't speak of the negative effects of eating a plant-based diet. This may be because he doesn't believe that meat can help humans at all. He treats a plant-based diet as a cure for all diseases and conditions such as obesity. I believe that it is everyone's personal choice to decide what to consume and he shouldn't be putting meat-eaters down in the way he does through sarcasm and only showing studies where meat blogs make ironic and arguably dumb comments. My mom was a vegetarian for a long time but struggled with finding foods that provided the amount of protein that meat did which affected how much muscle she was capable of building through exercise. The meat industry has gained quite a bad reputation due to unhealthy or questionable conditions in factories and due to their tendency to try to cut corners to save money; however, I don't believe he should take advantage of its bad reputation in the way that he does. There are legitimately healthier ways to consume meat and Dr. Greger basically made fun of the one meat blog that stated that there are safer ways to eat meat with the intent of disproving what it said. I think that Dr. Greger was using these extreme measures of sarcasm, a one-sided argument, and unbelievable statistics to catch people's attention and make a point that it is important to consider the benefits of eating a plant-based diet. While I don't agree with some of his points, I believe Dr. Greger took the necessary measures to get his argument for plant-based diet out there, in a culture where vegans aren't too common.
This was a very informative video and clearly very well thought out. The speaker makes sure to cover a topic everyone can understand ("Avoiding death"), and then goes on to show how vegan diets can essentially save people from most major causes of death and how meat is a poor choice of meal. While obviously well-informed, I did have a few notable disagreements with the speaker. While vegan diets are clearly healthier, they aren't necessarily the only course of action for people trying to live their lives. His arguments were extremely one-sided (granted, he did stay focused on his topic) and under the array of jokes and sarcastic replies was a very clear anti-meat view of the world. While yes, vegan diets do require less exercise for greater returns regarding health, cancer-free life, and several other benefits, humanity as a whole is far too used to being an omnivorous species. More plants may be warranted in the future, but meat is still an integral part of many (dare I say, most) human cultures that will probably not be leaving the diet for a long time. Furthermore, the greatest reason meat as a meal will not be leaving the human race is the simple fact that it is delicious. Say what you will about "diets" and certain foods being healthier than others, at the end of the day most people are just going to eat what their taste buds (given to the human race by natural selection) think tastes good.
Very good point about how at the end of the day people will eat what tastes good to them. Although it is disheartening to say it the guideline creators were for the most part correct in assuming that even with the knowledge of whats best, people will still continue to rely on the calisthenics of taste. It would be interesting to actually study what genes are within the genome which give so many people a yearning to consume meat products. However I feel like the speaker over exemplified and exaggerated the negatives of eating meat.
I found this presentation to be very informative and interesting - I learned a lot of benefits of eating vegan that I was previously unaware of. However, Dr. Greger seemed to leave out and trivialize legitimate struggles Americans would face when minimizing and/or removing meat from their diets. For example, vegan options such as soy milk, beans, and tofu are much more expensive than dairy and meat. While some Americans would gladly try an entirely plant-based diet, their budgets would not allow it. In addition, it takes a significant amount of plant-based foods to match the calorie content of meat - therefore, not only would more expensive food have to be purchased, but larger quantities of it as well. This leads to another issue - the typical meat-eating American's body isn't acclimated to a plant-based diet. It can be compared to a child given sugary juice versus a child given water. The child given juice becomes accustomed to sweet and flavored drinks, and eventually finds water to be bitter and even unpalatable. Meat-eating Americans crave meat and are used to its high calorie and fat content - when switching to a plant-based diet, they may struggle with not knowing how much food to eat and which foods to eat to get necessary energy, as well as, to put it bluntly, a diversion to the flavor of vegan food options. People who suddenly switch to vegan diets without fully understanding how much nutrients and protein they need to consume with plant-based options may experience fatigue. It's not simply as easy as an instant switch - money, knowledge, and time are also required to adopt a plant-based diet. I do wholeheartedly agree that switching to a vegan lifestyle would be ideal - in a perfect world. However, the United States' current nutrition system is not perfect, and these problems would all need to be addressed before a national increase in plant-based foods, such as the one mentioned in Finland, could be implemented.
Thank you for discussing the "accustomed to it" issue; I was wondering about it as well. Some of the articles he used caught my attention: "European" and "Thai" being among them. The diets of these areas differ from America's diet, and I wondered how much of an impact the lifestyle differences would have. You also pointed out an economic impact--the price difference of vegan foods--I hadn't considered before. There also stands the slight information gap of how much of certain foods to eat, and what the certain foods even are. Just as it takes time to adapt to a strict exercise routine, switching from a high-meat diet to a plant-based diet isn't an easy switch and requires knowledge, hard work, and effort. Perhaps, with time and widespread effort with help from the government, America can follow in Finland's footprints.
I do agree with others here in that Dr. Greger has a bias, but to be honest I think that this is a subject that is hard to eliminate bias from? All throughout his presentation, I was thinking of the French infant who died a few years ago because it wasn't getting enough nutrients from its mother's breast milk (article here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1371172/French-vegan-couple-face-jail-child-neglect-baby-died-vitamin-deficiency.html). That being said, has the long-term vitamin (particularly vitamins A and B12) deficiency on vegan adults really been studied? He didn't even acknowledge problems with a plant-based diet. My opinion: natural selection will come for all vegans. you will be cold and fatless and freeze to death during the next snowstorm. bye
The video was much more interesting than I was expecting, and the speaker was definitely very convincing. Throughout the seminar, the speaker provided evidence as to why a plant-based diet is beneficial for a healthy life as opposed to a diet that includes the consumption of meat and meat products. For example, the speaker mentioned how vegetarians generally have lower cholesterols as compared to the higher cholesterols of meat eaters. He also showed how inflammation results soon after consuming meat, and this can lead to chronic inflammatory diseases. In addition, he provided interesting information on cancer by showing that women who had breast cancer and began following a plant-based diet were able to slow down cell growth and even help lead to a greater percentage of cells undergoing apoptosis. Throughout his seminar, he continues to display shocking and fascinating statistics and results of plant-based diets in regards to cancer, cholesterol, clogged arteries, inflammatory diseases, differing testosterone levels, and numerous other causes of death such as obesity among others. He also mentions how the FDA has not done a good job of informing the public of the adverse effects of meat on the body simply because the FDA believes that people are too stubborn for it to affect Western culture in any way. All in all, the video was eye-opening, and I definitely learned several bits of information that were interesting but scary in a sense. Maybe our culture will experience a dramatic shift toward plant-based diets if this information were to become more public.
Although his information was interesting and encouraging, it only focused on diet as the "cure" to these leading causes of death. I partially agree with the FDA when they assume that the public is too stubborn to change. Even after watching this and being made more aware of the benefits of a vegan diet, I will continue to eat meat and other animal products. Taking the economic implications of eliminating the meat industry into consideration, I would not support a complete conversion to plant-based diets for society as a whole.
Dr. Greger's video was, as many other people have said, very interesting. He backed up everything he said with facts; his presentation was clear, logical, well thought out, and easy to follow. I do, however, remain a bit skeptic; it almost seems too good to be true. Yes, eating healthy and exercising is a good idea; I'm just unsure if going vegan has as great an impact as he shows. I feel as though he may have skipped over some facts; at the very least, I wish he had gone a bit more in-depth with detailing the articles, the results, the credibility of the authors--even the full economic impact of a country going vegan. Dr. Greger answered many questions, but he also left me with just as many, if not more. It would be interesting to see another doctor or scientist--preferably non-vegan, to see a bias difference--do similar research. I also noticed that his tone is very engaging: he stresses certain words to create a desired effect; he asks the audiences questions, rhetorical and otherwise; he's quick to turn the blame on large corporations. He's accustomed to speaking to large audiences and playing to them, so to speak.
Dr. Greger's main point throughout the video was that living a vegan lifestyle with a veggie-based diet has countless health benefits. Many threatening diseases and afflictions may be avoided and prevented by a simple change in the food we eat. He backs up his suggestions with detailed studies that prove a vegan life to eliminate risk factors associated with leading causes of death. Though his research is thorough, Dr. Greger presents it as if diet is the only factor in the results, but diet is not the only thing that puts people at risk. Eliminating the meat industry would have extreme impacts on the global economy and is simply unrealistic. A vegan diet may be the healthiest and have abundant benefits; however, complete removal meat and animal products is an unrealistic goal.
I must agree with you it would be impossible to eliminate the meat industry. Also he fails to mention any positive of meat whatsoever. All he does is list the negatives of meat and the positives of a vegetarian diet. He lends no credence to the meat industry, and a lot of his seminar seems to just be a general bashing of the meat industry. He presents them as a farce and essentially makes fun of them. He brings up the spraying of meat with bacteriophages, and presents it as a completely unrealistic solution to a problem when it is certainly a viable solution. Also I don't like how he called hot dogs pig anuses. I prefer not to think about what they are made of.
I was aware that a plant based or vegan diet was much healthier for you than one that focused on the consumption of animal products. I was unaware just how much better it was for you however. A vegan diet can help treat or prevent nearly all of the 16 leading causes of death. The video was full of information including: eating two handfuls of nuts a week is equatable to 4 hrs a week in jogging for prolonging ones lives, and that almost 75% of heart attack patients fall within recommended targets for LDL cholesterol. This means that current guidelines may not be low enough to cut heart attack risk. To stall plaque progression in our arteries a person’s total cholesterol level needs to be lowered to that of the average pure vegetarian. There are drugs out on the market that reduce the risk of heart attacks, but a side effect is an increased risk of diabetes. Diabetes can be treated or even reversed with a vegan diet, much like the other leading causes of death. In addition to a decreased risk of heart disease, vegetarians have a lower risk for cancer than normal people. The blood of vegan people fights cancer 8 times better than meat-eaters. Lowering animal product consumption leads to lower IGF-1. A vegan diet dramatically decreases your risk for all of the leading causes of death including kidney and liver damage. Plant-based diets can also help depressed people. Plants contain serotonin which can help a person through depression. As can be clearly seen Vegan diets have many more benefits compared to a regular American diet.
I totally agree with you even I knew generally that a vegetarian diet was better than a meat diet but I didn't know that a vegetarian diet was that much better.The fact that a vegetarian diet prevents almost all of the top 16 leading causes of death amazes me! Also to know that plant fibers contain many of the same neurotransmitters we do is just amazing!
This video was actually very interesting. The clever puns and great animations made the presentation more lively. However, there were some obvious bias towards a vegan life-style in the presentation. Moreover, the studies use can be disputable. Many of these studies were done through nurses's literature in cohort studies. Having done a bio-stats class, these forms of studies are examples of non-experimental studies, where data is collected through just observation. Since these are not experimental designs, like randomized control trials, you can not show causation between variables. However, the pritzkins foundation observation of cancer cell growth used experimental design trials (whether they were randomized,control trials is not known) and this type of study design can allow the researcher to show causation between the independent and dependent variables,so this type of design is much more reliable, even when the data is more biased towards a vegan life-style. Overall however, the funding were very interesting and the approach to looking at death prevention made his more plausible and persuasive. However, I , personally will still continue eating meat, because I need to get the nutrient I need to survive and stay healthy. I could never really see myself on a vegetarian or vegan -diet for a long time, because of how long I have been eating meat. It is an interesting alternative to living life, but it is at the person's choice.
Kuna, I definitely agree when you stated that you will continue to eat meat because you get the nutrients you need to stay healthy from your diet. i have met far too many vegans and vegetarians in my life who think that eating pasta and granola all day will keep them healthy. Making the transition to a Vegan lifestyle is a choice that needs to made carefully and intelligently. You must get the proper nutrients and vitamins from your foods to maintain a healthy body. Also, there are many positive aspects of eating meat. Meat helps our bodies get necessary proteins, but as shown in the video, the FDA and other organizations may try to hide the dangerous side effects of eating meat to keep the meat industry successful.
This video does an excellent comparison between a plant based diet and a meat based diet.It was interesting to learn that a person develops endotoxinemia right after they have a meat based meal. It was also interesting to learn that the endotoxins which are in the meat are released straight into your bloodstream . These endotoxins cant be destroyed by stomach acid, pancreatic enzymes, and these toxins aren't even destroyed by cooking the meat. The body has no natural way to get rid of these toxins. Another interesting fact l learned was that a plant based diet does a better job suppressing cancer cell growth by binding IGF-1 proteins (IGF-1 causes cancer production) . Plants also have many human neurotransmitters such as dopanine and sarahtonin. High intakes of fruits and plants can cause behavior to be better and more controlled. It is very cool to know that a vegetarian diet could prevent many of the top killing factors that harma americans today.
This video really opened my eyes about the option of vegetarianism. Dr. Greger's sarcastic jokes and visual presentation made the video quite interesting but it also helped him to incite an emotional response to what he was saying, even if what he was saying was simply a fact found in one small, obscure study. It was quite biased and some of the interesting little facts such as the amount of cholesterol gained by eating one egg a day appears to cut a woman's life short as much as smoking 5 cigarettes a day for 15 years, eating a couple oatmeals worth of fiber a day appears to extend a woman's life as much as jogging 4 hours a week, eating two handfuls of nuts a week has the same benefit as jogging 4 hours a week, seemed very specific and therefore led me to question their validity out of the studies when applied to real life. However, I strongly agree with some of the other points Dr. Greger made such as the fact that just because you have an optimal cholesterol level, it doesn't mean you can't get heart disease or diabetes, and that we shouldn't worry so much about the effects on the meat industry as much as the effects of the meat industry, and all other industries for that matter, on us. A fact that really stood out to me was that the blood of those eating vegan foods fights about 8 times better against cancer. When I first heard the fact, I was skeptical but the study that put women on a two week plant-based diet and exercise convinced me more because after the study, the women were significantly better at battling cancer. The study that compared people who exercised to those who exercised and had a plant-based diet convinced me further that what Dr.Greger was saying had some validity. I also found it interesting that eating a plant based diet can lower IGF-1 levels which can lower cancer growth. It makes me wonder why people with cancer aren't immediately placed on an all vegan diet. I thought it was really ironic that while everyone considers banana a food high in potassium, it doesn't even make the top 50 sources of potassium. If this is true, it just goes to show how skewed our perspective on nutrition has become due to the media and our culture. He said that people that ate plant-based diets had better moods than those who ate meat and I've actually seen this first hand when my mom became a vegetarian. While I thought Dr. Greger made some really good points, I don't think I'll become a vegetarian any time soon. I wish he had spoken more about the obvious benefits of eating meat.
The presentation was overall extremely eye-opening to the benefits of being on a plant-based diet, but also seemed very biased. In the beginning with all of the numbers with eating 2 handfuls of nuts could equal jogging for 4 hours or the amount of cholesterol in eating 1 egg a day cuts a woman's life short the same as smoking 5 cigarettes a day. But further into the presentation there were studies that made these numbers seem more real. My favorite part of the presentation was when the put blood from an American diet person on cultured cancer cells and blood from a vegan diet person on cancer cells. The results showed that the vegan-dieters were 8 times greater at fighting of cancer. Because it was a one-sided presentation we didn't get the effects of if Americans were to eat the correct portions of meats that were cooked properly and if that could possibly make us just as healthy. Because it is simply difficult to cut meats completely out of our diets, whether it be because we are athletes, or a health issue, our bodies need nourishment. It would have been nice to see some type of stats on what if Ameridans ate the correct portions. Overall, it was a great presentation and some great points were made as far as going to a plant-based diet..very convincing.
The presentation was indeed very convincing. However, he does state that even after cooking meat for hours, the endotoxins weren't "killed". Therefore, I think that in order to be healthy, meat would need to be completely out of a daily diet. Because, even the most common type of a meat - chicken, is highly deadly. That's why, I think that he didn't show any proportions of meat that could be considered healthy. But then again, my views might be biased as well because I m a vegetarian.
This video had some really interesting facts and benefits about being on a vegan diet. I found it shocking, how people in the medical field would rather not tell us the truth about our diet because they think that we don't have the "ability" to change it. Furthermore, I thought that exercise could make up for the diet, but I was surprised when he said that 5000 hours in the gym couldn't make up for the vegan diet (when the apoptosis of cancer cells was concerned). Previously, I didn't think that having a specific diet benefits against cancer, but I have now realized that being on a vegan diet reduces IGF-1 levels drastically. Another important fact was that in order to get these benefits, you must be on a vegan diet, a vegetarian diet doesn't help much. Also he pointed out other leading causes of death in which being on a plant based diet is helpful, and in some cases treatment as well. This video really changed my perspective on diet affecting our health; I didn't know that being on a vegan diet has such extensive benefits.
I found it shocking & EXTREMELY SUSPICIOUS, that people in the medical field refused to tell us the truth about our diet because we would not change it. That does not sound right. It sounds like either a conspiracy (doctors make patients unhealthy and get them to pay huge medical bills for all their diseases.....especially something like diabetes (constant payment for insulin, etc.)) or that the speaker was straight up lying and he needed some sort of justification and could not think of anything better. I also wonder if maybe this guy could be making all of this up to fund his secret business. Like he is the owner of some MEGA Vegan company and he is trying to increase profits by scaring people into going Vegan. Does it sound crazy? Yes, but hey, it is possible. Or maybe it's all of the above. One huge conspiracy. They are all working with each other to make tons of money by taking advantage of the ignorant public. Ignorance a bliss? I don't think so.
Nicky Kodua I found Dr.Greger's presentation to be alarmingly striking and well given with sarcasm and humor laced in. He chose a very appropriate topic with "Avoiding Death" because it is one of the only two certainties in life but also something which many people fear. It was particularly disheartening that the government administered guidelines for cholestrol were actually not even at the required guidelines for health because it is the duty of a government to protect and inform its people rather than just to toss aside information with life saving potential simply because of an assumption that people cannot or will not change their diets. Despite the statistics being in favor of a plant-based diet they were quite biased and in some cases not plausible like with athletes. Although the plant-based diet lowers the risk of the top 15 causes of death, it negates some of the benefits found in more animal based diets. For instance my sister is vegan but also a tennis player for her college so in order to meet her required protein and iron levels she has to take supplements. This sounds like a simple solution but supplements have adverse effects like the potential to lead towards conditions/diseases like osteoporosis later in life. Due to circumstances like this is feel that although a plant-based diet is the best at creating the anticancer effect which inhibits cancer growths, limiting IGF-1 levels in order to lessen the growth of cancerous cells, and incorporating fiber as a means to activate the propionate synthesis which inhibits cholesterol levels- it is not necessarily the right diet for all people and americans. Overall this video partially changed my view but combining diet + exercise is the best solution because as evidenced by one of the studies exercise alone can increase the potency of agents in blood which inhibit cancer. Then factor in the fiber of the plant-based diet along with nutrients and you have a killer combination even when consuming appropriate amounts of protein-rich meats.
I was very alarmed by the statistics in this video. It is crazy how much of an affect eating an unhealthy meal one time can affect one’s life span. I thought that one was only affected greatly if he or she continually ate unhealthy. I was surprised by how much of a risk eating poultry puts one at for lymphoma, especially since people are constantly encouraged to eat poultry within today's society. I wish this information was more widespread so that Americans could be more conscious about eating fast food/unhealthy foods more than once a day, week, or even month. At the same time, I feel SLIGHTLY skeptical about all of this information. If all of this information is true, why do the people not know? Many Americans eat fast food more than once a day and in extremely unhealthy portions. Anyways, despite my natural suspicions, this video does call me to action. I pan on changing my eating habits to compliment my strenuous workouts. I plan on cutting out a greater amount of processed foods from my diet. I also hope to be more selective about what types of foods I put into my body and how much of it. I don’t plan on becoming a Vegan, but I do plan on incorporating more plants and organic foods into my diet.
Personally, I thought the speaker’s statistics were very impressive, detailed, and backed up his strong beliefs that the Vegan diet is the best way to reduce risks for these diseases. The video brought up several benefits of a plant-base diet; however, with the research being so biased it was difficult to see how realistic his points were. I feel as though some of the statistics and data were manipulated to further support his ideas. He fails to address the other factor that cause these diseases such as genes and lack of exercise. Simply becoming a Vegan will probably prevent diseases, but if one doesn’t retrieve all of the necessary nutrients from their foods, their malnutrition can be just as detrimental to their bodies as the overnutrition was before. Also, the Vegan lifestyle is very difficult to maintain because of the price and the selective options, so not every family will be able to do this when some people don’t even have access to a proper grocery store. Of course I agree that eating smartly and changing our diets would prolong our lives- there’s no doubt about that; however, I do not think that everyone should jump on the Vegan train.
Well, first off let me say I'm glad I don't eat at McDonald's. It's kinda ridiculous that just one sausage/egg mcmuffin has the potential to paralyze your arteries inflame your lungs within hours of you eating it. I think the thing about the patronizing doctors is all too true. I couldn't help but think about all the people out there who aren't even aware of half of these things while I watched. Although, I'm not sure that it would help them to know. Not because they wouldn't change their diets but because it seems to be more expensive to try and eat that way and I don't think most people would be able to afford the lifestyle. My mom always said that was the reason she never became a vegan/vegetarian, although she does still enjoy her some veggie burgers every now and then. Anyways when he talks about the bacteria in the meat that are resistant to almost everything we use to make sure bacteria is killed (cooking and such) and even from our stomach acid it made me think of archaea bacteria and if there might be another way in preventing these from entering our bodies. I love food. I love meat. I can't fathom a life without it. I would think it great to have something that gets rid of these harmful things and I can still enjoy my meat. What really got me though were the studies conducted and how he presented the statistics. It's crazy amazing what a vegan diet can do for killing cancer cells. This information needs to be more widely spread because this could be great for the people who have cancers to keep it from spreading. Just 2 weeks can do amazing things for the body. I really liked this video and how it shows food can be the problem and the solution in causing/ preventing death.
Previously, i knew that by living a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle you could reduce your risk of obesity and diabetes. i would have never imagined that by simply switching to a plant-based diet, you could reduce your risk of developing conditions like heart disease, suicide, cancer, among other diseases. What is truly sad is the fact that the FDA's guidelines for food are not always reflective of which foods and what kind of diet is suggested for a healthy life. overall, the lecture was informative and eye-opening.
ReplyDeleteI totally found this video eye-opening too! The dude was really funny and it was interesting to listen to him! I really learned a lot in just an hour. I am a vegetarian so I found this video especially informative. It gave me more confidence to stand up to my mother when she bashes me for eating a only plants. lol. :)
DeleteAparna Parvathi
ReplyDeleteThe video talked about the benefits of focusing on a plant-based diet. He discussed factors such as reducing heart disease, slowing growth of cancer cells, as well as stopping the growth of cancer cells, and preventing suicide and more. The overall idea throughout his speech was that the more vegan lifestyle you led, the higher chances for you to avoid the top causes of death, except accidental deaths. I thought it was absurd when he told us that to prevent cancer an "acceptable way to prevent colorectal cancer" was found because it reminded of the ad for a medicine that cause "less major bleeding." He also told us that doctors and those involved in the world of science ignore the public and believe they are unwilling to give up meat because it's never going to happen. That is just wrong. Anyone willing it to give up meat will! They even said that they did not WANT to promote a plant based society because IT WOULD HAVE A DRASTIC ECONOMICAL EFFECT FOR THE FARMERS. What kind of bull is that? Anyway, it was interesting how they found that IGF1, insulin-like growth factor 1, which was present in everything cancer related, could be slowed or stopped by simply adopting a vegan lifestyle or consuming less meat. They found changes an individuals health in a matter of 12 or 14 days in which they only ate plant products. This shows that plants help more than animal products do in protecting your health. Furthermore, he mentioned that the more fiber you eat the longer you will live. Also, more plant foods and fiber mean you stay slimmer. Vegetarians weigh less because fiber is turned into propionate which causes a hypophagic effect and makes you eat less. This is wonderful because just eating plants can keep you alive longer and healthier. I found it funny that the manufacturers of cigarettes thought it would be cool to put berries in cigarettes to make people healthier. They also wanted to inject maggots into meat and spray bacteriophages on meat. ew. NO. Even if I wasn't a vegetarian I would never buy that meat. -.- We sure do try lots of difficult different ways to stay healthier instead of just being healthier. The solution to living longer, healthier and stronger is a lifestyle focused on plant-based diets.
This video got me thinking that since plants can reduce risks and prevents and treat diseases like diabetes then why cant it treat other diseases like depression and other brain neurotransmitter related diseases. He hit on depression but I am curious as to how much of a grand change a simple plant based diet and exercise can solve. Oh yeah! It's not just plants, but also strenuous exercise. Just exercising doesn't make you healthier, you need both plan based diet and exercise.
i thought it was odd too that meat industries thought about using maggots to make meat more healthy. that sounds like an oxymoron to me, just saying. i never gave much serious thought into being a vegetarian, but now i will be extra careful of the meats i intake and try to eat more fruits and vegetables.
DeleteI do agree that diet and strenuous exercise together can make an individual healthier and that it is not right for corporations to ignore the vegan lifestyle. They should definitely support it. Along with the vegan lifestyle, however, you cannot eat dairy products. Many vegans are much slimmer than meat eaters because they do not have the bone density you get from calcium in milk. People argue you can get the calcium from supplements but calcium supplements are extremely dangerous to take. If you get too much in your system at once, even if you take three pills within three days but too close together you can in essence OD which happens to a lot more people than you would think. I think that the information from the seminar should be readily available to the public by the FDA or another health organization to show the benefits of a plant based diet. In addition, if they want to support vegan and vegetarian lifestyles nutrient supplements should be more regulated and available. If that happens I'd be more than happy to switch over.
DeleteIsabel Veith
ReplyDeleteI think the seminar was extremely interesting, and I have always considered changing my diet to plant based. However, he does not discuss different lifestyles along a plant based diet. Being a distance runner I have to eat a lot of protein and from what I have been told from other nutritionists I could not subside on an all plant based diet. It would be hard to get enough protein and iron to stay healthy. I already have to take iron supplements as it as, eating both meat and plants For an average American maybe being vegan would be the best path but for me I do not think so. I know his sole purpose was to support the vegan lifestyle but he never mentions the benefits of meat especially if it is cooked properly. A vegan diet would definitely look a lot healthier up against the average American diet because many eat too large of portions or eat out too often. If prepared properly and consumed appropriately I think that eating meat would be about as healthy. Also a lot of the results from his studies and others studies maybe a bit skewed towards vegan because people that stick to a plant based diet would be much more likely to be healthier in other aspects of their lives as a whole. The few healthier meat eaters would not be appropriately represented. I think if he had the time and wanted to display all the options there would be at least some benefit to staying to an omnivorous diet, or at least his results and evidence would seem less statistically significant. I do think that his results are something to look into, but before immediately switching mindsets I think all angles should be taken in to consideration.
I agree that the video is very one-sided in its research. They do not go into detail on how properly prepared meat is beneficial to the public, or how this sortof switch may affect other lifestyles (as you mentioned). Sadly, the food industry seems to have gone downhill with its intentions. However, it would be interesting to see a new broader prospect with research for both sides to this story.
DeleteI completely agree with your statement. Everyone is a different and a vegan lifestyle may not always be what is healthy for a person. I also liked that you mentioned that before starting any new life-changing diet and lifestyle, take some time and take with professionals, have a sit-down with yourself and discuss what could potentially happen to you. In addition, I agree with how not mentioning what impact fully cooked meat put a damper on his argument. It left viewer open to making their own possible conclusions that maybe having fully cooked meat, lessens your risk at certain types of deaths
DeleteI also agree that the speaker is completely using one-sided research in his talk. Lots of athletes need the iron and protein from meat to be able to get proper nourishment in their bodies, and if prepared properly and consumed in the correct amounts it is beneficial. As you said, if Americans didn't eat out as much and learned how to consume their meats properly they could be just as healthy as the plant-based dieters.
DeleteThe video had many interesting points on the switching over to a plant-based diet. Who knew that eradicating meat from your diet could help prevent 15/16 (including prescription medication) of the leading causes of death, and who knew that the plants may also be used in treating these disease? It is interesting to me how on several accounts we have read papers and watched videos that exploit what seems to be the FDA's main concern with the public health and food ordeal: keeping the economics of the food industry intact. With so many members of the FDA's board also containing board members for many leading (unhealthy) food industries we must begin to question the true intentions of these board members. Are they sincerely concerned for the public's health or are they more concerned with the paycheck they will receive for ensuring the meat industry stays intact? Although this video is very one-sided in the study of vegan vs. omnivores it highlights the key fact that vegans do put up a greater fight against the many diseases that plague our population. Although the vegan lifestyle would not be for everyone, (The video did not go into detail about how would it affect an individual with a healthier lifestyle than the average American.) this lifestyle may be optimal for those with an already high risk for the leading causes of death. Maybe even those already affected by these diseases may find use in switching to a vegan diet. It could be used as a preventative measure as well, however this would be hard to accomplish with the FDA standing in the way of change.
ReplyDeleteWhile he attacks FDA board members who are associated with leading meat industries, how can you know that he (or his friends) isn't a board member of a produce industry? I agree that a vegan diet would be useful for people suffering from diseases, but it isn't necessary for the average person. Animal products should just be consumed in moderation
DeleteWhile I agree that FDA seems pretty conservative and self-serving (in trying to keep their "paycheck"), I would have to say the board actually does care about the public-- in other ways. Killing off the meat industry business would take a huge dump on the economy (as meat is a huge GDP consumption factor), as well as promoting produce industry. But human wants is something the board probably considers as well. Just because going on a vegan diet will ensure a healthier and (more) risk-free lifestyle does not immediately give everyone the incentive to go vegan (especially the meat-lovers). Destroying the meat industries to promote the produce industry, and therefore a more healthier diet, will cause more problems than it will solve. Instead, FDA should address ignorance on the matter (because a vegan diet does really help those who have high risk for the leading cause of deaths, and overall better for those who want to live longer) by advertising the benefits of vegan diet, and letting the consumer choose whether to convert into a vegan or to remain omnivorous.
DeleteWhile the video mentioned various benefits of a plant based diet, it didn't seem very realistic to me, especially since the presentation of research was so one sided. He assumes that diet is the only thing that causes these diseases and that it is the only aspect that can be changed. In reality, genetics and other lifestyle choices, such as exercise, factor into risk levels for these deadly diseases. Diet isn't the only risk factor for leading diseases such as heart disease and cancer. Also, while a plant based diet can be used to prevent and treat diseases, it shouldn't pbe presented as the main way to protect yourself. Emphysema, for instance, is easier to prevent by not smoking, than by cutting animal products out of your diet. Additionally, the collapse of the meat industry would have detrimental effects on American society. While they might not be health related, they would still cause significant problems. Vegans are not going to go out and eat fried foods high in calories and fats so it makes sense that they would be healthier. Because of their dietary restrictions, they would be more likely to avoid fast food/restaurants, and processed foods in general. This type of lifestyle, however, can be very expensive and isn't feasible for all families. He didn't mention any problems associated with a plant based diet(nutrient deficiencies) or the harmful pesticides sprayed onto plant crops.
ReplyDeleteLindsey Thrift
I agree with your point about how certain aspects of his presentation seemed to be a bit of a stretch - it seems to me that rather than first examining the effects of a plant-based diet and then applying them to the top 15 killers in the United States, Dr. Greger first looked at the list of killers and determined how to apply pro-vegan arguments to them. He makes it seem as though adopting a vegan diet will grant you full immunity from these diseases, which is untrue. While eating a plant-based diet will lower the risk factor, it cannot eliminate it - genetics and chance play roles as well.
DeleteThe video was very informative with great research backing up his ideas. He stresses a lot on healthier diets, specifically vegan diets, and has data on how vegetable based diets can prevent diseases and clear stress; however, a main point I noticed was that he is a strict vegan himself (since 1990) and I believe that's a huge contributing factor towards a biased viewpoint. Some of his data (the Finland one caught my eye; 80% death rate drop?) seems pretty flowery to me, especially when there are underlying variables that could cause a change in the data. Stats can be manipulated in many ways to explain any phenomena if needed; Finland's drop in death rate could be accounted for by changes in other areas (technological advances or changes in lifestyle beyond just diet).
ReplyDeleteBut under his biases, there are many truths. Diet definitely has many benefits to health-- and would be a great change in a place like America, which sadly has a very high rate of obesity. Watching one's diet is sure to lead to a longer life and reduced rate for contracting diseases (and lowering the risk factors for 15 of the top 16 leading causes of death).
The very clear biases of the speaker did make me cautious regarding some of the statistics. For instance, exercise is mentioned in one experiment as opposed to being a constantly noted factor. Genetics aren't really mentioned at all, nor is the environment of the people who take place in the experiments. Certain areas have varying access to consistent supplies of enough of these vegan foods. While yes, vegan diets do help with living longer lives, they are not the only foods human beings can consume. There are diets that work effectively that still permit the eating of meat, and the simple fact of the matter is that many people won't even bother with changing their usual unhealthy life styles. The speech was well thought out, but it won't change many people's minds.
Deleteit seems to me that the speaker could be labeled as one of those "violently vegan" types. its one thing to practice a vegan lifestyle and quite another to treat those that don't like children and assume they are not as smart. he is one of those people that pushes his lifestyle on others and tries to make them like him, which probably was what started his website promoting the vegan lifestyle. in relation to his stats, it does make me wary that he could willingly leave out some unfavorable but fair statistics to only show how being vegan would be massively superior to other diets, and not show the ones that may suggest that being vegan has no reaction or consequence at all.
DeleteMichael Bell
ReplyDeleteThe speaker provides detailed surveys and studies as to how a Vegan diet can reduce risks for the leading causes of death except a few that are not reliant on food at all (accidents) and shows studies that support that Vegan dieting. diet being the only variable looked at in most the studies, there is no debating the impressive information he presents. unfortunately, he is obviously speaking at a vegan convention of sorts because no one acts like he is unless he is preaching to the choir. his "look how much better we are than everybody else" mentality made me increasingly frustrated the more i watched and nearing the end the notes i was writing increasingly held the words jerk, bias, annoying, et cetera. i have no doubt that my life could be prolonged by eating a vegan diet but that lifestyle is not one i want, an idea that would seem ridiculous to the speaker. his research is sound, albeit one sided, but the way he presents it, form his tone to his jokes, makes me want to throw him out a window rather than listen to him seriously.
Hayley Doyle
DeleteAmen Michael. I thought the video was definitely interesting, but as an extreme meat lover, I fail to see why I should support the Vegan diet. He provided several defense for his case such as showing how high-fat diets led to chronic inflammatory diseases as well as showing how people who eat meat have a higher cholesterol than those who do not eat meat. On the other hand, he never mentioned the infinite benefits of consuming meat. My sister is a vegetarian and she has difficulty getting the needed protein that a healthy diet demands. Meat is able to help our bodies get this necessary protein which is the building block of skin, cartilage, bones, and muscle. He also used the effect of McDonalds on the body as an example of why meat is unhealthy, which in my opinion, is a completely unfair card to pull considering YOU DON'T EAT MCDONALD'S BECAUSE YOU THINK IT'S GOOD FOR YOU. However, I do think that it was wrong of the FDA to fail to inform the public of the adverse effects of eating meat simply because Americans are stubborn. I think this information should become more public, but I think people also need to consider an argument against a solely plant-based diet.
I strongly agree with you in the sense that Dr. Greger provides a RIDICULOUSLY one sided argument. He doesn't speak about the benefits of eating meat and doesn't speak of the negative effects of eating a plant-based diet. This may be because he doesn't believe that meat can help humans at all. He treats a plant-based diet as a cure for all diseases and conditions such as obesity. I believe that it is everyone's personal choice to decide what to consume and he shouldn't be putting meat-eaters down in the way he does through sarcasm and only showing studies where meat blogs make ironic and arguably dumb comments. My mom was a vegetarian for a long time but struggled with finding foods that provided the amount of protein that meat did which affected how much muscle she was capable of building through exercise. The meat industry has gained quite a bad reputation due to unhealthy or questionable conditions in factories and due to their tendency to try to cut corners to save money; however, I don't believe he should take advantage of its bad reputation in the way that he does. There are legitimately healthier ways to consume meat and Dr. Greger basically made fun of the one meat blog that stated that there are safer ways to eat meat with the intent of disproving what it said. I think that Dr. Greger was using these extreme measures of sarcasm, a one-sided argument, and unbelievable statistics to catch people's attention and make a point that it is important to consider the benefits of eating a plant-based diet. While I don't agree with some of his points, I believe Dr. Greger took the necessary measures to get his argument for plant-based diet out there, in a culture where vegans aren't too common.
DeleteMark Luke
ReplyDeleteThis was a very informative video and clearly very well thought out. The speaker makes sure to cover a topic everyone can understand ("Avoiding death"), and then goes on to show how vegan diets can essentially save people from most major causes of death and how meat is a poor choice of meal. While obviously well-informed, I did have a few notable disagreements with the speaker. While vegan diets are clearly healthier, they aren't necessarily the only course of action for people trying to live their lives. His arguments were extremely one-sided (granted, he did stay focused on his topic) and under the array of jokes and sarcastic replies was a very clear anti-meat view of the world. While yes, vegan diets do require less exercise for greater returns regarding health, cancer-free life, and several other benefits, humanity as a whole is far too used to being an omnivorous species. More plants may be warranted in the future, but meat is still an integral part of many (dare I say, most) human cultures that will probably not be leaving the diet for a long time. Furthermore, the greatest reason meat as a meal will not be leaving the human race is the simple fact that it is delicious. Say what you will about "diets" and certain foods being healthier than others, at the end of the day most people are just going to eat what their taste buds (given to the human race by natural selection) think tastes good.
Very good point about how at the end of the day people will eat what tastes good to them. Although it is disheartening to say it the guideline creators were for the most part correct in assuming that even with the knowledge of whats best, people will still continue to rely on the calisthenics of taste. It would be interesting to actually study what genes are within the genome which give so many people a yearning to consume meat products. However I feel like the speaker over exemplified and exaggerated the negatives of eating meat.
DeleteI found this presentation to be very informative and interesting - I learned a lot of benefits of eating vegan that I was previously unaware of. However, Dr. Greger seemed to leave out and trivialize legitimate struggles Americans would face when minimizing and/or removing meat from their diets. For example, vegan options such as soy milk, beans, and tofu are much more expensive than dairy and meat. While some Americans would gladly try an entirely plant-based diet, their budgets would not allow it. In addition, it takes a significant amount of plant-based foods to match the calorie content of meat - therefore, not only would more expensive food have to be purchased, but larger quantities of it as well. This leads to another issue - the typical meat-eating American's body isn't acclimated to a plant-based diet. It can be compared to a child given sugary juice versus a child given water. The child given juice becomes accustomed to sweet and flavored drinks, and eventually finds water to be bitter and even unpalatable. Meat-eating Americans crave meat and are used to its high calorie and fat content - when switching to a plant-based diet, they may struggle with not knowing how much food to eat and which foods to eat to get necessary energy, as well as, to put it bluntly, a diversion to the flavor of vegan food options. People who suddenly switch to vegan diets without fully understanding how much nutrients and protein they need to consume with plant-based options may experience fatigue. It's not simply as easy as an instant switch - money, knowledge, and time are also required to adopt a plant-based diet. I do wholeheartedly agree that switching to a vegan lifestyle would be ideal - in a perfect world. However, the United States' current nutrition system is not perfect, and these problems would all need to be addressed before a national increase in plant-based foods, such as the one mentioned in Finland, could be implemented.
ReplyDeleteThank you for discussing the "accustomed to it" issue; I was wondering about it as well. Some of the articles he used caught my attention: "European" and "Thai" being among them. The diets of these areas differ from America's diet, and I wondered how much of an impact the lifestyle differences would have. You also pointed out an economic impact--the price difference of vegan foods--I hadn't considered before.
DeleteThere also stands the slight information gap of how much of certain foods to eat, and what the certain foods even are. Just as it takes time to adapt to a strict exercise routine, switching from a high-meat diet to a plant-based diet isn't an easy switch and requires knowledge, hard work, and effort. Perhaps, with time and widespread effort with help from the government, America can follow in Finland's footprints.
I do agree with others here in that Dr. Greger has a bias, but to be honest I think that this is a subject that is hard to eliminate bias from? All throughout his presentation, I was thinking of the French infant who died a few years ago because it wasn't getting enough nutrients from its mother's breast milk (article here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1371172/French-vegan-couple-face-jail-child-neglect-baby-died-vitamin-deficiency.html). That being said, has the long-term vitamin (particularly vitamins A and B12) deficiency on vegan adults really been studied? He didn't even acknowledge problems with a plant-based diet.
ReplyDeleteMy opinion: natural selection will come for all vegans. you will be cold and fatless and freeze to death during the next snowstorm. bye
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Jeana wins the award for best post.
DeleteThe video was much more interesting than I was expecting, and the speaker was definitely very convincing. Throughout the seminar, the speaker provided evidence as to why a plant-based diet is beneficial for a healthy life as opposed to a diet that includes the consumption of meat and meat products. For example, the speaker mentioned how vegetarians generally have lower cholesterols as compared to the higher cholesterols of meat eaters. He also showed how inflammation results soon after consuming meat, and this can lead to chronic inflammatory diseases. In addition, he provided interesting information on cancer by showing that women who had breast cancer and began following a plant-based diet were able to slow down cell growth and even help lead to a greater percentage of cells undergoing apoptosis. Throughout his seminar, he continues to display shocking and fascinating statistics and results of plant-based diets in regards to cancer, cholesterol, clogged arteries, inflammatory diseases, differing testosterone levels, and numerous other causes of death such as obesity among others. He also mentions how the FDA has not done a good job of informing the public of the adverse effects of meat on the body simply because the FDA believes that people are too stubborn for it to affect Western culture in any way. All in all, the video was eye-opening, and I definitely learned several bits of information that were interesting but scary in a sense. Maybe our culture will experience a dramatic shift toward plant-based diets if this information were to become more public.
ReplyDeleteAlthough his information was interesting and encouraging, it only focused on diet as the "cure" to these leading causes of death. I partially agree with the FDA when they assume that the public is too stubborn to change. Even after watching this and being made more aware of the benefits of a vegan diet, I will continue to eat meat and other animal products. Taking the economic implications of eliminating the meat industry into consideration, I would not support a complete conversion to plant-based diets for society as a whole.
DeleteDr. Greger's video was, as many other people have said, very interesting. He backed up everything he said with facts; his presentation was clear, logical, well thought out, and easy to follow. I do, however, remain a bit skeptic; it almost seems too good to be true. Yes, eating healthy and exercising is a good idea; I'm just unsure if going vegan has as great an impact as he shows. I feel as though he may have skipped over some facts; at the very least, I wish he had gone a bit more in-depth with detailing the articles, the results, the credibility of the authors--even the full economic impact of a country going vegan.
ReplyDeleteDr. Greger answered many questions, but he also left me with just as many, if not more. It would be interesting to see another doctor or scientist--preferably non-vegan, to see a bias difference--do similar research.
I also noticed that his tone is very engaging: he stresses certain words to create a desired effect; he asks the audiences questions, rhetorical and otherwise; he's quick to turn the blame on large corporations. He's accustomed to speaking to large audiences and playing to them, so to speak.
Dr. Greger's main point throughout the video was that living a vegan lifestyle with a veggie-based diet has countless health benefits. Many threatening diseases and afflictions may be avoided and prevented by a simple change in the food we eat. He backs up his suggestions with detailed studies that prove a vegan life to eliminate risk factors associated with leading causes of death. Though his research is thorough, Dr. Greger presents it as if diet is the only factor in the results, but diet is not the only thing that puts people at risk. Eliminating the meat industry would have extreme impacts on the global economy and is simply unrealistic. A vegan diet may be the healthiest and have abundant benefits; however, complete removal meat and animal products is an unrealistic goal.
ReplyDeleteI must agree with you it would be impossible to eliminate the meat industry. Also he fails to mention any positive of meat whatsoever. All he does is list the negatives of meat and the positives of a vegetarian diet. He lends no credence to the meat industry, and a lot of his seminar seems to just be a general bashing of the meat industry. He presents them as a farce and essentially makes fun of them. He brings up the spraying of meat with bacteriophages, and presents it as a completely unrealistic solution to a problem when it is certainly a viable solution. Also I don't like how he called hot dogs pig anuses. I prefer not to think about what they are made of.
DeleteI was aware that a plant based or vegan diet was much healthier for you than one that focused on the consumption of animal products. I was unaware just how much better it was for you however. A vegan diet can help treat or prevent nearly all of the 16 leading causes of death. The video was full of information including: eating two handfuls of nuts a week is equatable to 4 hrs a week in jogging for prolonging ones lives, and that almost 75% of heart attack patients fall within recommended targets for LDL cholesterol. This means that current guidelines may not be low enough to cut heart attack risk. To stall plaque progression in our arteries a person’s total cholesterol level needs to be lowered to that of the average pure vegetarian. There are drugs out on the market that reduce the risk of heart attacks, but a side effect is an increased risk of diabetes. Diabetes can be treated or even reversed with a vegan diet, much like the other leading causes of death. In addition to a decreased risk of heart disease, vegetarians have a lower risk for cancer than normal people. The blood of vegan people fights cancer 8 times better than meat-eaters. Lowering animal product consumption leads to lower IGF-1. A vegan diet dramatically decreases your risk for all of the leading causes of death including kidney and liver damage. Plant-based diets can also help depressed people. Plants contain serotonin which can help a person through depression. As can be clearly seen Vegan diets have many more benefits compared to a regular American diet.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you even I knew generally that a vegetarian diet was better than a meat diet but I didn't know that a vegetarian diet was that much better.The fact that a vegetarian diet prevents almost all of the top 16 leading causes of death amazes me! Also to know that plant fibers contain many of the same neurotransmitters we do is just amazing!
DeleteThis video was actually very interesting. The clever puns and great animations made the presentation more lively. However, there were some obvious bias towards a vegan life-style in the presentation. Moreover, the studies use can be disputable. Many of these studies were done through nurses's literature in cohort studies. Having done a bio-stats class, these forms of studies are examples of non-experimental studies, where data is collected through just observation. Since these are not experimental designs, like randomized control trials, you can not show causation between variables.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the pritzkins foundation observation of cancer cell growth used experimental design trials (whether they were randomized,control trials is not known) and this type of study design can allow the researcher to show causation between the independent and dependent variables,so this type of design is much more reliable, even when the data is more biased towards a vegan life-style.
Overall however, the funding were very interesting and the approach to looking at death prevention made his more plausible and persuasive. However, I , personally will still continue eating meat, because I need to get the nutrient I need to survive and stay healthy. I could never really see myself on a vegetarian or vegan -diet for a long time, because of how long I have been eating meat. It is an interesting alternative to living life, but it is at the person's choice.
Kuna, I definitely agree when you stated that you will continue to eat meat because you get the nutrients you need to stay healthy from your diet. i have met far too many vegans and vegetarians in my life who think that eating pasta and granola all day will keep them healthy. Making the transition to a Vegan lifestyle is a choice that needs to made carefully and intelligently. You must get the proper nutrients and vitamins from your foods to maintain a healthy body. Also, there are many positive aspects of eating meat. Meat helps our bodies get necessary proteins, but as shown in the video, the FDA and other organizations may try to hide the dangerous side effects of eating meat to keep the meat industry successful.
DeleteThis video does an excellent comparison between a plant based diet and a meat based diet.It was interesting to learn that a person develops endotoxinemia right after they have a meat based meal. It was also interesting to learn that the endotoxins which are in the meat are released straight into your bloodstream . These endotoxins cant be destroyed by stomach acid, pancreatic enzymes, and these toxins aren't even destroyed by cooking the meat. The body has no natural way to get rid of these toxins. Another interesting fact l learned was that a plant based diet does a better job suppressing cancer cell growth by binding IGF-1 proteins (IGF-1 causes cancer production) . Plants also have many human neurotransmitters such as dopanine and sarahtonin. High intakes of fruits and plants can cause behavior to be better and more controlled. It is very cool to know that a vegetarian diet could prevent many of the top killing factors that harma americans today.
ReplyDeleteThis video really opened my eyes about the option of vegetarianism. Dr. Greger's sarcastic jokes and visual presentation made the video quite interesting but it also helped him to incite an emotional response to what he was saying, even if what he was saying was simply a fact found in one small, obscure study. It was quite biased and some of the interesting little facts such as the amount of cholesterol gained by eating one egg a day appears to cut a woman's life short as much as smoking 5 cigarettes a day for 15 years, eating a couple oatmeals worth of fiber a day appears to extend a woman's life as much as jogging 4 hours a week, eating two handfuls of nuts a week has the same benefit as jogging 4 hours a week, seemed very specific and therefore led me to question their validity out of the studies when applied to real life. However, I strongly agree with some of the other points Dr. Greger made such as the fact that just because you have an optimal cholesterol level, it doesn't mean you can't get heart disease or diabetes, and that we shouldn't worry so much about the effects on the meat industry as much as the effects of the meat industry, and all other industries for that matter, on us. A fact that really stood out to me was that the blood of those eating vegan foods fights about 8 times better against cancer. When I first heard the fact, I was skeptical but the study that put women on a two week plant-based diet and exercise convinced me more because after the study, the women were significantly better at battling cancer. The study that compared people who exercised to those who exercised and had a plant-based diet convinced me further that what Dr.Greger was saying had some validity. I also found it interesting that eating a plant based diet can lower IGF-1 levels which can lower cancer growth. It makes me wonder why people with cancer aren't immediately placed on an all vegan diet. I thought it was really ironic that while everyone considers banana a food high in potassium, it doesn't even make the top 50 sources of potassium. If this is true, it just goes to show how skewed our perspective on nutrition has become due to the media and our culture. He said that people that ate plant-based diets had better moods than those who ate meat and I've actually seen this first hand when my mom became a vegetarian. While I thought Dr. Greger made some really good points, I don't think I'll become a vegetarian any time soon. I wish he had spoken more about the obvious benefits of eating meat.
ReplyDeleteThe presentation was overall extremely eye-opening to the benefits of being on a plant-based diet, but also seemed very biased. In the beginning with all of the numbers with eating 2 handfuls of nuts could equal jogging for 4 hours or the amount of cholesterol in eating 1 egg a day cuts a woman's life short the same as smoking 5 cigarettes a day. But further into the presentation there were studies that made these numbers seem more real. My favorite part of the presentation was when the put blood from an American diet person on cultured cancer cells and blood from a vegan diet person on cancer cells. The results showed that the vegan-dieters were 8 times greater at fighting of cancer. Because it was a one-sided presentation we didn't get the effects of if Americans were to eat the correct portions of meats that were cooked properly and if that could possibly make us just as healthy. Because it is simply difficult to cut meats completely out of our diets, whether it be because we are athletes, or a health issue, our bodies need nourishment. It would have been nice to see some type of stats on what if Ameridans ate the correct portions. Overall, it was a great presentation and some great points were made as far as going to a plant-based diet..very convincing.
ReplyDeleteThe presentation was indeed very convincing. However, he does state that even after cooking meat for hours, the endotoxins weren't "killed". Therefore, I think that in order to be healthy, meat would need to be completely out of a daily diet. Because, even the most common type of a meat - chicken, is highly deadly. That's why, I think that he didn't show any proportions of meat that could be considered healthy. But then again, my views might be biased as well because I m a vegetarian.
DeleteThis video had some really interesting facts and benefits about being on a vegan diet. I found it shocking, how people in the medical field would rather not tell us the truth about our diet because they think that we don't have the "ability" to change it. Furthermore, I thought that exercise could make up for the diet, but I was surprised when he said that 5000 hours in the gym couldn't make up for the vegan diet (when the apoptosis of cancer cells was concerned). Previously, I didn't think that having a specific diet benefits against cancer, but I have now realized that being on a vegan diet reduces IGF-1 levels drastically. Another important fact was that in order to get these benefits, you must be on a vegan diet, a vegetarian diet doesn't help much. Also he pointed out other leading causes of death in which being on a plant based diet is helpful, and in some cases treatment as well. This video really changed my perspective on diet affecting our health; I didn't know that being on a vegan diet has such extensive benefits.
ReplyDeleteI found it shocking & EXTREMELY SUSPICIOUS, that people in the medical field refused to tell us the truth about our diet because we would not change it. That does not sound right. It sounds like either a conspiracy (doctors make patients unhealthy and get them to pay huge medical bills for all their diseases.....especially something like diabetes (constant payment for insulin, etc.)) or that the speaker was straight up lying and he needed some sort of justification and could not think of anything better. I also wonder if maybe this guy could be making all of this up to fund his secret business. Like he is the owner of some MEGA Vegan company and he is trying to increase profits by scaring people into going Vegan. Does it sound crazy? Yes, but hey, it is possible. Or maybe it's all of the above. One huge conspiracy. They are all working with each other to make tons of money by taking advantage of the ignorant public. Ignorance a bliss? I don't think so.
DeleteNicky Kodua
ReplyDeleteI found Dr.Greger's presentation to be alarmingly striking and well given with sarcasm and humor laced in. He chose a very appropriate topic with "Avoiding Death" because it is one of the only two certainties in life but also something which many people fear. It was particularly disheartening that the government administered guidelines for cholestrol were actually not even at the required guidelines for health because it is the duty of a government to protect and inform its people rather than just to toss aside information with life saving potential simply because of an assumption that people cannot or will not change their diets. Despite the statistics being in favor of a plant-based diet they were quite biased and in some cases not plausible like with athletes. Although the plant-based diet lowers the risk of the top 15 causes of death, it negates some of the benefits found in more animal based diets. For instance my sister is vegan but also a tennis player for her college so in order to meet her required protein and iron levels she has to take supplements. This sounds like a simple solution but supplements have adverse effects like the potential to lead towards conditions/diseases like osteoporosis later in life. Due to circumstances like this is feel that although a plant-based diet is the best at creating the anticancer effect which inhibits cancer growths, limiting IGF-1 levels in order to lessen the growth of cancerous cells, and incorporating fiber as a means to activate the propionate synthesis which inhibits cholesterol levels- it is not necessarily the right diet for all people and americans. Overall this video partially changed my view but combining diet + exercise is the best solution because as evidenced by one of the studies exercise alone can increase the potency of agents in blood which inhibit cancer. Then factor in the fiber of the plant-based diet along with nutrients and you have a killer combination even when consuming appropriate amounts of protein-rich meats.
I was very alarmed by the statistics in this video. It is crazy how much of an affect eating an unhealthy meal one time can affect one’s life span. I thought that one was only affected greatly if he or she continually ate unhealthy. I was surprised by how much of a risk eating poultry puts one at for lymphoma, especially since people are constantly encouraged to eat poultry within today's society. I wish this information was more widespread so that Americans could be more conscious about eating fast food/unhealthy foods more than once a day, week, or even month. At the same time, I feel SLIGHTLY skeptical about all of this information. If all of this information is true, why do the people not know? Many Americans eat fast food more than once a day and in extremely unhealthy portions. Anyways, despite my natural suspicions, this video does call me to action. I pan on changing my eating habits to compliment my strenuous workouts. I plan on cutting out a greater amount of processed foods from my diet. I also hope to be more selective about what types of foods I put into my body and how much of it. I don’t plan on becoming a Vegan, but I do plan on incorporating more plants and organic foods into my diet.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I thought the speaker’s statistics were very impressive, detailed, and backed up his strong beliefs that the Vegan diet is the best way to reduce risks for these diseases. The video brought up several benefits of a plant-base diet; however, with the research being so biased it was difficult to see how realistic his points were. I feel as though some of the statistics and data were manipulated to further support his ideas. He fails to address the other factor that cause these diseases such as genes and lack of exercise. Simply becoming a Vegan will probably prevent diseases, but if one doesn’t retrieve all of the necessary nutrients from their foods, their malnutrition can be just as detrimental to their bodies as the overnutrition was before. Also, the Vegan lifestyle is very difficult to maintain because of the price and the selective options, so not every family will be able to do this when some people don’t even have access to a proper grocery store. Of course I agree that eating smartly and changing our diets would prolong our lives- there’s no doubt about that; however, I do not think that everyone should jump on the Vegan train.
ReplyDeleteBrianna Taylor
ReplyDeleteWell, first off let me say I'm glad I don't eat at McDonald's. It's kinda ridiculous that just one sausage/egg mcmuffin has the potential to paralyze your arteries inflame your lungs within hours of you eating it. I think the thing about the patronizing doctors is all too true. I couldn't help but think about all the people out there who aren't even aware of half of these things while I watched. Although, I'm not sure that it would help them to know. Not because they wouldn't change their diets but because it seems to be more expensive to try and eat that way and I don't think most people would be able to afford the lifestyle. My mom always said that was the reason she never became a vegan/vegetarian, although she does still enjoy her some veggie burgers every now and then. Anyways when he talks about the bacteria in the meat that are resistant to almost everything we use to make sure bacteria is killed (cooking and such) and even from our stomach acid it made me think of archaea bacteria and if there might be another way in preventing these from entering our bodies. I love food. I love meat. I can't fathom a life without it. I would think it great to have something that gets rid of these harmful things and I can still enjoy my meat.
What really got me though were the studies conducted and how he presented the statistics. It's crazy amazing what a vegan diet can do for killing cancer cells. This information needs to be more widely spread because this could be great for the people who have cancers to keep it from spreading. Just 2 weeks can do amazing things for the body. I really liked this video and how it shows food can be the problem and the solution in causing/ preventing death.