Brief Analysis of Veganism. Is it worth it?

Evolution of Humans – The Importance of Meat

The evolution of humanity would never have occurred without meat. Animal Food Products (AFP)
were instrumental in the development of our brains and bodies. It’s thought the use of high calorie
meat and fat from scavenging led to the boom in brain growth for Homo habalis[CITATION Jes19 \l
2057 ]. By 2 mya there is evidence of butchery on animals ranging from size class 2 (small antelope)
to 5 (hippo, rhino) [ CITATION Dav10 \l 2057 ]. Plants are naturally low in nutrients, this is the basis
of trophic levels, different animals have evolved different methods of extracting energy and nutrient
from them.

Great Apes tend to live in rainforest allowing year round access to fruits and shoots. In plant eating
mammals as body size increases quality of diet by necessity decreases. By increasing body size
higher quantities of fibre can be digested and more energy extracted, allowing survival in otherwise
hostile niches.

Fig. 1. [ CITATION Mil03 \l 2057 ]

The cecum and the colon are the locations in the gut where bacteria break down fibre and convert it
into saturated fat. In a gorilla this can mean nearly 60% of the energy comes from saturated
fat[ CITATION Pop97 \l 2057 ]. Humans do not have the digestive system capable of producing much
in the way of saturated fat from fibre. Instead humans need to get their fats directly from other
sources. In the natural environment this is much easier to source from animals. The explosion in
brain size led to a huge demand in energy, it’s thought that cooking is responsible for allowing more
access to that energy, allowing the brain to grow. As well as this cooking drastically reduces bacteria
growth[ CITATION Smi15 \l 2057 ]. Increasing size of the brain leads to a huge increase in the energy
requirements, however as well as simply brain capacity, the human brain has a huge amount of
blood flow, indicating a very high energy requirements[ CITATION Sey19 \l 2057 ]. Humans are
unusual amoungst apes, in that we wean very early years earlier. It’s likely the very energy rich AFP
are what has allowed this to occur[ CITATION Ken05 \l 2057 ].

Other evidence pointing toward meat being very important to human development:

Lack of hair allows sweating, a fairly unique hunting adaptation to allow persistence hunting

Shoulder socket allows a very mobile arm, capable of throwing things accurately, unlike any other
ape.

Bipedalism, and gait also beneficial to persistence hunting, awful for climbing (up to where the most
nutrient rich plants are)

B12 is a requirement and you die without it, only found in AFP naturally.

Evidence of human diets in the past is hard to come by, however there are isotope analyses which
indicate what was being eaten. Analysis of carbon, nitrogen and sulphur isotopes in China indicate
high consumption of animal foods and fish, 40,000 years ago[ CITATION Hu09 \l 2057 ]. Analysis of
Upper Pleistocene Modern Humans, and Neanderthal again shows high consumption of
AFP[ CITATION Wib19 \l 2057 ].

If we look at modern hunter-gatherer societies, we see a heavy reliance on AFP. With 73% of
societies relying on over half their caloric intake coming from meat[ CITATION Cor00 \l 2057 ]. This is
despite living on the fringes of global society in an era where there is a lot less prey, and what there
is tends to be smaller (likely due to human hunting in the Quaternary)[ CITATION Smi18 \l 2057 ].

It’s possible that the increased consumption of omega-3 (specifically DHA) led to the huge boost in
our brain power, DHA may have unique properties allowing higher intelligence[ CITATION Cra13 \l
2057 ]. This may have come from increased fish consumption, or from the increased consumption of
mammals.

The shortcomings of plants

So hopefully it’s agreed humans at least evolved to eat meat. That does not automatically make
plant based diets a write off, but it does indicate what a good diet is supposed to be and thus the
nutrient requirements for it.

Plants like any other animal don’t want to die. However unlike animals which can run away, or fight
back, plants often defend themselves using chemical warfare. This is why herbivores have different
niches, they can’t all eat any plant. A good example is the Eucalyptus and it’s toxic leaves, which a
Koala happily munches on.

Common anti-nutrients:

Phytic Acid or phytates – Found in legumes and grains mostly, phytates may cause a decrease in iron
and zinc uptake[ CITATION Bru89 \l 2057 ], as well as interfere with other nutrients like calcium, and
some proteins.
[ CITATION Sol79 \l 2057 ]

Goitrogens are found in many plants, Soy is best known. They can interfere with iodine uptake, and
your thyroid hormones. “Infants fed soy formula are at higher risk for hypothyroidism and for later
development of autoimmune thyroid diseases. In humans, goiter has been seen in infants fed soy
formula; this is usually reversed by changing to cow milk or iodine-supplemented diets . After the
1960s, manufacturers reportedly began adding iodine to formulas to mitigate thyroid effects”
[ CITATION Doe02 \l 2057 ]

It could easily be argued these infants are juts not getting enough iodine rather than the soy
interfering, however [ CITATION Sat11 \l 2057 ] showed a much higher risk of getting hypothyroidism
from higher intake of soy:

“Although six patients receiving 16-mg phytoestrogen supplementation advanced from subclinical to
overt hypothyroidism and no patients advanced while receiving 2-mg phytoestrogen
supplementation”

Oxalates form in plants as another defence and to help the plant regulate it’s own
nutrients[ CITATION Fra05 \l 2057 ]. They bind with calcium, iron and magnesium preventing uptake.
They are not super common but are found in plants like spinach (incidentally one of the most
popular sources of iron for vegans)[ CITATION Noo02 \l 2057 ].

Plants do contain a fair amount of nutrients how much of it is absorbed is known as the
bioavailability. In plants this tends to be quite variable, and lower than from meat sources. Tracking
this is very difficult and as a result makes epidemiological studies notoriously unreliable. It is possible
to improve upon plant bioavailability although many of the techniques are infrequently
used[ CITATION Gib07 \l 2057 ][ CITATION Fro00 \l 2057 ].

Do vegans get enough nutrients?

What really matters is the results, are vegans getting enough of each nutrient? The answer is no, not
really. Although it’s also true that people consuming the standard western diet also struggle,
everyone being low in nutrients isn’t a strong argument for a diet being equally poor to therefore be
good. [CITATION Cof \l 2057 ]

Lack of nutrition is common for everyone, in my opinion due to the decrease in red meat
consumption, and increase in grains. One study showed noticeably lower intake of protein, fat and
Vitamin D, along with significantly lower levels of serum ferritin and B12 deficiency as common
[ CITATION Ale94 \l 2057 ]. More recently a German study showed despite average intake of iron
being above the RDAA, 40% of vegans where iron deficient, and vitamin D deficiency was
common[ CITATION Wal04 \l 2057 ]. Despite ease of access to supplements B12 deficiency is found
in half of British Vegans[ CITATION Gil10 \l 2057 ]. B12 deficiency correlate with neurological
problems[ CITATION Sta05 \l 2057 ], and deficiency in infants show severe neurological
symptoms[ CITATION Ire16 \l 2057 ].

Plants simply do not provide easily accessed nutrients, to obtain 18mg of iron as little as 300g of beef
liver, compared to as much as 2.4kg of spinach[ CITATION Gup16 \l 2057 ]. Despite this one study of
Australian vegans showed they got more iron than omnivores. However they still had low levels of
iron in their blood[ CITATION Wil99 \l 2057 ]. Iron deficiency is commonly seen in vegetarians as
well[ CITATION Paw18 \l 2057 ].

Some major issues are however not readily studied. Plants do not contain Docosahexaenoic Acid
(DHA), or (Eicosapentaenoic Acid) EPA, one of the forms of Omega-3 we actually need. The same is
true of Arachidonic Acid (AA), the form of Omega-6. Along with Alpha-linolenic Acid (ALA) (which is
found in plants) they are critical for our brain function, skin health, even optical health, and are
thought to help combat mutation caused by free-radicals[ CITATION BOU06 \l 2057 ]. Conversion
from ALA to EPA or DHA in humans is awful with estimates between 0.1% and 12% depending on the
person[CITATION DHA \l 2057 ].

DHA intake and biomarkers in vegans and even vegetarians is poor compared to omnivores (who
likely still don’t get enough)[ CITATION San09 \l 2057 ]. This is likely to lead to neurological effects,
possible skin problems or poor eyesight.

Along with B12 and DHA/EPA there are other micronutrients missing from plants. The importance of
which is either unknown or needs more research.

Choline – Choline consumption in general is low [ CITATION Wal16 \l 2057 ], in Vegetarians it’s very
low and vegans are likely lower [ CITATION Wal15 \l 2057 ]. Consumption of meat and particularly
eggs best correlated with choline intake [ CITATION Wal17 \l 2057 ], and increased choline in the
mothers diet leads to a notable cognitive improvements in infants[ CITATION Cau18 \l 2057 ]. Poor
breast milk is frequently reported in vegans as I will discuss later.
Taurine – Vegans get less taurine in their diet than omnivores and have lower plasma taurine
levels[ CITATION Lai88 \l 2057 ]. Taurine has a lot of interactions in the body and is a key protein in
cell function[ CITATION Hux92 \l 2057 ].

CLA – CLA is a naturally occurring transfat, found in Beef primarily. It’s associated with reductions in
cancer and obesity in both mice trials and human[ CITATION Och04 \l 2057 ][ CITATION Har19 \l
2057 ].

Both carnitine and creatine are also rarely found in plant foods, more research is required to
determine how important they are.

Is Meat bad for you? The rise of shockingly bad science.

A common trend recently has been low quality science to prove your point, rather than studying
something to prove how it actually works. I’ll highlight a few poor quality studies to show what I
mean. The idea meat is bad from you comes from a low quality correlative study by Ancel Keys called
the Seven Countries Study, he omitted data to draw a conclusion, then spent years (funded by
companies like P&G, Kellogg’s, Quaker Oats etc.) trying to prove himself correct with more bad
studies. At one point he proved himself wrong and just refused to publish the data for 16 years. The
argument goes, saturated fat causes heart disease due to increasing cholesterol. This is an entire
other discussion and would take a long time to discuss, but it’s just plain wrong. However it has led
to a demonization since the 60’s/70’s of meat and the encouragement of low fat diets. This has been
catastrophic for our health but doesn’t seem to have slowed to tide of bad studies. These studies
show weak correlations that cannot claim to prove causation. Plenty of studies also show the exact
opposite, these are typically just ignored, or excuses made. The most famous being the ‘French
Paradox’, which of course isn’t a paradox at all but when an entire country ignores your ‘science’ it’s
easier to just claim they are special and forget about it.

Epedimological studies show a correlation between two or more groups. Relative Risk (RR) or the
Hazard Ratio (HR) can be used to determine the difference, and thus likelihood the correlation is in
fact causative. Typically an HR over 2 suggests there might be a causative connection, anything
below is inadequate to draw conclusion. For example with lung cancer and smoking HR’s go up to
about 14[ CITATION Duk16 \l 2057 ].

A paper out on Feb 3 this year[ CITATION Zho20 \l 2057 ] came to the conclusion:

“Intake of processed meat or unprocessed red meat was significantly associated with all-cause
mortality”

However if we actually look at the data it’s a different story.

“Intake of processed meat (adjusted HR, 1.07 [95% CI, 1.04-1.11]”

“..unprocessed red meat (adjusted HR, 1.03 [95% CI, 1.01-1.06]”

HR’s of 1.07 and 1.03. Those are so incredibly weak they are not even worth mentioning yet they are
being touted as significant associations.

“Was stronger in participants who consumed a non-high-fat diet compared with those who did not
(HR, 1.06 [95% CI, 1.03-1.09] vs 0.99 [95%CI, 0.96-1.03]
0.99 HR actually shows a very small improvement in health in those eating red meat in a high fat diet
(most likely means less sugar’s as well). Their own data is not only exceptionally weak correlation,
but even correlates the opposite way! This is to be frank, laughably bad, but plays into the narrative.

If it’s not the authors fault, the blame lies in the media. A study in 2018[ CITATION Veg18 \l 2057 ] on
‘obesogenic’ diets leading to increased predisposition of PTSD, was used by the media to attack
saturated fat (and thus meat/dairy). The study in question tested 2 different diets on rats. To
determine what was in the diet you needed to check the manufacturers website for their chow,
however a list of the macronutrients was included:

The ‘saturated fat’ diet contained half the protein and 17 times more sugar than the control. Yet the
medias conclusion was to attack the saturated fat.

The NHS uses the SACN Iron and Health Report (7.47, page 106) [ CITATION SAC10 \l 2057 ] to
determine if red meat has a cancer risk. The NHS says: “eating a lot of red and processed meat
probably increases your risk of bowel (colorectal) cancer” they also give advice on the number of
grams of meat, based on nothing as far as I can see, and helpfully point out “many of the scientific
studies reviewed by SACN did not separate red and processed meat.”

The Report itself mentioned numerous times how poor the links are, for example whilst talking
about high iron levels in red meat causing mutation it points out:

“There are currently no convincing data that provide an explanation for the observed differences in
colorectal cancer risk between high consumers of white meat/fish and high consumers of red and
processed meat.”

So nothing there at all.

Meta-analysis of processed and red meat shows:

“Compared to lowest level of intake, the highest level of red meat consumption was associated with
a significant increase in colorectal cancer risk (relative risk, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.11-1.45). The relative risk
for an increase of 120 g/day of red meat was 1.22 (95% CI, 1.05–1.41). Processed meat was also
associated with a significant increase in risk: relative risks were 1.39 (95% CI, 1.09–1.76) for highest
compared to the lowest level of intake and 1.54 (95% CI, 1.10–2.17) for an increase of 30 g/day of
processed meat. No significant association was found between total meat consumption and
colorectal cancer risk.”
So again no strong links and their own references says there is no association. Further analysis 7.53-
7.55 show no significant links again, all correlations with weak RR’s. 7.63-7.70 lists flaws in the
studies and limitations. Yet the NHS apparently doesn’t care about this.

It’s not just the NHS though. The American Dieticians Association has the following to say:

“It is the position of the American Dietetic Association that appropriately planned vegetarian diets,
including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide
health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. Well-planned vegetarian diets
are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation,
infancy, childhood, and adolescence, and for athletes.”[ CITATION Cra09 \l 2057 ]

Now technically this doesn’t actually say vegan diets are acceptable for all stages of life. However
the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics says:

“It is the position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics that appropriately planned vegetarian,
including vegan, diets are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits for the
prevention and treatment of certain diseases. These diets are appropriate for all stages of the life
cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, adolescence, older adulthood, and for
athletes.”[ CITATION Mel16 \l 2057 ]

The papers are very poorly referenced with next to no research on infant health.

Their only real reference on infant health is [ CITATION Man01 \l 2057 ], if I can drop some quotes
from it:

“The reported birth weights of 19 term infants born to vegan women were slightly lower than
infants with nonvegetarian mothers”

“There is some evidence of early poor growth in infants of macrobiotic women that appears to be
due to inadequate amounts of breast milk”

“Sanders (10) found that milk of British vegan women was lower in saturated fat and
eicosapentaenoic acid and higher in linoleic acid and linolenic acid. Other studies have shown higher
concentrations of linoleic and linolenic acids in the breast milk of macrobiotic subjects

“Breastfed vegan infants have lower erythrocyte DHA levels than do breastfed infants of omnivores”

“We have very limited information on growth of older vegan infants. One study had 31 subjects
who were less than 2 years old; 73 percent were on vegan diets from birth (3). Subjects’ weight for
age was similar to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) reference values; subjects tended
to be slightly shorter than the median of the reference population (–0.24 cm for less than 1 year old)
(3). Clearly additional research is needed in this area especially in view of the high availability of
appropriate foods to support growth of young vegan children.”

So their own reference says there is not enough information, and even lists deficiencies found, yet
the conclusion is, ‘that’s fine’.

Lack of studies on most forms of illness.

One of the major flaws with advertising vegan diets as healthy is the lack of research that has gone
into them. Nutrient deficiency is fairy common, and even the pro-vegan papers constantly point out
the lack of important nutrients like DHA, heme-iron, and bioavailable zinc and iodine. Dr. Gregor is
one of the most prolific vegan doctors around and his website has a ’12-a-day’ or ‘Daily Dozen, list
for healthy vegans. Most people fail to get 5 a day, how can anyone with a straight face say they
think 12 requirements each day is acceptable for a practical diet? This also highlights big flaws with
correlative studies. If current vegans are willing to put in the effort to meet those targets, they are
clearly doing other things to avoid bad health. In fact a study in Sweden showed vegans were much
less likely to indulge in cake and sweets, which are both major causes of disease… so likely the entire
reason for what little association there is with meat and poor health[ CITATION Lar02 \l 2057 ]. It’s
worth pointing out despite that, they were still deficient in a few different things.

Nutrients such as B12 and DHA have been correlated to poor health, and indeed DHA is thought to
be responsible for higher thought, making up about 20% of the fat in our brains. With this in mind
it’s likely vegans or indeed anyone low in either of these could suffer neurological conditions. There
is however next to no studies on it. In fact if you read through the ADA’s publication the only
neurological piece they have is on dementia and they conclude:

“Vegetarians can, however, have risk factors for dementia. For example, poor vitamin B-12 status
has been linked to an increased risk of dementia apparently due to the hyperhomocysteinemia that
is seen with vitamin B-12 deficiency”.

One study on vegetarians (who have higher intake of these nutrients) shows

“lower self-esteem, lower psychological adjustment, less meaning in life, and more negative moods
than semi-vegetarians and omnivores”[ CITATION Nez18 \l 2057 ].

An article in Nature mentions:

“Deficiencies in the micronutrients found in meat have been linked with brain-related disorders,
including low IQ, autism, depression and dementia. Iron is crucial for the growth and branching of
neurons while in the womb; zinc is found in high concentrations in the hippocampus, a crucial region
for learning and memory; vitamin B12 maintains the sheaths that protect nerves; and omega-3 fatty
acids such as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) help to keep neurons alive and to regulate inflammation.”
[ CITATION Gup16 \l 2057 ]

I don’t think these links currently are particularly strong, however without actually studying it, you
cannot claim there is nothing. In fact those who eat more meat show improvements over those who
don’t. Ketone bodies promote brain function in those with Alzheimer’s[ CITATION Reg04 \l 2057 ],
this isn’t limited to meat, they are produced by saturated fats, these can be found in coconut oil and
palm oil, but are most commonly consumed from meat and dairy. Learning was improved in school
children eating meat over those eating fats from other sources, plant based oil was worse[ CITATION
Hul14 \l 2057 ].

Lack of Vitamin D (a fat soluble vitamin, most vegan diets are low fat) is also associated with autism,
schizophrenia, and poor brain development[ CITATION Eyl13 \l 2057 ].

Vitamin K2 is also lacking in plant foods, and plays an important role in brain development. K1 is
present, but conversion is poor. It’s possibly possible to avoid this by eating natto, which contains a
form of Vitamin K that can convert to the MK-4 we actually need.
A diet lacking in brain nutrients, should clearly be researched to see if there are any effects on the
brain. To add to this plant based alternatives heavily rely on polyunsaturated vegetable oils. The
beyond burger for example, and margarine.

Polyunsaturated fats are found naturally, but not in great quantity, they replace the fats in our cells
with ones we don’t need, and this can have a profound impact on our health. This is poorly studied
but there are a fair few associations with vegetable oils and the increased prevalence of allergies,
asthmas and skin conditions[ CITATION Dun02 \l 2057 ][ CITATION LSG07 \l 2057 ][ CITATION
Sau06 \l 2057 ][ CITATION von98 \l 2057 ][ CITATION Bar13 \l 2057 ][ CITATION Mil17 \l 2057 ]
[ CITATION Miy11 \l 2057 ]. It’s effect on breast milk is also linked to skin issues[ CITATION Ull05 \l
2057 ].

Fibre is a commonly cited reason vegan diets are great, however the evidence behind that is poor.
Supposedly it’s associated with reduced risk of diabetes, heart disease, etc. This isn’t even remotely
surprising as fibre has a low glycaemic index and thus less likely to cause insulin resistance which
causes all of the above. High fibre usually means low sugar. As an association it’s quite clear, but that
doesn’t stop people pushing it as a health food. The second argument is the bowel needs it for good
health, however in a study of people with digestive problems, 100% of people in the study, found a
100% removal of 100% of all the conditions they had, after they removed fibre from the
diet[ CITATION Kok12 \l 2057 ].

Do vegan diets actually lead to better health?

Vegans in general ARE healthier than the average person, but the average person is incredibly
unhealthy. We are in the midst of the worst health crisis since the Plague. Is simply being better than
awful really a good argument? Studies frequently show lower rates of heart disease, cancer,
diabetes, etc. This however has nothing to do with cutting out meat, and everything to do with a
reduction in processed grains and sugar. The Whole Foods Plant Based diet, is NEVER compared to a
Whole Foods Animal Based diet. The whole foods part is the key here, and why keto diets see exactly
the same improvements as vegan diets yet with a hell of a lot more meat.

Leaving aside the obvious benefits of cutting out sugar, are there are any other issues vegans come
across?

One strange outcome is vegetarians (not vegans, no idea if this has been studied) have a decreased
sex ratio. Meaning they are more likely to give birth to a girl.

“A low sex ratio in newborns is an indicator of environmental stressors such as malnutrition. The
normal male/female sex ratio is 105/100. This study of 6,000 women at a British hospital found a
decreased sex ratio (81.5/100 vs 106/100) in vegetarians vs omnivores. This suggests that
vegetarians may be malnourished, contributing to the decreased sex ratio.”[ CITATION Hud00 \l 2057
]

Vegans are more likely break their bones[ CITATION Igu18 \l 2057 ].

“Compared with omnivores, vegetarians and vegans had lower BMD at the femoral neck and lumbar
spine and vegans also had higher fracture rates”

This is to be expected because even if enough calcium is obtained, Vitamin D is needed to get it into
the bones. This same phenomenon explains why some communities have higher risk of bones
breaking despite drinking a lot of milk (it’s all skimmed or semi-skimmed so low Vitamin D!)
The following are case studies of B12 deficiency in vegan mothers, I’ve not linked references as I am
lazy!:

Breast milk seems to be a common issue, Mangals as mentioned earlier found sub-par breast milk in
vegan mothers, as did Ulla.

My main argument here is what little evidence there is, is either nothing to do with cutting out meat,
or negative.

Interestingly studies going the opposite way often come back positive. For example increased AFP
consumption REDUCES risk of cerebral infarction[ CITATION Sau04 \l 2057 ]. Low carb diets have a
host of health benefits and are usually very high in meat products, and by definition low in sugars.
For example people have found their PCOS disappears with some overcoming their infertility
issues[ CITATION Mav04 \l 2057 ]. All markers of metabolic syndrome reduced[ CITATION Vol08 \l
2057 ]. Metabolic Syndrome being the underlying cause of all the proclaimed benefits of veganism.

Even some cases of cancer being halted[ CITATION Tot16 \l 2057 ].

Environmental impact of meat vs plants

The environmental impact of vegan diets vs meat based is not as well established as the media
would have us believe. It’s still likely that a vegan diet is better for the environment than the
standard western diet, however that doesn’t make it the best environmental diet, nor does it take
into account the effect on society and general health switching would do.

Sources here are sparse, which is one of the main arguments, we need more research to draw a
proper conclusion. Prof. Lee for example at the Sustainable Food Trust conference discussed how
different metrics provide different outcomes. When measuring beef and lamb production based on
Carbon Dioxide Equivalent both come out very badly, however (he claims) when measured by
sustainability compared to the Nutrient Index both come out very well[ CITATION Bro19 \l 2057 ]. At
the same conference whilst discussing greenhouse gas emissions compared to recommended daily
intake he claimed:

“In practice, scientists using this metric have revealed that emissions from beef cattle reared on
concentrates are actually less than 0.05kg CO2e per 1% RDI. That’s a mere fraction of the 2kg CO2e
per 100g calculated in the standard GWP measurement, and 1.5-times lower than beef cattle raised
on forage.

Even more startling, factoring in nutritious value showed that emissions from those same cows were
2.25-times lower than free-range chicken.“

I’ve been unable to find minutes or a video of the conference annoyingly. These are not being
compared to plant alternatives of course, but do highlight that standard calculations could be wrong.

Dr. Coles takes a different approach. Claiming vegan diets output excretions of 32g/day more nitrous
oxides than omnivorous dieters. Making the claim: “The extra nitrous oxides from a vegan's diet are
equivalent to the emissions associated with two return journeys annually from New Zealand to
London".”

He also highlights the processed needed to make plant foods edible, for example soaking, heating,
pulverisation and acidification, all of which use yet more greenhouse gases. Due to the low protein
absorption from crops such as soy bean, more is needed and a lot more energy is wasted. Add to this
crop loss which can reach up to 80% in some countries and we get yet more waste[ CITATION Row20
\l 2057 ].

Individual effect on the climate plays a big role in the push for plant based. Yet veganism isn’t
particularly effective. It’s thought going vegan could save less than 1 tCO2 per year, which is less of
an impact than avoiding a single flight (note Dr. Coles accusation here), simply buying a better car
and 60 times less effective than just having one less child.
[ CITATION Wyn17 \l 2057 ]

Studies on personal footprint suggest in Sweden an individual could reduce their impact by 4%
[ CITATION Gra15 \l 2057 ]. A study on the effect of removing cattle from US agriculture suggests
only a 2.6% reduction in GHG emissions[ CITATION Whi17 \l 2057 ]. These are not big numbers for a
such a major change, especially one linked to numerous health issues. Food supply should be one of
the last things targeted. Health isn’t something to mess around with, when there are far bigger
contributors.

The effects of cattle on soil is also something widely ignored. Carbon sequestration by soil due to
grazing can be a carbon sink, making it a net gain in the fight against climate change[ CITATION Vig19
\l 2057 ], though they also note location matters. Grazing takes up a lot of space compared to
feedlots, if you graze in the wrong areas (such as chopping down rainforest) it’s going to be a net
loss[ CITATION Sta18 \l 2057 ].

To add to this confusion we should also look quickly at the impact of the crops we import. Palm Oil is
the most efficient crop in the world producing more calories (and one of the only sources of
saturated fat from plants) than any other plant per sq metre. However it’s also grown in the same
location as rainforest. As a result of abandoning tallow and animal sourced saturated fats, transfats
were introduced. With these turning out to be a health hazard (whoops probably should have tested
that first, eh?), palm oil was the new go to. This has led to severe deforestation. Similar
environmental issues occur where Avocado and nuts are grown, both devastating the environment,
to the point people are being accused of diverting rivers for their crop[ CITATION Fac18 \l 2057 ].
Nuts actually use more water (when you exclude rainwater) than beef and dairy, even fruits and
vegetables are quite high (why they are grouped I don’t know, obviously fruit will use more).
 [ CITATION WRI18 \l 2057 ]

Globally the cost of water on beef production heavily varies [CITATION Rid11 \l 2057 ], 3.3 to 221 L
H2Oe kg−1, however “Globally, the majority of beef cattle are raised in non-irrigated mixed farming
and grazing systems. Therefore, the general assertion that meat production is a driver of water
scarcity is not supported”, and even in some cases “livestock have a water footprint similar to many
broad-acre cereals”. Whilst it can be very damaging, we need to be careful not to make broad
assumptions. [ CITATION Rid111 \l 2057 ] calculates that water consumption (location depending)
can be far lower than reported, they calculate on sustainable farms 44 L/kg is achievable, whereas
cereals produced in the same country range from 1-150 L/kg. Putting them at an acceptable level.

Ethical arguments

I really don’t think there is much to say on the ethical side of veganism. It’s an ethical diet, the goal
is to minimise harm, and not killing something seems like a pretty damn good way of achieving that.

The only thing I would mention is that not all locations actually result in less death from going vegan.
Assuming you consider each life to be the same (so a cow is equal to a duck for example), then in
locations where cattle are reared without supplementary feed, vegan diets result in a lot more death
due to crop protection. Cattle in Australia for example can just freely roam, so only one cow dies for
your meal (or indeed many meals). However; plants need to be protected from pests. This involves
killing millions of mice and rats. Wheat production is calculated at killing around 55 sentient animals
per 100kg, whereas that can be reached with 2 cows. [ CITATION Arc19 \l 2057 ]. However; land is
still cleared for grazing, which destroys habitat and leaves huge numbers of animals homeless.

It was touched on earlier, but the deforestation of Indonesia for Palm Oil is not for growing animal
feed, it’s a straight-out animal free source for saturated far.

Summary

 Meat has been part of the human diet for 3 million years and is likely the reason we evolved
to be smart.
 It makes no sense therefore for meat to be bad
 Evidence does not support the conclusion meat actually is bad, it’s heavily confiscated by the
intake of other foods (sugars).
 Vegan diets are naturally low in nutrients, many of which the general population is already
low in.
  Lowering nutrient intake further will not help.
 Vegan diets have not been studies for mental health, considering deficiencies in nutrients
missing from plants lead to mental health problems, this is vital.
 The improvements in health seen from vegan diets are due to sugar reduction, not meat.
 Even if there is an ideal vegan diet, it is currently too difficult for most people to follow. Most
fail to even get their 5-a-day, let alone the recommended 12 on a vegan diet + supplements.
 Vegan diets may lead to poor growth, intergenerational effects from epigenetics has not
been studied.
 The effect of meat on the environment is overstated (in some areas), or poorly tested
 We have little to no data on GHG emissions per unit of RDI of nutrition.
 Even if we do see a net positive from vegan diets environmentally the effect is essentially
negligible, and not worth the trade off for bad health.

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