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Update on “Death by
Veganism” by Nina Planck:
The Public Editor
of the NY Times was asked to comment; here is
his response on this matter:
I asked David
Shipley, the editor of the Op-Ed page, for his
thoughts. He said, "I think Nina Planck is on
firm ground in her Op-Ed. Her reading of the
science is that it is indeed the case that
children (and all of us) need animal-derived
nutrients, and she's able to summon studies
backing up her assertion -- just as the vegans
are able to summon up studies showing that you
can indeed survive on plants alone."
My own view, which I expressed to Shipley, is
that, given how important and fraught with
emotion the subject of children's nutrition is,
the Times owed its readers an Op-Ed by another
contributor debating Planck. Because there is
science to support another view, it should have
been aired at the same time, or very close to
the same time.
David Shipley's view is that, "Op-Ed readers
understand that they are reading an argument and
that there is almost always another side to the
argument." I'd feel better if the Times had
actually presented that other side in this
particular instance.
Sincerely,
Clark Hoyt
Public Editor
The New York Times
The Public Editor
says he (or an associate) reads all letters. You
can write to Clark Hoyt at:
public@nytimes.com
You can send your
thoughts to the Op-Ed editor of the New York
Times, David Shipley, at:
oped@nytimes.com
Further background on
Nina Planck:
Ms. Planck is a food
writer and has no formal education in dietetics,
nutrition, health, or medicine. One of her
claims to fame was her position as the
director of Greenmarket, New York's system of
farmers markets. She was dismissed after 5 1/2
months on the job.
She is solidly supported by the anti-vegetarian
organization, the Weston A. Price Foundation.
Sally Fallon, the president of
the Weston A. Price Foundation writes about
Planck’s book, Real Food: What to Eat and Why:
Much of her book is devoted to
debunking the lowfat, vegetarian message. She
tackles the notion that meat causes cancer or
that farm animals are bad for the environment in
her chapter on meat--"Why Even Vegetable Farms
Need Animals." Planck endorses what even the
grass-fed movement has denigrated--animal fat in
the form of marbled beef, bacon and schmaltz.
There's more on the virtues of saturated fat in
a chapter called "Real Fats," and paeons to
butter and cream in a chapter on "Real Dairy."
Planck extols the health and economic benefits
of raw milk as well.
Planck's love of food and robust
optimism shine through every page of this
delightful book--of course she enjoys life, she
eats plenty of good fat. Egg-white omelets and
skinless chicken breasts, those darlings of the
dietitians, those icons of food puritanism, get
the whacking they deserve--Planck calls them
culinary abominations--as do soy, vegetable
oils, trans fats, farmed fish and corn syrup.
Let's all help her get on the best-seller list
by buying a copy.(http://www.westonaprice.org/bookreviews/real-food-review.html)
Sally Fallon credits herself as:
an author, journalist, chef, nutrition
researcher, homemaker, and community activist.
She lists no formal training in any health or
nutrition field. The punctuation and spelling
errors in the above two paragraphs are hers.
Letter sent
to newsletter subscribers and the NY Times by
John McDougall, May 21, 2007
The New York Times
today (May 21, 2007) carried an Op-Ed piece
about the dangers of a vegan diet, titled “Death
by Veganism,” that deserves an immediate
response:
For the original
article see:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/21/opinion/21planck.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
This article,
written by Nina Planck, who is identified as a
food writer and expert on farmers markets and
local food, stems from the case of a recent
murder conviction of parents who starved their 6
week old child to death by feeding him a diet of
apple juice and soy milk. She writes on her web
site, “Among many sources for this piece, I
interviewed a family practitioner who treats
many vegetarian and vegan families.”
For the story of the child’s
death see:
http://www.news4jax.com/news/13286030/detail.html
Here is the 150
word letter to the editor that I sent to the New
York Times (chances of publication by the
newspaper are obviously small):
Nina
Planck's article condemning vegan diet contains
serious errors concerning the adequacy of plant
foods. Plants do contain all the essential amino
acids in adequate quantities to meet human
needs, and even those of children (Millward).
Vitamin D is not found in milk or meat, unless
it is added during manufacturing. Sunlight is
the proper source of this vitamin. Plants
manufacture beta-carotene, the precursor of
vitamin A. The original source of all minerals
(including calcium and zinc) is the ground.
Plants are abundant in minerals; and they act as
the conduit of minerals to animals. The
scientific truth is protein, essential amino
acid, mineral, and vitamin (except for B12 which
is synthesized by bacteria, not animals)
deficiencies are never caused by a diet based on
whole plant foods when calorie needs are met.
Ms. Planck’s distortion of nutritional science
is a serious matter that needs to be fixed.
Reference:
Millward DJ. The nutritional value of
plant-based diets in relation to human amino
acid and protein requirements. Proc Nutr
Soc. 1999 May;58(2):249-60.
Addition comments
not sent to the newspaper.
Nina Planck writes:
“You cannot create and nourish a robust baby
merely on foods from plants.”
The scientific truth is:
Babies at 6 weeks of age require human breast
milk and any other diet means malnutrition.
Imagine if the exact opposite approach killed an
infant with a formula made of pulverized beef
and cow’s milk, would this have received similar
worldwide press? I believe the case would have
been properly considered child neglect
(intentional or not) and have gone unnoticed
except for those intimately involved. “People
love to hear good news about their bad habits”
so the tragedy of the death of an infant caused
by misguided parents who fed their infant apple
juice and soy milk for the first 6 weeks of life
has been used to justify eating meat and
drinking cow’s milk.
Nina Planck writes:
Protein deficiency is one danger of a vegan diet
for babies. Nutritionists used to speak of
proteins as “first class” (from meat, fish, eggs
and milk) and “second class” (from plants), but
today this is considered denigrating to
vegetarians.
The scientific truth is:
Confusion about our protein needs came from
studies of the nutritional needs of animals.
Mendel and Osborne in 1913 reported rats grew
better on animal, than on vegetable, sources of
protein. A direct consequence of their studies
resulted in meat, eggs, and dairy foods being
classified as superior, or "Class A" protein
sources and vegetable proteins designated as
inferior, or "Class B" proteins. Seems no one
considered that rats are not people. One
obvious difference in their nutritional needs is
rat milk is 11 times more concentrated in
protein than is human breast milk. The extra
protein supports this animal’s rapid growth to
adult size in 5 months; while humans take 17
years to fully mature. The world’s authority on
human protein needs, Prof. Joseph Millward,
wrote the following: “Contrary to general
opinion, the distinction between dietary protein
sources in terms of the nutritional superiority
of animal over plant proteins is much more
difficult to demonstrate and less relevant in
human nutrition.” (References in my April 2007
newsletter.)
Nina
Planck writes: The
fact remains, though, that humans prefer animal
proteins and fats to cereals and tubers, because
they contain all the essential amino acids
needed for life in the right ratio. This is not
true of plant proteins, which are inferior in
quantity and quality — even soy.
The scientific truth is:
Proteins function as structural materials which
build the scaffoldings that maintain cell
shapes, enzymes which catalyze biochemical
reactions, and hormones which signal messages
between cells—to name only a few of their vital
roles. Since plants are made up of structurally
sound cells with enzymes and hormones, they are
by nature rich sources of proteins. In fact, so
rich are plants that they can meet the protein
needs of the earth’s largest animals: elephants,
hippopotamuses, giraffes, and cows. You would
be correct to deduce that the protein needs of
relatively small humans can easily be met by
plants. (References in my April 2007
newsletter.)
Nina
Planck writes: Yet
even a breast-fed baby is at risk. Studies show
that vegan breast milk lacks enough
docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA, the omega-3 fat
found in fatty fish.
The scientific truth is:
Only plants can synthesize essential fats. Any
DHA found in animals had its origin from a plant
(as alpha linolenic acid). The human body has no
difficulty converting plant-derived omega-3 fat,
alpha linolenic acid, into DHA or other n-3
fatty acids, supplying our needs even during
gestation and infancy.
Reference:
Langdon JH. Has an aquatic diet been
necessary for hominin brain evolution and
functional development? Br J Nutr. 2006
Jul;96(1):7-17.
Mothers who eat
the Western diet pass dangerous loads of
environmental contaminants through their breast
milk to their infants. Meat, dairy and fish in
her diet are the source of 80% to 90% of these
toxic chemicals. The cleanest and healthiest
milk is made by mothers eating a starch-based
vegan diet.
Nina Planck writes:
A vegan diet is equally dangerous for weaned
babies and toddlers, who need plenty of protein
and calcium.
The scientific truth is:
Infants should be exclusively breast fed until
age 6 months and then partially breast fed until
approximately 2 years of age. Starches, fruits,
and vegetables should be added after the age of
6 months. The addition of cow’s milk causes
problems as common as constipation and as
devastating as type-1 diabetes. (See my May 2003
newsletter on Marketing Milk and Disease.)
Adding meat to an infant’s diet is one of the
main reasons all children raised on the Western
diet have the beginnings of atherosclerosis by
the age of 2 years.
Nina Planck writes:
“An adult who was well-nourished in utero and in
infancy may choose to get by on a vegan diet,
but babies are built from protein, calcium,
cholesterol and fish oil.”
The scientific truth is:
Babies are ideally built from mother’s breast
milk initially and then from whole foods.
Hopefully, parents will realize that the
healthiest diet for the entire family (after
weaning) is based on starches with the addition
of fruits and vegetables. (Vitamin B12 is added
to the diet of pregnant or nursing mothers and
after 3 years of following a plant-based diet
strictly.)
Nina Planck has
been allowed by the New York Times to exploit
the tragedy of a family and to spread commonly
held, but scientifically incorrect, information
on human nutrition. The author and the
newspaper should be held accountable.
Hopefully, the end result will be that people
desiring the truth will take the trouble to look
at the evidence. If this were to be the case,
then this New York Times article could be the
beginning of long overdue changes in the ways
people eat. Write and tell everyone you know
that the New York Times has done a sloppy job,
and damage to the public, by allowing harmful
lies to be spread—especially when you consider
that Planck’s message promotes a diet known to
cause obesity, type-2 diabetes, heart disease,
and major cancers.
John McDougall, MD
www.drmcdougall.com
May 21, 2007 |
