Doc causes controversy promoting vegan diet
By Anahad O’Connor, New York Times
Kim A. Williams, the president-elect of the American College of Cardiology, often sees patients who are overweight and struggling with hypertension, Type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol. One of the things he advises them to do is to change their diets.
Specifically, he tells them to go vegan.
Williams became a vegan in 2003 because he was concerned that his LDL cholesterol — the kind associated with an increased risk of heart disease — was too high. The doctor wrote about his reasons for going vegan and his belief in the cardiovascular benefits of a plant-based diet in a recent essay at MedPage Today.
Veganism has grown in popularity in recent years, reflected by the explosion of meat-free cookbooks and restaurants, and vegan-friendly products in grocery stores. But the endorsement by the man who is set to become the president of one of the country’s leading cardiology associations, which helps formulate health policies and guidelines, did not strike a totally positive chord.
One person suggested he was promoting a radical diet to his patients based on the experience of a single person: himself. Others accused him of trying to get the college of cardiology to encourage everyone to go vegan, which he dismissed. And some critics suggested that Williams and the college were “unduly influenced by industry,” which baffled him.
Do you know how you can tell someone is a vegan? They tell you like 30 times in the first five minutes of meeting them.
There is clear evidence that a plant based diet decreases not only heart disease but also diabetes and some cancers. I applaud Dr Williams for having the guts to tell us that.
Found the vegan.
I’ve been vegetarian for almost 25 years, one of the best things I’ve done. Used to get colds and the flu a lot more often before switching, and generally feel better and lighter on my feet now. The key for me is finding great tasting foods that are vegetarian, which are definitely out there but take more work.
Decided from the beginning not to preach, nor talk about it unless asked by people I meet. Can’t take the religious types who try to do that to me.
The main factors for me were personal health, the effect on the environment, and the decision of whether or not it matters to you the way meat is created and processed. The best approach I think is just to read about it, understand what’s going on, and decide for yourself if it matters to you.
Cutting out processed foods, sugar/dessert, and reducing dairy helps your health too. But I am too hooked on pastas to cut that back, and love cheese though trying to reduce it now.
The funny thing is that I find carnivores to be much more aggressive and denigrating of vegetarians (who don’t try to proseltyze) than vice versa. Sometimes seems they almost take glee in rubbing in how much they love to kill, cut up, cook and eat animals because they savor the taste so much. So be it, but I haven’t missed it at all, and each to their own.