Reducing animal product consumption

Reducing animal product consumption prevents, stops, or reverses disease

According to the following experts and controlled studies, surveys, and reviews, reducing animal product consumption--including dairy products--prevents, stops, or reverses heart-related chest pains, arterial clogging, obesity, prostate cancer, osteoporosis, and ovarian cancer--all diseases of affluence. I don't have any study that specifically supports zero animal product consumption versus very low (less than 10% of caloric intake) animal product consumption. And I assume it is self-evident as well as supported by other studies that replacing animal product consumption with refined food (pasta, white bread, sugar, margarine, etc.) consumption is not a good thing.

Animal product consumption and LDS scripture

I often say in haste that animal product avoidance isn't supported by Doctrine and Covenants 89. I've heard others do the same, and LDS culture tends to run on a variation of that sentiment. Those with a keen eye, mind, ear, and heart will have already caught the fact that such speaking is careless. Animal product (at least actual meat) avoidance for months on end is supported very clearly by D&C 89. It just isn't supported for years on end. Right? "It is pleasing to me that they (beasts of the field and fowls of the air) not be used, only in times of winter, or cold, or famine..." I love that word: Pleasing. To Him. And of course the flesh of "all wild animals that run or creep on the earth" is "for use of man only in times of famine and excess of hunger." Animals in general when plants are scarce or extra energy (warmth) needed; wild animals only as an austerity measure. Amazingly current instructions!

In addition, reducing animal product consumption can in many cases honor the Spirit of Fasting. And coincidentally, the seasonal character of D&C 89 instructions is in harmony with prudent Ancient (extended) Fasting, which is to be done during warm weather only.

Proponent Experts

• *Dr. Benjamin Spock*: "'We now know that there are harmful effects of a meaty diet. Children can get plenty of protein and iron from vegetables, beans and other plant foods that avoid the fat and cholesterol that are in animal products. I no longer recommend dairy products after the age of 2 years. Other calcium sources offer many advantages that dairy products do not have."

• *John ~McDougall, M.D.*: The ~McDougall Diet

• *Dean Ornish, M.D.*: The Lifestyle Heart Trial study

• *Neal D. Barnard, M.D.*: PCRM President

• *T. Colin Campbell* : The China Study

Women's Health Initiative study: little change in cancer and heart problems from low-fat diet

The WHI study showed that simply reducing dietary fat intake has little or not effect on the big diseases of affluence.

~McDougall (http://www.drmcdougall.com) reported that "this study of nearly 50,000 older women, ages 50 to 79 years" concluded "Low-fat diet may not cut some disease risks; little change seen in cancer, heart problems" and "reinforced the well-known fact that 'skinning your chicken' and 'drinking low-fat milk' is inconsequential."

"Proof that the low-fat diet intervention used in this study was ineffective is the report of an average of one pound (0.4 Kg) of weight loss after 8 years of dieting (compared to those not dieting). Furthermore, the women’s blood levels of cholesterol and triglycerides, and blood pressures hardly changed after all that effort. Their dietary histories revealed that even though the low-fat diet group received “an intensive behavior modification program that consisted of 18 group sessions in the first year and quarterly maintenance sessions thereafter,” they continued to eat nearly the same amount of fiber, protein, red meat, chicken, fish, and grains. The addition of one more serving of fruits and vegetables daily may have accounted for the 9% reduction in breast cancer observed for the low-fat group."

~McDougall said that at the outset of the study, "In the early 1990s, the founders of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study were guests on my syndicated radio show. During these interviews, and on many other occasions, I challenged Ernst Wynder, MD (now deceased) and Rowan Chlebowski, MD to teach the women in their study a meaningful diet—specifically, a very low-fat, plant-food-based, ~McDougall-type diet—so that when the day comes that the results are published the real benefits of healthy eating will be shown. Both insisted that the 'moderate diet' they were using would be adequate. Twelve years and $415 million later, on Wednesday, February 8, 2006, news headlines about their research findings showed them wrong. Please understand that I take no joy in being right; rather I am saddened because now we all must live with the incorrect conclusions that diet cannot prevent cancer or heart disease."

The WHI itself reports ( http://www.whi.org/findings/dm/dm.php ):

• "...difference between groups in breast cancer risk was not quite statistically significant."
• "Results from the WHI Dietary Study showed that the low-fat dietary pattern did not reduce the risk of colorectal cancer."
• "The low-fat diet did not specifically focus on reducing saturated fat, had only a small effect on blood cholesterol, and did not reduce the risk of heart disease."
• "There was also no statistically significant effect on stroke."

Lifestyle Heart Trial

The Lifestyle Heart Trial showed that strict limits on animal product intake and other lifestyle changes reversed heart disease dramatically in 28 subjects vs. 20 controls.

According to http://www.jewishveg.com/schwartz/health-studies.html , "the Lifestyle Heart Trial was conducted by Dean Ornish, M. D. of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Salusito, California, and his medical colleagues. It's aim was to study if changes in diet, exercise, and stress levels can unblock clogged arteries and save lives, without the use of expensive surgical techniques or drugs.

"Ornish's initial study involved 48 patients with severe heart disease. He randomly divided them into two groups: 28 received his experimental regimen, and the other 20 were put into a control group, so that they could serve as a basis of comparison. The experimental group was put on a strict vegetarian diet, eating only egg whites and one cup daily of nonfat milk or yogurt. Their dietary fat content was a very low 10 percent of calories, and their cholesterol intake was only 5 mg per day. To control stress, they did stretching exercises, meditated, and performed other relaxation techniques. In addition, they walked for at least a half hour three times a week, and met as a support group twice weekly.

"The results of the study were extremely significant. After one year, most of the experimental group indicated a complete or nearly complete disappearance of chest pains. Arterial clogging was reversed for 82 percent of the patients. In one case, the change was especially dramatic. Werner Hebenstreit, a 75 year old retired businessman, who reported that before starting the program he could barely cross the street without chest pains, was able to hike for 6 hours in the Grand Tetons at 8,000 feet by the end of the program. Other patients also experienced significant improvements.

"What makes the results even more spectacular is a comparison with the findings for members of the control group. They received standard medical care, following the recommendations of the American Heart Association: up to 30 percent fat in their diets; dietary cholesterol limited to 300 mg per day; no red meat, but chicken without the skin and fish were permitted; they did a moderate amount of exercise, but there were no set stress reduction activities. None of these patients got better, and in almost all cases, their arterial blockages worsened significantly, and they reported an increase in chest pains. Evidently, the standard recommendations of the medical establishment are not sufficient, at least with regard to reversing heart disease.

PCRM Studies

The PCRM studies below show that reducing animal product consumption reduces and halts multiple diseases of affluence including cancer and heart disease.

See http://www.pcrm.org

• New Scientific Review Shows Vegetarian Diets Cause Major Weight Loss Without Exercise or Calorie Counting: Controlled Research Trials Prove Diet's Efficacy (Apr. 3, 2006)

• New Survey Shows Cardiologists Aware of Life-Saving Diet, Yet Failing to Recommend It: Wider Use of Vegetarian Diet Would Result in Fewer Surgeries and Deaths from Heart Disease; Studies Show Patients Transition Easily to New Diet (Feb. 16, 2006)

• New Study Shows High-Carb, Vegan Diet Causes Major Weight Loss: Even with No Calorie-Cutting or Exercise, Diet is More Effective Than a Typical Low-Fat Diet (Sept. 9, 2005)

• PCRM Nutrition Experts Available to Comment on New Prostate Cancer Study: Low-Fat Vegan Diet and Other Positive Lifestyle Changes May Halt Progression of Prostate Cancer (Aug. 11, 2005)

• Risk of Prostate Cancer from Dairy Consumption Overshadows Alleged Diabetes Prevention: Doctors Analyze New Study on Dairy and Diabetes (May 11, 2005)

• New Study in Pediatrics Shatters Milk Myth: For Strong Bones, Kids Need Exercise, Sunshine, and a Dairy-Free Diet (Mar. 7, 2005)

• Two New Studies on Dairy Products Deserve a Closer Look: One Study Supports Long-Suspected Link with Ovarian Cancer; Second Study Disproves Industry’s Recent Claims that Dairy Helps with Weight Loss (Dec. 2, 2004)

• New Study Finds Vegetables, Sunshine Help Prevent Prostate Cancer Animal Products Cited as Risk Factors Men: An Onion a Day May Be Better for You Than an Apple a Day (Feb. 18, 2004)

End at 2004. For study reports, see PCRM web site.

China, Cornell, Oxford Study

The China study linked variation of animal product consumption in areas of China to varied incidence of diseases of affluence including cancer, heart disease, and arthritis.