About being wrong...
I´m approaching my 40th birthday and second year anniversary of my unlearning journey including giving up animal products, so I guess it is to be expected to do a recount of what went down, reflect on my motivations and what is my way forward.
Disclaimer: the products, creators, authors and establishments mentioned are sincere consumer opinions, from my point of view as a plant based enthusiast, meditation believer and yoga newbie, always mindful of our planet, seeking to improve life... my way. None are paid advertisements.
I have never been keen on reading scientific articles or interpreting the numeric data on journal publications. As I mentioned in previous posts, I fell for the absolute scientific tone of voice of the plant-based authorities out there that on top of it all, had MD titles to their names.
I wish now I had just stuck to those reputable sources. There was also the inevitable media consumption, however questionable, that still resonated strongly with my state of mind at that point in time. The black and white of “data” spoke to me and provided me comfort in a world of grey.
Universe, being universe, recently threw my way a few nuggets of information that made me question all those ideals I have been hanging on to lately.
Here some phrases I read that triggered my current state of self-questioning:
· (…) people have no conception of evidence and regard facts as someone else´s opinion.
· You do not need proof for what people want to believe.
· We live in a world where (scientific) facts can be created to deliver the result money wants.
· Unconscious bias and “test to pass” or “test to fail” and “cherry picking” the results.
The last one, is something that I have felt firsthand in my professional life. Either you strongly believe in an idea or business benefits push you in a certain direction, and it is inevitable to build bias towards the results you want to see. Meaning: bias will make an engineer create certain test conditions that either facilitates or abuses the variables and their interaction thus generating the desired outcome.
So, if I can easily see this happening on a daily basis, how can it not be extrapolated towards an entire body of people that are pushing a certain agenda within an inevitable political environment?
I´m referring of course to the label “vegan” and the international leaders made famous by social media, who will obviously have a bias to promote the movement. However noble the motive of veganism -the holy trinity of health/environment/animal welfare-, social media has a tendency to taint it with a not so noble light and spreading tons of mis-information due to the cherry picking and (un)intentional bias.
Mis-information? In the realm of health claims, there is a lot of biased information in the shape of absolutism, for example: that vegans do not need anything else but whole foods (ie. No supplementation needed), that vegans will be certainly protected from cancer and disease, that you will lose weight on a vegan diet, that a vegan diet “cleanses” your body, that all things artificial are poison for you (ie. Fluoride in toothpaste!), that celery juice as a solution to all your health problems, that a restrictive raw diet is a way to long term health, etc… Gullible me, fell for a lot of those claims…
I never track stuff I eat on apps, however, this one called Cronometer (free if used in laptop) was an eye-opener to me. This is a snapshot of one typical day of eating plant-based for me… see how it looks deficient in important micronutrients if I eat very little to none legumes (beans, chickpeas) or forget to add tofu to my meals. Eat your legumes!
A vegan diet is far from perfect and its tradeoffs explain why the vast majority of people just cannot go vegan, or cannot remain vegan... In my case it still creates bloating when I over do-it with the beans and fiber. You gotta have a tireless inclination to be a home cook, since take away and eating out will not be the healthiest option. Me being plant-based and almost-vegan for two years, still have a weak immune system specially during winter. I still have persistent high blood pressure that needs to be controlled artificially. I absolutely need to supplement with B12 vitamin and D3. We all plant-based advocates need to talk honestly about this to people interested in giving up animal products, as to manage their expectations.
But I consider myself lucky that I have been able to look beyond the agenda-driven irresponsible nutritional information out there and found my way back to unbiased science-based facts. Since I have slightly improved my everyday feeding towards ensuring target micronutrients like calcium (drinking more yummy Oatly barista with my daily coffee) or lysine and iron (always always always having a hefty serving of tofu AND some bean or chickpea) or selenium (one brazil nut a day is all it takes). The message is: please eat your legumes, please eat your nuts and seeds! Now I got it right!
In the realm of environmental claims, where a plant-based diet has less impact than a meat-based diet, has overwhelming numbers of CO2 emissions, water usage and deforestation, calculated by the United Nations or the World Health Organisation (or by a dutiful environmentalist out of a NGO); numbers that I will not quote here, as there are a number of sources out there that are better at environmental advocacy than I am. These claims and numbers appeal to common sense and are probably true, but as per the bulletpoints I mention above, all it takes is a new shiny study funded by meat and dairy government money that will attempt to create the data needed to debunk my fellow vegans and make the carnivore existence more justifiable… Maybe a tad too cynic… Hang in there, it is uphill from here.
This is my way of saying that the #veganforhealth argument sort of loses its strength amidst the garbage information up for grabs. It is my way of saying that #veganfortheplanet is difficult for me to promote, not because I don’t believe in it, but because I don’t bother anymore trying to explain to skeptics why our planet needs us so badly.
So what was left for me? Where do I hold on to as to remain plant-based almost-vegan?
Click here for my Instagram post.
A while back I shared a very short review of the book “Eating Animals”. At that time I did not grasp completely its depth and relevance. It is a book that takes you through several arguments, the same ones you can find in almost any Instagram page. It has a very small list of references, very few numbers or statistics (unlike to the heavily science-referenced books of Dr. Greger or Dr. Colin Campbell). The book is laden with his own anecdotes and emotional viewpoints that takes you on a carnist-vegan rollercoaster. What makes this book so likely to turn you vegetarian at worst and vegan at its best, is the ethical argument. It is irrefutable.
Farm animals (and fish) are sentient and do not want to die. Cheap meat is inextricably linked to factory farming that creates the most horrendous living conditions and slaughter practices that are fitting for the worst horror movie about intentional torture.
My beloved dog Muki (R.I.P.)
A cow, dog, pig, horse, cat, fish, dolphin, chicken, turkey, pigeon, hamster, rat… No matter how many claims of “humanely raised”, “grass-fed” and “cage free” (btw: the most ridiculous bullshit marketing term out there) are printed on that supermarket plastic pack… the animal was killed against its will and was afraid to do so. And if I buy another pack of meat the next day, then the farmer/industry will keep slaughtering animals. And the next day… And the next…
In the end, the only bulletproof argument that cannot be debunked no matter how much money and bias: is what you believe in ethical? what resonates with your heart? That is THE way to remain vegan forever.
I got it wrong. It cannot be solely about health, not only about the environment. It is about compassion.
