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• Ethics, Laws, and Traditions
• Hitler Was NOT Vegetarian
• Pigs
• Chickens, Eggs, and the Free-Range Scam
• Cows and Alzheimer's Disease
• Turkeys, Ducks, and Geese
• Fish, Omegas, and Cholesterol
• Dairy and Honey
• Animal Skins
• Identifying Animal-Based Ingredients
• Humans Are Herbivores
• Evolution and Creation
• Protein and Trans Fatty Acids
• The Truth—and Falsehoods—About Soy
• Vitamins, Minerals, and Other Nutrients

• Fad Diets
• Vegan Pregnancy, Infants, and Children
• The Vegan Food Pyramid
• Animal Ag and Environmental Destruction
• Animal Ag and World Hunger
• Expense
• The Economy and 10 Billion Land Animals
• Native Americans
• Why Government Doesn't Care About Animals
• GMOs, Pesticides, and Palm Oil
• Killing Plants
• The Irrelevant "Burning Building" Question
• Making the Transition to Veganism
• The Garden of Vegan

Ethics, Laws, and Traditions

What does Republican Matthew Scully, the former senior speechwriter for George W. Bush, have in common with Ohio's ultra Democrat and former presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich? The same thing Russell Simmons, Erykah Badu and Joaquin Phoenix have in common with Cesar Chavez, Pythagoras and Leonardo da Vinci. Besides capturing the hearts and minds of generations, all are vegan. By not wearing fur, leather, wool, silk and down, nor consuming milk, cheese, eggs, honey and the meat of any land or marine animal, they made a compassionate decision to directly save the lives of thousands of animals.

When I became vegan on July 24, 1996, and finally understood that animals had an inherent right to be free and live completely unfettered by human domination, I wondered why it took more than 25 years to attain this nonviolent awakening.

I began to ask, "Who taught me that animals were put on this Earth for food? Who taught me to disrespect animals and view them as mere commodities? Who stole my compassion, my empathy and my conscience? Who lied to me? Who instilled this vicious mindset of human-to-animal exploitation as standard operating procedure?"

Over the years as I gave 2,388 lectures to more than 60,000 people at 178 schools in 30 states and 5 Israeli cities, I asked tens of thousands of meat, dairy and egg-eaters similar questions. "Who told you to eat the corpses of dismembered animals and reduce your body to a walking graveyard? Who stole your compassion, your empathy and your conscience? Who lied to you? Why do you embrace such meaningless violence and then make inane rationalizations about the suffering of innocent creatures?"

If every meat, dairy and egg-eater logically and compassionately re-evaluated their beliefs, they would understand why veganism is the only ethical and acceptable way to live on this planet.

Isaac Bashevis Singer, the compassionate Jewish humanitarian who escaped Nazi-occupied Poland, once condemned every animal-exploiter by stating, "What do they know—all these scholars, all these philosophers, all the leaders of the world? They have convinced themselves that man, the worst transgressor of all the species, is the crown of creation. All other creatures were created merely to provide him with food, pelts, to be tormented, exterminated. In relation to them [animals], all people are Nazis; for the animals it is an eternal Treblinka."

Singer's indictment is probably the most damning statement ever about humankind. It establishes the fact that violence is violence and murder is murder even if the victims have beaks, horns, gills, feathers or fur.

It's important to note that animals were the first victims of slavery, oppression and murder. Humans perfected these psychotic techniques on animals before using them on each other. In the last 12 months alone, tens of billions of animals worldwide were enslaved, murdered, dismembered or tortured by the food and clothing industries, in vivisection experiments, by hunters, in rodeos, circuses, and zoos, making the Animal Holocaust the largest and longest-running Holocaust of all time.

When Nazis rounded up Jews, babies were ripped out of their mothers' arms. In the dairy industry, calves are stolen from their mothers after birth. Other animal mothers, such as sows, rabbits and ewes, have their babies taken within days, weeks or months after birth. Separating families is a psychologically devastating tactic used to weaken one's pride and inhibit their desire to retaliate and fight back. Nazis swiped this technique from the meat, dairy and egg industries. Jews were tattooed to mark them. All animals in the meat and dairy industries are branded with hot irons, or ear-notched with a numerical tag. Jews were sent to the gas chambers in the same extermination trucks that still send animals to slaughterhouses. The Nazis constructed human slaughterhouses to massacre millions, while these torture-buildings have been strategically built all over the planet to massacre billions of animals. Jews have been, while animals still are, treated like nothing, as if their lives don't matter.

You can also compare the two Holocausts this way. Go to the nearest cow or pig slaughterhouse and remove the animals and replace them with humans. You have now re-created Birkenau. If you travel back in time and remove the Jews from Birkenau and replace them with cows or pigs, a Holocaust is still taking place. During my 2012 lectures in Israel, after showing a new slaughterhouse video, I asked thousands of people the following: "How come if the animals in that video were dogs or cats, you'd be outraged? If they were kids, you'd be screaming bloody murder! Instead the victims are cows and chickens and fish and all of a sudden no one cares, it's okay? So I'm a little confused here. Is the slaughterhouse a problem? Or is the problem who's getting killed in the slaughterhouse? It's a HOUSE OF SLAUGHTER. Why does it even exist? Especially in a country that loves to say, 'NEVER AGAIN. IT'LL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN.' I got some news for ya. The Animal Holocaust was happening long before the Jewish Holocaust, during the Jewish Holocaust and it's still happening today. It's time for Israel to become the first nation on this planet to abolish concentration camps once and for all."

The global atrocity of eating animals kills more innocent beings in one year than all human atrocities over the past 5,000 years combined! This makes veganism the most important aspect of animal rights because almost every animal who is abused and killed on this planet is abused and killed by the meat, dairy and egg industries, despite the fact that no one in this day and age needs meat, cheese, milk and eggs to survive. The only exception would be people residing in icy environments or desert settings. But eating animals for pure survival is rare with only around 1 percent of the earth's population being able to use this excuse. Keep in mind, this is just a valid excuse and NOT a justification. I understand why they do it. I wouldn't do it under any circumstances, but I understand their motives. Everyone else on this planet eats animals and the things that come out of animals for four reasons: Habit, convenience, taste and tradition. With the addition of the profit motive, those are invalid, unnecessary and barbaric reasons to intentionally harm animals.

Meat, dairy and egg-eating societies are also the main cause of world hunger as they continually feed around 50 percent of the world's corn, wheat, oats and soy to 60 billion land animals and tens of billions of marine animals (fish-farming) instead of hundreds of millions of starving people! Every two to three seconds, someone on this planet dies from malnutrition while pigs and cows get fat. Consequently, meat, dairy and egg-eaters are anti-human because feeding billions of animals instead of millions of hungry children is an indirect form of genocide.

Worldwide, around 60 billion land animals [10 billion in the USA] and 90 billion marine animals [18 billion in the USA] are killed and eaten every year in a monumental Holocaust borne of ignorance, arrogance and racism. The human race v. animal race brand of racism permits humans to enslave and kill any other species with impunity. Singer calls speciesism the "purest form of racism" because it kills more innocent beings that any form of human-to-human racism.

This is why vegans are the utmost humanitarians. We indiscriminately seek justice for all by doing unto others as we would have done unto ourselves [THE GOLDEN RULE].

As an ethical vegan, it's logical for me to proclaim that the only nice slaughterhouse is an empty slaughterhouse. This statement, however, is often challenged by uninformed, egocentric individuals who believe mercy and kindness are exclusive to humans. But to deny every animal's inherent right to fly, swim and run freely is cruel and dishonest. If given an option, no animal would choose pain or death.

To understand the compassionate movement of animal rights, empathy must be used to examine the issue from the animals' point of view. This isn't a radical concept either. Abolitionists looked at slavery through the eyes of subjugated blacks, just as the Allied Forces looked at Nazism through the eyes of Jews and other non-Aryans whom Hitler labeled unworthy and expendable. Empathy allows people to understand the injustice without over-analyzing the issue, especially when those in power deem the victims unworthy and expendable, something Hitler, slave-owners, and meat, dairy and egg-eaters have all done to their respective victims.

In an attempt to defile the animal rights movement, meat, dairy and egg-eaters often proclaim that Hitler practiced vegetarianism. However, biographers Albert Speer and Robert Payne attested to Hitler's love for liver dumplings, stuffed squab [pigeon], ham and sausage. German Chef Dione Lucas wrote about Hitler's carnivorism in her Gourmet Cooking School Cookbook, published in 1964. Rynn Berry's Hitler: Neither Vegetarian Nor Animal Lover describes how Goebbels, The Third Reich's propaganda minister, tried to sell Hitler as a vegetarian to make him seem as peaceful as Gandhi. The next section in this series, Hitler Was NOT Vegetarian, provides ample evidence that, contrary to a good deal of popular misconception, Hitler and his henchmen were not vegetarians at all.

In his book Dominion, Matthew Scully explains that people have to choose between being radically kind or radically cruel. There is no comfortable "middle ground." That explains why the meat, dairy and egg-eating animal "welfare" movement is radically hypocritical: its REAL goal is to ensure that enslavement and killing of billions of animals goes on forever, unabated. By definition alone, slaughter and slavery are radically cruel and can never be humane even when cows and other animals live on free-range/freedom/organic/cage-free/antibiotic-free/hormone-free/grass-fed/local farms. If animals go into slaughterhouses alive and come out chopped up into hundreds of pieces, how could anyone claim that they aren't being mistreated, abused, tortured and terrorized? How in the world could SLAUGHTERING BILLIONS of INNOCENT beings be done with love, humanity and concern?

Were you also aware that animals in the meat, dairy and egg industries receive no legal protection whatsoever? After all, slavery and slaughterhouses cannot co-exist with freedom and protection. Here's an excerpt from section two of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA), the federal law that oversees animal-use in America: "When used in this act, the term "animal" ... excludes farm animals, such as, but not limited to, livestock and poultry used or intended for use as food ..." That's pretty cute, isn't it? The animals who are enslaved or eaten aren't even recognized as animals under the law. Does this remind you of another piece of legislation that ignored the victims and existed to shield victimizers from prosecution? When the Constitution was first enacted, only land-owning, slave-owning, white men of European descent were protected. Blacks, Natives, women and many others were conveniently excluded.

The AWA, along with the free-range/freedom/organic/cage-free/antibiotic-free/hormone-free/grass-fed/buying local marketing terms, are used to manipulate people into thinking that meat, dairy and egg production can be done happily and humanely. But there is no such thing as happy and humane slaughter just as there is no such thing as happy and human rape, happy and humane slavery, or happy and humane child molestation. From the animals' point of view, anyone who commodifies their bodies is equally vicious. And if for some reason my aforesaid words aren't proof enough of the terrorism claims I'm lodging against the meat, dairy and egg establishments—and the people who consume these products—maybe the billions of dead, dismembered animal bodies consumed annually could count as proof.

Fortunately, de-programming the perfunctory ways of meat, dairy and egg-eaters is possible (check out this California vegan prison program). My lecture tour converts thousands to veganism while thousands more significantly reduce their meat, cheese, milk and egg intake. Reduction and abolition are the only options to end this massacre. Welfare regulations are a stamp of approval to let the carnage continue unabated because compassionate ways of enslaving and killing billions of animals do not exist.

This is why I am NOT a fan of legislation. Fighting for bigger cages or "better" treatment of animals is contradictory and ridiculous. It will never lead to empty cages. When examining human liberation movements, you'll notice that Malcolm X and Dr. King didn't fight for "better" treatment of blacks via improved segregation policies. They wanted to abolish segregation. They fought for equality and freedom. Cesar Chavez fought for it, too. Same thing when Gandhi liberated India from British rule. If abolition instead of welfare were somehow legislated, I'd be down for that. But I don't believe you can legislate until you educate. Passing welfare laws—which won't be enforced anyway—without explaining the evilness of meat-eating is backwards.

In America, each meat, dairy and egg-eater is responsible for the deaths of 3,000 land animals and thousands of other marine animals throughout their lifetime. Meat, dairy and egg-eating, however, is not an instinctive behavior. It is learned tradition. Scientific claims of the human body being omnivorous or carnivorous are erroneous and illogical. If someone placed a two-year old child in a crib with a bunny rabbit and an apple, the child would play with the rabbit and eat the apple, an unambiguously herbivorous reaction. People become inured to the taste of blood, flesh, veins, muscles, tendons, cow secretions [milk], hen-ass droppings [eggs] and bee vomit [honey], as I will discuss in the "Humans Are Herbivores" section.

Since veganism is for anybody who wants to be kind to animals, good to the environment and healthy, millions of Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, atheist, black, white, Asian, Latino, Native, pro-life, pro-choice, pro-gun and anti-gun people live a vegan lifestyle. Millions of Democrats, Independents and Republicans are vegan as well. Tales of tree-hugging liberals being the only supporters of veganism couldn't be further from the truth. Scully's Dominion is a right-wing, faith-based, Christian conservative view supporting veganism because ethnicity, religious affiliation or political party have no bearing on eating a veggie burger tonight instead of a hamburger.

Traditions, Customs, and Habits

"Custom will reconcile people to any atrocity." George Bernard Shaw

Many people will attempt to justify their meat, dairy and egg-eating ways by saying something like this: "It's a tradition in my culture to eat meat, dairy and eggs," or "It's customary among my family (or tribe) to eat meat, dairy and eggs"—or, quite simply, "It's my habit to eat meat, dairy and eggs, and as habits go, it's a hard one to break." However, to uphold some tradition, custom, or habit for no other reason than that it's a tradition, or a custom, or a habit, is obviously an invalid rationalization for preserving slavery, cruelty and murder. Just like habits, some traditions and customs are good ones, some are harmless, and some are extremely evil. Whether they prove to be good, evil, or innocuous, they didn't get that way just because they were practiced routinely. They were ALWAYS good, evil or innocuous! I understand traditions, customs and habits are hard to break, but EVIL traditions, HARMFUL customs, and BAD habits need to be broken. The abolition of slavery in America, and of suttee in India (the burning-alive of widowed women along with their dead husbands on the funeral pyre) proves that evil can be eradicated, and that rational minds can overcome the atrocity of many traditions and customs that turn innocent beings into victims without reason or mercy.

Try to place yourself in the animals' position: confined to an artificial world, denied your freedom and the chance to live a long, healthy life, even denied sunlight most of the time. Then imagine yourself on a concentration camp truck, terrified and confused, on your way to the slaughterhouse so someone could slice your throat and cut you up into pieces. If you honestly try to assume the animals' point of view, you will understand why the psychotic addictions of meat, cheese, milk and eggs must be abolished. If you eat animals and the things that come out of animals, you are causing pain and suffering and polluting yourself with the blood of innocent beings. Today, we knowingly contribute to an endless loop of enslaving and killing animals to preserve the abstract notion of tradition, the vacuous rituals of custom, and the murderous, selfish habit of meat, cheese, milk and egg-consumption. Peace begins at the dinner table, with what you put into your body on a daily basis.

Good people—the ones who maintain good habits, and observe worthwhile traditions and customs— don't just talk about kindness. They practice it. They don't pray about love. They actually give it. It is not your right—based on YOUR traditions, YOUR customs and YOUR habits—to deny animals THEIR freedom so you can harm them, enslave them and kill them. That's not what rights are about. That's injustice. There is no counter-argument to veganism. Accept it. Apologize for the way you've been living. Make amends and move forward.

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Hitler Was NOT Vegetarian

In an attempt to defile the animal rights movement, meat, dairy and egg-eaters often proclaim that Hitler practiced vegetarianism. However, biographers Albert Speer and Robert Payne attested to Hitler's love for liver dumplings, stuffed squab [pigeon], ham and sausage. German Chef Dione Lucas wrote about Hitler's carnivorism in her Gourmet Cooking School Cookbook, published in 1964. Rynn Berry's Hitler: Neither Vegetarian Nor Animal Lover describes how Goebbels, The Third Reich's propaganda minister, tried to sell Hitler as a vegetarian to make him seem as peaceful as Gandhi. Immediately below is Berry's March 8, 2007 letter to the New York Times, which goes into more detail about Hitler and his henchmen NOT being vegetarians:

Thursday, March 8, 2007

The Editor
The New York Times Book Review
229 West 43rd Street
New York, NY 10036

To the Editor,

I must take issue with Mr. Rothstein's glib characterization of Hitler and his Nazi henchmen, Hess, and Himmler, as vegetarians, in his review of Tristram Stuart's The Bloodless Revolution (February 25). As the historical advisor to the North American Vegetarian Society, I am constantly being taxed with having to explain Hitler's alleged vegetarianism. In researching the matter, I discovered that Hitler was not a true vegetarian. I presented my findings in a book entitled Hitler: Neither Vegetarian Nor Animal Lover (Pythagorean Publishers, 2004).

In my book, I cite numerous primary sources that attest that Hitler was not a thoroughgoing vegetarian. Here are a few examples: For instance, one of his closest friends, Frau Hess, asserted that Hitler was a strict vegetarian except for Liver Dumplings. "From that moment on, Hitler never ate another piece of meat, except for liver dumplings." (His habitual eating of liver dumplings is an important exception that disqualifies Hitler as vegetarian.)

Chef Dione Lucas, who used routinely to prepare meals for him into the early 1930s, actually published Hitler's favorite recipes in her cookbook, The Gourmet Cooking School Cookbook (1964, p. 89). "I learned the recipe when I worked as a chef before World War II, in one of the large hotels in Hamburg, Germany. I do not mean to spoil your appetite for stuffed squab, but you might be interested to know that it was a great favorite with Mr. Hitler who dined at the hotel often. Let us not hold that against a fine recipe though." (His habitual eating of stuffed squab disqualifies Hitler as a vegetarian.)

In the New York Times of May 30, 1937, in an article entitled "Where Hitler Dreams and Plans," Times reporter Otto D. Tolschuss wrote, "It is well known that Hitler is vegetarian and does not drink or smoke. His lunch and dinner consist, therefore, for the most part of soup, eggs, vegetables and mineral water, although he occasionally relishes a slice of ham and relieves the tediousness of his diet with such delicacies as caviar, luscious fruits and similar tidbits." (His occasional eating of sliced ham and caviar disqualifies Hitler as a vegetarian.)

Hitler biographer Thomas Fuchs, in his book, A Concise Biography of Adolf Hitler (New York: Berkeley, 2000, p.78), also confirms that Hitler was not a vegetarian. "A typical day's consumption included eggs prepared in any number of ways, spaghetti, baked potatoes with cottage cheese, oatmeal, stewed fruits and vegetable puddings. Meat was not completely excluded. Hitler continued to eat a favorite dish, Leberkloesse (liver dumplings)."

To be sure, Hitler professed to be a vegetarian (in section 66 of Hitler's Table Talk, 1941-44), but the primary sources that I have cited in my book show that while he paid lip service to vegetarianism, he was not consistent in his practice of the diet. "Vegetarian"—which means (according to the standard dictionary definition) "the practice of eating only vegetables and refraining from eating meat, fish, or other animal products"—is like that other V word, Virgin: you either are one, or you are not. By that criterion, Hitler was a quasi-vegetarian, a would-be vegetarian, or a flexitarian. He was decidedly not a true vegetarian.

With regard to Rudolf Hess, the Fuhrer's fawning deputy, Hess may have been a vegetarian for a brief space—perhaps as a result of his faddish interest in Rudolf Steiner's bio-dynamic agricultural theories. In fact, Hess's biographer, Wulf Schwarzwaller, in his book, Rudolf Hess: The Last Nazi (Bethesda, MD: National Press, 1988), suggests (pp. 157, 161) that Hess's flirtation with biologically dynamic vegetarian foods was just that—a dietary experiment prescribed by a Steinerian doctor. By the time Hess was in Spandau prison in the 1940s, he was back to eating animal flesh with gusto. Schwarzwaller (p. 278) quotes him as complaining to the prison doctor, "The sausages are much too spicy."

Mr. Rothstein's statement that Heinrich Himmler, the architect of the Final Solution, was a vegetarian advocate ["Himmler was an advocate,"] is preposterous and utterly without foundation in fact. Nowhere in the biographical literature on Himmler does it state that he was ever a practicing vegetarian. In fact, in the definitive biography of Himmler, Peter Padfield's Himmler (New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1990, p. 352), Padfield writes that Himmler, despite his queasiness about the hunting of animals, "was not a vegetarian."

Finally, to suggest with Tristram Stuart, as Mr. Rothstein does, that many Nazis were vegetarians ["Many Nazis, as Stuart suggests, were either vegetarians or interested in related issues"] is a gross distortion of the facts. The truth is that not one Nazi was a thoroughgoing vegetarian—not even Hitler himself. I hope that you will be fair-minded enough to print this letter so that readers may judge for themselves whether Hitler, Hess and Himmler were vegetarians. I'm afraid Mr. Rothstein's review is just one further instance of a pundit's publicly relishing the (false) paradox that a triumvirate of genocidal tyrants should have been the followers of a Gandhian diet.

Rynn Berry

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Pigs

Americans enslave, kill and eat more than 100 million pigs every year. In tiny gestation crates, female pigs are forcibly impregnated against their will with long steel devices that shoot hog semen into their uteruses. Sometimes the bestial rape is done by hand but regardless of the technique female pigs are the unwilling baby machines of the meat industry. When they can no longer [forcibly] make babies, they're sent to the slaughterhouse. Pig sanctuaries do not exist in the meat industry.

Smithfield, the largest killer of pigs in the world, generates $8 billion per year by killing 1,100 pigs every hour. Smithfield's five biggest slaughterhouses kill more than 78,000 pigs every day.

Shortly after birth, male piglets are mutilated in four horrific ways. First, they are held upside down as their tails are cut off without anesthetic because tail-biting is common in the overcrowded, unnatural conditions of today's farms. Then each baby has 2 to 8 teeth cut off right down to the gumline with a pair of wire cutter-like devices so when they fight and bite each other, they have no teeth to damage each other's flesh. Since female pigs are forced to produce twice as many piglets in captivity than in the wild, teeth-cutting is also a huge money maker for the meat industry. Cutting teeth on the babies allows the mothers to nurse even more piglets—who will eventually be killed for profit—because when babies suckle on their mothers without teeth, wear and tear on the mothers' nipples is kept to a minimum. Piglets also have portions of their ears ripped out to mark them. It's called ear-notching. Finally, in a sick attempt to pacify the industry-induced anger, testicles are ripped out without anesthetic.

Castration also gives the meat industry complete control over reproduction because natural reproduction is almost obsolete. Every aspect of raising animals for food is controlled, from artificial insemination and genetic engineering, to cloning and killing. The exploitation of reproductive organs is the exact reason why so many women empathize with the animal rights movement and practice veganism. Humanitarian Pattrice Jones explains, "Women and animals—along with land and children—have historically been seen as the property of male households. Both women and animals are seen as less rational and both suffer by being reduced to their bodies, or even worse their body parts."

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Chickens, Eggs, and the Free-Range Scam

Of the 10 billion land animals killed in America every year, around 9 billion are chickens (340 million of them are hens in the egg industry). Factory farms stuff anywhere from 20,000 to 80,000 birds in each warehouse. After 6-7 weeks of living in feces and urine, they're killed, soaked in a chlorine bath to remove the slime and odor from their carcasses and shipped to the grocery store, destined for your dinner plate.

Since the meat, dairy and egg industries exist to make money, animals raised on free-range/freedom/organic/cage-free/antibiotic-free/hormone-free/grass-fed/local farms fare no better than those held captive in huge factory farm facilities because when it's time to sell their dismembered body parts for consumption, all animals are chopped up into pieces at a slaughterhouse. This fact seems to elude people who only condemn factory farms, and embrace the other environments. "Buying local" seems to be the latest gimmick as it places a halo around people who support the local enslavement and murder of animals, which is akin to the slick public relations talk which claims that hunters are saints because they donate deer meat to food banks. When price and volume are taken into consideration, it's far more effective feeding hungry people rice, beans, vegetables and tofu. Thank goodness the world's two largest feed-the-hungry organizations—Plenty and Food for Life Global—understand this and only use vegetarian/vegan food. I agree with the buying local philosophy when fruits, vegetables and other plant-based products are at play. But purchasing the cut-up corpses of locally murdered animals—or the disgusting things that ooze (milk and eggs) from their bodies—is just as evil as supporting it from a long distance. Moreover, why is the buying local way of life only applied to eating? I've noticed that the local folks don't mind buying computers, cell phones, TV sets, furniture, clothes, cars and other materialistic items from a company located in another state or country.

Were you also aware that animals in the meat, dairy and egg industries receive no legal protection whatsoever? After all, how could slavery and slaughterhouses co-exist with freedom and protection? Here's an excerpt from section two of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA), the federal law that oversees animal-use in America: "When used in this act, the term "animal" ... excludes farm animals, such as, but not limited to, livestock and poultry used or intended for use as food ..." That's pretty cute, isn't it? The animals who are enslaved or eaten aren't even recognized as animals under the law. Does this remind you of another piece of legislation that ignored the victims and existed to shield victimizers from prosecution? When the Constitution was first enacted, only land-owning, slave-owning, white men of European descent were protected. Blacks, Natives, women and many others were conveniently excluded.

The AWA, along with the free-range/freedom/organic/cage-free/antibiotic-free/hormone-free/grass-fed/buying local marketing terms, are used to manipulate people into thinking that meat, dairy and egg production can be done happily and humanely. But there is no such thing as happy and humane slaughter just as there is no such thing as happy and human rape, happy and humane slavery, or happy and humane child molestation. From the animals' point of view, anyone who enslaves or eats them is equally vicious. And if for some reason my aforesaid words aren't proof enough of the terrorism claims I'm lodging against the meat, dairy and egg establishments—and the people who consume these products—maybe the billions of dead, dismembered animal bodies consumed annually could count as proof?

Interestingly enough, the History Channel's MODERN MARVELS TV show aired a 43-minute episode in 2012 about the chicken industry. Fourteen minutes eight seconds into the show, the murderous ways of the free-range/freedom/organic industries are unwittingly exposed: The host stated: "After a productive life of 1-2 years, Nigel's chickens also endure what he calls their 'UNHAPPY DAY'." The owner of the California facility then admitted: "When these chickens have finished two years of laying here, the third year they really don't lay enough eggs to pay for their feed. So they have to go. We all have to pay our way. What happens to them? We have a good demand for spent chickens and they go to a slaughterhouse in Sacramento where they're processed for stewing chickens."

Egg farms also continually breed birds so they have a fresh supply of hens to lay eggs. But if babies in the hatchery turn out to be males, they're considered useless by-products because males don't lay eggs. These chicks are tossed ALIVE into the trash, crying out for their lost mothers, or thrown ALIVE into huge rendering machines so they can be ground-up and used as feed for other animals.

Lately, Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser, unpaid spokespersons for the meat, dairy and egg industries, have been making outrageous claims that free-range eggs and the murdered, dismembered bodies of free-range animals are healthy, while small family or organic animal farms are ethical. If all free-range animals end up murdered, when does the FREE part come into play?

First, there is no such thing as healthy meat, cheese, milk and eggs, just as there is no such thing as healthy cigarettes, cigars and chewing tobacco. Animal flesh and the things that come out of animals are toxic regardless of the animals' living conditions. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains and legumes cause NO disease (with the exception of a wheat gluten allergy that causes Celiac Disease in some individuals who are gluten-intolerant). Diseases arise from the consumption of animal protein, casein, cholesterol, sugar, the excessive amount of fat found in all animal products and oils, artificial additives, the 2-9 percent of naturally-occurring trans-fatty acids found in meat and dairy, human-made trans fatty acids found in junk food, and the excessive amount of refined carbohydrates found in white rice, white bread, and pasta. Non-dietary factors affect health, too. Stress, a lack of sleep, smoking tobacco, chemical pollution, genetics, and a lack of exercise can wreak havoc on the body. Therefore, it is essential to eat plant-based foods exclusively, and control the non-dietary factors to the best of your ability.

Second, things that come out of a hen's cloaca, the singular hole of a bird's backside that serves as the poop-hole, pee-hole and egg-hole, are not sane breakfast choices. These unfertilized eggs, covered in shit sprinkles and urine splatter, are not food. Consuming an object that fell out of another species' asshole is not only disgusting, it's pure bestiality. If the aforesaid description didn't convince you that egg-eating is psychotic, maybe this video of a cloaca-in-action will (the deliciousness begins at 1:47):

Finally, even if someone had a hen living in their backyard or purchased eggs from free-range/freedom/organic/cage-free/antibiotic-free/hormone-free/grass-fed/local facilities, egg-consumption is still wrong because exploiting a hen's body and stealing the eggs she produces are crimes of commodification. She is only being valued because people enjoy eating her ass-droppings. In order to obtain a hen, one must purchase her from a breeder. Breeders, obviously, don't produce wild hens which only lay around 17 eggs each year. Since this minute production would never satisfy the lust of bird-ass fetishists, hens have been genetically altered to lay AROUND 300 EGGS annually, which damages the cloaca and causes their egg production to taper off after 1-2 years. Then the hens are killed. Sadly, as the egg-farmer on the Modern Marvels TV show explained, animals must pay their way in the free-range market or in someone's backyard because no profiteer or egg-eater would keep a hen who didn't lay eggs!

Have you also noticed that people never order the Grand Slam turtle-egg omelet or Canada Geese meat-lovers scramble at Denny's? That's because the egg industry chose hens as its victim a long time ago, and THEIR eggs have been marketed to the masses as food. People are addicts to eggs and other animal products, and addicts are ALWAYS irrational when it comes to their habits. Have you ever known an alcoholic, a cigarette smoker, or a heroin user to be rational when it came to alcohol, cigarettes, or heroin? Of course not. And there is NO such thing as a rational—or ethical—meat, dairy, or egg-eater when it comes to animal issues and whether humans should be enslaving, murdering and eating animals.

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Cows and Alzheimer's Disease

Americans kill and eat around 37 million cows every year. At first they're allowed to graze in large fields, until they wind up on dirt-covered feedlots for the last 10 months of their lives. After their horns are cut off with a pair of bolt-cutters [de-horning], cows are fed soy, corn and protein supplements to fatten them up. Many disgusting by-products are mixed into the feed as well, including pig and chicken manure, animal blood and the ground-up bodies of diseased downed-animals. This is why Mad Cow Disease (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) should concern every meat-eater. It is perfectly legal and standard operating procedure to feed the ground-up, diseased bodies of horses, pigs, chickens and turkeys back to the cows, sheep and goats, and vice versa. Only ruminant-to-ruminant feeding is outlawed.

Feeding ground-up animals to other animals is also the reason Alzheimer's Disease exists and affects around 4.5 million people in America and 15 million worldwide. Before 1900, old age used to be associated with wisdom, not memory loss. Doctors recently discovered that the same agent which causes Alzheimer's, the prion or folding protein, also causes Mad Cow Disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) and a host of other neuro-degenerative disorders. Many doctors now believe Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia are misdiagnosed cases of CJD. Dr. Murray Waldman, head coroner of Toronto, has done extensive research on the link between Alzheimer's and CJD. Excerpts of his book Dying For a Hamburger can be found online at www.MadCowboy.com, the site of Howard Lyman, a former fourth generation cattle and dairy rancher.

Lately, Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser, unpaid spokespersons for the meat, dairy and egg industries, have been making outrageous claims that grass-fed cattle—and free-range eggs—are healthy, and that small family and organic animal farms are ethical. First, there is no such thing as healthy meat, healthy cheese, healthy milk or healthy eggs, just as there is no such thing as healthy cigarettes and healthy cigars. Animal flesh and the things that come out of animals are always toxic no matter the animals' living conditions. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains and legumes cause NO disease (with the exception of a wheat gluten allergy that causes Celiac Disease in some individuals who are gluten-intolerant). Diseases arise from the consumption of animal protein, casein, cholesterol, sugar, the excessive amount of fat found in all animal products and oils, artificial additives, the 2-9 percent of naturally-occurring trans-fatty acids found in meat and dairy, human-made trans fatty acids found in junk food, and the excessive amount of refined carbohydrates found in white rice, white bread, and pasta. Non-dietary factors affect health, too. Stress, a lack of sleep, smoking tobacco, chemical pollution, genetics, and a lack of exercise can wreak havoc on the body. Therefore, it is essential to eat plant-based foods exclusively, and control the non-dietary factors to the best of your ability.

It's sad that some meat, dairy and egg-eaters are in such denial about the disgusting things they shove down their throats, that they're now blaming animal-feed—not animal flesh and the things that come out of animals—as the cause of disease. It's foolish to believe that the soy and corn fed to cows and other animals cause heart attacks, strokes, osteoporosis, kidney ailments, diabetes and cancer. Yes, some cancers come from chemicals, but the main cause of prostate, colon, breast, ovarian and pancreatic cancers is the acidic animal protein that meat, dairy and egg-eaters continually shove into their bodies. Cancer can only live and thrive in an acidic environment. The only foods that make human blood and tissues acidic are meat, cheese, milk and eggs. Plant protein is not acidic.

Second, eating free-range/freedom/organic/cage-free/antibiotic-free/hormone-free/grass-fed/local animals illuminates the hypocrisy of the meat, dairy and egg-eating animal "welfare" movement, whose goal is to enslave and kill billions of animals forever. By definition alone, slaughter and slavery are radically cruel and can never be humane even when cows and other animals live on free-range/freedom/organic/antibiotic/hormone-free/grass-fed/local farms. If animals go into slaughterhouses alive and come out chopped up into hundreds of pieces, how could anyone claim that they aren't being mistreated, abused, tortured and terrorized? How in the world could SLAUGHTERING BILLIONS of INNOCENT beings be done with love, humanity and concern? Were you also aware that animals in the meat, dairy and egg industries receive no legal protection whatsoever? After all, slavery and slaughterhouses cannot co-exist with freedom and protection. Here's an excerpt from section two of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA), the federal law that oversees animal-use in America: "When used in this act, the term "animal" ... excludes farm animals, such as, but not limited to, livestock and poultry used or intended for use as food ..." That's pretty cute, isn't it? The animals who are enslaved or eaten aren't even recognized as animals under the law. Does this remind you of another piece of legislation that ignored the victims and existed to shield victimizers from prosecution? When the Constitution was first enacted, only land-owning, slave-owning, white men of European descent were protected. Blacks, Natives, women and many others were conveniently excluded.

The AWA, along with the free-range/freedom/organic/cage-free/antibiotic-free/hormone-free/grass-fed/buying local marketing terms, are used to manipulate people into thinking that meat, dairy and egg production can be done happily and humanely. But there is no such thing as happy and humane slaughter just as there is no such thing as happy and human rape, happy and humane slavery, or happy and humane child molestation. From the animals' point of view, anyone who commodifies their bodies is equally vicious. And if for some reason my aforesaid words aren't proof enough of the terrorism claims I'm lodging against the meat, dairy and egg establishments—and the people who consume these products—maybe the billions of dead, dismembered animal bodies consumed annually could count as proof.

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Turkeys, Ducks, and Geese

Directly above is a hidden-camera video secretly shot at a Hoke County, North Carolina, Butterball factory farm by an undercover investigator with the animal protection organization Mercy For Animals (MFA). The horrific abuse you saw is typical as every year around 300 million turkeys are murdered annually for a sandwich. Like hens in the egg industry, nearly all turkeys are de-beaked to prevent flesh damage from fighting in their overcrowded, unnatural environments. Portions of their toes are also torn off with hot blades. This is all done without anesthetics. Here's some detailed information on the turkey industry.

Hundreds of thousands of ducks and geese are murdered in America annually by the foie gras industry. Steel poles are shoved down their throats three times a day to force-feed them up to four pounds of grains in order to fatten up their livers to 10 times their natural size. This diseased liver is then turned into a paté for rich, arrogant assholes. Here's some detailed information on the foie gras industry. To witness these atrocities, watch the video below.

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Fish, Omegas, and Cholesterol

Americans kill and eat 18 billion marine animals every year. Some are genetically engineered on fish farms, while the rest are hooked by the mouth or netted by huge trawlers that catch and kill everything in their path.

Here's an analogy to help you empathize with fish: imagine you are walking down a country road lined with apple trees. Hungry from the walk, you reach up to grab a piece of fruit. Suddenly, your hand becomes impaled with a large, metal hook that pulls you out of the air and into an atmosphere in which you cannot breathe. We drown fish and other aquatic animals in our atmosphere the same way we drown in theirs.

Contrary to the slick advertisements of the fish industry, or the misinformed American doctors who only receive around THREE HOURS of nutrition information during their eight-year medical programs, fish is not a health food. With mercury, dioxin and PCBs, fish meat is the most contaminated food product available. Additionally, a 3.5-ounce serving of fish meat has twice the amount of cholesterol as a single hot dog. Contrary to anyone who espouses otherwise, cholesterol produced by YOUR body is the only good cholesterol. If you bring it in from an outside source, it's bad cholesterol.

Claims about omega fatty acids being found solely in fish are absolute lies. Some fish have omegas because they've eaten algae/seaweed or consumed other fish who have already eaten algae/seaweed. Every vitamin, mineral and nutrient comes from the earth in the form of fruits, vegetables (sea or land), nuts, seeds, grains and legumes. Animal products only contain trace amounts of vitamins, minerals and nutrients because animals eat plants (sea or land). Meat is, at best, a secondary source of essential elements.

Açaí (fruit), beans, black currant seed oil, blue-green algae, borage seed oil, cabbage, canola oil, flax (oil/seeds), chlorella, corn, green vegetables (leafy), hemp (oil/seed/powder/milk), pine nuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, soy, sprouts (all), squash, vegetable oils, walnuts and wheat all contain omega fatty acids WITHOUT cholesterol, WITHOUT enormous amounts of saturated fat, WITHOUT trans-fatty acids, WITHOUT animal protein and, most importantly, WITHOUT cruelty!

If someone told you to smoke cigarettes because they contain trace amounts of omegas or calcium (they do not), would you do it? Of course not. Yet those who consume animal-based foods engage in exactly this kind of behavior by eating meat, cheese, milk and eggs, putting these deadly products into their bodies on the pretense of obtaining trace amounts of nutrients! As the great philosopher Pythagoras said, "Men dig their graves with their own teeth, and die more by those instruments than by all weapons of their enemies."

For an excellent visual summary of reasons not to eat sea animals, watch this video.

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Dairy and Honey

Let's dispense with the euphemisms. Dairy farms are nothing more nor less than concentration camps for cows and calves. The above video consists of footage shot by activists working undercover at Conklin Dairy Farms, Inc. in Plain City, Ohio during the month of April 2010. The obscenely gratuitous and unspeakable abuse you see in that video is much more widespread than many people think.

Here's another euphemism, one that's widely used within the dairy industry. Because cows' milk is a secretion that oozes from the udder, it's filled with a "somatic cell count," commonly known as pus, with the national average hovering around 350 million pus cells per liter. Basically, this means that each glass of milk in America can have around an eye-dropper full of pus. Over the years, The Hoard's Dairyman and other dairy industry trade journals have run a few articles about the pus content in milk.

When machines are hooked up to the udders three times a day to suck the cows dry, the machines, and the countless drugs and myriad injections of Bovine Growth Hormone, cause mastitis, and irritate and infect the udders. Pus, mucus, and infections are sucked out with the milk, and pasteurization—which cleans the pus, but does not eliminate it from the milk—creates a concoction of sanitized pus. Free-range/grass-fed/antibiotic-free/organic/chemical-free cow milk is not pus-free either. It actually has more pus than non-organic milk because when cows come down with infections, as they always do, chemicals are not being used to treat the infection. Thus, more pus accumulates in the system. Soy, rice, almond, hemp, coconut, oat and hazelnut milks (the vegan ones)—along with human breast milk—are the only pus-free milks.

Moreover, mother cows make milk for THEIR babies and for THEIR babies alone. That case is closed forever. No debate. No discussion. The jury is in. They don't make milk for baby humans, adolescents humans or adult humans. The human body has absolutely no need for cow milk, just as it has absolutely no need for dog milk, giraffe milk, zebra milk, camel milk, goat milk or rhinoceros milk. This is why dairy is responsible for most allergies, asthma, Crohn's disease, childhood ear infections, acne, and breast, ovarian, colon, prostate and pancreatic cancers.

Cows, like every other female mammal, only produce milk during and after pregnancy. Cows, therefore, are artificially impregnated (raped) once a year to keep the milk-flow going. Within moments after giving birth, babies are stolen from their mothers. From a business standpoint, the dairy industry has to steal babies because it can't have calves sucking up all that milk that was meant for them when they would rather sell it to humans instead. Every time humans have a glass of cow milk, some calf is not!

Like male chicks on an egg farm, male calves are useless by-products of the dairy industry. Unlike the chicks who are killed at birth, calves are sent to veal farms and put in tiny crates with ropes and chains around their necks to completely immobilize them. No movement is ever allowed because no muscle development is allowed. The veal industry is only in existence because of the dairy industry. If you don't eat veal, but still consume dairy, it doesn't alleviate the suffering of enslaved male calves, or mother cows! When cows no longer produce huge amounts of quality milk after 3-7 years, they're killed. There are no cow sanctuaries in the dairy industry. Ninety percent of hamburger flesh in America comes from the dairy industry. For some amazing info about the scams and cruelty of the dairy industry, please check out www.NotMilk.com, www.coalitionforcancerprevention.org, and www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/us/07fat.html?src=me&ref=general.

Dairy and Osteoporosis

If you think the calcium and animal protein in milk builds strong bones and does a body good, why do Americans—one of the largest consumers of dairy products worldwide—have astounding rates of osteoporosis, bone fractures, and cancers?

More than ten years ago, the Harvard University Nurses' Health Study, with over 120,000 subjects, found that the consumption of milk and other dairy products does not protect against the bone fractures of osteoporosis (the bone-thinning disease that the dairy industry wants you to believe is related to too little milk in your diet). In fact, those in the study who drank three or more servings of milk a day actually had a slightly higher rate of fractures than women who drank little or no milk (American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 87 (1997), pp. 992-997).

In Western societies, we're told that calcium is the answer to preventing bone loss. However, it's not a lack of calcium that causes osteoporosis. Excessive intake of animal-based protein (which is always acidic) and a lack of exercise, magnesium and vitamin D cause osteoporosis. The Lancet, The U.S. Department of Health, and Harvard University call the link between animal-based diets and osteoporosis "INESCAPABLE". Tobacco, salt and caffeine contribute to bone loss as well.

Animal protein contributes to the acceleration of osteoporosis because keeping blood and tissues at a neutral Ph balance always takes priority over keeping calcium-phosphate in the bones. Bones can hold out for years with insufficient calcium, but blood and tissue cannot because they need phosphate to offset the acidity. When blood and tissues become acidic with animal protein, the body withdraws calcium-phosphate from the bones and uses the alkaline mineral phosphate to keep the Ph levels of blood and tissue balanced. The calcium is then excreted through our urine. Animal products are the only sources of acidic protein. Plant protein is not acidic. People who consume the least amount of animal protein always have the lowest rates of osteoporosis, bone fractures and cancers because of their non-acidic protein diets. Cancer can only thrive in an acidic environment. Here are some studies that discuss the negative impact of animal protein: http://notmilk.com/o.html and www.thechinastudy.com/la-timesarticle.html.

The best sources of calcium are found in açaí, alfalfa sprouts, almonds (234 milligrams per 100 gram serving), apricots, avocados, beans, brazil nuts, broccoli, cabbage, carob, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chickpeas (150 milligrams per 100 gram serving), chlorella, coconut, cornmeal, dandelion greens, dulse, figs, filberts, grains (all), green vegetables (leafy), hazelnuts, hemp (milk/oil/powder/seeds), hijiki sea vegetable (1,400 milligrams per 100 gram serving), kelp, lemon, lentils, lettuce, lucuma powder, maca powder, mango, mesquite powder, millet, miso, nuts, oats, onions, oranges, parsley (203 milligrams per 100 gram serving), prunes, raisins, seaweed, sesame seeds (1,160 milligrams per 100 gram serving), soy (226 milligrams per 100 gram serving), spirulina, sprouts (all), sunflower seeds, watercress, wheatgrass, and yams.

The best sources of vitamin D/calciferol are found in alfalfa sprouts, avocados, basil, carrots, chlorella, fenugreek (powder/seeds), garlic, green vegetables (leafy), mushrooms (shiitake), papaya, parsley, seeds (all), spirulina, sunflower seeds, SUNLIGHT, sweet potato, watercress and wheatgrass.

The best sources of vitamin D2/ergocalciferol are found in alfalfa sprouts, chlorella, spirulina, SUNLIGHT, yeast.

The best sources of magnesium are found in açaí, alfalfa sprouts, apples, apricots, artichokes, avocados, bananas, beans, beets, broccoli, cacao/chocolate, cantaloupe, carrot, cauliflower, celery, chlorella, coconut, corn, dandelion greens, dates, dulse, fenugreek (powder/seeds), figs, garlic, grains (all), grapefruit, grapes, green vegetables (leafy), hemp (milk/oil/powder/seeds), lemon, lentils, mango, mesquite powder, mushrooms, nuts, oranges, paprika, parsley, peaches, pears, peppers, pineapple, plums, prunes, rice (brown/wild), seeds (all), sesame seeds, spirulina, sprouts (all), squash, strawberries, sunflower seeds, sweet potato, tomato, watercress, watermelon, wheat and wheatgrass (Genuine cacao/chocolate is naturally vegan. It's a bean.)

Dairy and Cancer

Statistics show that death rates due to breast cancer are considerably higher in areas with a high dairy consumption (British Journal of Cancer 24, 633-43). And a 2004 study showed that for every glass of milk a woman consumes each day her risk of dying from ovarian cancer goes up by 20 percent (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2004). Countries that have low milk consumption have much, much lower rates of these and other hormone-related cancers, including prostate cancer (American Journal of Epidemiology, 2007; 166: 1259-1279).

Children who consume high levels of dairy products may have a greater risk of developing colorectal cancer in adulthood, according to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (December 2007; 86: 1722-1729). Among nearly 5,000 individuals followed for an average of 65 years, those who grew up in families reporting the highest levels of dairy consumption—nearly two cups per day—had close to three times the risk of colorectal cancer compared with those from families reporting the lowest intake (about 1/2 cup per day or less), reports Dr. Jolieke C. van der Pols of the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia and colleagues. The level of milk consumption in the high-dairy group was similar to the estimated average daily intake of children in the United States, noted van der Pols and colleagues. Links between colorectal cancer risk and childhood exposure to dairy products had not been previously evaluated, the researchers said.

Using data from a study of weekly food consumption in families living in England or Scotland, researchers estimated the daily dairy intake ranged from less than half a cup at the lowest to nearly two cups at the highest. Nearly all (94 percent) of the dairy products came from drinking milk. An increased risk of colorectal cancer among those who consumed the highest amounts of dairy during childhood was still seen after the investigators adjusted the data for potentially influential factors such as meat, fruit, and vegetable consumption, and socioeconomic status.

Dairy, ADD, and Autism

Florida researcher Robert Cade, M.D., and his colleagues have identified caso-morphin, a natural form of morphine found only in cows' milk, as the probable cause of attention deficit disorder (ADD) and autism. They found Beta-caso-morphin-7 in high concentrations in the blood and urine of patients with either schizophrenia or autism. (Autism, 1999, 3) Eighty percent of protein in cows' milk is casein. It has been documented that casein breaks down in the stomach to produce the peptide caso-morphin, an opiate. Another researcher observed that caso-morphin aggravated the symptoms of autism. (Panksepp, J., Trends in Neuroscience, 1979, 2) A third scientist produced evidence of elevated levels of endorphin-like substances in the cerebro-spinal fluid of people with autism. (Gillberg, C., Aspects of Autism: Biological Research (London: Gaskell, 1988), pp. 31-37)

Other research papers that suggest a possible link between dairy consumption and the autism spectrum of disorders include the following:

• Hemmings WA. The entry into the brain of large molecules derived from dietary protein. Proc R Soc Lond (Biol) 1978;200:175-192.
• Knivsberg AM, Wiig K, Lind G, Nodland M, Reichelt KL. Deitary intervention in autistic syndromes. Brain Dysfunction 1990;3:315-327.
• Knivsberg AM, Reichelt KA, Nodland M, Hoien T. Autistic syndromes and diet: a follow-up study. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 1995;39:223-236.
• Linstrom LH, Nyberg F, Terenius L, Bauer K, Besev G, Gunne LM, Lyrens S, Willdeck-Lund GJ, Lundberg B. CSF and plasma beta-casomorphin-like opioid peptides in post-partum psychosis. Am J Psychiatry 1984;141:1059-66.
• Reichelt KL, Knivsberg AM, Nodland M, Lind G. Nature and consequence of hyperpeptiduria and bovine casomorphine found in autistic syndromes. Brain Dysfunction 1994;7:71-85.
• Swedberg J, de Haas J, Leimanstoll G, Paul F, Teschemacher H. Demonstration of beta-casomorphin immunoreactive materials in vitro digests of bovine milk and in small intestine contents after bovine milk ingestion in adult humans. Peptides 1985;6:825-831.
• Umbach H, Teschemacher H, Praetorius K, Hirschhauser R, Bostedt H. Demonstration of beta-casomorphin immunoreactive material in the plasma of newborn calves after milk intake. Regul Pept 1985;12:223-230.
• Whiteley P, Rodgers J, Savery D, Shattock P. A gluten-free diet as an intervention for autism and associated spectrum disorders: Preliminary findings. Autism 1999;3:45-65.
• Zioudrou C, Streaty RA, Klee WA. Opioid peptides derived from food proteins. J Biol Chem 1979;254:2446-9.

Honey

Many raw foodists and 'new-age' vegans think it's okay to consume bee vomit (honey). However, the true definition of veganism EXCLUDES ALL animal products. Bees are insects, and insects are part of the animal kingdom. Therefore, honey is off limits to any person claiming to be vegan. Furthermore, not only is the consumption of vomit disgusting and unnecessary for human health, the honey industry is exploitative and cruel. Worker bees will only vomit if there is a queen bee present. So after apiaries ORDER queen bees from queen bee suppliers, her wings are ripped off in order to prevent her from flying away. Bees vomit for several reasons. They use it as food for their babies, hive insulation, and food for themselves—especially during winter. Their vomit was never intended to be used for Cheerios, smoothies or Buns. For a thoroughly amazing website about the honey industry, check out www.vegetus.org/honey/honey.htm.

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Animal Skins

There comes a time when barbaric habits have to end. The fur, leather, wool, silk and down industries enslave and murder animals in the same ruthless manner as the meat, dairy and egg industries. They all need to be abolished. While most people seem to be opposed to the fur industry (see the Fur, Liberations, and the ALF section of the Other Animal Rights Issues page), those same people wear the ripped-off skins of cows, sheep and silkworms, and the feathers of geese. Condemning the fur industry while giving other animal-skin enterprises a free pass is hypocritical. As a vegan, you must avoid wearing ALL animal skin.

Besides size, shape and color—which amount to nothing more than discriminatory factors—there is NO inherent difference between foxes and cows, or minks and geese, or chinchillas and sheep. Cow skin is fox skin is mink skin is sheep skin is chinchilla skin is the goose's feather. When cows and sheep have their throats slit by the meat, leather and wool industries, they experience the same amount of pain as do minks and foxes when the fur industry breaks their necks, or gasses them, or electrocutes them anally. Cows, sheep, silkworms and geese want to keep their skin and feathers attached to their bodies as much as you want to keep yours. Here's some detailed information on the leather industry. To see a leather tanning facility in action, watch the four-minute video below.

Shearing sheep for their fur is not a benign activity. Folds of skin—along with the tail—are cut off without anesthetic in an attempt to prevent flies from laying eggs near the rectum. Ironically, the bloody mutilation often attracts more insects. The sheep are manhandled during shearing and suffer from painful cuts. And when sheep stop producing quality wool, they always end up at the slaughterhouse, or being murdered by Muslims in psychotic ritual slaughters. Here's some detailed information on the wool industry.

 

Here's some detailed information about geese being live-plucked to steal their feathers for the down industry, and the gruesome practice of boiling silk worms alive for the silk industry.

Please understand that animal skins, and feathers, are NOT by-products of other industries. Leather, wool, silk and down are billion dollar industries in and of themselves. Even if everyone adopted a vegan diet, cows, sheep, geese and silkworms would still be harmed and killed for their skin, and feathers, which is why these industries must be opposed as vehemently as the meat, dairy and egg industries.

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Identifying Animal-Based Ingredients

People eat meat, cheese, milk and eggs because they taste good! It's an addiction; more addictive and deadly than cigarettes and heroin. If people want to harm themselves with drugs, or vegan junk food, I could care less. I am not the health police. But meat, cheese, milk and egg-addicts do not have the right to enslave, harm and kill animals. That's not what rights are about. That's injustice. I didn't stop eating animals—and the things that come out of animals—because of a taste issue. I stopped for ethical reasons.

One of the coolest things about veganism nowadays is that you can have the same smell, taste and texture of animal products without the cruelty and ill health effects. No one has to suffer and die for your dinner any more. Bacon, ham, sausage, chicken, turkey, steak, tuna, hamburgers, hot dogs, milk and cheese can be made with soy, wheat, rice, hemp, beans, quinoa and other plant-based products (if you have a soy or gluten allergy, buy the soy-free/gluten-free products). Most grocery stores carry these products. If your local store isn't stocked, just ask them to bring it in. Stores exist to make money. They sell meat, cheese, milk and eggs because people buy them. When people start buying the vegan versions of meat, cheese and milk, grocers will sell those instead, which most have already started doing. Don't forget about ethnic restaurants for great vegan selections as well. Indian, Middle Eastern, Mexican, Ethiopian and Italian restaurants serve plenty of vegan food. Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Korean and Vietnamese places let you substitute tofu for the meat in any of their dishes. Just make sure to order them without fish/oyster sauce. Check out the Shopping Guide to the Best Vegan Food and Clothing on this website for detailed info about vegan food. For a detailed list of animal ingredients to avoid, please check out "Animal Ingredient List A-Z" from the Happy Cow website. You can also add some handy vegan apps to your smartphone or other mobile device; check out Happy Cow, VeganXpress, VeganSteven, Animal-Free (Apple devices) and Animal-Free (Android devices), or Cruelty-Free (Apple) and Cruelty-Free (Android).

You are most likely wrinkling your nose in disgust at the thought of soy/wheat meat. I thought the same thing when I went vegan in 1996. Isn't it illogical, though, to believe soy/wheat meat is gross when it's made of soy, wheat, vegetables, grains and spices? Yet meat, the dismembered corpse of a murdered animal, comprised of blood, flesh, veins, muscles and tendons, is considered delectable. Why isn't a liquid that oozes out of a cow's udder considered disgusting, especially when it's filled with a "somatic cell count" commonly known as pus, with the national average hovering around 350 million pus cells per liter? How about an egg from a hen? Things that come out of a cloaca—the singular hole of a bird's backside that serves as the poop-hole, pee-hole, vaginal fluid hole and the hole where breakfast comes from—are not sane breakfast choices. If the aforesaid description didn't convince you that egg-eating is psychotic, maybe a video of a cloaca-in-action will (go to the Chickens, Eggs, and the Free-Range Scam section and watch the clip). What about bee vomit? People love it so much they renamed it honey. Honey comes straight from a bee's stomach and is regurgitated through the mouth. You can check that out with any wildlife biologist. But people don't want Bee Vomit Nut Cheerios. They want Honey Nut Cheerios. So they use a nice euphemism instead.

The standard diet of a meat, dairy and egg-eater is blood, flesh, veins, muscles, tendons, cow secretions, things that come out a hen's ass and bee vomit. And once a year during a certain holiday in November, meat, dairy and egg-eaters use the hollowed-out rectum of a dead bird as a pressure cooker for stuffing. And people think vegans are weird because we eat tofu!

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Humans Are Herbivores

Most people believe humans are carnivorous/omnivorous creatures—atop the food chain—who have been eating meat, eggs and dairy since the beginning of time. I believe a few sharks, piranhas, hyenas, bears and lions would like to have a word with us about who's ahead of who in the food chain. Most large herbivores such as rhinos, hippos, elephants and gorillas could also kill a human easily, if provoked. These animals are also ahead of us in the food chain. Humans, historically and scientifically, have always been near the bottom of the food chain. Killing during a one-on-one confrontation without weapons, and the ability to consume bloody raw flesh right from the bone without having it cause disease later on in life, have always been the only true factors in determining physiology and placement in the food chain. All genuine carnivores and omnivores eat an animal's eyes, nose, face, toes, tail, anus, inner organs, blood, brain and fur UNCOOKED. Humans have to cook certain parts of the dismembered animal so we don't become violently ill. That unequivocally makes us fake carnivores/omnivores.

Before tools, weapons, and fire, there was no meat-eating. Humans were vegan long before they turned to an unnatural diet of dead animals; we were vegan scavengers and gatherers long before we tried hunting and gathering. And, contrary to the lies being spread by biased meat, dairy and egg-eating scientists, animal products were NOT responsible for brain growth. It was plant starch, as Dartmouth University Professor Nathaniel Dominy explains in this article. Moreover, according to creation theory, humans were vegan long before we turned to a sinful diet of dead animals (check out the BIBLE and QUR'AN essays located in the Other Animal Rights Issues page, and The Garden of Vegan, the final section of this page). It was only when the Ice Age hit, and most vegetation was wiped out, that humans turned to a survival scenario of eating meat. When the Ice Age ended, we should have reverted to the vegan diet that kept us connected to, and part of, the natural world, not fallaciously on top of it.

Our human physiology is such that all the tools, weapons, hubris, deceit and technology have not magically transformed us into carnivorous/omnivorous creatures. Many anthropologists and medical experts attest to the fact that humans are completely herbivorous, plant-eating creatures. Dr. William Roberts, editor-in-chief of The American Journal of Cardiology and a professor at Baylor University, states, "Human beings are not natural carnivores. When we kill animals to eat them, they end up killing us because their flesh—which contains cholesterol and saturated fat—was never intended for human beings who are natural herbivores." Dr. Milton Mills wrote an indisputable essay about human physiology as well. In their book The Vegetarian Way, nutritionists Virginia and Mark Messina compiled an easy-to-understand chart comparing human bodies to those of herbivores, omnivores and carnivores. That chart is shown just below:

Let's compare the bodies of humans and herbivores to the bodies of carnivores and omnivores. First, the length of intestines in humans and other herbivores falls somewhere between 7 to 13 times the length of the trunk/torso section of the body (I am being generous compared to the research of Mills and the Messinas). In contrast, the length of intestines in carnivores/omnivores is only 3 to 6 times the length of the trunk/torso. (The length of the trunk/torso is used as the means of comparison rather than overall body length or height because humans are bipedal animals whereas most other animals are quadrupeds.) Moreover, the interior surface of human intestines is heavily fluted and striated, whereas the interior intestinal surfaces of carnivores/omnivores tend to be smooth in comparison. The relatively short intestinal length in carnivores/omnivores, along with the relatively smooth interior surface, allow rotting animal flesh, animal protein, casein, cholesterol, trans fatty acids and the excessive amount of fat found in all animal products to pass through quickly; that is why it's impossible for any real carnivore/omnivore to clog their arteries. Clogged arteries, however, harms or kills 51.5 percent of all meat, dairy, egg-eating humans! Dr. William Castelli, director of the Framingham Heart Study (the world's longest running heart study), supports the aforementioned findings with additional claims about cancer rates dropping 60 percent if people stopped eating meat, cheese, milk and eggs. Other dietary and non-dietary factors can affect heart health, too. Sugar, the excessive amount of fat found in oils, stress, a lack of sleep, the excessive amount of refined carbohydrates found in white rice, white bread, and pasta, smoking tobacco, and a lack of exercise can wreak havoc on the body. Therefore, it is essential to eat plant-based foods exclusively, and control the non-dietary factors to the best of your ability.

Humans and other herbivores have carbohydrate digestive enzymes in their saliva, meaning our bodies were created for fruits and vegetables. Animal products have no complex carbohydrates, which is why carnivores/omnivores lack carbohydrate digestive enzymes in their saliva. Many meat, dairy and egg-eaters try disingenuously to exploit the fact that humans are unable to digest cellulose, and discard it during the digestion process. However, cellulose is neither beneficial nor damaging to us in any way, so our inability to digest it is irrelevant. Bonobos, which are humans' closest animal relative as they share 99.5 percent of our DNA, cannot digest cellulose either, and that's because bonobos, like humans, are fruitarians/ frugivores (ultra herbivores). The REAL issue at hand is whether humans can properly process and digest animal protein, casein, cholesterol, the excessive amount of fat found in all animal products, and the 2-9 percent of naturally-occurring trans fatty acids found in meat and dairy, which are the main agents responsible for nearly every disease. The tired and shopworn "argument from cellulose indigestion" is just another diversionary tactic used by meat, dairy, and egg addicts who are unable to look in the mirror and admit that they're the key players in the Animal Holocaust.

Human teeth are broad, short, blunt, flat and spade-shaped like the teeth of other herbivores, not the fanged mouths of carnivores/omnivores. Most herbivores have canines, incisors and molars, which are used for ripping rough foods like apples, carrots or nuts. And if you truly think that humans have carnivorous/omnivorous teeth, compare the two with the photograph just below. Then stop at a pet store today and buy a rawhide dog bone (no soft, chewy modern-day nylon bones allowed). When you get home, gnaw on it for a few hours and destroy it with those powerful teeth of yours. ADAPTT hereby absolves itself of any lawsuits when you break and crack your weak little herbivorous teeth and the dentist charges you $10,000 to fix your mouth!

If your lower jaw moves from side to side—and you grind and chew your food—then you are unequivocally herbivorous. The jaws of carnivores/omnivores only move up and down, vertically. They don't chew; they just rip and swallow. Humans sweat through their pores to cool down. We don't pant like dogs, cats or lions to cool ourselves down. There are no claws on the human hand either, although claws are a trademark of the carnivore/omnivore. When we drive down the highway and spot a dead animal on the side of the road, I'm quite sure people don't get excited, start to salivate, come to a screeching halt, jump out of their car, scare the crows away and start munching on the dead animal. Real carnivores/omnivores eat dead, rotting animals on the side of the road. We always cook meat before eating it, even though lions don't have gazelle barbeques in the jungles of Africa.

To prove beyond a reasonable doubt that humans are herbivores, place a two-year old child in a crib with a bunny rabbit and an apple. If the child eats the rabbit and plays with the apple, then I'll eat a steak sandwich that's been dipped in ice cream! Humans have no carnivorous/omnivorous instincts whatsoever when we're born, young and growing up. There isn't a speck of carnivorism nor an iota of omnivorism in us. People become inured to the taste of blood, flesh, veins, muscles, tendons, cow secretions [milk], hen-ass droppings [eggs] and bee vomit [honey] after they're forced down our throats during childhood.

With all this physiological evidence at hand, one might wonder why many physiologists and evolutionary biologists—even the most brilliant and widely-renowned evolutionary biologists such as Richard Dawkins—would continue to indulge their addiction to meat, dairy products and eggs, and publicly rationalize their addiction in ways that wouldn't do justice to a 13-year-old. The answer is simple and clear-cut: Scientists are human, and because humans are fallible and weak, they fall prey to addictions of all kinds. And when that happens, the rational mind, supposedly invoked to combat the addiction, usually falls by the wayside. It is only when the addict brings what he feels into accord with what he knows, his ethics into accord with the scientific facts, and the contents of his stomach into accord with the contents of his rational brain, that he can break the cycle of addiction that envelops and destroys him.

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Evolution and Creation

In the evolutionary theory, humans were vegan long before we turned to an unnatural diet of dead animals. Before tools, weapons and fire there was no meat-eating. We were vegan scavengers and gatherers long before we tried hunting and gathering. When the Ice Age hit and most vegetation was wiped out, humans turned to a survival scenario of eating meat. When the Ice Age ended, we should have reverted back to the vegan diet that kept us connected to and part of the natural world, not fallaciously on top of it.

In the creation theory, humans were vegan long before we turned to a sinful diet of dead animals. The religions of Buddhists, Hindus, 7th Day Adventists, Jains and Rastafarians unambiguously admonish followers to harm no animal, and to treat the body as a temple by ingesting healthy, non-animal based foods. Meat is never permissible.

If you are a follower of Judaism, Christianity or Islam, look no further than the Garden of Eden. It was a vegan haven, and Adam and Eve were the first vegans on this planet. Genesis 1:29, God's first dietary law, states, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food." Isaiah 11:7, God's last dietary law, states, "The wolf will live with the lamb, the cow will feed with the bear, the lion will eat straw like the ox, and a little child will lead them. And neither will harm nor destroy on My Holy Mountain." The beginning and the end are vegan because veganism causes no bloodshed and cruelty. Many other scriptures like Hosea 2:18 and Ecclesiastes 3:19 also profess God's love for animals.

Since animal products cause almost all of our diseases, and the human body is 100 percent herbivorous, rationalizing God's approval of this deadly fare doesn't make sense. It's awfully convenient that most people believe God, Jesus and Mohammad embrace the misery, murder and consumption of animals. Yet, those same people also believe God, Jesus and Mohammad are all-compassionate, all-loving and all-merciful, not bloodthirsty, murderous devils. These scenarios contradict each other, so it can't be both ways. Causing misery to animals and supporting their murder is causing misery to God, Jesus and Mohammad and murdering Their souls.

The THOU SHALT NOT KILL commandment should make everyone vegan anyway. Since each vegan spares the lives thousands of animals every year, honoring this commandment can only bring one closer to God.

In the Gospel of the Nazirenes, viewed as inauthentic by the Church, Jesus proclaims, "Wherefore those who want to be my disciples, keep your hands from bloodshed and let no flesh meat enter your mouths for the Lord is just and bountiful who ordains that man shall live by the fruits and the seeds of the earth alone." He also states, "Verily I say unto you, for this end I have come into the world; that I may put away all blood offerings and the eating of the flesh of the beasts and the birds that are slain by men. In the beginning the Creator gave to all the fruits of the trees and the seeds of the earth and the herbs for food. But those who loved themselves more than the Lord or their fellows, corrupted their ways and brought diseases into their bodies and filled the earth with lust and violence."

Of the 114 chapters in the Qur'an, 113 begin with the phrase "In the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful." All Muslims accept that showing compassion and charity is a service to Allah. Yet, to kill animals and eat their flesh is anything but compassionate and charitable. The Holy Prophet Muhammad states, "Allah will not be affectionate to a man who is not affectionate to Allah's creatures. Whoever is kind to the creatures of Allah is kind to himself. A good deed done to an animal is as good as doing good to a human being while an act of cruelty to an animal is as bad as an act of cruelty to a human being."

Animals are the most innocent beings on this planet and need the most protection. When we exclude animals from God's circle of compassion, we exclude God from our lives. God demands mercy, compassion and meekness. After all, the meek shall inherit the earth, and the meek are the animals and those who walk humbly with them.

For more detailed information about religion and veganism, go to the Other Animal Rights Issues page, and check out the articles entitled The Qu’ran and Islam and The Bible, Jesus, and Veganism.

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Protein and Trans Fatty Acids

Veganism not only ensures a greater reduction of cruelty on this planet than any other measure you could take; it also prevents, treats or cures heart diseases (strokes and heart attacks), cancers (prostate, colon, breast, ovarian and pancreatic), kidney disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, high blood pressure, obesity, asthma and impotence, just to name a few. According to Dr. T. Colin Campbell's China Study, the world's largest dietary study ever conducted, vegans have less than a 5 percent chance of getting one of the aforementioned ailments.

Campbell acknowledges that more than 50 percent of the world's meat, dairy and egg-eaters will have a non-genetically-induced heart attack or stroke caused by the consumption of animal protein, casein, cholesterol, sugar, the excessive amount of fat found in all animal products and oils, the excessive amount of refined carbohydrates found in white rice, white bread, and pasta, human-made trans fatty acids found in junk food, and the 2-9 percent of naturally-occurring trans-fatty acids found in meat and dairy (the previous trans-fatty acids study appears at the end of this page). Non-dietary factors affect heart health, too. Stress, a lack of sleep, smoking tobacco and a lack of exercise can wreak havoc on the body. Therefore, it is essential to eat plant-based foods exclusively, and control the non-dietary factors to the best of your ability.

If the heart disease news isn't bad enough, around 20 percent of meat, dairy and egg-eaters now have some version of diabetes even though this disease could be treated, controlled or cured with cardio exercise and a low-fat, low-sugar, low-refined-carbohydrate vegan diet. As you regain control of your blood sugar, you will probably have to continue taking insulin shots for a time. However, within one year, you should be able to do away with insulin completely! (Pig serum used to be the key ingredient in insulin until doctors discovered it exacerbated foot neuropathy and ocular issues. All insulin is now made synthetically using human insulin.)

Animal protein also leads to osteoporosis and is the main reason why 1 in 3 meat, dairy and egg-eaters get cancer! Animal protein is way too acidic for the herbivorous human body (read the Humans Are Herbivores section). And cancer can only live and thrive in an acidic environment. The only foods that make human blood and tissues acidic are meat, cheese, milk and eggs. Plant protein is not acidic. Animal protein contributes to the acceleration of osteoporosis because keeping blood and tissues at a neutral Ph balance always takes priority over keeping calcium-phosphate in the bones. Bones can hold out for years with insufficient calcium, but blood and tissue cannot because they need phosphate to offset the acidity. When the body becomes acidic with animal protein, it withdraws calcium-phosphate from the bones and uses the alkaline mineral phosphate to keep the Ph levels of blood and tissues balanced. The calcium is then excreted through our urine. Epidemiological evidence proves that people who consume the least amount of animal protein always have the lowest rates of osteoporosis, bone fractures and cancers (and other diseases). People need to stop pretending that animal products are healthy. If it contains cholesterol, casein, an excessive amount of fat, trans-fatty acids and animal protein, it is unhealthy. I'm still looking for the first medical report in history that can indict broccoli, bananas or asparagus as a cause of illness. Here are some studies that discuss the negative impact of animal protein: http://notmilk.com/o.html and www.thechinastudy.com/la-timesarticle.html.

Contrary to the misinformation spewed forth by uninformed people, there is no shortage of protein in a vegan diet. All amino acids are found in the plant kingdom with alfalfa sprouts, almonds, bananas, bean sprouts, brazil nuts, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, coconuts, corn, dates, eggplant, filberts, goji berries, okra, pecans, soy, spirulina (seaweed), squash, sunflower seeds, sweet potatoes, tempeh (fermented soy), tomatoes, walnuts and wheatgrass being complete proteins. However, consuming all amino acids at one meal is unnecessary. Meat, dairy and egg-eaters receive NO benefit from eating complete animal-based proteins except having a complete chance at cancer, osteoporosis and a host of other ailments. Cauliflower and broccoli are 40 percent protein while most other vegetables contain around 30 percent protein. Beans, brown rice, cacao/chocolate (genuine cacao/chocolate is a bean so it's naturally vegan), grains (all), hemp (milk/oil/powder/seed), lentils, lucuma (powder), maca (powder), mesquite (powder), non-dairy milks, nuts, seeds and all veggie meats are great sources of protein, too. Even fruit has around 5 percent protein, which is the same amount of protein human babies receive from mother's breast milk. For a detailed list of protein-rich foods, check out this chart from the Vegetarian Resource Group. For an explanatory video about protein, check out Freelee, an Australian native and raw food guru.

A friend recently asked me how to obtain the vegan equivalent of eight egg whites for his new work-out regimen. One egg white has 6.5 grams of protein. First, I find it odd that anyone would want 52 grams of protein at one meal. The meat, dairy and egg industries have done an excellent job of making everyone believe that they need EXCESSIVE AMOUNTS (25, 35, 50, even 60 or more percent) of protein in their diets. However, healthy protein intake—plant-based of course—should be only around 10-15 percent of your diet. Anyone who recommends more than that is misinformed, uninformed, fatuous or lying. Again, the amount of protein in mother's breast milk is only 5 percent, measured in terms of caloric expenditure, yet breast milk spurs rapid growth in the infant through the first months and years of her life. Second, for all you muscleheads who think vegans can't be athletic or big, check out www.VeganStrength.org and the Veg Athletes page of this website. Third, the following vegan items match egg whites in protein, are 100 times healthier and—ethically—there's no comparison: One cup of hemp seeds (use it in a smoothie, on top of cereal or salad, or make hemp milk); a little more than half a cup of the seaweed spirulina (use it in a smoothie or on a salad); three cups of lentils; one and a half cups of peanut butter; one and a half cups of flaxseeds (use it in a smoothie or on top of a salad); one and a half cups of pumpkin seeds; one and a half cups of almonds; four cups of beans.

Meat Consumption Increases Breast Cancer Risk

According to the European Journal of Cancer Prevention (2008; 17:39-47), a higher intake of meat—including poultry and fish—was associated with a significantly higher breast cancer incidence rate in a study of over 700 people. Each serving eaten per day boosted risk by about 30 percent.

Egg, red meat, and poultry intake and risk of lethal prostate cancer in the prostate specific antigen-era: incidence and survival

Authors: Erin L. Richman¹, Stacey A. Kenfield², Meir J. Stampfer², Edward L. Giovannucci³, June M. Chan¹

Publisher: Cancer Prevention Research (September 19, 2011), American Association of Cancer Research

Abstract: Red and processed meat may increase risk of advanced prostate cancer. Data on post-diagnostic diet and prostate cancer are sparse, but post-diagnostic intake of poultry with skin and eggs may increase risk of disease progression. Therefore, we prospectively examined total, unprocessed, and processed red meat, poultry, and eggs in relation to risk of lethal prostate cancer (e.g. men without cancer at baseline who developed distant organ metastases or died from prostate cancer during follow-up) among 27, 607 men followed from 1994-2008. We also performed a case-only survival analysis to examine post-diagnostic consumption of these foods and risk of lethal prostate cancer among the 3,127 men initially diagnosed with non-metastatic prostate cancer during follow-up. In the incidence analysis, we observed 199 events during 306,715 person-years. Men who consumed 2.5 or more eggs per week had an 81% increased risk of lethal prostate cancer compared to men who consumed less than 0.5 eggs per week (HR: 1.81; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.13, 2.89; p-trend: 0.01). In the case-only survival analysis, we observed 123 events during 19,354 person-years. There were suggestive, but not statistically significant, positive associations between post-diagnostic poultry (HR ≥3.5 vs. ≤1.5 servings per week: 1.69; 95%CI: 0.96, 2.99; p-trend: 0.07) and post-diagnostic processed red meat (HR ≥3 vs. ≤0.5 servings per week: 1.45; 95%CI: 0.73, 2.87; p-trend: 0.08) and risk of progression of localized prostate cancer to lethal disease. In conclusion, consumption of eggs may increase risk of developing a lethal-form of prostate cancer among healthy men.

Affiliations: 1: Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco 2: Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health 3: Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health

Trans Fatty Acids in Dairy and Meat Products from 14 European Countries: The TRANSFAIR Study

Authors: Aro A.¹; Antoine J.M.²; Pizzoferrato L.³; Reykdal O.⁴; van Poppel G.⁵

Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, Volume 11, Number 2, June 1998, pp. 150-160(11)

Publisher: Academic Press

Abstract: The fatty acid composition of dairy products and meat from 14 European countries was analyzed with particular emphasis on trans fatty acids. In cow's milk, butter, and cheese the proportions of trans fatty acids ranged between 3.2 and 6.2% of fatty acids. C18:1 isomers comprised about 60% and C16:1 and C18:2 isomers about 15% each of total trans fatty acids. Goat's and sheep's milk and cheese contained between 2.7 and 7.1% trans fatty acids. Summer milk contained up to 57% more trans fatty acids, both C18:1 and C18:2 isomers, more cis-unsaturated and less saturated fatty acids than winter milk. Ice-cream with partially hydrogenated vegetable oils contained between 21 and 31% trans fatty acids and low-trans modified-fat ice-cream between 0.2 and 0.9%. The high-trans ice-cream samples contained more cis-unsaturated and less saturated fatty acids than most dairy-fat and low-trans products. Beef contained 2.8-9.5% and lamb meat 4.3-9.2% trans fatty acids whereas pork (0.2-2.2%) and chicken (0.2-1.7%) and meat from other nonruminants were lower in trans fatty acids. With very few exceptions, sausages contained pork and showed low trans fatty acid levels. In conclusion, ruminant fats contained moderate amounts of trans fatty acids, mainly C18:1 isomers. There were considerable differences both between and within the countries, probably due to seasonal factors and differences in feeding practices and the age of the animals.

Affiliations: 1: National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland 2: Centre Jean Thèves, Danone Group, Athins Mons, France 3: Istituto Nazionale della Nutrizione, Rome, Italy 4: Agricultural Research Institute, Reykjavik, Iceland 5: TNO Nutrition and Food Research Institute, Zeist, 3700 AJ, The Netherlands

A Cure For Cancer? Eating A Plant-Based Diet

by Kathy Freston

Published in The Huffington Post, September 24, 2009

. . . In the next few months, I will share a series of interviews I've conducted with the preeminent doctors and nutritional researchers in the fields of their respective expertise. And here it is straight out: they are all saying the same thing in different ways and through multiple and varying studies: animal protein seems to greatly contribute to diseases of nearly every type; and a plant-based diet is not only good for our health, but it's also curative of the very serious diseases we face. . . . (Read the entire article here.)

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The Truth—and Falsehoods—About Soy

Unless you are allergic to it, soy can be a great addition to your diet as it contains ALL of the amino acids, protein, calcium, iron, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B12, folic acid and more! Soy foods also contain isoflavones and phytoestrogens (plant-based estrogens), which can prevent and treat many diseases. Contrary to much misinformation fixated on the estrogen content of soy, phytoestrogens do NOT harm the human body. Animal estrogens, on the other hand, are deleterious to health (see the following articles: Hormones in milk can be dangerous; Estrogen: one of the risk factors in milk for prostate cancer; and Red meat may increase breast cancer risk). Meat and dairy products have the same-to-twice the amount of animal-based estrogens than the plant estrogens found in soy. Some studies even suggest that phytoestrogens may actually inhibit the deleterious effects of animal estrogens. Always try to buy organic (non-GM) soy, and focus more on unprocessed soy (edamame) and the fermented versions (tempeh and miso) as they provide all the aforesaid nutrients plus natural pro-biotics that bathe your intestines in goodness.

Most of the misinformation about soy comes from the meat, dairy, and egg industries, and their apologists Eric Schlosser and Michael Pollan (authors of Fast Food Nation, Food Inc., and The Omnivore's Dilemma) who are blinded by their bloodthirsty cravings of meat, cheese, milk and eggs. Legitimate studies show positive effects of soy on human health. An excellent example of such a study is Soy and Health, published by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. This study is presented in full just below. As you peruse the study, note that these are not merely PCRM's conclusions. These conclusions are amply documented, and are based on numerous studies published in well-established, widely respected medical journals that have no axe to grind with meat-eaters, vegetarians or vegans.

If you're still not convinced that soy is safe because of all the negative propaganda, soy does not have to be part of your diet. However, since 95 percent of all GM soy in America is set aside for animal feed, you still have to take the vegan route because the animals in the meat, dairy and egg industries are fed soy. The soy meat, cheese and milk substitutes are available because people are hopelessly addicted to the taste, smell and texture of animal flesh, and the things that come out of animals. If you can beat the addiction, and get to the heart of veganism by consuming only fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes and grains (avoid wheat if you have a gluten allergy), then more power to you.

Soy and Health

Soy foods have recently enjoyed increasing popularity. Soy foods include soybeans (also called edamame) and any other foods made from soybeans, including soymilk, tofu, tempeh, miso, and vegetarian meat and dairy substitutes, like soy meats and soy cheeses. Like most other plant foods, the most healthful choices in soy foods are those that are minimally processed so they retain all of their original nutrients. But because soy products are so widely consumed, some people have raised the question as to whether they are safe. Let's take a look at what medical studies show:

Cancer Prevention and Survival

Epidemiological studies have found that soy protein may reduce the risk for cancers including breast, colon, and prostate.¹

Studies show that women who include soy products in their routine are less likely to develop breast cancer, compared with other women. In January 2008, researchers at the University of Southern California found that women averaging one cup of soymilk or about one-half cup of tofu daily have about a 30 percent less risk of developing breast cancer, compared with women who have little or no soy products in their diets.² However, to be effective, the soy consumption may have to occur early in life, as breast tissue is forming during adolescence.^3,4

What about women who have been previously diagnosed with breast cancer? A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported results based on 5,042 women previously diagnosed with breast cancer who were participating in the Shanghai Breast Cancer Survival Study over a four-year period. The study showed that women who regularly consumed soy products, such as soymilk, tofu, or edamame, had a 32 percent lower risk of recurrence and a 29 percent decreased risk of death, compared with women who consumed little or no soy.⁵ An accompanying editorial suggested that inconsistencies in prior research may be attributable to the comparatively low soy consumption in the United States, making beneficial effects harder to identify.⁶ In China, soy intake is higher and diets tend to include traditional food sources of soy, rather than soy supplements. Other studies have found that there was no effect or a favorable effect on breast tissue density in women consuming soy.⁷

Why should soy products reduce cancer risk? Most research has zeroed in on phytoestrogens found in soybeans. (Phyto means "plant.") These compounds are in some ways similar to the estrogens (female sex hormones) in a woman's bloodstream, but are much weaker. Some have suggested that they may keep estrogen levels under control as they can act both like a weak estrogen when body estrogen levels are low and can inhibit estrogen's effects when body estrogen levels are high.⁸

By analogy, the estrogens in a woman's body are like jumbo jets that have landed at an airport. Phytoestrogens are like small private planes that are occupying the Jetways, blocking the jumbo jets from attaching. This explanation is probably overly simplistic, but it may serve to illustrate how soy's weak hormonal compounds can have beneficial effects.

Fertility

Other concerns include whether soy has a negative effect on reproductive health. However, studies in both men and women have shown that soy did not hinder reproduction.^9,10

Also, adults who had been fed soy infant formula as infants were found to have no difference in their reproductive health when compared with adults who had been fed cow's milk formula.¹¹

Male Hormones

Although compounds in soy products have been likened to very weak female hormones, they have no adverse effects on men and may help prevent cancer in men. A meta-analysis to be published in Fertility and Sterility, based on more than 50 treatment groups, showed that neither soy foods nor isoflavone supplements from soy affect testosterone levels in men.¹² An analysis of 14 studies, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that increased intake of soy resulted in a 26 percent reduction in prostate cancer risk.¹³ Researchers found a 30 percent risk reduction with nonfermented soy products such as soy milk and tofu.

Fibroids

Soy products may reduce the risk of fibroids, knots of muscle tissue that form within the thin muscle layer that lies beneath the uterine lining. A study of Japanese women found that the more soy women ate, the less likely they were to need a hysterectomy, suggesting that fibroids were less frequent.¹⁴ In a study of women in Washington State, soy did not seem to help or hurt, perhaps because American women eat very little soy, compared with their Japanese counterparts.¹⁵ What did have a big effect in this study were lignans, a type of phytoestrogens found in flaxseed and whole grains. The women consuming the highest amounts of these foods had less than half the risk of fibroids, compared with the women who generally skipped these foods. So, again, phytoestrogens seem beneficial, countering the effects of a woman's natural estrogens, although in this case the benefit comes from foods other than soy.

Thyroid Health

Clinical studies show that soy products do not cause hypothyroidism.¹⁶ However, soy isoflavones may take up some of the iodine that the body would normally use to make thyroid hormone.¹⁷ The same is true of fiber supplements and some medications. In theory, then, people who consume soy might need slightly more iodine in their diets. (Iodine is found in many plant foods, especially in seaweed and iodized salt.) Soy products can also reduce the absorption of medicines used to treat hypothyroidism.¹⁶ People who use these medicines should check with their health care providers to see if their doses need to be adjusted.

Other Health Effects

Soy products appear to reduce low density lipoprotein ("bad") cholesterol.¹⁸ They may also reduce the risk of osteoporosis-related hip fractures. In a study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, women who consumed at least one-fourth cup of tofu per day, averaged a 30 percent reduction in fracture risk.¹⁹

Overnutrition

Soy products are typically high in protein. Some manufacturers have exploited this fact, packing isolated soy protein into shakes and turning it into meat substitutes. However, it may be prudent to avoid highly concentrated proteins from any source, including soy. It has long been known that cow's milk increases the amount of insulin-like growth factor in the bloodstream,²⁰ and this compound is linked to higher cancer risk. Some evidence suggests that highly concentrated soy proteins (indicated as "soy protein isolate" on food labels) can do the same.²¹ Simple soy products, such as tempeh, edamame, or soynuts, are probably best choices.

Summary

Evidence to date indicates that soy products may reduce the risk of breast cancer and breast cancer recurrence. They do not appear to have adverse effects on the thyroid gland, but may reduce the absorption of thyroid medications. The benefits of soy products appear to relate to traditional soy products, not to concentrated soy proteins.

References

¹Badger TM, Ronis MJ, Simmen RC, Simmen FA. Soy protein isolate and protection against cancer. J Am Coll Nutr. 2005;24(2):146S-149S.

²Wu AH, Yu MC, Tseng CC, Pike MC. Epidemiology of soy exposures and breast cancer risk. Br J Cancer. 2008;98(1):9-14.

³Korde LA, Wu AH, Fears T, et al. Childhood soy intake and breast cancer risk in Asian American women. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2009;18(4):1050-1059.

⁴Shu XO, Jin F, Dai Q, et al. Soyfood intake during adolescence and subsequent risk of breast cancer among Chinese women. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2001;10(5):483-488.

⁵Shu XO, Zheng Y, Cai H, et al. Soy food intake and breast cancer survival. JAMA. 2009;302(22):2437-2443.

⁶Ballard-Barbash R, Neuhouser ML. Challenges in design and interpretation of observational research on health behaviors and cancer survival. JAMA. 2009;302(22):2483-2484.

⁷Messina MJ, Loprinzi CL. Soy for breast cancer survivors: a critical review of the literature. J Nutr. 2001;131(11 Suppl):3095S-3108S.

⁸Wiseman H, O'Reilly JD, Adlercreutz H, et al. Isoflavone phytoestrogens consumed in soy decrease F(2)-isoprostane concentrations and increase resistance of low-density lipoprotein to oxidation in humans. Am J Clin Nutr. 2000;72(2):395-400.

⁹Mitchell JH, Cawood E, Kinniburgh D, Provan A, Collins AR, Irvine DS. Effect of a phytoestrogen food supplement on reproductive health in normal males. Clin Sci (Lond). 2001;100(6):613-618.

¹⁰Kurzer MS. Hormonal effects of soy in premenopausal women and men. J Nutr. 2002;132(3):570S-573S.

¹¹Strom BL, Schinnar R, Ziegler EE, et al. Exposure to soy-based formula in infancy and endocrinological and reproductive outcomes in young adulthood. JAMA. 2001;286(7):807-814.

¹²Hamilton-Reeves JM, Vazquez G, Duval SJ, Phipps WR, Kurzer MS, Messina MJ. Clinical studies show no effects of soy protein or isoflavones on reproductive hormones in men: results of a meta-analysis. Fertil Steril. 2009.

¹³Yan L, Spitznagel EL. Soy consumption and prostate cancer risk in men: a revisit of a meta-analysis. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009;89(4):1155-1163.

¹⁴Nagata C, Takatsuka N, Kawakami N, Shimizu H. Soy product intake and premenopausal hysterectomy in a follow-up study of Japanese women. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2001;55(9):773-777.

¹⁵Atkinson C, Lampe JW, Scholes D, Chen C, Wahala K, Schwartz SM. Lignan and isoflavone excretion in relation to uterine fibroids: a case-control study of young to middle-aged women in the United States. Am J Clin Nutr. 2006;84(3):587-593.

¹⁶Messina M, Redmond G. Effects of soy protein and soybean isoflavones on thyroid function in healthy adults and hypothyroid patients: a review of the relevant literature. Thyroid. 2006;16(3):249-258.

¹⁷Divi RL, Chang HC, Doerge DR. Anti-thyroid isoflavones from soybean: isolation, characterization, and mechanisms of action. Biochem Pharmacol. 1997;54(10):1087-1096.

¹⁸Pipe EA, Gobert CP, Capes SE, Darlington GA, Lampe JW, Duncan AM. Soy protein reduces serum LDL cholesterol and the LDL cholesterol:HDL cholesterol and apolipoprotein B:apolipoprotein A-I ratios in adults with type 2 diabetes. J Nutr. 2009;139(9):1700-1706.

¹⁹Koh WP, Wu AH, Wang R, et al. Gender-specific associations between soy and risk of hip fracture in the Singapore Chinese Health Study. Am J Epidemiol. 2009;170(7):901-909.

²⁰Heaney RP, McCarron DA, Dawson-Hughes B, et al. Dietary changes favorably affect bone remodeling in older adults. J Am Diet Assoc. 1999;99(10):1228-1233.

²¹Dewell A, Weidner G, Sumner MD, et al. Relationship of dietary protein and soy isoflavones to serum IGF-1 and IGF binding proteins in the Prostate Cancer Lifestyle Trial. Nutr Cancer. 2007;58(1):35-42.

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Vitamins, Minerals, and Other Nutrients

The purpose of eating is to nourish the body without causing intentional harm to animals, the earth or yourself. With so much misinformation emanating from the media, the government, schools, parents and the medical community, I've decided to compile the most extensive list (101 categories) of cruelty-free food items which contain EVERY vitamin, nutrient and mineral that the human body requires. These whole foods consist of fruits, land vegetables, sea vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes and grains (avoid wheat gluten or soy if you are allergic to them). They constitute a complete balance of vital nutrients the body needs to thrive, and the majority of plant foods, such as broccoli, asparagus and strawberries, are a meal in and of themselves. The following items appear in several categories and are considered the best of the best: açaí, alfalfa sprouts, apricots, asparagus, avocados, broccoli, cacao/chocolate (Genuine cacao/chocolate is naturally vegan. It's a bean.), chlorella, garlic, green leafy vegetables, nutritional yeast, pears, spirulina, strawberries and wheatgrass.

Before presenting the complete list of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients, I want to mention something about diseases, pills, and the unnecessary controversy surrounding B12.

First, diseases arise from the consumption of animal protein, casein, cholesterol, sugar, the excessive amount of fat found in all animal products and oils, artificial additives, the 2-9 percent of naturally-occurring trans-fatty acids found in meat and dairy, human-made trans fatty acids found in junk food, and an excessive amount of refined carbohydrates found in white rice, white bread, and pasta. Therefore, it is essential to eat plant-based foods exclusively. Health cannot be found in a bottle. It doesn't come in pill form. And it certainly doesn't come from steaks, fish tacos, grilled cheese sandwiches or bacon omelets washed down with a glass of milk.

Second, after 16 years of practicing veganism without taking a single vitamin, I had my B12 level checked on October 24, 2012. It was 543 pg/mL. The normal range is between 271-870 pg/mL. My level is perfect because the human body needs just three micrograms of B12 per day, and we possess bacteria in the mouth and intestines that produce it naturally (see links below). B12 also comes from the earth's soil, which is why some animals possess trace amounts of B12. They eat dirt when they eat off the ground, and animal-feed is never washed. However, attempting to get secondary trace amounts of B12 by eating animal products is inefficient and deadly. First, B12 is destroyed by heat. Second, animal products contain disease-causing compounds. The heat destruction explains why 99 percent of people with B12 deficiencies are meat, dairy and egg-eaters. The remaining one percent are junk-food vegetarians and vegans, or people with an underlying medical condition that prevents B12 absorption. The veg junk food groups are also at risk for other ailments because optimum health cannot be achieved with cheese, eggs, Ruffles, Oreos, french fries, white rice, white bread, or refined pastas. Non-junk-food veganism causes no disease. It is preventative medicine, the treatment and the cure. There's also a reason why the term 'B Complex' was created. Any plant product containing a B vitamin actually has ALL the B vitamins, including B12.

The best way to get B12 is to eat unwashed organic fruits and vegetables with some soil intact. The best sources are barley, beans, chlorella, dulse, grains (all), grapes (concord), kelp, mustard greens, nori, nuts, plums, prunes, sauerkraut (unpasteurized), seeds (all), soy, spirulina, sprouts (all), wheatgerm and wheatgrass. You can also add Red Star nutritional yeast to your meals.

For TRUE, UNBIASED, MEDICAL info on B12, check out http://libaware.economads.com/b12issue.php and www.naturalnews.com/029531_vitamin_B12_vegan.html.

With all this being said, I want to clarify that there are non-dietary factors that affect health. Stress, a lack of sleep, smoking tobacco, chemical pollution and a lack of exercise can wreak havoc on the body. Moreover, I'm not an anti-vitamin activist. I'm an animal liberationist. My only concern is making sure that animals don't suffer. If you want to take vegan vitamins or supplements, or your doctor and parents insist upon it, then do it. I could care less. Ingesting a shot of liquid B12, or popping a pill, takes a few seconds. Stop obsessing about it. When I discuss non-animal-suffering issues, I'm just providing you with information. Take it or leave it.

Vitamins, Minerals, and Other Nutrients: From A to Z

VITAMIN A/BETA-CAROTENE – açaí, alfalfa sprouts, apricots, avocados, bananas, broccoli, cabbage, cacao/chocolate, cantaloupe, carrots, cayenne pepper, celery, cherries, chlorella, garlic, grapefruit, green vegetables (leafy), green peppers, honeydew, kale, kelp, lucuma powder, mango, nori, oranges, papaya, parsley, peas, persimmons, pineapple, prunes, pumpkin, spinach, spirulina, sprouts (all), sweet potato, tomato, watermelon, wheat, winter squash, wheatgrass, yams, yellow fruits, yellow squash and yellow vegetables (Genuine cacao/chocolate is naturally vegan. It's a bean.)

VITAMIN B-1/THIAMINE – açaí, alfalfa sprouts, almonds, avocados, barley, beans, broccoli, cacao/chocolate, chlorella, dates, figs, garlic, grains (all), greens (all), kelp, lentils, nutritional yeast, onions, parsley, peas, pecans, prunes, raisins, seeds (all), soy, spirulina, sprouts (all), vegetables (all), wheatgrass, wild rice and yams (Genuine cacao/chocolate is naturally vegan. It's a bean.)

VITAMIN B-2/RIBOFLAVIN – alfalfa sprouts, apples, apricots, asparagus, avocados, bananas, beans, black currants, broccoli, cacao/chocolate, cashews, cherries, chlorella, dates, figs, garlic, grains (all), green vegetables (leafy), kelp, mushrooms, nutritional yeast, nuts, okra, onions, parsley, pineapple, prunes, seeds (all), soy, spirulina, sprouts (all), watercress, watermelon, wheatgrass and wild rice (Genuine cacao/chocolate is naturally vegan. It's a bean.)

VITAMIN B-3/NIACIN – alfalfa sprouts, almonds, apricots, asparagus, avocados, bananas, cacao/chocolate, cantaloupe, chlorella, corn, dates, figs, garlic, grains (all), green vegetables (leafy), kelp, lucuma powder, mushrooms, nutritional yeast, nuts, onions, parsley, peas, plums, potato, prunes, raspberries, rice (brown/wild), seeds (all), squash, soy, spirulina, sprouts (all), strawberries, tomato, tempeh, watermelon and wheatgrass (Genuine cacao/chocolate is naturally vegan. It's a bean.)

VITAMIN B-5/PANTOTHENIC ACID (destroyed by heat) – alfalfa sprouts, almonds, asparagus, avocados, beans, broccoli, cabbage, cacao/chocolate, carrots, cauliflower, chlorella, corn, flax (oil/seeds), grains (all), green vegetables, legumes, mushrooms (shiitake), nutritional yeast, nuts, oats, onions, oranges, papaya, peas, pineapple, potato, seeds (all), soy, spirulina, sprouts (all), tomato, walnuts, watermelon, wheatgerm, wheatgrass and yams (Genuine cacao/chocolate is naturally vegan. It's a bean.)

VITAMIN B-6/PYRIDOXINE (destroyed by heat) – alfalfa sprouts, apples, asparagus, avocados, bananas, barley, beans, beets, bell peppers, blueberries, buckwheat, cabbage, cantaloupe, carrots, chlorella, corn, flax (oil/seeds), grains (all), grapes, green vegetables (leafy), lemon, mango, mushrooms, nutritional yeast, nuts, onions, oranges, peas, plum, prunes, raisins, squash, soy, spirulina, sprouts (all), sweet potato, tomato, watermelon, wheatbran, wheatgerm, wheatgrass and yams

B-12/CYANOCOBALAMIN (destroyed by heat) – barley, beans, chlorella, dulse, grains (all), grapes (concord), kelp, mustard greens, nori, nuts, plums, prunes, sauerkraut (unpasteurized), seeds (all), soy, spirulina, sprouts (all), wheatgerm and wheatgrass and EAT LOTS OF UNWASHED (i.e., some soil intact) ORGANIC FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. You can also add Red Star nutritional yeast to your meals. For TRUE, UNBIASED, MEDICAL info on B12, check out http://libaware.economads.com/b12issue.php and www.naturalnews.com/029531_vitamin_B12_vegan.html.

(After 16 years of practicing veganism without taking a single vitamin, I had my B12 level checked on October 24, 2012. It was 543 pg/mL. The normal range is between 271-870 pg/mL. My level is perfect because the human body needs just three micrograms of B12 per day, and we possess bacteria in the mouth and intestines that produce it naturally (see links above). B12 also comes from the earth's soil, which is why some animals possess trace amounts of B12. They eat dirt when they eat off the ground, and animal-feed is never washed. However, attempting to get secondary trace amounts of B12 by eating animal products is inefficient and deadly. First, B12 is destroyed by heat. Second, animal products are comprised of disease-causing compounds. The heat destruction explains why 99 percent of people with B12 deficiencies are meat, dairy and egg-eaters. The remaining one percent are junk-food vegetarians and vegans, or people with an underlying medical condition that prevents B12 absorption. The veg junk food groups are also at risk for other ailments because optimum health cannot be achieved with cheese, eggs, Ruffles, Oreos, french fries, white rice, white bread, or refined pastas. Non-junk-food veganism causes no disease. It is preventative medicine, the treatment and the cure. There's also a reason why the term 'B Complex' was created. Any plant product containing a B vitamin actually has ALL the B vitamins, including B12.

With all this being said, I want to clarify that I'm not an anti-vitamin activist. I'm an animal liberationist. My only concern is making sure that animals don't suffer. If you want to take vegan vitamins or supplements, or your doctor and parents insist upon it, then do it. I could care less. Ingesting a shot of liquid B12, or popping a pill, takes a few seconds. Stop obsessing about it. When I discuss non-animal-suffering issues, I'm just providing you with information. Take it or leave it.)

B-15/PANGAMIC ACID (destroyed by heat) – almonds, apricot seeds, brown rice, cabbage, chlorella, grains (all), juniper berries, nutritional yeast, nuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds (all), sprouts (all), sunflower seeds, unwashed vegetables and wheatgrass

B-17/AMYGDALIN/LAETRILE (destroyed by heat) – almonds, apple seeds, apricot kernels, barley, blackberries, brown rice, buckwheat, cherry seeds, chia seeds, celery, chlorella, cranberries, elderberries, flax (oil/seeds), garlic, grains (all), macadamia, millet, mung beans, nectarine seeds, oats, peach seeds, pear seeds, plum seeds, raspberries, rye, sesame seeds, sprouts (all), strawberries and wheatgrass

BIOTIN (B Complex) – alfalfa sprouts, almonds, bananas, beans, brown rice, chlorella, corn, fruits (all), grains (all), green vegetables (leafy), grapes, nutritional yeast, nuts, okra, peanuts, raisins, seeds (all), soy, spirulina, strawberries, wheatgerm and wheatgrass

CHOLINE (B Complex) – avocados, beans, bean sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, chlorella, corn, fruits (all), grains (all), green beans, green vegetables (leafy), hemp (milk/oil/powder/seeds), lentils, nutritional yeast, nuts, peanuts, peas, seeds (all), soy, spinach, wheat, wheatgerm and wheatgrass

FOLIC ACID (B Complex) (destroyed by heat) – alfalfa sprouts, apricots, asparagus, avocados, beans, beet greens, broccoli, buckwheat sprouts, cantaloupe, cauliflower, chlorella, citrus fruits, cucumber, grains (all), grapes, green vegetables (leafy), kelp, oranges, papaya, peas, pecans, plums, prunes, raisins, rye, soy, spinach, spirulina, sprouts (all), sunflower seeds, sweet potato, walnuts, wheatgerm and wheatgrass

INOSITOL (B Complex) – alfalfa sprouts, almonds, artichokes, barley, beans, beets, blackberries, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cantaloupe, chlorella, corn, fruit (all), garlic, grains (all), hemp (milk/oil/powder/seeds), lima beans, nutritional yeast, nuts, oatmeal, oats, onions, oranges, peanuts, peas, raisins, spirulina, sunflower seeds, vegetables (all), wheatgerm and wheatgrass

PABA/PARA-AMINOBENZOIC ACID (B Complex) – beans, brown rice, chlorella, grains (all), green vegetables (leafy), molasses (unrefined), mushrooms, nutritional yeast, spinach, wheatbran, wheatgerm and wheatgrass

VITAMIN C/ASCORBIC ACID (destroyed by heat) – alfalfa sprouts, apples, asparagus, beets, berries (all), broccoli, cabbage, cacao/chocolate, cantaloupe, cauliflower, celery, cherries, chlorella, citrus fruits, cucumber, garlic, grapefruit, green vegetables (leafy), green peppers, guava, honeydew, kale, kelp, kidney beans, kiwi, kumquats, lemon, lime, lucuma powder, lychee, mango, onions, oranges, papaya, parsley, peas, persimmons, pineapple, potato, radish, raspberries, spinach, spirulina, sprouts (all), strawberries, sweet potato, tomato, watercress, watermelon, wheatgrass and yams (Genuine cacao/chocolate is naturally vegan. It's a bean.)

VITAMIN D/CALCIFEROL – alfalfa sprouts, avocados, basil, carrots, chlorella, fenugreek (powder/seeds), garlic, green vegetables (leafy), mushrooms (shiitake), papaya, parsley, seeds (all), spirulina, sunflower seeds, SUNLIGHT, sweet potato, watercress and wheatgrass

VITAMIN D2/ERGOCALCIFEROL – alfalfa sprouts, chlorella, spirulina, SUNLIGHT, yeast

VITAMIN E/TOCOPHEROL – açaí, alfalfa sprouts, almonds, apples, asparagus, avocados, barley, blackberries, broccoli, brown rice, cacao/chocolate, carrots, cherries, chlorella, corn, dandelion greens, dulse, flax (oil/seeds), fruit (all), grains (all), green vegetables (leafy), hemp (milk/oil/powder/seeds), kelp, leeks, nuts, oats, olive oil, oranges, parsley, parsnips, peanuts, quinoa, seeds (all), spinach, spirulina, sprouts (all), strawberries, sunflower seeds, sweet potato, tomato, vegetable oils, wheatgerm and wheatgrass (Genuine cacao/chocolate is naturally vegan. It's a bean.)

VITAMIN F/UNSATURATED FATTY ACIDS (destroyed by heat) – açaí, almonds, avocados, chlorella, fruits (all), garlic, ginger, nuts, olive oil, oranges, parsley, peanuts, pecans, root vegetables, seeds (all), soy, spinach, spirulina, sprouts (all), sunflower seeds, vegetable oil, wheatgerm, wheat and wheatgrass

VITAMIN K/PHYLLOQUINONE – alfalfa sprouts, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, cayenne pepper, chlorella, corn, ginger, grains (all), green vegetables (leafy), kale, kelp, mushrooms, oats, oatmeal, oats, peas, potato, root vegetables, rye, safflower oil, seaweed, soy, spinach, strawberries, wheatgerm and wheatgrass

VITAMIN P/BIOFLAVONOIDS (destroyed by heat) – apricots, blackberries, buckwheat, cherries, chlorella, citrus fruits (inner rind), currants, grapefruit, grapes, juniper berries, lemon, oranges, parsley and plums

VITAMIN T (very little known) – alfalfa sprouts, chlorella, plantain, sesame seeds, sesame butter (raw) and some vegetables oils

VITAMIN U (very little known) – alfalfa sprouts, cabbage (raw), celery (raw), chlorella and green vegetables (leafy and raw)

ALLYL SULFIDES – chives, garlic, leeks and onions

ALPHA-CAROTENE – berries (all), broccoli, carrots, chlorella, corn, green vegetables (leafy), oranges, peaches, pumpkin, seaweed and sweet potatoes

ALPHA-LIPOIC ACID – broccoli, potatoes and spinach

ANTHOCYANINS – black currants, blueberries, cherries, cranberries, raspberries, red cabbage and strawberries

ARGININE – apples, apricots, beans, berries (all), cacao/chocolate, coconut, eggplant, grains (all), nuts, pineapple, seeds (all), strawberries, tomato and vegetables (except celery and turnips) (Genuine cacao/chocolate is naturally vegan. It's a bean.)

BETA-SITOSTEROL – açaí, chlorella, fruits (all) and green vegetables (leafy)

BIOFLAVONOIDS – apricots, blackberries, black currants, blueberries, buckwheat, cantaloupe, cherries, citrus fruits, citrus skins (inner rind), cranberries, elderberries, gooseberries, grapefruit, huckleberries, lemon, onions, papaya, parsley, peppers, persimmons, plums, prunes, pomegranate, raisins, raspberries, red grapes (with seeds), strawberries, tomato and walnuts

BORON – alfalfa sprouts, almonds, apples, beans, cabbage, carrots, dates, filberts, grapes, green vegetables (leafy), hazelnuts, kelp, pears, plums, prunes, raisins, soy and wheat

CATECHIN – berries (all), black tea, cacao/chocolate, green tea and rhubarb (Genuine cacao/chocolate is naturally vegan. It's a bean.)

CALCIUM – açaí, alfalfa sprouts, almonds (234 milligrams per 100 gram serving), apricots, avocados, beans, brazil nuts, broccoli, cabbage, carob, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chickpeas (150 milligrams per 100 gram serving), chlorella, coconut, cornmeal, dandelion greens, dulse, figs, filberts, grains (all), green vegetables (leafy), hazelnuts, hemp (milk/oil/powder/seeds), hijiki sea vegetable (1,400 milligrams per 100 gram serving), kelp, lemon, lentils, lettuce, lucuma powder, maca powder, mango, mesquite powder, millet, miso, nuts, oats, onions, oranges, parsley (203 milligrams per 100 gram serving), prunes, raisins, seaweed, sesame seeds (1,160 milligrams per 100 gram serving), soy (226 milligrams per 100 gram serving), spirulina, sprouts (all), sunflower seeds, watercress, wheatgrass, and yams

CHLORINE – alfalfa sprouts, avocados, bananas, beets, blackberries, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, celery, chlorella, coconut, cucumber, dandelion greens, dates, eggplant, figs, kale, kelp, lettuce, mushrooms, oats, onions, peaches, peas, pineapple, radish, spinach, spirulina, sprouts (all), strawberries, sunflower seeds, sweet potato, swiss chard, tomato, watercress, watermelon, wheat and wheatgrass

CHLOROPHYLL – blue-green algae, chlorella, spirulina and wheatgrass

CHROMIUM – apples, bananas, barley, basil, beans, beets, black pepper, broccoli, cacao/chocolate, carrots, chlorella, corn oil, dulse, garlic, grains (all), grapes, hemp (milk/oil/powder/seeds), kelp, mineral water, mushrooms, nutritional yeast, onions, oranges, raisins, seaweed, spirulina, tomato, walnuts and wheatgrass (Genuine cacao/chocolate is naturally vegan. It's a bean.)

COBALT – alfalfa sprouts, apricots, broccoli, chlorella, dulse, garlic, green vegetables (leafy), kelp, seaweed, spinach, spirulina, wheat, wheatgerm and wheatgrass

COENZYME Q10/UBIQUINONE – almonds, grains (all) and spinach

COPPER – açaí, alfalfa sprouts, almonds, apricots, avocados, barley, beans, beets, brazil nuts, broccoli, buckwheat, cacao/chocolate, cauliflower, chlorella, filberts, garlic, grapes, green vegetables (leafy), grains (all), hazelnuts, kelp, lentils, millet, mushrooms, nuts, oats, parsley, peas, pecans, plums, pomegranate, prunes, raisins, seaweed, soy, spirulina, sunflower seeds, tomato and walnuts (Genuine cacao/chocolate is naturally vegan. It's a bean.)

CRYPTOXANTHIN – apples, apricots, corn, green peppers, lemon, oranges, papaya, paprika, persimmons and starfruit

CURCUMIN – cumin seeds and turmeric

CYSTEINE – brazil nuts, soy and whole wheat

ELLAGIC ACID – apples, black currants, black walnuts, cherries, cranberries, grapes, pomegranate, raisins, raspberries and strawberries

FIBER – cacao/chocolate, chlorella, fruits (all), lucuma powder, lychee, maca powder, mesquite powder and vegetables (all) (Genuine cacao/chocolate is naturally vegan. It's a bean.)

FLAVONOIDS – cacao/chocolate, fruits (all) and vegetables (all) (Genuine cacao/chocolate is naturally vegan. It's a bean.)

FLUORINE (destroyed by heat) – alfalfa sprouts, almonds, avocados, beet greens, black tea, black-eyed peas, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, chlorella, dandelion greens, dates, endive, garlic, green tea, green vegetables (leafy), kelp, mustard greens, nuts, oats, parsley, rye, seaweed, seeds (all), spinach, tomato, turnip greens, watercress, wheat and wheatgrass

FRUCTO-OLIGOSACCHARIDES – artichokes, bananas, barley, garlic, onions and tomato

GAMMA-CAROTENE – tomato

GAMMA-LINOLENIC ACID – black currant seed oil and borage seed oil

GERMANIUM – aloe vera, barley, chlorella, garlic, mushrooms (shiitake) and oats

GLUTAMIC ACID – dates and mushrooms (shiitake)

GLUTAMINE – oats, parsley and spinach

GLUTATHIONE – apples, asparagus, avocados, broccoli, cantaloupe, carrots, cauliflower, garlic, onions, parsley, peaches, potato, spinach, sprouts (all), strawberries, tomato, walnuts, watermelon and winter squash

GLYCINE – avocados, oats, wheatgerm and whole wheat

HESPERIDIN – berries (all), buckwheat, grapefruit, lemon and oranges

HISTIDINE – apples, beans, nuts, papaya, pineapple, seeds (all) and vegetables (except celery, radish and turnip)

INDOLES – Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, mustard greens and radish

IODINE – apples, artichokes, asparagus, beans, beets, blueberries, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, celery, chives, chlorella, citrus fruit, coconut, dulse, eggplant, garlic, green peppers, kale, kelp, mustard greens, onions, peanuts, pears, pineapple, sea salt, seaweed, sesame seeds, soy, spinach, squash, strawberries, swiss chard, tomato, turnip, watercress, watermelon and wheat

IRON (consuming foods rich in VITAMIN C while consuming the following foods will INCREASE iron absorption) – açaí, alfalfa sprouts, almonds, apricots, artichokes, asparagus, bananas, beans, beets, blackberries, blackstrap molasses, bran flakes, cacao/chocolate, carrots, cashews, cherries, chick peas (cooked), chlorella, dandelion greens, dates, dried fruit, dulse, figs, grains (all), grapes, Grape Nuts, green peppers, green vegetables (leafy), hemp (milk/oil/powder/seeds), kelp, lentils, lucuma powder, maca powder, mango, mesquite powder, millet, nutritional yeast, oatmeal, onions, parsley, pecans, persimmons, pinto beans (cooked), pistachio nuts, plums, prunes, pumpkin seeds, raisins, seeds (all), seaweed, shallots, soy, spirulina, sprouts (all), squash, sunflower seeds, swiss chard, walnut, wheatgerm, wheatgrass and yams (Genuine cacao/chocolate is naturally vegan. It's a bean.)

ISOFLAVONES – alfalfa sprouts, berries (all), broccoli, cabbage, carrots and soy

ISOLEUCINE – apples, apricots, beans, dates, figs, nuts, peaches, pears, persimmons, rye, seeds (all), strawberries, tomato and vegetables (except celery, lettuce and radish)

KAEMPFEROL – asparagus, beets, cauliflower, dill, grapefruit and strawberries

LECITHIN – beans, grains (all) and nutritional yeast

LEUCINE – apples, apricots, dates, figs, grains (all), nuts, peaches, pears, seeds (all), strawberries, tomato and vegetables (except celery, lettuce and radish)

LIGNINS – flax (oil/seeds)

LIMONENE – caraway seeds, celery seeds, grapefruit, lemon, oranges and tangerines

LITHIUM – dulse, eggplant, green vegetables (leafy), kelp, peppers and tomato

LUTEIN – apples, apricots, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, carrots, chlorella, collard greens, corn, cranberries, kale, kiwi, lettuce, mustard greens, orange juice, orange peel, paprika, peaches, peas, potato, pumpkin, raisin, red grapes, red peppers, spinach, spirulina, tomato, turnip greens, winter squash and zucchini

LYCOPENE – apricots, carrots, chlorella, grapefruit (pink), green peppers, guava, tomato and watermelon

LYSINE – aloe vera, apples, apricots, avocados, bananas, beans, cantaloupe, dates, figs, grains (all), grapefruit, nuts, oranges, papaya, peaches, pears, persimmons, pineapple, seeds (all), strawberries, tomato and vegetables (all)

MAGNESIUM – açaí, alfalfa sprouts, apples, apricots, artichokes, avocados, bananas, beans, beets, broccoli, cacao/chocolate, cantaloupe, carrot, cauliflower, celery, chlorella, coconut, corn, dandelion greens, dates, dulse, fenugreek (powder/seeds), figs, garlic, grains (all), grapefruit, grapes, green vegetables (leafy), hemp (milk/oil/powder/seeds), lemon, lentils, mango, mesquite powder, mushrooms, nuts, oranges, paprika, parsley, peaches, pears, peppers, pineapple, plums, prunes, rice (brown/wild), seeds (all), sesame seeds, spirulina, sprouts (all), squash, strawberries, sunflower seeds, sweet potato, tomato, watercress, watermelon, wheat and wheatgrass (Genuine cacao/chocolate is naturally vegan. It's a bean.)

MANGANESE – alfalfa sprouts, apples, apricots, avocados, bananas, beans, beet greens, beets, blackberries, blueberries, broccoli, cacao/chocolate, carrots, celery, chives, chlorella, cucumber, dandelion greens, grains (all), grapefruit, green vegetables (leafy), kelp, legumes, mango, nuts, oats, oranges, parsley, peas, persimmons, pineapple, plums, prunes, seaweed, seeds (all), soy, spirulina, sweet potato, walnuts, watercress, wheatgrass and yams (Genuine cacao/chocolate is naturally vegan. It's a bean.)

METHIONINE – apples, apricots, bananas, brazil nuts, brown rice, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cantaloupe, cauliflower, chives, dates, figs, garlic, grains (all), lentils, nuts, onions, oranges, papaya, peaches, pears, persimmons, pineapple, sesame seeds, soy, strawberries, sunflower seeds, tomato and watercress

METHYL-SULFONYL-METHANE/MSM – aloe vera, pine nuts and rain-watered fruits/vegetables (unwashed)

MOLYBDENUM – apricots, beans, cantaloupe, carrots, chlorella, garlic, grapes, green vegetables (leafy), grains (all), legumes, raisins, seaweed, spirulina, strawberries, sunflower seeds and wheatgrass

MONOTERENES – basil, broccoli, carrots, citrus fruits, eggplant, parsley, peppermint, tomato and yams

OMEGA FATTY ACIDS – açaí, beans, black currant seed oil, blue-green algae, borage seed oil, cabbage, canola oil, flax (oil/seeds), chlorella, corn, green vegetables (leafy), hemp (oil/seed/powder/milk), pine nuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, soy, sprouts (all), squash, vegetable oils, walnuts and wheat

PECTIN – apples, bananas, blueberries, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, figs, grapefruit, lima beans, mustard greens, onions, turnip greens and watercress

PHENYLALANINE – almonds, apples, apricots, avocados, bananas, beans, beets, carrots, figs, grains (all), nuts, parsley, peaches, pears, persimmons, pineapple, seeds (all), strawberries, tomato and vegetables (except lettuce and radish)

PHOSPHOROUS – açaí, alfalfa sprouts, almonds, apricots, asparagus, bananas, beans, beet greens, broccoli, cabbage, celery, chlorella, coconut, corn, dates, dried fruits, dulse, grains (all), garlic, grains (all), green vegetables (leafy), kale, kelp, lentils, mango, nuts, oats, onions, parsley, peas, pistachio nuts, potato, pumpkin seeds, raisins, rice (brown/wild), seaweed, sesame seeds, seeds (all), spirulina, sprouts (all), swiss chard, watercress, wheatgerm and wheatgrass

PHYTOENE/PHYTOFLUENE – tomato

POTASSIUM (destroyed by excessive heat) – açaí, almonds, apples, apple cider vinegar (unpasteurized), apricots, avocados, bananas, beans, beet greens, black currants, blueberries, broccoli, cabbage, cantaloupe, carrots, cherries, chlorella, citrus fruits, cucumber, dandelion greens, dates, dulse, figs, garlic, grains (all), grapes, green vegetables (leafy), hemp (milk/oil/powder/seeds), kelp, lentils, lychee, mango, mesquite powder, mung beans, onions, oranges, papaya, peaches, pecans, pistachio nuts, plantain, potato, prunes, pumpkin seeds, raisins, sesame seeds, spirulina, sprouts (all), sunflower seeds, tomato, turnip, watercress, watermelon, wheatgrass, winter squash and yams

PROANTHOCYANADINS/ANTHOCYANOSIDES – blackberries, blueberries, citrus fruit seeds, cherries, elderberries, grape seeds and raspberries

PROTEIN – beans, broccoli (40%), brown rice, cacao/chocolate, cauliflower (40%), chlorella, fruit (2-3%), grains (all), hemp (milk/oil/powder/seed), lentils, lucuma powder, maca powder, mesquite powder, nuts, seeds (all), soy, vegetables (all) and wheatgrass (Genuine cacao/chocolate is naturally vegan. It's a bean.)

QUERCETIN – apples, blue-green algae, black tea, broccoli, buckwheat, cherries, citrus fruits, garlic, green tea, green vegetables (leafy), onions (yellow/purple) and red grapes

RESVERATROL – grape skins and grape leaves

RIBONUCLEIC ACID/RNA – asparagus, beets, green vegetables (leafy), lentils, mushrooms, nuts and radish

RUTIN – apricots, blackberries, buckwheat, cherries, citrus fruit peels (inner rind) and hawthorn berries

SELENIUM – alfalfa sprouts, asparagus, beets, black-eyed peas, broccoli, brown rice, cabbage, carrots, cashews, celery, chlorella, dulse, fenugreek (powder/seeds), garlic, grains (all), kelp, mango, mushrooms, nutritional yeast, nuts, onions, parsley, seaweed, soy, spirulina, sprouts (all), squash, sunflower seeds, tomato, wheatgerm and wheatgrass

SILICON – alfalfa sprouts, almonds, apples, apricots, artichokes, asparagus, bananas, barley, beets, carrots, cauliflower, celery, cherries, chlorella, corn, cucumber, dandelion greens, figs, grains (all), grapes, hemp (nuts/oil/powder/seeds), horseradish, kelp, leeks, lettuce, mustard greens, oats, onions, plums, pumpkins, radish, raisins, seeds (all), skins of fruits/vegetables, spinach, spirulina, sprouts (all), strawberries, swiss chard, sunflower seeds, tomato, watermelon, wheatgerm, wheatgrass and wild rice

SODIUM – alfalfa sprouts, apples, apricots, asparagus, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cantaloupe, carrots, cashews, celery, chlorella, coconut, collard greens, dandelion greens, dates, dulse, figs, garlic, grapes, kale, kelp, lentils, mango, millet, okra, olives, onions, parsley, plums, prunes, raisins, red cabbage, sea salt (unrefined), seaweed, sesame seeds, spinach, spirulina, sprouts (all), strawberries, sweet potato, swiss chard, tomato, turnip, watercress, watermelon, wheat and wheatgrass

SULFORAPHANE – broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale and turnips

SULFUR – alfalfa sprouts, apples, apricots, asparagus, avocados, beans, blue-green algae, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, cayenne, celery, chives, chlorella, corn, cucumber, eggplant, figs, garlic, grains (all), green vegetables (leafy), hemp (nuts/oil/powder/seeds), horseradish, kale, kelp, lima beans, nuts, oats, onions, parsnip, peaches, peas, plums, potato, prunes, pumpkin seeds, raspberries, sesame seeds, spinach, spirulina, string beans, swiss chard, tomato, turnip, watercress, wheat, wheatgerm and wheatgrass

SUPER-OXIDE DISMUTASE – broccoli, cabbage, green vegetables (leafy), nutritional yeast and wheatgrass

THERONINE – apples, apricots, beans, dates, figs, grains (all), nuts, peaches, pears, persimmons, seeds (all), strawberries, tomato and vegetables (except celery and lettuce)

TRACE MINERALS – alfalfa sprouts, chlorella, dulse, hemp (milk/oil/powder/seeds), kelp, nori, nuts, sea salt, seaweed, seeds (all), soy, spirulina, sprouts (all) and vegetables (all)

TRYPTOPHAN – alfalfa sprouts, avocados, bananas, beans, cacao/chocolate, cashews, chives, dates, durian, figs, grains (all), grapefruit, nuts, oranges, papaya, peaches, pears, persimmons, pineapple, pumpkin seeds, seeds (all), strawberries, sunflower seeds, tomato, sweet potato and vegetables (all) (Genuine cacao/chocolate is naturally vegan. It's a bean.)

TYROSINE – alfalfa sprouts, almonds apples, apricots, asparagus, avocados, bananas, beans, beets, bell peppers, carrots, cherries, cucumber, figs, leeks, lettuce, parsley, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, spinach, spirulina, strawberries, sunflower seeds, watercress, watermelon, wheatgerm and whole wheat

VALINE – apples, apricots, beans, dates, figs, grains, mushrooms, nuts, peaches, pears, persimmons, seeds, strawberries, tomato and vegetables (except celery and lettuce)

VANADIUM – dill, grains, olives, parsley, radish, soy and string beans

ZEAXABTHIN – bell peppers, chlorella, corn, grapes, green vegetables (leafy), kiwi, oranges, paprika, raisins, spirulina, winter squash and zucchini

ZETA-CAROTENE – tomato

ZINC – açaí, alfalfa sprouts, almonds, aloe vera, beans, brazil nuts, cacao/chocolate, cashews, cayenne, chlorella, coconut, corn, dandelion greens, dulse, garlic, grains (all), green vegetables (leafy), hemp (milk/oil/powder/seeds), kelp, macadamia nuts, mesquite powder, mushrooms, nutritional yeast, onions, parsley, peanuts, peanut butter, peas, pecans, pine nuts, poppy seeds, pumpkin seeds, raisins, seaweed, sesame seeds, soy, spinach, spirulina, sunflower seeds, walnuts, wheatgerm and wheatgrass (Genuine cacao/chocolate is naturally vegan. It's a bean.)

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Fad Diets

Any diet other than veganism—including vegetarianism—is unhealthy. Paleo, Atkins, South Beach, The Zone, Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig cannot produce optimum health because there is no such thing as healthy meat, cheese, milk and eggs, just as there is no such thing as healthy cigarettes, cigars and chewing tobacco. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains and legumes cause NO disease (with the exception of a wheat gluten allergy that causes Celiac Disease in some individuals who are gluten-intolerant). Diseases arise from the consumption of animal protein, casein, cholesterol, sugar, the excessive amount of fat found in all animal products and oils, artificial additives, the 2-9 percent of naturally-occurring trans-fatty acids found in meat and dairy, human-made trans fatty acids found in junk food, and the excessive amount of refined carbohydrates found in white rice, white bread, and pasta. Non-dietary factors affect health, too. Stress, a lack of sleep, smoking tobacco, chemical pollution, genetics, and a lack of exercise can wreak havoc on the body. Therefore, it is essential to eat plant-based foods exclusively, and control the non-dietary factors to the best of your ability.

The advertising hustlers and shyster doctors of the fad diet industry claim that it's not the meat and cheese of a sandwich making people overweight and sick; it's only the bun! They tell people that it's not the bacon, milk and eggs of the standard American breakfast making people overweight and sick; it's the side of strawberries and cantaloupe.

Even moderate amounts of animal products are detrimental to the human body because moderate amounts of cholesterol, fat, trans-fatty acids, casein and animal protein are just as harmful as moderate amounts of sugar, tobacco, and heroin. If you want to avoid lung cancer and emphysema, moderately smoking five cigarettes per day would not be too bright. If you want to avoid clogged arteries, most cancers, diabetes and other diseases, a moderate amount of meat, cheese, milk and eggs cannot be on the menu. From an ethical standpoint, cruelty in moderation is never acceptable.

Dr. James Anderson, professor of medicine and nutrition at the University of Kentucky said, "If you wanted to find one diet to ruin your health, you couldn't find one worse than Atkins." These asinine fad diets are exact recipes for heart diseases and cancers.

Fad diets, however, are capable of bringing about weight loss. If losing weight—and not being healthy—is the only goal, people should try some other fabulous weight-loss methods like smoking crack, bulimia, anorexia or getting AIDS. I'm not recommending those insane techniques, but I bet if a few advertising hustlers, shyster doctors and pharmaceutical companies got together and decided to package crack and called it "The Low-Carb Crack Snack," everyone would be snacking on crack!

Skinniness doesn't equal healthiness. Skinny meat, dairy and egg-eaters have heart attacks and get cancer all the time. After you or someone else you know gets skinny on a fad diet—and then dies from a heart attack or cancer—I'm sure the pallbearers will be thrilled they won't have to strain too much as they carry the casket from the hearse to the grave.

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Vegan Pregnancy, Infants, and Children

Pregnancy

Our recommendation that pregnant women should avoid meat, cheese, milk, and eggs certainly goes against popular western belief. But since when has popular western belief been infallible? The fact is that hundreds of millions of healthy babies have been born to generations of vegans around the world for thousands of years. The important thing to remember is that when you are eating for two, you need to eat around 25 percent more calories and nutrients than before. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains and legumes contain EVERYTHING the human body needs (see the Vitamins, Minerals, and Other Nutrients section of this webpage). Always remember to eat a wide range of colors (the rainbow) rather than a bland concoction of whites or browns. The colors of fruits and vegetables indicate an energetic presence of eclectic compounds that will nourish you and your growing baby.

For a comprehensive article containing everything you will ever need to know about prenatal and postnatal nutrition, check out Viva! Vegetarian/Vegan Mother and Baby Guide by Rose Elliot and Juliet Gellatley.

Birth and Infancy

The state of one's health begins with breastfeeding. Milk varies markedly from species to species, and each type of milk is designed to provide optimal nutrition to the young of the respective species. So just as a cow's milk is designed to provide a unique and optimal balance of fats, protein, sugar, and minerals for her calf, your breast milk provides optimal nutrition for your HUMAN baby. Breastfeeding not only gives your baby a nutritional advantage but also an immunological one as well, building their immune system to be able to function optimally and protect your child from infection.

Don't allow yourself to be frightened by aggrandized and poorly reported news stories claiming "death by veganism." Malnourishment will always lead to death, whether vegan or not. Misinformed, naïve parents who feed a growing baby only soy milk or applesauce are idiots and NOT genuine vegans. What the media and meat, dairy, and egg industries won't tell you is that infants and kids with abdominal pain, gas, bloating, diarrhea, vomiting, colic, eczema, skin rashes, anemia, tooth decay, asthma, chronic fatigue, nasal congestion, bronchitis, ear infections, diabetes (I or II), and even ADD and autism (see the Dairy and Honey section of this webpage) are all linked to the consumption of dairy, either by the breast-feeding mother or the baby directly.

When born normally and healthfully, babies are newly-constructed, perfect organic machines. If parents supplied them with the natural food that their bodies were designed for, they would never become ill. Just make sure they consume the rainbow of colors that comprise the ethical and wholesome family of fruits and vegetables. Cut-up corpses (meat), cow secretions (milk), and things that come out of a hen's ass (eggs) are disgusting, disease-causing items unfit for the human body.

Children and Toddlers

A grave injustice is inflicted upon children when they are forced to copy the unhealthy and unethical food addictions of their parents. Proper vegan nutrition is key to positive physical and cognitive development. The first two years of development are critical, so a well-balanced array of vitamins, nutrients, fats, and calories will develop the brain—and the rest of the body—properly. All diets require some planning to ensure that children will receive all the required nutrients. But you will find that—when offered at an early age—children naturally desire colorful fruits and vegetables. The resources below will give you meal ideas and recipes, plus a myriad of statistics, recommendations, and medical evidence to prove that vegan diets are the best way to obtain optimal health for mothers, infants, and children.

Related Websites, Articles, and Books

Viva! Vegetarian/Vegan Mother and Baby Guide by Rose Elliot and Juliet Gellatley, at Viva! ~ Vegetarians International Voice for Animals

Vegan Nutrition in Pregnancy and Childhood by Reed Mangels, Ph.D., R.D. and Katie Kavanagh-Prochaskaby, at The Vegetarian Resource Group

Vegan Babies and Children Guide, compiled by The Vegan Society

Vegan Babies and Toddlers: a compendium of over 30 articles at VegFamily Magazine

Raising Vegan Children in a Non-Vegan World: A Complete Guide for Parents by Erin Pavlina

Skinny Bitch Bun in the Oven by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin

Vegan Lunch Box and Vegan Lunch Box Around the World by Jennifer McCann

Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin

That's Why We Don't Eat Animals by Ruby Roth (for kids)

Great Uncle Edgar and the Lady With the Hat by Gypsy Wulff (for kids)

Vegan is Love by Ruby Roth (for kids)

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The Vegan Food Pyramid

Courtesy of www.VeganFoodPyramid.com. If you click on the image above, or on the link that follows, you can view an enlarged version in a new window. VeganFoodPyramid.com offers an array of wallpapers in different sizes, and several foreign languages, that you can download to the desktop of your computer— as well as a large poster of the pyramid.

If you are pregnant, thinking about having a baby, or already raising one, please check out the Vegan Pregnancy, Infants, and Children section of this webpage for all the information you will ever need about proper, ethical nutrition for yourself and your child. For more health information, check out Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, Hippocrates Health Institute, and True North Health Center. Also take a look at two amazing raw-vegan women, both over 70 years old—Annette Larkins and Mimi Kirk—and learn about proper nutrition from their example!

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Animal Agriculture and Environmental Destruction

Many people who fancy themselves to be environmentalists are fond of demonizing the automobile industry, calling it the number one agent of global pollution. (Just look at some of the literature emanating from such "mainstream" organizations as Environment California and the Sierra Club.) However, when it comes to environmental destruction, animal agriculture is the elephant in the room that no one wants to acknowledge, confront, or talk about. Animal-based agriculture is the number one cause of deforestation, air pollution, and water pollution. Therefore, those people who still incorporate meat, eggs, or dairy products in their diet cannot claim to be environmentalists.

Here is a summary of how the production of meat, eggs, and dairy products takes a staggering toll on the ecosystem:

Water Pollution

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the runoff from factory farms pollutes our rivers and lakes more than all other industries combined. In the U.S. alone, animals raised for food produce 130 times more excrement than the entire human population—86,000 pounds per second. A typical pig factory farm generates as much raw waste as a city of 50,000 people. Chicken, pig, and cow excrement have polluted over 35,000 miles of rivers in at least 22 states and contaminated groundwater in at least 17 states.

What's more, chicken, pig, turkey and cow excrement comprise the sole source of all the recent E. Coli, salmonella and listeria outbreaks in which spinach, tomatoes, peanuts, jalapeño peppers, cantaloupe and other plant products have been implicated. E. Coli, salmonella and listeria have only one source: SHIT (human or animal)! Since spinach, peanuts, jalapeños, cantaloupe and tomatoes don't shit, spinach, peanuts, jalapeños, cantaloupe and tomatoes cannot be blamed for this problem. E. Coli, salmonella and listeria found their way to the plants because people who enslave animals for meat, dairy or eggs contaminate the waterways by dumping nearly 2.7 trillion pounds of manure into America's lakes, rivers and streams annually. Contaminated water eventually ends up on some of the crops as run-off, passing E. Coli, salmonella and listeria to the consumer. Also, more frighteningly, there are many times when farmers literally spray tons of RAW animal shit directly on the crops. Make no mistake: ALL E. Coli, salmonella and listeria incidents occur because of animal agriculture. Meat, dairy and egg-eaters want to eat billions of land animals. So ConAgra, Smithfield, Tyson, Perdue, etc. MASS PRODUCE billions of land animals far in excess of the numbers that would occur if these animals were left to their own reproductive devices and inclinations. Billions of land animals produce trillions of pounds of excrement.

Chemical Pollution

Dr. T. Colin Campbell, retired professor of Cornell University, discovered during The China Study (the world's largest dietary study ever conducted) that 90-95% of pesticide (chemical) intake comes from meat, cheese, milk and eggs, while the other 5-10% comes from plant food and other various sources. Animals are doused with pesticides to kill the flies and mosquitoes that spread disease from animal to animal. Plus, the government allows crops used for animal feed to be sprayed with up to 20 times the amount of chemicals as opposed to crops used for human consumption. Campbell points out how chemicals seep through the pores of animals and are permanently stored in their fat cells. Conversely, the majority of all chemical residue can be washed off of fruits or vegetables fairly easily. You can always buy organic fruits and vegetables that were never sprayed with any chemicals, thereby solving the issue altogether. While you can purchase animal products without some chemicals, you can NEVER get away from the cruelty, nor the animal protein, casein, cholesterol, trans fatty acids and excessive amount of fat found in all animal products, all of which are the main causes of our main diseases. Other dietary and non-dietary factors can affect health, too. Sugar, the excessive amount of fat found in oils, stress, a lack of sleep, the excessive amount of refined carbohydrates found in white rice, white bread, and pasta, smoking tobacco, and a lack of exercise can wreak havoc on the body. Therefore, it is essential to eat plant-based foods exclusively, and control the non-dietary factors to the best of your ability.

Water Use

Raising animals for food consumes nearly half the water used in the United States. Since no one (except those living in icy and desert settings—see the Ethics and Laws section) needs to eat an animal in order to survive, that means fifty percent of all the water in America is wasted on animal-based agriculture. It takes an estimated 800 to 2,500 gallons of water to produce a single pound of beef, but only 25 gallons to produce a pound of wheat. Maintaining a carnivorous diet for a single person requires 4,200 gallons of water per day. A vegan diet for a single person requires only 300 gallons of water per day.

Land Use

Of all agricultural land in the U.S., nearly 80 percent is used to raise animals for food. More than 260 million acres of U.S. forest have been cleared to create cropland to grow grain for animal feed, and about 85 percent of the seven billion tons of topsoil lost in the U.S. each year has been directly attributed to the enslavement of cows. It takes twenty times more land to sate the appetites of meat, dairy and egg-eaters than vegans: those who eat animal products require roughly 3.25 acres of land per person per year to feed themselves, whereas vegans require only 1/6 of an acre per person per year.

Rainforest Depletion

About 214,000 acres of rainforest, comprising an area greater than that of New York City, are destroyed every day. Some of this is for cows to graze, while some of it is to grow crops for animal feed. More than 2.9 million acres of rainforest were destroyed in the 2004-2005 crop season in order to grow crops that feed chickens and other animals in factory farms.

For every pound of hamburger produced in rainforest countries, approximately 220 square feet of rainforest are cleared to grow the required feed. Through this clearing approximately 2,600 pounds of living matter will in the best of circumstances be displaced, or destroyed altogether. This living matter includes roughly 20 to 30 different plant species, over 100 insect species, and dozens of birds, mammals and reptiles. What is more, along with the biomass found in coral reefs, rainforest vegetation is said to be one of the most promising sources of heretofore-undiscovered chemical compounds for treating many diseases that were once thought to be intractable. These resources are simply laid to waste when rainforest is cleared. Even worse, unlike coniferous forest land, tropical rainforest can never be replaced once it has been cleared.

Energy Use

The meat, egg, and dairy industries are heavy consumers of fossil-fuel resources. Raising animals for food requires more than one-third of all the raw materials and fossil fuels used in the United States. The best flesh-food enterprise returns a paltry 34.5 percent of the invested fossil-fuel energy as food energy, measured in terms of caloric expenditure. In contrast, the poorest crop enterprise returns a whopping 328 percent. In other words, the least-efficient plant-based food is nearly ten times as energy-efficient as the most-efficient flesh food!

Air Pollution

Whether you're a hardcore liberal who believes that humans are responsible for global warming, or a staunch conservative who believes that the warming of the earth is a natural cycle, I think we can all agree that intentionally emitting nitrous oxide, methane and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere can be classified as pollution. And pollution has the potential to sicken the earth and its inhabitants. Liberals and conservatives alike must understand that the feces of all animals in the meat, dairy and egg industries emit nitrous oxide and methane, two highly noxious pollutants. Plus, when it comes to carbon dioxide, few people recognize the devastating impact that destroying rainforest to grow crops for animal feed can have on the environment. For example, it's becoming increasingly well-known that burning one gallon of gasoline in an internal-combustion engine releases about 19 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. But clearing and burning enough rainforest to produce just one hamburger releases 165 pounds of carbon dioxide. Veganism, as always, is the best, most efficient way to help the environment.

As for Al Gore, the biggest asshole fake environmentalist alive, there is a reason he never discusses veganism when he talks about the environment. He enslaves cows on a ranch in Kansas! Helping out the environment has little to do with changing lightbulbs, as Gore wants people to do. But it has everything to do with eradicating animal agriculture through veganism. After all, there is no such thing as a meat, cheese, milk, egg-eating environmentalist.

For more info about the environment, check out the research of Professors Gidon Eshel and Pamela Martin, the World Watch Institute's report, and the November 2006 report from the United Nations.

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Animal Agriculture and World Hunger

Societies that exploit animals for food are the main cause of world hunger because they feed a disproportionate percentage of the world's crops to 60 billion land animals annually killed by the meat, dairy and egg industires worldwide and tens of billions of marine animals (yes, we have fish farms nowadays)—instead of 7.5 billion people on the planet! Do the math. You don't have to be Einstein to figure out this equation. Every 2-3 seconds some human (most likely a child) starves to death, while pigs and cows continually get fat. Even the Council for Agriculture Science and Technology, a group comprised of people involved in animal agriculture, acknowledges that 10 billion people could be fed with the available crop land in America if everyone became vegan. One acre of land can yield 30,000 pounds of carrots, 40,000 pounds of potatoes or 50,000 pounds of tomatoes. However, one acre of land can yield only 250 pounds of meat. Why? Depending on the animal in question, it takes from three to twenty pounds of vegetable protein to create one pound of animal protein. Thus it has been said in many places that animal agriculture works like "a protein factory in reverse." However, not only does this process squander protein resources; it obliterates carbohydrates and fiber, antioxidants, phytochemicals, and many other nutrients altogether.

Jeremy Rifkin, a widely respected author on issues of worldwide food supply, traces the occurrences of famine directly to our increasing tendency to use precious food resources as animal feed. In his editorial piece There's a Bone to Pick with Meat Eaters, published in the Los Angeles Times in May 2002, Rifkin states that 36 percent of all the world's grains are fed to food animals; in the U.S. the number is a staggering 70 percent. (Many estimates have the worldwide number as high as 65 percent. Either estimate is obscene, and proves that eating animal-based foods is the worst form of human and animal abuse.) In emerging nations such as China, Egypt, Mexico and Thailand, the portion of arable land used to grow animal feed has increased since 1950 between threefold and thirtyfold, depending on the country. An acre of cereal produces five times more protein than an acre devoted to meat production; an acre of legumes (beans, peas, lentils) can produce 10 times more protein; leafy vegetables, 15 times more protein. (Please click the link above to read the entire article.) What's more, the production of surplus amounts of grain in the U.S. frequently results in obscenely unjust exchanges of food resources that take place between the U.S. and many Latin American countries, for example. If soybeans, vegetables and grains were fed directly to humans, instead of to animals whose lives were forced into existence in any event, we could alleviate much world hunger by putting an end to these unjust transactions.

It's no accident that many of the same factors that make animal-based agriculture an environmental disaster also make it disastrous when it comes to feeding the world's human populations. As noted in the section Animal Agriculture and Environmental Destruction above, sustaining a meat, dairy and egg-eating culture requires twenty times more land, fourteen times more water, and from ten to twenty times more consumption of fossil fuels and other energy sources, than would be required to sustain a purely vegan culture of the same size. (It's also worth noting that the American people—the most wasteful culture on the planet—comprise less than five percent of the world's population, yet they consume 20 percent of the world's animals raised for food.) Animal agriculture is not only evil to the animals that it imprisons, enslaves, tortures, and kills; it is monumentally evil when we consider the harm it wreaks on the natural environment and the health of individual persons, its devastating impact on health-care systems all over the world, and finally, its exacerbating effects on world famine and hunger. GO VEGAN! It's simply the right thing to do.

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Expense

In the grand scheme of things, veganism is the most inexpensive diet on this planet. Once animal products have been eliminated from the diet, virtually any chance of getting a disease has been eliminated as well. Our health is priceless. Yet meat, dairy and egg-eaters are rarely healthy and vibrant, especially in their golden years if they even make it that far. Add the cost of health care and insurance, prescription medicines, over-the-counter drugs, vitamins, doctor visits and hospital stays, and you can easily see how meat, dairy and egg-eating is the most expensive lifestyle around!

When eating at fast food restaurants or other establishments, veganism is the cheapest way to go or, at worst, the exact same price as meat. For instance, one of the cheapest items at Taco Bell is the bean burrito without cheese (at 99 cents this means the McDonald's dollar menu folks have NO excuse not to switch to Taco Bell). The cheapest item at Subway is the veggie sub. When eating at Asian establishments, tofu and veggies are no more expensive than the meat dishes. When ordering a cheese-less pizza, it's the exact same price as a pizza with cheese. Specialty vegan restaurants might be pricey, but eating at vegan restaurants is not a requirement, and all specialty establishments cost more. Meat, dairy and egg-eaters love to ignore the fact that specialty places that serve filet mignon, lobster and fish are more expensive than a hot dog stand or a hamburger joint.

Some of the packaged soy/wheat meats might cost 50 cents or a dollar more than their meat counterparts. But processed items (meat or vegan) always cost more. One does not have to eat soy/wheat meat to be vegan. Many vegans don't even want a meat taste, so they choose as staples of their diet items like rice, millet, beans, lentils, potatoes, tomatoes, apples, carrots, tofu, peanut butter, pasta and noodles, which are always the cheapest items around. Buying frozen fruits and vegetables is another way to reduce your grocery bill. Make smoothies with the frozen fruit using a combination of mangos, strawberries, kiwis, pears, bananas, blueberries, cherries, pineapples, peaches or raspberries. And don't forget to shop at your local farmer's market or dollar store for great discounts. Eating five bananas for breakfast is cheap and healthy, too. Grocers never charge more than about $1.15 for five bananas. You can also buy inexpensive textured vegetable protein [TVP] in bulk and make soy meat yourself. Check out the Veg Recipes page of this site for plenty of free recipes. Or purchase Ellen Jaffe Jones' book Eat Vegan on $4 a Day.

Ten times out of ten, poverty-stricken societies are vegetarian or vegan because rice, millet, beans, lentils, potatoes, tomatoes, apples, carrots, tofu, peanut butter and pasta/noodles are the cheapest items around. This is why the world's two largest feed-the-hungry organizations—Plenty and Food for Life Global—feed millions of hungry people free vegetarian/vegan meals on a daily basis!

Finally, as I give hundreds of lectures each year to poor college students nationwide, thousands end up choosing veganism because it's truly easy and inexpensive. In fact, in 2011 the University of Texas-El Paso chapter of ONE, an international group that fights extreme poverty and preventable disease (and has NO links to animal liberation), challenged 15 students to live on campus for one week on $1.50 per day! Guess what they ate?

More importantly, veganism is an ethical lifestyle decision. Just like people who have decided not to rape women, wantonly kill humans or molest children, vegans have expanded their circles of compassion and decided not to rape women, wantonly kill humans, molest children nor support the killing of animals. Once an ethical decision has been made, it will be done. Until you've made this decision, excuses will be plentiful. Once you choose veganism, all excuses fall by the wayside.

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The Economy and 10 Billion Land Animals

Meat, dairy and egg-eaters believe might-makes-right and money-trumps-morals when it comes to animal rights issues. Sadly, these thoughtless mindsets were the catalysts of black slavery in White America and Jewish servitude in Nazi Germany. American and German businesses profited handsomely from slavery until the majority of people realized morals should trump money. Slavery was then abolished and the Holocaust stopped. In those instances, freedom and justice far outweighed economic stability or financial ruin. The same ethics of freedom and justice should apply to animals. Jobs and profits don't justify animal slavery and animal murder.

Furthermore, there isn't even proof of a societal transformation to veganism damaging the economy. Vegans don't subsist on air. We eat food grown by farmers, packaged by factory workers, shipped by truckers to the grocery stores of America. We eat at restaurants where chefs cook the food, waiters serve it and dishwashers scrub the plates. We buy shirts, pants, shoes and jackets. We purchase cars, bikes and airline tickets to travel. We listen to music, watch TV, attend concerts and read newspapers. Vegans can be just as beneficial to the economy as meat-eaters. We simply want an ethical economy that harms no one.

Farmers who enslave and kill animals could easily transform their land back to its original purpose: the harvesting of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains and legumes. In a capitalist society, consumers dictate how businesses operate, from the products corporations produce to the items grocery stores sell. If you want pork chops, pigs will suffer and die. If you want soy dogs, nobody gets killed.

Vegan companies like Tofurky and Gardein aren't struggling to make ends meet. In fact, the vegan food industry is so profitable, ConAgra recently purchased Lightlife, Dean Foods acquired Silk, and Kraft bought Morningstar Farms. The animal industries are preparing for a vegan world. When times change, and killing animals for profit is considered every bit as obscene as enslaving blacks and Jews, people will still have jobs, and corporations will still make huge amounts of money.

As for the 10 billion land animals enslaved and killed in America every year, please don't think they will be running rampant through the city streets when everyone becomes vegan. The meat, dairy and egg industries artificially impregnate 10 billion land animals to satisfy the appetites of around 300 million Americans. Therefore, when people stop eating animal products, no company in a capitalist society will create a product [animals] that cannot sell. When each person stops eating animals, 3,000 fewer animals will be produced.

In the 21st century, around 300 million Americans eat 10 billion land animals. In the 22nd century, when only 150 million Americans eat animals, only 5 billion land animals will be killed. When just 75 million Americans eat meat...you get the picture. In 200-300 years, when America is vegan, there will only be a few thousand cows, pigs, chickens and turkeys left. At that point, you can set them free or give them a nice life at a sanctuary. The only other scenario is Smithfield, Tyson, ConAgra, Perdue and the other animal-killing conglomerates eradicating these animals completely. As a result, the only cows, pigs, chickens and turkeys left would be the ones already at sanctuaries. Extinction is a far better fate than perpetual misery and endless murder.

It takes all social justice movements hundreds, if not thousands of years to achieve their goals of freedom. It took 400 years to end slavery. Women were given the right to vote just 85 years ago. Segregation wasn't abolished until the '60s. Sadly, the world is not going vegan overnight, so worrying about space for 10 billion land animals isn't even an issue.

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Native Americans

Vegans often hear comments about some meat-eating Native Americans having a harmonious relationship with nature. However, eating animal products and harmony have about as much in common as Michael Vick and companion animal care.

Fortunately, according to Native American historian Rita Laws, the majority of Natives ate very little to no meat before whites invaded America. Choctaw, Mayan, Osage, Aztec, Pawnee, Zapotec, Mandans, Wichitas, Arikaras, Caddoans, Cherokee, Creek and Chicksaw lived largely vegan lifestyles. After all, Natives taught thievish Europeans how to crop the land that was eventually stolen from them, not how to kill animals.

Natives only began to hunt en masse after cattle-ranching cowboys displaced them from their land. Millions of Natives were murdered because cowboys needed Native land for cow-grazing so white people could have plenty of beef. What whites did to Native Americans is a perfect reason to become vegan, not to pick up a bow and arrow and kill an innocent creature.

Furthermore, horrifying stories of Lame Deer or Chief Seattle praying over murdered animals display a primitive understanding of compassion and decency. Praying over a murdered animal does not exonerate the killer from the crime. Many Natives (and others) refuse to accept this fact because they, too, eat animal products. They would rather blindly defend their people instead of acknowledging the occasional wrongful acts of their ancestors. There is no honor in defending cruelty. I was born Jewish and won't hesitate to condemn rich, pretentious Jewish women who own fur coats because they stupidly believe it's a status symbol. Compassion and decency are far more valuable than heritage.

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Why the Government Doesn't Care About Animals

This is the same government that condoned slavery and segregation for hundreds of years. The same government that denied women the right to vote until just over 90 years ago. The same government that stole America from Natives and called it manifest destiny. The same government that denies equal rights to gays. The same government that labels anyone's opposition to the American military as unpatriotic. I think you get the picture.

The meat, dairy and egg industries constitute three of the most powerful and profitable businesses on this planet. Since money makes our government churn, how can it even begin to promulgate the unhealthiness of meat, eggs and dairy, or the immorality of killing billions of animals?

We should never rely on politicians to make the world a more ethical place. Only when we, collectively, climb out of our abyss of callousness, open up our circles of compassion, stop viewing animals as commodities and property, and start viewing them as family, will animals ever achieve the freedom they rightly deserve. Senators, representatives, the President, even your local police chief, have no incentive to outlaw the killing of animals because society doesn't reward the ethical vegan; instead, it deifies the cruel meat, dairy and egg-eater.

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GMOs, Pesticides, and Palm Oil

Creating and re-creating plant and animal life is obscene and blasphemous. One hundred percent of animals in the meat, egg and dairy industries have been genetically-modified (GM), while all animal feed is comprised of GM soy and corn. Since 80% of corn and 95% of soy grown in America is set aside as animal feed, when you consume animals and the things that come out of their bodies, you are consuming GM animals AND plants! If you want to avoid genetically-modified organisms (GMOs), the first step is choosing a vegan lifestyle. Your next step is choosing to buy organic. Although many powerful companies are attempting to edit legislation, by law organic products must be produced without genetic-engineering. For your benefit, very few vegan meat/milk companies use GM soy.

As for pesticides, it is purely psychotic, unethical behavior that humans pollute the earth with chemicals. Health wise, Dr. T. Colin Campbell, retired professor of Cornell University, discovered during The China Study (the world's largest dietary study ever conducted) that 90-95% percent of pesticide (chemical) intake comes from meat, cheese, milk and eggs, while the other 5-10% comes from plant food and other various sources. Animals are doused with pesticides to kill the flies and mosquitoes that spread disease from animal to animal. Plus, the government allows crops used for animal feed to be sprayed with up to 20 times the amount of chemicals as opposed to crops used for human consumption.

Campbell points out how chemicals seep through the pores of animals and are permanently stored in their fat cells. Conversely, the majority of all chemical residue can be washed off of fruits or vegetables fairly easily. You can always buy organic fruits and vegetables that were never sprayed with any chemicals, thereby solving the issue altogether. While you can purchase animal products without some chemicals, you can NEVER get away from the cruelty, nor the animal protein, casein, cholesterol, trans fatty acids, and excessive amount of fat found in all animal products, which are the main causes of our main diseases. Other dietary and non-dietary factors can affect health, too. Sugar, the excessive amount of fat found in oils, stress, a lack of sleep, the excessive amount of refined carbohydrates found in white rice, white bread, and pasta, smoking tobacco, and a lack of exercise can wreak havoc on the body. Therefore, it is essential to eat plant-based foods exclusively, and control the non-dietary factors to the best of your ability.

Lately, people have been inquiring about which vegan companies avoid GM soy and only use sustainable palm oil. In case you are unaware, non-sustainable palm oil plantations—along with animal agriculture (grazing, growing corn and soy for animal feed)—are destroying Indonesian and Malaysian rainforests. Orangutans are being hit the hardest as they are left without a habitat. They are shot, poisoned, beaten to death and burned alive from deliberately set forest-clearing fires. After their mothers are killed, orangutan babies are stolen and sold as pets. Nearly 90% of orangutan habitat has already disappeared and within 15 years most of the Indonesian and Malaysian rainforests will be gone. Almost all of the world's palm oil exports come from Indonesian and Malaysian plantations.

Here is a list of companies that use non-GM soy and sustainable palm oil:

Gardein, Turtle Island Foods (Tofurky), Turtle Mountain Foods (So Delicious & Purely Decadent ice creams), Tofutti, Trader Joe's, Earth Balance, Whitewave, Uncle Eddie's, Clif/Luna Bars, Pro Bar, Follow Your Heart, Silk, Vegetarian Plus, Sunshine Burgers, Health is Wealth, Elena's Food Specialties (Nate's Meatless Meatballs), Worthington Foods, Field Roast Grain Meat, Five Star Foodies, Bahama, Food for Life/Ezekiel, Upton's Naturals (seitan), Chicago Soy Dairy, Daiya, Wayfare, Galaxy Nutritional Foods, Living Harvest (hemp milk) , Chocolate Decadence, Bragg's Liquid Amino Acids, Melissa's (soy chorizo), Amy's, Blue Diamond (Almond Breeze milk), Pacific Natural Foods, Coconut Bliss (ice creams), Rudi's Organic Bakery, Sambazon, Go Max Go (chocolate bars), Ener-G, Amande (almond milk yogurt), Boca's Vegan Meatless Burgers, Original Chik'n & Spicy Chik'n Patties (avoid red-labeled packages in these varieties to avoid GMOs) and all organic products from Hain Celestial (Yves, Rice Dream, Soy Dream, West Soy, Imagine Foods) all use non-GM soy.

Gardein, Go Max Go, Turtle Island Foods (Tofurky), Turtle Mountain Foods (So Delicious & Purely Decadent ice creams), Tofutti, Trader Joe's, Earth Balance, Whitewave, Uncle Eddie's, Clif/Luna Bars and Pro Bar all use sustainable Palm Oil.

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Killing Plants

When meat, dairy and egg-eaters run out of excuses to eat dead animals, they usually spew one of two inanities. First, they promulgate respect for the vegan lifestyle, and ask for some respect in return. Of course these animal exploiters respect the vegan way. What's not to respect? Are we too compassionate, too merciful and too altruistic? Meat, dairy and egg-eaters begging for vegan respect is akin to NAMBLA (North American Man Boy Love Association) pedophiles asking people who don't rape little boys for respect. I don't respect people who choose cruelty. I don't respect a pedophile's choice to molest kids. I don't respect a rapist's desire to violate a woman's body. I don't respect a thief's desire to rob banks. I don't respect a Nazi's belief that Jews, blacks, gays, etc. are inferior and should be exterminated. I don't respect lifestyles based on hatred and discrimination.

The second inanity of meat, dairy and egg-eaters is attempting to indict the vegan lifestyle by claiming that plants suffer and die to feed the vegans of the world. Yet, I am still searching for People for the Ethical Treatment of Carrots, Last Chance for Broccoli or Apples Deserve Absolute Protection Today and Tomorrow. People for the Ethical Treatment of Carrots doesn't exist because everyone knows the difference between taking a carrot out of the ground and slicing a pig into pieces. Everyone also knows the difference between mowing a lawn and tossing a live baby male chick (egg industry) into a rendering machine. If one does not understand the difference, then that person is disingenuous, irrational and illogical. The fact that some people compare carrots to cows proves how muck-deep in oppressive thought meat-eaters truly are.

Allow me to explain further how absurd it is to think that plants are akin to animals in any way. My wife recently visited her parents and noticed the 20-year-old cactus in her childhood bedroom wasn't doing well. After perusing some gardening sites for tips, we CUT the cactus in half and set it out to dry in the sun for three days. We re-planted it with a Dracaena plant and now it is thriving. If you truly believe that plants and animals are one and the same, then cut a human baby in half and see what happens. Better yet, go to your local hospice center and heal them by cutting everyone in half. The truth is that if this website discussed the suffering of carrots and tomatoes, or I gave speeches about cashew cruelty, or I presented footage of people picking apples from a tree and raged about the apple-plucking, you would be laughing your ass off and texting your friends about my insanity.

Even from the meat, dairy and egg-eater's perspective, it's just illogical to speak of giving rights of freedom and bodily integrity to insentient plants while causing sentient animals to suffer and die by the billion! Plants—unlike animals—are insentient beings void of central nervous systems, lungs, hearts, kidneys, intestines, blood, ears and eyes. They do not defecate or urinate either. Nobody screams in horror when their neighbors are mowing the lawn (grass is a plant, too). But if neighbors were slicing pigs into pieces on the front lawn, there would be tears, physical interventions and the proper authorities would be summoned to stop the bloodshed. Plus, if people honestly believe it's wrong to eat plants, they could always choose the ultra-vegan lifestyle of fruitarianism (eating the fruits and nuts that fall from trees). From a Judeo-Christian-Islamic perspective, the Garden of Eden was a fruitarian haven. From a physiological angle, humans are actually fruitarians/frugivores (see the HUMANS ARE HERBIVORES section on this page).

The epigrammatic philosopher Voltaire once said, "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." When it comes to pain and suffering, the screams, the blood, the writhing, and the fear that animals exhibit trump the so called "waves" of plants.

But just to show how thoroughly disingenuous this so-called "plant-killing argument" really is, let's suppose for the moment that the meat, dairy and egg-eaters who invoke it really believe that their vegan counterparts cause plants to suffer and die. Even if that were the case, these animal exploiters would be logically committed to switching to veganism right away! If you've studied the two sections on animal-based agriculture above, you already know that meat, dairy and egg-eating societies destroy many more plants than the vegan ones do. In America, 70 to 80 percent of our corn, wheat, oats and soy are fed to the 10 billion land animals killed annually. Globally, 35 to 65 percent of the world's plants are fed to 60 billion land animals killed annually. If humans stopped eating animals, fewer plants would be harvested; remember, a single vegan directly consumes about one-tenth of the plant material that is either directly or indirectly consumed by a single meat, dairy and egg-eating human. Veganism is still the ONLY solution to this problem, because fewer beings—sentient and insentient—would die if humans, who are physiologically herbivorous anyway, ate plants directly. Even the Council for Science, Technology and Agriculture, a group of animal agriculture people, stated in the early '90s that all the crops in America could feed every human on this planet twice-over! However, there had to be one stipulation; everyone would have to be vegan!

Sadly, these facts make little or no impression on meat, dairy and egg-eaters who seek refuge in the plant-killing argument because they really don't give a shit about plants any more than they give a shit about the suffering of animals. They're just groping desperately for yet another lame excuse to eat animal products.

Some meat, dairy and egg-eaters claim that vegans indirectly kill animals because tractors that harvest crops unintentionally kill some animals. The worldwide premeditated killings of 60 billion land animals in slaughterhouses and 90 billion marine animals in the waterways are diametrically opposed to the accidental tractor-killings in a field. Even our unjust legal system recognizes the difference between a premeditated murder and an accidental killing. Since farmers don't use their John Deeres to intentionally crush gophers and snakes, you never know when, where, or whether it's going to happen. Slaughterhouses INTENTIONALLY kill animals for meat, dairy and egg-eaters. No one intentionally kills gophers for vegans. I've volunteered at SASHA Farm animal sanctuary for over 15 years. When we mowed the hay fields, there were times when a snake or a field mouse ended up in the bales of hay. This never made us intentional killers. It made us people in the 21st century who rely on machines. When we use machines, accidental killings of animals and people will occur. Isn't it conveniently hypocritical that the meat, dairy and egg-eaters who bring up the animal-tractor issue still drive an automobile, even though those machines kill millions of humans annually worldwide? These accidental killings are okay with them because because meat, dairy and egg-eaters aren't human-killing addicts. They're animal-killing addicts. And addicts are the most insane, illogical, excuse-filled people to ever deface this earth. Addicts are ALWAYS irrational when it comes to their habits. Have you ever known an alcoholic, a cigarette smoker or a heroin user to be rational or ethical when it came to alcohol, cigarettes or heroin? Of course not. And there is NO such thing as a rational—or ethical—meat, dairy, and egg-eater when it comes to animal issues and whether humans should be enslaving, murdering and eating animals.

Vegans tread lightly and cause the absolute minimal amount of unintentional suffering to this planet and its inhabitants. Meat, dairy and egg-eaters cause the MAXIMUM amount of intentional and unintentional suffering to this planet and its inhabitants because it is unreasonable to intentionally starve millions of humans to death by feeding around 50 percent of the world's grains to 60 billion land animals, to murder 60 billion land animals and 90 billion marine animals with premeditation, and then accidentally kill wild animals with tractors. With veganism, we could eliminate two problems instead of living with three!

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The Irrelevant "Burning Building" Question

Animal rights people are often asked whether a firefighter should save a dog or a child from a burning building. (Sometimes this question is framed as a drowning scenario. Should someone rescue a drowning dog or a drowning child?) Although this question is remedial, discriminatory, and completely irrelevant to an animal's inherent right NOT to be tortured, abused, enslaved, commodified and murdered by humans, I express all of my beliefs unabashedly on this website. So I will answer the "burning building" question in two different ways.

1) I would want firefighters to save whoever is nearest to the point of entry. Whichever creature puts the firefighter in the LEAST amount of danger is the one who should be saved. If firefighters want to be bigger heroes, they can try to save both, especially if the beings in question were next to each other. Firefighters are strong and can carry BOTH to safety. They could shove the dog down their shirt and carry the kid. Or they could shove the kid down their shirt and carry the dog. They could drape either one over their shoulders and carry the other.

2) Since animals and humans suffer in the same way, especially when it comes to being burnt alive, I find it outrageous that people even pose this question. How come scenarios like this only arise when animals are involved? The thought of animals being treated equally with humans turns seemingly rational people into illogical, irrational hillbillies. The latter reference to hillbillies opens up a litany of other scenarios and questions that need to be addressed, too. If Dick Cheney and Barack Obama (war criminals) and a child were caught in a burning house, who should be saved? If Jeffrey Dahmer and a maggot were caught in a burning house, who should be saved? If Jerry Sandusky, Pennsylvania child molester, and a flea on the back of a tick on the back of a fly were caught in a burning house, who should be saved? When you cogitate about whether homosexuals deserve equal rights (and they undoubtedly do), do you wonder whether a firefighter should rescue a gay man or a heterosexual man from a burning house? Fifty years ago, would you have pondered whether a firefighter should rescue a black person or a white person caught in a burning house? Should a Christian firefighter rescue a Muslim man or a Christian woman? Should a Christian firefighter rescue a Buddhist or a Jew? Should women be rescued instead of men? Should Hitler or Stalin be rescued at all? Should a rapist be rescued instead of a child molester? Should someone from Monterey be rescued over someone from El Paso? Should Mexicans be rescued instead of Polish folk? Should O.J. Simpson be rescued instead of Michael Richards? Should Michael Vick be rescued over a flea? Over a mosquito?

MY ANSWERS TO THE PREVIOUS QUESTIONS ARE: Child over Cheney and Obama; Maggot over Dahmer; Flea on back of tick on back of fly over Sandusky the child molester; Wouldn't choose between gay man or heterosexual man (whoever is closest to point of entry); Wouldn't choose between black or white (whoever is closest to point of entry); Wouldn't choose between Muslim or Christian, or Buddhist or Jew, or man or woman (whoever is closest to point of entry); Would let Hitler and Stalin burn to death intentionally; Would let child molester and rapist burn to death intentionally; Wouldn't choose between person from Monterey or El Paso (whoever is closest to point of entry); Wouldn't choose between Mexican or Polish (whoever is closest to point of entry); Would save Richards because his crime only caused hurt feelings while O.J.'s crimes were physically and extraordinarily violent; Would save flea over Vick; Would save mosquito over Vick.

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Making the Transition to Veganism

Many people find the transition to veganism easy, but some people have a hard time with it. A few make the transition overnight; for others, it will be a gradual process spanning weeks, months, even a year or more. Old habits are hard to break, and new habits can be hard to form. I went vegetarian for a year in 1995 before I went vegan on July 24, 1996. The only thing to keep in mind is to get to the state of total veganism sooner rather than later. The animals are counting on it, especially cows on dairy farms and hens on egg farms. As I've already said on countless occasions, and on this website, the beef and dairy industries are inextricably linked, as are the chicken and egg industries. Dairy cows who can no longer produce milk profitably, and hens who can no longer lay eggs, are sent IMMEDIATELY to slaughter. And that's not even to account for their misery while they're imprisoned, tortured, inseminated, and forced to act as egg- and milk-producing machines. Therefore, even if you consume no meat, there is NO way you can cause little impact when consuming milk and eggs. Don't be fooled by claims to the contrary.

Furthermore, don't buy into the agriculture industries' self-contradicting language suggesting that their products have been "farmed humanely." Terms like free-range/freedom/organic/cage-free/antibiotic-free/hormone-free/grass-fed/buying local are slick advertising scams used to trick people into buying cruel, deadly products. These marketing ploys don't benefit the animals; they simply make meat, dairy and egg-eaters feel better by convincing them that the animals enjoy being on the menu!

Start eating a variety of fruits for breakfast, such as blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, bananas, kiwis, watermelon, cantaloupe and raspberries. Or use a combination of 2-4 fruits and blend a smoothie. A bagel with Tofutti cream cheese, or peanut butter and jelly, is a good snack, breakfast or lunch. Peanut isn't the only nut butter, by the way. Try almond, cashew and macadamia butters. Nearly all the bagels at Bruegger's and Tim Horton's are vegan, and there are plenty of vegan bagels at Trader Joe's, Whole Foods and Sheetz (check out the VEGAN BREAD section on the Veg Shopping Guide page). Avoid eating inordinate amounts of white bread (rice or pasta) or excessive amounts of sugar. Refined carbohydrates and sugars can lead to unexpected health problems. Bananas, peaches, kiwis, plums, carrots, cucumbers, cashews, almonds, pumpkin seeds or walnuts make great snacks throughout the day. Dip veggies in hummus for a great snack or meal. For lunch or dinner, have a veggie burger instead of a hamburger. Cook vegan meats the same way you cook meat. BBQ it, bake it, fry it or grill it, and use the same sauces, spices and toppings. Tomatoes, lettuce, sprouts, cucumbers, pickles, hot sauce, mustard, ketchup or MY FAVORITE—VEGENAISE—are a must! Vegenaise is a soy-based mayo and it is OUT OF THIS WORLD! Earth Balance also has a delicious soy-free, gluten-free mayo. For dinner, check out some ethnic foods. Order Aloo Gobi (cauliflower), Aloo Palak (spinach) or Chana Masala (chick peas) at an Indian restaurant. Make sure these items are made without cheese, cream or ghee (butter). Get falafel, hummus, tabouli and fatoush at a Middle Eastern place. Eat the many egg-free pastas/spaghetti at Italian restaurants, and add lots of broccoli, mushrooms, garlic or other vegetables. Order a cheese-less pizza with extra sauce and veggies. Just make sure the dough and sauce are made without animal ingredients. Hit those Asian restaurants and substitute tofu for meat, or avoid the tofu altogether and have a vegetable stir-fry (order it without fish/oyster sauce). Finally, you can always eat broccoli, asparagus or eggplant for dinner. YES, vegetables are a meal in and of themselves. Check out the Veg-Friendly Restaurants and Veg Recipes pages for tons of great ideas.

Sometimes it takes extra effort to care, but I am always willing to put in extra effort to make sure OTHERS don't suffer and die for me. If the cafeteria at your school isn't offering enough veg food, get some students together and walk into the cafeteria office and ASK for more veg food. No need to scream or yell or protest, just peacefully demand that they cater to you and your fellow vegetarians/vegans. Rice and beans are super cheap, too, and easy to cook. And so are lentils. You might sometimes have to bring to school a lunch or dinner that you made at home, thereby consuming valuable time that you might have spent studying, or partying; but consider the victim's point of view. If YOU were destined to be imprisoned, enslaved, tortured, and finally killed, wouldn't you pray that somebody else would make that effort so you don't have to suffer and die?

Don't forget about the veggie sub at Subway (order it on Italian bread). Order the bean burrito without cheese at Taco Bell, too. It is the cheapest fast-food item around, and it's vegan. The veggie sub at Subway is also the cheapest item on their menu. If you order a cheeseless pizza at Papa John's (their sauce and dough are vegan), it is the same price as a pizza with cheese. When eating at ethnic restaurants, you'll find that their vegan items are the same price or cheaper than the meat entrées. So there is no extra expense there.

Veganism is easy as pie once you get used to it. So keep thinking compassionately and logically about this issue and you will be vegan before you know it.

Let me just add this for clarity's sake about dealing with people who might give you a hard time with your new lifestyle. Unethical people—whether they are friends, family members, or strangers—should not be advising ethical people on how to live their lives. You need to do what you now know to be true. So don't let others bring you down. Misery loves company; those who still eat meat, dairy and eggs are drowning in misery, and would love some company. So stay strong. The animals are counting on you to make compassionate decisions. When people spew inanities, such as, "it's my right to eat meat" or "you vegans are so judgmental", give them an eye-opening dose of Freelee, an amazing activist from Australia, or simply reiterate what she said.

I do have some bad news, though. Friends and family ARE the toughest people to talk to about veganism. Naturally, this hurts the most because they are the closest to us. But there is hope. My father made the transition to veganism in 2002, almost five years after we stopped discussing the issue. So you never know when logic will break through. Unfortunately, our friends and parents—like most people on this planet—are completely full of shit because their parents lied to them, whose parents were lied to by their parents, who were lied to by their parents . . . you get the picture. But now you have the power to end this vicious cycle of lies. Don't let people who refuse to protect the lives of innocent beings offer you advice, or run your life. Stand up, and be strong. Speak for the animals as YOU would want to be spoken for if you were in their position. Do what's right instead of trying to please your parents and fit in with your friends. As French philosopher André Gide said, "It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for something you're not."

First and foremost, you MUST learn the facts about veganism. I recommend using my website to get all the info—and all the arguments—you will need to refute the lies that people will throw your way. Start with the articles on this webpage, All About Veganism. And then you can peruse the Other Animal Rights Issues page to find info about all the other issues involving animals.

Besides Darin, a dear friend of more than 35 years, I lost every other meat, dairy and egg-eating acquaintance along the way. You will find out quickly who your REAL friends are. They will either make the transition to veganism or regurgitate lies and trite excuses, such as, "God says it's okay." Just so you know, some vegans allow others to eat meat, dairy and eggs in front of them. I choose not to. My table is always vegan. I, for the record, do not condemn fellow vegans who want to let others eat animal products in front of them because they want to show them how good vegan food truly is, and make them (subliminally) feel guilty about their meals. This will be your decision.

I do not have a magical remedy for making friends, strangers or family listen. But if you ALWAYS speak the truth, know your facts, and let your passion come out, people WILL listen. Please do NOT hide your passion, or your emotions. Passion and emotion get a bad rap, but that's only because people respond to both, so the unethical people in our society are always trying to mock people for being passionate and emotional. Remember, Susan B. Anthony, Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Cesar Chavez, Nelson Mandela, Malcolm X, and many, many others, were ALL passionate and emotional about the causes they embraced.

A website called VegFamily.com might offer some help with friends and family. But don't drive yourself insane with people who refuse to change their violent lifestyles when the truth is presented to them. Positive change can only happen when people let go of barbaric habits and bloodthirsty rituals. Since religion, governments, schools and the media have been brainwashing people to act evilly to the animal kingdom, de-programming people and turning them into compassionate souls is a difficult task. Sympathize with these misinformed folks, try to enlighten them and give them a chance to comprehend. But if you see no progress at all, move on to someone else. I stopped talking about veganism with my dad years before he made the switch because he never listened (or he apparently wasn't listening), and then one day it made sense to him. Plant the seed, and hope it grows.

As Gandhi once said, "Even if you are only one person, the TRUTH is still the truth." The strongest people stand alone. And no matter how many others you convert, you HAVE made a difference by going vegan. You might want to memorize a few quotes (on the Other Animal Rights Issues page) from prominent vegans and vegetarians, and use these quotes to introduce your new conversations.

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The Garden of Vegan

According to creation theory, humans were vegan long before we turned to a sinful diet of dead animals. The religions of Buddhists, Hindus, Seventh Day Adventists, Jains, and Rastafarians unambiguously assert that meat is never permissible, and admonish their followers to harm no animal, and to treat the body as a temple by ingesting healthy, non-animal based foods. If you are a follower of Judaism, Christianity or Islam, look no further than the Garden of Eden. It was a vegan haven, and Adam and Eve were the first vegans on this planet.

It's very revealing to examine how each society, culture, race, religion and ethnicity justifies eating certain animals, denying them their inherent right to be happy and free, while attempting to never harm other animals that they've arbitrarily decided to protect. If people from all nationalities, races, religions, and creeds ever got together for a meal, only veganism could yield a meal that wouldn't offend. At this table of peace, Americans would say, "We're not eating dogs, cats and horses!" Muslims and Orthodox Jews would say, "You're not feeding us pigs!" Indians would say, "We're not eating cows!" Seventh Day Adventists, Buddhists, Hindus, Jains, and Rastafarians would rule out all the other animals and animal products because they're all vegetarians or vegans. The only things left to eat that everybody could agree upon would be fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains and legumes.

Veganism can resurrect Eden and create heaven on Earth. We can have a place where humans view animals in awe, and animals view humans with a curious aloofness. It's time to reconnect to the natural world for the sake of the animals, the environment and humanity. Protecting the weak is the first step to enlightenment and being truly civilized. Without animal liberation, as author Milan Kundera explains, there can be no peace on Earth: "Mankind's true moral test, its fundamental test which lies deeply buried from view, consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals. And in this respect mankind has suffered a fundamental debacle, a debacle so fundamental that all others stem from it."

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from students and supporters, 2013 from students and supporters, 2012 from students and supporters, 2011 from students, 2002-2010 from educators, 2002-present from supporters after PETA disassociation, 2005