Tell Fitness for Women Magazine: Don't Take Dietary Advice From Big Ag

ATTN! Fitness for Women: Please highlight health benefits of vegetarianism in your magazine

Greetings,

I was surprised to find a pro-meat bias in your April 2011 issue of Fitness for Women in the short article Vitamin D High!. Vitamin D is plentiful in fortified foods suitable for vegans. It has been well established by the UN, the World Health Organisation and many other scientific institutions that vegetarian diets are healthier than non-vegetarian diets. Vegetarians live 20 years longer than meat-eaters and have lower instances of cancer, heart disease, obesity, etc due to the higher fibre and low saturated fat content of their food. Meat and dairy also contain hormones which have been linked to dozens of health problems, including fibroids in the uterus, breast, colon and prostate cancer and painful menstrual cramps.

The Journal of the Dietetic Association has shown than well-planned vegetarian and vegan diets provide all the essential nutrients the body requires. Please bear in mind that even non-vegetarian diets need to be well-planned in order to be healthy. The average woman in the UK eats 12.5 g fibre compared to an RDA of 25-35g.

The average western diet is too high in protein. Vegetarians have been shown to eat a lower level of protein, which is preferable in that they reach the recommended daily amount and do not exceed it. In order to gain the maximum amount of muscle possible, you only need an extra teaspoon of pure protein per day above the RDA. It is very easy to gain all the protein you need from vegetarian sources. For example, a breakfast containing 400g of scrambled tofu and two pieces of toast contains at least 34 grams of protein.

In addition, B12, a vitamin created by bacteria, is available in many plant based sources. In modern society, fruit and vegetables for sale in supermarkets are washed in chlorine. This removes the B12-producing bacteria and so vegetarians and vegans obtain vitamin B12 from fortified foods. The industrial production of vitamin B12 for the fortification of foods involves fermentation with B12-producing bacteria. B12 can be obtained from many everyday food items that are fortified such as veggie burger and sausage mixes, yeast extracts, vegetables stocks, margarines, breakfast cereals and soya milks.

Research suggests that the B12 present in meat, poultry and fish is not as easily absorbed as the B12 present in fortified vegetarian foods. By obtaining vitamin B12 this way, it cuts out the middle man and saves the environmental damage caused by the meat industry. Vegan farming uses 1/3 of the water and land used by factory farms. Meat and dairy free diets prevent animal suffering and slow death. Pain (and especially fear) occur in the amygdalae, which are part of the limbic system in the central nervous system. Science has proven that this part of the brain exists in farm animals, and that animals suffer in factory farms.

I urge you to include a comprehensive article on the health benefits of vegetarianism in Fitness for Women in the future. Thank you!

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