CHAPTER 10 
Favorite Myths
THERE IS A WEALTH OF SCIENTIFIC SUPPORT FOR PLANT-BASED diets, so much so that the American Medical Association has called for vegan meals to be served in schools, hospitals, and food assistance programs, and the US government and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics stand behind their health power. Even so, lots of nutrition myths linger. This chapter tackles them.
Myth #1: It’s Hard to Go Vegan
A vegan diet does require learning a few new tricks. But most people find it much easier than low-calorie diets that leave you hungry most of the time, or low-carb diets that ban bread, potatoes, spaghetti, fruit, beans, and so many other foods that you are left feeling unsatisfied. Breaking a meat and dairy habit is much easier than quitting smoking or breaking other bad habits. Often, it’s just a matter of modifying the foods you are eating now. Very soon, it will feel more or less effortless. And because, over time, you’ll find yourself exploring new tastes and new cuisines from around the world, your range of foods seems larger, not smaller.
Myth #2: Carbohydrates Are Fattening
There is a reason that people on traditional Asian diets are slim: The rice, noodles, and starchy vegetables that are their staples are naturally low in calories. As you now know, carbohydrates have only 4 calories per gram, compared with 9 for fats and oils. Sometimes, when people blame carbs for weight gain that comes from eating cakes and cookies, the real culprit is the butter or shortening hiding inside, which is much more fattening than the flour or sugar.
Myth #3: You Can’t Get Enough Protein on a Vegan Diet
This myth just will not die, despite (1) statements supporting vegan diets from major nutrition organizations, (2) the wealth of protein in beans, vegetables, and grains, (3) the massive musculature of rhinoceroses, elephants, and other vegan animals, and (4) the millions of people following vegan diets with no evidence that protein is an issue at all. If this myth is still reverberating in your mind, have another look at Chapter 5.
Myth #4: Soy Causes Cancer
Decades ago, scientists found natural compounds, called isoflavones, in soybeans and many other foods. Because their chemical structure vaguely resembles the sex hormones estrogen and testosterone, some people have called these compounds “phytoestrogens”—meaning “plant estrogens”—raising the question as to whether soy products might cause breast cancer. I discussed this in Chapter 4, but since the myth lives on, let’s tackle it in more depth.
Researchers have tracked the diets of thousands of women, observing that women consuming the most soy (soy milk, tofu, etc.) are less likely to develop breast cancer, compared with those having the least soy in their diets. The protective effect is on the order of 30 to 40 percent.10,11 It also turns out that, among women who have been previously treated for breast cancer, soy products reduce the risk of cancer recurrence.12
Soy products are not essential, but they are handy. Far from causing cancer, they help prevent cancer and reduce the risk of recurrence in women who have had cancer previously.
Myth #5: You Should Base Your Diet on Your Blood Type
In 1996, the book Eat Right for Your Type suggested that people with type A blood should be vegetarian, while people with type O blood needed meat, and there were other diet suggestions for blood types B and AB. That notion quickly ran aground. First, type O is the most common blood type. And in research studies, type O people improve their health on the vegan diet, just as type A people do. Meat does not make them healthier.
So I am writing a new book, called Eat Right for Your Shoe Size, suggesting that if you wear a 9½, you would do well on a vegan diet. If you take a 10 or 11, you would do well on a vegan diet, too.
Myth #6: All Foods Can Be Eaten “in Moderation”
This risky myth keeps unhealthy foods on many people’s plates. But studies show that people eating modest amounts of animal products are heavier, have a higher risk of diabetes, and have much more trouble reversing their health problems, compared with people who skip these products altogether.
“Moderation” should apply only to healthful things. If your daughter loves to play the violin, you would certainly encourage her. But after six or eight hours of practice, she needs to eat dinner, do her homework, or have a bit of exercise. Playing the violin is great, but it needs to be done in moderation. If your son loves broccoli, he should not eat only broccoli. He needs other healthful foods, too. So moderation makes sense here, too.
But how many cigarettes should your kids smoke? How much cocaine should they have? Moderation applies to healthful things, not to dangerous things.
Myth #7: Children Might Not Get Adequate Nutrition on a Vegan Diet
As we saw in Chapter 6, children raised on plant-based diets have better diets and better health, compared with children whose diets include meat, cheese, and other nonvegan foods. And the rules are simple: Build the menu from our healthy staples—vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and legumes—and be sure to include a vitamin B12 supplement. Hopefully your children are getting out into the sunlight more or less every day. If not, they will also need vitamin D. That’s about it. For details, have another look at Chapter 6.
Myth #8: Vegan Food Is Expensive
If you subscribe to this notion, pop into the nearest sandwich shop and ask the price of a sandwich without meat and cheese. It’s cheaper than everything else. Now head for the nearest taco shop and see what a bean burrito costs, compared with a chicken or beef version. Not a penny more—and maybe less. Now drop in at the grocery store and check out the price of dried beans, rice, canned and frozen vegetables, sweet potatoes, and other simple foods. As you will see, everything is pretty cheap.
What gets expensive is preparation. If you are paying for someone else to turn an avocado and bread into a sandwich at the store, it will cost more than the ingredients alone, just as it would for tuna or beef. In other words, it is not the vegan food that was pricey; it was the preparation time. Overall, studies show that plant-based eating is substantially cheaper than diets that include animal products. And if you’ve been able to reduce your need for medications or other treatments, you’re saving serious money. This book has some time-saving tips, such as batch cooking and fast recipes; if you need more, you’ll be amazed at how many tips you’ll find online with some quick searching.
Myth #9: Athletes Need Meat
We touched on this briefly in Chapter 4. Endurance athletes get an energy boost when they set aside the animal products, because their tissues oxygenate better when there is no animal fat to slow blood flow.
If you think that animal protein somehow builds better muscle than plant protein, have a look at Patrik Baboumian. Often called the world’s strongest man, he set a world record in 2015 by lifting 1,232 pounds and carrying it for twenty-eight seconds (don’t try this at home). He got his enormous musculature the way bulls and elephants get theirs—entirely from plants. Eating muscles does not give you muscles any more than eating brains makes you smart. Athletes need some protein—and plants deliver plenty of complete protein. A gazelle would not run faster if it ate bacon, and an elephant would not have greater strength or bigger muscles if it ate an omelet, steak, or fried chicken.
Myth #10: Humans Are Natural Carnivores
The Paleo diet craze provides the romantic image that our loincloth-clad forebears were skilled hunters, ready for the cover of Men’s Health. The biological truth is that we are great apes, in the same category as gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees, and bonobos, all of whom build their diets either largely or entirely from plant sources.
True carnivores—like cheetahs and lions—are quick on their feet and able to catch prey and dismember it with sharp claws and canine teeth. But we are not particularly fast and have no claws, and our canine teeth are no longer than our incisors. But when the Stone Age arrived, everything changed. We were able to fashion arrowheads and spears that were faster than we were, and we were able to make stone tools that could kill and tear apart prey. The problem is that we have pre–Stone Age coronary arteries and intestinal tracts, and meat causes problems for us that it does not cause for dogs, cats, and other true carnivores.