Doctor Nails Cancer Risk of Hot Dogs, Bacon, Meat (VIDEO)

eating vegan healthy dr barnard

This is one of the best talks on veganism I’ve ever watched (and I was raised vegetarian). The doctor, Dr. Neal Barnard, has a great sense of humor and an obviously extensive range and depth of knowledge on the topic. He doesn’t focus on animal cruelty, but, frankly, that’s not the best selling point for everyone. He focuses on health, and he even mentions a few things I never knew — certain national and global cancer associations have said people shouldn’t eat bacon, hot dogs, ham, or other processed meats at all.

Another good one, when challenged with the thought, “what about just eating bacon in moderation,” he responds that doing things in moderation is for good things. It’s not recommended that you do heroine in moderation or doing cocaine in moderation. And cancer associations have said that we should never eat bacon, ham, hot dogs, etc.

And the really good news — this interview was on mainstream media — The Morning Show!

Check it out (more highlights in text below):

I also love the following points:

  1. The societies that are the healthiest do not eat a lot of meat or cheese.
  2. After a few weeks on a vegan diet, people start to feel better, and their taste buds also change (often making them prefer the vegan diet).
  3. There are unique cases with regards to smoking where a life-long smoker lives to over a hundred. And there are unique cases where people eat a lot of meat and are healthy. But the science shows a link between smoking and cancer (people know that now) and there is a clear scientific link between eating meat, especially certain meats, a cancer. Think basketball — a full-court buzzer-beater can happen, but it is not the norm. It’s a better idea, if you want to win the game, to bring the ball up the court and go for easier shots.
  4. When you challenge a person’s personal choices (i.e. eating meat and dairy), even without trying to, people often have a natural reaction against it. The same thing used to happen with smoking.

Thanks to a good old friend for sharing this with me!

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By Zach | November 14, 2011 | Health, Vegetarian and Vegan | 4 Comments |
  • http://www.kompulsa.com Nicholas

    1. I don’t buy what he said about people ever recommending smoking for health reasons.

    2. He should point out that most meat eaters hardly eat any vegetables at all, and humans do need to eat a significant amount to stay healthy. This means that switching to veganism forces them to eat more vegetables because meat is cut out, so there isn’t much else that is nutritive. This makes non-vegan diets look worse than they actually are. When I was lacto-vegetarian, I didn’t feel healthy until I started eating more vegetables, especially uncooked. They are very healthy, but it is misleading to compare veganism to a diet that contains a lack of vegetables and then use that to make animal products look worse than they are. Before blaming mostly animal products, conduct a study with non-vegetarians that do eat as much vegetables as they should, and then I will have faith in the credibility of the results.

    3. Nothing processed is good for you, not just processed meat (i’m not referring to bacon specifically). Just because processed meat is bad for you does not mean that unprocessed and naturally and properly prepared meat is bad as well.

    4. Vegetables are a very good addition to a diet with or without meat because they contain fiber (especially nuts, peas, and beans), and they help to keep cholesterol levels under control by binding to it and preventing it’s absorption.

    5. Constipation: Increased intake of *both* fiber and water improve constipation problems, and as mentioned above, the high fiber vegetarian foods a vegetarian diet includes will of course cause this improvement, whether or not you are eating animal products.

    6. The comparison of animal products to smoking and heroin is not something I would have done. Heroin is literally a poisonous drug, and smoking leaves soot in the lungs, they are obviously far more deadly than animal products.

    7. About point #2: I am vegetarian, and my taste buds didn’t cause me to enjoy vegetables any more, and I grew up vegetarian.

    8. He has failed to cite his sources of information. “A” cancer association isn’t enough, I need to know which it is.

    I am not bashing vegetarianism, but I do believe that people should not eat nearly as much meat as they are now, plus much more vegetables (a wide variety) and he could have done better.

    Most people are accustomed to chowing down on mostly meat all the time because of taste.

  • http://www.meatami.com Janet Riley

    Hey Zach —

    I respect the choice that you’ve made for yourself, but I gotta tell you — there are a lot of studies that contradict what Dr. Barnard is saying. Just check out these resources at this link:

    http://www.meatsafety.org/ht/d/sp/i/41359/pid/41359

    I’m concerned that Dr. Barnard is more motivated by his support of animals rights causes than by a true reading of the evidence on nutrition.

    • http://www.kompulsa.com Nicholas

      Janet: That website says that the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine operates and funds the cancer project. Prove it…

      I did go to their website, and saw that they are animal rights advocates, part of their website is dedicated to that. Click ” Ethical Research and Education” to the left of the page.

  • Anan Maha

    This is a great interview. There are so many reasons for going vegan. I actually went vegan by watching a video to the one on meatvideao.com. I was also raised vegetarian but went vegan for animal rights reasons and now I’m learning about all the great health benefits. There is a great resource that touches on all the reasons for a vegan diet of chooseveg.com!