Show #36 - Lierre Keith Interview: The Vegetarian Myth

[Jefferson]

Thanks for the show! One of the best!



:)

 

[ashu]

Thank you for a great show SOTT team & Lierre Keith. It would definitely be great to have Lierre back on the show again

 

[SeekinTruth]

Great show! Thanks for having Lierre on the show, she really is so knowledgeable and engaging to listen to.

Two books that she mentioned was the Mood Cure by Julia Ross to help with depression, anxiety and fatigue, which is something she suffered from and Lost Language of Plants by Stephen Harrod, which came up when Lierre was discussing how plants form communities by feeding and helping one another as well as take measures to protect their young. So the whole thing about how it's okay to eat plants because they don't have nervous systems but it's wrong to eat animals is pretty much BS. Looking forward to adding those two books to the stacks of other books I need to read. :P

Thanks for an excellent interview with Lierre Keith. I've ordered her book thru the public library, but this is definitely one to own.
Ditto for The Language of Plants. I had no idea that plants, bacteria, and other so-called primitive life forms had such incredible powers of communication and sentience, and it's mind-blowing that indigenous peoples could actually converse with plants.

Yeah, the whole not eating animals reminds me of the whole anti-abortion debate, i.e. people arguing heatedly about things they can't conclusively know about and insisting on it - lots of wiseacring. It's like those who will eat eggs but not chickens, those that will compromise and eat fish, but no other animals, etc. It's all just arbitrary, subjective stuff. There's no way of definitely knowing "when a soul actually becomes connected to a body" in the case of the pro and ant-abortion arguments, and there's plenty of good reasons to keep abortions legal.

Much lifelong suffering and even perpetuation throughout generations can be avoided by conscientious decisions for abortion. Of course, the best would be to avoid the unwanted pregnancy in the first place. And I think the trauma of a woman having an abortion should be considered very carefully as well. Finally, and very importantly, even when abortion is made illegal, women continue to have them in much more dangerous and inappropriate places and circumstances (just like everything else that's made illegal, it certainly doesn't stop the practice).

Then there's the REALLY fanatical anti-abortion people who want to stop abortions from even rape / incest. BUT, many of them are pro capital punishment (really bad idea in the current "justice system"), support all the war mongering, and the most extreme of them end up blowing up abortion clinics killing the doctors/staff, pregnant women and the unborn children. I mean, how twisted is THAT?! And they call themselves "pro life?"

It really strikes me as having many similarities to the militant vegans/vegetarians that don't seem to give a damn (and would NOT even consider the issues and dismiss them out of hand claiming them to be nonsense spread by ignorant people - talk about projection) that large scale agriculture kills MANY more animals, plants, and even microbes in the soil and actually destroys the topsoil which is the foundation for all life on the planet: in short, ecocide.


Haven't listened to the show yet. I'll be listening to it tomorrow and am really looking forward to it.

 

[Mrs.Tigersoap]

Great show yesterday! Many thanks to the people who made this show possible!
I still need to listen to a small part.
Lierre Keith really knows her stuff and it's a real pleasure to listen to her.

I have a question: I think I heard her say that low-fat dieters were more likely to commit suicide ( not too surprising when you routinely lack tryptophan-serotonin) but that they're also more likely to have violent deaths and be murdered? I found that interesting (again, if I understood correctly) but was wondering why is that? I don't remember that fact from Vegetarian myth. Has anybody more info? I might have misunderstood.

 

[Adaryn]

I have a question: I think I heard her say that low-fat dieters were more likely to commit suicide ( not too surprising when you routinely lack tryptophan-serotonin) but that they're also more likely to have violent deaths and be murdered? I found that interesting (again, if I understood correctly) but was wondering why is that? I don't remember that fact from Vegetarian myth. Has anybody more info? I might have misunderstood.

This article gives clues: http://www.sott.net/article/265019-Evidence-links-cholesterol-reducing-interventions-with-increased-risk-of-dying-from-accidents-suicide-and-violence

There is some experimental evidence that modifying the fat in the diet has both neurochemical and behavioural consequences. In laboratory rats these include altered fluidity and cholesterol content of cell membranes within the central nervous system and effects on maze learning, pain threshold, and physical activity. Monkeys fed a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol (modelled on American Heart Association recommendations) were significantly more aggressive than control animals consuming a diet high in fat and cholesterol.
But the authors went on to say that similar studies are entirely lacking in humans. They do, however, point our attention to studies which show low blood cholesterol levels are more common in, say, criminals, individuals with history of violence or conduct disorder, and murderers with a history of violence.

 

[Voyageur]

I have a question: I think I heard her say that low-fat dieters were more likely to commit suicide ( not too surprising when you routinely lack tryptophan-serotonin) but that they're also more likely to have violent deaths and be murdered? I found that interesting (again, if I understood correctly) but was wondering why is that? I don't remember that fact from Vegetarian myth. Has anybody more info? I might have misunderstood.

This article gives clues: http://www.sott.net/article/265019-Evidence-links-cholesterol-reducing-interventions-with-increased-risk-of-dying-from-accidents-suicide-and-violence

There is some experimental evidence that modifying the fat in the diet has both neurochemical and behavioural consequences. In laboratory rats these include altered fluidity and cholesterol content of cell membranes within the central nervous system and effects on maze learning, pain threshold, and physical activity. Monkeys fed a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol (modelled on American Heart Association recommendations) were significantly more aggressive than control animals consuming a diet high in fat and cholesterol.
But the authors went on to say that similar studies are entirely lacking in humans. They do, however, point our attention to studies which show low blood cholesterol levels are more common in, say, criminals, individuals with history of violence or conduct disorder, and murderers with a history of violence.

From the above link, Briffa states:

Overall, the intervention groups in whom cholesterol levels were reduced were:

• At a significantly increased risk (76 per cent) of death due to accidents, suicide and violence

This consistency in the results does suggest something real is going on, and specifically that lowering cholesterol increases the risk of these issues. Accidents, suicide and violence may not appear very connected, but one could all argue they are all going to be more likely in individuals whose brains are prone to, say, impulsivity or aggression.

 

[Olesya]

Reading what Adaryn and voyager posted just clicked. I think it's amazing how simple it is: eating fat makes you more aware... of your surroundings, and that includes your relationships, and what you see in general. The more awareness one has, the more protection she/he has. So, on a physical level fat is love, i.e. the physical representation of love. And the opposite is true. Less fat someone eats, less awareness she/he has, and if a person experienced great deal of trauma in her/his life (aren't we all?) with all bottle up feelings of anger, that brings out a lot of violence into the world. And I'm not talking about all those genetically different from normal people.

So let's all eat a lot of fat! And smoke a lot of tobacco to our hearts desire!

I also share the feelings expressed by all the people who want to hear Lierre Keith speak on SoTT Radio Show once again. That would be great!

 

[Kaigen]

Thanks again, I was listening 2 hours without stopping, to great show, which should continue!

 

[H-KQGE]

An awesome guest adding to the hosts made for a truly powerful show. I look forward to a second part. Kudos to the hosts for allowing LK to talk as much as she did, she came across really well because of it. My thanks to Oxajil & Turgon for catching those book titles. :)

 

[Ca.]

Thanks, very informative. Miss Keith, was well read in her research, as are the host. Very kind of her to share her experience's.

Passing this one around to others, and perhaps they will see the light (if they choose), gain some knowledge, thus some protection.

 

[SeekinTruth]

Just got done listening to it. REALLY great show! Thanks for making it possible and looking forward to having Lierre Keith return as guest in the future.

 

[Stoneboss]

Thank you to all who make the Sott radio show possible. I've never been disappointed with any of them, and the last one was very good. Even my wife listened to the entire show, which is a first. :)

 

[ajseph 21]

I agree that this was another great show! Mrs Keith was so polite and respectful as well as open about her experiences which was refreshing because she didn't become militant against vegans/vegetarians. She weighed both sides and presents the truth. Wonderful show!

 

[Gaby]

She was so engaging, like in her book! I loved the show! :)

 

[Mrs.Tigersoap]

This article gives clues: http://www.sott.net/article/265019-Evidence-links-cholesterol-reducing-interventions-with-increased-risk-of-dying-from-accidents-suicide-and-violence

Thank you for the link, Adaryn! :)