As president emeritus of Jewish Veg and author of Vegan Revolution: Saving Our World, Revitalizing Judaism, I want to strongly commend Alan Freishtat, director of the Wellness Clinic, for “To tell the truth” (July 2), which discusses widespread nutritional misconceptions. It is essential that people recognize the truth for their health and that of our imperiled planet. Most people think that eggs are a healthy food, but it has the greatest concentration of dietary cholesterol, contributing to the current epidemic of heart disease, Most people think that milk is a , but it was designed to rapidly increase the weight of baby cows, so its consumption contributes to the present epidemic of obesity.
Many delicious, nutritious substitutes exist, including soy, rice, almond, and coconut milk. Most people think they must consume meat to get adequate protein but a well-balanced plant-based diet can provide sufficient protein. Most people get far more protein than they need, and the excess protein in meat and other animal products is a major cause of several life-threatening diseases.
Many peer-reviewed studies in respected medical journals discuss the many health advantages of animal-free diets. Shifts to such diets can also help avert a climate catastrophe because the vast areas of the world now used for grazing and growing feed products for animals could be reforested. The additional trees would absorb much atmospheric CO2, reducing it from its current very dangerous levels, pot.