FORCES - ESSAYS AND ARTICLES

Message-Id: <9409141215.AA24230@MIT.EDU>
Date: Wed, 14 Sep 1994 13:03:43 GMT
Reply-To: Peter Cox
Sender: Vegan Discussion Group
From: Peter Cox
Subject: News Release: MEAT "KILLS MORE THAN SMOKING"
To: Multiple recipients of list VEGAN-L
I thought subscribers to this list might be interested in the following press release we put out yesterday. The launch went very well.

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Embargo:
11.05am 13th September
News Release: MEAT "KILLS MORE THAN SMOKING"

Meat eating may kill more Britons every year than smoking. That's the conclusion of the author of THE REALEAT ENCYCLOPEDIA OF VEGETARIAN LIVING, launched today as part of the V-DAY campaign to promote the vegetarian lifestyle. Author Peter Cox, whose previous best-sellers are "Linda McCartney's Home Cooking" and "Why You Don't Need Meat", lambasts both the meat industry and the medical establishment at the press conference scheduled for 11.05am in the Rutherford Room, Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, Westminster.

"Smoking kills 111,000 people every year", says Cox.[1] "But that falls into second place behind the 134,000 annual deaths which the evidence suggests could be prevented by a vegetarian diet".

Cox's calculations make use of recent scientific results produced by the Oxford study into vegetarianism [2], and a similar project in Germany [3]. Both studies show that vegetarians slash their risk of cancer and heart disease by approximately 40% compared to meat-eaters. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the UK, accounting for 1 in 3 deaths among men and 1 in 4 among women. Together, both diseases kill 335,000 Britons every year. If more people were vegetarian, says Cox, this figure could be slashed by 134,000.

"We're being failed", believes Cox, "by our drug-based medical system which produces doctors who have little knowledge or interest in preventative nutrition; by over-cautious health charities who too often pursue a counsel of perfection; and by the machinations of the meat industry itself, which has in the past demonstrably sought to quash healthy eating advice."

Cox's conclusions are backed by a survey of the attitudes of health groups towards vegetarianism, some of whom, he says, "appear to regard it as some kind of dietary perversion." Some key findings:

The Imperial Cancer Research Fund stated yesterday: "There is currently no evidence which suggests [that a vegetarian diet greatly reduces the incidence of certain cancers] is totally proven." [4]

Comments Cox: "The concept of 'total proof' is a counsel of perfection. No doubt cigarette manufacturers also claim that there is no 'total proof' that smoking causes cancer. If we wait until 'total proof' is available before taking action, we'll be waiting for ever."

The Cancer Research Campaign stated yesterday: "The evidence that meat may cause cancer is not sufficiently strong to advocate a vegetarian diet for cancer prevention. However, the major European study, EPIC will, over the next few years, throw light on this and other controversies surrounding diet and cancer." [5]

Comments Cox: "Whether the evidence is 'strong enough' is a matter of opinion. What they should be looking at are the risks and benefits involved. What are the risks of advocating more widespread vegetarianism? Trivial. What are the benefits? The many studies in my book show that the benefits can be massive. I don't believe we need yet another studywe need prudent actionnow."

The British Dietetic Association stated yesterday: "Scientific data suggests that vegetarians as a group have a lower incidence of chronic disease, particularly coronary heart disease and some cancers. Vegetarian diets tend to correspond more closely to the healthy eating ideal in terms of fat, carbohydrate, dietary fibre and the increased intake of fruits and vegetables." [6]

Comments Cox: "It is unfortunateindeed, tragicthat more organisations don't share the B.D.A.'s views. I suspect this reflects the traditional lack of interest in diet and healthy eating evinced by many sections of the medical community."

The British Heart Foundation stated yesterday: "An investigation into the health of vegetarians [has shown that] vegetarians suffered half as many deaths from coronary heart disease than meat eaters and there was a 20% reduction in overall mortality including a 40% reduction in cancer deaths. These important findings were not affected by any other factors such as body weight, smoking habits or socio economic status. Meat eating is not considered harmful Vegetarian diets may contain some factors that are cardio-protective more work is progressing to try to identify specifically the dietary components responsible for this benefit. Meantime, the advice is to adopt many of the attributes of the vegetarian diet, particularly in countries with a high prevalence of heart disease." [7]

Comments Cox: "A classic. The search for that 'magic ingredient' that makes the vegetarian lifestyle so healthy will probably never be resolved, but it perfectly illustrates how the medical establishment thinks. If they know that vegetarianism is more healthy, why don't they actively promote vegetarianism? Contrary to received wisdom, there are indeed studies (cited in the Encyclopedia) which show that meat consumption is an independent risk factor in the aetiology of several important diseases. Advising people to eat a diet which has 'many of the attributes' of vegetarianism without actually being vegetarian is downright confusing and liable to fail."

The Health Education Authority stated yesterday: "Vegetarian diets can be healthy, but of course, following a vegetarian diet does not necessarily mean your diet will be healthy." [8]

Comments Cox: "Positively earth-shattering. And so lucid."

The British Diabetic Association stated yesterday: "We are not aware of medical studies which offer conclusive evidence to suggest that the vegetarian diet reduces the risk of diabetes. We believe that there is not enough evidence to show that a vegetarian diet can prevent diabetes. Diabetes is a genetic condition." [9]

Comments Cox: "I'm sorry to see them taking this line. Evidence cited in the Encyclopedia suggests that vegetarian populations have a much lower rate of diabetes (45%) than omnivores. For example, one study in the BMJ concludes that 'at least 60% of insulin dependent diabetes world wide, and perhaps over 95%, is environmentally determined and thus potentially avoidable the primary world-wide determinants of diabetes are environmental not immunogenetic' [10]. There's a copy of the Encyclopedia in the post to them."

Media contacts: Christina Simons / Simons Communications Tel 081-643 5772 Fax 081-643 4908
Becky Shaw / Bloomsbury Publishing Tel 071-494 2111 Fax 071-434 0151

END

1 The Smoking Epidemic. Health Education Authority 1991
2 BMJ 25th June 1994
3 Epidemiology September 1992
4 Fax 12 September 1994
5 Fax 12 September 1994
6 Fax 12 September 1994
7 Fax 12 September 1994
8 Fax 12 September 1994
9 Fax 12 September 1994
10 Br Med J [Clin Res] 295 (6596) p479-81

Peter
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peter@pcox.demon.co.uk

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