nutritionally adequate and provide health benefits in
the prevention and treatment of certain diseases....
Well-planned vegan and other types of vegetarian
diets are appropriate for all stages of the life cycle,
including during pregnancy, lactation, infancy, child-
hood and adolescence.’’
The ADA has a professional subgroup called the
Vegetarian Nutrition Dietary Practice Group, or
DPG, which publishes a quarterly newsletter called
Vegetarian Nutrition Update, available to nonmem-
bers of the ADA for an annual subscription fee of
$25. The Vegetarian Nutrition DPG also has its own
website at http://www.vegetariannutrition.net/index
.htm, with articles available to the public on vegetarian
diets and cancer prevention, treatment of rheumatoid
arthritis,sports nutrition, pregnancy, and vegan diets
for children.
Once considered an eccentricity, vegetarianism is
widely accepted by the general public in developed
countries as a legitimate dietary option in the early
2000s. The ADA and DC state that about 2.5% of
adults (defined as people over 18 years of age) in the
United States and 4% of Canadian adults follow veg-
etarian diets. The Vegetarian Resource Group (VRG),
a nonprofit research organization, conducted a poll in- It estimated that 2.3% of adults in the United
States—4.7 million people—are vegetarians, with a
third to a half of this group being vegans. In addition,
the VRG notes that 30 to 40% of American adults
choose vegetarian dishes over meat dishes at least
some of the time. Other interesting details from the
2006 poll:
People between 45 and 54 years of age are almost
twice as likely to be vegetarians as people between 18
and 24 years of age.
The Northeast has the highest percentage of vegeta-
rians in the general population, with the South hav-
ing the lowest.
People who have graduated from college are twice as
likely to be vegetarians as those who did not com-
plete high school.
Hispanics are more likely to be vegetarians than
either Caucasians or African Americans.
There is no correlation between household income
and a vegetarian lifestyle as of the early 2000s; people
at all income levels seem to be equally likely to
become vegetarians.
Most opposition to vegetarianism in developed
countries is interpersonal rather than scientific or
political, as some vegetarians develop a sense of
moral or spiritual superiority to nonvegetarians and
make themselves socially unpopular by criticizing or
lecturing others for continuing to eat meat. NAVS
advises new vegetarians, ‘‘Be cheerful about your
choices [but] remember to let people come to their
own dietary conclusions.’’Research
As has been noted in Europe as well as the United
States, the emphasis in medical research on vegetarian
diets has shifted in the early 2000s from concern about
nutritional deficiencies in people following these diets
to the role of vegetarianism in preventing or treating
chronic diseases. It was the NIH’s studies of Seventh-
day Adventists that first indicated that vegetarian
diets lower the risk of heart disease, stroke, and type
2 diabetes. The Adventist Health Study received new
funding in 2003 for its continuation. As of early 2007,
the NIH is conducting five additional clinical trials to
evaluate the advantages of vegetarian diets in manag-
ing uremia in the elderly, cardiovascular disease, type
2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and postmenopausal
disorders in women as well as treating obesity.
One area of concern, however, is in veterinary
medicine—namely, the trend among some pet owners
to put dogs and cats on vegetarian diets, often with
homemade foods. Cats in particular are at risk of
malnutrition and eventual blindness on a vegetarian
or vegan diet because they are obligate carnivores
(must have meat in the diet). Their bodies cannot
form taurine (an amino acid), thiamine, retinol (a
form of vitamin A essential to healthy eye tissue),
and vitamin B 12 —all micronutrients found primarily
in meat. The Vegetarian Society (UK) has an informa-
tion sheet warning against putting cats on a vegetarian
diet, while the American Veterinary Medical Associa-
tion (AVMA) strongly urges vegetarian pet owners to
consult their veterinarian before offering either dogs
or cats vegetarian pet food.Resources
BOOKS
Colbert, Don.What Would Jesus Eat?Nashville, TN: T.
Nelson Publishers, 2002. A conservative Christian
attempt to prove that Jesus was a vegetarian.
Harris, William, MD.The Scientific Basis of Vegetarianism.
Honolulu, HI: Hawaii Health Publishers, 1995.
Pelletier, Kenneth R., MD.The Best Alternative Medicine,
Chapter 3, ‘‘Food for Thought.’’ New York: Fireside
Books, 2002. A good summary of recent studies of the
health benefits of vegetarianism.
Scully, Matthew.Dominion: The Power of Man, the Suffering of
Animals, and the Call to Mercy.NewYork:St.Martin’s
Press, 2002. The author’s focus is on kindness to animalsVegetarianism