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Wide-Ranging Effects:
Bone, Kidney, Eye
and Brain Diseases
ONE OF THE MOST CONVINCING ARGUMENTS for a plant-based diet is the fact
that it prevents a broad range of diseases. If I have a conversation with
someone about a single study showing the protective effect of fruits
and vegetables on heart disease, they may agree that it's all very nice for
fruits and vegetables, but they will probably still go home to meatloaf
and gravy. It doesn't matter how big the study, how persuasive the re-
sults or how respectable the scientists who conducted the investigation.
The fact is that most people have a healthy skepticism about one study
standing alone-as well they should.
But if I tell them about dozens and dozens of studies showing that the
countries with low rates of heart disease consume low amounts of animal-
based foods, and dozens and dozens of studies showing that individuals
who eat more whole, plant-based foods get less heart disease, and I go on
to document still more studies showing that a diet low in animal-based
foods and high in unprocessed plant-based foods can slow or reverse
heart disease, then people are more inclined to pay some attention.
If I keep talking and go through this process not only for heart dis-
ease, but obesity, Type 2 diabetes, breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate203