plant-based diets and their effects upon human health and disease would indeed be studied
with the technological resources and scientific rigor that they deserve.
Volunteers would be brought into the Institute and fed controlled plant-based diets for
prolonged periods of time and have many parameters measured, including blood tests and
metabolic balance studies. Much can be learned by examining tissue obtained through “skinny-
needle” biopsies of muscle and fat to see what actually happens during long-term adherence to a
vegan diet among people of various ages, races and body types.
I am sure that with this kind of proper scientific study, the riddle of the “vegan failure-to-thrive
syndrome” would be solved. With computer analysis of a drop of blood, a nourishing, health-
enhancing, completely plant-based diet could be optimized for each individual.
However, until that golden age of nutritional research and understanding dawns, solo
practitioners like me, who slog away “at the coalface” of applied nutrition must rely on only the
biochemistry learned in medical school, post-graduate training, and the clinical experience
gained through many years of empirical practice to help our non-thriving vegan patients. It is
from this island of nutritional observation and speculation that I offer some possible
mechanisms that may underlie this problem, as well as possible strategies to overcome them—
while trying to do the least harm to people, animals and the planet.
So, why might a seemingly-adequate plant-based diet comprised of 100% unrefined plant foods
appear to be less than optimal in a given individual? Rather than an inherent deficiency of
nutrients necessary to fuel homosapiens' body, the origins may lie in the early years of
development of our individual digestive systems.
Like all other organs in our body, our gastrointestinal system is undoubtedly influenced by how
we treat those tissues in our earliest years. When considering the gastrointestinal system, of
course, it is the food we eat that exerts the greatest influence upon the developing tissues that
digest and absorb our nutrients. Specifically, the food we present to the surface of the intestinal
membranes, which then absorbs those nutrients and sends them to the liver, may be a deciding
factor in the developing structure and function of those organs.
Specifically, if a person grows up eating the “Standard American Diet” based on meat and dairy
products, the food stream that is repeatedly slathered over the 26 feet of intestinal membranes
has some specific characteristics—it is high in fat, high in protein, high in cholesterol, low in
fiber and complex carbohydrates, and is rich in easily-absorbed minerals like zinc and
magnesium. It also contains substantial quantities of pre-formed, animal-derived nutrients, like
carnitine and creatine, needed for energy metabolism and muscle function.
If this is the food stream that is continually applied to the intestinal surface membranes, day
after day, month after month, throughout childhood, the membranes will adapt appropriately: