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“Vegetarians Found to Have More Cancer, Allergies, and Mental Health Disorders.” That’s the alarming headline from a website called Science 2.0 (which also declares vegetarianism to be a “fad diet.”)

They are referring to new research in Austrian vegetarians published in the journal PLoS One. The study compared self-reported health among 1,320 subjects who were divided into groups according to the type of diet they consumed. Although the media jumped all over it, there has been plenty of more thoughtful discussion among nutrition experts […]

I’ve eaten a lot of truly exceptional vegan meals in my life. But I have absolutely no trouble recalling the single best meal I ever had (truly the single best one!). Prepared in an ancient restaurant in a little town on the island of Sicily, it was a big bowl of chickpeas that had simmered on an open hearth in a sauce of tomatoes, garlic, herbs and olive oil. The beans were served along with an impossibly delicious home baked bread, the world’s freshest salad, and a tumbler of Chianti.

The […]

2 carrots provide all the vitamin A you need for one day.

A number of readers have asked if I’d respond to the article Why You Should Think Twice About Vegetarian and Vegan Diets, by Chris Kresser. Kresser is a licensed acupuncturist who writes frequently about diet. And since I would never go around poking needles into people, I wish he would return the favor and stop giving advice about nutrition.

Kresser promotes a semi-Paleo eating pattern so it’s no surprise that he’s not a fan of vegetarian […]

With the exception of some raw foods vegans, almost all of the vegans I know eat grains. If any of the fear mongering around these foods has any basis, it’s a wonder we’re all still alive and that many of us are thriving.

At the center of the anti-grain campaign is Dr. William Davis, author of the mega-bestseller Wheat Belly. Davis doesn’t like carbs in general and specifically doesn’t like grains. But what he really doesn’t like is wheat. Weight gain, heart disease, acne, and that fuzzy-brained feeling you get after […]

If you subscribe by email to this blog, you may have received a post about calcium and protein and bone health last week. I’m not sure why since that post was published last August. But it worked out to be okay that it popped up out of nowhere. It’s actually a reasonable segue to this post, which is a follow-up to my recent article about my diet.

In talking about my own eating habits, I noted that I tend to favor legumes over grains. A number of […]

I had the pleasure of being interviewed by The Laziest Vegans in the World about my favorite convenience foods this week. This fun website is “a tribute to vegan pre-packaged food.” I’m glad that these foods exist, especially for those who are reluctant to try veganism because they think it’s too hard or that there are no options for treats. And some of these packaged foods are actually healthy.

But, I don’t eat a whole lot of convenience foods myself and my choices in the interview […]

Soy Isoflavones Are Not the Same as Estrogen

The title for this post has a lot of stuff packed into it, but I wanted to share some articles I’ve been writing elsewhere about plant foods and health.

Mostly, I’ve got beans on the brain these days. I gave a presentation on beans and health at last year’s Sixth International Congress on Vegetarian Nutrition and am currently writing an article based on that talk that will hopefully be published next year in the American Journal of […]

Back in June of last year, I shared news about my upcoming book Never Too Late to Go Vegan. I’m happy and excited to announce that the book is finished and shipping from booksellers in the next few weeks.

My co-authors are Patti Breitman, a former literary agent and current vegan activist and educator, and Carol Adams, who you probably know from her groundbreaking work The Sexual Politics of Meat. Patti and Carol invited me to write this book with them and I’m so grateful to them […]