Added the following two bits to "Issues in Vegetarian Diets" by Vexen Crabtree:

Vitamin A:

Vitamin A (retinol) is found in animal liver (in abundance), cheese, eggs, oily fish (such as mackerel), milk, fortified margarine and yoghurt7. It only comes from animal sources. There is a chemical similar to vitamin A, called beta-carotene "a substance that the body can convert into vitamin A"[Byrnes 2000]. Dr Byrnes also notes that this conversion, however, only takes place efficiently when animal fats are present. Otherwise the amount coverted into vitamin A is very small. We can't convert all our beta-carotene into vitamin A though, because beta-carotene is itself an important part of our diet and in addition. Some people cannot do it at all. "Infants and people with hypothyroidism, gall bladder problems or diabetes (altogether, a significant portion of the population) either cannot make the conversion, or do so very poorly".

Iron:

“Iron deficiency, which causes tiredness, is the world's most common nutritional problem. In the UK around 20% of women are anaemic. Iron is the least plentiful nutrient in the typical British diet. It can come from plant sources (inorganic iron) or from animal tissues (haem iron). Haem iron is absorbed around five times more efficiently than inorganic iron - this is why eating red meat is recommended for preventing anaemia. Lead researcher Dr Andrew McKie said: "Currently pregnant women suffering from anaemia are given supplements of inorganic iron, but these are poorly absorbed and poorly tolerated.”
BBC News, 2005 Sep 10

It is dangerous for women to remain on a vegetarian diet during pregnancy. Not only is substitute iron less efficient, but some people cannot tolerate it at all. If a woman's baby is intolerant to inorganic iron, a vegetarian diet can be fatal for the baby and harm the mother more than normal as her iron requirements are much higher and only iron obtained typically from red meats is adequate and efficient for her.

Tags: diets, health, iron, tiredness, vegetarianism, vitamin a
Current Location: Germany
Listening To: "Jetzt ist es still" by E Nominé

Added 5.2. Vitamin D Deficiency and Vegetarianism:

Rickets is a childhood deficiency of vitamin D, which is called osteomalacia in adults. It causes bone weakness (causing fractures), bone pains and can cause muscle weakness and joint inflamation.

It is widely thought that sunlight on our skin provides us with a mechanism to produce vitamin D but this is largely untrue; you have to be outdoors every day at the right time, in order to achieve this, and in northern climates the required wavelengths of light are simply absent for four months at winter. Most vitamin D is, and always will be, sourced from our diets. In particular, vitamin D comes from animal fat and fish. Some plants contain a form of vitamin D denoted D2 (ergocalciferol) but this is not utilized very well in animals.

“Rickets and/or low vitamin D levels has been well-documented in many vegetarians and vegans (26), since animal fats are either lacking or deficient in vegetarian diets (as well as those of the general Western public who routinely try to cut their animal fat intake), since sunlight is only a source of vitamin D at certain times and at certain latitudes, and since current dietary recommendations for vitamin D are too low, this emphasizes the need to have reliable and abundant sources of this nutrient in our daily diets. Good sources include cod liver oil, lard from pigs that were exposed to sunlight, shrimp, wild salmon, sardines, butter, full-fat dairy products, and eggs from properly fed chickens.”

Dr Stephen Byrnes, 2000
Reference 26 is duplicated at the end of this page.

Tags: diet, food, health, sunlight, vegetarianism, vitamin d
Current Location: Germany
Listening To: "This Corrosion" by Sisters of Mercy

Many people are abhorred by some of the modern and inhumane methods by which animals are farmed and the conditions that they're subject to. It is honourable to wish to reduce the suffering of animals. It is good to insist that animals are farmed in ethical and compassionate ways. However, I think it is far better to support humane animal farming by buying meat produced by humane methods, rather than avoiding meat altogether. The massive meat industry is not affected by such passive vegetarian non-consumption protests. But if market forces dictate that ethical production methods sell better, the meat industry does listen. If you are morally concerned about the welfare of animals, as you should be, it is better to buy meat farmed ethically than it is to shun meat altogether, because that makes the entire market swing towards ethical methods and has a bigger impact than resorting to (self-harming) vegetarian protest.

The Economist magazine's special report (2006) explained that buying meat from those conforming to ethical standards is more effective at changing the industry than simply abstaining from meat altogether - "consumption, rather than non-consumption" is "far more likely to produce results" according to Ian Bretman of Fairtrade Labelling Organisation (FLO) International, the Fairtrade umbrella group.

Added to: "Vegetarianism: Consumer Activism and Economics" by Vexen Crabtree.

Tags: activism, animal rights, diet, fairtrade, food, food industry, health, ian bretman, vegetarianism
Current Location: Germany
Current Mood: busy
Listening To: "A am the light" by Kirlian Camera

Launched: "The Dangers and Purposes of Vegetarian Diets" by Vexen Crabtree

Updates:

• 2006 Dec: Launched "Vegetarianism: Consumer Activism and Economics".

• 2006 Dec: Launched "Vegetarianism: Vitamin D Deficiency.</p>

Tags: activism, animal rights, animal welfare, carnivore, diets, fish, food, food industry, health, herbivore, omnivore, vegetarianism
Current Location: Germany