Katie Demetriades Assignment 16: Speech

          Disease. How can a two syllable word ruin so many lives? We donate thousands, if not millions, of dollars every year to researchers in the hopes of finding the cure. And thanks to this research, illnesses that raged through the body fifty years ago are now treatable. Yet families are still left with devastation when they find out a loved one has an incurable disease. Yet some patients tremble as they consider their treatment routes, knowing that physically they will never be the same. Yet doctors say these are their best options. But what if a complete change in diet prevented and cured these major diseases? Some research says this theory is our reality. By switching to a “whole food, plant-based diet,” popularly known as veganism, the sick and dying have a second chance at life. A vegan diet has shown to help, if not cure, patients suffering from obesity, diabetes, and some types of cancer. This can all be done without experiencing the struggles associated with regular dieting.

          Now I know we all have at least heard of the horrors of dieting. Counting calories. Limiting how much we put on our plates. Actually reading the food labels. Taking up some sort of physical activity, like running. It makes most Americans feel like they’re trapped in a bubble rather than living. Yet those who need to live longer are the ones forced into these diets, like those who are obese. But it only takes one change to make all those complicated steps disappear, and it was demonstrated in a study published in the September 2005 edition of the American Journal of Medicine (Good Medicine 6). The experiment consisted of two groups of nearly obese women who were put on two separate diets. The experimental group went on a low fat vegan diet while the control group went on a low fat regular diet. After 14 weeks on the diet, without additional exercise regimens, scientists calculated that the experimental group lost an average of one pound per week while the control group only lost half a pound per week (Good Medicine 7). This means a vegan diet allows for twice the weight loss in the same amount of time. Even with these kind of results, opponents of veganism don’t believe these patients are becoming healthier. Their main argument is against a vegan’s lack of essential vitamins, such as the B12 vitamin, that are only found in animal products. So they have to start taking protein supplements, right? Wrong. A vegan diet provides more than enough protein. Plants and legumes contain an array of amino acids, which make up proteins found in our bodies (Forks over Knives). Vegans have the ability to get their protein naturally without adding high calorie and fatty meat into their diet. And when you suffer from obesity, the less calories and fat, the better. So the health benefits necessary to solve obesity are found in a vegan diet alone.

          The same benefits an obese person experiences with a vegan diet apply to a diabetic. Although the two diseases have similar causes, they have much different effects and treatments. While the usual treatment options for obesity are diet and exercise, diabetes takes a much more extensive process to treat, and their side effects last a lifetime. Even though you can live with diabetes, it’s not easy. Diabetics must also face the distresses of dieting as they cope with their disease. But veganism has shown to drastically improve the conditions of diabetics without additional exercise. In the same PCMR study, the subjects were asked to take a glucose tolerance test (Good Medicine 7). After swallowing a syrup that contains glucose, subjects had to take blood tests. These tests showed how much their blood sugar rose. Those that followed the vegan diet for an extended period of time had a much smaller spike in their blood sugar compared to before their diet change. Researchers said the reason for this “was an improvement in insulin sensitivity that caused their cells to be able to pull glucose out of the bloodstream much more quickly” (Good Medicine 7). This of course comes as a huge benefit to diabetics, as diabetes is an illness centered on insulin deficiency. The whole purpose of diabetic treatment is to keep blood sugar down, and a vegan diet does this without any extras, including costly medicines and exercising.

          Even so, as serious as obesity and diabetes are, they’re not nearly as deadly as cancer. The number of fundraisers raising money for cancer research alone shows that. Not to mention there’s only hundreds of different types of cancers that can affect all age groups. It’s a painful disease that works on each of its victims differently. Learning about treatment options is as painful as getting the diagnosis. Even with all these complications, a vegan diet can still bring so many benefits to cancer patients. In the documentary Forks over Knives, a woman named Ruth Heidrich shared her cancer story and how she was cured without regular cancer treatment. As a dedicated runner, she was devastated when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. To make things worse, it had already spread to her lungs, liver, and some of her bones. Her doctors said it was best if she gave up all her exercising, so she could put all her energy into her treatments. She told herself life wasn’t worth living if she couldn’t do the things she loved, so she went against her doctor’s advice and denied treatment. As she continued to exercise, she enrolled herself in Dr. John McDougall’s vegan breast cancer study, where she was asked to follow a vegan diet. After being on the diet for a few weeks, she felt more energized, had better endurance, slept better, and completely eliminated her arthritis (Forks over Knives). The longer she was on the diet, the better she felt. When she went back to the doctor for scans, they came back cancer free. Minus her newfound love for veganism, her life finally went back to normal. She owes all her success to her change in diet. But how could a simple change in diet eradicate one of the worst diseases known to our society? It’s more about what a vegan diet doesn’t have that a regular diet includes. These differences were displayed in a study conducted by NE Allen that analyzed men with prostate cancer (Mangels 20). Subjects were asked to share their diets with doctors so they could observe what dietary habits potentially lead to prostate cancer. Those who had prostate cancer were more likely to consume dairy products than those who did not have the illness. Researchers concluded that it was not calcium, but a protein found in dairy products that puts men at a greater risk of contracting prostate cancer (Mangels 20). So how can cancer patients still get enough calcium if they shouldn’t consume dairy products? Many plant based foods provide a plethora of calcium along with a healthy dosage of other vitamins and minerals necessary for good health. In fact, most foods found in a vegan diet can easily replace and increase the vitamins you need to stay healthy. And that’s exactly why a vegan diet is strong enough to prevent and cure diseases as complicated as cancer.

          Veganism does a lot more than it is given credit for. Going vegan not only helps those with obesity, diabetes, and cancer, but people suffering from other diseases. It can even make the healthiest of people even healthier. In an interview with PETA, Alicia Silverstone shared her personal experience with veganism after she released a vegan cookbook called The Kind Diet (www.peta.org). Even though she was healthy when she became vegan, she still felt the benefits of the diet each day. She lost a few pounds, she felt more energized, and she noticed her skin was clearing up. Above all, she never felt hungry and really enjoyed the food she was eating. So don’t think the only way a vegan diet will help you is if you’re sick. The very opposite is true. For those that are sick, though, it’s unfortunate that there aren’t enough well known studies out there on this topic. If more studies existed, doctors would replace harsh and draining treatments with a simple diet change. Veganism would be there first pick. And the sick and dying everywhere could look better, feel better, and know their future will be better. Personally, I know the shock associated with the diagnosis of a loved one. I can’t say I have ever experienced anything worse. But their doctors said it was too late for them. And if I have any goals in life, my biggest one is that no one has to hear those words.  I truly believe veganism can reduce the number of times those tragic words escaped the lips of our doctors.