4 ms·

This research is pretty laughable. Made by one university, 3 locations - ages/demographics are not represented properly at all, the cultural environment is the

This research is pretty laughable. Made by one university, 3 locations - ages/demographics are not represented properly at all, the cultural environment is the same (one university). The ratio of veg doubled (0.25 to 0.5) while the ratio of meat fell 33 % (0.75 to 0.5). Also it doesnt at all mention the in volume of the eaters: What if the people who predominantly eat meat simply stopped going to the cafeterias as often since the food choice became less interesting ? They also say the sales rose 40%-80% - why is the range so big (and is it even reliable then)?

loceng 7y ago
Most food related research is this terribly done - and of course the research that supports strong ideologies with a growing follower base reach the top.
- KitDuncan 7y ago
  The livestock industry invests billions of dollars into heavily biased studies and lately I feel like you hear a lot more about health benefits of Keto than Veganism... I think in general there is a lot less profit to be made with Veganism, it would surprise me if there was a stronger propaganda campaign then the one from the livestock industry.
  - loceng 7y ago
    If you can cite actual evidence to backup anything you've said then sure, I'd consider it more in my own arguments. Ketogenic diet has very noticeable health benefits and where you won't easily be nutrient deficient. Veganism in contrast you hear stories regularly that over time some people develop health issues - is it because of the diet or something else underlying - we don't know, no one's studied it properly. The growing counterpoint to veganism - a lot of which are people doing it for ideological reasons - from my observation is to counter the growing hate and intolerance against people who eat animals. Hunting and eating animals is a natural part of our evolution and to deny that is denying evolution; only psychopaths don't care about causing unnecessary suffering, everyone else would rather abolish factory farming where abuse is ripe and extreme. The carnivore diet is starting to trend, animal-only diet, and badly done research painting meat in a bad light is being debunked. The place where there's no profit to be made, regarding rapid, healthy weight loss - which is water fasting; there's no profit motive to promote water fasting in the mainstream. Otherwise if there is profit to be made, and bad actors involved, then there will be propaganda being generated - and it will be the crowd who spread the content they produce, that content which doesn't cost a lot to produce - and is free to distribute especially when you design the results, the writing, to align with beliefs of members of a group.
damq 7y ago
Almost all studies about vegetarianism are born of an agenda to promote vegetarianism. To a meat eater, studying the effects of eating an all vegetable diet is the same as studying the effects of walking backwards everywhere you go: it's not something we'd ever consider doing so we see no value in studying the effects of doing it. Furthermore, meat eaters do not care if other people don't want to eat meat. As such, most of the people conducting studies about vegetarianism are people who think eating meat is immoral. Their motivation to conduct the study is to stop other people from eating meat.
- nefitty 7y ago
  What blocks you from even considering the option? It's a little strange to see a comment so boastful of a lack of intellectual curiosity on HN.
  - justsubmit 7y ago
    > What blocks you from even considering the option? Human biology, perhaps? After all, haven't we evolved over thousands of years to be omnivores? > It's a little strange to see a comment so boastful of a lack of intellectual curiosity on HN. In other words, according to you, people who aren't interested in being vegetarian lack intellectual curiosity. It's a little strange to see a comment so boastful of intellectual intolerance on HN...
    - nefitty 7y ago
      It's not necessarily the lack of interest, but instead the absolute choice to not consider it at all. In terms of biology plenty of humans thrive on vegan and vegetarian diets.
      - distant_hat 7y ago
        I know plenty of vegetarians and a few vegans. While vegetarians do relative okay especially if they eat eggs, the vegans are forever talking about supplements and are fatigued and look like 60 by the time they are in their 40s.

loceng 7y ago

Most food related research is this terribly done - and of course the research that supports strong ideologies with a growing follower base reach the top.

KitDuncan 7y ago
The livestock industry invests billions of dollars into heavily biased studies and lately I feel like you hear a lot more about health benefits of Keto than Veganism... I think in general there is a lot less profit to be made with Veganism, it would surprise me if there was a stronger propaganda campaign then the one from the livestock industry.
- loceng 7y ago
  If you can cite actual evidence to backup anything you've said then sure, I'd consider it more in my own arguments. Ketogenic diet has very noticeable health benefits and where you won't easily be nutrient deficient. Veganism in contrast you hear stories regularly that over time some people develop health issues - is it because of the diet or something else underlying - we don't know, no one's studied it properly. The growing counterpoint to veganism - a lot of which are people doing it for ideological reasons - from my observation is to counter the growing hate and intolerance against people who eat animals. Hunting and eating animals is a natural part of our evolution and to deny that is denying evolution; only psychopaths don't care about causing unnecessary suffering, everyone else would rather abolish factory farming where abuse is ripe and extreme. The carnivore diet is starting to trend, animal-only diet, and badly done research painting meat in a bad light is being debunked. The place where there's no profit to be made, regarding rapid, healthy weight loss - which is water fasting; there's no profit motive to promote water fasting in the mainstream. Otherwise if there is profit to be made, and bad actors involved, then there will be propaganda being generated - and it will be the crowd who spread the content they produce, that content which doesn't cost a lot to produce - and is free to distribute especially when you design the results, the writing, to align with beliefs of members of a group.

damq 7y ago

Almost all studies about vegetarianism are born of an agenda to promote vegetarianism. To a meat eater, studying the effects of eating an all vegetable diet is the same as studying the effects of walking backwards everywhere you go: it's not something we'd ever consider doing so we see no value in studying the effects of doing it. Furthermore, meat eaters do not care if other people don't want to eat meat. As such, most of the people conducting studies about vegetarianism are people who think eating meat is immoral. Their motivation to conduct the study is to stop other people from eating meat.

nefitty 7y ago
What blocks you from even considering the option? It's a little strange to see a comment so boastful of a lack of intellectual curiosity on HN.
- justsubmit 7y ago
  > What blocks you from even considering the option? Human biology, perhaps? After all, haven't we evolved over thousands of years to be omnivores? > It's a little strange to see a comment so boastful of a lack of intellectual curiosity on HN. In other words, according to you, people who aren't interested in being vegetarian lack intellectual curiosity. It's a little strange to see a comment so boastful of intellectual intolerance on HN...
  - nefitty 7y ago
    It's not necessarily the lack of interest, but instead the absolute choice to not consider it at all. In terms of biology plenty of humans thrive on vegan and vegetarian diets.
    - distant_hat 7y ago
      I know plenty of vegetarians and a few vegans. While vegetarians do relative okay especially if they eat eggs, the vegans are forever talking about supplements and are fatigued and look like 60 by the time they are in their 40s.