> As retrospective studies go, it's not bad. But retrospective studies have a well-deserved and terrible reputation for confusing causes and effects. So do the

> As retrospective studies go, it's not bad. But retrospective studies have a well-deserved and terrible reputation for confusing causes and effects. So do the double-blind studies you appear to be advocating. Ever thought of what exactly the placebo effect is and what some causes might be ? > Apart from your obviously false claim, The "medical establishment" are not scientists and are not competent to make that call. They are not researchers, they are practitioners of methods developed by others. The medical establishment are people who treat the sick, mostly. They observe that they regularly have people who come in with nutritional deficiencies because they are vegetarians and didn't follow the diets properly. One look at such a diet tells you exactly why this happens. Second is that you observe that vegetarianism and eating disorders go hand in hand. You know what contains every single substance your body needs on a daily basis, all vitamins, minerals, calcium, you name it and will prevent nearly every food disorder, and it's hypo-allergenic (meaning perfectly safe for very nearly every patient you have) ? A 150gr steak. The only thing it doesn't have is sufficient calories, so you should also have something starchy with it. (And to be pedantic, it's the fatty tissue in the steak that's the main source of it's good properties. And yes, we're talking a rare to medium steak here) You know what vegetarian food contains every single substance your body needs on a daily basis ... None. What should a vegetarian eat daily ? * Nuts * Beans * Spinach or soy (or tofu, even if that's less ideal) * Sunlight (yes, really), or Vitamin D supplements * Vitamin B12 supplements Needless to say, this list is very much not hypo-allergenic, there is a significant fraction of the population (not that many, granted, but you have to check) that will swell up and start convulsing if you feed this to them. There are obviously other vegetarian diets, but they have similar problems. True, missing one of these for a day is very much unlikely to kill you, but prolonged shortages will. Also keep in mind that you should never raise a kid vegetarian, because that is much riskier than being vegetarian as adults. There have been cases of kids dying because of vegan diets. What I find extremely convenient is the physical symptoms of low-level protein deficiency. First : it's really, really bad for you. But the initial symptoms are sleeping more, weight loss and tissue loss (ie. not just fatty tissue). That's imho why people do this : because it slims you down. Incidentally, the one thing that is confirmed to slim you down by removing fatty tissue is cold. And if you don't overdo it (e.g. go swimming in a 24 degree water pool) it is quite safe. It's not about feeling cold, merely about increasing your body's heat loss. [1] http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/pdf/8373.pdf http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/pdf/8373.pdf