Healthy diet doesn't need to include meat

I found David Martosko's Jan 19 letter very amusing. He seems to imply all teenage vegetarians have made their choice because of pressures by animal rights activists and they are suffering.

Dr. T. Colin Campbell and author of the China study, was raised on a Virginia farm and in a culture that ignorantly concluded that meat and potatoes were necessary at every meal for proper nutrition. When he first starting seeing studies to the contrary, he wrote them off assuming data was either incorrect or mistakenly reversed. He eventually conducted his own studies, one in China where people have common genetics, came to the same conclusions, and is now a vegan. The rural people on plant-based diets were healthier than the more affluent people in cities that had western diets high in animal fats and protein. He has many studies that show the incidence of almost all the diseases go up with increased meat consumption.

Members of federal nutrition panels, who set hospital and school menus, accept gifts from organizations such as the Cattlemens Beef Association and other lobbyist organizations. After reading his book 18 months ago and becoming primarily vegan, my cholesterol is 30 points lower, I'm 10 pounds lighter, my PSA count has reduced from 3.5 to 1, and have never felt better.

In John Robbins' book The Food Revolution, he points out that not eating beef is the biggest dietary change one can make to reduce pollution. So not only can a vegetarian keep PETA happy, but they can reduce pollution and be healthier - not many downsides.

Mike Haase

Mount Prospect