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Comment by kbhn | Hacker News Reader

It's not a popular opinion to share online due to how ingrained food choices are into our lives (memories, communion, celebratory meals, etc), but if this development concerns you I highly recommend exploring a plant-based diet. I've been meat/dairy free for about a year now and it's been one of the best decisions I've ever made.

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> It's not a popular opinion to share online

It is actually one of the most popular lifestyle opinions people share online and in real life, aside from proselytizing things generally recognized as religions, and has been for probably a couple of decades.

Yeahhhh not on HN. People here are very hyped by lab meat and reversing climate change thanks to science and technology, so any change of diet is not necessary. Especially since so many people here are convinced by keto diets, whic relies heavily on animal protein.

I've been leaning heavier on a plant based diet and generally eating lower on the food chain. For me the main advantages are environmental and ethical, both of which should be had with lab meat.

I am a vegetarian, just wanted to share my impressions about HN's reaction to plant based diet suggestions :)

I too am on a whole plant based diet for over a year. I feel like I am 20 again.

ABX-resistant superbugs really has nothing to do with diet.

(Meant to reply to this a couple of days ago, but Yarn on my tablet seems unable.)

Keep in mind that vega/plant based diets are purely political diets. I mean if you want to do them, that's fine, but there's not a huge health aspect.

A lot of studies are showing the largest factor in heart disease and obesity is not fat, but carbohydrates (specifically starches and sugars, not dietary fiber or sugar alcohols).

A lot of people today still think Adkins died of heart disease because of a (later rededicated) Reuters article with bad information (he was old, slipped on a piece of ice and bused his skull). I wonder had the Adkins diet movement not died off, if we'd see a significant reduction in obesity today.

It might be difficult to eat vegan, but it's much more difficult to eat low carb. Look carefully at everything in your pantry.

> I wonder had the Adkins diet movement not died off, if we'd see a significant reduction in obesity today.

Atkins was mostly displaced by other low-carb diet fads, so probably not.

> It might be difficult to eat vegan, but it's much more difficult to eat low carb.

Expensive, because cheap stables tend to be carb-heavy, but not actually all that difficult.

> Keep in mind that vega/plant based diets are purely political diets.

Huh? What about environmental impact and ethical concerns?

What source do you use for your beliefs on what causes heart disease? What you are saying contradicts the CDC.

https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/behavior.htm

Harvard indicates that low carb high fat has protective effects, but not if you get the fat from meat.

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/carbohydrates/l...

There's a lot of information out there, but you can start here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturated_fat_and_cardiovascul...

There is an extensive disinformation campaign going on, largely funded by meat and dairy companies, to confuse people about this. Refined carbohydrates and sugars are not healthy, it’s true. But the idea that saturated fat is safe is not supported by any solid science.

Summarized here: https://www.libertariannews.org/2016/03/07/dr-peter-attia-re...

https://nutritionfacts.org/2015/05/19/low-carb-diets-and-cor...

Since the title of your first source is "Hack, Liar and All Round Disgusting Individual", I'm not inclined to trust it or investigate further.

What else can you call somebody peddling pseudoscience that's horrifically damaging to individuals, animals, and the planet?

You don't call them anything. You address their arguments and methodology. All the axe grinding in that article makes it read like a tabloid, and I don't trust tabloids.

Try this instead then:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/29/well/good-fats-bad-fats.h...

Or this:

https://nutritionfacts.org/video/the-saturated-fat-studies-b...

> Keep in mind that vega/plant based diets are purely political diets. I mean if you want to do them, that's fine, but there's not a huge health aspect.

It's pretty clear you have a bias/agenda considering how easily refutable that statement is [1][2][3][4][5]

1. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/plant-based...

2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3565018/

3. http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PII0140-673...

4. https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/halt-heart-disea...

5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4315380/

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