Once an ‘extreme cult diet’, now scientifically proven and globally accepted

By MiNDFOOD

The 75th Venice International Film Festival - Photocall for the film "Vox Lux" competing in the Venezia 75 section - Venice, Italy, September 4, 2018 - Actor Natalie Portman. REUTERS/Tony Gentile - RC15F8E599D0
The 75th Venice International Film Festival - Photocall for the film "Vox Lux" competing in the Venezia 75 section - Venice, Italy, September 4, 2018 - Actor Natalie Portman. REUTERS/Tony Gentile - RC15F8E599D0

What does Paul McCartney, Natalie Portman and Kristen Bell have in common – their vegetarianism. October is World Vegetarian Month, so what better time to reflect on the societal change towards health, the environment and animal rights this ‘movement’ has had.

Step back in time to 1979 and you’ll find vegetarianism described in the NZ Herald as an “extreme cult diet” and “food faddism”. Doctors quoted from the British Medical Journal declared “zealous adherents of an extreme faddist diet… may be mentally ill.”

By 1984 there was progress: “Vegetarians no longer ‘unusual’” headlined the NZ Herald. “Regarded as oddities 40 years ago, vegetarians are increasingly being accepted in New Zealand society.”

No longer just accepted but embraced, today vegetarianism is seen as a kinder, healthier, more sustainable lifestyle. It’s considered by many to be the answer to the global warming and water shortage crises threatening the world today. Veganism is experiencing unprecedented growth and popularity, with athletes and celebrities joining the lifestyle.

The face of vegetarianism has changed dramatically over the last century.

A “meatless meal” offered to “such people” back in the 1970s would often be a ham omelette. Today almost all restaurants have vegetarian, and often vegan, items on the general menu and fully vegetarian restaurants and fast food outlets are popping up everywhere.

An article titled “No longer a diet just for rabbits” in a 1979 NZ Women’s Weekly wrote that vegetarians claimed, “Illnesses such as gout, heart disease and bowel cancers have been linked to a meat diet. They also have reduced body odour…There is lack of scientific evidence for these claims.”

Forty years on it is widely recognised that a plant-based diet significantly reduces the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and some cancers, particularly bowel cancer.

With the World Health Organization announcing that processed red meat is carcinogenic (cancer forming) and red meat probably is too, and the American Dietetic Association stating that well-planned vegetarian and vegan diets are appropriate for individuals during all life stages, there’s substantial evidence that a plant-based diet is a healthy choice. And it’s clearly better for the animals too.

Greater knowledge, growing variety of food products and our multi-cultural cuisine means a plant-based diet is simple, economical and delicious. 

Long-time vegetarian of over 20 years, Natalie Portman has previously said, “Perhaps others disagree with me that animals have personalities, but the highly documented torture of animals is unacceptable,” she said in her blog on The Huffington Post.

Actress Kristen Bell has been a vegetarian for more than 15 years, citing before the switch she never enjoyed eating meat, even as a child.

“I had a lot of quirks as a child. One was that I didn’t like to eat meat: I didn’t like to chew it, didn’t like the taste or smell of it, and just wasn’t having any of it,” Bell has previously said.

With so many delicious recipes on offer, including these, our favorite Vegetarian recipes, who wouldn’t want to try a vegetable-based diet.

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