I think that there is a pattern here. If you read the book "Merchants of Doubt" see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchants_of_Doubt you will see how for 60 years industry sponsored "think tanks" have challenged mainstream science on everything from the hazards of tobacco smoke, to acid rain, to DDT, to the ozone hole to climate change.

This meticulously researched book, which some have suggested is the top science book of 2010, shows that the industry strategy has always been the same, invent or distort facts to create a contrarian position, then denigrate respectable mainstream scientists as militant extremists or worse.

You cannot argue science with these people as the arguments really centre on propaganda, not science at all. The key issue is not science but dollars, and there is always a good supply of convenient "facts" available to support the contrarian arguments.

If high fat meat based diets were really superior from a health standpoint, then this would be obvious from large epidemiologic studies. In reality, the oppostite is true. This does not deter the industry sponsored think tanks from pushing their viewpoints.

So far, I have read nothing in the plant-food world about chronic kidney disease. It's almost as if the subject is avoided. What is your advice about this?

ArchiesBoy- here is some info on kidney disease and plant based diets: http://nutritionfacts.org/video/treating-kidney-failure-through-diet/