Benjamin, I am so glad you are sharing your story. You will inspire and teach many others. Great blog.

Awesome analogy with smoking, probably one of the few lifestyle factors where doctors tell it like it is. Despite the fact that animal foods are a lot less addicting than tobacco, physicians will try to help patients stop smoking long before they will guide them to meaningful changes in diet.

Would you take Ancel Keys seriously, simply because he was a Scientist? What about his flawed Lipid Hypothesis?

All people -- Scientists, Doctors, English Majors -- are fallible. The person of value and integrity is the one that can say "In light of this new data, I can see that my previous position was wrong."

People all over the world thrive on a variety of diets. Stop placing people on a pedestal and claiming their way is the "only" or the "right" way.

A fact is only a fact until it's proven wrong.

So many things over the last 50 years (especially) have been proven wrong. Yet, we keep the misinformation alive in the collective psyche by continuing to regurgitate it without actually doing our own research.

Example: "Everyone KNOWS that saturated fat causes heart disease!" Right? WRONG!

I'm not trying to convince anyone to eat meat, not eat meat, or debate anyone about the ethics of eating animals. That's none of my business.

What I AM suggesting, however, is to become TRULY informed, before rendering a life-altering decision about what you put into your body. Then, living with the consequences of your decision.

This means going beyond the headlines of CNN and Yahoo. It also means going into the opposition's camp with an inquisitive mind and a desire to find what's true for you -- not simply for the sake of being "right."

In closing, no matter what path people follow, I hope they do it with enough information from ALL sides. Then, they become responsible for their own health, rather than abdicating it to others. When we get so entrenched in a position, we become more concerned about being "right" than being "correct." I wish for everyone to thrive.

I cannot believe this is true neither. Fun though to see how tough the discussion has got (: to be ostheopath or not to be (:

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