Resposta de Lindsay Allen

Leia em português

Due to a large amount of mail I don't have time to answer you with a long letter. Yes, I am coming from 25 years of working with populations in which micronutrient deficiencies are widespread because there are insufficient animal source foods in the diet, and mothers and children
suffer major problems as a result. Nobody working in international nutrition would disagree with this - the problem is mainly poor food quality, not quantity - and if the latter is true, the former will be as well.

However, I agree the link with our Africa study was not strong and we would much rather have talked about that study except that the reporter's interest was about vegans as they are more newsworthy apparently (but not in my mind for sure!). The point of doing the African study is that I for one am fed up with the "let them take pills to get micronutrients" attitude that for one reason or another (well intentioned of course) has characterized the interventions in these populations for the past 20 years. I have done many of those interventions myself.

The news reporter "hyped" my concern about vegan diets for pregnant/lactating mothers and infants/children by not adding the sentence I was emphatic they keep in, namely that vegan diets were unethical UNLESS those who practiced them were well-informed about how
to add back the missing nutrients through supplements or fortified foods (which people in Africa unfortunately don't have).

I completely agree that it is possible to add back those missing nutrients and myself have stated this in a position paper on nutrition in pregnancy for the American Dietetic Association.

I also agree that well-managed vegan diets, plus supplements plus fortified foods to get those missing nutrients, are probably healthier for adults and even many children than the average US or UK diet.

The most alarming part of this experience has been the amazing amount of misinformation that vegans have imparted to me in response to my (definitely misinterpreted and hyped) comments. I hope this issue gets STUDIED responsibly so we can all be reassured.


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