What's the silliest things you've heard about veganism?

[Liberacion-Igualdad]

Oh, silly things are just so freaking common!

 

The most stupid one, by far, was one I read in another forum.

"People are even saying that a vegan diet causes your brain to shrink! (...) One person even said that the only reason vegetarians and vegans are so is because their brain has shrunk and they can't see how good meat is..."

 

I mean, how stupid is this? Let's leave the 'vegan diets shrink your brain' bit behind for a minute, and let's focus on the last part of the "argument". So, vegans decide to become vegans because their brains has shrunk...which, to begin with, is caused by a vegan diet. Hmm...circular non-reasoning, anyone?

 

There are many other gems out there, but I will post them later.

[djshrew]

Not the craziest thing, but the other day I was wearing my VBBF tank in my dance class. a classmate looked at it was like "vegan bodybuilding, really?" I told her about vegan brothers in Iron and she goes "but aren't they hungry?!?!" I was like well I dance 5 days a week and work out at the gym..I'm not hungry. how stupid, like we don't eat or something.

[pazios2002]

Oh, silly things are just so freaking common!

 

The most stupid one, by far, was one I read in another forum.

"People are even saying that a vegan diet causes your brain to shrink! (...) One person even said that the only reason vegetarians and vegans are so is because their brain has shrunk and they can't see how good meat is..."

 

I mean, how stupid is this? Let's leave the 'vegan diets shrink your brain' bit behind for a minute, and let's focus on the last part of the "argument". So, vegans decide to become vegans because their brains has shrunk...which, to begin with, is caused by a vegan diet. Hmm...circular non-reasoning, anyone?

 

There are many other gems out there, but I will post them later.

 

they may of been loosely referring to this study

 

Yes, soybeans actually do shrink your brain. Journal of the American College of Nutrition Vol. 19, p. 242 (2000): "Brain Aging and Midlife Tofu Consumption"

 

Although I think that the study was shown to have been taiinted by the processing machinery of the tofu in question.

[Liberacion-Igualdad]

Yeah! Here's an article I read about it:

 

Soyfoods and Cognitive Function

 

A study conducted in Hawaii called the Honolulu Heart Study came up with a surprising finding. The study looked at Japanese men residing in Hawaii and aimed to compare diet to risk of dementia. The researchers found that those men who ate tofu most frequently during their mid-40's to mid-60's showed the most signs of mental deterioration in their 70's to early 90's. 11 In this study of over 3000 men, intake of 26 foods, including tofu, was recorded between 1965 and 1967 and again in 1971 to 1974. Cognitive test performance was assessed between 1991 and 1993 and the researchers also looked at brain shrinkage through autopsy data of the men who died during the study. Tofu consumption of just two to four servings per week was associated with poorer test performance and more brain loss. Not only that, but the wives of men who ate tofu also showed more signs of dementia.

 

The study raised lots of questions. For one thing, how could this be when it is known that dementia rates are lower in Asian countries than in western countries and when Japanese lifestyle has actually been associated with better cognition in old age? Many have used this as an argument to show that the Hawaii study results must be wrong. But comparing rates of dementia across cultures doesn't really tell us much in this regard because there are too many differences between the lifestyle in Japan and the lifestyle in Europe and North America. And criteria for diagnosing dementia vary across cultures. To get the real story, we would need to compare frequent tofu consumers in Japan to people in Japan who don't eat tofu. And that study hasn't been done yet.

 

Furthermore, there is a possible biological explanation for the findings. Soybeans contain isoflavones, which are weak estrogens. They fall into the category of estrogen-like compounds known as SERMS--selective estrogen receptor modulators. 12 This means that they have estrogenic effects in some tissues and anti-estrogenic effects in others. Estrogen may have a positive effect on brain tissue but the researchers of the Hawaii study suggested that isoflavones may have antiestrogenic effects on the brain. Of course, we can't know this from the Hawaii study. This was an epidemiological study, so it doesn't show cause and effect. It merely shows that two things occur together. Since the researchers measured intake of only 27 foods and were not able to control for every single lifestyle factor, it is possible that tofu consumption is a marker for some other factor that affects cognitive function. This would make tofu an innocent bystander. Results of other studies suggest this is true.

 

Results of three clinical studies, only one of which has thus far been published in full manuscript form, suggest soy and isoflavones have beneficial effects on cognition.In the published study, young adult men and women who consumed a high soy diet for 10 weeks experienced significant improvements in short-term and long-term memory and in mental flexibility. 13 The other two studies which have been presented at scientific meetings, found that isoflavone supplements, when taken by postmenopausal women, improve cognitive function.Even with these findings, we really have very little information on how soyfoods consumption might affect cognitive function. It's important to note though that studies of Seventh-day Adventists, many of whom have consumed soyfoods all of their lives, suggest that this group experiences less dementia in old age than the general population. 14 This may reflect an overall healthier lifestyle or higher education (which is linked to better cognitive function in old age). We simply don't know.

 

We do know that there are ways to protect cognitive function as we age. Eating a diet high in antioxidants (which means a plant-based diet), engaging in regular exercise, and stimulating the brain through learning and problem-solving activities, all seem to be associated with better cognitive aging. 15-19

 

Conclusion. One study has suggested a link between tofu consumption and poorer cognitive function in old age, but this is an epidemiological study. Therefore it doesn't show cause and effect. It did not look at diet extensively enough to draw firm conclusions. And there are no other studies to support it and three clinical studies suggest soy and isoflavones have beneficial effects on cognition.At this point, there is no reason to believe that eating soyfoods is harmful to brain aging.

 

http://www.veganoutreach.org/health/soysafe.html

 

I maintain my position about the stupidity of the argument, though.

Tofu = Veganism? Brain shrinking caused by veganism is the reason why one goes vegan?