Mara Kahn, author of "Vegan Betrayal: Love, Lies, and Hunger in a Plants-Only World," delves deep into the history and science of veganism, revealing many oft-ignored facts about this strictly plant-based diet.

She’s put together a compelling story, covering her personal journey from being a vegan and vegetarian to exploring diet and health and finding out the truth behind the hype. It’s really the best book I’ve ever read on this topic, as it covers the vegan issues in their entirety.

"Even though my book is titled 'Vegan Betrayal,' I do respect vegans and what they’re trying to do. My own journey led me back to vegetarianism. I know that many … vegetarians that became vegans … are suffering from diminished strength and faltering health.

I think this is a topic which has been swept under the rug and it’s not being openly discussed in the vegan community. I think it’s very important that we start this discussion. I hope this book will help kick-start that really important dialogue,” Kahn says.

Veganism Has No Historical Support for Its Health Claims

While I would never argue with anyone who decides to be a vegan for philosophical, spiritual or ethical reasons, I believe it's important to consider and address the risks if you're jumping into veganism for its purported health benefits alone.

Surveys show ethical considerations are the primary reason people convert to vegetarianism or veganism. But as Kahn reveals in her book, veganism is not the only ethical diet. She also presents compelling arguments that it's not a historically validated diet.

Kahn became a vegetarian at age 19, while traveling in Europe. She became an overnight convert after meeting a young vegan woman who Kahn refers to as “a beautiful specimen of humanity” and “extremely healthy” — not realizing this same woman would return to eating meat just five years later due to fading energy.

Up to that time, Kahn had eaten a very meat-based American-style diet, including bacon and hamburgers. At that time, in the 1970s, veganism was largely unheard of. It didn't get a strong hold in the U.S. until the 1980s.

Interestingly enough, Kahn’s investigation reveals there doesn’t appear to be a single cultural group in the history of the world who actually survived long-term on an exclusively plant-based diet. So from a health perspective, there’s very little historical support for the strict veganism idealized today.

"I did a thorough research of the history of vegetarianism. In fact, I spent almost six years researching this book. I'm a journalist … I love to dig deep," Kahn says.

"At this point, it's really important that we distinguish between vegetarianism and veganism. Vegetarianism has a very long and honorable history. It goes back at least 2,500 years to Greece, and much further than that in the Indus Valley, India and that part of the world.

It has proven itself to be a viable diet … [Yet even] in the Northern parts of India, the Kashmir regions, they eat meat because the climate is so different in the mountainous regions of North India.

Vegetarianism has a very long and noble history with verified health results. However, veganism … is a non-historical diet … Its health benefits are not verified.

There were scattered enclaves of religious people that lived cloistered lives who probably did follow a vegan diet … but these were very, very tiny populations, and we have no idea if they were healthy and how long they lived.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVKRHiaLQS8