A Physician Makes the Case for a Plant-Based Diet

This is a brilliant talk by Dr. Milton R. Mills, M.D., who makes one of the most convincing series of arguments I've ever heard that human beings are naturally herbivores, not omnivores. It is almost impossible to walk away from this incredibly informative speech without agreeing 100% that human beings were meant to consume a plant-based diet. Mills, a doctor from Virginia, Stanford University-trained and a member of the advisory board to the wonderful Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (which promotes alternatives to animal testing and advocates a vegan diet).

Dr. Milton R. Mills

One of the many omnivore arguments that Mills destroys is the notion that other animals feed on animals, therefore human beings ought to be able to do the same. He does this by showing that human beings simply aren't built like carnivores. We don't run through the forests chasing down wildebeests and wild boars, ripping our prey open with our mouths and tearing at their flesh as they buck madly. Well, maybe some of us do. But it isn't natural.

Mills very capably demonstrates the many ways in which human beings are really physically plant eaters. If you're interested in reading about his ideas online, the website Vegsource.com has published an excellent essay by Mills that covers much of the same ground as his speech. Mills makes extremely persuasive arguments that I do not hear often coming from defenders of the plant-based diet. We need more advocates like him to help us understand where human beings, as a species, went wrong, and how we might get back to doing things the right way.

A Superb Speech by Gary Francione - in two parts...

This is a superb speech by Dr. Gary Francione, delivered in July 2011 at the JAINA convention in Houston.

I've said it before numerous times on this Blog, but I'll say it again: Francione is a brilliant thinker and writer, and he has had a huge influence on my worldview. Please take some time to watch this speech (in two parts, both here) and please consider, very carefully, his words.

In this speech, Francione links dairy to meat and shows how the two are tied closely together. He goes into some of his own personal history, which is fascinating, then does a brilliant job of spreading out into a big picture view of the issues.

Luckily, these videos aren't gory. But they will make you think. Francione continues to have a huge impact on my way of looking at the world. Sometime, I intend to thank him in person for helping me to see the light.

Until then, I'll continue to get a lot out of his fantastic talks.

Part One:

Part Two: