Science meets sensuality in this penetrating examination of veganism, its scant history, dazzling health claims, fiery proponents, and growing throngs of disillusioned drop-outs. If you’ve ever wondered whether a plants-only diet is right for you, your son, daughter or significant other, Vegan Betrayal answers all your questions.

Weaving intimate storytelling with cutting-edge nutrition research, this coming-of-age journey veers passionately from youthful idealism to intense questioning to mature acceptance of our genetic dictates and the earth’s sacred but unforgiving biological truths. Travel the wisdom roads of the Buddha, female bow hunters, and salt-of-the-earth family farmers in this candid, comic, fierce but always honest look at our dietary choices and the rightful individuality of your chosen way.

In this book you will learn:

—Why some thrive and some take a dive on this non-historical, minimally researched diet

—The author’s concept of reverse speciesism: favoring another species well-being over your own and other humans

—All the important carninutrients found exclusively in animal-sourced food (there are a lot of them)

—Why lab-concocted supplements and synthetics can never replace real, whole foods

—How to find out if you are a high-protein or high-carb metabolic type (or something in between)

—Why daily protein recommendations have been substantially increased by nutrition experts

—The Ayurvedic body type that suffers most as a vegan, and which type best tolerates this restricted diet

—The dark side of soy: why an excess is harmful, while eating a large variety of species, both plant and animal, is the road to good health

—The 2.5 million-year anthropological record of human omnivores vs. the extremely brief history of veganism, who invented it, where and why

—Why the ethical argument does not hold up under close examination of modern industrial plant agriculture

—How our youthful idealism is not always grounded in reality