Going Cold Turkey From Meat

Sunday Morning: Austin Firefighters Are Powerful Advocates Of A Vegetarian Diet, But Some Have A Beef About Giving Up Meat

(CBS)  Were you told as a child to "eat your vegetables"? Some kids grow up to disregard that advice. But there are others who take it to heart … and then some. Our Cover Story is reported by Tracy Smith:

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The backyard barbeque … the Thanksgiving turkey … the hot dog in the bleachers … great flocks of chickens, acres of hogs and herds of beef cattle moving across an open range.

Americans love the steak house, the chicken shack, the big burger, and bringing home the bacon.

Americans lead the world in meat consumption. It's an irreplaceable part of our diet … or at least it used to be.

It's dinner time at Engine Company 2 in Austin, Texas. On the menu tonight: enchiladas, Thai curry, meat loaf … a big meal, sure, and not a molecule of meat in any of it.

"It looks like meat!" said Smith.

"I know it does," firefighter Rip Esselstyn said, "but this is made from oats, black beans, celery."

When they're on duty, the firefighters of Engine 2 consume a plant-based diet. They eat nothing, as they say, with a face or a mother … or anything that comes from an animal, like eggs or milk.

And that doesn't mean boring or bland.

"Oooh that's spicy!" Smith said, sampling the fare. "You gotta put out a fire!"

For a crew used to pot roast and fried eggs, the all-veggie meals took some getting used to. Some even wondered if a meat-free diet would leave them too weak to do their jobs.

They needn't have worried, as their exercises demonstrated.

Rip Esselstyn started his buddies down the road to meatless living back in 2003, when one of the guys found out his cholesterol level was dangerously high.

"So did you all kind of make a pact saying, 'We're gonna eat better, we're gonna cut out meat'?" Smith asked.

"We started out with lunches," said Esselstyn. "And then it progressed to lunches and dinners, and breakfasts. And then it was just full bore."

They all lost weight … and saw their cholesterol drop dramatically.

Now, the meals at Engine 2 are mostly meat-free.

Division Chief Dawn Clopton lost 14 pounds. "How much do you miss eating meat?" Smith asked.

"Surprisingly, I thought it'd be the steaks I'd miss," she said. "I want me some fried chicken!"

Matt Moore is fighting his family history.

"I have been known to cheat," he said, "but my dad had quintuple bypass surgery two years ago, and my grandfather had quadruple, so I'm in line. I have the genetics."

Whatever your reason, a vegetarian lifestyle is still unusual: A 2006 Harris poll found fewer than 3 percent of Americans considered themselves vegetarian, but the number is growing.

"I think the image of vegetarians in the 19th and 20th centuries was 'fringe kooks,'" said food historian Andrew F. Smith. "Americans ate meat. We were of English derivation and by gosh, we ate beef and we ate pork and we ate lamb and we ate everything else we could get our hands on.

"I think throughout much of American history this was the case," he said. "It's only in the last 30 years that vegetarianism has come into the mainstream."

Rip Esselstyn himself is a former meat eater and a champion triathlete who says he feels better competing as a vegetarian.

"Every once in a while, I'll get a whiff of barbeque, you know, of a cheeseburger, something like that, and it takes me back. And I'm like, 'Ooh, yeah, that smells good!' But I can leave it at that. I have no problems leaving it right there."

That may have been a very wise move: According to a 2007 study in the New England Journal of Medicine, heart disease actually kills more firefighters than fire itself.

Esselstyn put the station's diet and exercise regimen into a book, appropriately titled "The Engine 2 Diet" (Grand Central Publishing). Besides no meat, it also means little or no dairy, no fats and no oils … no kidding.

"Do you honestly think that every American could eat this way?" Smith.

"I don't think, I know every American could," Esselstyn said. "Now, it's a matter of how do we get them to do that. I think in less than five years, there will be such a stigma attached to eating meat and dairy, that it will be similar to smoking cigarettes today."

"In less than five years? If you want to eat your cheeseburger, go outside?" Smith said.

"You want to go eat a cheeseburger, then you need to go to a special room, where people are eating cheeseburgers," he said. "Wouldn't that be great?"

"As a meat eater, I think not so great," said Nancy Rodriquez (left), a Connecticut nutritionist whose research has been funded by the beef industry.

"I think that if you made a conscious decision to cut out meat, that you run the risk of having a diet that isn't going to be adequate in a number of nutrients," she told Smith. "One of the most important ones is iron, for example, and the fact that the form of iron that you find in eggs or meat or chicken, for example, is more readily absorbed and thought to be a better type of iron that you'll find in vegetables."

Still, Rip Esselstyn is convinced meat does more harm than good, and frequently cites research done by his father, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn.

"The food triangle is laden with foods that are going to guarantee that millions of Americans are going to perish," said Dr. Esselstyn, who's affiliated with the Cleveland Clinic. He says heart disease is practically a given for everyone who eats what Americans like to eat.

"The disease is ubiquitous; everybody has it," he said.

"So you're saying I have it, anyone whose eating the American diet?" Smith asked.

"If you were to suddenly die and you were autopsied, yes, you'd find the disease."

"All of us have it?"

"All of us who are eating the typical Western diet, and that's been proved by study after study," Dr. Esselstyn said, "but you were startled by it, because no one's ever shared that with you. That's not information that we get to the general public."

Dr. Esselstyn's 12-year study found that a low-fat vegetarian diet, combined with medication, gave heart patients lower cholesterol and clearer arteries. Take a look at these angiograms: on the left, a withered, dying artery of someone on a high fat diet; on the right, the same artery - looking good as new - after 32 months on Esselstyn's all-vegetarian program.

But nutritionist Nancy Rodriguez says moderation and weight loss can achieve the very same results.

"Simply losing weight for the majority of individuals is associated with a reduction in cholesterol," she said.

"That's all it takes, is losing weight, not giving up [meat]?" Smith asked.

"For many individuals, but it's not taking out all fat, and it's not taking out all cholesterol. It's actually being very sensible in your approach to how much of those type of food components you include in your diet on a daily basis."

Still, Dr. Esselstyn's research was enough to convince the whole Esselstyn clan to give up meat ... even Ann Crile Esselstyn, Rip's mom.

The family eats kale … a lot of kale. She called it "spinach with heft."

Dr. Esselstyn (left) said, "the answer to disease is not more health care. The answer to disease that we can control is to eliminate it. Show the people how to eliminate it, and the giant step toward eliminating disease is lifestyle change. And the giant factor in there is nutrition. Food. Plant-based.

"How often, for instance, do you eat bok choy, Swiss chard, collar greens, mustard greens, Napa cabbage, brussels sprouts, broccoli, beet greens, turnips, cauliflower, cilantro, parsley and arugula?"

"That was kind of like a little rap there!" Smith said.

"Yeah, has a ring to it!"

"Not sure if it makes me salivate, but it has a ring to it," Smith said.

But why prolong your life if you can't enjoy it?

"Those other types of pleasure that come from enjoying good quality proteins, whether you're roasting a turkey or a piece of beef, I think it would be sad to deprive ourselves of some of those things," said nutritionist Rodriguez.

Firefighter Rip Esselstyn said he hopes people will at least try eating less meat ... even if they can't go cold-turkey.

"I know that's not a reality for a lot of people," he said, "so you really need to minimize it."

"Okay. I can't give up my bacon, I can't," Smith said.

"You can! You can!" Rip said.

[nonyabizz]

"As a meat eater, I think not so great," said Nancy Rodriquez (left), a Connecticut nutritionist whose research has been funded by the beef industry.


Doesn't anyone see a conflict of interest here?????

[mswolfestock]

There is NOTHING WRONG with locally-produced beef and pork. Stay clear of Con-Agra and Hormel, stay away with feed-lot beef. My beef comes from the next county to the east of my home where there are hundreds of small family farms. Many of the small farms are run by people who have Day Jobs, and they supplement their diets and income by raising fewer than a dozen beef cattle. These cows are not fed hormones and antibiotics but they are not abused either.

I don't take kindly to vegans making me out to be some kind of criminal because I enjoy eating meat. And BTW, my cholesterol was 150 the last time I had it checked. Vegans and doctors should not assume that eating meat is automatically unhealthy. And I fail to see what harm there is in eating eggs. Here again I'm luckier than most - I get eggs from the farm down the road. No abused chickens there, either. Those birds are treated and pampered just like they were pets.

It's still a free country as far as food choices go, and for that I'm grateful. I just wish that vegans would not condemn meat-eaters. I don't have a problem with them not eating meat so what's the problem.

Meat, and the people who choose to eat it should not be condemned as bad or unhealthy.

[kayakdadj]

Animals don't have any rights. just look at nature

[reedu-2009]

I would LOVE nothing more than to see Esselstyn's prediction that in 5 years we'd be on a plant based diet, but I'm sorry, I think it's totally unrealistic. when I gave up eating meat 13 years ago it wasn't a health decision per se but one of an animal rights decision. As someone who works fervently in animal protection, I think it's more realistic to predict/wish/lobby for more humane methods to slaughter and stricter regulations on factory farming in five years.

[Heal-The-Nations]

I grew up eating meat - i loved cheese burgers and steak and fried chicken and milk, etc. I loved sports. I also enjoyed weightlifting.

I became a vegan 5 years ago. I have more energy. I am stronger in the gym. I leaned down and found 6 pack abs much easier to attain without all that animal fat in my diet. I have put on muscle.

Eating vegan is better for your heart, your mind, and your energy levels. It increases your fibre, so going to the bathroom is regular and easy. Being a vegan freshens your breath, and it makes your sweat smell less because you do not have meat rotting in your intestinal tract. It cuts down on body toxicity.

In short, being a vegan that eats lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, will make your entire life better.

Kale and other green vegetables are better for calcium levels than milk. There is a lot of protein in a vegetarian diet, contrary to popular opinion. What do rhinocerus and elephants eat? What do ox eat? How do they get so big? Its not eating big macs and pork.

Cut out refined sugar, refined flower and other processed food from your diet, cut out meat, and increase your grains, veggies and fruits, and nuts. You will feel like a different, healthier, person.

Kind regards,

Heal The Nations

[bradfregger]

Just a couple of quick notes:

1) Having this happen In Austin, Texas is probably not all that unusual, we probably have as high a proportion of vegetarians per capita as most U.S. cities; including a number of fine vegetarian restaurants.

2) I think the comment the doctor made about heart disease, "Everybody has it ...? is a slight exaggeration. In 1985 Drs Michael S. Brown and Joseph L. Goldstein received the Nobel Prize for their work on cholesterol and how it goes wrong in the human body (remember cholesterol is essential to human health, especially the health of the brain). One of the things that they discovered is that genetic s plays a role in the operation of cholesterol in the human body.

The extrapolation of this knowledge is that eating meat high in fat may or may not be a problem, depending upon your genetic proclivity.

Since I seem to be one of those that has a natural ability to control my cholesterol, meaning I am able to eat as much meat, dairy, and fat that I desire with little or no impact on my "bad" cholesterol levels, it would be a very sad day indeed for me if the government would decide to make it unlawful to sell or prepare these types of food.

As far as I am concerned, the government has already ruined steaks for me by limiting fat content and rating steaks with high fat content low and the lower fat content steaks higher. This is exactly opposite of how steaks used to be rated, which was based on taste and tenderness, with the higher fat content steaks being rated the highest.

By the way, this is still true for the most expensive steaks, including the Wagyu steak that Obama often serves at his Wednesday night parties, advertised as being ?densely marbled,? in other words, lots of fat.

Just one more way that the privileged demonstrate the quote, ?Do as I say, not as I do.?

[sugarm1]

Scientifically, eating meat causes heart disease and cancer. The FDA just finally acknowleged that infact eating red meat causes disease. That's a super big deal for even the FDA to make that statement. Read up on it. It takes 3500 calories to lose 1 lb. So if you run on the treadmill for 1 hour, you're still only burning 300 calories. If you consume 1000 calories of the processed foods and meats plus a couple pounds of raw veggies and fruits, you may even be eating less calories in the long run. So keep eating what you want just incorporate more greens and fruits.

[ydjordan]

I want to thank the producers for putting this story in such a manly setting. I am a vegan thinking of those poor cows being pregnant every year, what woman wants that? Instead of being alive for 14 years, the cows die after 6 years of abuse and then as a thank you get slaughtered and they end up at mcdonalds.

being middle aged now I have never taken a prescription pill and that is because of my diet. even my primary physician grudgingly admits that this is the way to go.

[Constant_Viewer]

It was unfair to have someone associated with the beef industry present the non-vegetarian point of view.

A more unbiased representation of the benefits of eating beef and dairy products can be found at the Westin A. Price Foundation's website (www.westonaprice.org), which actually contains evidence from scientific studies which show that trans fats and high fructose corn syrup are to blame for our health problems.

It would be interesting to see a segment that truly represents the non-vegan side of the story.

[una1rose]

I am a vegan and feel great. Animal products are the only products that contain cholestral which I am sure is the cause of heart disease and cancer . Eating animal products ages and kill us. We also use salt and sugar mainly to cover and flavour the taste of animal products. Sugar and salt are the two most deadly foods we eat and without having to flavour a meat and dairy based diet they really are not neccessary. They overpower the wonderful flavor of plant based foods.So giving up meat and dairy is definitely the first step towards a complete diet and lifestyle change. Not only your health but your metal acuity and outlook both greatly improves. We feel guilty about eating dangerous foods as we know it is cruel to animals and unhealthy to our bodies. I agree with Mr. Esselstyn, I think within 20 years eating meat and dairy will be seen as being as unhealthy and unattractive a habit as smoking, and other unhealthy activities. This is a great story. It's nice to hear about veganism in such a manly setting. I guess real men don't always eat meat.

[honestabe8]

cricket: cool. good for you. how long you been vegan?

[cricket127]

My energy is up, my weight is down, my pesticide intake is way down, and my appetite is appeased, so why do people harass me for being vegan? I think most people take it as a personal attack when someone talks about being vegan, because food is very personal, and there's a lot of industry-media pride in killing cows and drinking their milk.

I enjoy eating so much more as a vegan than I ever did as an omnivore. I think the reason is I cook much more for myself and I make my food the way I like it. And I realized that the best steaks and burgers are the best because of the veggies and seasonings we put with them. Take away the sauce and all you have is an average slab of meat.

[honestabe8]

Now it's dinner time here in Joburg and I got a roast pork, loaded with crackling which I must get out of the oven.
Enjoy your lettuce.:)
Posted by Sunbeamalpine

And what it is about you that feels you need to take shots at people who simply want to eat differently? Enjoy the swine

[ggourmet]

Per the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, you can also reverse Diabetes with a low-fat vegan diet http://www.pcrm.org/health/diabetes/index.html

[Sunbeamalpine]

I think I get it - the reason most vegans are so self-righteous, frowning down their noses and airing their bowels in close proximity to others and generally not enjoying themselves is because of their miserable diet.
As one ex-vegan said over a juicy cheesburger and chips - you don't live any longer, it just seems like it having to eat those awful meals.
Now it's dinner time here in Joburg and I got a roast pork, loaded with crackling which I must get out of the oven.
Enjoy your lettuce.:)

[divapat]

Esselstyn is talking about a VEGAN diet, as opposed to an ovo-lacto vegetarian diet. The Coronary Health Improvement Project (CHIP) espouses a vegan diet and has documented proof that eating just vegetables and fruits has reversed chronic diseases (diabetes, etc.); lowered cholesterol levels; generally improved individuals' overall health... Ball's in your court now, as to what you want to do with your health...

[honestabe8]

i guess it must be an "emotional disorder" that makes you want to take shot, eh alpine?

[honestabe8]

"There is no conclusive scientific or medical proof that eating rabbit food is "best" for your health." -sunbeamalpine


Then don't do it. Do you have to take shots ("it's an emotional disorder") at those who think that this is the way to go?

[Sunbeamalpine]

Goody-two-shoes for choosing a diet we feel is best for our health?
Posted by honestabe8 at 3:59 AM : Apr 28, 200

"Feel" being the operative word.
There is no conclusive scientific or medical proof that eating rabbit food is "best" for your health.
It is purely an emotional decision and may in fact damage your health if a careful diet is not followed closely, which few people have the time for these days - thus the proliferation of fast food.
Interestingly, many people suffer from severe allergies to different fruits, vegetables and grains.
Yet genuine cases of allergic reaction to meat is almost unheard of.
Of course there are those who claim the "thought" of eating meat makes them sick but this is not an allergy.
It is an emotional disorder.
Probably why Adolf Hitler was vegan - perhaps all it would've taken was a jolly good roast beef and Yorkshire pudding to prevent the invasion of Poland in 1939.

[kittyweese]

Two things: 1) Hitler was NOT a vegetarian, this is propoganda put out by the meat eaters -- he fanatically disliked certain meats, but loved others and ate them with relish (not the condiment) and 2) a recent study in Australia indicates that vegetarians have higher IQs. They haven't determined yet whether eating a plant-based diet makes you smarter, or whether smarter people choose a plant-based diet.