Why Vegans Have Smaller Brains

From Amazon: 5* Good science made accessible This book is a highly intellectual commentary on the state of our modern food landscape. The authors are Oxford and Cambridge University graduates and make reasoned and intelligent arguments for their assertions, backed up by high quality scientific research. I understand why they felt the need to make their title so inflammatory - because people from opposing camps are also highly inflammatory so they are simply trying to meet them on their own ground. The difference is the opposing camp's arguments do not stand up to scientific scrutiny. We MUST be evidence based if we want to be taken seriously. These authors use scientific evidence to justify every claim. Sadly a great deal of modern scientific research is actually junk science- littered with epidemiological reports based on extremely dubious food frequency questionnaires. But there is serious scientific study out there and these authors have found those papers and present them in an accessible way that any non-scientist can understand. 5* Informative and entertaining & useful in the current dietary debate I bought the kindle version for myself and a printed version for a friend. I found it informative and entertaining, setting out the issues so clearly that I was able to remember them in subsequent conversations with friends about the pros and cons of the wide variety of our eating habits. It has enabled me to question the basis of the current dietary recommendations and their consequences for our budgets and health. None of my friends realised that marmite doesn't naturally contain the vitamin B12 - it is fortified with it in the same way that breakfast cereals are fortified - and I can produce the jar to prove it! Most people are also very hazy on facts, and particularly hazy on what an animal is - does it matter if you kill a large number of insects with insecticides to protect your crops, compared with eating a cute little lamb? Whether or not the book convinces you to make the huge shift to a purely Sapiens diet, it certainly offsets the - maybe not so morally or healthily justified - pressure to make the shift to a vegetarian or vegan diet. One practical comment: the print is rather small in the printed version so I'm glad I have the Kindle version for myself. 5* Well-written and evidence-based Well-written book with a catchy title, which clearly ruffled some feathers, looking at one-star reviews. The data in the book is underpinned by 71 pages of good-quality references. The biological evidence is explained in easy-to-understand way, accommodating for the readers without scientific background yet not too dumbed down for those of us who understand research and human biology at a higher level. Ideology vs. (planetary and human) health. If you belong to the former camp (e.g. vegan or vegetarian), read this book with an open mind - it can change your mind (and life) for better. I cannot recommend this book enough.