Facts and Fictions

In response to Brandon Gaudet's post "A Tailored Mandate" (2/24/2013) (which is itself a response to Sean Edwards's post "To Veg, or Not to Veg" (2/24/2013)):

While it is true that some people cannot sustain the necessary nutrition for good health from a diet entirely free of meat or of animal products, the idea that this is a common state is false.  Some vegetarians and vegans are nutrient-deficient, and some sustain negative effects from certain elements of the food they eat to make up for a lack of meat and/or other animal products (for example, soy contains high levels of estrogen, a hormone which can cause emotional and physical problems when in concentration), but this is mostly due to insufficient research and resultant poor dietary choices.  A select few have special conditions (some extreme forms of anemia, for example, or an inability to absorb certain nutrients from sources other than meat) which render them unable to adopt a vegan or vegetarian diet, but as stated above, such ailments are not common.  Even those who do suffer from some digestive disability or other physical obstacle can often limit their meat consumption to fish, or cease eating dairy while continuing to consume eggs.  Such issues aside, many people (including men, women, the elderly, and the very young) thrive on vegan or vegetarian diets; in fact, as long as the dieters keeps track of which nutrients they are consuming, they are typically healthier than people who embrace omnivorous diets.

One related idea, which I find more morally intriguing, is the concept of feeding pets or other animals in one's care with only vegan or vegetarian products.  While many animals are naturally herbivorous, or are omnivorous but can easily adjust to a herbivorous diet, many others are carnivores or are omnivores for whom meat is an important part of nutrition.  While such animals may be able to survive on herbivorous diets, their health may be negatively affected.  Is it ethical to deprive them of some quality of life in order to support the continued existence of other animals?