QUESTION:  Regarding your recent article on vegetarianism…My wife is a health nut.  She got me started eating vegan as a health issue.  I have made two observations after six years of vegetarian eating: 1) I never have “dragon breath” when I awaken in the morning and 2) I am never constipated.  These two benefits are worth the effort.

            I will occasionally eat a small serving of meat to be sociable.  John Robbins of Baskin-Robbins fame wrote a pretty damning book about the beef industry.  I personally have no problem with vegetarians of conscience.  I do have a problem with Gestapo vegetarians. 

ANSWER:  If you’re eating “vegan” that means you’re avoiding meat, eggs and milk which requires you to take dietary supplements to maintain health.  It’s beyond me how a diet that requires supplementation could be considered natural.  Don’t you wonder where those cave-men shopped for their protein and vitamin B-12 pills so they could survive to rise to the top of the food chain?

            I agree completely that becoming a vegetarian (not a vegan) is a perfectly legitimate protest against the act of killing but the veggies that argue men are natural vegetarians get my goat.  There’s simply no evidence of vegetarianism in our history but a mountain of evidence that men have always hunted and women gathered. 

            Putting yourself on a drastically restricted diet seems a high price to pay for nice breath and regular BMs. 

            By the way, according to many vegans who wrote me, vegans are not “supposed to” wear animal products including wool and leather.  They never said according to whom. 

The “Grand Vegan”, perhaps?

QUESTION:  I enjoyed your recent article about vegetarianism.  My wife and I have some experience with vegetarians.  We ran a small restaurant in

ANSWER:  Thanks for your letter.  It illustrates that most people are omnivores (will eat anything) and, when given the choice, will include meat in their diets.

Dr. Beaman has written weekly columns in the