Famous Vegans - Michael Klaper

Michael Klaper

Michael Klaper, M.D.

Born on July 19, 1947. He's an American physician and author. He graduated from the University of Illinois College of Medicine in 1972. He has written the books Pregnancy, Children, and the Vegan Diet and Vegan Nutrition : Pure and Simple. He also made a DVD called A Diet for All Reasons. He is the Director of the Institute of Nutrition Education and Research and a member of the Nutrition Task Force of the American Medical Student Association. He has also served as an advisor to the N.A.S.A. project on nutrition for long-term space colonists on the moon and on Mars. You can find his website at this link.

Dr. Klaper spent sixteen of his childhood summers on his uncle's dairy farm in Wisconsin. He shared a memory from those summers:

"The very saddest sound in all my memory was burned into my awareness at age five on my uncle's dairy farm in Wisconsin. A cow had given birth to a beautiful male calf. The mother was allowed to nurse her calf but for a single night. On the second day after birth, my uncle took the calf from the mother and placed him in the veal pen in the barn - only ten yards away, in plain view of the mother. The mother cow could see her infant, smell him, hear him, but could not touch him, comfort him, or nurse him. The heartrending bellows that she poured forth - minute after minute, hour after hour, for five long days - were excruciating to listen to. They are the most poignant and painful auditory memories I carry in my brain.

Since that age, whenever I hear anyone postulate that animals cannot feel emotions, I need only to replay that torturous sound in my memory of that mother cow crying her bovine heart out to her infant. Mother's love knows no species barriers, and I believe that all people who are vegans in their hearts and souls know that to be true."

Other quotes by Dr. Klaper:

When asked how he had become interested in veganism, he answered:

"Early 1980s, ... my nights were spent in the emergency and trauma units, seeing the terrible results of violence: shot gun blasts, knifings, and I saw the terrible devastations that violence brings to people’s lives, and not just physical violence, but emotional, sexual, mental violence and I knew I wanted to reduce violence in all forms in my own life - in my thoughts in my words, in my deeds.
Within weeks I really looked at the entire web of the connection of our exploitation of animals, - not only meat eating, but leather wearing and dairy eating."

"A vegan diet and lifestyle makes a statement to all that “killing is not part of my problem-solving kit. I won’t use extermination of any sentient creature--including humans--as a solution to a given problem, even involving my food, water, or other vital matters.” Such a stance of non-violent intent emanates feelings of safety towards those around you and will make any situation better."

"It all starts with the self, to find that quiet place in the self that, no matter what is happening around, I know that I’m going to maintain my centre of non-violence, and no matter what anyone else is eating at the table, "no thank you. I’m not going to have any today."... Growing into your own power as a person is when you realize you don’t have to answer to anybody - only to the truth, and your own heart. You realize that you’re responsible only to yourself and to your own conscience."

"We’ve been conducting our Vegan Health Study for several years now and we see most people do quite well on vegan diets. But, there are some folks who will lose muscle mass, experience lower energy levels and not feel at their best eating a vegan diet. ... When we do blood tests on them, we often find that they are low in important trace minerals like zinc, magnesium and copper. Part of that is attributable to the high fiber content of a whole-foods vegan diet. ...
If the calcium or zinc or copper is bound tightly within the plant fibers and then passes through the intestinal tract quickly, as happens on a vegan diet, we may not have a chance to absorb the nutrients we need, and as the years go by, mineral deficiencies may develop. ...

It is essential to chew your food! Chewing your food "to a cream" breaks down the cell walls of the plant and allows the nutrients to be absorbed. ...

I’m a big fan of soups and stews and smoothies that have plant fibers that are well broken down to facilitate nutrient absorption. I think that a diet should be at least 50% raw, 50% cooked, and if necessary I’m certainly not averse to taking a vitamin/mineral supplement tablet once or twice a week, to top up your supplies of these essential trace minerals."

"Vitamin B12 is a real issue. Plant foods don’t have B12, and if one follows a pure vegan diet for many months or years, the B12 stores in the body will become depleted If a severe B12 deficiency is left untreated, severe damage to the brain, spinal cord and nerves can result, so this is a subject that vegans cannot ignore. I recommend that, at least once weekly, vegans have some food that is fortified with vitamin B12. Fortunately, today, many soy milks and rice milks and other foods are so fortified. To be even more sure, I suggest that they take a vitamin B12 supplement. The most effective form is to buy from the chemist or health shop, the little 500 mcg or 1000 mcg vitamin B12 sublingual (under the tongue) "microdots." They are quickly absorbed and, taken once or twice monthly, produce excellent B12 levels. Vitamin B12 taken as part of an oral multivitamin is less reliably absorbed, so if a long-term vegan has any question – especially if they feel that their brain or nerve function is not what they would like – they should have their B12 level checked by their health care practitioner."

"Certainly milk drinking does not seem to confer any protection against osteoporosis. The countries with the highest dairy consumption – the U.S., the U.K., the Scandinavian countries, etc. have the highest rates of osteoporosis."

"If you want to keep your bones strong, the most important thing to do is to use them – all of your life! Never miss a chance to walk up stairs, to ride your bicycle, to walk as much as you can. Walk holding light weights in your hands, carry packages from the store, stay active! Equally important, don’t do things that promote the dissolving of your bone structure, like cigarette smoking, drinking alcohol, consuming too much sugar, salt, caffeine, and protein in your diet. All these things conspire against good bone health and promote dissolution of your bone structure – paving the way to osteoporosis."

"If one is concerned about calcium intake, and assuming you are dropping the dairy from your diet, make sure you have plenty of dark, green leafy vegetables in your diet – and chew them well! There are also plenty of calcium-fortified foods available – from soymilks to orange juice to breakfast cereals. Finally, one can always take a liquid or tablet calcium supplement – so to say that you must drink the lactation secretions of a large bovine to protect your bones is just silly."

"A vegan pregnancy is a beautiful thing, and statistics show it is much lower in medical risk."

"If the child is drinking mother’s breast milk, there is no better food. I think that, if possible, women should breast feed for the first two years of the child’s life. During the first 6 months of life, they should be exclusively breast fed, and after six months, simple foods like mashed fruits and pureed vegetables should be introduced, all the while, the background flow of breast milk is assuring nutritional adequacy. Today, there are many wonderful books available on raising vegan infants and children, such as Raising Vegetarian Children by vegan dieticians Vesanto Melina, R.D, and Brenda Davis, R.D."

"After one year of age, more complex foods like grains and legumes can be added, but there is no hurry to do this. Waiting until at least one year of age will let the intestinal lining mature and reduce the incidence of food allergies. By the end of the second year, the child is eating what is on the parents’ table, and getting the same nutrition they are. One of the best allies parents of vegan infants can have is a baby food maker. After 18 months of age or so, whatever the parents are having for dinner is put through the baby food maker and out comes a nutritious puree that will nourish the child as they learn to chew and enjoy solid foods."

"The connections between global meat consumption and the environmental problems we face on this planet are becoming ever more clear."

"It is becoming ever more evident that the world’s diet needs to become substantially more vegan – soon!"

Quotes are from his 2010 interview with Northwest Veg and his interview with David Horton from Abolitionist-online.