Elizabeth has put at least dozens of hours into seeking good RCTs on vegan nutrition, and has come up nearly empty.
Given that I haven’t looked deeply into the RCTs and observational studies, I fully admit that I can’t completely address this comment and defend the merits of the scientific data. That said, I find it very unlikely that the RCTs and observational studies are so flawed that the self-reported survey data is more reliable. Although I find it quite plausible that the diet studies are flawed, why would the self-reported data be better?
The scientific studies might be bad, but that doesn’t mean we should anchor to an even more unreliable source of information.
At this point, if you want to say there is an expert consensus that disagrees with her, you need to find a particular study that you are willing to stand behind, so that we can discuss it.
I was very careful in my comment to say that I was only bringing up expert consensus to respond purely to a narrow point about what the “best guess” of vegan activists should be in the absence of a thorough investigation. Moreover, expert consensus is not generally revealed via studies, and so I don’t think I need to bring one up in order to make this point. Expert consensus is usually revealed by statements from mainstream institutions and prominent scientists, and sometimes survey data from scientists. If you’re asking me to show expert consensus, then I’d refer you to statements from the American Dietetic Association and the British Dietetic Association as a start. But I also want to emphasize that I really do not see expert consensus as the primary point of contention here.
Given that I haven’t looked deeply into the RCTs and observational studies, I fully admit that I can’t completely address this comment and defend the merits of the scientific data. That said, I find it very unlikely that the RCTs and observational studies are so flawed that the self-reported survey data is more reliable. Although I find it quite plausible that the diet studies are flawed, why would the self-reported data be better?
The scientific studies might be bad, but that doesn’t mean we should anchor to an even more unreliable source of information.
I was very careful in my comment to say that I was only bringing up expert consensus to respond purely to a narrow point about what the “best guess” of vegan activists should be in the absence of a thorough investigation. Moreover, expert consensus is not generally revealed via studies, and so I don’t think I need to bring one up in order to make this point. Expert consensus is usually revealed by statements from mainstream institutions and prominent scientists, and sometimes survey data from scientists. If you’re asking me to show expert consensus, then I’d refer you to statements from the American Dietetic Association and the British Dietetic Association as a start. But I also want to emphasize that I really do not see expert consensus as the primary point of contention here.