Historical Advocates of Plant Based Diets

Whilst they are in the minority of the general population, there have been advocates for diets devoid of animal products for centuries in populations such as ancient Rome and the Italian Renaissance.

In The Republic, Book 2, Plato describes a “rustic picture” of a way of life. The inhabitants “spend their days in houses which they have built for themselves; they make their own clothes and produce their own corn and wine. Their principal food is barley-meal and flour of wheat, and they drink in moderation. They live on the best of terms with each other, and take care not to have too many children. […] They will have salt and olives and cheese, vegetables and fruits, and chestnuts to roast at the fire.”

Plato continues that those “who want the comforts of life”, will create a state where “living in this way we shall have much greater need of physicians than before. […] Then a slice of our neighbours’ land will be wanted by us for pasture and tillage, and they will want a slice of ours.”

Sotion of Alexandria was a 1st-century Roman stoic philosopher who is best known as a teacher of Seneca the Younger.

Sotion believed that avoiding animal flesh was beneficial for the soul and body and that killing of animals is immoral.

Sotion’s dietary regime was based on grains (wheat, porridge and bread), legumes (lentils, chickpeas and fava beans), vegetables (cabbage, leeks, onions, garlic, turnips and carrots), fruits and nuts (figs, grapes, apples, walnuts and almonds) and olive oil.

Wealthy Romans consumed a much richer diet that included meat (pork, chicken, boar and hare), seafood (oysters, octopus, tuna) as well as mushrooms, artichokes and spices such as saffron and pepper.

Some 500 years later, in Plutarch’s Morals. Vol. V, Plutarch writes at great length against the mistreatment, exploitation and killing of animals.

“But for the sake of some little mouthful of flesh, we deprive a soul of the sun and light, and of that proportion of life and time it had been born into the world to enjoy.”

Richard Wiseman (1622-1676) was an English surgeon, serving as Sergeant-Surgeon to King Charles II.

In 1676, when King Charles II was king of England, Richard Wiseman concluded that cancer,

He advised to perform a “regulation in diet and way of living, advising to abstain from such salt, sharp and gross meats, as may dispose the bloud to acrimony.”

“Gross Meats” refers to heavy, rich, or coarse foods (not only meat), particularly those that were heavily salted or preserved.

“Sharp Meats” refers to not only meat but all foods that were spicy or bitter, such as garlic, onions, olives, mustard, fennel, pepper and spices.

Walter Hayle Walche was born in Dublin on 19 March 1812. He studied at Trinity College, Dublin, but was not awarded a degree. From 1830 he studied oriental languages in Paris. He studied medicine in Edinburgh from 1835 and worked in London from 1838. ³

He made the discovery that malignant cells can be recognised under a microscope.

In 1846, Walter Hayle Walshe showed that cancer was mainly a disease of “civilization.” ⁴

Walche died in London on 14 December 1892 at the age of 80 which is an impressive achievement for the times.

William Lambe (26 February 1765 – 11 June 1847) was an English physician and vegan advocate. ⁵

Lambe suffered from a variety of chronic diseases so he gave up animal food in 1806 and embraced a vegetable and distilled water diet.

Lambe believed that a distilled water and vegetarian diet could cure almost every known disease, including cancer. Lambe ate a very simple diet. For breakfast he ate bread with fruit or salad. His dinner consisted of vegetables, a pie, often an onion dumpling. For supper, he ate the same as breakfast. Lambe did not drink coffee or tea and always walked, no matter the weather.

William Lambe lived at 82 years which was an achievement, given the conditions of the 19th century and his challenging start to life.

Russell Henry Chittenden was professor of physiological chemistry at Yale from 1882 to 1922.

Fats and carbohydrates when oxidized in the body are ultimately burned to simple gaseous products.

He reduced his own protein intake from 150 grams a day to around 40 grams a day. He lost weight and become healthier.

He repeated the experiment on five sedentary Yale staff (62 g protein per day), then thirteen members of the Army Corps of Engineers (61 g protein per day) who were physically fit and active. Finally, eight Yale Olympic-class athletes repeated the experiment consuming an average of 64 g protein per day. They improved their performance by 30-35% and maintained a positive protein balance—that is, they consumed more protein than they lost.

Note that the Recommended Daily Intake (RDI) is two standard deviations above the average requirements. It meets or exceeds the requirements of 98% of the population. AMDR is the Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range.

Why is the AMDR 2-4 times greater than required when eating more protein is detrimental?

George Cooke Adams (1865-1934) was an Australian physician and cancer researcher. ⁷

Adams reported that the death rate from cancer of British born citizens in Australia is nearly double compared to those born in Australia and that cancer is almost unknown amongst the Aborigines.

He wrote that cancer is preventable and the main factors are excessive alcohol, meat and sugar consumption.

Adams conducted a two-year study of cancer in Chicago for the Chicago Board of Health that was published in 1907. This study examined the proportion of cancer deaths to all-cause mortality for those aged 35 years and older. His conclusion was that excessive meat eating, especially from diseased animals is a cause of cancer.

Adams reported that those with the highest cancer mortality were foreign born from France, Austria, Sweden, Norway and Germany whilst Chicago born Italians and Chinese residents had the lowest mortality.

In 1923, Dr. P.J. Cammidge wrote “that one of the commonest causes of a seeming progressive failure of carbohydrate tolerance was a conscious or unconscious increase in the fat of the diet.” ⁸

J.S. Sweeney wrote two papers in 1927 and 1928 that showed high-fat and high-protein diets increase insulin resistance. The only diet that had a normal response to insulin resistance was a high carbohydrate diet. ^{9 10}

Sir Harold Himsworth (1905–93) was a renown medical doctor and researcher. He was appointed Professor of Medicine at the University of London in 1939. He is best known for his work on diabetes although he had many other interests including the effects of radiation, tropical medicine and epidemiology. ^11 12

Himsworth’s conclusions after a lifetime of diabetic experimental work, research and study was:

Quotes Relating to Health

Last updated on Thursday 29 January 2026 at 03:13 by administrators

1. Wiseman, R. (1686). Several chirurgical treatises by Richard Wiseman. E. Flesher and J. Macock for R. Royston, London.
2. Campbell, C., & Disla, N. (2020). The Future of Nutrition: An Insider’s Look at the Science, Why We Keep Getting It Wrong, and How to Start Getting It Right.
3. Moore, N. (n.d.). Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900 Walshe, Walter Hayle.
4. Walshe, W. H. (1846). The nature and treatment of cancer. Taylor and Walton.
5. Wikipedia. (n.d.). William Lambe (physician). Wikipedia.
6. Chittenden, R. H. (1904) Physiological economy in nutrition, with special reference to the minimal protein requirement of the healthy man. An experimental study. New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company.
7. Adams, G. C. (1904) Cancer in Australia: A Comparison with Other Countries, Together wieh a Specific Treatment for the Prevention and Arrest of the Diesease. The Lancet. 163 (4198), 422–428.
8. Cammidge, P. J. & Howard, H. A. H. (1923) New Views on Diabetes Mellitus. Henry Frowde and Hodder & Stoughton.
9. Sweeney, J. S. (1927) Dietary Factors that Influence the Dextrose Tolerance Test. Archives of Internal Medicine. 40 (6), 818–830.
10. Sweeney, J. S. (1928) A comparison of the effects of general diets and of standardized diets on tolerance for dextrose. Archives of Internal Medicine. 42 (6), 872–876.
11. Gale, E. A. (2013) Commentary: The hedgehog and the fox: Sir Harold Himsworth (1905–93). International Journal of Epidemiology. 12 (6), 1602–1607
12. Black, D. & Gray, J. (1995) Sir Harold Percival Himsworth, K. C. B., 19 May 1905 – 1 November 1993
13. Himsworth, H. P. (1934) Dietetic factors influencing the glucose tolerance and the activity of insulin. The Journal of Physiology. 29–48.
14. Himsworth, H. P. (1935) Diet and the incidence of diabetes mellitus. Clinical Science. 2117–148
15. Himsworth, H. P. (1935) Diet and the incidence of diabetes mellitus. Clinical Science. 2 (1), 117–148.