A recent segment on NBC’s News4 in Washington, DC gave a platform to Neal Barnard, head honcho over at the PETA-linked Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. Barnard, a psychiatrist by training, and PCRM have made a career in advancing PETA’s vegan agenda through dubious nutrition claims, including that people “should think of drinking milk the same way we think of smoking cigars.”
Surprisingly, neither NBC nor Barnard disclosed his affiliation with PCRM, which previously has been condemned by the American Medical Association. Perhaps NBC didn’t do its research, which would have revealed one of Barnard’s past TV outings—getting skewered by The Daily Show.
Barnard was invited on to discuss the best foods that help people get a good night’s sleep. His agenda became more obvious when the first thing he did on the program was urge people not to eat meat sauces and even recommended two slices of white bread as a sleep aid. Two slices of white bread? That’s certainly snooze-worthy—for being boring—but there’s no credible evidence it helps for a good night’s sleep. An over-the-counter sleeping aid is probably a better bet. Or just ask your (non-activist) personal physician.
The fact is there are many factors that go into a good night’s sleep. Everybody is different and should find what works best for them. Maybe for loony Barnard, two slices of white bread work just fine. For the rest of us, maybe charcuterie does the trick. One thing’s for sure: We’ll all sleep better if we tune the PETA lunatics out.
