Steve Jobs, the genius behind Apple Computer, died October 5, and the animal rights organization PETA quickly lifted a tall glass of carrot juice to his memory. That's what Jobs gave out to trick or treaters one Halloween, and PETA reminded us not only of that, but of other positive steps Jobs took for health and the environment. Jobs played a role in Disney's 2006 decision not to renew its Happy Meal toy deal with McDonalds, for example, and more recently "greened up" Apple's manufacturing operations in China and elsewhere.
Sadly, PETA has yet to acknowledge the role that Jobs's near vegan diet and frequent fruitarianism may have played in his death. Indeed, PETA continues to maintain that their vegan brand of "right eating" will virtually guarantee freedom from cancer and other major health problems despite the fact that most alternative MDs and health practitioners find serious illnesses among health-conscious vegans in their clinical practices.
None of us, of course, knows what caused the pancreatic cancer that led to Steve Jobs's death, or what, if anything could have saved him. Diet doubtless played a role, but lifestyle factors, environmental toxicity and genetic proclivities would have contributed as well. Certainly, Jobs was exposed over the years to massive bombardment from WiFi and other electromagnetic fields (EMFs). Medical treatments involving radiation, chemotherapy, a modified Whipple surgery, a liver transplant and immuno-suppressive drugs may also have contributed to his demise.
That said, not long after Jobs's death in October, people began asking me to comment on how his diet—and especially soy—might have contributed to his cancer and death. In fact, I never met Jobs and have no first hand knowledge of what he ate, but thanks to Walter Isaacson's biography Steve Jobs (Simon & Schuster, 2011), we all now have a pretty good idea of his lifelong dietary patterns.
The bullet points below include every reference to diet in the entire book, followed by the page numbers. These are either quotes or close paraphrases of Isaacson's words. My comments are found at the end, after the complete list of bullet points.
