The Vegetarian Myth

THE
VEGETARIAN
MYTH

 

  Being a staunch proponent of the Paleo/Primal lifestyle seems to automatically put me at odds with a particular segment of mankind....      I am speaking of vegans, vegetarians, fruitarians, and raw foodists....

   I feel the need to once and for all address certain "arguments" that have been presented to me over the years (time and again)....

 

1)  I don't want to eat meat because it means killing another living being...

ANSWER:  I don't know how to break this to you but, those plants that you are eating, they are just as alive as the animals you speak of...

http://www.westminstercollege.edu/education_gslp/seven_characteristics_life.pdf

 

2)   Well, plants aren't conscious beings...

ANSWER:   Oh contraire, YOU may think plants aren't conscious, but that is because you don't know any better...

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=do-plants-think-daniel-chamovitz

 

3)   Ok but, they don't feel pain or suffer...

ANSWER:   You have obviously never heard the celery scream when it is harvested...

http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/site/sn/video/player/latest-videos/do-plants-respond-to-pain/407509484001/

 

4)   Plants are inferior to (not as important as) animals...

ANSWER:   Why, because you say so...? That's just a little arrogant, don't you think? There would be NO life on this planet if there were no plants...

http://www.bgci.org/plantconservationday/whyplantsimportant/

 

5)   Plants are healthier for you than meat...

ANSWER:   You need to do your homework. Our earliest ancestors were not farmers, they were hunter/gatherer/scavengers. "Modern" agriculture is very recent in our history, the last 10,000 years or so. Humans are OMNIVORES, and always have been. That means we are designed to eat both plants AND animals... and we do not digest complex carbohydrates nearly as well as herbivores, not to mention the fact that our body runs more efficiently on ketones (from digesting animal fat) than it does on glucose (which is why half of America is overweight). Just consider the simple math, one gram of carbohydrate provides four calories of energy, while one gram of fat provides NINE calories of energy to the body.... now WHICH is a more efficient fuel source ???

http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2008/02/25/the-science-of-fat-loss-why-a-calorie-isnt-always-a-calorie/

http://www.westonaprice.org/vegetarianism-and-plant-foods/not-to-go-vegetarian

 

6)   Farming plants is more economical than farming meat...

ANSWER:  That all depends on how you look at it. From an acreage point of view, vegetables are more economical. BUT, if you look at it from a perspective of caloric availability, then meat wins. And I do not expouse a pure meat diet....

http://cce.cornell.edu/Ag/Documents/PDFs/Land%20Efficient%20Diet.pdf

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=webber-more-efficient-foods-less-waste (please read comments !!!)

 

7) Animals are more evolved than plants...

ANSWER:   Define "evolved".... there are trees that live a thousand years or more, that is TEN TIMES the lifespan of most humans, and far more than any animal lifespan. Plants survive under the harshest conditions on the planet, whether in vast deserts or undersea toxic thermal vents where there is no light.... they can survive forest fires and twenty feet of snow cover, can you ?

8)  Animals raised for food contribute more to worldwide pollution, and are heavily loaded with toxins...

ANSWER:   I'm guessing you've never heard of GMO's... or that the rice you eat is loaded with arsenic, the lettuce with E.coli, the cantaloupes with salmonella, and the strawberries with norovirus, just to name a few...

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2012/11/arsenic-in-your-food/index.htm

http://www.examiner.com/article/lettuce-recalled-over-fears-of-e-coli-contamination

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2012/10/german-students-got-sick-on-chinese-strawberries/

9)  Animals raised for food are often routinely mistreated...

ANSWER:   ABSOLUTELY. On this point you will get no argument from me, BUT, I am a staunch animal rights activist, are YOU ???

...And two more things, there is no such thing as "cruelty-free" vegetarianism... whether you are talking about the death of microbes, earthworms, insects, or even animals killed by harvesting crops (and that are NOT at least consumed by us, so die for no good reason), and if you "abhor" the thought of eating animals, why do vegetarians always make their vegetables LOOK like meat ??? What is that all about ? We don't make our meat look like vegetables... who would want a steak that looked like a squash ?   

Talk about mind-numbing denial...

NOTE(1):  My own personal first-hand experience working as a nutritional consultant in functional medicine, has been that vegetarians (et al) will show propensity for auto-immune disorders, hormonal imbalances, adrenal fatigue, thyroid disfunction, etc., after a sustained period of being vegetarian, say 10 to 20 years or more.... PARTICULARLY females over the age of forty-five, and those consuming soy/canola/low-fat foods.

 

NOTE(2): There are NUMEROUS articles like this on the internet... http://www.bulletproofexec.com/steve-jobs-dr-dean-ornish-and-vegetarian-cancer/

NOTE(3):  EVERYTHING comes to this planet to eventually die... if you were a cow, how would you like to die ?  Slowly, from malnutrition, like in India ? Being mauled to death by a predator, like in Africa ? Or a quick bullet to the brain, as in Mexico ?  Me, it would be in Japan, as a Kobe cow... Belief systems are just that.... "beliefs".

 

HOW TO START

How To Get Started On The Paleo Way Of Eating For Health And Healing....








    Essentially, you want what you eat to follow the following ratio: 60-70% calories from high-quality SATURATED fat, 20-25% calories from protein, and 10-15% calories from GOOD carbohydrates. "Good" saturated fats for use with moderate HEAT (organic) are coconut oil, palm oil, lard, tallow, butter, ghee, chicken & duck fat, and peanut (not "saturated" unless highly refined, and only for very high heat cooking if you can't get lard). "Good" unsaturated fats for use COLD (organic) are olive oil, sesame oil, avocado oil, and most nut oils. All the following are GOOD protein sources (organic): beef, lamb, pork, turkey, chicken, fish, & game meats (most game meats are actually LOW in fat, so you need to add fat when serving them). Don't forget your veggies, and remember to only eat fruit in limited amounts BETWEEN meals. You will also want to limit (occasional) alcohol consumption to dry wines, scotch, and vodka. No cordials, liqueurs, etc., and try to minimize your consumption of fluids within an hour of eating (before OR after).

WHAT IS PALEO

                                             THE PALEO PYRAMID

   Almost everything you have ever been taught or told about nutrition and "healthy" eating is wrong, including the USDA "food pyramid".... As a nutritionist, I found this out the hard way when I was motivated to study the science behind digestion and gut health....

   I am not going to go into the biochemistry of digestion on this blog, there are references listed for those that wish to learn more. What I am going to do is provide basic guidelines and a "Healing Protocol", as well as questions & answers for those who wish to pursue a Paleo way of living.

   To begin with, changing one's dietary habits to Paleo requires a FIRM commitment to follow STRICT guidelines for the first six weeks, followed by weekly reintroductions of specific foods. I have seen unbelievable results in a wide variety of diagnosis, from Bipolar Disorder to MS and Cancer, and everything in between. Restructuring your dietary habits are only the first step, but is the basis for all the subsequent steps, and is usually the most difficult for people to accomplish.... but it CAN BE DONE, and is definitely worth the effort. Google "images" and research Paleo diet....

WHY PALEO

WHY PALEO ?


If this is what you think of when I say PALEO.... then keep reading....


  
The terms, "paleo" or "caveman" are a bit misleading, as what I will present is the way in which our bodies were originally designed to eat, so, perhaps it should be called the "original diet"....
  Agriculture was not a part of human existence before 10-12,000 years ago, by all available recorded history of our species. Our teeth and digestive system are that of an omnivore (an animal that eats plants and animals). Keep in mind that the many of the most primitive cultures on the planet were cannibals. Two of the healthiest native populations on the planet are(were) the Inuit of Alaska, and the Maasai of Eastern Africa. Quoting Patricia Cochran, of the Alaska Native Science commission, “Our meat was seal and walrus, marine mammals that live in cold water and have lots of fat. We used seal oil for our cooking and as a dipping sauce for food. We had moose, caribou, and reindeer. We hunted ducks, geese, and little land birds like quail, called ptarmigan. We caught crab and lots of fish—salmon, whitefish, tomcod, pike, and char. Our fish were cooked, dried, smoked, or frozen. We ate frozen raw whitefish, sliced thin. The elders liked stinkfish, fish buried in seal bags or cans in the tundra and left to ferment. And fermented seal flipper, they liked that too. 

Cochran’s family also received shipments of whale meat from kin living farther north, near Barrow. Beluga was one she liked; raw muktuk, which is whale skin with its underlying blubber, she definitely did not. “To me it has a chew-on-a-tire consistency,” she says, “but to many people it’s a mainstay.” In the short subarctic summers, the family searched for roots and greens and, best of all from a child’s point of view, wild blueberries, crowberries, or salmonberries, which her aunts would mix with whipped fat to make a special treat called akutuq—in colloquial English, Eskimo ice cream."

And the  Maasai,  "The traditional Maasai diet consists of six basic foods: meat, blood, raw milk, fat, honey, and tree bark. Wild game (except the eland), chicken, fish, and salt are forbidden. Allowable meats include roasted and boiled beef, goat, and mutton. Both fresh and curdled milk are drunk, and animal blood is usually drunk at special times—after giving birth, after circumcision and excision, or while recovering from an accident. It may be tapped warm from the throat of a cow, or drunk in coagulated form. It can also be mixed with fresh or soured milk, or drunk with therapeutic bark soups (motori). It is from blood that the Maasai obtain salt, a necessary ingredient in the human diet. People of delicate health and babies eat liquid sheep's fat to gain strength. Honey is obtained from the Torrobo tribe and is a prime ingredient in mead, a fermented beverage that only elders may drink.  Their preferred meal is a mixture of meat, blood, and fat(munono), which is thought to give great strength." 
So, to recap, two of the oldest, healthiest peoples on the planet eat Paleo.... and that is, a diet high in fat, adequate animal protein, and very limited carbohydrate. The burger in the picture would only qualify if you threw away the bun.... There are exceptions, of course. One which comes to mind are the Hunzas of the Himalayas. Their diet consists primarily of raw milk, cheese, yogurt, fruit, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, chicken, and the occasional beef or mutton.  "The energy and endurance of the Hunzakuts can probably be credited as much to what they don't eat as what they do eat. First of all, they don't eat a great deal of anything. The United States Department of Agriculture estimates that the average daily food intake for Americans of all ages amounts to 3,300 calories, with 100 grams of protein, 157 grams of fat and 380 grams of carbohydrates. In contrast, studies by Pakistani doctors show that adult males of Hunza consume a little more than 1,900 calories daily, with only 50 grams of protein, 36 grams of fat, and 354 grams of carbohydrates. Both the protein and fat are largely of vegetable origin". (Dr. Alexander Leaf, National Geographic, January, 1973). It is unknown at this time if the Hunza longevity might be due to calorie-restriction, genetics, or other life & environmental factors....

INTRODUCTION

In The Beginning....












   I don't want to get involved in the "origins" of man, that is a subject for another time.... 

    Let us just say that, whatever his origin, early man ate RAW. And "raw" is not a bad thing.... it's just that our digestive systems are not used to consuming all of our food today, raw. I'm not saying it can't be done, I'm saying most people aren't going to do it.... So the purpose of this website is to provide you with the information you need to eat "healthy", and/or assist you to recover from any current health issues to be healthy. I am required by law to present the following "disclaimer"....

   "I am not a licensed medical professional, and this website and its contents are not to be implied, construed, or perceived as medical advice. Do not do ANYTHING health-related without consulting with your own personal medical professional."

    Having said that, I AM trained in health, fitness, and nutrition, and I live and teach the Paleo way of living. I personally am (and have been) healthy for more than twenty years, and I believe that at least part of this is due directly to my dietary regimen. 

    It is my sincere wish that you find this information helpful, and may it change your life for the better....

WELCOME

 

Welcome to my new blog on 
healthy living the PALEO way!


On these pages, you will discover the latest science has to offer on health & nutrition....

                                                     

  .... as well as tasty recipes, and guidelines for living a natural lifestyle for your entire family !