Make your diet work for you; don’t work for your diet
Personally speaking, I eat both meat and plant based diets. Anyhow recently I encountered a few vegetarian friends of mine who came into debates about "stop harming"animals. I had to point out to them that their expensive leather shoes are taken from animal skin, the medicine they take were at some point tested on poor lab rats or apes and almost every cosmetic product out there is filled with animal fat. Also looking at the cycle of evolution, our species would have not come this far facing different weather conditions and natural disasters if they only ate plant based diets. Arabs, Jews and early Christians of the desert survived because of their meat based diet while on some other parts of the world such as India this was seen as an act of sin. What people need to understand is that India has a tropical weather which suits fine for a vegetarian while many other parts of the world are either too cold or too hot. Our ancestors had to go for meat to survive and animal farming was a practice that existed with homo-sapiens from the early days. Anyhow, today we live in a super-market shopping world where every type of food is available regardless of the weather or condition of the country you live. Does this mean now it’s time to forget how we came this far as a species and turn everyone into a vegetarian? Well, the answer is complicated because in the pre-supermarket era, our ancestors from different parts of the world ate animal food and this gene has been passed to some of us which makes meat a likely source of energy and vitamin for a healthy life. So let’s not judge or identify people from the food they eat. As Denise Minger, author of "Death by Food Pyramid" puts in her book "if you choose to put a label on your diet, make sure it doesn’t undergo a sneaky mission creep into the realm of your self-identity. Your current food choices may be low-carb, low fat or plant based, or any other number of descriptors. But you are not low-carb; you are not low-fat; you are not plant-based. You’re a human being trying to make choices that best serve you and your specific goals at this point in time. You are not defined by the foods you eat. You are not a slave to an ideology. Make your diet work for you; don’t work for your diet."
What is actually good for you?
If plant diets have worked for some and meat based diets worked for others, what’s the point of this article? And what’s actually good for us?
As shown in the book "Death by food Pyramid" According to research and surveys done on African tribes, Aborigines and other native tribes it has been proven that regardless of what ideology of food these tribes followed, they all were found to be completely cancer free. As biologist A. Price described "Not only were those populations virtually free from dental issues, with perfectly straight teeth and cavity free mouths despite most of them never touching a tooth-paste, but they also seemed protected from other chronic diseases overtaking American bodies" He further stated that on his 36 years of contact and research with these tribes, he never saw a case of cancer among truly primitive Eskimos and Indians. Dr. J. R. Nimmo a physician who treated the African native and modern white population at the same time, concluded that in his 13 years of experience he had never seen a case of cancer among natives (just one suspected case). He stated that during the same period he had operated several dozen malignancies for the white population, which numbers about 300.
The Common Enemy
So far, we have come to understand that regardless of the ideology of a diet, there is something harmful in modern diets when compared to traditional native diets. Instead of going Vegetarian vs Non-Vegetarian, the real battle comes down to hunted wild meat vs McDonald's beef burger or organic plant foods vs genetically modified plant foods. Today we see 100s or 1000s of different health omitting diet plans, but which one the right fit for you? Well there is no such "one fit for all" due to the different weather conditions, genes (APOE4 gene) and ideologies we have. Anyhow, what do these health-promoting diets all seem to omit? Let’s make a list where all Paleolithic-style diets, plant-based diets and Mediterranean diets can come in to common terms as "bad food".
· Refined flour
· Refined sugar
· Industrially processed vegetable oil
· Anything lab-produced with chemical preservation's
· Nearly any fast food such as McDonald's, Burger king that come in a fancy tinfoil package ready for microwave (List taken from "Death by Food Pyramid")
When almost every popular diet plans can bring a list of common "bad foods" as shown in the above list, we need to take it very serious. The Democratic Party and Republican Party might disagree on their social welfare policies, but they both can agree that America’s debt is indeed increasing, so it becomes a fact than fiction. I am not here to give solutions to every health issue on earth, but I am here to highlight the critical bad foods that needs to be eliminated from our daily life. A refined white flour eating vegetarian is not healthier than an organic meat and plant eating omnivore, same way a McDonald's beef burger eating omnivore is not healthier than an organic plant eating vegetarian.
Best of both Worlds
Instead of fighting for a vegetarian world vs non-vegetarian world (limit that to ideology), let’s fight against the common enemy of both worlds, if you’re a vegetarian be a better plant eater and if you’re a meat eater be a better meat eater. Below is a fascinating list of tips by Denise in her book "Death by Food Pyramid"
· Make the plant-based portion of your diet full of whole, fresh, minimally processed produce. The marvelous thing about many plant foods, especially the fibrous vegetable kind is that they’re low in energy density, meaning you can pile them onto your plate without having to swap out the delicious things. Avoid "empty," denser foods like bread, sugar, pastries, pasta and other items that deliver less nutrition with more calories.
· Cut down on the forms of meat with known mechanisms for contributing to disease, namely well-done meat, or anything that’s touched open fire via grilling or other high temperature cooking (Which is further described in Meet Your Meat chapter of the Death by Food Pyramid book), these foods contain compounds that can act as carcinogens in the human body. Stick to gently cooked meats and favor cooking methods like steaming, stewing and baking.
· Aim for nutrient density, Rock stars of the plant world include dark leafy greens, brightly colored vegetables, mushrooms, berries, seaweed, and fermented vegetables. And for animal foods, that includes organ meats like liver, bivalves like oyster and clams, egg, fish roe, cod liver oil, and raw dairy from pastured cows.
· Act like a vegetarian (yes, let’s admit the fact that most of the vegetarian friends we know are much more disciplined in other aspects of life). In perhaps unfairly stereotypical terms, that means being more physically active, abstaining from smoking, watching the number of margaritas you slam back, and generally being a health-conscious, functioning member of society. Even if you don’t have to take the vegetarian diet plan out of a vegetarian, you still can learn good things from a vegetarian’s life style because research has proven that they live healthier not because they only eat healthier but simply because they "live" healthier and eating is only one part of the health story. A non-smoking vegetarian is always better than a smoking omnivore, same way a non-smoking omnivore is better than a smoking vegetarian. So let’s not limit health only to what we eat.
Finally to conclude the article, I will provide a list that I made with my own understanding and readings (Most of the credit goes to Denise Minger and her amazing book "Death by Food Pyramid"). I call this "Ten Commandments Of Healthy Eating."
1. Eliminate or Reduce Refined Grains (white rice, white flour) and favor whole grain (Red rice, Red flour etc.)
2. Eliminate industrially processed Vegetable oils and favor virgin coconut oil and Ghee
3. Refined white sugar is addictive than cocaine, Replace refined sugar and favor natural sugar sources such as Fruits
4. When choosing animal foods, limit muscle meat and favor Organs (Liver, Brain etc.)
5. Avoid cooking meat on open fire or high temperature that cause carcinogens (radiation that can cause cancer) in human body, favor gently cooked meats, and favor cooking methods like steaming, stewing and baking
6. Increase the plant based diet and reduce denser foods like bread, pastries and pasta
7. Stop eating any creation coming from a crinkly tinfoil package, a microwavable tray such as McDonald's or Burger King takeaways
8. Avoid Trans-Fat (Almost every super-market shelf product has this, google and learn more about trans-fat) Completely and reduce eating Deep fried short eats
9. Increase the intake of Sea Food with high omega 3 to boost health and immune system
10. Vitamin B17 (Manioc, Apricot seeds, Gooseberry, Spinach) helps fight Cancer
By any means this is not a perfect list but I ensure that this will be helpful for those who are seeking for tips for a healthy lifestyle. Keep in mind that knowledge is something which evolves with time, what I publish today might not sound the same to a future audience. Also I highly recommend people to read the two books "Death by food pyramid" and "World without cancer" given in the reference list.
Reference List
Minger, D. (n.d.). Death by food pyramid (1st ed. ). Primal Nutrition Inc
Griffin, G. (1997). World without cancer: The story of vitamin B17 (2nd ed.). Westlake Village, CA: American Media.
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