For many years, the prevailing wisdom has been that vegetarian and vegan diets offer superior health benefits compared to diets that include animal products. This perspective is usually coupled with unfounded concerns over the health impacts of consuming meat, eggs, and animal fats and legitimate ethical considerations about animal welfare. When I inform people that I am on the carnivore diet and choose not to eat many fruits, nuts, and vegetables, the question I get asked most often is, " How do you get all of your nutrients, then?" The reality is that question should be posed to those who choose vegan and vegetarian diets because, as we will see, plant-based foods don't contain all of our required nutrients. However, animal-based diets do. This post will cover the misguided belief that plants provide complete nutrition and cover which nutrients are the most likely to be missing or deficient.
Read MoreMost people alive today would probably agree that organic, pesticide-free, whole wheat, grain-based diets, low in animal-based foods, richer in plant proteins from lentils and beans, and consisting mainly of vegetables are ideal diets. The ancient Egyptians ate this way. To repeat, it was organic, pesticide-free, and whole-grain. Ask the folks who made the food pyramid (My Plate) and the Eat Lancet Diet, and they will love it. Does it sound amazing to you? Well, not to me. My Plate has adult men eating around ten slices of bread per day, or the equivalent of 47 teaspoons of table sugar! I wrote about how the Eat Lancet Diet causes malnutrition on January 1, which is a similar diet to My Plate. If you are interested in their recommendations—the Lancet's diet causes protein deficiency, among other things. Let’s see how the ancient Egyptians who ate the same way fared.
Read MoreThe driving force behind our high-carbohydrate grain-based diet and aversion to meat goes back to the eighteen-hundreds. The story centers around the religiously driven temperance movement that later spawned a new religion that cornered the nutrition sciences and industry. This post covers some of the little-known history.
Read MoreColostrum is something that many people are totally or partially unaware of. If you have heard of it, it may have only been because you or someone you know had a child and had to deal with lactation. Colostrum is the first yellowish fluid produced after childbirth. It is pure for about the first four days of lactation, and then it is slowly replaced by milk over several weeks. The early milk that still contains some colostrum is called transitional milk. All lactating mammals produce colostrum. Research has proven that pure colostrum promotes growth and health in all newborn mammals, including humans.
Bovine (from cows) colostrum is consumed by some traditional cultures and is becoming more popular as a supplement for its supposed health benefits. This post will cover what it is, what it does for newborn babies, and its use for adults.
Read MoreMeat has long been associated with heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. However, most studies are demographic studies or use food recall questionnaires. Both have limitations compared to clinical trials, and so, are lacking. For this reason, most governmental dietary guidelines include meat as a nutritious part of healthy eating, even with its undeserved bad reputation. Conversely, authorities have prompted the spread of vegetarianism and veganism, based on the assumption that non-meat diets provide more health benefits than diets that include meat. A recent study that included 90% of the world’s population showed a strong correlation between higher animal-based food consumption and longer lifespans. I will break the study down in today’s post for its strengths and weaknesses.
Read MoreWe should all understand that Protein is essential for good health, and numerous studies tell us that the quality AND quantity both matter. I am going to highlight two new studies that looked at animal versus plant protein consumption and their effects on our health. I will cover some quick and easy tips on how to maximize your protein intake for better health. Lastly, I will introduce Private Tim Hall.
Read MoreI was on a digital detox this week and therefore did not look at any research or explore new topics in health. I was incidentally celebrating my sixtieth birthday at the same time. During the week, I saw some old college friends, one of whom I had not seen since 1985. I was feeling a bit nostalgic, so I went on social media after my detox was over to look at pictures from the past. I found this one of me in a striped shirt from 1985 that my dad took by our pool. My wife always tells me that she thinks I look just as good as the younger me, so I got the crazy idea to try and strike the same pose and see how I really stack up to a younger man. We had a good laugh trying. She claims to like the silver fox with the fancy watch better! Unfortunately, many of the years in between the photos were spent with avoidable health problems. This post will cover what happened and how I was able to get healthy and strong again.
Read MoreAt our grocery stores and dinner tables, even the most thoughtful consumers are overwhelmed by the number of considerations to weigh when choosing what to eat—especially when it comes to meat. Guided by the noble principle of least harm, many responsible citizens resolve the ethical, environmental, and nutritional conundrum by quitting meat entirely. But can a healthy, sustainable, and conscientious food system exist without animals? Sacred Cow probes the fundamental moral, environmental, and nutritional quandaries we face in raising and eating animals, especially the most maligned of farmed animals, the cow.
Read MoreAccording to The Vegan Society, “Veganism is a way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose.” They state on their site that “There are many ways to embrace vegan living. Yet one thing all vegans have in common is a plant-based diet avoiding all animal foods such as meat (including fish, shellfish, and insects), dairy, eggs, and honey - as well as avoiding animal-derived materials, products tested on animals and places that use animals for entertainment.” You can see from their definition that the primary goal is admirable, but not related to health and wellness. You may be surprised to hear that vegan (or any other) diets done carelessly can cause some harm.
Read MoreWhy are some people are choosing to eat a meat-only diet. Is this a safe diet? Can you get all the nutrients you need from it? Will it give you cancer? Find out in this post…
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