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October 31, 2011
Happy Halloween. What a beautiful day it is!!!! Enjoy the fellowship with your children and friends tonight.
Today's letter is in response to the many recent questions I have fielded on diets and meat intake.
First, let me say that this is only my opinion based on the facts as I understand them.
Being a vegetarian, a vegan or a meatatarian for most people is based on what there taste buds tell them. The vast majority of Americans are not eating for health, they are eating for taste. I think that we need to merge the two. Health and quality taste can coexist.
Do we need to eat meat? Many nutrition specialists say NO. (See the China Study or read Dr. Neal Barnard's work.) This is hard for me to swallow when you go back to a natural understanding of life. Why do we have canine teeth if we were supposed to be vegetarians? All omnivores on the earth eat meat. Why therefore should we be different?
Vitamin B12 is an essential nutrient that humans must obtain from an animal or a supplement. Milk, meat, shellfish and other meat sources will provide adequate volumes of B12 for our health. In the absence of food consumption we must supplement.
This again begs the natural question of "is this the way it is supposed to be?"
I think that if we look at the totality of the data, we can make an educated decision that meat is necessary but in very limited quantities. Suffice it to say that the vast majority of Americans eat far too much meat.
Our genomes are based on a hunter gatherer history. We had to hunt an animal to feed a village. These animals ate grass and natural foods. We divided the spoils among the family. Meat was an infrequent luxury. This history is completely out of balance today.
I personally eat only natural grass fed, hormone free animal meats. In 2011, I think that if we eat mostly vegetables, fruits, nuts, whole grains and seeds we have the best chance of survival. Limit your meat intake to 1-2 times per week and go for it.
My take home point today: Live according to nature's teachings
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