Why am I mostly meatless and not entirely meatless, you may ask? If you're going to eat some meat occasionally, then why avoid animal based foods most of the time?
This is what I believe - a diet based mostly on plant sources is just healthier. Now I know all the low carb/paleo people are going to jump on me, but let's address a few basic misconceptions.
1. Protein is good for you, so more protein has to be better for you. This one is just not true. Too much protein consumption can be toxic and puts a strain on the liver. Anyone that's ever been on a low carb diet can tell you that it causes constipation and often fatigue. And since most of the protein in the western diet comes from meat, high protein consumption most often leads to high consumption of animal fats. Studies have shown that diets high in animal protein and fats is linked to heart disease and cancer. There have even been links found to diabetes independent of overweight.
2. Plant based diets are high in carbohydrates and carbs are bad. The saying goes that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, and in this case it couldn’t be more right. There’s no doubt that chasing two slices of pizza with a gallon of high-fructose corn syrup laden soda is a bad idea, but there are carbs and there are carbs. Eating a diet of nothing but highly processed carbs is bad for you. These foods digest quickly, cause a spike in blood sugar and in the end just aren’t as satisfying as less refined foods, so we tend to eat more of them. They’re also a bit addictive. They go down easy and taste good, or at least they rarely taste bad because anything piquant has been refined out. You can be a vegetarian and eat nothing but pizza, soda and chips. If this is the kind of “plant based diet” one is talking about then the critics are right, but it’s also possible to eat whole fruit, unrefined grains, soy protein instead of cheese and lots of vegetables. This is a plant-based diet rich in carbohydrates, but it’s healthy, filling and won’t send your body on a blood sugar roller coaster.
3. We are evolved to eat meat and so we should. This is a bit more complicated than it seems. Some proponents of the vegetarian diet will claim that this just isn’t true, but even a basic knowledge of human biology will reveal that we are adapted to be omnivorous. Neither our teeth nor our stomachs resemble those of herbivores. There is at least one nutrient (B-12) that we can’t get from eating plant foods in enough quantities to stay healthy. An examination of Paleolithic people (of which there are still some living on earth today) shows that meat plays a part in the diet. But I will point out it’s not nearly the role some people would like to say it is. There is no real scientific consensus on what percentage of calories in hunter-gatherer diets came from animal sources in the past because diets vary based on geographic location and what is available in the local environment. Neither is easy-digesting starches and sugars such a rarity. As well as gathering tubers and edible seeds, these tribes also hunt honey and eat considerable amounts of ripe fruit in season. Our closest relatives – chimps – get as much as 95% of the their calories from plants sources and their digestive tracts are essentially the same as ours. Most importantly, just because we can eat animals doesn’t mean it’s what’s healthiest for us. Epidemiologic studies have shown that many diseases are rarest among modern societies where animal sources make up the least proportion of dietary intake.
4. We can survive on just plants and would be healthier for it. Vegans do not want to hurt animals or benefit from the suffering of animals and so it would be very nice for them if this was true, but it isn’t really. There’s the B-12 thing, but beyond that it’s just hard to be fully nourished on a vegan diet without putting a lot of effort into it. It’s just as easy to be malnourished on a vegan diet as a diet that includes animal based foods. It’s harder, but just as possible to be overweight. I applaud anyone that can stick to and be healthy on a diet that excludes all animal based foods, but it seems to me a person can be just as healthy by restricting their consumption as by completely eliminating them.
I have chosen to be “mostly meatless” for a number of reasons. I will concede that a little meat isn’t such a bad thing, but only a little. Not a little with each meal, not even a little each day, but a very little each week or month. I have found that I can get adequate protein from plant sources and plant-based fats are plentiful. There’s also a psychological component, knowing that I can consume meat every once in a while makes it easier to consume none most days. I don’t worry about it, and every day it gets easier. I eat like I do because I think it will make me healthier over time and all I have to do is follow a few simple rules 95% of the time – no meat, no milk, no eggs. Anyone who thinks that is restrictive should try it for just one day. You’ll find there is a lot to eat, most of it healthy, and you won’t be hungry.
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