Just a few months ago, I was exploring the wonders of slow-cooked smoked meats on my Weber kettle. I figured since meat was one of the few things to which I don't have a known allergy, I would embrace it. Oh how times have changed! From smokin' pork parts on the grill to abandoning all things porcine. EVEN bacon. I love bacon. Tim M. gave me a whole cookbook of bacon recipes a few years ago. THAT's how much I love bacon. So giving up meat is no small thing.
Why would I do so? Well, it's been an evolution really. I've been reading a lot about atopy/allergies/hay fever/dermatitis, etc. in an effort to get healthy. Because I'm tired of being sick and tired, and I have concluded that you just cannot leave it up to the average Western M.D., because they don't have the time or the right training to deal with this problem. Doctors have no training at all in nutrition and are not trained to even consider diet as a treatment. (Frankly, I blame big Pharma, but don't get me started on that right now.) Doctors do not fully understand the immune system and atopy and there is, so far as they know, no "cure" for atopy. So they treat the symptoms with pills. And right now all they have are antihistamines and steroids. Well, I've tried them, they don't work, they are expensive, I don't want to be on prescriptions meds the rest of my life, and I want to treat the cause of my atopy (or the closest thing thereto) not the symptoms. SO, I've been doing a lot of recreational education. And, if you're following along, it has really paid off. I discovered that atopic dermatitis and hay fever made me a likely candidate for food allergies. I discovered that there are allergies that are IgG-mediated (rather than IgE-mediated, which is the first type of allergy discovered and the only type of "allergy" that some conservative docs recognize -- the world was flat for a very long time). And an IgG ELISA blood test told me that I'm allergic to dairy, eggs, and, to a lesser extent, wheat (not gluten -- just wheat, which means I can eat barley, rye and oats). The new elimination diet has worked really well on my dermatitis and my rhinitis. The rashes are basically non-existent unless I contact an allergen directly, and my nose is now used for breathing more than blowing out snot. So far, so good.
But I was having some hay fever problems (i.e., pollens were kicking my ass) with our early spring here in the Valley of the Sun, and I dug into a book on Hay Fever and natural cures: Hay Fever and Allergies: Discovering the Real Culprits and Natural
Solutions for Reversing Allergic Rhinitis, by Casey Adams, Ph. D. I'm still only 58% into this book, which is very detailed and goes through the results of medical studies worldwide and includes traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurvedic treatments for allergies. I was skeptical throughout the first part of the book, where he outlines all the studies concluding that animal proteins/animal products are linked to hay fever and asthma (and thus atopic dermatitis as well). I know my own experience has been that the dairy and egg (yes, diary and egg ARE animal products containing animal proteins) were causing my problems. But meat? Seriously? My IgG blood test only showed a slight sensitivity to beef, so I figured I was okay with meat -- I could happily pork out (snort!).
And then I found Forks Over Knives and Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. FOK is a documentary featuring the work of two old-timey Western medical doctors (yes, the same guys that normally push pills at us) who both concluded, separately, that type II diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and even cancer, are linked directly to animal proteins in meat, dairy and eggs. Huh. I can't go through the whole movie for you, but I highly recommend it to every person on the planet. This information is not secret, and everyone should know it. Eating meat, dairy and eggs not only makes you fat, it makes you sick. Several studies have shown a very strong direct link between dairy protein (casein) and liver cancer (they use liver cancer, because it's easy to induce in poor lab rats). I mean as strong a link as smoking and lung cancer. That's pretty serious, and I really want to shout it to the world -- "Don't get milk!" Or cheese. Or butter, yogurt....
And Fat Sick and Nearly Dead is a documentary about some Australian guy with $$ (Joe Cross, I believe), who got chronic hives (urticaria) in his 40's and didn't want to be on steroids forever. So he decided to go on a 60-day juice fast (not really a fast, because he was consuming large quantities of juiced veggies and fruit) while driving across the U.S. (not sure why his juice fast involved this Cross-country tour, or why it was the U.S., but whatever). He lost about 100 pounds and cured his problem while convincing others to do the same, with equally excellent results. Same deal with the people they followed in the FOK documentary -- everyone who kicked meat, dairy and eggs lost weight, reversed their diabetes and/or heart disease, had no recurrence of their cancer, and no longer needed their meds. Pretty amazing results -- results that are unobtainable with pills.
So this has made me think. As much as I don't like the conclusion, everything I am reading leads to the same conclusion -- our diet of large quantities of animal products/proteins -- meat, dairy and eggs -- is making us sick. I think I can still eat some meat (bacon!), but I am determined to cut back. AND, I am determined to seek out local, grass-fed and free-range meats, rather than corn-fed beef cruelly-raised/slaughtered and pumped full of antibiotics to fight the problems caused by feeding them corn. (Did you know that we could feed the whole world and then some, if we sent the corn we use to feed animals to people who need food? But that's yet another issue I won't get into right now. See Food, Inc. for a fascinating look at agribusiness.) Note that these movies both recommend a plant-based diet, not necessarily a strict Vegan diet. And nowhere in there does anyone say you can NEVER eat meat or dairy or eggs. They just tell you that they are making you sick and you should be eating a plant-based diet. So my conclusion is that you can eat animal products infrequently, but the overwhelming majority of your diet ought to be veggies, fruits, legumes, and whole grains (note that there are LOTS of grains other than wheat).
Who knew? I never thought that at age 49 I would still be evolving this way. But, as challenging as it is to eliminate meat, dairy and eggs from the diet, I'm gonna do it. Because you only live once, and I want to do it right. That, and I'm terrified I'll get Alzheimer's like my mother and my grandmother -- that doesn't bode well for me, now, does it? Mostly Vegan it is.
One last comment. A friend of mine recently suggested that I should read some nice fiction novels, hinting broadly that I ought to stop obtaining, or at least sharing, information about health and nutrition. I am amazed, really amazed, as the resistance to such critical information. People just don't want to hear it. And, even armed with the information, they still don't want to change their handy, yummy diet of meat, dairy and eggs. Wow. I guess I am lucky that I got so sick that I had to do all this research to make myself better, because I am not sure that I would have had the willpower to do it myself if I had not been forced to do so. But I was, and I am. And I plan on continuing to educate myself about health and nutrition no matter what my friends may think. Sorry Steve, but I will be annoying you further with information I think is not just important, but literally life or death. I'd keep it to myself, but seriously, everyone should know.
Alright -- I've got to stop blogging and make myself something healthy for breakfast!
Next: Should I really stop drinking alcohol? Oh Hell.
And then I found Forks Over Knives and Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. FOK is a documentary featuring the work of two old-timey Western medical doctors (yes, the same guys that normally push pills at us) who both concluded, separately, that type II diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and even cancer, are linked directly to animal proteins in meat, dairy and eggs. Huh. I can't go through the whole movie for you, but I highly recommend it to every person on the planet. This information is not secret, and everyone should know it. Eating meat, dairy and eggs not only makes you fat, it makes you sick. Several studies have shown a very strong direct link between dairy protein (casein) and liver cancer (they use liver cancer, because it's easy to induce in poor lab rats). I mean as strong a link as smoking and lung cancer. That's pretty serious, and I really want to shout it to the world -- "Don't get milk!" Or cheese. Or butter, yogurt....
And Fat Sick and Nearly Dead is a documentary about some Australian guy with $$ (Joe Cross, I believe), who got chronic hives (urticaria) in his 40's and didn't want to be on steroids forever. So he decided to go on a 60-day juice fast (not really a fast, because he was consuming large quantities of juiced veggies and fruit) while driving across the U.S. (not sure why his juice fast involved this Cross-country tour, or why it was the U.S., but whatever). He lost about 100 pounds and cured his problem while convincing others to do the same, with equally excellent results. Same deal with the people they followed in the FOK documentary -- everyone who kicked meat, dairy and eggs lost weight, reversed their diabetes and/or heart disease, had no recurrence of their cancer, and no longer needed their meds. Pretty amazing results -- results that are unobtainable with pills.
So this has made me think. As much as I don't like the conclusion, everything I am reading leads to the same conclusion -- our diet of large quantities of animal products/proteins -- meat, dairy and eggs -- is making us sick. I think I can still eat some meat (bacon!), but I am determined to cut back. AND, I am determined to seek out local, grass-fed and free-range meats, rather than corn-fed beef cruelly-raised/slaughtered and pumped full of antibiotics to fight the problems caused by feeding them corn. (Did you know that we could feed the whole world and then some, if we sent the corn we use to feed animals to people who need food? But that's yet another issue I won't get into right now. See Food, Inc. for a fascinating look at agribusiness.) Note that these movies both recommend a plant-based diet, not necessarily a strict Vegan diet. And nowhere in there does anyone say you can NEVER eat meat or dairy or eggs. They just tell you that they are making you sick and you should be eating a plant-based diet. So my conclusion is that you can eat animal products infrequently, but the overwhelming majority of your diet ought to be veggies, fruits, legumes, and whole grains (note that there are LOTS of grains other than wheat).
Who knew? I never thought that at age 49 I would still be evolving this way. But, as challenging as it is to eliminate meat, dairy and eggs from the diet, I'm gonna do it. Because you only live once, and I want to do it right. That, and I'm terrified I'll get Alzheimer's like my mother and my grandmother -- that doesn't bode well for me, now, does it? Mostly Vegan it is.
One last comment. A friend of mine recently suggested that I should read some nice fiction novels, hinting broadly that I ought to stop obtaining, or at least sharing, information about health and nutrition. I am amazed, really amazed, as the resistance to such critical information. People just don't want to hear it. And, even armed with the information, they still don't want to change their handy, yummy diet of meat, dairy and eggs. Wow. I guess I am lucky that I got so sick that I had to do all this research to make myself better, because I am not sure that I would have had the willpower to do it myself if I had not been forced to do so. But I was, and I am. And I plan on continuing to educate myself about health and nutrition no matter what my friends may think. Sorry Steve, but I will be annoying you further with information I think is not just important, but literally life or death. I'd keep it to myself, but seriously, everyone should know.
Alright -- I've got to stop blogging and make myself something healthy for breakfast!
Next: Should I really stop drinking alcohol? Oh Hell.
Naw, you got me wrong, Tracy. I only suggested alternate reading so as lessen the pressure on your head, and allow you a bit of relaxation to go with your research.
ReplyDeleteYou are right, however, in your contention that I do not want to change my diet in a great, move-the-earth way. A little less fat and suger, sure, but it's kind of a personal thing, you know?
What works for one may not work for all - and I am not unhappy with the way that my body has acquitted itself for these many years - I can still carry my world on my back for ten miles a day, at the drop of a hat.
Steve, you're in excellent shape for someone even older than me ;-), and already a pretty thoughtful and healthy consumer of foods. I want to share information I'm learning about food and health with the people I care about simply because it is (1) important -- life or death is pretty important, I think (2) and it is NOT getting out there to the general public like it should, because it's boring, agribusiness has excellent P.R. ("Got Milk?"), people think they already know what's good/bad for them, and people really don't want to know that the foods they enjoy are killing them, because they are not willing to give up those foods. As an example, you mentioned tonight that you already know that red meat is bad for us. But that is precisely the type of misconception that FOK (and my other books, etc.) address -- it is not saturated fat or just red meat that cause arteriosclerosis, heart disease and cancer, but animal protein, which includes dairy and eggs, not just meat. One of the key studies they discuss in FOK found that casein (a dairy protein) is directly and clearly linked to cancer. Most people are not aware of this, and I think they should be. So I'm not trying to be all preachy and tell you that you need to change your diet -- that's your call, I just think that everyone should have this information. Information is power, and when you have more information you can make better choices. You may not need this info now, Mr. Studly, but one day you, or someone you love, might, so I'm just trying to Share the Power!
ReplyDeleteDon't worry, my obsession with this will eventually wear off, and I'll go back to discussing the latest movies and politics over beer/champagne. Meanwhile, FOK remains available for viewing any time you decide you want to borrow it. And I'll try not to harp on it too much -- but it's a big part of my life and I'm fascinated/obsessed, because food has so clearly changed my life/health in a way that astonishes me. How about a tirade against big Pharma? Would that be more interesting? I could go back to taking walks where birds shit on my head....that's always good for a laugh.