Meat & Protein: Dispelling the Myths (Part 4) JoAnn Guest

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Meat & Protein: Dispelling the Myths (Part 4) JoAnn Guest

Sep 21, 2006 19:25 PDT

 

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Meat & Protein:

Dispelling the Myths (Part 4)

Transcript of Gary Null's Radio Show

 

 

Note: The information on this website is presented for educational

purposes only.

It is not a substitute for the advice of a qualified professional.

 

GARY NULL: Hi everyone. I'm Gary Null, and I'd like to welcome you

to

this program. Today we are taking an in depth look at a very

important

topic. One that impacts upon virtually all people on the planet.

Protein

and all the different ways we can get it. This is a continuation of

our

in depth investigative reporting series on Meat, Protein and

Dispelling

the Myths. Today we're going to talk about what is vegetarianism and

why

would you want to choose it as a way of life. Well despite its

quirky

food fad connotations of the past, vegetarianism has in the last 30

years become a way of life for at least four million new Americans

who

have shifted to that diet. Some people still think being a

vegetarian

means a life sentence of brown rice and broccoli. The truth is far

from

boring, and we are going to dispel some of those myths now.

 

In point of fact vegetarianism does not imply vegetables as some

people

have mistaken. To the contrary it's from the Latin vegetera, which

means

to enliven. Vegetarians are eating a health enhancing life food. Now

being a vegetarian means nothing more than abstaining from the flesh

of

warm-blooded animals, but there is more than one way to do this.

Total

vegetarians thrive solely on plant foods. They eat not only

vegetables,

but also fruits and nuts and grains and seeds and legumes and herbs

of

various types. Most people who are vegetarians today don't

appreciate

that you can have degrees of vegetarianism.

 

For example, a vegan abstains from all animal foods and dairy

products,

but also they do not wear any leather or wear any wool. Not wool

sweaters or wool blouses or suits. They have no silk on their body

or in

their living environment. Lacto vegetarians will include milk and

milk

products, but primarily subsist on non-flesh foods except for milk.

Lacto-ovo vegetarians will eat eggs along with milk and vegetables.

Pesco vegetarians allow fish in their diets, and prime examples

would be

the hundreds of millions of Asians who live on the staples of rice,

beans, fish, and fresh and root vegetables. Polo vegetarians eat

generally some form of poultry either free range hens or wild game

birds, but still don't eat all other forms of red meat.

 

So you could say well can I be a vegetarian and consume wild birds

or

can I be a vegetarian and still wear silk or wear a wool suit? And

the

answer is you have many definitions of vegetarianism. You can be a

vegetarian and still not be as specific as other types of

vegetarians.

So it's really what you want to do, and that's why there's no one

single

concept of a vegetarian. Even those who are vegan and who will stand

loud and tall on the platform espousing the benefits of veganism -

if

you look carefully you'll frequently see them wearing a leather belt

or

leather shoes or wool socks. And therefore they're not as pure. So

you

might say it's much like a religion. You can be ultra orthodox or

orthodox or reform or conservative or very liberal. There's a full

spectrum, and yet you still all believe in the same God. You still

all

have the same basic concepts of an identity associated with

something. A

lot of times people will say well I'm a vegetarian because I have a

certain ethic towards animals. Less so on the hygiene.

 

But let's look throughout the world why three-quarters of the

world's

population subsist fairly much on a vegetarian way, and where we in

the

West and other western societies like England, Germany, France, and

Italy are more of a meat consuming and dairy consuming society. We

also

consume far more processed carbohydrates. The US alone today has

approximately nine million vegetarians. Now that number is

increasing,

but not rapidly and not in the adult population. The largest single

increase in the concept of vegetarianism in the last ten years has

been

in people under the age of 18. In fact young people, including

children,

represent a very large group, and where not always are their parents

vegetarian. You can go into restaurants now and find gourmet

vegetarian

entrees. You can read meatless cookbooks. Even tuning into the radio

programs today, you'll have more programs talking about

vegetarianism

than ever before.

 

Let's look at health. Not only is health a major - perhaps the

major -

reason for most people becoming vegetarian it's one of the reasons

many

stick with it. Cutting out fatty meats and substituting lighter

plant

proteins can have amazing effects on general health and well being.

Not

only that but vegetarianism can in many ways actually prevent

disease.

For example, the saturated fats, the arachidonic acids, and the high

inflammatory proteins and fats that can produce what we call c-

reactive

protein or homocysteine and elevated cholesterol and the bad LDL

cholesterol, those are principally from meats and dairy products.

Those

in turn can lead in time to gene alterations, which can through gene

alterations and hormonal imbalances - because the more animal

proteins

you take in the more adverse effects to your hormones, especially

the

dominance of estrogen in men and women. When men have a dominance of

estrogen you lose testosterone and you can end up with impotency,

prostate cancer, excessive abdominal fat, and heart disease. In

women

excess estrogen from a high protein diet can lead to breast and

colorectal and uterine cancer.

 

So these bad fats also contribute to hardening of the arteries and

over-consumption of animal proteins has definitely been associated

with

diseases of osteoporosis, stroke, liver and kidney disorders,

arthritis,

and dementia. The brains of people who are vegetarians and

supplement

properly are not going to have the same type or concentration of

amyloid

plaques that can lead to senility and Alzheimer's. Quite frankly

your

brain is going to live longer and you'll be mentally healthier on a

vegetarian diet. Vegetarianism isn't a cure for these life

threateners,

but by deleting meat and dairy products from your diet you're taking

a

very smart preventative step.

 

As if it weren't bad enough as it is, meat is often contaminated

with

hormones, antibiotics, tranquilizers, preservatives, additives, and

pesticides. These toxins can have negative long-term effects on

health,

and recently have been connected with cases of salmonella and E.

coli

and listeria. It's only the elimination of meat that makes

vegetarianism

such a healthy lifestyle to some. Putting more fiber rich vegetables

and

grains in the diet by eliminating the meat improves the functioning

of

your digestive tract. That prevents colorectal cancer and

diverticular

conditions and lessens constipation and gas. Lowering your

cholesterol.

Lowering your blood pressure. Also improves when you go on a

meatless

diet because along with meat frequently comes a lot of salt. And

with

the combination of salt, meat, dehydration, high blood pressure is

the

consequence. But there are other reasons including economics.

 

The economics of vegetarianism are hard to beat. Ounce for ounce

plants

that are of full spectrum of which are available are thriftier

choices

than meat across the board. Heading for the produce stand or the

farmer's market or the food coop, which is the most economic way of

buying organic fresh produce. You can save upwards of 30 percent in

a

lot of food coops if you work there, and if you don't frequently 20

percent. Farmers markets like the one at least in Manhattan on the

weekends you can save upwards of 40 percent on a lot of items.

They're

fresher. They're organic and there's greater variety. In fact if you

go

to a health food store in the mornings and I've done this. When I

first

came to New York City. You find that when the produce comes in day

old

produce, which is completely nutritious - there's nothing wrong with

it.

It's just may not look as perfect or when they're taking the apples

out

and there might be a little scale on an apple. A scale's not bad. Or

the

lettuce is too large. They have to trim out all the outer leaves.

 

Well they'll throw cases and cases of completely nutritious good

produce

away each day. I use to collect all that and take it to a soup

kitchen

over on West End Avenue at 73rd Street. Then I'd take the rest home

and

juice it and have my juice for the day for free. A little effort,

but it

was worth it. If you go to stores you can always find ways of making

deals, but people don't want to be bothered. Well if you can afford

not

to be bothered fine. But dollar for dollar you will save upwards of

30

percent on a vegetarian diet as versus a traditional diet. The

biggest

single expense in a non-vegetarian diet saved is junk foods.

 

Junk foods are always more expensive. What do you pay for a pound of

organic potatoes? About 83 cents. What do you pay? That's what I

just

checked last night. What do you pay for a pound of potato chips made

from nonorganic potatoes with all that fat and all that salt and

virtually worthless nutritionally? You're paying almost 16 dollars.

So

16 dollars versus 83 cents. Getting something that's nutritious with

alpha lipoic acid and vitamin C and minerals like magnesium you'll

get

in the potato. You don't get anything in the potato chip except

making

yourself sick.

 

On a larger scale vegetarianism can also produce beneficial effects.

Agribusiness rules the meat industry roost. Their enormous

corporations

rely on high tech, high cost methods of meat producing making it

virtually impossible for the small farmer to compete. A general

switch

to vegetables or grains or nuts or seeds or legumes or fruits could

provide the smaller farmer with a new lease on life. In fact I've

taught

classes on sustainable agriculture to little farmers who have no way

of

competing in the large market, but now have a whole boutique market

to

themselves doing micro greens or dried organic fruits. There's

always a

way when the person is smaller in resources to be able to compensate.

 

Recently someone emailed me a letter talking about how the

conservative

media was consistently attacking the idea of organic or vegetarian

because people would starve, and only by mechanized large-scale

farming

with pesticides could we save the hungry. Well on previous programs

I've

dismantled that entire myth. In point of fact, large scale

industrialized farming depletes the soil. Robs it of its nutrients.

Plant foods such as corn that do not give nitrogen back to the soil,

but

takes an enormous amount out. Do not do cover crops, and do not do

any

natural fertilizing. They pollute the ground water. Pollute artesian

wells. Pollute deep springs so that over 60 million American

families

and individuals no longer have safe water to drink in rural American

or

even suburban America where those aqua streams travel to because of

the

run off of commercial farming.

 

We also have too much - far, far away too much soil that's eroded

each

year, but we're almost deceived because we do artificial

fertilizing,

which gives the impression that something is richer than what it is.

In

fact we're closer to the Great Dust Bowl in economic devastation

than we

would imagine. Very little quality topsoil is left in the United

States.

And you produce mono crops. Mono crops and the crops we produce such

as

corn and soy are fed to cattle and pigs, and the wheat goes into

processed refined carbohydrates: bread and pastas and pastries. So

we're

really getting almost no nutritional value for 85 percent of all of

the

cropland in the United States that goes towards these types of

grains.

 

Whereas if we did small sustainable agriculture - let's say you take

a

100-acre farm and you plant it in sections. You do a section in your

root vegetables like rutabaga and parsnips and turnips and potatoes

and

leeks. Then herbs like garlic and shallots and onions and rosemary

and

thyme and dill and oregano. Then you do a whole section of fruit

trees

and nut trees. Then you have your different grains like amaranth and

quinoa and you have beehives for honey. In fact my beehives I have

so

much honey left over that the bees actually swarm. Meaning that they

keep swimming because I have too much honey, and I generally don't

get

around to taking the honey except maybe once a year because there's

so

much variety of trees around that they're constantly pollinating.

But

when you take the honey a small part and you leave the majority for

them, you'll get something that is enormously beneficial. It's one

of

nature's most perfect medicines: raw organic unheated unfiltered

honey.

It's almost perfection in food, and is the only food in the world

that

will never go bad. We don't do that.

 

We use sugar instead of honey - what a difference nutritionally.

Even if

they were both the same caloric content, which is where most people

keep

their argument, and that's the wrong argument to take because one is

full of life and the other is dead. It's like saying well they're

both

15 calories per teaspoon. That's not what's relevant. One is filled

with

enzymes, phytonutrients, healing natural antibiotics. You take it.

It

helps soothe your throat. It can help protect you. I take a teaspoon

of

honey every time I get on an airplane because I want anything I'm

breathing in helped to be killed by a natural antibiotic resistance

in

the honey. It works. Bee propolis from the beehives also works, but

most

importantly the bees are there to pollinate; and when you pollinate

my

goodness you get such better crops. You get healthier crops. By

giving

natural fertilizers to the soil and natural regular treatment such

as

spraying sesame oil on plants instead of using toxic pesticides will

keep nymph toads and all other forms of problems. But we're not

doing

that because we think it's not practical. In point of fact it is the

only way of feeding people in the future. It's having sustainable

agriculture. So their argument is simply bogus.

 

Now we should also look at conservation of natural resources. The

breeding and slaughter of animals and the subsequent producing,

packaging of the meat and chicken and dairy requires an inordinate

amount of food, water, energy, land, and raw materials. Many people

opt

for vegetarianism as a personal contribution to the necessary

preservation of our fragile eco system and our limited natural

resources.

 

Let's also examine food resources. Similarly the ideal of eating

simply

so that everyone may eat often leads people to an animal free diet.

The

logic is the land is capable of supplying food for nearly 14 times

as

many people when it's used to grow food for people rather than crops

to

feed livestock. Remember when you're growing crops for livestock

you're

growing one crop like corn, and when you grow corn it's one of your

most

absolutely nutritionally worthless foods. That soil is depleted. On

that

same 100 acres you could grow 100 different crops and feed 100

families.

 

How do I know? I've done it. I took a bankrupt farm. I bought it on

the

steps of a courthouse upstate, and there was the farmer and his

daughter

standing in a little pickup truck. He had his arm in a sling and had

a

red jacket on. I never will forget that face he looked at me with.

He

came over after I bought this property and he said well how long do

I

have to get off the property. I said who you are. He said I'm the

owner.

I said how long have you lived there. He said my family has had it

for

100 years. It was 200 acres in Goshen. I said why do you feel you

lost

it. He said well you know between the labor costs of the migrant

labor

and the tough market in onions and celery and the high cost of

equipment

I just couldn't make it. I said well tell you what I'm going to do.

You

don't have to leave your property. So I went in the bank and I

deeded

him back 35 acres including his house, his barn and his garage on a

choice spot overlooking everything. I said it's yours. You own it

for

free. You have no debt to anyone now. At the end of a year I'll let

you

have the whole farm back for a dollar if you follow what I do.

 

He said okay. He had nothing to lose. Right? So I went about turning

this old beaten up regular farm in Goshen into the finest organic

farm

in this part of the United States. In fact by midsummer I had

tractor-trailers every single health food store from Boston to

Washington, DC all the food came off of it. Over 70 varieties of

fruits

and vegetables and all done with one laborer - one human being - me.

The

other farmers came by in pickup trucks and would just sit there and

look

and shaking their heads. What's he doing now? What's that? Why has

he

got all those chickens out there? What's he doing in that little

moped

driving up and down the aisles? Why put cleats into the tires of a

moped? So while they'd be out there paying someone to pick the weeds

or

putting pesticides on or herbicides to get rid of the weeds I was

simply

driving up and down the rows once every two days. It took me about a

half hour. It would tear up the little root structure of the weed,

and

then I brought in 100 chickens. The chickens would eat the bugs off

of

the baby seedling plants so they were getting healthy eating the

bugs.

Scraping the soil. Leaving their fertilizer. Giving eggs. He took

the

organic free-range eggs to the local health food coop. I told him

you

can't kill the chickens, but you can take the eggs because otherwise

the

chicken's going to lay an egg and these may or may not be fertile

eggs.

 

So anyhow he took the advice and watched. I showed him how to plant

rotational crops and plant edible flowers. He had never had an

edible

flower. Well within a year, one season, the experiment was over. He

has

back his farm. I've never gone back. I really should, but a lot of

you

came. Remember? I said you could come and have all the free produce

you

want. You did. Hundreds of thousands of pounds of free produce. I

asked

people who belonged at the synagogues and churches and inner city

programs bring the kids. We must have had two to three thousand kids

come up from inner city who watched how organic farming was done and

sustainable agriculture. I was up there every Friday, Saturday and

Sunday for that year. But it worked. That's one farm out of

thousands,

but all it takes is one. All it takes is showing someone once how to

do

it to show that it can be done. So we've gotten it all wrong when it

comes to thinking that we can't do it. We can't turn it around. Sure

we

can. We can do anything if we want.

 

Let's also not forget the respect for animal life. Many vegetarians

are

against animal slaughter feeling that the breeding of livestock for

food

is inhumane. Their vegetarianism is a cry against cruelty and

suffering.

It's based upon the belief that they can help to save the lives of

innocent creatures. I had a program at my ranch in Texas where the

school systems would bring in kids every day when I was there and

when I

wasn't my brother Howard would do it. We made like a little lunch

for

the kids. Mainly these were handicapped kids in some way. They were

brought in. They had never had a chance to actually interrelate with

animals, and here would be a giant eight-foot & #65533;lan with a giant

horn on its head and be as gentle as it could be. They'd have a

chance

to go out and pet buffalo and Scottish Highlander cattle and

antelope

and all kinds of animals.

 

I had over 400 animals on the ranch of 200 acres down there in

Texas.

The most fun they had were with the little deer and the little

heifers,

the little calves. They just can't give you enough love. They'd look

forward. They'd ask can we come back and play with the animals. Yes.

You

can. Can we? And their eyes would get real wide. As they were

leaving

the ranch they'd have their little faces pressed against the window

with

their eyes out and waving at their little new friend animals they'd

made. Now that over and over again bonding with these animals

whenever

they wanted - thousands.

 

Sometimes I'd fly in and as I was pulling up to the ranch at little

place called Tygo (sp?), Texas north of Dallas there'd be generally

a

local sheriff or a deputy sheriff or state police guiding people on

where they could park in one area. I've seen as many as 500 people

on a

weekend up on the ranch. Nothing was ever stolen. In fact I built an

old

Wild West town for them. On the weekend all the locals would come

and

have their dance and everything. Never anything broken. Left it

clean.

Just nice people. Nice people. Respect for life. Respect for animal

life. Those kids are not going to want to go eat a hamburger after

that.

So we have to teach people early in life.

 

Then there's religion, and let us not forget the power of religion

to

mold a concept in our mind and reinforce it with the support of

other

people within that religion. They can make a difference. There are

many

religious disciplines both contemporary and ancient that incorporate

a

meat free diet. Now there are reasons for endorsing vegetarianism.

They

stem from a belief that human life may be reincarnated as animal

life or

vice versa for some religions like the Hindu religion or the Jainism

religion and or from ethical considerations against the taking of

life

or even from considerations of the health benefits or combinations.

 

Then we have personal taste. For many a taste for meat is an

acquired

one starting in childhood. It's not due to an innate craving for

protein. For those who choose to skip the steak and burgers for

whatever

reason the taste for them usually fades fast. No wonder with the

endless

variety of protein providing plant foods available and the tasty

ways

they're being combined and seasoned and prepared. Today is an easy

time

for vegetarians to get what they want.

 

Now let's take a look at some other aspects of vegetarianism. Many

people throughout the ages made the decision to forego red meat

after

much thought. It's fascinating to follow the evolution of the

vegetarian

lifestyle from ancient to modern times. Noting the varied reasons

famous

vegetarians had given for their own styles. Like Gandhi the Indian

leader and pacifist for example felt such a strong kinship with the

animal life he couldn't bear the thought of using innocent creatures

for

food. He said, " To my mind the life of a lamb is no less precious

than

that of a human being. I should be unwilling to take the life of a

lamb

for the sake of the human body. "

 

In ancient Greece Socrates and Plato taught that vegetarianism was

the

ideal diet. Buddha in India and Mohammed in Arabia also advised

against

meat consumption. This diet has also been embraced by many well

known

artists, writers, scientists including: Leonardo da Vinci, Leo

Tolstoy,

Sir Isaac Newton, Ralph Waldo Emerson, H.G. Wells, Upton Sinclair,

and

Charles Darwin. Another legendary figure who was a vegetarian was

Albert

Schweitzer. Schweitzer echoed Gandhi's philosophy when he wrote

that,

" There slowly grew up in me an unshakable conviction that we have no

right to inflict suffering and death on another living creature

unless

therein some unavoidable necessity for it. " And that we ought to

feel

what a horrible thing it is to cause suffering and death out of mere

thoughtlessness.

 

George Bernard Shaw viewed meat consumption as cannibalism with its

heroic dish removed. He attributed his long productive life as a

social

political analyst and writer to his healthy diet. He said, " I flatly

declare that a man fed on whisky and dead bodies cannot do the

finest

work of which he is capable. I have managed to do my thinking

without

the stimulus of tea or coffee. " He said that he felt seldom less

than

ten times as well as an ordinary carcass eater. Shaw felt so

strongly

about his vegetarianism and way of life that he published in

1918 " The

Vegetarian Diet According to Shaw " in order to dispel the

misconceptions

about this dietary style. He said, " An underfed man is not a man who

gets no meat or gets nothing but meat. He is one who does not get

enough

to eat no matter what he eats. The person who is ignorant enough to

believe that his nourishment depends upon meat is in a horrible

dilemma. " Shaw further believed that naturally harvested foods

organic

foods continuously nourish the life force within. He wrote, " Think

of

the fierce energy concentration in an acorn. You bury it in the

ground,

and it explodes into a giant oak. Bury a sheep and nothing happens

but

decay. " Think about that for a moment. Wise words from a brilliant

man.

 

Philosopher Henry David Thoreau dedicated pages to the ideals of

vegetarianism. He felt as he said, " It is a part of the destiny of

the

human in its gradual improvement to leave off eating animals as

surely

as the savage tribes have left off eating each other when they came

in

contact with an advanced civilization. " Thoreau like Shaw felt that

avoidance of meat improved his artistic endeavors. In his masterwork

" Walden " he wrote, " I believe that every man who has ever been

earnest

to preserve his higher or poetic facilities in the best condition

has

been particularly inclined to abstain from animal food. " His

personal

abstinence from meat as well as from coffee and tea was not so much

for

health reasons, but because he said, " There are not good agreeable

to my

imagination. "

 

Perhaps the most inspiration for a person on the brink of going

vegetarian is a pair of well known modern day meat shunners: Helen

and

Scott Nearing. They wrote several books in which they recount their

experiences with the vegetarian lifestyle with much joy and

reverence

for life. No wonder. Both reaped the health benefits of the practice

living long and productive lives. Scott lived to be almost 100, and

Helen I don't know how long she lived. I don't even know if she

still is

living. I visited them on a few occasions. They visited me on my

farm

upstate in New York on one occasion. Wonderful people. They just had

such capacity to feel, to experience and to share.

 

Now their meals consisted of concoctions of fresh fruits and whole

grains and vegetable soups and nut butters and molasses. Their story

is

more than a tale of amazing longevity however. As newlyweds in

the '30s,

the Nearings left busy city life and settled in the peaceful

atmosphere

of Maine. Here they worked hard and together to become monetarily

independent and self-sufficient. They said we are rich in the fresh

air

and fresh water and sunshine. Scott exalted. Growing themselves most

of

what they ate. They enjoyed a freedom that no one dependent on

commercially packaged meats and other foods could imagine. Their

freedom

of he said being the master of each day.

 

More recent vegetarians have included well known athletes and

everyone

from Oscar winner Cloris Leachman who attributes her vibrant health

to

vegetarianism and Dennis Weaver, Paul Newman, Cicely Tyson, and of

course ones who I knew from an older generation. I was very young. I

was

in my 20s and had some best selling books. So I befriended all the

old

ones. Ginger Rogers was a friend. Gloria Swanson was a very close

friend. Hedy Lamar. All of them because they all knew each other and

they all wanted to get healthy. So when one had arthritis I'd get a

call. They were very, very strong on it. Some of them got to it a

little

late in life. Bob Dylan. Paul McCartney. Robbie Shankar. Susan

Smith.

There are a lot of them.

 

Vegetarianism has been around for a long, long time. In fact the

book of

Genesis advocates a diet of fruits, seeds, nuts, and clearly that's

decidedly vegetarian. Other roots of vegetarianism date back to the

early history of the eastern nations. Here ancient religious beliefs

in

the transmigration of the human soul to lower life forms led

followers

to maintain a vegetarian diet out of respect for animal life. Buddha

later commanded in his writings, " Do not butcher the ox that ploughs

thy

field. Do not indulge a voracity that involves a slaughter of

animals. "

Buddhism quickly spread eastward from India and became the state

religion of China around 500 AD. Finally flowed to Japan a century

later. Vegetarianism for the Japanese Buddhist included the belief

that

eating animal flesh polluted the body for 100 days.

 

Vegetarianism in the Hindu religion of India is founded on health

standards formulated in the Hindu epic poem that " those who desire

to

possess good memory, beauty, long life with perfect health and

physical

moral and spiritual strength should abstain from all animal foods. "

Jainism, more a philosophy than a religion, is based on the

principle of

nonviolence and abhors the killing of animals, fish or fowl for

food.

Yoga another oriental discipline follows the vegetarian beliefs of

the

Hindus and Buddhists teaching that all life is formed and sustained

through prana or the life force. The ideal foods according to this

philosophy are those containing life energy including vegetables,

fruits, nuts, legumes, and grains. Accordingly the meat of dead

animals,

which have lost their prana, is useless and should be avoided. Again

you

may have some take offs on this, but that is the principle thought.

 

Analysts of the intestinal contents of mummies have unearthed yet

another race of vegetarians the Egyptians. These ancients have

earned

the modern nickname the eaters of bread, and much later in the

Middle

East Mohammed's holy book of Islam, the Koran, prohibited the eating

of

" dead animals, blood, and flesh. " But it's ancient Greece that

boasts

the beginnings of what we call the real vegetarian movement. Founded

by

Pythagoras and supported by the likes of Plato and Socrates in what

began as a religious policy grew into a feeling that vegetarianism

was

natural and hygienic. Therefore it was necessary to healthy living.

An

unlikely vegetarian race was the Romans who conquered the known

world

with an army fed on bread and porridge and vegetables and wine and

fish.

It was historian Will Durant who said, " The Roman army conquered the

world on a vegetarian diet. Caesar's troops complained when corn ran

out

and they had to eat meat. "

 

After the fall of the Roman Empire vegetarianism fell out of

popularity

for some 1,200 years. Only the devotion and dedication of a few

cloistered orders of the Catholic Church, the Benedictines and the

Cistercians, kept vegetarianism alive until the Renaissance revived

the

ancient teachings and modern vegetarianism got under way. The new

ideologies had the same support from many influential people as the

old.

Among the famous vegetarians in the political, literary and

scientific

arenas were Sir Francis Bacon, Shakespeare, Voltaire, and Benjamin

Franklin. Perhaps because of the increase in meat eating by the 19th

century most European countries saw the organization of whole

vegetarian

movements. It was one of Great Britain's most revered vegetarians,

Reverend William Metcalfe who carried the movement across the waters

to

America in 1817.

 

Also John Wesley, the founder of Methodism who promoted the idea

that

vegetarianism was more healthy than any other way to sustain your

life.

The result was a convention in 1850, which established The American

Vegetarian Society. The cause was furthered by Anna Kingsford, a

19th

century medical practitioner who dedicated much of her scientific

writing to the subject of vegetarianism. She reported that the

strongest

animals in the world including the horse, the elephant, the

rhinoceros,

the hippopotamus, and the camel were herbivores eating only plant

foods.

Paralleled this fact with the amazing athletic prowess of the

ancient

Greeks who avoided meat.

 

Real strides in scientific vegetarianism came out of World War I

when

food scarcity prompted scientists in the United States to reevaluate

the

national diet. Forced to find alternative sources of protein, they

discovered the healthy benefits of non-meat eating at the same time.

The

American way of handling meat shortages was adapted by other

countries

as well. Denmark in 1917 adopted a simple meatless wartime diet

based

upon whole grains, vegetables, and dairy products. The result was

overall improved health and lowered mortality rates. During World

War II

Norwegians drastically cut their meat and sugar consumption and

depended

upon whole grain cereals, potatoes, and other root vegetables. Once

again vegetarianism improved the country's health and lowered the

death

rates. Not surprisingly these health statistics flipped over when

the

war ended, and the normal meat consumption resumed and so did an

increase in death and disease.

 

Around the early 1940's the number of vegetarians living in the

United

States was about two million. Since then the ranks have swelled. In

the

mid 1970's it went up to seven million. In the '80s however there

was

actual decline. It did not go forward. In the 1990's a lot of

younger

people became vegetarians. Now it's around nine million. Well nine

million even rounded off to ten million compared to what 287 million

shows you that we're very, very short on the percentages. It means

95

percent of the American population - actually 97 percent of the

population is still meat eaters; but we've remained at about three

percent of the population vegetarian now for quite some time - about

30

years.

 

Now will the rise in health consciousness inspire more Americans to

improve their lifestyle and become vegetarian? It depends. It

depends

upon what we're willing to give up. It depends upon how many myths

we're

willing to dispel. Let's unravel some of those myths now.

 

As a long term advocate of the benefits of a vegetarian diet I was

pleased to see an article in The New York Times

entitled " Vegetarianism

More Popular If Less Pure. " It said, " Vegetarians no longer need to

defend their diets at parties. While some unrepentant carnivores may

sneer at these individuals as assorted seaweed eaters with

occasional

foray into nuts and berries, there's clearly a growing interest in

the

vegetarian way of eating. " Vegetarian magazines, organizations, and

cooking classes are thriving. Tofu and soybean curd that once seemed

exotic is sold in small town supermarkets. Mexican, Indian and other

restaurants that use grain and beans are more popular in consumption

of

fresh vegetables has grown 12 percent since 1980 according to the

Agriculture Department.

 

Now when The New York Times prints an article about changing trends

in

the health and nutrition field you can pretty much be assured that

that

latest trend has been around for at least five to ten years before

they

write about it because they're generally about ten years behind on

anything that's really relevant. This is not a put down of the Times

per

say, but it merely reflects the tendency of the established press to

cover controversial dietary issues only when most of the controversy

has

dissipated.

 

What's exciting in this article then is not the newness of the idea

it

presents, but rather that many Americans are now making the

conscious

decision to move towards a healthier diet. Some of the so called

purist

vegetarians out there would find fault with The New York Times

article

and contend that the new vegetarianism is heralding not new

vegetarianism because it's just getting people to give up meat. But

what

if they give up meat and have more pizzas? Well pizza could be

vegetarian, but it's not healthy. Or more pastas. Well-processed

pastas

are not necessarily healthy.

 

So we can have many different ways that we can approach the subject

of

vegetarianism. I don't find it particularly useful to bicker over

the

semantics of what this new diet should or should not be called.

What's

important is that at long last many Americans are beginning to

realize

that optimal health and well being comes from a diet rich in fruits

and

vegetables and grains and juices and legumes and nuts and seeds

instead

of products like meats, cheese, eggs, and processed carbohydrates.

 

Even The American Cancer Society and The American Heart Association

have

been telling us to eat more fruits and vegetables. Yet I remember

when I

first got in the field there was no such message. The high fat high

calorie high protein diet of Americans, which is very popular and

that's

why your high protein diet books are so popular is because really

you

don't have to change anything. You can still eat a lot of the

pleasure

foods that you're used to, but you're not going to be healthier. You

will lose weight. Yes.

 

The myths about protein abound in the western world making it one of

the

most misunderstood areas in nutrition. Many of these myths are so

entrenched in our psyche we find it difficult if not impossible to

let

go of them even though the recent scientific data shows them to be

false. Concept of what protein does, where it comes from, what will

happen to us if we don't get enough are all parts of this myth. If

you

have thought about becoming a vegetarian, chances are that you've

been

discouraged from believers of these myths who have told you that you

will not be getting enough protein. Over the years this nation has

become one of protein fanatics. Even vegetarians can become

fanatical on

how much protein. In fact most vegetarians get too much protein.

Athletes have been led to believe that they have to eat massive

amounts

of meat in order to have strength and endurance. Well that's not

true.

 

I did the USA Track and Field National Masters Championship Race

yesterday. I took first place in all age groups meaning the first

person

to cross the finish line. First man. I was the only vegetarian in

the

race. Well it didn't make me less strong or fast and especially

kicking

halfway through a race with 12 laps to go. And yet not a person -

not

one person came over and said how did you do that? The assumption is

well it's just you must have been training faster than someone else.

What about the living strength of a body? Feed a body dead and

denatured

proteins and you'll create protein, but you don't create the vital

life

force that goes with it. Feed the body high quality protein less

than a

meat eater would take, but much, much higher vital life force and

now

the body has a vital life force.

 

It's like a 100 hundred watt bulb versus a 30-watt bulb. I compare

the

meat eaters who get their protein as 30-watt bulbs. They'll

illuminate,

but not as bright or sustained. It's in the sustaining. You may also

remember being in science or health class as a youngster and being

shown

the different food groups. In these classes I at least was led to

believe that protein was synonymous with meat, dairy and egg

products

and that vegetables, fruits and grains well. They were good sources

of

vitamins and minerals but not of protein. That was simply wrong. It

was

wrong.

 

The most commonly held beliefs about protein are animal products are

our

only source of protein. If you go on a vegetarian diet, you'll

become

protein deficient and then weak and sick and anemic. Meat promotes

virility and sexual potency. Real men need meat. We cannot get too

much

protein. Any excess will be stored in the muscles. Animal protein is

low

in calories and will keep us slim. Carbohydrates are fattening. Man

was

made to eat meat and animal products are our only source of B12.

Every

one of those is wrong. Every single one. We have to go through this

step-by-step, and I'll show you the myths behind these particular

statements so that we are not misled any longer on this. When we

think

for a moment how many times have we been stopped from doing

something

because we felt that we were not doing the right thing? And that if

we

did not stop that we'd hurt ourselves. Well I remember very clearly

being an athlete in a small town, and I've always been an athlete.

My

brother Howard he was the best athlete. He was a state champion and

set

records in ten different events. So my house was always the house of

the

jocks. Every night after school we'd all hang out there mainly

because

we had a very laid back and relaxed attitude. So everybody could eat

before they went home to eat because my mom was a great cook and she

always had a lot of stuff. Everybody felt comfortable there. So when

you

grew up in a small town and you're always doing sports you want to

improve at it. You want to do the best you can.

 

Of course when it came to being fit we all were of the belief that

you

had to have a high protein diet. So people would be taking in a lot

of

protein. I remember when the protein powders first became the rage.

They

consisted of egg whites and nonfat dried milk. We'd take three or

four

quarts of milk and five or ten tablespoons of that a day not

realizing

how much damage it was doing to us. But it was doing some harm. I

remember when I took dairy. I didn't eat any meat or flesh, but I

did

have dairy because that's what I believed was important. But when I

stopped taking it my energy improved. Some dark circles under my

eyes

went away. Puffiness went away. So let's try to dispel some of those

myths and separate it out.

 

Animal products are not our only source of protein. Every single

grain,

nut, seed, legume, fruit and vegetable contains all eight essential

amino acids in different combinations, and in your spirulina and

chlorella are very high. In fact these single celled algae are the

highest single source of protein far exceeding the amount of protein

you

get in any other animal protein. Not only do you get the protein in

your

grains and legumes you also get high quality fiber and B complex.

They're non-polluting. So when you hear about people eating rice and

beans or in the Middle East chickpeas and sesame seeds, you're

seeing

people who are living long and healthy lives assuming that there's

something else that's not going to hurt them like a plague or

nutritional shortages. But when people are able to eat a good

quality

diet they live long.

 

The recent scientific literature in this country is revealing that

other

civilizations such as the Hindu and the Japanese have known for

thousands of years that we do not need any dairy or meat in order to

sustain life and to maximize our health. In fact it's becoming

increasingly apparent that the healthiest civilizations are those

eating

little or no meat and leading essentially vegetarian lifestyles. The

scientific literature at just a cursory review will give you over

400

articles. That's 400 articles showing you that you can expect to

live

longer and have less heart disease, cancer or arthritis with a

vegetarian diet.

 

The truth of the matter is that meat probably zaps more energy than

it

imparts. It's very difficult and time consuming to digest remaining

in

the stomach for up to six hours, and in the intestine for about

three

days. Just the digestion of meat is an energy consuming procedure

for

the body that can leave you tired and sluggish. Meat also tends to

putrefy in the intestines sending toxins through the body further

weakening it. Constipation, diverticulitis, spastic colon,

colorectal

cancer those are all in part caused by too much meat, too many

refined

carbohydrates, and generally the two go together. When someone has a

consciousness not to eat meat more often than not they also have the

consciousness and hopefully the discipline not to be eating the

refined

carbohydrates.

 

As to virility and potency that real men and women need meat is well

they need meat as much as they need prostate cancer or gout or liver

or

kidney failure and heart disease, which are all promoted by the

eating

of meat. So it is absolutely a fallacy on every level that meat or

high

protein is important for potency. Excess protein contrary to the

myth is

not stored in the body at all. In fact the increase leads to cell

damage

and thus speeds up the aging process. So the more protein you have

in

the body the faster you age, especially from animal proteins.

Protein

metabolism products called urea, which is filtered through the

kidneys,

can harm the kidneys. Hence one of the reasons we have more kidney

disease today than ever before is because we're on more high protein

diets. Excess protein causes excess urea, which in turn leads to

that

kidney disease and kidney stress and also kidney stones. This is

especially serious for those who have preexisting kidney damage.

 

Animal protein is extremely high in calories because it's usually

accompanied by large amounts of fat. An average 16-ounce steak has

1,500

calories. So there's little doubt that excess meat consumption is

one of

the major causes of obesity in our country. Carbohydrates on the

other

hand other than refined carbohydrates and sugars which should not be

eaten are much lower in calories than animal products and have the

added

advantage of being high in fiber.

 

Physiologically man was made a vegetarian. He has a long digestive

tract

measuring 22 feet. Carnivorous animals have very short intestinal

tracts

so that meat remains within their bodies only a short period of

time. A

tiger, a lion can gorge up to one-third their body weight. They can

digest bone, visceral and the type of ligaments that you would never

be

able to digest. They can. With man's long alkaline intestines meat

can

stay within the body for three to four days during which it begins

to

decompose and putrefy at a constant 98.6 degrees heat. The

putrefaction

sends bacteria that are toxic throughout the body, and that is one

of

the causes of prostate and colorectal problems.

 

B12 is manufactured by microorganisms. So it's not normally found in

the

fruits and vegetables that you eat. However it is present in

fermented

foods: miso, soy sauce, tempeh, and of course you can get it in

vegetarian non dairy yogurts because it's added to it. While it's

more

difficult to get this vitamin through the foods, it sure isn't hard

to

get it when you simply supplement with 500 or 1,000 micrograms of

B12 a

day. So those are just some of the reasons why we don't have to have

this kind of protein overload all the time.

 

Finally one way that we should appreciate the myths of protein is

that

you get up in the morning. You can have a hot bowl of cereal. Let's

say

you have some quinoa or amaranth or spelt cereal or maybe just take

a

protein shake. Take two scoops of a protein powder - a rice protein

or

soy protein powder. Well in that bowl of cereal you're getting about

eight grams of protein, but if you supplement, which is what I

suggest,

and you put a tablespoon of vegetable protein powder in that cereal

now

you're up to 35 grams of protein. For most women between 35 to 60

grams

of protein (* note different than what's mentioned in Part One) with

the

exception of pregnancy, lactation, and recovery from surgery and

cancer

you'll be able to cover your protein requirements. For most men

between

40 to 80 grams (*note different than what's mentioned in Part One)

of

protein a day with some exceptions you'll be able to cover.

 

So when I get up in the morning and I take a blender and I throw in

some

fresh fruits or I made myself already some berry juice and I put in

some

blackberry, blueberry, raspberry, or strawberry juice. Throw in some

rice milk, and then add two scoops of high quality vegetable protein

powder. I now have 55 grams of protein. Now I'll drink some of that

then, and mid morning I'll have another drink of that. So between

the

time I get up in the morning, which is four, and noontime I have had

about 50 grams of high quality protein. It replaces the worn out

tissue.

If I've exercised hard it will replace the tissue. If I need branch

(?)

amino acids to expand the cells from a workout so I hold a good low

body

fat weight, which lengthens your lifespan. By the way the lower your

body fat and maintaining your optimal health, the longer your body

will

live. Now I have low calories and excess calories speeds up the

aging

process. It speeds up the death of the cells.

 

So then in the early afternoon I have my primary meal. I could have

sea

vegetables. I could have grain. I could have beans. I could have

starchy

vegetables. I could have dark field greens like kale and Swiss chard

and

collard greens or bok choy or have a salad or a soup. That's going

to

give me another 20 grams of protein. So any more protein that day

that

I'm going to have is redundant. It's not needed. So it's easy to get

your protein on a quality vegetarian diet with proper

supplementation.

So that way we can give our body what it needs when it needs it and

not

overload it.

 

Think of it this way. If we simply changed our concept and realized

that

we are eating ourselves to death, we're overfed and undernourished.

Who

benefits from us continuing to eat meat and dairy? What would we

gain if

we stopped? Then you realize how we've been misled, and the real

myths

are that we've been told what we've needed from people who directly

profited from it. We don't have to support that any more. Hope

you've

enjoyed this series, and it's given you some insights as to why it's

time maybe today to take that step in becoming a vegetarian. I'm

Gary

Null. I want to thank you very much for taking your time to listen

to

this series. (End of Meat, Protein and Dispelling the Myths Series)

 

 

© 1996-2006 Gary Null & Associates, Inc. (GNA). .

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JoAnn Guest

mrsjo-

www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Diets