Robb Wolf’s Paleo Budget Shopping Guide, check it out!

An Argument for Eating Meat

This was an argument I made for eating meat as part of a sustainable and healthy diet in regards to the work I do with Traditional Healthcare (www.th.org.au)

I’m glad you brought forward some of these issues, because a lot of people have the same opinions, but I’m going to need to argue a few points with you:

1) The big issue you present is sustainability. Now Is the issue of land/nutrient density the problem, if that’s the case then here are some numbers:

If we are trying to feed a small, non-athletic, female for one day the base calories needed for survival are approx. 2000kcal. So what would the veggie intake need to be to keep her alive for the day-

Lettuce= 10,000g (100kilo)/2000Kcal
Broccoli= 5,636g (5.636kilo)/2000Kcal more calorically dense, but still a little too much to eat in a day
Wheat= 589.68g/2000Kcal Now that’s pretty doable, but we’ll get back to this.

Now look at beef (90% lean)= 449g/2000Kcal, and that’s only 10% fat which is an even more potent calorie source.

How much land does it take to grow 100kilos of lettuce?

If the average Angus Beef cow is around 500kilos and only about 450grams is needed to survive for for a day, and say we take off a 100kilo for non edible mass, that still is over 180days worth of food. All it takes is proper preservation methods (traditional curing, drying, or modern freezers)

Here are some links to nutrition and Sustainable farming practices:
http://www.westonaprice.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&id=23&Itemid=122
http://www.westonaprice.org/farm-a-ranch
http://www.self.com/fooddiet/blogs/nutritiondata/2010/09/sustainable-diets-nutrient-den.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/sep/06/meat-production-veganism-deforestation

2) Nutrient Value. Animal products offer complete proteins that are completely digested by our digestive tract, there is no vegetable source of whole protein. The fats are necessary for absorption of VitD (fat soluble and found in grass fed meats), VitE, and A. The meat itself is also chalk full of nutrients like the above mentioned, and it conveniently comes with its own fat for proper absorption. It is also gives you the B vitamins and Trace Minerals necessary for proper functioning. B12 is a big one for energy production and mood stabilization (something nearly all vegans lack, B12 that is). All these nutrients are necessary for proper functioning of the body and not found in vegetables. Although eggs and Milk are good alternate sources.

Fats are necessary to life, your brain is 60% saturated fats, your cell membranes are nearly all saturated fats.

Here’s a link to the fat science http://www.marksdailyapple.com/fats/

If you look at that what do you see? Which fats are most stable and useful….not vegetable oils! Which quickly become rancid and if your cells are replicating with polyunsaturated fats that are quickly rancid do you want that in your body? NOPE! It is the main source of trans fats, High LDL cholesterol, and systemic Chronic Inflammation.

2.1) Grains/Carbs

Grains= Poison. Grains are grass seeds, do we eat grass? CAN we eat grass? No. So should we be eating grass seeds? No. Especially wheat. A few other people put the argument together very well so I’ll just give you links to them:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/against-the-grain-how-wheat-wrecks-your-health.html
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/why-grains-are-unhealthy/
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/definitive-guide-grains/

http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2010/09/19/paleo-diet-solution/

Carbs=sugar, which creates an insulin spike which shoves all the excess sugars of our non-athletic female into fat stores, then creates a sugar low which causes shakes and hunger. Excess carbs (the most common source in our society is grains) lead to obesity, diabetes, insulin resistance, and metabolic syndromes. Along with addiction to carbohydrates.

3)Digestion
What is the process of digestion and how do we get our nutrients? Here is the line food follows to the toilet:

Mouth
Esophagus
Stomach
Intestines
Toilet

So lets start with teeth and saliva: The human teeth are pretty good at most things, but the interesting fact is even the Molars (back teeth) have shearing edges great for cutting, not grinding like herbivores. The saliva starts the breakdown of fats (not really useful for vegetables) and starches (complex sugars found in root vegetables and tubers).

Esophagus just pushes it to the stomach.

In the stomach you find Hydrochloric Acid.. Hydrochloric acid is great at breaking down proteins.

In the large intestine you find Bile which breaks down fats.

Now those are the only 2 products our body produces to break down food apart from the muscle contraction that physically break it down.

Now in the intestines we have lots of bacteria. Do we naturally produce it? No. We are sterile at birth and are only colonized by the bacteria by its introduction via diet. These bacteria are the only real resource we have to break down fiber (Plant Carbs) and we do that via fermentation. Now if we had an extra couple of stomachs like most ruminants, or the ability to regurgitate it back into the mouth to chew on a bit more we could make better use of all this plant matter. Unfortunately we can’t get a lot of macronutrients from it, vegetables really only provide us with a good source of MICROnutrients (vitamins and minerals). So all the fibre makes us do is poop :)

Evolution made us very adaptable, we have systems for digesting many food sources. So if ruminants are great at breaking plant matter down and getting the nutrients and they eat non-stop throughout the day (because they have to to get enough calories to survive) why not just eat them? They’ve just concentrated all the plant nutrients and calories for you.

4)Methane

When do you fart? Or burp? When you eat something that doesn’t settle well with you…like beans. So, when you look at methane production by ruminants make sure you are looking at what the food sources is. Cows are supposed to eat grass, in feed-lots what are they fed? Soy, corn, and junk food. I’m pretty sure that would make us all have gas.

So the issue isn’t the poor old cows with gas, it’s the shit they get fed. See how much a cow farts on an all grass diet.

Traditional farming is very sustainable. Cow eats grass, poops out fertilizer, more grass grows (keeps carbon in the soil, prevents erosion, filters out carbon dioxide), then cow feeds 5 families for a month. How many Acres or plants are needed to feed that many people?

5)Cruelty

You can’t assume that all farming methods are cruel. That’s a very negative outlook, and not a solution to the problem. Yes you’ve seen Earlthings and other shows, and news programs….but does pictures of cows sitting around on a family farm eating grass make for good TV and income or producers? no not really. Yes there is some pretty fucked up practices out there, but that will always be. There will always be people making bad decisions.

6)Industry

THIS is the issue. THIS is where the change needs to happen. The INDUSTRY is unsustainable, not the practice of eating meat. The Industry crowds thousands of animals knee deep in their own shit and feeds them lollies, corn, and soy to make them fat (which incidentally also makes us fat). Which produces more methane gas, kills animals, is cruel, and not economical or sustainable…this should be the focus of the change. Not the diet of the human animal (which we are. We are not above the food chain, we are still animals) but the way in which it is controlled. Also, when it is spoken about too much meat consumption and demand, when does something have more demand? When more people want it. When do more people want something? When there are MORE PEOPLE. The earth can’t sustain this many people as it is and if we take all the acres of open land and turn them into fields of flowing grain, which robs the soil of it’s nutrients and produces less and less nutrient dense crops with each year (which is another industry that needs revamping) using sterile GM produce, it’s just one industry taking over for another. The agriculture industry kills more animals every year than the meat industry, and destroys more land.

The name of the organisation is TRADITIONAL Healthcare, yes sustainability is a core value, but so is Human Tradition. If you look at traditional human diets, not ever was there a purely vegetarian society. Vegetarianism was only introduced through religions and ideology. Not based on health concerns and sustainability. If you are interested in the diets of traditional cultures here you go: http://www.westonaprice.org/traditional-diets

Hopefully you enjoyed this food for thought,

Josh

“In human life time is but an instant, and the substance of it a flux, and the perception dull, and the composition of the whole body subject to putrefaction, and the soul a whirl, and fortune hard to divine, and fame a thing devoid of certainty. And, to say all in a word, everything that belongs to the body is a stream, and what belongs to the soul is a dream and vapor, and life is a warfare and a stranger’s sojourn, and after-fame is oblivion. What then can guide a man? One thing and only one, philosophy. But this consists in keeping the daimon within a man doing nothing without a purpose, nor yet falsely and with hypocrisy, not feeling the need of another man’s doing or not doing anything; and besides, accepting all that happens, and all the is allotted, as coming from the same source, wherever it is, from which he himself came; and, finally, awaiting death with a cheerful mind, as being nothing else than a dissolution of the elements of which every living being is compounded. But if there is no harm to the elements themselves in each continually changing into another, why should a man have any apprehension about the change and dissolution of all the elements? For it is according to nature, and nothing is evil that is according to nature.”

-Book II, sec. 17, Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius

Massage: What it is and Where it Came From

This Article I wrote for Traditional Healthcare. Check it out under the ‘Resources’ tab on their site.

Massage: What it is and Where it Came From

Many people think of massage as a touchy-feely or purely for relaxation, but in reality Manual Medicine, which massage falls under, is one of the most ancient healing modalities. Also, it is easily one of the most sustainable forms of medicine available.

History:

Massage in it’s various forms has been noted by historians and used by people for it’s healing

effects for as long as there has been civilization. Ever heard of the ‘power of touch’? This philosophy of treatment, where touch is applied to the patient using oils, aromatics, various tools, or just with the hands in specific patterns, has been used as far back as the ancient Chinese in an treatment form called “Amma” or “Anma”. Today Chinese medicine uses a form of massage called Tui Na. Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, wrote in 460 BC “The physician must be experienced in many things, but assuredly in rubbing” a reference to the importance of manual therapies even in the ancient world.

What it does:

Throughout the millennia , as people have discovered more and more about the human body, manual therapies have evolved and specialized. Massage itself takes on many forms, names, and intents depending on the country of origin, who taught it, and even the practitioner, but what all forms work with, no matter what the purpose of the treatment, is the soft and connective tissues of the body. The main tissue treated is muscle and the musculoskeletal system, which is the largest system in the body. Other tissues worked with are Tendons, Ligaments, Fascia, Joints, Cartilage, and even some organs. The body has an innate ability to heal itself, the goal is to promote this ability. Another main effect of massage is it’s down regulation of the sympathetic (fight/flight) nervous system allowing for proper rest and recovery.

Light and Relaxing Massage has been shown to improve circulation and lymph drainage, and decrease hypertension (high blood pressure), anxiety and depression. This facilitates the healing abilities of the body and works very well in conjunction with other modalities and treatment options.

Deeper massage is shown to loosen muscle, break up tendon and ligament adhesions, which helps with proper healing of wounds through aligning scar tissue and removing restrictions. Massage is a great option to speed the healing process after a major surgery or accident.

Purpose:

Goal of Massage treatments is to remove restrictions of all sorts. Restrictions and damage to the soft tissues, which can be helped by massage and other manual therapies, can be the cause of much pain and restriction of movement in the body. The body has an innate ability to heal itself, the goal is to promote this ability by finding the cause of the problem and removing it, or improving function to better deal with permanent injury.

Remedial/Orthopaedic:

Remedial massage, also know as Orthopaedic Massage, as the name implies is about finding a Remedy (remedial=remedy) for your pain. Working with a detailed assessment process, which is Osteopathic in origin, this branch of Manual Therapy looks for the root cause of the pain. It works holistically by treating the cause or underlying dysfunction to allow the person to heal fully, not just cover the pain.

Practitioners will commonly provide home care advice, and exercises to help to patient improve even without direct treatment.

Treatment:

Treatment techniques used are dependent on the diagnosis by the practitioner. But some techniques are:

• Massage (Relaxation/Swedish Techniques)

• Muscle Manipulation

• Stretching

• Compressions (similar to Acupressure or Shiatsu)

• Trigger Point Release (for ‘knots’)

• Joint Mobilizations (for join dysfunction, similar in purpose to Chiropractic)

• Myofascial Dry Needling

Sustainability:

All it takes for the basic forms of treatment is one person who knows what they are doing. Treatments can be done sitting, standing, or lying down. Traditional Shiatsu still uses just a thin mat on the ground and oils can be used but are not necessary. Massage can be taught easily by someone knowledgeable and is easily practiced once you know the basics. Even the most inexperienced therapist can improve circulation and healing time simply by just giving the skin a rub. On the other hand a skilled practitioner can work with very complicated conditions, such as dysfunction in the diaphragm and joint degeneration. One practitioner can teach a class and have them working to clear oedema and improve limb circulation in under a month, while decreasing pain, and providing relaxation and relief in those with more serious conditions.

Conditions:

Some conditions that can be treated, or helped with, Massage Techniques are:

• Neurological symptoms:

-Numbness

-Tingling

-Nausea

-Migraines

• Lower Back Pain

• Disc Prolapse

• Joint Pain

• Arthritis

• Acute Pain

• Sprains/Strains

• Edema

• Restricted Movement

• Scar Tissue

• Dislocations

• Whiplash

• Repetitive Strain Injury

• Plantar Fasciitis

• Inflammation

• Frozen Shoulder

• Headaches

• Sinusitis

• Cancer

• Fibromyalgia

• Anxiety

• Depressions

• Digestive Upset

• General Pain Relief

As you can see Massage will be a very important tool in our clinics as it is a modality that lends itself to be easily taught and used with very little resources, and has a quick turn-over of students who can practice in a basic method very quickly.

Joshua Wood

Trigger Point Assassin

www.triggerpointassassin.com