In reality, the argument for avoiding animal foods has never been strong. When it comes to health, the case against meat is almost exclusively derived from a scientific methodology known as nutritional epidemiology, a real weakling of the lab. Though it may arrive on the news as gospel, your typical study showing that eggs, butter or beef promotes disease almost always relies on questionnaires, and the unverifiable, approval-seeking recall of participants. Plus, the end result of an epidemiology study can still only show associations, not cause-and-effect.
But you wouldn’t know that from the confidence with which, for five decades now, we have been directed toward the salad bar.
Nor have large controlled trials confirmed the supposed common sense that a “mostly plants” or even a so-called Mediterranean diet leads to better health outcomes. If anything, the dense nutritional content of animal-derived whole foods can prove challenging to replace with the celebrated fruits, vegetables and whole grains of our dietary future.
Beef, eggs and dairy are unquestionably superior to the refined carbohydrates and plant oils at the center of the American diet. But after a long run of blaming the butcher, these sorts of inconvenient details about animal foods remain banished, and it’s safe to say most Americans believe it’s healthier to eat less meat.
You can think of it as our great vegetarian blind spot, and it has left us defenseless to the brassiest escalation yet in the cause against meat, the remarkable assertion that eating meat is bad for the planet. Talk about overplaying your hand. Where eating meat was once bad for a person’s arteries, now we are to do so with the shame that it’s bad for all of life upon Earth.
(…)it’s safe to say most Americans believe it’s healthier to eat less meat.
Not this American!
I’ve known plenty of vegans who weren’t quite right in the head. It’s like their brains were missing an essential nutrient that only meat could provide.
Or… they may have been veggies because they are not quite right? It may be a chicken egg thing. Regardless… I don’t cultivate veghead friends. It is not a rule, but I often find if I am questioning an aquatintence’s capacity for effective reasoning they might be a veghead.
Yep. Vegetarians are batshit crazy. Chicken or egg? Maybe lack of animal protein and fat atrophies the brain?
It is the diet. I’ve watched several folks “go vegan” and then the mental effects show up. The brain needs a lot of fats (and not PUFA plant oils) and many hormones depend on essential fatty acids most common in fish. The only strong plant source is flax seed. Few vegans take the time to learn all the biochemistry and botany to do it right.
Disclaimer: I am not vegan, but some family members are. I studied how to do it right as I am the cook and needed to cook appropriately. I have frequently cooked, and eaten, vegetarian and vegan meals.
Speaking of PUFA (rhymes with FUPA *giggle*) … I have something of a ‘superstitious’ belief about margarine and all hydrogenated pseudo-fats … I believe they are all carcinogens. I eat nothing but olive oils and sweet cream butter. Only ‘natural’ fats. I sincerely believe that fake fats will KILL you!! Kill you deadt.
And my cholesterol numbers are superb! Why!? … despite the ingestion of all these baaaaaaad animal fats? Genetics. My body is tuned to eat what my French and German ancestors ate. My blood vessels are whistle clean. Eat THAT all you vegan creeps.
Sounds about right to me. I shall adopt your opinion, if you don’t mind. E.M. Smith
More around this area
“Eat Your Meat! Heart Disease In Paleo Farmers And Egyptian Mummies”
https://chiefio.wordpress.com/2019/07/06/eat-your-meat-heart-disease-in-paleo-farmers-and-egyptian-mummies/
And
“Distressingly Accurate Analysis Of Fats & Weight Gain”
https://chiefio.wordpress.com/2019/07/08/distressingly-accurate-analysis-of-fats-weight-gain/#comment-114320
When it became possible for man to eat more meat, health and strength improved. That friends is historical fact not fiction. Human beings all need what can be considered a balanced diet. Meat, fish, grains, vegetables, fruits, all consumed in quantities needed, not suggested or in a gluttonous manner.
When overall nutrition became commonplace and available to all … coupled with basic sanitation … the human race accelerated our evolution more than exponentially. The last 200 years of human evolution has literally EXPLODED!!!
Yet … as in all things … the eco-leftists want to take mankind backward in evolutionary history. These people are all little Ted Kaczynski‘s … who believe in devolution. Their brains have become malignantly dysfunctional … as they cannot perceive the link between nutrition and man’s progress.
So are flesh eating animals bad?
I eat probably 50 to 100 pounds of bear meat most years and I am healthier than most people my age. My trapping partner of many years preferred wild cat and he ate a lot of bobcat, lynx and the occasional cougar and he was the toughest man I ever knew so I think predators are probably good to eat. But I haven’t studied on it.
Wow! You should be “studied” by nutritionists. You should donate your brain to science. Perhaps we will learn that Polar Bears are more valuable as a human foodsource, than as a global warming marketing ploy!
A hunter friend of mine supplies me with THE most tasty wild boar sausage made by his personal game butcher. Mmmm mmm good!! With the explosion of wild boar populations in the US … someone should create a commercially available wild boar sausage. Wouldn’t that just make PETA heads explode!!
Actually my MD is in possession of a document that will make my corpse and medical records available to the teaching hospital of her choice, should they want it. I can’t think of a better use for it.
I am envious of your friend and his sausages. More than half of the bear I eat is fresh smoked (not brined) breakfast and farmer type sausage. It is dense, strong flavoured meat. Where I would eat two elk or moose sausages, I eat only one bear sausage. I love the taste but it is so rich, that you have eaten too much before you realize it.
A friend of my brother paid a ridiculous sum to hunt feral boar in Arkansas. Part of the guide’s services were butchering and barbecue. Never having any farm experience the lad shot the biggest pig he could get his sights on. A boar of course, and therefore, inedible. I mean, you could eat it if you were starving but the guides wife wasn’t going to stink up her kitchen with it. Very disappointing for him. In country overrun by feral hogs you wouldn’t think there would be a limit on them but he said he was only allowed one. Probably the same bureaucrat that made up that stupid rule is waiting to get his palm greased before he allows the industrial scale hunting and processing of feral hogs you so sensibly suggest.
If you find my reply non sequiter, it may be I mistook your meaning.
The article missed something
Humans fart.
Vegetarian humans really fart. A lot.
Ever have a bean salad? Yikes. You can knock tin cans off fence posts from 15 yards.
And thus we have the inescapable conclusion: vegan farts accelerate global warming
Vegan Long Pig – the New Soylent Green.
You’ll help save the earth while removing a batshit crazy asshole at the same time. (Just don’t eat the actual ass hole. Feed that and the tripe to your pets.)
My wife is a bat-shit crazy vegan so I’m going to have to wait for her to finish her oat milk coffee and protein shake, then wait for her to go to her work-out before I put down what’s left of last night’s meat lovers pizza, sit up on the coach and comment.
blah blah blah….there is always some goof in some Govt office, Corporation (promoting their latest food inventions), or Dr’s office deciding he/she/it knows better and comes out to join the constant stream of utter BS about what we should and shouldn’t eat.
I’ve tuned them out…including my Dr. who one day says the old Canada Food Diet is the shit, a year later totally changes and says the new Food Guide is the shit. uhuh.
I eat what I like to eat:
My preferred Breaky.
Jumbo Eggs (basted), w/grated-melted Asiago cheese on top .. gently set upon 2 slices of Calgary Bowness Bakery bread (its simply awesome), w/ 2-3 slices of ham and a large Glass of Skim milk. (the odd time I’ll make up some Bearnaise sauce and pour that over said eggs…mmmm Good.!)
As or dinners, Wife is on keto…so it’s usually chicken, beef or fish with a vegetable or good salad & always with Vino…
We never eat “processed” food evah…
Super charged Sugared shit.
Here is what I follow:
Don’t eat too much sugar, keep alcohol to a minimum, go easy on the carbs, red meat once in a while is fine, eat more fish, eat lots of veggies. Go hungry for a day or two now and then. Stuff your face every now and then. Exercise as much as you can every day. Do not pay attention to what the media, your friends, family or even what your doctors say you should and should not eat.
The science is not settled, but, one popular theory is that eating meat provided the nutrition and energy
to evolve larger brains. So vegans are genetic throwbacks – not really human.
Life is tender beef cooked rare and a giant salad.
For salad dressing use 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard, S & P, a lot of fresh crushed garlic and whisk in 1/2 Cup oil and 1/4 Cup wine vinegar, white or red.
Or try Jacques Pepin’s recipe below:
Oooh. Là là! C’est si bon!
https://youtu.be/-BJfsqzmeYg
I have a very similar recipe. I always use olive oil. Not that weird canola oil crap. And for olive oil I use Chilean olive oil. The mafia dilutes most other olive oils with garbage oil.
Yes, of course EVOO!
Though I never tried Chilean. I’ll get some.
In a pinch I use canola oil to support the Western farmers. It’s not bad, and at least is tasteless, unlike peanut oil – totally yucky.
I had EVOO go rank on me once. Almost ruined a giant Greek Salad that I made, good habit to taste it first!
Ever had French fries cooked in real lard? Did some awhile back. Now that’s how fries should be done and they are healthier for you or perhaps I should say “less bad”. The reason being that canola oil is high in linoleic acid. LA inhibits the feeling of being satiated so you end up eating way more. When you eat fries cooked in lard, you will feel full sooner and eat less.
Of course. My mother made great fries, that way, I think. Occasionally. I didn’t care. I just ate them!
For an occasional treat:
I oven bake them now, large chunks on a cookie sheet in a little oil. Tossed over half way thru @ 375-400°~ 30 min.
Ya gotta have the right potato tho’.
Idaho. Large ones!
Mmmwah!
Real lard is rendered pig fat. If you can get it your one lucky cook. Nobody butchers over fat pigs today. Maybe the Hutterites do? I’m going to ask around.
I render goose fat when I get spring snow geese. Eggs basted in goose fat…..you’ll be back for more. Duck fat is even better.
I’ve been eating some of the more ‘tough’ beef cuts this summer. I like a steak with a bone in it and have had a coupla shoulder steaks.
A bit on the tough side but way more flavour.
When I was a boy, the neighbour across the road was famous for her pie crust and she would give you a whole apple pie for a pound of bear lard. She said it made the best pie crust. She passed years ago. I miss her. More for her wisdom and kindness than her excellent pie crust.
Five years ago I moved across the road from a lady famous for her pies. A couple of years ago I took an over fat old boar bear and rendered seven leters of bear lard. The rest of that stinky old bear was dog food. (And a pretty good rug.) My new neighbour had never heared of bear lard’s superiority but took a liter anyway. The tarts I got back were in no way the equal of pig lard pie crust. I don’t suppose you know anyone who knows the secret of bear lard pie crust?
Seems like if you want good flavour ya have to have good teeth. Thank God for good teeth.
Given the accuracy of all these food gurus to date,I am surprised that anyone bothers.
In my life time the cycles have been endless,Cheese Bad,cheese good,bad,good,bad…
Butter,salt,animal fat,…
Seems the one thing no “Government Expert” can do,is admit the obvious;”We do not know”.
But of course the narrative is always the same;
“We are from the government and we are here to help you”.
So naturally we don’t know, but we know BETTER than you.
Respect my authority.
Jeez a thread without a single Scheer bash? How is it that it’s not Andy 2%’s fault. Guess everyone is feeling benevolent this day….
It’s Scheer’s fault.
ok then – ha
This is a meat-bashing link.
https://getpocket.com/explore/item/one-fifth-of-americans-are-responsible-for-half-the-country-s-food-based-emissions?utm_source=pocket-newtab
“The next question: how the heck do you get even 20 percent of Americans to change what they eat?”
Shut down McDonalds.
My wife would annoy me when we would eat at a restaurant and always refuse any dressing on her salad while saying it had too many fats. She was obese, 5’4″ 200 lbs. She was a victim of the government low fat diet. The brain needs fats. Its the total calories that counts and 1/3 should be from fats. Search “twinkie diet”
Now she is slowly going blind from early onset Alzheimer’s disease. It would be best for your health not to give me nutrition advice.
If you really want to tell me to eat more vegetables and exercise more, I got that advice from Dr. McCoy (Bones) in 1968. Go away. (and die. You killed my wife.)