“When health is absent, wisdom cannot reveal itself, art cannot manifest, strength cannot fight, wealth becomes useless, and intelligence cannot be applied.” ~ Herophilus
The term “clean eating” has become very popular. You may have noticed other books—including some from famous authors and celebrities—that claim to promote “clean” eating actually include animal products. The line of reasoning is often that a balanced whole-foods diet can feature meat and dairy as long as the animals are raised in a natural setting or are “humanely” slaughtered.
Some of these authors also permit meat, poultry, seafood and dairy because they think people will find a menu without animal products too limiting. Yet, as Garth Davis, M.D. details in his book Proteinaholic: How Our Obsession with Meat Is Killing Us and What We Can Do About It, just twelve plants and five animals compose about 75 percent of the world’s food, and there are approximately 300,000 known edible plant species, only about 150 of which are used commonly around the world. So you see, we have barely scratched the surface of meat-free culinary possibilities!
Animal Products and Clean Eating: A Contradiction in Terms?
How can foods that promote illness be considered either healthy or clean? Animal products are a causative factor in the most serious health issues Americans face today, from heart disease and diabetes to obesity and Alzheimer’s disease.1 Numerous studies have also implicated them in the development of many types of cancer2, which I would argue is grounds for automatic disqualification in any logical “clean” eating plan.
Additionally, meat contains compounds that appear to promote chronic inflammation in our bodies. Unlike normal inflammation, necessary for wound healing, chronic inflammation is an immune response that might be compared to a continuously running engine. This constant production of immune cells can do permanent damage that factors into the development of heart disease, stroke and cancer.3 Minimizing your risk of chronic inflammation is one of the major advantages to a whole foods, plant-based menu.
In reviewing the evidence, I find it unrealistic to consider any diet built on animal products to be truly clean. Even if you could avoid many of the chemicals, steroids, hormones, antibiotics and pesticides found in animal protein by choosing organic or grass-fed versions, you are still faced with the artery-clogging saturated fat and cholesterol these items contain naturally, and the pro-inflammatory compounds inherent in meat. Fortunately, you can greatly minimize your exposure to all of the above simply by basing your diet on fresh plant foods.
Why Avoiding Animal Products is an Enlightened Choice
There are more reasons to avoid animal products than we can properly address here. For a large majority of vegans, ethical issues are a driving force. For others, health and/or environmental concerns factor into their food choices. Like me, you may be motivated by all of these. For a comprehensive overview on the reasons for refraining from eating animal products for our health, the well-being of our fellow creatures, and the future of this planet, check out The Food Revolution by John Robbins, also author of Diet for a New America. Both of these books are highly illuminating and real life changers.
A Truly Green Menu
When you think about it, a whole food, plant-based diet is the absolute epitome of green, especially if you are focusing on local produce with minimal packaging. The term “green” here refers to food that is not only environmentally friendly, but is also health promoting and totally non-toxic. To that end, clean, plant-based eating helps you to avoid harmful chemicals in your food. Being lowest on the food chain, plants naturally contain fewer pesticide residues than animal products. That is because these toxins accumulate in the fatty tissue of animals, as well as humans. As a result, conventional animal products are often highly concentrated sources of the toxins that have bio-accumulated in the animal’s bodies, and are passed along to those that ingest these animals.
Reducing Chemicals In Your Diet
One of the most dangerous chemicals lurking in food is dioxin, a persistent organic pollutant (POP) that can build up in our tissues over a lifetime. The World Health Organization has repeatedly lowered its estimate for safe levels of dioxin exposure in humans. Yet despite being banned, dioxin is still commonly found in our environment, as it is a by-product of industrial processes and the burning of plastic. Would it surprise you to learn that the greatest dietary source of this hazardous chemical is animal products? Indeed, government estimates have found that meat, dairy, fish and poultry contribute more than 90 percent of our exposure to dioxins.4 From saturated fat and cholesterol, to hormones, antibiotics, heavy metals, pesticides and more, animal products cannot possibly qualify as “clean” from a health standpoint, nor are they by any stretch environmentally friendly.
The Global Warming Connection
Global warming poses one of the most serious threats to the environment ever faced in human history. But people tend to believe that carbon dioxide emissions are primarily to blame. While these dirty emissions are certainly a major factor, according to the United Nations, factory farming—producing animals for human consumption—is a greater contributor to greenhouse gases than the entire global transportation industry combined.
But that’s not all. The United Nations also reports that livestock now use more than 30 percent of the earth’s entire land surface as dedicated permanent pasture. Land cleared for new pastures is a major driver of deforestation, especially in Latin America where 70 percent of the Amazon rainforest has been destroyed to accommodate livestock grazing. This grazing causes wide-scale land degradation and desertification, as well as removing the oxygen-generating flora that sustains life on Earth. The livestock business is also among the most damaging sectors to the earth’s increasingly scarce water resources, contributing to water pollution from animal wastes, antibiotics and hormones, chemicals from tanneries, fertilizers and the pesticides used to spray feed crops.5
While all of this may not be easy to read, it certainly brings home the fact that our food choices have consequences on many levels. The good news is that we can measurably improve the situation with each bite we take, rather than add to the massive environmental damage associated with eating animals.
Eat Plants, Live Green
By opting for a plant-based menu, you can have a tremendously beneficial daily impact on the health of this planet. In fact, the single most important and effective step we can take to reduce global warming is to adopt a vegetarian diet.6 There is more than ample evidence that eating low on the food chain is vastly healthier for the environment and for you. A truly enlightened approach to food considers the world around us as well. Be prepared, as you may start to feel a powerful, positive shift in your consciousness as you consistently align your daily food choices with your deepest values. What a recipe for integrity!
References:
1 Gac Med Mex. 2015 Mar-Apr;151(2):245-51.
2 http://www.pcrm.org/health/cancer-resources/diet-cancer/facts/meat-consumption-and-cancer-risk.
3 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24607301
5 http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?newsID=20772#.Vs8PdfkrKM8
6 http://www.earthsave.org/news/earthsave_global_warming_report.pdf
