“Eat a Plant-Based Diet” is a popular nutritional slogan. The implications of this rallying cry are, if humans consume less food from animal sources and more from plants, we will necessarily be healthier and the environment of the planet we all share will be healthier, too. Many people regard this slogan not as a hypothesis, but rather, as an absolute truth that should not be questioned. However, as all proposed cures for social, environmental, and health problems, we should scrutinize “Eat a Plant-Based Diet” before we accept it as truthful and useful nutritional advice.
First, a majority of progressive 21st Century nutritionists, and a majority of the minority of physicians who are knowledgeable in the field of nutrition, agree that excessive consumption of animal flesh, especially beef from cattle, increases an individual’s risk for gastrointestinal and related diseases. Our digestive systems do not easily break down and assimilate animal meats when they are eaten in large amounts at a single meal, which is the way many of us consume them multiple times each day. This eating habit causes stasis (slow and impeded digestive movement) in the gastrointestinal tract, leading to putrefaction of partially digested foodstuffs, indigestion, bloating, and constipation, all of which are precursors to diseases of the colon. In addition, a great majority of the meats we consume are derived from animals that are fed grains grown with herbicides, pesticides, and chemical fertilizers, residuals of which accumulate in the tissues of these animals. Significant amounts of these chemicals, as well as the growth hormones and antibiotics fed and injected into these factory-raised animals, eventually accumulate in our tissues when we eat their flesh. Clearly, therefore, the frequent consumption of large amounts of meat from commercially raised and slaughtered animals is detrimental to human health. As well, it is highly probable that other foods derived from industrially raised animals, for instance, eggs and milk products, are also contaminated with the pet chemicals of commercial animal husbandry.
Secondly, most unbiased environmental scientists agree that the ever-increasing demand for animal meat, especially from cattle, is having a devastating effect upon the environment of planet Earth. To satisfy this demand, meat-producing conglomerates are purchasing and clear-cutting thousands of acres of forested lands every day to create vast open fields to grow grains and to construct massive confinement pens for their herds. Thus, not only are forests that harbor endangered plant and animal species and that sequester greenhouse gases disappearing at a terrifying rate, the grain crops that replace them are grown with dangerous herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers. Such strip-farming causes progressive salination of the soil, which gradually becomes less fertile, thus requiring increasing doses of industrial poisons. Because these fields have been stripped of their trees and other natural vegetation, any chemicals not ingested by animals run off from the eroded lands into neighboring streams, lakes, and rivers and, of course, eventually into our oceans. All these environmental insults are compounded by the continual expansion of human population and the concurrent increasing demands for more and more meat
Clearly, without any evidence to the contrary, excessive personal and collective consumption of animal flesh, especially factory-raised beef, is highly damaging to the health of human beings and our planet. To succeed in reversing these threats to each of us individually, to our species, and to the environment upon which all animal and plant lives depend, we must reduce the average amounts of meat we consume. This is true especially for meat of animals raised on chemical grains and with antibiotics and growth stimulants. The pollutants in such meat collects in our own tissues when we eat the tissues of chemically reared animals. The same is true when we eat dairy products and eggs from chemically raised cows and poultry. In sum, the more of these industrially created animal foodstuffs we eat, the more we jeopardize our personal and collective health.
Although we have presented a strong argument to support a reduction in the amount of animal foods we eat, at least from animals raised with polluting grains and commercial medicines, we have not yet considered if the slogan “Eat a Plant-Based Diet” is necessarily more healthful for us and for our environment.
Earlier in this essay, I questioned if eating a predominantly animal-based diet is healthful for human beings and for the environment we all share. My answer to this question was based upon the manner in which a majority of Americans consume most animal-based foods: one to several daily servings of products derived from creatures raised in toxic confinement, injected with antibiotics and growth stimulants, and fed “conventionally grown” grains, i.e. with herbicides, pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and other toxic compounds. Significant amounts of such toxins accumulate in the tissues of these animals, in the organ systems of humans who eat them, and in the soils, air, and waterways surrounding all of us. Thus, my conclusion: consuming animal-based foods in this way is detrimental to human health and to our environment. However, I ended Part One with another question: “Is the advice to “Eat a Plant-based Diet” necessarily more healthful?” At the risk of spoiling all suspense, I reveal my answer immediately below and explain my reasoning afterward.
“Eat a plant-based diet” is not necessarily healthful advice.
The primary argument in support of the preceding statement is that “Eat a plant-based diet” is advice too vague and too general to be meaningful. If you have a cup of coffee and a donut in the morning, you have just eaten a plant-based breakfast. If you drink a corn-sweetened cola and eat potato chips, you have just consumed a plant-based snack. Are these foods any less detrimental to you and/or our environment than a hamburger? Although these two “meals” may seem to be extreme examples of unhealthy foods, they illustrate clearly that the compound adjective “plant-based” is not a guarantee any particular food is beneficial for our health or that it is not deleterious to health of our planet. Beyond such junky foodstuffs, there are many other examples of commonly eaten plant-based foods, some mistakenly thought to be nutritious, which are just as damaging to our internal environment (inside our skin) and our external environment (the world outside our skin) as are colas, donuts, and chips. In the following paragraphs we consider a few examples of commonly eaten plant-based foods and their effects upon our health and the health of our environment.
Before we weigh the healthfulness of non-junky plant-based foods, we must consider two little-known facts brought to light by honest, 21st Century, nutritional writers and researchers.
1. We humans are already eating a predominantly plant-based diet.
2. More than half the calories human beings consume every day come from four grains: wheat, corn, oats, and rice.
Let’s be more specific. Most of us eat a predominantly grain-based diet, the consequences of which many independent, unaffiliated nutritional researchers have studied in depth. These researchers have identified specific intrinsic components of grains, even organically grown grains, that cause serious health problems for humans, such as obesity, diabetes, leaky-gut and irritable bowel syndromes, auto-immune diseases, heart, disease, cancer, etc. By examining the consumption of just one type of grain, wheat, we begin to understand how grains can affect us so adversely. A few of the problematic substances researchers have identified in wheat are: Amylopectin A, wheat germ agglutinin (WGA), alpha-amylase inhibitors, gluten, gliadin, and phytates.
Amylopectin A is an abundant super-carbohydrate in wheat that causes prolific growth of a plant in the field but which also causes meteoric increases in the blood-sugar levels of humans who eat foods derived from that plant. It is a major reason why the glycemic index of wheat (72) is higher than white table sugar (59). As we eat wheat-based foodstuffs two, three, or four times each day, our surging blood sugar levels trigger the secretion of the hormone insulin. Although insulin saves the day by lowering blood sugar to safe levels, it often does so by facilitating the increased storage of fat in our bodies. In addition, insulin inhibits the release of other hormones, one of which suppresses the urge to continue eating, and another which allows us to use excess stored bodyfat to fuel our physical activities. Thus, the amylopectin component of wheat is a major dietary cause of the human obesity crisis, as well as an accelerant to other major diseases stemming from obesity.
A second elemental and problematic substance in wheat is Wheat Germ Agglutinin (WGA), a lectin protein. Unfortunately, the digestive system of most human beings cannot break down WGA well, if at all. As a result, it accumulates in a putrefying, half-digested state in the small intestine. Rotting WGA breaks down the junctions between the cells lining the small intestine, which causes Leaky Gut Syndrome, a condition in which abnormal proteins and other half-digested substances from the GI tract to seep into the bloodstream. Once foreign proteins leach into the bloodstream, several extremely dangerous inflammatory conditions are inevitable, including the development of autoimmune diseases and the creation of permanent cell debris known as Advanced Glycation End-Products (AGEs). AGES accumulate as non-functional scar tissue in the brain, blood vessels, joints, and other vital organ systems. Eating wheat, and therefore consuming WGA, is equivalent to heating your home by burning coal or wood in open pits in the basement. Stated another way, AGEs within the internal environment of a human being are what dioxin and creosote are to our external environment, which makes wheat a fossil fuel of the human diet.
Alpha-Amylase Inhibitors, allergens present in minute quantities in ancient grains, are highly concentrated in wheat today thanks to modern agricultural engineers. Their goal was to reduce the susceptibility of grain plants to pests. Unfortunately, these inhibitors are not only toxic to insects; they also cause allergic reactions in human beings who eat foodstuffs from these plants. Typical human reactions range in severity from sneezing and hives to diarrhea and eczema to Wheat-Derived, Exercise-Induced Anaphylaxis (WEIDA), a potentially fatal reaction which can occur in wheat-eating athletes during moderate to extreme bouts of physical exertion.
Gluten sensitivity is a well-known inflammatory response experienced by many people after eating even a small serving of wheat. Such reactions range from GI bloating to abdominal distress to Crohn’s disease to celiac disease. Less known, however, are the effects of gliadin, one of the proteins in the gluten complex.
In the small intestine of people who eat wheat, gliadin is broken down into smaller protein elements called peptides. If wheat and/or other grain-based foods have caused Leaky Gut Syndrome previously, these peptides slip from the GI tract into the bloodstream, from where they can navigate to the brain and bind with opiate receptors. These are the same receptors to which morphine, heroin, and the drug Naloxone attach. The migration and attachment of gliadin to opiate receptors in the brain is a major reason why wheat-based foodstuffs are so addictive and can lead to uncontrollable overeating and obesity.
Phytates, the storage form of phosphorous, are abundant in the fiber of wheat and other grains. In the field, phytates make plants sturdier and more resistant to pests. In the human GI tract, however, they bind with iron and zinc, making these vital minerals difficult to absorb. Eating as little as one to two ounces of wheat, oats, or barley can reduce your absorption of these minerals by 90%.
The foregoing examples demonstrate clearly that eating a plant-based diet composed primarily of grains, as most Americans do, can be at least as detrimental to our health as eating a diet with excessive amounts of “conventional” animal-based foods. What about the effects of excessive grain consumption on the health of our environment?
Grains are one the most profitable commodities in the world. Relative to vegetables, fruits, and animal food products, grains are easier and cheaper to grow, store, transport, process, and sell. They can be grown in distant regions of the world where there are relatively few laws that protect the environment or the lowly paid agricultural workers. Industrially raised grains can be stored for decades and transported economically in ocean tankers when prices are relatively high. This provides international conglomerates with extremely attractive incentives to produce the greatest possible quantity of grain-based foodstuffs for human consumption. In addition, grains are the primary source of feed for industrially raised animals. Thus, there is constant pressure upon Big Farma, the international grain cartels, to produce greater quantities of grain every year. To meet this demand and to maximize profits, the short-sighted solution in this industry is to apply vast amounts of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, and other toxic growth enhancers. When grains are grown in this manner, massive quantities of toxins are released, at first only into local soils, waterways, and air but, ultimately, throughout our entire planet. In summary, eating a grain-based plant-based diet is not significantly less damaging to our environment than eating an excessively animal-based diet. Therefore, a new question obtains: Is there a type of plant-based diet which is necessarily healthful to human beings and to our planet?
Yes! “Eat a vegetable-based diet!” Unlike grains, which are nutritionally sparse and calorically dense, most vegetables are rich in vitamins, minerals, and other essential nutrients and are relatively low in calories. Even if we eat them in large quantities, most green and brightly colored vegetables will not raise blood sugar levels precipitously or cause a massive insulin reaction, as grain-based foodstuffs do. Vegetables are highly perishable and, therefore, much less attractive to worldwide, profit-above-all cartels. On a massive industrial scale, relative to grains, vegetables are expensive to grow, store, transport, process, and sell. By contrast, vegetables have their highest value when they are grown on small farms by local growers and sold fresh and directly to their neighbors and in local food coops and stores. Local growing, selling, and consumption of vegetables reduces to a tiny fraction the environmental pollution created by the worldwide transportation of industrially raised grains. In addition, small-scale farming is ideal for organic growing techniques in which the fertility and sustainability of the soil, waters, and air are of deep concern to those who grow and those who eat organic vegetables.
But, why not a locally grown, organic, fruit-and-vegetable-based diet? The simple answer is, relative to most vegetables, the sugar content of many fruits is quite high, which can promote obesity. In this essay we are searching for a memorable slogan offering advice which is the basis of a diet healthful for humans and for our environment. Organically raised fruits are delicious supplemental foods in our diets and are fine for environment, but they cannot be the primary foods upon which are diets are based. Therefore, unlike “Eat a Plant-based diet,” which is vague and not necessarily good for us or the planet, the following ideal nutritional slogan offers meaningful specific advice that is healthful for us and for our shared environment:
“Eat a Vegetable-based, local, organic diet!”
Many of us are fortunate to have access to an incredible variety of organic vegetables from our own gardens and/or from local growers. The supply of nutritious vegetables available to us is so rich and plentiful that we can base our diets on them and then supplement with other groups of foods. When you base your diet on vegetables, you become a Vegetabletarian. Whether you also choose to eat animal food products, or to limit animal foods in your diet to only dairy and egg products, or to be strictly vegan, you can and should be a vegetabletarian. In past issues of the Live Better Letter, we have presented a variety of recipes for organic, vegetable-based dishes. In coming issues, we will present many more recipes that will inspire you to incorporate organic vegetables into every meal.
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