DoctorYourself.com - Eating Right

Eating to Live Rather than Living to Eat

How to Eat Right
Home

"Nothing will benefit human health
and increase the chances for survival
of life on Earth as much as the
evolution to a vegetarian diet."
(Albert Einstein)

* One tablespoon of vegetable oil contains enough fat for you for an entire day. The average American eats enough fat DAILY to equal a stick of butter. Ugh! (Jane Brody, The New York Times)

* Sugar is the #1 cause of tooth decay. The level of sugar consumption at which most of the population will not get dental caries is 33 lbs. (15 kg) per person per year. The average American eats over 120 pounds annually. (Aubrey Sheiman, "Sugar and Dental Caries" The Lancet, 8319:282-284, Feb. 5, 1983)

* Americans consume at least twice as much protein as they need. Worldwide, 30 grams of protein daily is usually adequate. The US RDA of protein is about 60 grams daily for a man and about 50 g daily for a woman. We generally eat over 100 grams of protein daily, mostly from meat (Williams, S. Nutrition and Diet Therapy, 7th ed, Mosby, 1993). Chronic protein excess overloads and irreversibly damages the kidneys by middle age.

One way out of this is to copy Nature. When in doubt, eat like a gorilla. Gorillas are very strong, very smart, and very vegetarian. The strongest and longest lived animals are all vegetarians. You may think that the lion is "king of the jungle," but lions get out of the way of passing vegetarian rhinos and elephants. Vegetarian tortoises live up to 150 years.

Vegetarian animals do not get excess protein, fat or sugar. Hey, that is obvious. So if we see it, why don't we do it? Those reasons would fill another book, but they don't matter. Here it is again: we are in error and need to change our way of eating. If we don't, we are going against Nature and sooner or later it will catch up with us.

I am subject to this rule as much as you are, and I have to work on my diet every day, too. I really think there is no other way to do it. If you are worried about being called a "health nut," ask yourself what other kind of nut would you want to be.

By moving TOWARDS a vegetarian diet, you automatically reduce your too-high intake of protein, fat and sugar. It is just that simple. There is no diet plan to buy. I think dairy products and eggs and fish should remain occasional options for most of us. One reason is that the healthiest, so-called "primitive" cultures tend to eat SOME animal products once in a while. Also, my kids did so well as lacto-ovo-vegetarians (eating dairy and egg products) that they never had an antibiotic. My third reason is that I'm a realist and know that more people will be willing to live for decades as near-vegetarians than as strict ones. I will compromise with anyone if it will get them to be healthier.

Dunderbeck, oh Dunderbeck
Oh how could ye be so mean
To ever have invented
The sausage-meat machine.

Now all the rats
And puddy-cats
Will never more be seen;
For they'll all be ground
To sausage meat
In Dunderbeck's machine.
(Author unknown, fortunately)

A DOZEN EXCUSES TO STOP EATING MEAT
WHEN YOU CUT OUT MEAT:

1. You'll feel better.

2. You'll save money - a LOT of money - on your food bill.

3. You'll have easier bowel movements, and will not need to pay good money for extra store-bought fiber. Meat has no fiber at all, and vegetarian diet is fiber rich.

4. You'll lower your serum cholesterol levels. Dean Ornish, M.D. prescribes vegetarian diet instead of coronary bypass surgery. It works as well or better, is cheaper, and is immeasurably safer.

5. Your risk of cancer, as well as heart disease, will be cut in half. Cornell University conducted a ten year study in China in which the diets of over 300,000 people were investigated. The more animal products eaten, the higher the incidence of cancer and heart disease. The less animal products eaten, the lower the risk. The evidence is indisputable.

6. You'll have fewer dishes to do, and those that you do have will be a lot less greasy.

7. You will save lives. There is plenty of food on Earth for each and every person. There is not enough for every person if we raise all those pigs and steers, too. If we all go meatless, or nearly so, famine is over. (Lappe, Ten Myths About World Hunger)

8. You will save water (which is one of the reasons you stop famine). In the USA, fully one half of ALL our drinkable water goes to raise farm animals.

9. You will reduce pollution. Runoff from cattle farms is a major source of polluted water in America.

10. Your breath will smell better. I know this is pushing the point, so try this simple experiment. Let your dog breathe on you for a few minutes. Now find a cow and compare. The vegetarian animal has different digestion and different bacteria, and this results in different odors. I know: years ago, I milked 120 cows twice a day.

11. You will have less dandruff, and your skin will look nicer. I speak from personal and observed experiences. You just try it!

12. You will automatically and effortlessly find your ideal weight. Meat, even lean meat, is 10% to 15% saturated fat. Cut that out and you start to drop the pounds. I don't have to tell you about ice cream, or the sugar in ice milk or frozen yogurt. Your weight loss will be gradual but progressive. Most vegetarian foods are by nature lower fat and lower calorie, unless you become a silly "pudding vegetarian" and eat a lot of desserts and junk food.

Andrew Saul is the author of the books FIRE YOUR DOCTOR! How to be Independently Healthy (reader reviews at http://www.doctoryourself.com/review.html ) and DOCTOR YOURSELF: Natural Healing that Works. (reviewed at http://www.doctoryourself.com/saulbooks.html )

For ordering information, Click Here .

Andrew W. Saul

AN IMPORTANT NOTE: This page is not in any way offered as prescription, diagnosis nor treatment for any disease, illness, infirmity or physical condition. Any form of self-treatment or alternative health program necessarily must involve an individual's acceptance of some risk, and no one should assume otherwise. Persons needing medical care should obtain it from a physician. Consult your doctor before making any health decision.

Neither the author nor the webmaster has authorized the use of their names or the use of any material contained within in connection with the sale, promotion or advertising of any product or apparatus. Single-copy reproduction for individual, non-commercial use is permitted providing no alterations of content are made, and credit is given.