Disclaimer:
This is purely an opinion piece and in no way reflects opinions of or from the web, blogger, google, or any company, person, business, search engine or entity on the earth or on the internet, and is merely an expression of my 1st amendment rights.
Those of you who know me know I'm really into health and fitness.
It seems I'm more extreme (the word used by some friends I've known since childhood - all of whom have severe health issues, none of which I suffer from) than the vast majority of people I come into contact with... though I'm meeting more and more who are on a similar health path.
Being an outlier in this area may seem in conflict with some of my spiritual/mental studies of non-attachment, the middle-way, buddhism and all of that stuff.
But from my perspective, it's not.
The way I approach health and fitness is multifaceted so I'll make a list of the contributing factors that reinforce my choice to eat a mostly organic, farm-based/local, gmo-free, pesticide-free, cruelty-free, low-carb, high in healthy fat, low-temp cooked or raw meat (all from grass-fed, free-range animals), high in beneficial bacteria diet.
Minimize Suffering (or Don't Contribute/Add to it with my purchases/choices)
Unfortunately, Industrial Farming, aka Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) inflict a lot of suffering, even torture. Hidden camera video footage, which is now illegal thanks to the big industrial farm lobby, illustrates cows who have zero room to move and have massive sores on their udders as well as sores and bruises from being beaten by their handlers. Chickens are packed so full they cannot move and they're in constant contact with the chicken shit of thousands of animals.
This extends to myself and my family. I'd prefer we minimize our suffering as well. My research shows the vast majority of degenerative diseases are preventable, including most cancers, diabetes, gastrointestinal disorders, and immune disorders/infections. Having a healthy immune system is a big factor in my choice to eat raw, grass-fed dairy (fermented & straight up), fermented vegetables, low-temp cooked meats that are fed organic/pesticide-free diets, and other foods with healthy bacteria.
Long-Term Sustainability
I'm not alone thinking the earth's balance, including the human species, is in trouble. Climate change is 99% agreed upon by environmental/climate scientists, and one of the major factors in climate change is industrial farming and the infrastructure of shipping foods long distances and the deforestation due to farming industrialized foods.
Spiritual Alignment
While many buddhists believe in reincarnation to some extent, the jury is still out for me. However, I don't see any benefit to contribute (with my pocketbook or directly) to torture of other living creatures. Full disclosure dictates that I mention the fact that I kill mosquitoes, flies, and gnats, but I do not torture them before I kill them. Also, I catch and free many spiders, grasshoppers and take non-toxic ant and cockroach prevention, avoiding the choice whether or not to kill them as they're nonexistent at home. To me, torture is cruel, inhumane, and soul-crushing; death is a natural part of life, and I do my best to minimize the torture aspect as much as possible. Make no mistake, if you're eating regular dairy, milk and cheese, from the regular old grocery store or a regular, chain or local restaurant, there's a 99% chance the animals this dairy comes from are tortured. Yes, tortured. By proxy, you are torturing animals. We are all connected. The more we deny that, the sicker we seem to get.
Non-Regular/Non-Tortured Animals: Since the above raises the obvious question,
How do I avoid buying foods from tortured animals? Here is what I've found: Grow your own or visit a local farm. You will know immediately if they confine and torture their animals. If, when you arrive, there's lots of land and a few scattered animals, they're probably good. Next, you want to check how clean their facilities and receptacles are, and how often they check their dairy. Should be 1-2xs per week. But I understand, a lot of people don't have this option. The next best option is to go organic (and vegetarian if you can't get organic & free range meat). It's the only way that is accessible mostly nationwide to ensure your dairy, meat, and produce are
not contributing to increased antibiotic resistance, torture, climate change and the overall detriment of health. Organic regulations in the U.S. dictate animals must have a certain amount of room to move around, and zero antibiotic or toxic pesticide use. Think about it: If even 20% of Americans stopped purchasing food from restaurants and grocery stores that contribute to the torture of animals (anything non-organic and non-local), it would create immediate change. Because we're in a capitalist system, voting with a pocketbook is more powerful than voting with a ballot. The most common argument opposing buying organic is cost. I look at it this way: I'd rather spend more on healthier food now, than spend more time, money, pain and suffering in the future because I didn't actively
prevent degenerative diseases that are directly linked to lifestyle and diet.
Prevention of Illness/Infection
Frontline (link below) did a great job illustrating this situation in regard to antibiotic resistance, so I'll try to be brief here and just let you watch it for yourself. I will sum up with this: Scientists have found a greater instance of antibiotic-resistant infection (including Mersa and E Coli) in direct correlation with industrial farms in the same region which use antibiotics to increase animal weight. Additionally, scientists found the type of bacteria that was present in the animal manure (of animals given antibiotics to increase weight) to be the exact same strain of bacteria that the nearby hospital was treating in humans and had seen a 30% increase. The vast majority of degenerative diseases are prevented and regulated by the diet I describe (without nasty drug-induced side-effects). But don't take my word for it, read/research the following:
Dr. Weston Price's,
"Nutrition and Physical Degeneration" and
Dr. David Perlmutter's "Grain Brain." (links go to separate links for the respective Doctor's websites and books on amazon).
The Low Carb (Anti-Inflammation) Element
One last thing. I mentioned above that my diet is low carb. Two factors in this choice were vanity and frugality: I wanted to slim down and my research showed that a low carb diet (done properly, NOT Atkins - Atkins may help you loose weight but it will likely help you gain a whole host of other health problems) helps people loose fat, keep muscle, and helps the weight stay off. Also, my clothes had become too small and too tight (now remedied after 10 months on this diet) and I didn't want to spend money to buy a whole new wardrobe! But low carb diets have another huge benefit: Research shows that a high-carb (which is the standard American diet, aka SAD), whether it's fruits, breads, pastas, starchy vegetables, gluten-free or otherwise, yields a higher probability of heart disease, Alzheimer's and dementia. (See
Dr. David Perlmutter again and
"Grain Brain." The reason? Inflammation. Carbohydrates/high glycemic foods cause a rise in insulin, which cause inflammation and over time this damages our arteries, hearts, vessels and brain vessels. Lastly, I want the option to still have children. My research also shows a low carb diet helps with hormone regulation and health, which is obviously an important factor in conception!
Here's the
link for Frontline. Please watch this program. It's excellent and I'm so glad people are actually talking about this. It's personal, after all. Marcus's father died due to complications post-surgery including an antibiotic-resistant Mersa infection - an infection that they cover in this Frontline story.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/trouble-with-antibiotics/
Disclaimer:
This is purely an opinion piece and in no way reflects opinions of or from the web, blogger, google, or any company, person, business, search engine or entity on the earth or on the internet, and is merely an expression of my 1st amendment rights.
