Olga asked me to comment on this Huff Post, “Shattering the Meat Myth.”  Oh Gosh, I’m so done with these vegetarian arguments. If people want to listen to “scientific evidence” that we have hands that can grab fruits and that we are like apes (FYI apes eat insects, and chimpanzees occasionally eat each other) then that’s their choice. We’re not like herbivores (they have an enzyme that turns brush, grasses and other plants into protein, humans do not have that enzyme). Plants and fruits do not make things (cells, tissues, hormones, and so on) and so if you eat vegan/vegetarian when you’re young, you’ll do okay as long as you have enough lean body mass for your body to cannibalize for a while. In other words, your body, in desperation, is going to break down your bones and muscle mass to get the proteins (amino acids) it needs for ongoing metabolic repair and rebuilding.

Can you get healthier if you stop eating factory food and switch to real plant foods? Yes, definitely. Dean Ornish the big plant-eating proponent has lots of success with helping former factory food gobbling people get healthier. That’s because he switches them from an utterly toxic diet of factory poisons to real veggies. Without the toxic spill every day, of course they are going to improve. But the big thing is that he also gets people to stop smoking, exercise, lower stress, yoga, breathing, positive imagery, quit caffeine, and meditate. Then they can stop the onslaught of all their drugs. There, you’ve got a big improvement.

But what’s going to happen to all these people in the long run when they are depriving their bodies of proteins and fats?

The big goal is to build up more than you break down. Your metabolic processes are going all the time. At one point, without having building supplies (the biochemicals human beings are made out of) you’re going to break down way too much and you’re going to have major health problems. Every single clinical nutritionist I’ve spoken with has told me horror stories about vegetarians and vegans, and their often intractable health problems.

The big concern is that we are torturing animals to eat them, and that’s not right. There are people like Temple Granlin who are trying to change this. And we can all do our part in changing the ranching system in this country by being aware of our sources of animal foods.

You have ONE body and ONE chance to make it through this life in good health. You owe it to yourself to give your body what it needs. Seriously consider whom you’re listening to. Because these celebrities who are spouting all this vegan nonsense are the same people who are talking about saving the earth while they’re shopping their hearts out on mega carbon footprint items day in and day out. Our world is a mess and part of that mess is that the animals we are eating are not left to roam. That doesn’t change human physiology. If you have ANY doubt read THE VEGETARIAN MYTH  by Lierre Keith. You owe it to yourself.

In the meantime, I wish vegans and vegetarians well. I’m not in the business of zealotry with the accompanying lashing out, hatred and vitriol. I’m in the business of helping people lead balanced, quality lives so they can make it all the way to a peaceful end.

Peace, Fun, Love.

Your girlfriend in health,