Got Meat? Too Bad!
(all quotes below excerpted from
Joseph Keon's Whole Health, 1997)
We are not carnivores and have never been
carnivores,
and that should be remembered.
Dr. Richard Leakey, Paleoanthropologist
"If
one looks at the evolutionary history of human beings, we have primarily been
herbivores, or plant eaters, until relatively recently. In support of this
fact, our teeth are mostly flat for grinding plant foods, unlike the teeth of
carnivores, or meat eaters, which are pointed and sharp, designed for
effectively piercing and tearing flesh. Even our clawless hands are useless for
this purpose. Moreover . . . carnivores also have the capacity to assimilate,
process, and rid themselves of the massive amounts of cholesterol they consume
on a daily basis. Consequently, they do not suffer from atherosclerosis or
"hardening of the arteries." The human liver, on the other hand, has
only a limited capacity to contend with large amounts of dietary cholesterol
and, consequently, excesses lead to disease. Even our intestinal tract is
different from that of carnivores. Other herbivores, like humans, have long
intestinal tracts that are suited for digesting plant foods. Carnivores, on the
other hand, have very short tracts best suited for the digestion of meat."
. . . (113-114)
"[M]eat
is one of the primary sources of saturated fat and cholesterol in the American
diet and, therefore, is a major influence in the development of many diseases.
. . . [M]eat contains excessive levels of iron, which acts as an oxidant,
leading to the production of free radicals. Free radicals not only cause
cellular damage and expedite the aging process of tissues, but also are linked
to cancer and birth defects. Another major drawback of meat consumption is that
meat is totally lacking in fiber, which is very important in controlling
weight, preventing colon cancer, and stimulating the immune function.
"Women
who eat meat once a day have a breast cancer risk 380 percent higher than women
who eat meat once a week.
"[M]eat
is also often tainted with chemical pesticides, fertilizers, and hormone
residues, many of which have been shown to be carcinogenic to humans. In
addition to the hormones with which beef cattle are treated to increase their
size rapidly, the meat is often poisoned by the cowÕs internal hormones (such
as adrenaline), which are released during the slaughter of the animals.
Livestock are also fed enormous quantities of antibiotic drugs, residues of
which remain in the meat for the consumer." (114)
"As
if these were not sufficient reasons to exclude meat from your diet, there is
also the problem of an increasing incidence of bacteria poisoning with meat
consumption. E-coli 0157:H7 (commonly referred to as E-coli) is an extremely
virulent strain of bacteria that can cause severe illness and even death when
present in very small amounts. Paul Cieslak of the Center for Disease Control
and Prevention confirms that rates for E-coli poisoning continue to climb. In
January 1993 there were over 500 cases reported in Washington state alone.
Death resulted in four of the cases involving children. All of these cases were
linked to a well-known chain of fast-food restaurants. Several months later,
five people in Oregon were hospitalized for having eaten meat tainted with
E-coli bacteria. Currently, the Center for Disease Control estimates that there
are over 20,000 cases of E-coli poisoning each year." (115)
* * *
Jock
Doubleday
Director
Natural Woman, Natural Man, Inc.
http://www.GentleBirth.org/nwnm.org
http://www.SpontaneousCreation.org
director@spontaneouscreation.org