Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Where's the Beef?


In my last post, I promised you some information on red meat.  So, let’s start by reflecting on what the “experts” say.  We’re told that consuming red meat is the ultimate sin.  “Animal fat is bad”, “It’ll raise your cholesterol”, “It’ll give you cancer!” is what we’re told. 
Many of you know that I have been interested in wellness, particularly nutrition, for several years.  Often times, when the topic of health arises, friends will proudly announce “I don’t eat red meat!”.  It seems that many believe that as long as they avoid red meat and other fatty animal products, they’ll be healthy.  I’ve noticed that many caring, health oriented moms will feed their children corn chips, tofu, goldfish crackers and packaged mac ‘n cheese and think their children are eating healthy because they’re avoiding the devil, otherwise known as red meat. 
The confusion is understandable.  Every few months, a new book is published that tells us exactly how to eat if we want to be healthy.  I have many of these books: The Zone Diet, Atkins, Eat to Live, The China Study, New American Diet, Living on Live Food, and Skinny Bitch, to name a few.  Each of these authors has facts and statistics to back up his case and prove that his diet is the right diet for everyone.  How are we laymen to know the truth?  For that matter, how are the experts to know the truth? These authors can’t all be right as their suggestions totally contradict each other….or can they?
I’ve been telling people for years that red meat can be a healthful option but it needs to come from cows that are humanely raised and allowed to graze on grass that has not had a chemical shower.  I went to great lengths to ensure my children consumed products from clean, healthy animals when they were very young, including raw, unpasteurized milk from grass fed cows.  When I tell people this, I receive a number of reactions: head shaking, eyebrow raising, looks that say “are you crazy? Everyone knows that animal products are bad for you!”.  Some will go so far as to explain that we don’t have the intestinal track of a carnivore, we don’t have the teeth and digestive enzymes necessary to break down meat, so on and so forth.  They quote a never ending litany of facts and statistics and, if I didn’t know better, I’d think that red meat was the devil too.
Fortunately, though, I do know better (thank you, Dr. G). 
Now that I’m using red meat to reverse terminal cancer, I’m hoping you’ll open your mind and reconsider.  At the very least, take a few minutes and read the rest of this post.  The reason I’ve been a proponent of animal products for so long is because I know about a study conducted by a dentist in the 1930s named Weston A. Price.  Now that I know that Dr. Gonzalez uses the findings of this study to reverse terminal cancer, I’m convinced that this information is fundamental to optimal health.                     
Weston A. Price                                                                                                                       
Dr. Price was a dentist in Cleveland, OH who set out to travel the world and study the epidemiology of dental decay.  Back in Price’s day (1930s) and today, medical and dental students are taught that we are extremely fortunate in the western world to have high tech dentistry to help treat all types of dental disease.  Those poor, primitive people who didn’t have access to dentists would supposedly get dental decay and commit suicide from the pain.  This theory, although widely accepted, has never actually been proven.  
Price recognized that no one had ever done a study to analyze the epidemiology of dental disease and determine if these theories about the primitive cultures were true.  So, he and his wife set out on a seven year journey.  Price traveled the world to live with and study 14 isolated cultures including but not limited to the Eskimos, the Incas, the Masai, the Pygmies, the Polynesians and the Aborigines. He was an impeccable researcher and kept meticulous records that he backed up with thousands of photographs.  He studied the peoples’ dental arches and decay and would interview these people and speak with  doctors or health officials  that were available.  He also reviewed any medical records that existed.  Although he began the expedition with the intention of studying dental health, he eventually became interested in other diseases.    
In addition to studying these isolated cultures, Dr. Price traveled to the westernized towns and villages and observed their descendants; people who initially lived in an isolated region and moved to adopt a more western way of life.
What Price discovered was that these isolated cultures didn’t have dental decay.  In fact, they had perfect dental arches and no need for orthodontics. 
He also studied the incidence of other health issues and he found that they were in excellent health.    There simply was no asthma, allergies, arthritis, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, or hypertension.
Equally shocking is the fact that these indigenous peoples didn’t suffer from mental illness.  When asked about depression and life’s challenges, the Eskimos would break out laughing.  They said “with all the bounty of earth, how could anyone feel like that?”  Note that these were people living in the Arctic with ten months of darkness and no vegetation; yet, there they were, celebrating “bounty”.  They had a word for mourning; when someone died, they grieved.  But when feelings of depression and despondence were described to them, the Eskimos just couldn’t relate.    
Fertility issues that are so common today weren’t an issue for these indigenous peoples.  They  produced healthy offspring with ease, generation after generation.  (When I asked Dr. Gonzalez about the possibility of me having another baby, he said we’ll have to get rid of my cancer first and then we can talk about it.  He mentioned, though, that I have plenty of time; women on his program don’t go into menopause until they’re in their 50s.  Wow.  I hear that conventional doctors these days are telling women that it’s “normal” to begin menopause in their thirties.  Once again, I find myself so grateful for this opportunity to optimize my health.)
When Price studied the groups of people from these isolated cultures who moved into “civilized” towns  and adopted a westernized way of eating loaded with canned goods, preservatives, chemicals, additives and white foods such as flour, sugar and rice, he noticed a catastrophic change in health within only one generation.  Dental decay became rampant; gingivitis and periodontal disease became epidemic.  There were epidemics of asthma, allergies, arthritis, heart disease and diabetes.  Cancer, too, exploded, even in the 20s and 30s.  Mental illness such as depression, bi-polar disease, and schizophrenia became very common amongst these isolated peoples who adopted a westernized way of living but these diseases simply didn’t exist in the isolated cultures. 
If you read Price’s book “Nutrition and Physical Degeneration” you’ll see, in mind-boggling photos, how healthy, disease-free primitives look; the ones who have been subsisting on their own diets for generations have beautifully formed faces, palates, jaws and teeth that are totally devoid of cavities (these people weren’t even brushing their teeth, let alone flossing).  Then there are pictures of these same peoples where white man and their modern foods have taken over.  Children (and the adults they become) with birth defects, deformed palates, rotted, missing teeth and ill health.
So, what are these healthy people eating?  
Because each of these isolated cultures was living off the land, each had its’ own unique diet.  The Polynesians consumed lots of fish and fruit while the African Masai lived on raw cow milk and cow blood.  Although they all ate differently, there are some similarities that can be summed up in the following six principles:    
1.      No human group ever lived on one diet that all humans followed.

Each group ate what was available.  For the Eskimos, that meant whale blubber, seals and fatty red meats.  They lived on an all meat diet that was 80% saturated fat and 20% protein with no vegetation.  The traditional Masai lived on raw cow milk and cow blood; all animal based, about 70% fat, yet completely different from the Eskimos.  The Pygmies in the Congo had more of a plant based diet although they did eat animal products when they could catch them.

2.      No traditional group followed a vegetarian diet nor did any of these groups think that made sense.    

Even the groups that thrived on a diet that was largely plant based saw value in eating animal meat and fat. 

3.      No traditional group followed a low fat diet.

Some of the groups ate animal fat while others thrived on plant based fats but none consumed a low fat diet.

4.      The diets were natural, local and whole.

There was no access to processed foods of any kind, including white products (rice, flour, sugar and pasta) and canned, preserved and chemical “food”.  Is it necessary to mention that their produce wasn’t sprayed with pesticides?  Now, when people eat this way, they are such standouts that we have a special name for them: locavores.

5.      All traditional groups consumed some raw food.

The amount of raw versus cooked foods varied from group to group but all had some raw food that they thought was health promoting.  The Eskimos would take raw fish and bury it.  Eight weeks later, after it had fermented, they would dig it up and feast.  Not only did they enjoy it, they actually considered it dessert!

Note: Initially, I was a little nervous to try Dr. Gonzalez’ program.  What if I had to eat raw meat three times a day?!  Bluck!  When I first met with him, he asked me a couple of times if I was willing to eat red meat 4-5 times a week.  I had no problem with this but after he asked a second time, I said “may I cook it?”  He laughed and said that was fine.  Whew.  (LOL)

The truth is that I would’ve eaten my arm if that’s what it took to get well but I’m glad I didn’t have to. J

6.      Traditional diets produced enduring good health.

No matter what the diet, as long as these groups stuck to their traditional diets, they  experienced excellent health for the rest of their lives. 

Modern “food” choices constitute a radical change from the way man has nourished himself for thousands of years.  As a result, each generation is getting progressively weaker.  Dr. Kelley (who created my therapy) said that he would rather treat an 80 year old man than treat a 20 year old one because each generation is getting weaker and the younger man may not respond as well.  Dr. Gonzalez says that he finds this to be true; in his practice today he receives calls from people in their 20s who have very aggressive cancers that used to be reserved for the elderly.  Multiple myeloma, my disease, used to affect mostly elderly men, especially those who were African American.  Somehow I, a white female under the age of 40 (when diagnosed), was able to contract it.  It seems to be gaining prevalence because I continue to hear about more and more people who are diagnosed with this disease.
One of the most important things we can take away from this study is that, although it’s extremely common to be sick in one form or another, it is not our normal state.  Our bodies are wired for health but it seems that we have forgotten that our normal state is one of balance and vitality.  If we’ll just feed ourselves whole, organic food and detoxify, we’ll dramatically increase our odds of living a life of excellent health.  All of the chronic diseases that are so common are diseases of a civilized world.  Unknowingly, it  seems we are participating in our own demise.      
There’s some truth in all of the nutritional books.   The reality, though, is that everyone has different needs.   I’m not suggesting that everyone eat red meat.  I am, however, proclaiming that some of us need it.  If you don’t like the taste of it or if it sits like a rock in your stomach, then you should avoid it.  But, if you’re like me, and you love it and feel good eating it, then you could begin including it in your diet because you probably need it to thrive.  Dr. Gonzalez always says that your body is smarter than any doctor, including him.  Some of his patients need red meat three times a day while others are vegetarians.  The moral of this story is this: listen to your God given body, not the academic "experts", to tell you the truth about what diet works best for you.

5 comments:

  1. Just wanted to say, I'm loving your blog-- thank you for sharing it with our group from Natalia's training! I've learned similar ideas in Nutrition School, and it's really opened up my eyes to the benefits of eating some animal products, too.

    Glad to hear it's working for you! :)

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    Replies
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  2. Hey Theresa - Dr. Gonzalez is walking me through menopause and so far, it is a breeze. By the way, I am 52.

    Keep pressing on my friend.

    Georgene

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  3. Good blog, keep writing your great articles!

    I'm a recent member of the Westin A Price Foundation, and am trying to introduce more of its health practices into my life. I take Green Pastures fermented fish oil/raw butter blend daily. Like you, I buy grass-fed local beef and raw milk, locally-raised organic, free range pork and we farm our own organic eggs. Its a long process but I'm almost 50, and trying to undo the damage from the SAD diet. I feel much healthier than I did even two years ago.

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  4. Very well said! Dr.Price did some amazing work. I changed my diet after reading his book.
    I think many people would be so much healthier if they didn't see avoiding and cutting out food that occurs naturally, as the cure for their disease....

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