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LATEST POSTS: LET’S GET HEALTHY WITH “THE HEALTHY OMNIVORE”
What Is The Quality Of Your Food Source?
When it comes to proper nutrition, I wonder if we have our priorities straight. Thinks about this…
Unhealthy Foods.
Not saturated fats, high-glycemic carbohydrates, or even foods that are high in cholesterol. We have been eating “these” foods for thousands and thousands of years. But what we haven’t been eating is foods that are well, “unhealthy.”
Let me explain. A new phenomena that I believe is a primary reason our health is failing is that we are unhealthy because the animals and plant life that we consume is unhealthy (including food products FROM these animals like; eggs, milk, and cheese). Yes, if you are consuming animals and plants that are unhealthy (I mean, they are literally unhealthy), you have NO CHANCE of being optimally healthy yourself!
What is the quality of your food source?
Way too many people of “supposed” importance (i.e. Diet Dictocrats) believe the United States can be healthy by predominately consuming animals that are unhealthy!
Well, those people…are DEAD WRONG! In a matter of fact, this message is simply “DEADLY”!
Because the future of the health of the United States is resting firmly on the shoulders of those who are predominately motivated by making a huge profit, the health of generations’ X and Y are going to suffer. Our health is going to suffer!
What is the quality of your food source? If it is unhealthy, how is that going to benefit you?
If we are purchasing and consuming beef, pork, poultry, eggs, and fish, without knowing the animals living conditions and quality of life, we are opening ourselves up to a plethora of future health challenges. Why? “Factory Farming” and “Industrial Farming” are all about quantity, not quality.
Because of this, unhealthy food is rampant. Cheap, but abundant!
I believe the statement; “it isn’t a food unless your great grandmother considered it a food” has become outdated. Why? One, very few people have any idea what their grandmother ate (or anybody else for that matter back then), let alone, their great grandmother, and two, animals were NOT raised back then the way they are today. Your great grandmother would be able to see the difference in the color, size, texture, taste, and nutritional value of her beef, pork, poultry, eggs, and fish, compared to what is predominately farmed today. Today, most people don’t have any idea what a healthy piece of beef, pork, poultry (eggs), and fish should look and taste like, let alone how it should make them feel. The truth is, your great grandmother’s options for unhealthy food were quite limited to yours and mine!
What Is The Quality Of Your Food Source?
The “factory farming” and “industrial farming” movement is relatively new. But it’s impact is REAL!
It has most of us at a huge disadvantage, even if we are trying to make a concerted effort in improving our health. You see your great grandmother was surrounded by small farms where the farmers took great pride in the health of their animals and the quality of their product. Today…it’s all about the profit, with very little to no pride to be found while producing the very lowest of quality.
The best way to make this profit is to produce the greatest amount of product using the smallest amount of space; this has ensured the demise of the health of the animal being farmed. Factory farming has been pushing the little guy out for quite a while now.
For example:
In the U.S., four companies produce 81 percent of the cows, 73 percent of the sheep, 57 percent of the pigs and 50 percent of the chickens. In 1967, there were one million pig farms in America; as of 2002, there were 114,000, with 80 million pigs (out of 95 million) killed each year on factory farms as of 2002, according to the U.S. National Pork Producers Council. According to the World Watch Institute, 74 percent of the world’s poultry, 43 percent of beef, and 68 percent of eggs are produced this way.
Unhealthy food… ad nauseum! [Read More...]
What Is Factory Farming? And Should I Care?
SHOULD WE SUPPORT ANYTHING THAT DOES NOT VALUE THE LIFE OR HEALTH OF ANIMALS OR HUMANS!
Have you ever asked yourself, “what is factory farming?”
If you have, you will want to know, you SHOULD care!
Even if you do NOT care how an animal is treated, you BETTER know, that any animal that is not healthy will lead to the demise of your health once consumed.
So…
If you have not yet heard of factory farming, read on for just an ever so small primer.
A recent USA Today title states; “USDA orders largest beef recall: 143.4 million pounds”, a survey by the British government reveals, “Salmonella levels over 5x higher in battery eggs than organic”. Yes, these types of HEADLINES are running rampant in current news because of the ever increasing dilemma of how to feed the great masses of people in the world today. There is an obvious relationship between the QUANTITY of the people in the world and QUALITY of the food that is being offered. Let’s just take a quick look at how poor the quality of food has become when it comes from “Conventional Farming”, “Industrial farming”, “Factory Farming” and even “Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations” (CAFO’s).
Here are just a few factory farming low-lights:
What Is Factory Farming?
What is factory farming? Should you care? Most Definitely!
FACTORY FARMING: POULTRY
Concerning factory farming, the chicken MAY have it the worst. Let’s discuss the living conditions of two types of birds, the Boiler Chicken, which get their beaks snipped so that they will not cannibalize the other beak-less chickens; and the American Laying Hen, which spends her brief span of days piled together with three or four other hens in a cage that has a floor not much larger than the size of a white sheet of typing paper. These hens spend their short lives cannibalizing their cage mates and rubbing their breasts on the wire mesh until it is completely bald and bleeding. The survivors of these atrocious conditions are finally starved of food, water and light for several days just in order to stimulate a final egg laying frenzy before they are slaughtered. Is the purchasing of cheap, commercially farmed eggs really worth the savings of a couple dollars?
The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.-Mohandas Gandhi
FACTORY FARMING: PORK
Industrial hog production, and factory farming, isn’t much better than the production of the American Laying Hen, as the piglets in these Concentrated Animal Farming Operations have their pigtails snipped off at birth (pair of pliers, no anesthetic), are weaned form their mothers at ten days (compared with thirteen weeks in nature), solely because they can gain weight a lot faster on their drug-fortified feed than on their mother’s milk. Unfortunately, amongst other challenges for these poor pigs, this premature weaning leaves them with a desire to “suck and chew”, which has them constantly seeking gratification from the tail of the pig in front of them. It is thought that because the pigs are in such a sad state of psychological and mental depression (remember these are highly intelligent animals; think “dog”) that they allow this molesting, but if a pig chooses to be economically inefficient and under-perform, because of its desire to “suck and chew”, it will be clubbed to death on the spot. I am not sure if this clubbing is in anyway worse at an early age than a longer life that entails no earth, no straw, and no sunshine, just a life of constant eating while suspended by wood planks over a septic tank. What do you think?
“I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of a whole human being.”-Abraham Lincoln
FACTORY FARMING: BEEF
In response to the above USA Today headline, I am appalled by the people who are making the important decisions for our food supply, specifically the USDA. In case you missed it, it is thought that the majority of this beef has already been consumed by schools and fast food restaurants (schools and fast-food restaurants). The issue is that the animals could NOT WALK (“downer” cattle) but were still slaughtered for consumption, but only after being improperly treated (of course), and then sold as healthy non-diseased beef. This is how bad it has become in this country; the experts say that there is no need for concern, and I even came across one authority who said that the issue isn’t the quality of the meat but consumers cooking ALL hamburger until it is well-done (the thinking here is that THEY know the beef is bad so YOU need to KILL everything/including fecal matter). This nightmare has brought the movie Fast-Food Nation to real life (if you have not seen this movie, the USDA has just created an opportunity for a sequel). I was recently at a restaurant in Templeton, California where the young person at the table ordered a hamburger, he was asked how he would like it cooked, he asked for “rare” and he received a hamburger cooked “rare”. No questions asked. Now there is a restaurant that is serving high quality meat. Good for them. This high quality of food should be the rule, not the exception. If you don’t know if your meat products are coming from factory farming or not, it might be time to find out. Don’t you agree?
He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals. -Immanuel Kant [Read More...]
How Can We Improve Life Expectancy?
Attaining Optimal Health.
Could it be as easy as creating an improved lifestyle?
Well, if you look at life expectancy… it is clear it CAN’T hurt!
The World Health Organization ranked the United States 24th in life expectancy amongst 191 countries. The top ten in life expectancy, listed from top to bottom, are: Japan, Australia, France, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Greece, Switzerland, Monaco, and Andorra (I have seen some studies listing Andorra number one with a life expectancy of over 83 years!).
Take a look at the latest numbers published by the CIA. The United States is ranked 50th! Yes, that is FIFTIETH!!!
In case you were wondering. Yes. We get a horrible return on the money invested into our supposed Healthcare System. Obviously!!!
So, how can we improve life expectancy?
What are some daily lifestyle choices, that these countries are making that we may be missing out on?
Now remember, when it lists the specific foods, remember it is ALL about individual nutrition. If you don’t have the ancestry of these specific cultures, please don’t expect that each and every one of these foods will benefit your health.
We, as a nation, have already gone down the olive oil, soy, and choral calcium being great for everyone road. And, it wasn’t pretty!
How Can We Improve Life Expectancy?
How can we improve life expectancy? We could start by learning from healthy cultures!
HEALTHY HABIT #1:
Eat plenty of produce and whole grains (and legumes).
Who does this: China and Greece.
Special Point: These countries use meat products as a garnish, which interestingly enough, Thomas Jefferson recommended as well.
Side Note: If you are planning to eat Chinese cuisine in this country, it MUST be traditional fare (which is NOT as easy to find as you might think), not of the fast-food variety.
HEALTHY HABIT #2:
Savor leisurely dining.
Who does this: Italy, France, Spain, Greece and Japan.
Special Point: Some of these countries take a couple hours to eat their largest meal of the day.
Side Note: Discourage overeating and improve digestion by SLOWING down while consuming your meals.
HEALTHY HABIT #3:
Practice portion control.
Who does this: France and Japan.
Special Point: Concerning food, it isn’t just Texas where everything is BIGGER. The food servings in the United States are ridiculously large compared to other countries.
Side Note: Try to quit eating when you are 80% full, or when you get the first “pang” of fullness. Also, put your fork down in between each bite to help yourself determine this fullness. [Read More...]
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