If there's one thing I'm gonna say about meat (before you come chasing after me with fire and pitchforks)... is that we are eating WAY too much of it.
Animal cruelty aside, which is one the atrocities of this world that REALLY breaks my heart on repeat, high meat diets are literally killing us. I say this for a fact-- whether you are an animal rights activist or not, it's true. Now, I don't like to blab without reason. I never back up my claims with a simple "Just Because...". So today I'm going to tell you the top 5 reasons why the Paleo Diet/ Atkins Diet/ High (animal) Protein Diets are a load of garbage. Literally and figuratively.
The 26th of October, 2015 marked the day the World Health Organisation released a statement determining the direct correlation between red meat/ processed meat consumption and cancer growth. Specifically, increase in the risk of developing colorectal cancer as well as cancers of the pancreas and prostate. The types of meat this includes are all processed meats such as bacon, salamis, sausages, hot dogs, deli meats (hams etc.), tinned meats, smoked meats, and of course red meats inclusive of beef products such as jerky.
The idea of foods that are so heavily implemented to most people's diets causing cancer is scary. But what's even scarier is the modern day perception that high meat, high 'protein' diets are HEALTHY. Come on guys. This stuff LITERALLY CAUSES CANCER.
And if you think life's too short to give up your side of bacon, let me just boil this down to a couple o' numbers if you're not already convinced:
In the US alone (NOT even the biggest meat consumer per average person)
Colorectal Cancer is the SECOND LEADING CAUSE OF CANCEROUS DEATHS with over 140,000 people diagnosed annually, and 50,000 deaths over the course of a year
For Pancreatic Cancer, an estimated 53,070 adults (27,670 men and 25,400 women) in the United States will be diagnosed. Basically 50/50 for both genders, the risk is just as high for either person. What's worse is that of those 53,000 roughly, about 42,000 will die each year.
In Australia (THE biggest meat consumer per average person)
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, roughly 12.4% of all new cancer diagnoses in Australia are bowel/ colon cancer related diseases and in 2017 (just last year) 16,682 people became colorectal cancer patients.
The estimated number of deaths last year was 4,114-- making it the 3rd most common form of cancer in Australia, and the 2nd leading cause of cancer-related deaths.
Although the stats for Australia may seem lower, don't forget we have a smaller population in total than the US, and ALSO Cardiovascular Disease (heart disease) kills one Australian every 12 minutes. A diet high in animal flesh and dairy is unforgettably highly attributed to cardiovascular disease, so don;t think if your risk isn't high for one disease, that it erases the risk of a multitude of others.
So what is the paleo diet?
Basically, the principles of a 'paleo style' diet are:
x Meat (great...)
x Chicken, duck, turkey (more meat)
x Fish (more meat??)
x Eggs (might as well be meat if not worse)
x Vegetables (yay!)
x Oils (...)
x Fruits (for real?? Oh wait... see below)
x Nuts (yay!)
x Tubers (oh yeah, I could totally do this! oh wait... see below)
So ignoring that this list is in order of 'importance' in the diet, as in, the basis of your diet starts with meat-- with fruits, nuts, and tubers (potatoes and starch) at the bottom-- it doesn't sound too bad right?
Well...
Going by this post from Nerd Fitness, a Paleo supporting blog, this list explains how to construct your food intake around the paleo appropriate ratios, and I'd like to debunk these briefly.
Meat – GRASS-FED*, not grain-fed. Grain causes the same problem in animals as they do in humans.
If this is in reference to 'carbs making you fat', where because the animals ate carbs we will gain weight when we eat the animal this is laughable. The REASON we get fat as a nation who eats over 205 pounds of meat per average person per year is because meat is high in saturated fat and cholesterol, contains no fibre so it digests unhealthily slowly (our body absorbing more of the saturated fat this way), and pumped full of hormones that affect our own mammalian hormones.
Fowl – Chicken, duck, hen, turkey…things with wings that (try to) fly.
If you think eating the flesh of a factory farmed bird that spends it's existence in a cage, pumped full of hormones and antibiotics and (whether it's organic or not) potentially carrying an obesity-causing virus-- you're wrong. Luckily there's vegan chicken!
Once again, all meats are full of fat regardless of whether it's visible to you or not, and the worst type of fat at that. This is BEFORE you fry it in more oil, or coat it in salt, or KFC-style fry it by the way.
Fish – Wild fish, as mercury and other toxins can be an issue in farmed fish
You think you won't be getting a dish full of mercury on your wild caught fish plate?? If you're unaware of what minamata disease is, it's pretty much mercury toxicity which causes severe damage to nerve and brain cells. It's really not a good thing, and it has been really common in Japan in the past, due to their high fish consumption. When heavy metals such as mercury leak into the ocean due to numerous industrial processes, it accumulates in the cells of aquatic life. Due to this, as larger fish consume smaller fish the levels of mercury in their systems concentrates-- and as 'on top of the food chain' as we believe we are, humans then consume these large fish (think, tuna, swordfish) and ingest the heaviest, most concentrated serving of toxic mercury. Farmed fish, are in fact, LESS likely to contain high levels of mercury BUT depending where these fish were sourced from intiially they are likely to have traces in their tissues.
Not only that, but farmed fish are fed all sorts of hormones, antibiotics and even chemical dyes to mask their unhealthy coloured flesh.
Yum.
Eggs – Look for omega-3 enriched cage free eggs.
Why do paleo eaters need omega 3 enriched EGGS?? Shouldn't they 'technically' be getting their omegas from fish? Or even healthy plant based versions like flax or chia seeds?
Eggs truly are a demon against good health. Marketed painstakingly as a health and diet food, eggs contain more than Did you know that consuming just ONE EGG a day has the same damaging effect on artery health as smoking 5 cigarettes a day? If you're doing both, well, I got nothin. We have every reason to be worried out our cholesterol levels and a single egg contains around 250mg of cholesterol, just below the daily cap for a healthy person with functioning arteries at 300mg per day. But really, since our bodies produce cholesterol it is non essential and does not need to come from diet. If anything, you're just increasing your risk of heart disease.
Vegetables – As long as they’re not deep-fried, eat as many as you want.
Cool! We should be loading our plates up with as many vegetables as we can! But if paleo dieters are so worried about fattening them up by deep frying them... they should really be reassessing how much fat they're getting from their animal based diet.
Oils – Olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil – think natural.
I'd like to make a seperate post about this in the future, so I won't go off on a tangent, but oil is not a health food. Use it sparingly for sure, but not liberally. In their whole form olives and coconuts and avocados contain a spectrum of nutrients and a very important fibre casing to help your intestines absorb these vitamins and minerals. Once the oil is extracted, all you are left with is the refined, purified fat and nothing more. If you search the nutrient levels of coconut or olive, you'll find very little actual nutrients, and more statements saying "it's just healthy, so buy it!"
Like I said, I don't throw a fact out there with the reason being "just because".
Oil also impacts artery health, so it's not really recommended by many medical doctors with nutrition backgrounds, best to avoid and enjoy heaps of WHOLE foods!
Fruits – Have natural sugar, and can be higher in calories, so limit if you’re trying to lose weight.
Can we just take a moment to compare the caloric density of fruit versus meat?
And you know where red meat fits in?? At around 1152 calories per pound of ground beef BEFORE cooking it, usually in oil which adds fat. Low carbers tend to put fruit under a microscope and calculate the amount of sugar fruit has in ISOLATION to the water, fibre and vitamins it also contains, which play a role in how the fruit is metabolised. It is not the same as ingesting pure refined white sugar. In fact, there have been countless epidemiological studies in the medical literature showcasing the relation between high fruit consumption and a LOWER diabetes risk. Or even reversing type II diabetes. If you want me to explain this further I'm happy to talk about it in another post, it's amazing stuff!
Nuts – High in calories, so they’re good for a snack, but don’t eat bags and bags of them.
What really peeves me about the paleo diet is that almost every promoter will say they don't have to worry about calories, or it's an unrestrictive diet because it's our natural way of eating... and yet every statement about what you can eat ends with an 'if' or a 'but'. Nuts are high in calories, because nuts contain a higher ratio of fat to any other macronutrient. A single gram of fat contains 9 calories, whereas protein and carbs contain 4 calories per gram. This diet gushes over the fact that fats are not fattening, yet tell their followers not to eat too much fat? Take it from me, following a whole food plant based diet that is naturally lower in fat is sooo much easier.
Tubers – Sweet potatoes and yams. Higher in calories and carbs, so these are good for right after a workout to replenish your glycogen levels.
First of all, WHAT is this obsession with high calories on a diet that literally focuses on meat-- which has one of the highest caloric densities of them all (meaning you have to eat less to not overload on calories).
And second, SO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT CARBOHYDRATES ARE VITAL FOR POST WORKOUT REPLENISHMENT AND YET HIGHER CARBOHYDRATE FOODS SUCH AS GRAINS AND FRUIT ARE FROWNED UPON?
Lord jesus.
Personally, I'd recommend fruit post workout, as it contains water for rehydration as well as glucose to feed your muscles. You should aim to intake carbohydrates within 20-25 minutes post workout for optimum muscle uptake of glucose, and fruit is digested much faster than starches such as sweet potatoes. They are awesome though, so have them later too. This paleo diet makes no sense though.
*If you can only afford grain-fed meat, that’s still better than grains. Do the best you can with your situation!
WHY ARE GRAINS SO DEMONISED BY THESE PEOPLE?
HOW IS THE FLESH OF ANOTHER ANIMAL MORE HEALTHFUL THAN A LOW FAT, HIGH FIBRE, HIGH NUTRIENT, HIGH CARBOHYDRATE, FILLING, ENERGISING BOWL OF OATS OR BROWN RICE?
Every day when I come home to scan through the latest nutrition research, I see so many randomised/controlled studies on large population groups in appropriate settings and the correlation between animal based diets and our most common diseases is so clear. However, I rarely see studies showcasing that a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, grains and small amounts of nuts and seeds is harmful. When these studies DO pop up, they are either flawed, funded by a meat or dairy industry, comparative studies, studies based on small populations, studies based on people with already high blood pressures or cholesterol levels, and studies completed over minimal periods of time.
So there you have it, briefly ish. To be honest I'd much rather be eating this ^^
If you want more information on a whole food plant based diet or ideas for recipes/ what to eat, please see my Inspirations page here on my website or go direct to my Instagram or YouTube Channel.
Thanks for hanging out! Peace Out x