For millennia, the ancients have taught that what we eat and how we eat have an impact on our physical, spiritual and mental health. We all know the saying, “You are what you eat”. The food that we eat affects our mood, emotions, thoughts and behavior.
Within the last decade, it seems that modern science has finally confirmed what the ancients already knew. Dr. Stephen Schoenthaler, a Professor of Criminal Justice at the California State University in Stanislaus, has long argued that there is a link between a healthy diet and decreased aggressive behavior, as well as with increased IQ and school performance. Dr. Schoenthaler conducted studies over an eight year period which involved thousands of juvenile and adult prisoners. Those studies provided scientific evidence that linked food and criminal behavior.
Dr. Schoenthaler was able to show positive behavior results by reducing refined carbohydrates, sugary desserts and foods with chemical additives. Along with the reduction of these foods, he also implemented an increase in complex carbohydrates, whole grains, fresh fruits and fresh vegetables.
Through his studies and research, Dr. Schoenthaler found that improved nutrition reduces stress, anxiety, tension, depression, fatigue and mental confusion. He has found that an improved diet also increases vigor. Data from his studies showed a dramatic 61% decrease in violence and anti-social behavior after the dietary changes were implemented.
The next thing that Dr. Schoenthaler wanted to find out was what would happen if the worst behaved inmates who were eating nutrient poor diets, were given vitamin and mineral supplements. The results: twenty out of forty previously problematic inmates showed improved moods and behavior. According to Dr. Schoenthaler, improvement was largely a result of a change in diet and an increase in vitamin and mineral contents. These inmates were essentially considered to be “malnourished” individuals and saw improvement once the junk food was taken out of their diets and replaced with more wholesome foods. This was a confirmation of the “nutrient-mood-behavior” connection. Dr. Schoenthaler claims that comprehensive programs that he has developed for the penal institutions have resulted in a 72% decrease in violent and anti-social behavior among inmates.
Critics have questioned some of Dr. Schoenthaler’s findings, due to the lack of placebo control groups. However, more recent work by Dr. Bernard Gesch, a physiologist at the University of Oxford, has placed some of the work on a more scientific footing. Dr. Gesch found that nutrition supplements produced a 26% drop in violations of prison rules over a placebo, and a 37% decrease in violent offenses.
The short term behavior consequences of ingesting sugar are well understood; an initial burst of energy, followed a sugar low in which your body produces Adrenalin, which makes you irritable and explosive. However, Schoenthaler and Gesch suggest that there are long term impacts over and above the short term consequences of blood sugar variations.
A study in 1986 has indicated that the worst behaved prison inmates consumed considerably less vitamins and minerals than the better behaved inmates. The more violent and aggressive inmates ate a self selected diet consisting of large amounts of meat, milk, fat and sugar with very little fruits, vegetables and complex carbohydrates. They also consumed half as much iron as the better behaved inmates did.
Unfortunately, the standard prison menu largely consists of refined carbohydrates and fats which give inmates the illusion of good health but is actually detrimental to their health. And since most prisoners’ diets were already nutrient poor prior to their incarceration, when they get released back into society, they will continue to consume a nutrient poor diet that will all but guarantee that their anti-social behavior will also continue.
What Does Any Of This Have To Do With People Who Live In Regular Society?
Simply put, the typical prison menu shows little difference from the unhealthy, nutrient poor diets that people in regular society consume. Fast food restaurants and fast food culture basically ensure that the people in regular society eat the same way and show the same anti-social behavior as prison inmates. After all, every prison inmate was a member of regular society before getting incarcerated. What were they eating prior to their incarceration? And how different is regular society from the prison environment? They both exhibit the same low frequencies and low vibrations. Each of them are plagued by violence, anti-social behavior, depression, anxiety, mental confusion, stress, personality disorders, mental disorders, energy vampires, lack of empathy, lack of compassion and kindness, etc. All manner of uncivilized savagery. In addition to these low frequencies, regular society is also plagued by mass shootings, sex predators, homelessness, unemployment, easier access to self destructive “music” and a larger social media and television influence.
These unhealthy, nutrient poor diets are being fed to children on an alarmingly large scale. Looking at the 1986 studies and the studies by Dr. Stepehen Schoenthaler and Dr. Bernard Gesch, is it any wonder at all why society is as savage and uncivilized as it is? Not only that, but even today, in spite of the progress being made in the plant based lifestyle movement, a lot of people around the world not only consume meat, but they consume A WHOLE LOT OF MEAT. Many times they will eat it at the expense of eating fruits, vegetables and a nutritionally balanced diet.
Among athletes such as football players and professional fighters, there are meat eaters and there are non meat eaters or who may be referred to as vegans or vegetarians. The meat eaters have developed a reputation for being arguably more aggressive than the non meat eaters. Is this a fact? And if it is a fact, then WHY is this so? What is it about eating animals and animal by products that can up the ante in people’s aggression? To be completely honest with you, it’s not the animals themselves that can increase the aggression in people who consume them, rather it’s the steroids and other growth hormones placed in the diets of the animals to make them grow bigger, fatter and more quickly in order to keep up with supply-and-demand. One of the most horrifying sights you can ever behold is to watch undercover video footage of some of these corporate/industrial meat factories where the animals are being “raised” and slaughtered. They are kept in the most squalid conditions, treated as if they are not living, breathing life forms with emotions and constantly fed a diet that is not natural to them with the inclusion of growth hormones. But their entire lives (for however long they are allowed to live) is one of constant mistreatment, squalor, abuse, lack of nutrition and STRESS! And the end result is what the people are consuming for food. To repeat what was said at the beginning of this article, YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT!!
Same thing with the corporate dairy farms. When you have a child that is given dairy milk on a regular basis and compared him or her to another child that is not given dairy milk, you would be lead to believe that the child who drinks dairy milk is healthier than the child who doesn’t drink dairy milk, possibly because the child drinking dairy may be slightly bigger, more developed or more aggressive. How else can you explain how kids today are developing faster than kids 40 or 50 years ago? Eleven and twelve year old BOYS who look and sound like grown MEN and ten, eleven and twelve year old GIRLS looking and sounding like grown WOMEN. This DOES NOT make the dairy consumer “healthier” than the non dairy consumer. It means that the child drinking the cow’s milk is ultimately consuming the same poor dietary upbringing ( GROWTH HORMONES AND ALL) as the cow that the milk comes from; same as the meat eaters. By the way, humans are the only mammals on this planet who “choose” to consume animal milk (another animal’s milk, mind you) well beyond the nursing stage. This is as unnatural as the myth of “lactose intolerance”. It’s not that I’m lactose intolerant, it’s just that I’m not a baby cow.
There are external and internal factors contributing to the chaos, stress and anxiety in today’s society. External factors such as employment (or the lack thereof), traffic, bills, employers who are jerks, coworkers who are jerks, television, social media, destructive “music”, wars and rumors of wars, etc. Then there are the internal factors which are usually exacerbated by the external ones. These include, stress, worry, fear, anxiety, depression, anger and “diet”. These internal and external factors exist as a somewhat “symbiotic” relationship in which they each feed off of the other. You can’t always control circumstances and events outside of yourself (the external factors), but you can always control the internal factors. You can control how you react to your jerk boss and your jerk coworkers. You can control how you react to the person who cut you off in traffic. You can control whether or not to tune into social media, fear mongering “news” and all of the violence and moral decadence in today’s television and movie theaters. And you can also control What And How You Eat.
Should You Eat Meat?
This is a question that you should ask yourself and answer for yourself. Before answering this question for yourself, here are a few FACTS for you to consider. Please consider these facts along with the problems with eating meat that have already been pointed out. These facts are based on a chart from Fit Food For Men by A.D. Andrews and published in 1970 by the American Hygiene Society. Keep in mind that the term meat-eaters is referring to true carnivores such as lions, tigers, hyenas, wolves, leopards, etc:
Meat-eaters: have claws
Herbivores: have no claws
Humans: have no claws
Meat-eaters: have sharp front teeth for tearing and no flat molars for grinding
Herbivores: have no sharp front teeth, but flat rear molars for grinding
Humans: have no sharp front teeth, but flat rear molars for grinding
Meat-eaters: have an intestinal tract that is only three times their body length so that rapidly decaying meat can pass through quickly
Herbivores: have an intestinal tract that is 10 to 12 times their body length
Humans: have an intestinal tract that is 10 to 12 times their body length
Meat-eaters: have strong hydrochloric acid in their stomachs to digest meat
Herbivores: have stomach acid that is TWENTY TIMES WEAKER than that of a meat eater
Humans: have stomach acid that is TWENTY TIMES WEAKER than that of a meat eater
Meat-eaters: cannot properly eat and digest grains and fruits (see the fact below to learn why)
Herbivores: can and do properly eat and digest grains and fruits (see the fact below to learn why)
Humans: can and do properly eat and digest grains and fruits (see the fact below to learn why)
Meat-eaters: have very few salivary glands in their mouths
Herbivores: have well-developed salivary glands , which ARE NECESSARY to pre-digest grains and fruits
Humans: have well-developed salivary glands , which ARE NECESSARY to pre-digest grains and fruits
Meat-eaters: have ACIDIC saliva which does not have the enzyme ptyalin
Herbivores: have ALKALINE saliva with the enzyme ptyalin to pre-digest grains
Humans: have ALKALINE saliva with the enzyme ptyalin to pre-digest grains
Other Facts To Consider
True carnivores (that is, true meat eaters), have sharp canine teeth while humans have none. Some people try to claim that we do have canine teeth or a form of canine teeth. This is patently false and can easily be proved false by looking at the teeth of cats, dogs, lions, tigers, hyenas, cheetahs, coyotes, etc and you will see TRUE sharp teeth that almost look like fangs. Humans do not have these.
Something else many people don’t realize is that true carnivores cannot move their jaws from side to side unlike mammals such as HUMANS and HERBIVORES. Carnivores can only move their jaws up and down to help drive their SHARP teeth through the flesh of their prey. This up and down movement is aided by very large temporalis muscles, which are responsible for pulling the lower jaw upwards and backwards towards the skull. The temporalis muscles attach to the jaw at one end, and the top of the skull at the other end.
Some people also claim that humans are omnivores since they are “able” to eat meat as well as fruits, grains, nuts and vegetables. Notice that I said “able” in quotation marks. First of all, true omnivores such as bears and some primates can and do eat animal flesh BUT they are able to do so without the need to cook it and they have the teeth to tear through raw animal flesh. Humans do not have that. Also, just because humans are “able” to eat meat does not mean that they “Should” eat meat. Humans are “able” to eat dirt, poison, plastic, lead, dog poop and human brains. Does this mean that they “should” eat these things? Does this mean that these things are “healthy” for them?
If we as humans examine our physiology, it is clear that we were never meant to eat meat. We are not designed to do so. The diets of our ancient ancestors were almost entirely plant based. They ate a mainly vegetarian diet. Many people (myself included) believe that most of our chronic illnesses stem from the fact that the modern diet is heavily meat based. Although humans are “able” to eat meat, we cannot safely eat it raw as true carnivores and omnivores do, because, as already pointed out, our stomach acid isn’t strong enough to destroy the pathogens in the meat, thus we lack the capacity to process it. The bottom line is that we are anatomically designed to be herbivores living on a meat free diet. So humans are eating something that they should not eat and on top of that it is unhealthy due to the entire process of preparing it for human consumption, from birth to its arrival at the meat isle in your local super market.
When you ponder on a few of the aforementioned facts, particularly the fact that humans have an intestinal tract that is 10 to 12 times their body length and the fact that humans don’t have the strong hydrochloric acid in their stomachs to “Quickly” breakdown meat, then maybe you can understand the reason many people (myself included) believe that most of our chronic illnesses such as cancer are a result of eating this processed, drug pumped, filth raised and stressed laden meat. I will repeat it once more; You Are What You Eat! If you EAT unhealthy, then you will BE unhealthy. If you EAT healthy, then you will BE healthy.
I personally believe that there are three overarching reasons why humans not only eat meat, but actually demonstrate an unhealthy addiction to meat.
The first is because we are taught early on in our childhood that there are 5 basic food groups. We’re taught that these food groups are Fruits, Vegetables, Grains, Protein Foods and Dairy. It is the categories of protein foods and dairy that are used to indoctrinate our kids into believing that they MUST consume these things as part of a healthy and balanced diet. The dairy category is quite simple to refute. HUMAN BEINGS ARE NOT COWS!! When we think of dairy, we mainly think of cows milk, although dairy may also include goat milk. But humans aren’t goats either. Dairy, that is COW’S MILK, is for the benefit of baby cows. Human Milk, or what we call breast milk, is for the benefit of human babies. It’s that simple. I find it very strange that many Western women absolutely refuse to breast feed their babies and will give them formula instead. BUT, as their children get older, these same Western women will give their children milk from a cow. They won’t feed them the milk that is made for them, but they will give them milk that is not made for them and which comes from an entirely different animal than themselves. Is this not strange?
The protein category is how meat sneaks into our diets. Humans are continuously taught the falsehood that the proteins gained from eating meat is better for them than the proteins coming from legumes and vegetables. This is simply not true. I don’t know who started this falsehood and how this falsehood continues to be believed by so many people, but it is simply not true. A balanced WFPB (Whole Foods Plant Based) Diet provides the human body with all of the ESSENTIAL proteins and Amino Acids it requires for complete, healthy functionality. The fatty acids and Omega-3’s touted from eating fish can be gained from eating the right balance of nuts, legumes and vegetables. These are the reasons people “Think” that they MUST eat meat to be healthy.
Secondly, eating cooked meat releases a chemical reaction in the brain that actually causes an “addiction” to meat. Not meat per se, but cooked meat. Cooked meat is seasoned and cooked a certain way that gives it a sweet flavor to those who love it. The more they eat it, the more that they must have it. Plant based Physician, Dr. Michael Klaper, makes an interesting observation in this regard. He believes that addiction to meat has to do with the food we eat as infants. When you think about it, at six months of age when the baby is still nursing, that jar of baby lamb, baby chicken is opened, and at that point three times a day animal flesh is slathered on that child’s intestines. By age two or three they’re in the fast food restaurant eating their Happy Meals.
According to Dr. Klaper “They’re off to an animal-based diet start. And if you eat meat three times a day through infancy, childhood, through adolescence, puberty, through your teens, your twenties, your thirties, you’re going to get dependent on the carnitine, the creatine, the muscle-based nutrients that are coming in with the food. Your body makes them but if they are coming in three times a day since infancy, what are your genes going to do?”
He continued: “They’re going to down-regulate their own production of carnitine and creatine because it’s coming in three times a day. Well that works as long as you’re still eating it – of course you’re brewing up a bunch of different diseases while you’re doing it – but if you suddenly stop eating flesh you’re body’s still looking for those pre-formed nutrients and you have to make them on your own.
“Most people can gear up their genes and enzymes to start synthesizing their own carnitine and creatine but some folks might be a bit slower, might take six months or a year before they’re really manufacturing that and they get meat cravings and when they eat meat…they feel great. This not normal human physiology, it is an acquired dependency created by feeding a human flesh three times a day in infancy. No primate does that.”
Some meat eaters even say that they’d rather die than to give up their beef and bacon. And guess what; they usually get what they ask for. But this is what addiction does to the human being. This may be because meat and other animal-based foods contain opiates and other drug-like chemicals that cause people to get “hooked” and keep craving more. A recent study conducted at the University of Michigan and released by the U.S. National Library of Medicine indicates that the more processed and fatty a food is, the more likely it is to cause addictive eating behavior. Meat-eaters and vegans alike can agree that many vegan foods, such as strawberries, peaches and pasta with marinara sauce, are quite tasty, but they’re not chemically addictive. Cheese is thought to be especially addictive because the casein (milk protein) it contains releases opiates called casomorphins.
Third of all, I have come to learn that most people on this planet do not eat to live; They “Live To Eat”!! These are two different things. And the food cravings and addictions have a lot to do with people living to eat instead of eating to live.
With the animal cruelty in the factory farms, the hormones that are being fed to these animals, the stress factors, the health implications in eating meat and the facts pointing out that humans are not physiologically designed to eat meat, perhaps you are now able to answer the question “Should You Eat Meat?”
In order to help combat the poor health, negativity, stress and anti-social behavior we face on a day-to-day basis, I am proposing that people try to wean themselves from a diet with meat in it and work their way towards eating a WFPB (Whole Foods Plant Based) diet. Doing so has massive implications on our health, the minimizing of animal cruelty, relieving some of the anti-social behaviors in society and even contributing towards the health and well being of Gaia (Mother Earth).
WHAT EXACTLY IS A WHOLE-FOOD, PLANT -BASED DIET?
Before examining what a whole food, plant based diet is, I want to first explain what it is not in order to clear up some popular misunderstandings of what it is. A whole food, plant based diet isn’t a “vegetables only” diet. While leafy vegetables are an important part of a WFPB diet, they actually don’t contain enough calories to sustain you on their own. Not eating enough calories leads to decreased energy levels, feelings of deprivation, cravings and even binges. These are things that we wish to avoid.
Now, as for what is a WFPB diet, I will point you in the direction of the Forks Over Knives Documentary and it’s producers for an explanation of what makes up a WFPB diet; or, as we will call it here, the Forks Over Knives Diet.
The Forks Over Knives Diet was born out of the transformative power that whole food, plant based eating can have on health and well being. It is centered on whole, unrefined, or minimally refined plant foods and excludes or minimizes meat, dairy products, eggs, and highly refined foods such as bleached flour, refined sugar and oil.
According to our friends from Forks Over Knives, whole food describes natural foods that are not heavily processed. That means whole, unrefined, or minimally refined ingredients. Plant based means food that comes from plants and doesn’t include animal ingredients such as meat, fish, milk and eggs. A whole food, plant based diet lets you meet your nutritional needs by focusing on natural, minimally processed plant foods. A WFPB diet serves as an excellent way to transition from an unhealthy, meat eating diet to a diet that humans are naturally designed to be eating. The goal is to strive towards a meat free diet. Below is a chart provided by our friends from Forks Over Knives on what you should and should not eat on a WFPB diet. Keep in mind that this is not a complete, exhaustive list. It is meant to give you an idea of what your WFPB diet should consist of:
LOAD UP ON THESE:
Fruits – bananas, blueberries, strawberries, oranges
Vegetables – broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, kale, lettuce
Tubers and Starchy Vegetables – corn, green peas, potatoes, winter squash
Whole Grains – barley, brown rice, millet, oats, quinoa, wheat berries
Legumes – black beans, chickpeas, lentils, pinto beans
ENJOY IN MODERATION:
Plant-based milks – almond, cashew, hemp, oat, rice, soy
Tofu and Tempeh
Whole grain flours and breads
Whole nuts and seeds
Nut/seed butters – almond butter, pumpkin seeds, tahini, walnuts
AVOID OR MINIMIZE:
Bleached flours, white bread and white pasta
Dairy products
Eggs
Meat, poultry and seafood
Oils
Refined sweeteners
White rice
I had mentioned earlier that too many people “live to eat” instead of “eating to live”. There is nothing wrong with putting a focus on pleasure in your WFPB diet. The best whole plant foods are the ones you enjoy enough to stay on a healthy path. So, by all means, have that tasty veggie chili, whole grain pasta with marinara sauce, tacos, mashed-potatoes, fajitas or whatever else hits the spot. As long as you’re eating good and healthy and sticking to your dietary goals, there’s nothing wrong with pleasing your taste buds. At least you will know that the idea of a WFPB diet being boring and tasteless is absolutely false. I myself do not eat any animals or animal by products and my diet is far from boring or lacking in flavor.
My suggestion; pick one day out of the week to be a “meatless” day. Do that for about a month. After that, pick two days out of the week to be a meatless day. After a month of that, make it three days. Then try to go one week on a WFPB diet and if you get the swing of it and start to feel better, more energized, better focused and react less negatively to stressful circumstances, then try to go one month on a WFPB diet. If you can do one month, then you can go all in and make the switch. This would be better for you, for those around you and, ultimately, for the planet we live on.