UNPLUG YOURSELF

Today, especially in the United States the disease epidemic is astonishing for a first world country. While we endlessly donate to research to help find cures, we never stop to think about “what’s the cause”. We allow those we assume are credible to tell us what “we need” or what “we have” based off our “genetics”. In reality, everything’s a business at the end of the day. In my opinion, we’ve been naive to the fact that it isn’t. One would like to think lives are more important than money. However, we have plenty of examples surrounding us proving that isn’t necessarily true. If people were more important than money, chemicals wouldn’t exist in our food, education would be a priority, and healthcare would be free or “really” affordable for all. Not a privilege. To be better, we must demand better! This starts with a willingness to want real change.

what do the world’s healthiest people have in common?

Ironically, the biggest commonality amongst the healthiest people regarding diet is pretty much completely opposite of the average American diet. Surprising? It shouldn’t be…Look around. We’re not a collective walking billboard of health. So what do the healthiest people do different? They all consume no to very low meat and dairy products. Overall, low animal protein. Ikaria, Greece took the number one spot for the most healthy centenarians. This is a Greek Island in the Aegean Sea. The Mediterranean diet is thought to play a large role in a long disease-free life. This diet is low in meat and high in healthy fats (olive oil), vegetables, beans, lemons, wild greens, feta cheese, and of course red wine! Okinawa, Japan is also another place with a lot of healthy centenarians. They contribute their health to a regular diet that consists of rice, fish, vegetables, bean curd, bitter melon, and sweet potatoes.  Another place where some of the world’s healthiest people live is Loma Linda, California. This community follows a strict diet that mainly contains; fruits, vegetables, nuts, and beans. While this may seem boring, the importance of self-love ranks high. Overall, diets where people consume low to no animal protein showed less diagnosis of diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and death for people under age 65. I know this may be confusing considering we’ve been encouraged and taught that over indulging in animal protein is key to a strong healthy body. However, when we take a deeper look, is this really the truth? Who really benefits? 

what does the average American have in common? 

In regards to diet, the average American takes in large amounts of dairy, meat and processed food. In fact, Americans eat more meat per person than any other people on Earth. The average intake is 200 pounds of meat per person per year. From milk, to beef, steak, chicken, bacon, pork, cheese, and more cheese. Acidic, acidic, and more acidic. To make matters worse, the majority of animals we eat take in large amounts of antibiotics, growth hormones, GMO feed, and many live in cramped unsanitary conditions. By over indulging in meat and animal products not only are we supporting these practices, but we are obviously ignorant to the long term health effects OR we’re completely ignoring the correlation. In order to remain disease-free, the body needs to stay alkalized. The simplicity of this has been suppressed possibly under the influence of food conglomerates and Big Pharma. As these two industries seem to work together. If our food makes us sick, we can just get a prescription for pills.  To stay alkalized, the body needs a lot of good water intake, healthy fats, raw vegetables, fruits, leafy greens, probiotics, beans and nuts for protein on a consistent basis. Our body doesn’t need nor does it want soda, processed junk food, real sugar and especially not fake sugar, artificial fruit juice, tons of meat for protein, milk from cows, processed cheese, or that fast food combo for $3.99! Seriously, our love affair with the wrong food is literally killing us. The time has come to recognize this. 

how we veered so far off the road…

First and foremost, convenience has become priority. Tighter schedules, more deadlines, and the perception of less time has contributed to this immensely. With both parents having to work full-time to provide for the family, cooking fresh food has become our distant ally. Even though, most Americans still find time to watch t.v. and update social media. Also, food commercials have endlessly glamorized junk food. They seem to use celebrities as persuasive pawns. We all know they don’t eat that crap.  In addition, our government spends 38 billion dollars per year to subsidize the meat and dairy industries. In other words, this means they pay part of the production cost to reduce the price for buyers. This is us. Otherwise, animal products would not be affordable. While this seems like a generous gesture, at what cost to our health?  Furthermore, it seems contradictory that the federal government dietary guidelines urge us to eat more fruits and vegetables, however, they only give 17 million dollars each year to subsidize fruits and vegetables. So while animal agriculture gets tons of cash, those raising fruits and vegetables hardly get any help. Why preach one thing and support the complete opposite? These are the questions we have to start asking! The longer we deny our acidic diets as a major contributor to our disease epidemic, the longer we suffer generation after generation.  

how do we get back on track? 

First, we must recognize we have a problem. Most people today in the United States know someone with cancer. In fact, most people have probably experienced the loss of a loved from cancer. My dad died from liver cancer. Instead of asking questions, we collectively seem to accept that cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity is something we just get or inherit regardless. We speak of these things as if they’re normal and our ultimate fate. However, there are hundreds of clinical studies linking high consumption levels of meat and dairy to these illnesses and more. The research really does exist. Americans have twice the obesity rate, twice the diabetes rate and nearly three times the cancer rate as people in the rest of the world. What do we do different? Again, we eat a lot more meat and dairy products. Therefore, have we been accepting the way things are opposed to changing? Are we addicted to our diets? Or, are we completely ignorant to the fact that human beings aren’t supposed to be this sick?

Next, we have to educate ourselves on the many other ways to acquire protein aside from meat. To most peoples surprise, there are many other ways! Just to give you a reference point, a 3oz piece of meat would average 22 grams of protein. One cup of kidney, black, pinto, or lima beans contain about 15 grams of protein. One cup of quinoa contains 24 grams of protein. One pasture raised egg contains about 6 grams of protein. Other good sources of protein include nuts such as; almonds, pistachios, walnuts, peanuts, and cashews. Chia seeds, greek yogurt, cottage cheese, spinach, baked potatoes, and broccoli all contain protein as well. Needless to say, we can get protein from many other sources!

in conclusion… 

In reality, the basis of what many claim to know and defend has been based off what we’ve been taught or programmed to believe. Being naive to the fact we’ve been misinformed for private agendas regarding our diet and correlation to disease can no longer be an excuse! I’m not suggesting people completely cut meat and dairy out of their diets, however, I am saying we should collectively cut back. Not only could we eliminate factory farms, we may improve our health. Our pain or compassion for others in pain must drive our need and want for knowledge to empower change!