Whatever Happened to Real Nutrition?
Liz Pavek (c)2002
When mankind was young, mealtime was uncomplicated. A few rabbits or grouse, a small deer or antelope, some gull eggs, a few fish, or even the feast of a whale or an elephant. The hunters and their families were lean, strong, alert, adaptable, and extremely clever.
But somewhere along the way to the future, they discovered that it was much easier to dig a hole in the ground and plant a seed than it was to pick up their spears and slings and go out after game.
Things haven't changed much since then, except the obvious externals. Although our innards haven't changed much, either, we still think it is easier to eat a slice of bread or drink a liquid meal replacement than to cut off a slice of meat or cheese, or boil an egg.
Today's diet holds absolutely no similarities to those primitive and healthful foods beyond the fact that we put them into our mouths. Most of today's processed groceries could not seriously be counted as food because they have been altered, molded, fortified, shaped, flavored, preserved, manipulated, synthesized, cremated, colorized, melted, steamed, dehydrated, preserved, and packaged. Today's Americans aren't in much better shape. After eating such a diet for forty years, they are fat, chronically ill, and infertile.
What happened between the haunch of moose over the fire and the fat-free Healthy Choice frozen dinner?
I mustn't generalize too sweepingly here, for there are still cultures that eat in the old ways. The Masai in Africa, for instance, still keep herds of handsome cattle that are bled, milked and even butchered occasionally. Beyond this, the Masai eat little else. And there is little difference between today's Masai herdsmen and their ancestors. They are very tall, well over six feet, lean, and have great endurance, as well as wide, handsome faces, and full sets of perfect, straight teeth. They are extremely healthy and have never heard of heart disease, high blood pressure, or diabetes. What do you think happens to a Masai when he comes into the city to live, and eats the standard modern diet? How about heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes, among other things.
The Eskimos of the Arctic who still hunt and eat in the old ways eat little besides fat, meat, and fish. They hunt and live in climatic conditions that are harsh beyond belief. Their summers are short and their winters are long and dark. But their faces are wide and their teeth are strong, straight, and cavity-free. And as long as they adhere to their ancient diet, they know nothing of obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, or diabetes. What do you think happens to a traditional Eskimo who is convinced to eat like a white man? How about obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes?
Aborigines of Australia are wonderful foragers. Their traditional diet is widely varied, and includes things that Westerners would never think to add to a diet: grubs, insects, lizards, and small rodents. They live on kangaroo and wallaby, foraged roots and seeds, and seldom venture into the White man's kitchen. If they live near the coast, they add fish and other seafoods and even kelp. They have wide, racially-perfect faces, and mouths full of perfect, straight, even teeth. On this diet, heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes are unknown. What do you think happens when the Aborigine moves to the city and begins to eat the White man's white diet? You guessed it: Obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes.
There is a message here that most modern Westerners do not want to hear. They don't want to hear that their portioned, formed, flavored, manipulated, sweetened, and synthesized diet is not optimal. They are addicted to its sweetness and flavors, and they adore its convenience. They could care less that it is not real food, or that it has probably never even come near anything having to do with real food.
A frozen, low-fat turkey dinner, for instance, might contain turkey breast, but it will be from birds that have been force-fed on soybean meal. The fat will be stripped from the meat, which will then be marinated in MSG and injected with vegetable oil in an attempt to impart something like flavor and juiciness. The sauce will be a sugary gravy full of starches and colors and more chemical flavoring agents. The vegetables are usually peas or carrots, two vegetables with very high sugar content, but which are the favorites of Westerners, so they are included. Mashed potatoes? Only in the most academic sense. They are made from a soup of dehydrated potatoes, MSG, and sugar. Great pride is taken in the fact that this meal will be at least 65% carbohydrate, and only 1% fat.
Calves will quickly die if placed on a diet of pasteurized skim milk. Yet, what is the milk of choice among Americans? They choose skim milk--pasteurized skim milk--because they have swallowed the lies that tell them that butterfat is bad for them. The more adventurous might select a 2% milk, which has had all the cream removed, then powdered milk is added to bring the butterfat back to 2% and to make it look thicker and more nutritious.
But, butter? Never put real butter on any food destined for the stomachs of these purists. No meat beyond an occasional skinned chicken breast or fillet of white fish. Soybean tofu, soy milk, soybean paste in all flavors, soybean oils as their chosen fats, and soybean nutritional supplements for various conditions induced by the above synthetic diet complete the profile.
What do you think happens after a few years on a diet like this? As an experienced 15-year fat-free non-meat-eater, I will tell you: Hair loss. Dry, parched skin. Heart arrythmias. Hormonal imbalances that are off the charts. Obesity. Heart disease. Cancer. Depression. Digestive disorders and endocrine imbalances that, once contracted, will never be cured.
If a person in this situation decides that animal products of any kind are the source of his problem, he will probably have a medical profile that sounds like this: Emaciation. Mental problems, including depression, aggressiveness, and paranoia. Early baldness. Weakness and prostration. Easy bruising. Bleeding gums and tooth problems. Dry, burning eyes. Crohn's disease or irritable bowel syndrome. Ulcerative colitis. Cancer. Shutdown of hormone production in all glands, including testes or ovaries. Early death. This person will be convinced by the propaganda that red meat and saturated fats are evil and that the only protein that is safe to eat comes from vegetable sources, and he will embark on a course of total starvation that will force his body to consume its own muscle and skin tissues, dissolve his bones, and eventually starve him to death. The soy products he eats in preference over meat provide little or no real nourishment, and in certain biochemical processes, actually depletes the body's reserves of essential nutrients while not replacing any.
The few cultures who appear to be vegetarian eat saturated fat in some form, even if it is only from an insect source, because they know that the saturated fats these creatures contain are essential to health and fertility. Indians from the Subcontinent, for instance, use a lot of butter, even though their diets contain little or no meat.
Some who read this will be convinced that I am a crackpot at best, demented at worst. But, as a crusader for REAL NUTRITION, I have to say that I accept these appelations. But don't call my mental capacity into question. Check the validity of my sources. Dr. Weston A. Price DDS, was a prophet. His work has never been improved upon, and it is a classic that is in wide circulation. If you want to read the truth about REAL NUTRITION, I couldn't recommend a more informative, inspirational, and frightening book than his NUTRITION AND PHYSICAL DEGENERATION.
Dr. Mary Enig, Ph. D, is a lipid chemist, dietician, and nutritionist who probably knows more about the fats we put into our bodies than anybody still walking around. Her book, Know Your Fats, had more to do with my restored health than any other besides the Weston A. Price book above.
To realize that there is a concerted effort to manipulate not just the results of medical research concerning nutrition but the tests themselves, is a scary thing (Especially the "research" surrounding the theory that saturated fat is the cause of cardiovascular disease). But Uffe Ravnskov's The Cholesterol Myths will not only prove it, it will have you fuming. Ravnskov's research is impeccable, his sources are the very tests he studied, and his conclusions and evidence are damning.
Websites like The Weston A. Price Foundation's encyclopedic and informative pages will have you even madder when you realize what has been done to the diet and health of the modern West for the sake of profit. Don't be afraid to read this website. It is easy to navigate and loaded with factual information and references. And, don't be afraid to learn the truth about what the government and the press (believe it or not) are literally trying to force down your throats.
Dr. Lita Lee, Ph. D. is another expert whose website and published writings will give you information on how to get well on a REAL NUTRITION diet. As a chemist, she realized that some body chemistries were not optimal, and that very frequently, enzyme deficiencies and nutritional problems went hand in hand. Her book, The Enzyme Cure, is VERY interesting, and reveals a side to nutrition that most people do not even know exists, but which is so essential that life couldn't exist without it. (Enzymes: The 'little engines that COULD.') Read Dr. Lee's book and gain further ammunition for the battle for the American diet.
Don't take my word for any of this. Do your own research, like I did, and learn the truth. Email the experts and ask them questions. Tell your children. Pass the information on to your friends. And, STOP EATING THAT GOD-AWFUL JUNK ON THE GROCERY SHELVES!!