I think the healthiest diet is one that has lots of meat, and lots of fruit and vegetables in it (nuts and seeds too).
You can say it’s a plant based but one that also is rich in animal products. The only plants that are excluded are primarily the grains. Aside from those, I am in favor of eating LOTS and lots of plants.
When people talk about eating a plant based diet what they really mean is a non-meat diet. To them meat is the problem when it comes to health and diet and so they instead eat grains as their main energy source like rice, breads, oats etc., and then also eat fruit, vegetables, nuts/seeds like my healthy diet above.
You can live in good health eating only plants. You can live in good health eating my recommended meat and veggie lovers diet. My point, is that if you look back through history you’ll find that our bodies prefer meat over grains.
IN THE BEGINNING
For most of our history we ate what we could hunt and find. That included berries, seeds, tubers, fruit and meat. If we found carbs, we’d eat them, if we caught fish or elk, we’d eat it. Animal flesh was incredibly valuable as it had lots of energy and nutrition. Life was different in many ways back then and we can’t fully mimic that diet today so we’ll never be able to replicate it exactly, but we can come close.
Then …
AGRICULTURE
10,000 years ago, we started farming and with it came lots of extra food which was great. We worried less about starving and could now build cities. But eating all of that grain also meant that we had more rotten teeth (starchy carbs). We even started shrinking, literally. Anthropologists say that we were on average 3 inches shorter, and smaller in stature overall after we switched to eating this way.
MONGOLIANS vs CHINESE
During the Mongolian conquest of China in the 13th century, the Chinese had at times bigger numbers of soldiers than the Mongols. But the Mongolians were larger and more able to battle their way through the Chinese with their superior strength which helped them win the war. Historians attribute the size and strength differences to their respective diets. The Chinese ate mostly rice while the Mongols drank lots of milk and ate some meat.
KENYAN KIDS STUDY
In 2005 a study was conducted on Kenyan school children with regards to their diet and were divided into 3 groups. One were fed 2 spoonfuls of meat, the other a cup of milk and the third were given no supplement. The children who were fed the meat grew taller than their counterparts, had more strength and even performed better on intelligence tests. The milk fed children did about half as well but still better than the group who had no supplement. The typical diet of these Kenyan children consisted generally of corn and beans, and other starchy plants as most families there are poor.
—–
Yes I am saying outright that a diet with meat in it is superior to all other diets in terms of nutrition. In terms of health, I would again say yes all things being equal – important to note that.
Can you be healthy and lose weight while on a vegan diet? For sure. Many already are. As long as you are managing your insulin and making sure you get the extra nutrients needed that a vegan diet is usually short on. And if any vegans are here I am glad you are. Health and weight loss go beyond a specific diet.
Nutritionists follow guidelines and have to stick to the advice of the times. Anthropologists and historians don’t care which diet wins.
..
THE EATING LOVE GUIDE (FREE)
The Eating Love Guide has helped many people regain control of their eating patterns, resulting not only in weight loss but also better health and improved self-esteem. To read it online, click here.
SUBMIT A POST!
To post your cheat meal, click here. To share your tips, wisdom and/or emotional journey, click here.
