Five Major Poisons
Inherently Found in Animal Foods
Protein, fat, cholesterol, methionine (a sulfur-containing amino
acid), and dietary acids, which are all superabundant in animal
foods, are poisoning nearly everyone following the standard Western
diet. Most people cannot fathom this, because it takes four or more
decades of consumption before disability, disfigurement, and death
become common from these endogenous toxins. This long latent period
fools the public into thinking there is no harm done by choosing an
animal-food-based diet. If the case were one of instantaneous
feedback—one plate of fried eggs caused excruciating chest pains,
paralysis from a stroke followed a prime rib dinner, or a hard
cancerous lump appeared within a week of a grilled cheese
sandwich—then eating animal foods would be widely recognized as an
exceedingly unwise choice. Similar failures to appreciate slow
poisonings from our lifestyle choices are seen with tobacco and
alcohol use. If one package of cigarettes were followed by a week on
a respirator or a bottle or two of gin caused hepatic (liver) coma
then no one would indulge in these instruments of long-drawn-out
death either. The difference defining the failure to take long
overdue actions is that the dangers from tobacco and alcohol use are
universally known and accepted, whereas almost everyone considers
red meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products necessary parts of a
healthy diet.
The Art of Selling Slow Poisons:
Distract the Consumer
Sellers of animal foods for human consumption draw in customers with
the marketing strategy of “unique positioning”—each industry tries
to make its merchandise stand apart from other foods by promoting a
nutrient that is especially plentiful in its product. Over time this
effective advertising approach has meant that the mention of calcium
brings to mind milk and cheese, iron has become synonymous with
beef, and eggs are well known as the “best source of high quality
protein.”
Because
these highly sensationalized nutrients are always plentiful in basic
plant foods, illnesses from deficiencies of these nutrients are
essentially unknown, as long as there is enough food to eat. Thus,
there are no real nutritional advantages to choosing red meat,
poultry, dairy, and egg products with an especially high density of
one particular nutrient. Ironically, milk and cheese are iron
deficient, and red meat, poultry, and eggs (unless you eat the
shells) contain almost no calcium.
Focusing on the abundance of an individual nutrient accomplishes an
even more insidious marketing goal; it diverts the consumer’s, and
oftentimes the professional dietitian’s, attention away from the
harmful impact on the human body of consuming all kinds of animal
foods.
In my 42-years of providing medical care I have never seen a patient
sickened by eating potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, rice, beans,
fruits, and/or vegetables (unspoiled and uncontaminated). However,
during my everyday practice I have witnessed (just like every other
practicing medical doctor has) a wide
diversity of diseases, including heart attacks, strokes, type-2
diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis, and cancer,
from eating fresh killed and/or collected, as well as processed
and/or preserved, animal-derived foods.
A Simplified View of Animal-food
Poisoning
Animal foods—be they from cow, pig, or chicken muscles or the ovum
of a bird or the lactation fluids of a mammal—are all so similar in
their nutritional makeup and their impact on human health that they
should be considered as the same (see the comparison tables at the
end of this article). In order to avoid the confusion created by the
marketing strategy of “unique positioning,” lets look at different
kinds of animal products mixed together to make one food; and
compare them to their antithesis, starches.
If I
were to blend together red meat, chicken, eggs, and cheese, which
most Americans do three or more times a day in their stomachs, the
end product would be a highly acidic mixture of mostly protein, fat,
and water—each individual food having contributed a similar amount
of each component. A blend of various starches—beans, rice,
potatoes, and sweet potatoes—would produce an opposite in
composition.
A
Comparison of a Blend of Animals vs Starches |
|
Animal Food |
Starches |
Comparisons |
Protein |
35 |
13 |
3 Times |
Fat |
61 |
4 |
15 Times |
Cholesterol |
92 |
0 |
>100 times |
Methionine |
254 |
64 |
4 Times |
Acid (RAL) |
8 |
<1 |
>10 times |
*Figures for protein and fat
are in percent of calories. Figures for cholesterol and
methionine are in milligrams (mg) per 100 calories. Dietary
acid (a calculation called the renal acid load—RAL) is per
100 calories.
Charts at the end of this
article are the source for these comparisons. |
The Five Overloads from Animal
Foods that Poison Us
Protein, fat, cholesterol, sulfur-containing amino acids (methionine,
for example), and dietary acids poison us when consumed in amounts
that exceed the body’s metabolic capabilities to detoxify and
eliminate the excesses. Compared to the proper human diet, which is
based on starches (see my February 2009
newsletter), animal foods burden us with three times more
protein, fifteen times more fat, greater than 100 times more
cholesterol, four times more methionine, and at least ten times more
dietary acid. Furthermore, the toxic effects of these poisons are
interactive. For example, excesses of protein, methionine, and
dietary acids work together to destroy the bones. Excesses of
dietary fat and cholesterol combine their deleterious effects to
damage the arteries (atherosclerosis) and promote cancer. Let me
provide some more details on how these five destructive elements
from animal foods ruin your health.
Protein Overload
Once
your protein needs are met then the excess must be eliminated from
your body, primarily by your liver and kidneys. You can notice an
overload of protein by the strong smell of urea in your body sweat
and urine. The work of eliminating excess protein takes a toll even
on healthy people. On average, 25% of kidney function is lost over a
lifetime (70 years) from consuming the high animal-protein Western
diet.1,2
For people with already
damaged livers and kidneys, consuming excess protein will speed up
the processes that lead to complete organ failure.3-7 Excess protein
damages the bones. Doubling the dietary intake of protein increases
the loss of calcium into the urine by 50%, fostering the development
of osteoporosis and kidney stones.8
Lipotoxicity (Fat Overload)
The
most recent report (for 2007 to 2008) on the epidemic of obesity in
the US finds 33.8% of adults obese with 68.0% of all adults
overweight.9 Dietary fats are almost effortlessly stored in your
body fat.10 When consumed in excess, dietary fats also result in a
surplus of fats stored in your liver, heart, and muscles. From all
this over-accumulation, insulin resistance develops, contributing to
other health problems, including heart disease, strokes, and type-2
diabetes.11 The extra pounds you carry around cause damage to the
joints of your lower extremities (osteoarthritis). Excess fat in
your diet and on your body alters your cellular metabolism,
promoting cancers by many already discovered mechanisms.12
Cholesterol Overload
Cholesterol is only found in animal products. As an animal, you make
all the cholesterol you need. Unfortunately, your capacity to
eliminate it is limited to a little more than the amount you make.
As a result, the cholesterol added by eating animal foods
accumulates in your body parts, including your skin, tendons, and
arteries. Cholesterol deposited in your arteries is a major
contributor to vascular diseases of your heart and brain.13
Cholesterol also facilitates cancer development.14
Sulfur Toxicity
Overconsumption of sulfur-containing
amino acids (for example, methionine) will cause you many unwelcome
problems.15 Most noticeably, sulfur stinks, like rotten eggs,
causing halitosis, body odor, and noxious flatus. Methionine is
metabolized into homocysteine, a risk factor for heart attacks,
strokes, peripheral vascular disease, venous thrombosis, dementia,
Alzheimer’s disease, and depression. Sulfur feeds cancerous tumors
and is known to be toxic to the tissues of the intestine.
Sulfur-containing amino acids are metabolized into sulfuric acid—one
of the most potent acids found in nature.
Acid Overload
After ingestion, your body must neutralize the over-abundance of
endogenous dietary acids in the animal foods you eat. Your bones are
the primary buffering system of your body.16-20 They counteract
these dietary acids by releasing alkaline materials (carbonate,
citrate, and sodium)—thereby the bones dissolve. Acids from animal
foods also raise cortisol (steroid) levels in your body.21 An excess
of steroid is another mechanism for further bone loss. The net
result from this chronic acid poisoning is kidney stones and
osteoporosis.
Detoxifying with a Starch-based
Diet
Simply by making the right food choices you will immediately relieve
yourself from the burden of five dietary poisons inherently found in
animal foods. At the same time you will be reducing your intake of
pesticides, antibiotics, and other toxic chemicals found in high
concentrations in most animal foods. You will also be adding
generous amounts of complex carbohydrates, dietary fibers, alkaline
substances, and a healthy balance of vitamins, minerals, and
essential phyto-chemicals to your body. And finally, you will be
avoiding exposure to animal-borne, infectious microbes (bacteria,
viruses, parasites, and prions) that can cause acute and deadly
illnesses. Give yourself a break today: choose starches, free of the
five endogenous poisons superabundant in animal foods.
Animal Foods Means Calories from Fat and Protein |
|
Beef |
Chicken |
Cheese |
Egg |
Blended Together |
Protein |
37 |
46 |
25 |
32 |
35 |
Fat |
57 |
51 |
74 |
61 |
61 |
Cholesterol |
32 |
36 |
26 |
272 |
92 |
Acid (RAL) |
6.3 |
7.0 |
10 |
8.2 |
8 |
Plant Foods Means Calories from Carbohydrates |
|
Beans |
Rice |
Potato |
Sweet Potato |
Blended
Together |
Protein |
29 |
9 |
8 |
7 |
13 |
Fat |
4 |
8 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
Cholesterol |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Acid (RAL) |
1 |
1 |
-5 |
-9 |
-3 |
Figures for protein and
fat are in percent of calories. Figures for cholesterol
and methionine are in milligrams (mg) per 100 calories.
Dietary acid (a calculation called the renal acid load—RAL)
is per 100 calories. |
References:
Calculations based on information found in: Pennington J. Food
Values of Portions Commonly Used—17th edition. Lippincott.
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