Wellness expert, Jason Gootman, offers a practical solution to the debate over vegetarianism. What’s your take?
It’s a debate that takes on Republican-Democrat fervor. Camps of meat-eaters and vegetarians firmly entrenched on their side of the aisle. Both sides equally adamant about their stance. Vegetarians believing with absolute certainty that abstaining from eating meat is the key to robust wellness and that eating meat is a surefire path to obesity, disease, and early death. Meat-eaters wholeheartedly believing all vegetarians are whack-jobs that have no sense and are starving themselves by not eating meat.
So who’s right? Let’s consider what the nutritionists say. Well, that won’t exactly split the tie. There are nutrition professionals who both preach and abhor vegetarianism. There are scientific research studies espousing the benefits of meat-eating. And, yes, there are scientific studies that so going meat-free enhances well-being.
I’m going to propose a radical possibility. Maybe each of us is a bit different? Maybe, even with regards to whether we eat meat or not, or maybe how much meat we eat, we are all unique. Maybe there’s more than one right answer?
There’s an emerging train of thought in nutrition that our genetic histories determine a lot of what kinds of foods we thrive on and what kinds of foods don’t work so well for us. A lot of this has to do with digestion. It appears that people who lived in places where meat (of any kind) was readily abundant developed digestive systems that were adept at digesting meat. People who lived in places where meat was hard to come by at lots of plant foods and developed digestive systems that were best at digesting plant foods. This may explain why we can truly have people that do very well with little to no meat, while we also have people that feel and perform their best when they do eat meat.
I’ve got a great way for you to see what works best for you:
- For two weeks, eat no meat. That’s no beef, chicken, fish, other meat, or eggs. Also, do not drink milk or eat milk products.
2. During this two weeks, eat lots of vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, olive oil, coconut oil, herbs, and spices. Make that the base of your diet. Eat grains, grain products, beans, and lentils as your hunger dictates.
3. See how you feel. See how you are performing in your life.
4. If you feel awesome, you may not need much meat.
5. If you feel less than awesome, in the following week, have meat with one meal a day.
6. Re-assess how you are feeling and performing.
7. Continue in this fashion, stopping when you feel awesome, and adding in more meat until you do.
8. You can add meat by having meat at more meals or by increasing your portion size at the meals you are having meat.
9. That said, most people who do best as meat-eaters do best with a steady intake, meaning a modest portion at almost every meal instead of a very large portion and sporadic meals.
The beauty of this approach lies in the fact that you are letting yourself tell you what is best. Not the evening news. Not a book. Not your friend. You determine what is best for you by seeing what actually works. Give it a try.
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This article originally appear at IThrive.com
Photo credit: Flickr/Taryn
About Jason Gootman
Jason Gootman leads the I THRIVE movement and community where fellow THRIVERS nourish themselves with movement, food, and a wellness-lifestyle and support one another in doing so.
Great article! I like the mentioning of one’s environment on intakes of meat. I have tried this experiment in the past, I always find myself adding chicken and meat back to my diet.
I love the suggestion! I try to live by experience as my teacher. Balance for me is checking in and being present for what’s good for me right now. I do eat meat, eggs, and milk. I choose to buy organic fed and humanely raised products. I did participate in a 21 day vegan cleanse and I will say i have never felt that good in my life. Live it and learn:-)
Best advice ever to adjust to personal needs. Thank you! I deeply appreciate permission, so to speak, to make listening to my body more important than my brain’s constant desire to set up hard and fast rules. I swung — uh, a few times actually — among all of these: vegan, vegetarian, paleo, pescetarian. Each revolution brought a noticeable but short-lived positive change. It was as though my body said, this is perfect for now, then ran out of some important stuff in the other areas of food I was at that moment cutting out and said, “not good enough,… Read more »
This article makes some valid points. I eat the occasional fish, chicken and dairy because I feel better physically than when I’ve tried without. Same with carbohydrates. I’ve met vegans who look unhealthy. Because of modern farming practices, I do believe in eating organic and considering about violence to animals, and so on. It is an individual choice. It’s about mindful eating and mindful living.
The website EatWild.com is an excellent resource for those looking to learn more about meat from animals who live their natural (or close to it) lives.
I agree, Barbara, that it is all about mindful eating and living. Good thought.
This article evaluates the health perspective well, although I’m fairly confident that a well-balanced vegan diet would help most people to feel optimal. I’m vegan for moral reasons as I think violence is wrong, but this article doesn’t begin to address that perspective. I was excited by the headline which suggested somebody might have found a way for vegans and speciesists to live in harmony but I’m left disappointed! Consider this: as long as we accept institutional violence in our everyday lives; as long as we can cause suffering, pain and death to vulnerable beings whom we share our planet… Read more »
Ollie, these are great, thoughtful comments. Yes, in the article, I was focused on the wellness aspects for us people as eaters. I think an article here on the other considerations would be beneficial for all of us. Anyone up for writing that one? 🙂 I will if I’m inspired to do so and feel I have something beneficial to share. One thing I’d like to throw out now for consideration and maybe comments here is does death equal suffering? Every living thing dies. From my perspective, for all the same reasons that you bring up, it makes no sense… Read more »
Mindfulness and openness are very important when it comes to one’s health and well being. Being aware of the impact of one’s choices – like choosing organic fresh fruits and greens over fast food and factory produced meat products & farmed fish. Same with the choice of drugs vs. natural herbs to support healing. The best choice is the one that supports life.
Excellent advice! I can easily go vegetarian but do enjoy eggs and some fish. My dad and my oldest sister get sick if they don’t have some red meat on a regular basis. Same goes with other food groups that may not suite you: 1. Nightshades (tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant and peppers) 2. Maize/corn 3. Soy 4. Dairy 5. Wheat/Barley/Rye
I loved bread but when I found out I was gluten intolerant, I had to cut it completely out of my diet. WHEE DOGGIES do I ever feel better!!
Kitty, you make an awesome point. Rather than rely solely on outside information, we really can see how we feel when we eat certain foods and food products to determine the best diet for us.
Great Response, Kitti:
I’m one of those folks that get ill if I have no red meat. Also, I have thyroid disease, so soy is contraindicated b/c it interferes with the absorption of needed meds, etc. So many health food, vegan foods are made from soy. If you take these and red meat away, I’m in a world of hurt.
What really sucks is that I’m a Buddhist, and I’d love to go meatless for spiritual reasons.
Y’all take care,
Wm.
Go vegan! Reduce the suffering and killing of innocent, sentient animals. You can get all the nutrients you need without animal products.
In the winter of 1974, I worked for nine months in the world’s largest beef-packing plant, later made notorious by Jeremy Rifkin’s book, Beyond Beef. If you’d like to become a vegetarian, read it. Then check out Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle.
Cows, pigs, and chickens aren’t raised on farms anymore. They live and die in factory hells.
Not always. There are a lot of places that sell free-range meat.
You make a tremendous point, Geoffrey. Many animals are treated terribly! Absolutely terribly! This is obviously awful for them. It’s also harmful to the environment. It also creates meat for us that is not very healthy at all. However, not all meat comes from animals that are treated terribly. As a simple rule, if you do eat meat, look for beef sold as grass-fed, look for chickens (and eggs) sold as free-range, and look for wild-caught fish. In short, if you do eat meat, look for meat from animals who live their natural life or very close to it. Meat… Read more »