This is yet another fantastic transfer article from my old blog. It was really popular a few months ago, and as I read this fascinating story about a new “Urban Caveman Diet” in the New York Times yesterday, I felt it more than relevant to share this with all of you. I admit I sound a bit like a militant anti-vegan, but I assure you I’m not. It was just my mood at the time. As evidence, I’m cooking a big vegan meal for a dinner party I’m hosting this Friday.
The ideal human diet is a topic that really intriques me. It should interest everyone, really. What we eat is who we are. The food and drink we imbibe becomes the fabric of our cells. And given the spiral of ill-health around the world, the raging debate (at least in some circles you’ll find me visiting) around vegan-ism being the true natural diet for humans, my oft-hesitant carnivorous tendencies following nearly a decade of vegetarianism, and of course, the fact that I adore cooking, food history, etc, etc, it was serendipitous that I came across this article today.
The Healthiest Foods On Earth!
According to this article by Jonny Bowden, published in Forbes, it’s not necessarily what you eat, but how processed what you eat actually is. There’s a lot of debate as to what the “original” Paleolithic human diet was. Quite varied, probably. Depending on where we originated (rather where our ancestors migrated to and settled into many, many, many thousands of years ago), our predecessors may have thrived upon a high fat, high protein diet (hunting seals and the like in Greenland), or low protein, high carbs (in southern Africa), milk and fatty-cream (Switzerland…and from a documentary I recently saw…Mongolian nomads today thriving mainly on horse milk and yogurt), or even blood. Crazy, right!?
Wrong. The issue I have with vegans is this specifically. Human beings were never vegetarians. Maybe we were when we were apes. But there’s a reason we’re not still apes. Our ancestors were resourceful, and depending on where they wound up, may have gotten up to 65% or more of their intake from animals. You know, it’s probably the reverse…we ended up where we did because we learned to hunt and gather in this way. We learned to survive. We are learners and adapters. We are human.
Anyway, back to the article. Which made a lot of sense to me. It’s not what you eat, entirely, but how processed it is. The more natural the food, the more whole, the better it is for you. Even meat. Even meat. Sure, the best animal for you to be munching on would be grass fed in an open prairie-type environment that was never ever injected with any hormones or antibiotics. And then there’s milk and eggs. Perfect nutrition. So really, if we stop eating food with preservatives, if we stop eating fast food, fried food, food that doesn’t in a million years resemble food, we’ll be OK. It makes sense to eat organic. To cook simple foods at home. To eat lots of fresh fruits and veg. Nuts, berries, eggs, broccoli and its family, wild fish, raw milk, beans, grass-fed beef. Sounds good right? Better than a big mac? In a heartbeat.
My Message to Vegans
Keep at it. Love what you eat. Fight the man. It’s a good fight. But lay off me. Your logic usually sucks. I agree that most animals we eat are practically (or actually) tortured. That hormones and antibiotics are terrible things to be injecting in them and for us to be absorbing in turn. These policies are huge, most people don’t know about them, and something needs to be done. But eating animals the right way, drinking milk the right way, eating eggs the right way…I can’t see why that isn’t OK. Perhaps it disgusts you to be thinking that you’re taking part in murder or that it’s revolting to be eating an animal. OK. Good for you.
But chew on this – we (yes, including you, fellow vegans) would not be here, living this life, having created this society in this world (whether you like it or not), would it not have been for our ancestors learning how to hunt and kill and eat and eventually cook other animals. We would not have progressed. We would not have our intelligence. We would not have migrated across the entirety of this globe. Because I learned one really interesting (and almost bizarre) fact today, after having done some fancy (ordinary) internet research: the overall health and life expectancy of humans dramatically declined with the advent of agriculture. That’s right. Early farmers, the ones who enabled us to stop moving and develop cities and writing and technology, were shorter, sicklier, had far more infant mortality, died earlier, and were plagued with a myriad number of diseases.
Seems like we should all be pulling together for all of us to go back to a real Paleolithic diet, a la Fred Flintstone.
As for me, I’ll be looking for organic meat and eggs and milk in Israel. Anyone any ideas? Especially in the meat department?
Hi Irene,
I LOVED this post! I am going to send it to my friend, who 90% lives off the land. They only eat meat that they have hunted themselves (Unless they go out to eat, which, then, well….a burger here or there can’t hurt, right?) and they grow their own veggies. Everything else is pretty organic stuff, like you suggest. I agree, that meat is an important part of our diet, and saying you won’t eat dairy products is ridiculous. There is a right way to do things, and you have great ideas. As for Isreal, good luck. I’m guessing there are no Whole Food stores over there..:)
Thanks, Theresa! We do not have a mega-chain Whole Foods, but we have those small organic storefronts popping up everywhere with one or two chains emerging as the frontrunners. Like organic used to be 20 years ago in the States. Our meats are high quality and quite clean, as almost everything is kosher here. That said, I don’t like my meat salted to death (kosher laws require you to drain all blood out of meat – and salting is one of the most popular methods). They wash it after, and not many could tell the difference once the meat is cooked. But there is a difference. Slow dry aging (and organic free range) might just take a long while to catch on here.
I could write a short novel as a rely here… all I really should say though is .. I HEAR YOU SISTER! LOL.
I’m farm-raised in a non-factory farm sort of way. We still have livestock, but its much more akin to how most people have dogs than to how factory farms have some animals today. We love our animals but we also respect the cycle of life.
I was a low carber for a long time, on a diet similar to the paleo diet. My body doesn’t tolerate carbs very well and the more processed the less it likes them. I do much better on a high-protein high-mono and high-saturated fat intake than I do on a high-carbohydrate diet. Carbs bring me infections, erratic blood sugars, cravings, headaches and yeast problems… joys! (not!)
I could rehash the research and science that indicates a paleo diet was natural for us, but frankly that’s best covered by the phenomenal books on the topic.
I respect my vegan breathren even when I dont agree with them. We all have to make the choices that are best for US! Live and let live applies to our fellow kinsman & kinswoman’s manner of living as well.
So, lets raise a glass of merlot, in honor of something we CAN agree on!
LOL! I so hear you, Kimberly! Processed (super-white) carbs and sugars especially give me problems with my entire digestive (and other more unfortunate) systems. Candida is my enemy! When I have to succumb to carbs, I eat all-rye breads, lots of whole cereals (quinoa, millet, buckweat, etc). Good luck with your eating…and I’ll be raising a glass, too!
Irene, Excellent article you have written here with very helpful information. Your blog is also so inviting and has so much wonderful information to explore.
Thank you for sharing this with us!
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As an omnivore married to a militant vegetarian, I thought I’d mention a few things for the sake of playing devil’s advocate:
First, regarding how meat helped human development, vegans/vegetarians would argue that given how far we’ve developed, we now have options other than meat, so the moral thing to do is avoid it.
Second, I haven’t seen the research, but just because there’s a correlation between an agricultural lifestyle with lower meat consumption and a decreased life expectancy doesn’t mean that there’s a causal relationship. I’d be interested if someone proved that.
Also, I think you can get organic meat/dairy/eggs at Nitzat Hadovdevan.
Anyway, interesting post, and looking forward to meeting you at the meet-up on Thursday.
Hi Sharoni
Excellent article as usual:)
I wanted to add my thoughts about the killing of animals. We brought them life so we can kill them, no? Humans are like the Gods for the domestic animals. We breed them for furs, milk and meat, we raise them, and finally take their lives away. It may be sad but it is also wonderful that they contribute to our lives. Eating healthy proteins make us think better and therefore create and produce.
My 2 cents:)
Love u…
No need to be mean to us vegans.
Bless you,
Isa.
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Hi Irene,
I just discovered your blog. I too was raised in the States and live in Israel now, up North. If you ever do find where to buy grass-fed organic meat please post about it! I know you can get antibiotic-free chicken at Eden Teva Market but that’s all it says on the package which doesn’t mean they were fed properly or raised humanely. I know they grow cattle for meat that’s grass-fed cause I see them all the time but where to buy it? It’s a mystery.
Thanks,
Maya
Hi Maya,
Thanks for reading. Someone recently referred me to an organic farm in a kibbutz/moshav (can’t remember) a bit south, between Ashqelon and Beer Sheva, I think. I would like to plan a trip, which I’m less busy. Israel is so tiny, and in many ways more open, than its American or European counterparts. This farm specializes in eggs, poultry, and lamb. I’ll blog about it when I know more. I am pretty sure you can buy from them directly (very expensive), but it may be worth it.
I am also searching for organic meat in Israel, and until now I have heard you have to go the Palestinian territories to get some. I’d love to go, but then they all laugh and tell me they would never let me back into Israel with all that meat. So please write if you find any!