(NaturalNews) By the day, more people are becoming aware of the dangers of a traditional diet and have taken responsibility for their diets. They do so only to be told by well-intentioned peers and "people in the know" that abstaining from meat while being an athlete is not wise. The story has been told over and over again, "Humans are meat eaters- that's what we do!" Well, we're just going to set these facts straight and put these myths to rest once and for all.
YOU CAN'T HAVE ENOUGH PROTEIN IF YOU DON'T EAT MEAT
This myth tops them all. Many believe that 1-gram of protein is needed per pound! Well, 5-8% of fruits' calories are protein; vegetables and darker greens contain 20-50%; and sprouted seeds/nuts contain 10-25%. So, Lettuce gets 34%, while Broccoli and Spinach get 45% and 49% respectfully. Beams range from 23-54%. Most people on a standard meat diet are actually protein deficient. Hemp seeds, macca powder, quinoa, flax, spirulina, greens and sprouts- all super foods are high in protein.
YOU CAN'T GAIN MUSCLE BEING ON A VEGAN/VEGETARIAN DIET
Wrong again. Actually, eating meats can slow down your metabolism because they take lots of energy to digest. Vegetarians actually grow muscle mass at a faster rate with a diet of fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Vegetarian body building means being creative with meals to ensure you have plenty of vitamins and minerals.
HUMANS ARE DESIGNED TO EAT MEAT
False once again. We are more designed like herbivores than carnivores or omnivores. Our teeth, saliva, stomach acid and intestines are similar to plant-eaters. Fossil records show that our ancestors were exclusively
vegetarian. Primates are 95-99% vegetarian. Their main non-plant food is termites. B12 is missing from a vegetarian diet not because we need meat. Any food that gets dirty develops B12 from bacteria. Lack of B12 comes from our cleaner modern
diet. We get our B12 from meat because it's dirty. And our need for B12 is tiny, 3 micograms (not micrograms) a day- akin to four grains of rice in our lifetime. Our jaws are made to grind; carnivores' are not. Our jaws have molars like herbivores; carnivores' do not.
QUICK COMPARISON:
Cats, who are carnivores, compared to herbivores and
humans:
Cat: sharp, pointed front teeth to tear flesh.
Herbivores/Humans: no sharp, pointed front teeth.
Cat: no flat back molar teeth to grind food.
Herbivores/Humans: flat, back molar teeth to grind food.
Cat: small salivary glands in the mouth (not needed to pre-digest grains and fruits). Herbivores/Humans: well-developed salivary glands, needed to pre-digest grains and fruits.
Cat: acid saliva; no enzyme ptyalin to pre-digest grains.
Herbivores/Humans: alkaline saliva; much ptyalin to pre-digest grains.
Cat: strong hydrochloric acid in stomach to digest tough animal muscle, bone, etc.
Herbivore/Human: stomach acid 20 times weaker than that of meat-eaters.
Cat: intestinal tract only 3 times body length, so rapidly decaying
meat can pass out of body quickly.
Herbivores/Humans: intestinal tract several times body length. (4)
EATING MEAT IS GOOD FOR YOU
The medical evidence is irrefutable and builds up by the day. Medical studies show that eating meat ends up contributing to heart disease, cancer, erectile dysfunction, diabetes, and other degenerative diseases. Dean Ornish, M.D. was the first person to prove that heart disease can be reversed, and he did so by feeding his patients a vegetarian diet. So if meat is so natural to people why does it kill us? Studies after studies have shown that we are not designed to eat meat. We get sick when we do. (5)
Sources:
(1)
http://www.nutritionresource.com/article.cfm?ID=AR00009(2)
http://www.wellsphere.com/wellpage/vegetarian-athletes-vs-meat-eating...(3)
http://michaelbluejay.com/veg/natural.html(4)
http://www.nealhendrickson.com/mcdougall/030700pumeatinthehumandiet.h...(5)
http://www.earthsave.ca/articles/health/comparative.htmlAbout the author
Duran Rivera is a freelance writer and artist. He received a bachelors in illustration from Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. He's also an avid health practitioner working on empowering himself mentally, physically and spiritually. You can contact him at duran.r.rivera@gmail.com or follow more of his articles at
www.duranrivera.com.
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