My Big Fat Greek...Salad?

Do you know we have been lied to all our lives? Of course you know that. We were told you can do anything if you put your mind to it. Yeah, but can a 7-foot man live in a doll house if he puts his mind to it? I don't think so. It's the same with food. I am beginning to believe that man was not meant to eat meat, at least in the quantity in which most Americans eat it. And it's killing us.

"The traditional American diet consists of extremely high levels of animal protein, dairy, and low-fiber processed breads,” according to Roberta Temes in an article on peertrainer.com. Sound anything like you? It sounds like me.

“Some studies have shown that Americans consume 93% of their daily calories from non-vegetable sources,” she wrote. “As a result, we are the most obese people on the planet and have the highest levels of cancer and heart disease in the world. Cultures that have high levels of calorie consumption from vegetables have much lower rates of obesity and disease."

Ding, a light goes off in my head.

Temes says we are taught about the basic food groups, which include meat and dairy and “It was drilled into us at an early age that a healthy diet was centered on meat and dairy. It was communicated to us that protein was the most important nutrient, and that these two food groups were the best source. Cancer rates subsequently soared.

"The reality is however, that whole grains, nuts, beans and vegetables are rich in protein and also contain additional nutrients that keep you healthy and nourish you," she wrote. "Meat and dairy is simply loaded with fat and cholesterol. A good way to think about the power of protein from plants is by asking this question: what do elephants, gorillas and giraffes eat? They eat plants and are plenty big. Green vegetables contain more protein per 100 calories than steak. We have also been told that milk is the best source of calcium. Again, plants are a phenomenal source of calcium. As you begin to eliminate meat and dairy from your diet, you are creating an environment in your body that is hostile to, rather than friendly to cancer and tumors. Instead of saturated fat your body is taking in more fiber and antioxidant. Your risk of osteoporosis becomes lower. Weight loss becomes possible."

Many people already know and understand this, but for others like me, who have been a slave to meat and dairy, it's alarming. More proteins in greens than steak? Creating a body hostile to cancer?

OK, so what's my angle here? Well, Angie and I recently decided it was far past time to get healthy. We are getting A BIT older and are planning for kids in the future and quite frankly we want to be around when they are grown. Clearly, most people who are thin and healthy simply know how to put a cork in their mouths and push away from the table. They understand the value of exercise and ACTUALLY practice it. The rest of us have to figure it out the hard way, like trying to squeeze into booths at restaurants, dreading the scale at the doctor, and taking blood pressure meds every day at age 30.

But I think many of us, healthy or not, have no idea that eating certain things actually makes your body function better or worse than normal, whatever normal might be. It’s a system that works, but which hasn’t been followed by many in centuries I suspect. Think of it as a proper order, like growing plants. You have the right soil then you add the seeds, the right amount of fertilizer, the right amount of water and voila, a healthy stalk of corn.

I am still learning certain key principles and I am in no way trying to seem like a 300-pound health expert. But there are simple things that can help us all, like not eating proteins with starches, such as a hamburger patty on a bun, which destroys everything we believe in as Americans when it comes to food. Other things include: eating nothing that requires digestion before noon (meaning, eat fruit for breakfast). Certainly there are many other things to consider but even if you are in shape it might do you well to research and consider more than “eating right.” Think about why.

--Erik