Eat healthy live healthy


Red meat and colon cancer

A new study published in the Journal of thered meat. That will be very important to
American Medical Association shows a doublingrealize as our world population grows and it
of the risk of colon cancer for people whobecomes increasingly difficult to produce the
are heavy consumers of red meat. Moreprotein  required  by  the  population.
specifically, it shows that the risk doubles
compared to those who consume smallerHow to make the transition away from red meat
quantities of red meat. But how does this
compare to people who consume no red meat atThese are all reasons to avoid an
all?animal-based diet and pursue a plant-based
diet. Many people reading this are already
This is conjecture, but I'm willing to betfollowing a plant-based diet, but some of you
that heavy consumers of red meat probablywho might be considering making the change
have quadruple the risk (or more) of colonprobably  aren't  sure exactly how to do it.
cancer compared to vegetarians or people who
consume no red meat. By the way, you don'tPerhaps you want to merely reduce your
have to be a vegetarian to boycott red meat.consumption of red meat but not give it up
You can still be a consumer of other sourcescompletely yet, which is fine, since that's
of animal protein (fish, seafood, etc.) whilethe way all of us ex-meat-eaters got into
avoiding  red  meat.plant-based diets to begin with. Few people
ate more meat than I did because I grew up in
There are plenty of health reasons to avoidan environment where we had all the red meat
eating red meat, and a higher risk of colonwe wanted at no charge (my grandfather was a
cancer is just one of them. The saturatedcattle rancher). We had a freezer full of red
animal fat found in red meat productsmeat at all times, and we could have as much
contributes to heart disease andhamburger, steak or other cuts of meat as we
atherosclerosis. In addition, red meat canwanted. I consumed large quantities of red
contain contaminants such as heavy metals,meat  for  nearly  30  years.
pesticides and undesirable environmental
pollutants that tend to collect in the fatI found the transition away from red meat to
tissues of cows, which are absorbed into yourbe difficult at first. I started consuming
body when you eat cow fat. And you can't eatless of it and eating other meat
red  meat  without  getting some animal fat.alternatives, and pretty soon I began to view
red meat in a different way, because if you
Then, of course, there's what I call theeat less of it, you eventually start to lose
vibration of red meat, which concerns theyour appetite for it. And within less than a
homeopathy of the meat, or the environment inyear, any time I would see red meat at the
which the cow was raised. Was it a naturalgrocery store, it would gross me out. I look
environment? Did the cow have access to openat it and I realize what it is: a chunk of
fields, sunlight and clean water? Or was thisflesh sliced off the carcass of a living
a cow raised as part of a slaughterhousecreature that has been ground up and stuffed
operation, produced for the sole purpose ofinto a box. Usually there's some blood
generating profits? If you eat cows' meatrunning around in the container as well.
that has undergone that kind of experience,Every time I would look at that I would get
you are consuming a product that is taintedgrossed out and think to myself, "Gee, is
with the negative experience of the animalthis really what I want to eat for the rest
from  which  it  came.of my life? This sliced up chunk of a dead
cow?" And the answer was, "No." So it didn't
There are a lot of negative effectstake very long before I didn't want any red
associated with the consumption of red meat,meat,  and  now  I  can't imagine eating it.
and this is why more and more people are now
giving up red meat and moving to healthierThat's one way to get rid of red meat in your
foods like fish, free-range chicken, ordiet, but there are many other ways and I
better yet, plant-based proteins likeencourage you to experiment and see how you'd
spirulina or soy products like soy milk andlike to approach it. But the bottom line on
tofu. This is where you'll get your bestred meat is that there is an increasing body
protective effect and disease prevention, andof evidence supporting the notion that you
you will be helping protect the environmentcan prevent cancer by pursuing a plant-based
at the same time. After all, it's far lessdiet. If you want to be healthy, it's time to
stressful on the environment to produce foodjoin the vegetarians. Maybe even join the
as  plants  than  as  animals.vegans,  if  you  have  the  courage.
It takes 10 acres to produce the same amountThink about limiting or eliminating your
of red meat protein as it does to produce oneconsumption of red meat and instead nourish
acre of soy beans. And producing spirulinayour body with the phytonutrients,
yields a tenfold increase over the productionphytochemicals, vitamins, minerals and even
of soybeans. So think about it: one acre ofthe living energy of plants. That's how
farmland used to produce spirulina canyou'll be the healthiest you can be.
produce 100 times as much protein as beef and



1 A B C 50 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 61 62 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97