17 AUGUST 2023 THE LIE WE HAVE BEEN TOLD

It is no coincidence that I have enjoyed better health as I have aged. This is opposite of the majority of people, whose health declines as they advance in age. As a child I was sick a lot. I developed asthma at the age of nine, after a two week illness. Our family meals consisted of meat (usually fried) and a mushy vegetable from a can. Salads consisted of iceberg lettuce, carrot, celery, cucumber, and tomato; or cottage cheese with canned fruit on top. These meals were accompanied by white Rainbow® or Wonder® bread, butter, and a glass of milk.

When I was in high school, a health food store opened up down the street and I began to learn about the poor nutritional quality of the food that I had grown up on. I began eating and baking whole wheat bread and using honey in place of white sugar. I rarely ate fast food, which was just beginning to grow in popularity. During my twenties, I gave up drinking sodas entirely. After the birth of my oldest daughter, I took up running; but I still came down frequently with colds and flu. By my thirties, I gave up drinking milk and stopped adding creme to my coffee. I began to eat less meat. I often thought that I would like to be vegetarian; but changing the way I had cooked for so many years felt daunting; and I did not feel that I had the time it would require to completely revamp that part of my life. I was often told that we needed to eat meat for the protein and that vegetarians were not healthy because most did not know how to combine foods to make a “complete” protein. Others insisted that the only source of vitamin B12 was meat. I continued to eat what I believed to be healthier. I read labels, avoiding preservatives and other additives. I switched to buying mostly organic produce, free-range eggs, and grass fed meats.

I have met a number of vegans over the past twenty years. I admired them for ethical reasons and for their commitment. I too, had seen the alarming truths of factory farming and animal agriculture and I was disturbed. However; I still wasn’t sure if I could succeed at switching to a completely plant based diet. I began to think about other cultures in the world that have been vegetarian and appeared to be perfectly healthy. Then, I watched a documentary called What the Health. This film presented the most convincing argument that I have yet heard for eating a plant based diet. Numerous grassland species are plant eaters – and they are some of the largest, strongest, and most muscular species on the planet! Buffalo, elephants, moose, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, cows, sheep, and gorillas are some of the largest animals in existence, and they are herbivores. Of most primates, from which we descended, only a few eat meat and then, very rarely. These animals clearly get enough protein from grass plants to build muscle. In the program I watched, athletes and men who participate in IronMan triathlons, have switched to vegan diets and have excelled more than they ever did when eating meat. Chronically ill people have been able to discard their pharmaceuticals only two weeks after switching to plant based diets. The lie we have been told, about protein, is being exposed.

I am healthier than most people my age, who still consume largely meat based diets; but I do not need any more convincing. I always feel better when my meals consist mostly of salads, fruits, and vegetables. My body has been telling me the truth all along. I know that by making the leap away from meat, to a vegan diet, I am taking one more step in doing what I can to care for our planet and the life that inhabits it.