The Moment of Truth

Here's the the moment of truth. Dieting is hard. I know, I know, call me crazy for stating the obvious. I'll gladly accept the crazy if this blog can provide a little insight for those who find what I have to say slightly interesting. Anyway, the point I am trying to get to is that dieting is hard only because we make it hard.

Say what? People make things more difficult than they need to be? I recently read an article that poked fun at the insanity of different dieting techniques these days. One of my favorite passages from the article states, "Maxing out your credit line on seal liver forces you to continue your internet education in healthy eating. As you read more you begin to understand that grains are fine but before you eat them you must prepare them in the traditional way: by long soaking in the light of a new moon with a mix of mineral water and the strained lacto-fermented tears of a virgin." For more interesting passages like this one, click here . A lot of time the simplicity of the human diet is overlooked. We are omnivores by nature. An omnivore by definition is, "an animal or person that eats food of both plant and animal origin." This simply means, humans have a digestive tract that is designed to consume both plants and animals. So why not consume a balanced diet of both?

The No-Diet Diet is a perfect example of how simplicity is key to staying healthy. This diet plan simply highlights the health benefits of eating a balanced diet of vegetables, meat, grain, and dairy. Food that has detrimental effects on your health are fattier foods or foods high in sugar and should be limited in proportion compared to the more essential food groups. So that's it. That's the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Maybe dieting isn't that hard. Maybe it's just how we perceive what is effective in the diet that makes dieting so hard.

Heart Attacks or Healthy Eating

It was a simple evening. I was drinking some hot tea and chatting with my mom on the phone, catching up on the latest gossip. She is often my source of new political information or she'll keep me updated on what generally happens to be trending in the media. In other words, she is my personal media watchdog. So, naturally, I was expecting her to have some juicy political gossip on this particular night when we were talking on the phone, but it always manages to surprise me when the gossip turns into threats on agriculture. Simply, because you wouldn't expect there to be so many threats on something so necessary in our society.

Our conversation started with her updating me on the untimely passing of the Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia. I thought our conversation would stay towards the political path because of this, but I must admit I was surprised when my mom mentioned that people actually found a way to blame his death on the fact that he had steak or red meat for dinner that night. I mean, how? Just how is it possible that one night's meal can have a life altering impact on you? If the people that made these ludicrous claims just did a little digging, they would find that Antonin Scalia has had a history of health issues.

Eating healthy is a lifestyle. It's a choice and one steak will have less impact than a lifetime of choosing to eat highly processed and greasy foods. Yet, somehow this information seems to get misconstrued through the media and consumers begin to believe that meat itself will cause unforgivable heart problems.

This website linked below is a prime example of taking information with a little bit of truth and blowing it out of proportion until it no longer holds any value.

http://vegnews.com/articles/page.do?pageId=5090&catId=7

The website contains numerous outrageous claims about the unhealthy side-affects of eating meat. One such statement is covered in a fallacy known as false equivalence, when there are two separate situations combined to compare and contrast the differences between them, when in reality there is no logical way they can be compared to one another. This particular fallacy is found in the opening statements of the website that states, "Consuming the bodies of dead animals (and their loathsome by-products) is a real threat to human health. Americans are significantly more likely to die of heart disease or other diet-related (and preventable) causes than we are of zombie attacks, werewolves, or banshees. Give yourself a good fright with the following five harrowing ways that eating animal products can kill you."

If you visit this website, do me a favor and dig into the facts of their claims. Naturally, If you don't balance your red meat intake with other healthy foods such as vegetables and fruits, then your body will be lacking the nutrients only obtained through eating those foods. Just like your body would be lacking the essential amino acids obtained through the consumption of beef if you didn't eat meat. Actually, according to Rosie Sykes, a head chef for Fitzbillies, beef can reduce your risk of cancer and obesity if consumed in the right fashion and moderation. In fact, she states, "Beef from grass-fed cattle is a great source of omega 3 fatty acids, and conjugated linoleic acid, which some studies show reduces the risk of cancer, obesity, diabetes and some immune system disorders."

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/dec/16/why-beef-is-good-for-you-grass-fed-grain-fed

Therefore, I beg of you readers to take the time to research the information that you find in the media, because more often than not you are being misguided.

Benefits of Eating Meat........They Do Exist!

Meat is magic. There, I said it. The cat is out of the bag and the cow is out on pasture. What I am trying to say, is that by simply making meat a part of your daily eating habit you can increase your health and meet your essential amino acid requirement. Therefore, benefits of eating meat can be directly related to the nutrients acquired through them. Take beef for example: Protein, zinc, vitamin B12, selenium, niacin, B₆, phosphorus, choline, iron, and riboflavin are all essential nutrients that can be obtained through beef. 

These nutrients not only improve body composition and facilitate weight loss, but they also improve weight maintenance following weight loss. One, in theory, should ask themselves, why would the media be used to keep its viewers from reaping the benefits of beef consumption? Today’s media has proven through it’s many forms of broadcasts that consumers can be negatively swayed if information is not presented as the whole truth. Therefore, with these blogs, it is my sincerest hope to present you with the whole truth through proof of the media’s falsehoods, the actual facts of the matter, and ways we can reverse the public’s skepticism of eating meat.

Protein:

The main benefits start and end with protein. Protein is a nutrient that is absolutely critical to keep your body functioning normally and healthily. The amino acids that are absorbed into the body after consumed through protein are essential to forming the proteins that aid in structure and support for the human body. Meat is a complete protein source that provides all the essential amino acids, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They also recommend you consume about "50 grams of protein daily."

Iron:

Meat is also an excellent source of iron. Which is a mineral required to support human life. Iron is incorporated into hemoglobin, the compound that is used to carry oxygen to all your cells. Your body also adds iron to myoglobin, "a compound that allows your muscle cells to use oxygen"; other iron-containing compounds support DNA production, immune function and the manufacture of some neurotransmitters. The recommended dietary allowance for iron is 8 milligrams per day for men and 18 milligrams for women under 50.

These are only a few of examples as to how meat can had a healthy benefit to the consumer's life if added to the diet!

http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/ways-benefit-eating-meat-4357.html

Welcome everyone to my blog site! If you are new to this site, know that so am I!

These blog entries will be targeted towards my classmates, who are also assigned their own separate blogs. I will be posting 10 blogs over the next 4 months. My blog topics will be specifically centered on the nutritional value obtained in a human beings diet by consuming livestock. I have choose to take my writing down this path simply because I have heard far too often about the misconstrued "health concerns" of eating meat. If there is one topic out there that can get my blood boiling, it would be the slanderous comments that can be found in the media about the unhealthy side effects eating meat can have on a person. So, fair warning to my readers that I may come off a little biased when talking about such a detrimental problem. However, I will always provide factual evidence in these blogs and links to outside sources.