My So-Called Healthy Diet – Part Three

It has been interesting to read the stories of other vegetarians that have returned to eating meat and animal products.  The Vegetarian Myth by Lierre Keith is one such story, as is this one by Chris Masterjohn.   Like these people, our family is seeking a diet that is consistent with thousands of years of human experience, experience that is intertwined with all living things, plant and animal.

Without a doubt, the health of my family has improved since we embraced the principles suggested by the research of Dr. Price.  Key elements of our diet are as follows:

My So-Called Healthy Diet – Part Two

My opinions about a healthy diet have been influenced by family, friends, school, television, and things I have read.    However,  much of the basis for that influence has been provided by large, bureaucratic institutions and agencies like the American Medical Association, the American Heart Association, the Food and Drug Administration, and the US Department of Agriculture to name a few.  

In spite of our reverence for the institutions listed above, it would serve us well to remember the following:  These are the same institutions that once said hydrogenated, trans-fats are safe, that second-hand cigarette smoke poses no health risks, and that high fructose corn syrup is no more harmful than cane sugar.

Is it possible that nutritional public policy has more to do with finding uses for the crops we grow versus what historically has provided for a healthy diet?  Is it possible that the pharmaceutical industry bases drug research on opportunities that have the highest profit potential versus what may improve human health?  Is it possible that we have been led astray? 

Below is a collection of the conventional wisdom (CW) of our nutritional experts contrasted with the long history of human eating as suggested by Nourishing Traditions:

My So-Called Healthy Diet – Part One

Over my lifetime, I have changed my eating habits fairly dramatically on two occasions.  From my childhood until my early thirties, I ate what would likely be described as the Standard American Diet (SAD).  I often ate fast food, drank lots of sugary sodas, and snacked on supermarket junk food.  However, I was always the skinny kid.  When I reached my current height of 6’2” at age 16, I weighed 129 lbs.  It wasn’t until after college that I gained any meaningful amount of weight.  Even as an adult, the heaviest I have ever weighed was 186 lbs.