Eat Meat? Just Eat Less And Help Save The Planet.
Posted by Michelle Moquin on November 29th, 2008
I found this very interesting lecture of Marc Bittman, a NY Times foodie columnist. He spoke at a Ted conference last year and since we all just got through feasting for Thanksgiving and we still have more feasting to do for the holidays I thought I would post the lecture. He says some pretty amazing and enlightening facts about food production and where we are going as a world community.
So while you’re thinking about what you’re going to cook for the holidays think about this: After energy production, livestock is the second highest contributor to atmosphere altering gases. Nearly 1/5 of all greenhouse gas is generated by livestock production; more than transportation. Shocking yes?
So while we’re all thinking about how we can cut down our use of oil and replace our gas guzzling cars with a vehicle that is more clean and efficient, we have to think about the gases that the millions of animals produce on a daily basis. Here’s a little tidbit: Methane is 20 times more poisoness than Co2. Livestock contributes to land degradation, water shortages, water pollution etc. And a bit off subject, but did you know that half of the antibiotics in this country are not administered to people, but animals?!
There is so much energy going towards thoughts of cutting back on oil, and rightly so. Yet we continue to consume animals without much of a thought about how our animal production is drastically affecting our planet.
Kindness is a concern and as you all know enforcing the humane treatment of animals has been a passion of mine. Prop 2 is a good start. But….there is no way to treat our animals nicely when we are killing 10,000,000,000. per year! And that is just in the US! The more important thing is to reduce out meat intake. I’m not asking for people to stop eating meat. The world will never go completely vegetarian, and I don’t expect it to. I’m just asking you to think about your body; your planet…and cut back.
One thing Marc stated that I do disagree with, is that we don’t need to eat meat. I feel that our bodies do need meat. I know mine does. We are carnivores but….and this is a big BUT…we are eating way too much meat. This I agree with. The production of animals and the greenhouse gases generated, as he stated, are adding to global warming, and we need to drastically cut down on our meat production, which is healthier for the planet and us.
Between 1950 and 2000 the worlds population doubled but the meat consumption increased 5 fold!
By the 70′s as women were getting more involved in the work place, home cooking started going down hill…hello fast food! Fewer fresh meals were being cooked, and more canned and packaged foods started to become popular in the home. Remember when TV dinners came out – Salisbury steak? I ate those all of the time especially on the weekends when my parents went out to dine….and I remember loving them! (yuck!)
We’ve been told that plants promote health and that if we eat more plants and eat less other stuff, such as meat and junk food, we’ll live longer. Yet many don’t listen to this good advice. We need to in order to start showing concern for our bodies and our planet. So check this out:
30% of the earth’s land surface is directly or indirectly devoted to raising the animals we eat and it is predicted to double in the next 40 years or so. And, if the numbers that we get from China continue as huge as they are today, we’ll be using double of the earth’s land surface is less than 40 years.
Can you imagine what our planet would be like then?
We eat on average twice as much protein as the USDA recommends. Experts, who are serious about disease reduction, recommend that as adults we eat a half a pound of meat per week. Surprise…guess how much we’re eating? On average we are eating a half a pound a day!
Americans need to start reducing now.
I mean how difficult would it be to eat 50% less meat and increase our consumption of plants? Simple. Be an advocate and be an example. Eat less meat…eat less junk…and eat more plants.’ Marc says, ‘We can continue to enjoy our food. We can continue to eat well, and we can continue to search for ingredients we love – and in return we can reduce our calorie intake and reduce our carbon footprint.’ Lastly, ‘Make food more important, not less and save ourselves by doing so. Stop eating meat industrially and stop raising them thoughtlessly.’
Like I have mentioned before, Doug and I buy our meat directly from a small farm where we know the animals are fed well on grasses that the freely graze on. We know the animals are treated humanely. Yes it’s a bit more expensive but if you’re eating less you can afford to buy better meat. I only consume about a half to one pound of meat every two weeks. I can’t cut back much more than that or I would be a vegetarian which I don’t desire to be anymore.
Readers: What will you do to have less of an impact on our planet?
***********
Doug: Good observation. That is true.
ZL: Ha! Happy you did as ‘ordered’. I hope the rest of the weekend is beautiful.
Enjoy yourselves….
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: Your Bad Ass Bitch Editor
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November 29th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
ABOUT YOUR THYROID
For the latest news on thyroid disease, I spoke with Ken Blanchard, MD, PhD, a board-certified endocrinologist in private practice and coauthor of What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Hypothyroidism. He told me the thyroid is like a delicately tuned instrument. “Thyroid rhythms change over time with our bodies’ metabolic needs,” he explained. “Our bodies and environments are in constant flux, and it’s the thyroid’s job to be exquisitely sensitive to changes in the body’s internal and external environment.”
A variety of influences can cause your thyroid to produce either too much thyroid hormone (hyperthyroidism, which is fairly rare), causing trembling hands, irritability, heat intolerance, sleep difficulty, abnormal heart rhythms and weight loss… or too little (hypothyroidism) causing sluggishness, depression, intolerance to cold, dry, coarse skin and hair, constipation and weight gain. In women, hypothyroidism can also cause heavy or irregular menstrual periods. Interestingly, fatigue is a common symptom of both hyper- and hypothyroidism.
WHY IS THYROID DISEASE ON THE RISE?
Thyroid disease, particularly hypothyroidism, has been on the rise in recent years. Dr. Blanchard suggests that environmental toxins may inhibit production of thyroid hormone, noting that dental x-rays (where the thyroid is improperly shielded) and toxic chemicals are possible culprits. Also, age itself can be a factor, he says: “As our metabolic and immune systems slow down, we’re more prone to infection and immune disease, both of which can manifest as hypothyroidism.”
The vast majority of hypothyroidism cases are caused by Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, a condition more likely to affect women, in which the immune system attacks the thyroid gland. According to Dr. Blanchard, women’s vulnerability to hypothyroidism is consistent with their vulnerability to autoimmune diseases in general. “Three-fourths of autoimmune diseases such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis strike women,” said Dr. Blanchard. “This has led experts to believe that female hormones may play a role in hypothyroidism.”
A UNIQUE APPROACH TO DIAGNOSIS & TREATMENT
Mainstream medical doctors typically diagnose thyroid disease with a test that measures thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). If thyroid hormone levels are high (hyperthyroidism) and serum TSH is low, standard treatment involves drug therapy or surgery. Another treatment for hyperthyroidism, usually tried before surgery, is radioactive iodine thyroid ablation. If the test reveals a low level of thyroid hormone (hypothyroidism), usually with high serum TSH, treatment usually involves a synthetic of thyroid hormone thyroxine T4 called levothyroxine (Synthroid).
However, many patients with classic hypothyroidism symptoms have a TSH level within a normal range, and leave their doctor’s office without a diagnosis or treatment. In Dr. Blanchard’s view, this is the problem with the conventional approach — it’s an insufficient diagnostic tool, leading to “countless undiagnosed cases and unnecessary suffering,” he says. Dr. Blanchard relies instead on symptoms and patient history.
This “functional approach” to diagnosing and treating hypothyroidism uses the TSH test as one of several possible markers for the disease, considering the treatment with thyroid hormones as a way to confirm presence of disease. For a typical hypothyroid patient, such as a woman in her 40s with a list of symptoms consistent with hypothyroidism and TSH level in the normal range, Dr. Blanchard tries what he calls an “intelligent therapeutic trial” of T4 and T3, the latter being a hormone rarely used by physicians. “A notable improvement on the thyroid treatment confirms that the patient is, in fact, functionally hypothyroid,” he explained. He says it is not unusual to see an excellent response to this treatment by patients with classic symptoms of hypothyroidism, yet normal TSH measures. “Thyroid hormone replacement is very complicated and has to be done on a one-to-one basis,” said Dr. Blanchard. “After years of judicious trial and error, I’ve seen thousands of patients respond well to an individualized, physiologic balance of T4 and T3 that restores a healthy balance of thyroid hormones.”
NATURAL SUPPORT FOR THYROID FUNCTION
As you know, I believe naturopathic medicine contributes a different perspective, so I asked Daily Health News contributing medical editor Andrew L. Rubman, ND, for his opinion. “Thyroid disease is rarely a simple problem with one cause,” he said. “It’s complex and needs to be treated as part of an overall physical assessment.”
Dr. Rubman says it’s a good idea to have your naturopathic physician collaborate with your medical doctor to find treatment approaches beyond medication. He emphasizes the importance of supporting the thyroid naturally with a healthy lifestyle, good nutrition, regular exercise and stress management to decrease the odds that disease will develop, noting that factors such as insufficient dietary iodine may confound the problem. Though body temperature was once thought to be a reliable measure of thyroid function, this has largely been discredited, says Dr. Rubman.
BE PROACTIVE
Other strategies to help protect your thyroid health include:
Get regular thyroid screenings. According to the American Thyroid Association, if you are 35 or older, you should have your thyroid tested at least every five years.
Learn about your family history for thyroid disease. Thyroid disease, such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, is often hereditary. If a family member has thyroid disease, you are at increased risk.
Take charge of your own care. If you suspect you may have thyroid disease, find an open-minded doctor to talk to, someone who is willing to look beyond the TSH test and take your symptoms seriously. Choose a physician who focuses on you as an individual. Don’t just give up if your TSH results are normal yet you still suspect thyroid disease. Urge your doctor to look further, or consult a board-certified endocrinologist or naturopathic physician with a specialty in endocrinology. You can use The Hormone Foundation as a resource to find an endocrinologist.
Minimize environmental toxins. Eat as many fruits and vegetables as possible. Reduce consumption of animal fats in dairy products, processed foods, meats and poultry, as they tend to harbor toxic chemicals. Buy organic foods whenever you can.
Reduce stress through relaxation and exercise. As always, these are the cornerstones of physical and mental health.
Eat right. Good eating habits, adequate digestion and regular dietary sources of the building blocks of both thyroid hormones — the mineral iodine and the amino acid tyrosine — can only help. Sources of iodine include seaweed, shellfish (shrimp, clams, oysters) and iodized salt. Tyrosine, a non-essential amino acid, is produced from foods including soy, chicken, turkey, fish, peanuts, almonds, avocados, bananas, lima beans and pumpkin seeds.
Source(s): ?
Ken Blanchard, MD, PhD, board-certified endocrinologist in private practice in Boston and coauthor of What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Hypothyroidism (Warner).
Andrew L. Rubman, ND, director, Southbury Clinic for Traditional Medicines, Southbury, Connecticut.
November 29th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
Would it make a difference if I just ate them slower? It sounds close to gaining the same results.
Gleia
November 30th, 2008 at 8:31 am
What’s with your site? I have tried to get in for the last two days almost every hour or so. I know you suggest that we continue to say what we intended to but sometimes the new stuff make me want to say what I wanted differently or something entirely different.
Helen
November 30th, 2008 at 8:52 am
I am an American Indian. I refrained from writing in during America’s Thanksgiving celebration. Now that it is over, I wish to express the range of emotion we American Indians feel during white america’s hypocritical celebration of the cooperation of the American Indian and the white settlers who came to our land as people who just wanted to share the wealth of this great abundance you call America.
Every “Thanksgiving” our emotions range from general sadness to out right anger and disgust. White settlers came to our land claiming they just wanted to settle in a new land free from the oppression of their former country. They asked my fore fathers to help them survive the winters. They assured the Indians that they would be their friends.
In reality they were just waiting until they had the numbers and weapons to kill us with impunity and drive us out with eventual extermination in mine. The Germans used the way white america handled its “Indian problem” as a model for how they would handle their “Jewish problem.”
Most of my people were exterminated. 12 million of my people were exterminated. Yet, these creatures without consciouses make it a policy to celebrate the beginning of the deception that made it all possible.
All this says is if the perpetrators of the holocaust can control historical records, it can get away with the murder of 12 million human beings. We the remains of the slaughter are still on “Indian reservations,” the German version of the “Jew ghettos.”
My people are left to moan the celebration of the beginning of the end of their people’s existence as they new it. Happy Thanksgiving to all the white devils.
Loren
November 30th, 2008 at 8:57 am
VITAMIN D DOS AND DON’TS
Research continues to extol the many and varied virtues of vitamin D. This vital nutrient helps the body absorb calcium more efficiently, plays a key role in preventing diseases and medical conditions, including not only bone-thinning osteoporosis but also high blood pressure and autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis… and helps control skin problems, including psoriasis. Studies suggest that vitamin D can also help prevent cancer, specifically prostate, ovarian, breast and colon cancer.
Unfortunately far too many people are vitamin D deficient primarily because they don’t spend enough time outside. Other factors that may lead to vitamin D deficiency include living in the northern latitudes, digestive difficulties and diseases, including IBS, and having stomach or intestine surgery. How do you know if you’re vitamin D deficient? According to Daily Health News contributing medical editor Andrew L. Rubman, ND, symptoms can include muscle pain, weak bones/fractures, low energy and fatigue, lowered immunity, depression and mood swings and sleep irregularities.
D IS FOR “DAILY SUNSHINE”
One of the best ways to get your daily dose of vitamin D is simply to spend time outdoors every day. Just about everyone gets what they need from being outside in the sun as little as 10 to 15 minutes twice a week, notes Dr. Rubman. This is why it is important, even in winter, not to hibernate indoors 24/7. Build regular sun exposure into your days by making a point to take a brisk walk around the block, or walk instead of driving for short errands. For short-term sun exposures, he advises skipping sunscreen to make sure you are effectively getting your daily dose. Also, be aware that on cloudy days you get less vitamin D from the sun.
DANGERS OF VITAMIN D SUPPLEMENTS
Given how common vitamin D deficiency has become and the fact that the list of its virtues proven by research grows longer and longer, it’s understandable that many people wonder if they ought to take supplements. Dr. Rubman generally recommends against doing so, warning that high doses are associated with serious side effects. These can include excessive thirst, unsteadiness and ringing in your ears (tinnitus). Vitamin D supplements are available over-the-counter… 2,000 IU is considered the upper intake allowed for adults, however, 200 IU to 400 IU is considered adequate for most adults, depending on age. He suggests being tested for vitamin D levels once every year and advises those who need more to get it from a daily multivitamin that contains vitamin D, as most do, or better yet, dietary sources. Foods high in vitamin D include oily fish such as salmon and fresh tuna, or cod liver oil, and egg yolks. Also, milk is enriched with vitamin D. But the best way is also the most enjoyable one — take your daily dose of vitamin D by getting outside and grabbing some rays.
Source(s): ??Andrew L. Rubman, ND, director, Southbury Clinic for Traditional Medicines, Southbury, Connecticut. http://www.naturopath.org.