WTF- Meat is the new tobacco!?! Continued…
So yesterday I just couldn’t stop thinking about that article claiming that meat is as bad, if not worse, than tobacco for you.
I came up with a bazillion more reasons why that article is just plain old wrong, but there was one reason in particular that I felt the need to post about today because her claim really pissed me off since it was inaccurate.
In the article, the author claims that the meat industry is powerful because there is as much money in it as in big tobacco.
EH WRONG!
Actually, a VEGETARIAN advocacy group is closer to having the same power as big tobacco. There are actually no meat-eaters advocacy groups with near the power that the vegetarian group CSPI (Center for Science in the Public Interest) has.
Masquerading as a group that is supposed to be the “organized voice of the American public on nutrition, food safety, health and other issues,” CSPI is actually pushing their own agenda…And it’s a vegetarian one. They are actually even part of the reason why the American public fears saturated fat so much!
The Center for Science in the Public Interest(CSPI) ran with the lipid hypothesis and deemed the term “artery-clogging” fat. The CSPI has been advocating a plant-based diet since they were formed in 1971…One of the founders, Michael Jacobson who is also the executive director is a vegetarian and sits on the national board of the animal-rights oriented “Great American Meatout.” On the CSPI website they have a section called Eating Green, which advocates consuming more plant-based foods and less meat and dairy to extend you health. All though the CSPI considers themselves to provide useful, objective information on food, alcohol and health I feel their main goal is to spread their vegetarian agenda. (Healing through Nutrition)
And guess what one of the “healthy” changes CSPI has caused is….
In 1989, they got major hamburger chains to stop using animal fats for frying french fries. Guess what these restaurant chains then started using?
Trans-fats!!!
Uhm aren’t trans-fats bad for you? YEP!
CSPI later changes its stance and fights to eliminate trans-fats from restaurants and asks the FDA to label all foods that contain cholesterol-raising trans-fats.
Great job CSPI!
So next time you try to claim that the meat industry has SOOOO much influence, check your facts. CSPI has way more influence and it looks like it’s definitely using it to make us healthier.
NOT!
WTF – Meat is the new tobacco!?!
I swear I uttered just about every curse word I know while reading an article that Ryan sent me called, “Meat is the New Tobacco.”
I try not to rip on vegetarians too often as I do firmly believe that different diets work for different people. Also, eating WHOLE FOODS is what is really important…(Of course most of the vegetarians I know eat more processed crap than most meat eaters I know…but that is a rant for a different day…)
But seriously…comparing meat to tobacco!?! How did someone even allow such a RIDICULOUS article to be published?
This article is ridiculously biased AND the research Kathy Freston cites has been criticized and torn apart.
Her first ridiculous, unfounded statement:
Animal products kill a lot more Americans than tobacco does.
The West’s three biggest killers — heart disease, cancer, and stroke — are linked to excessive animal product (this was linked to the China Study) consumption, and vegetarians have much lower risks of all three. Vegetarians also have a fraction of the obesity and diabetes rates of the general population — of course, both diseases are at epidemic levels and are only getting worse.
Do you know when the obesity and diabetes rates started shooting up?
They started increasing in the 1980’s when the consumption of RED meat started to go down. And guess what we started consuming more of in the 1980’s?
Carbohydrates in the form of refined grains and starchy vegetables and processed vegetable oils. Yep when we REPLACED animal products (butter and lard) with vegetable and seed oils (such as canola oil), we started to see an obesity and diabetes epidemic.
As a post on Fatty Lane states:
1950- 33% of Americans overweight. 10% Obese
1970- 47% of Americans overweight. 15% Obese
Today– 65% of Americans overweight. 30% Obese
Those are some pretty big changes over 60 years. Health “experts” say we’re getting fatter because of too much fat in our diets and not enough heart healthy “whole grains.” Let’s break it down. (See every year here)
So our meat, egg and nut consumption has increased 4.1% since 1970
Our fruit consumption has increased 22%
Our dairy consumption has decreased 3.7%
Our vegetable consumption has decreased 2.4 percent
Our added sugar consumption has increased 14%
Our added fat consumption has increased 56.3%
Our grain consumption has increased 44.6%
So is it really meat? Or might it be the grains, sugars and processed oils?
Now onto Kathy’s obsession with Dr. T Colin Campbell and his China Study, which she claims proves the link between heart disease, cancer and stroke and consumption of animal products.
His China Study is full of holes. I found numerous articles and a WHOLE SITE dedicated to providing studies refuting the China Study.
First off, the first part of the China Study was an epidemiological study in which a questionnaire was mailed to the Chinese people asking what they ate. Off of this Dr. Campbell claims that the people who ate more meat were at higher risk for disease.
BUT he doesn’t take into consideration what else the meat eaters consumed. He also didn’t take into account what their lifestyle.
Oh and by the way….his data doesn’t actually prove what he claims it does!!
People that have analyzed the study have shown that:
Significant differences in the diet of rural Chinese populations studied suggest that wheat consumption may promote higher insulin, higher triacylglycerol, and lower SHBG values. Such a profile is consistent with that commonly associated with obesity, dyslipidemia, diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. On the other hand, the intake of rice, fish, and possibly green vegetables may elevate SHBG concentrations independent of weight or smoking habits. (From Raw Food SOS)
There are more quotes I could pull and studies I can cite, but I gave you a link to a ton so I’ll let them speak for themselves.
Only one more point about the China Study, which has to do with the second part of the study.
The other part of the China study was a rat study in which rats were either given powdered casein or gluten. The rats that consumed casein got cancer while the rats that ate gluten didn’t.
There are two problems with this. One, powdered casein isn’t a whole food and doesn’t accurately represent milk and meat! For example:milk contains vitamins A, D, E, and CLA & omega 3, which are anti-cancerous, which I’m sure the casein powder didn’t have! Secondly, the rats that ate casein, lived longer!! As with any population that lives longer, there is going to be a higher incident of disease! Any reasonable study considers mortality to be the most important factor…but not Dr. Campbell’s….
And now on to my last point…since I’m giving myself just three or I would literally write a ten page rant about this.
Going back to the initial comment that ticked me off: “Animal products kill a lot more Americans than tobacco does.”
Uhm seriously?
I would beg to differ:
According to pure vegetarian ideologists, people consuming vegetarian diet have better health and live longer than nonvegetarians, because persons consuming milk, dairy products, meat, eggs and fish are at health risk. In fact the most healthy people in Europe are inhabitants of Iceland, Switzerland and Scandinavia, consuming great amounts of food of animal origin.
So the healthiest people consume the most animal products…..Hmmm doesn’t sound like animal products are killing more people than tobacco…
Maybe we should be consuming more meat and not less…Maybe processed CRAP like grains and vegetable oils are really the reason we have such a high incidence of heart disease, cancer and stroke…
Ok…now I’m ready for all you vegetarians out there to try to refute me…bring it on!
To lift heavy, you must be flexible!
If you want to be super strong, you must also be super flexible.
Just look at the best Olympic and powerlifters, they are all super flexible.
That, right there, is flexibility.
Go ahead. Try a squat that deep. Keep your chest up while you do it and your heels on the ground throughout the entire movement.
While you may be able to do it, squatting like that isn’t easy, or even doable for most people.
But if you want to lift heavy weight, you need to work on it.
If you aren’t flexible, you risk injury when you add weight. The weight of a heavily loaded barbell forces your range of motion to increase.
If you can’t perform a full range of motion on a squat with just your body weight, your body isn’t ready to handle the additional weight of a barbell because the extra weight will force your body to complete a fuller range of motion than it is ready to handle.
This “weight-assisted stretching” isn’t good for you! If you push it too far, you will end up injured!
So start mobility and flexibility training! You don’t have to be Gumby, but if you want to lift heavy, you need to have great flexibility in your shoulders, hips, hamstrings, and ribcage!
I cuddle with my foam roller…maybe you should too!
Diets around the world – Is the U.S. behind?
We have a fat-phobia here in the U.S. We are so afraid of fat that we would rather eat processed crap food than whole foods with saturated fat. And we think our low-fat diet is healthiest even though we are the most obese country.
So what are other countries doing that we aren’t? How are other nations staying lean?
Yahoo.com had an article about what we could learn from other countries’ diets called “The Secrets of the World’s Healthiest Women.” And while I don’t agree with all of what they wrote, I do think they bring up a great topic for discussion.
And I think the most important thing we can learn from studying other countries, is that eating whole, natural foods is key and that fat…really doesn’t make you fat.
In the article, the author states that French women stay thin because of portion control. And while yes they do use portion control to stay slim while eating butter and cream, I think something more important is being overlooked. It isn’t the small portion that keeps them slim…it is actually the fatty rich foods that do! Butter and cream are minimally processed and low in carbs (check out this article by Mark Sisson about why grass-fed butter is good for you)! And with the full-fat cheese, cream and butter, they consume fresh foods and antioxidant rich wine! Even the baked goods they consume are FRESH…made from FRESH, minimally processed ingredients. And on top of that, they burn the carbs they eat unlike 90% of Americans out there. They walk everywhere!
The article then mentions that “Scandinavians eat farm to table.” This is definitely something we, Americans, don’t do. It is also more proof of how important it is to eat organic, free-range, grass-fed livestock and produce. So shouldn’t we be eating any and all whole foods instead of buying processed low-fat crap? Isn’t a grass-fed steak with some saturated fat better than whole wheat bread which is PROCESSED!?!
Anyway, moving on…The article then highlights the Japanese diet. It states they are so healthy because “they practice hara hachi bu, or eating until 80% full.” And people think I’m crazy when I fast? How is fasting any different from calorie restriction by eating till only 80% full? UHM…IT ISN’T!! Also, again what are these people eating? WHOLE, NATURAL FOODS! They are getting a great ratio of omega-3s to omega-6s unlike 90% of Americans. And yes, they are eating carbs…but NO GLUTEN! AND they have “the highest concentration of centenarians (people aged 100 or older) in the world.”
So now onto the section that both makes me happy and a tad bit angry…the Mediterranean diet.
The article states:
The much-heralded Mediterranean diet has been linked to a longer life and a lower risk of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s. As we’ve heard before, this diet includes good fats (olive oil, nuts, fish), lean proteins, antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables, and a moderate amount of wine.
What people interpret this as…”I can eat chicken and fish ONLY.” EH! WRONG! Grass-fed, naturally raised beef is LEAN! It is way leaner than its grain-fed counterpart. So if you buy naturally raised animals, you will be eating LEAN meat…so you CAN eat steak!!!
Anyway, this is definitely food for thought (pun!). I also actually do like the article’s 7 tips at the bottom – especially “learn to love the foods that love you back.”
What do you think? Are Americans behind in their dietary beliefs? Do we have a lot to learn from other countries?
The hard work just isn’t paying off
There is nothing more frustrating than seeing a person that kills themself day in and day out at the gym, but doesn’t get results.
And the sad part is, I see people like this all the time.
I see women that spend 30 grueling minutes on the treadmill followed by some 2 hour Barbie weight training program whose bodies never change – no muscles gained, no weight lost.
And they are working super hard.
And they keep working hard – Repeating the same grueling workout at least 5 times a week and eating the same foods that they’ve always eaten. And they believe they are being super healthy yet nothing changes.
Sometimes I want to walk up to those people, shake them and say, “How’s that working out for you? Seriously, how is that workout and “healthy” lifestyle really working for you!?!”
I want to shake them because they are wasting their time doing something that obviously isn’t working.
And if they do decide something isn’t working, they usually blame the workout. They may then even hire a trainer who writes up a new and wonderful routine for them.
And they work hard every time they meet with the trainer and even go to the gym on their own.
But they still aren’t seeing results.
And why aren’t they seeing results? Well they will most likely blame the trainer and the workout routine. When in reality, diet (and potentially even overtraining) is what is leading to their lack of results.
When people want to lose weight or fat, they turn to exercise. They can depend so much on exercise in fact that they start training so much that they actually hurt their progress.
But exercise is really only 20% of the weight loss/body composition battle. The other 80% is diet.
So if you aren’t getting results stop doing the same old thing and killing yourself day in at day out at the gym. If you are working hard in the gym, maybe your diet is to blame.
Here is one recipe from the Recipe Box to help you kick-start a new healthy eating program that will help you get the results you deserve for all of your hard work!
The Meat House Country Scramble
Ok so this doesn't look beautiful but it tasted delicious!
Ingredients:
2 potatoes
1/2lbs of The Meat House Country Sausage
2 oz Wild Boar Salami (courtesy of The Meat House)
3 strips of bacon
1/2 onion
1 tsp cumin
Salt, chili powder and pepper to taste
4 eggs
In a pan, heat bacon and onions. When onions are translucent, add in chopped potatoes. When potatoes start to brown a bit, add in the country sausage. Season with cumin, salt and pepper and add in wild boar salami.
Once sausage is cooked and potatoes are golden brown and crispy, divide hash onto plates. Cook eggs in the same pan till over easy. Serve over the hash with a sprinkle of chili powder.
If you are looking to make this low carb, but equally delicious, cut out the potatoes.
P.S. We use salami from The Meat House because it is nitrite free. AND all of their sausages are made in-house and have all-natural ingredients while being gluten-free!! Please don’t substitute in any sausage or salami as it will deduct from the nutritional benefit of the dish!
Show Me Yours – Anywhere, Anytime
So I got some great emails AND pictures this week.
One was from Lisa:
Hey Cori, so fun story…. I won my cornhole championship tonight and everyone was commenting on my biceps as I one-handedly drank the trophy of beer! (The trophy is heavy.) It spurred the thought to push-up drink from the trophy in the middle of the bar… The waitresses hated me…everyone else was amused. Someone asked about the story behind the ruckus… I said ” It’s for Man Bicep, a movement about breaking the taboos about women lifting weights, which I love to do.” Then I said… “Drinking beer is so much better in full decline push up position….just because I can.”. 🙂
Lisa doing a very nice decline push up!
Two more great bicep pictures were submitted by Ada and Toni this past week.
The Toni Bicep! Love it! Keep up the weight training!
The Ada Bicep! A great way to build the bicep...PULL UPS!
Also, a BIG Happy Belated Birthday to Man Biceper Kristen who just recently started lifting weights.
Kristen stated recently, “I have really been enjoying what I’ve been doing thus far and feel great! Tomorrow is my birthday and I feel better than I have in quite a few birthdays!”
Motivated now to workout? Try this workout of the week!!!
Dieting and Body Image
So I’ve been reading the “Body Image Warrior Week” posts over at Fit and Feminist. They are great and they got me to really thinking about dieting and body image.
Usually negative body image and dieting go hand in hand. But dieting doesn’t solve negative body image.
If you can’t accept your body as it is now, you won’t accept it even if you find a diet that makes you look exactly the way you always wanted to. No matter how “good” you look, if you have a negative self-image, you will always be able to find some flaw.
So stop looking for the flaws. Stop thinking that if you just find the right diet you will be able to lose enough weight or fat to correct them. Stop thinking that dieting is the solution.
You can’t change the body you were given.
A healthy diet will make you look good, but you already have to be content. No matter how great the transformation in your body, a diet won’t create a positive self-image.
BUT, if you find a diet that will make you healthier, that will make you feel better, you will find a diet that makes your body look the best that it can!
That is why I’ve been so gung-ho about the Man Bicep diet. I found something that has made me healthier and feel better with the added bonus that my abs show.
My body may not be what someone else considers to be perfect, but guess what?…I like how I look! (Although I’m still weirded out when I log in and see like 50 bazillion pictures of myself EVERYWHERE, but it’s proof right!?! haha)
Is that cocky? No. Is it confident? Yes. Am I happy? Most definitely.
But I’m not only happy with my body because I feel it “looks good.” I’m happy with my body because I like that I can lift more weight than is necessary. I like that I can sprint and paddle board and even occasionally eat till I have a food baby and can only roll around in pain and moan.
I love my body’s strength and feeling of health. Yes it has flaws, but there isn’t a person out there who doesn’t see a flaw no matter how “perfect” someone else thinks their body is.
And while I feel better and healthier when my abs are showing, I’m just as happy in my own skin when Chinese food and ice cream have hidden them (Ok so not quite as happy, but that is mainly because I usually feel pretty ill from the bad food binge-ing!)
So stop looking for the flaws in your body and realize how wonderful it is.
And I’m not undermining the importance of committing to a healthy lifestyle. I’m just saying a diet won’t correct a negative body image.
A healthy diet, however, does have a big pay-off – one bigger than 6 pack abs…You will feel freaking healthy and good!
What? Do women not have biceps?
I guess we know what society thinks about women’s upper body strength….We can’t do pull ups and we don’t do arm exercises.
Man Biceper Hilary shared this link and it amused me so I wanted to make sure I share it with everyone else.
Here's a nice little screen shot of the site...what do women not have arms?
Pull ups NOT REQUIRED for female Marines!?!
Ok I do understand that pull ups are hard…I mean they really really SUCK.
I also understand that most women hate them and really struggle with them.
BUT for MARINE FEMALES to not be required to be able to do at least one!?! That is ridiculous.
An article called “Pull-ups for women? Not going to happen” states that, “A plan that would toughen the Physical Fitness Test for women by adding pull-ups has been put off indefinitely.”
My question is…why? Why aren’t women being required to perform an exercise which is a GREAT demonstration of upper body strength?
Because we can’t on average do as many as men? Because they are super hard?
Why are we simply not using pull ups as a test instead of TRAINING women to be able to do them!?!
Seriously, this is ridiculous! Pull ups are something I firmly believe that everyone…I repeat…EVERYONE should be able to do AT LEAST one of.
What are your thoughts? Do you think that the fitness standards for Marines should be that different that women aren’t even required to do pull ups AT ALL?
P.S. The picture is also incorrect. What she is actually doing is a chin up…..
I told you so….
See the Man Bicep has been important all along!
- See Ellen agrees! “Best Who Cares About the Dress, Look at Her Arms Dress: Viola Davis“
- So if a gluten-free diet alleviates autism symptoms, how can you not think it is healthy?
- LIFT CHALLENGING WEIGHTS! Here is more proof that you should!
- Ok so not exactly how I would word it…But this article proves my point! Exercise does help you lose weight but it can’t make up for poor food choices. Of course, I don’t think you should really eat anything it recommends, but hey, you can’t win them all!
- Research showing grass-fed beef is better. Need more? Here. Oh and here is more.
- Older article by Gary Taubes, but great evidence that FAT is GOOD.
YEP!
And, I’m glad to see the enthusiasm for the Man Bicep diet! Here is one of the “Show Me Yours” photos I received! Thank you Amanda! Keep sending them Man Bicepers!
A lifter and a Paleo/Primal eater, Amanda will be trying the Man Bicep diet and workout program!
Man Bicep 