You don’t have to give up animal flesh forever, but you might want to either cut back, or try eliminating it from your diet for 30-days for health & budget reasons. This is what I recommend that you do in my Gorgeous For Good 30-day program, and here’s why:
1. If you are invested in “detoxing” your body, all animal and fish flesh contains environmental pollutants because these pesky chemicals make their way up the food chain, and get stored in fat. The more fat – the more pollutants. This is why you are better off eating lower down the food chain. Plant power is where it’s at my friends!
2.Bacteria: Most meat is contaminated with bacteria, which is why you have to cook it so thoroughly. It has also been discovered that organic chicken is just as contaminated with bacterial super-resistance bugs, as conventionally-raised chicken. Moreover as far as salmonella goes, eating chicken is 8 times more deadly than eating eggs.
3. Since dietary cholesterol is considered to the primary cause of heart disease, and given that heart disease is the #1 Killer in America, it makes sense to seriously minimize our meat and dairy consumption.
4. The third leading cause of disease in the U.S. is inflammation, and we now know that meat causes inflammation. A single breakfast of sausage and egg can paralyze our arteries, cutting their ability to relax normally in half within just hours of eating animal products. According to Dr. Michael Greger M.D. “The lining of our entire vascular tree gets inflamed and stiffened. And just as the inflammatory crippled state starts to calm down 5 or 6 hours later—lunchtime! We may then whack our arteries with another load of meat, eggs, or dairy for lunch, such that most people are stuck in this chronic low-grade inflammation danger zone, which may set them up for inflammatory diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer one meal at a time.”
5. The cost of meat, especially organic meat is sky high. Since I don’t recommend any of you eating factory-farmed meat because
of the hormones, antibiotics, and atrocious conditions (where they are packed into airless cages), many of you are almost forced to re-finance your home to buy certified organic meat, right? If you are a sworn carnivore, maybe save the animal flesh for a special treat – you’ll be doing health and your bank balance a big favor.
All this being said, I’m not a vegan zealot. If you and your family enjoy meat, you might just want to consider starting by going meat-free one or two days a week. This way you can start to learn how to get creative with veggies. Learning how to cook meat and dairy-free is a process. It can take a little more time, and a little more creativity. However, in my overly busy life, the time that I spend experimenting in my kitchen is a God-send. It encourages me to slow down and be in the moment. Cooking can be a form of meditation.
Next week, I’ll be focusing on how to get all your protein needs met through eating a GORGEOUS whole food plant-based diet. Stay tuned!
