The Most Misunderstood and Controversial Food Group

Animals

Without a doubt, this is the most misunderstood and controversial food group.

However, I strongly believe, both from my own personal experience, as well as years of research and observation, that food from the animal kingdom is absolutely essential for optimal human health.

What this doesn’t mean is that you need to eat meat, though for some, it might be a very good choice.

The most essential aspect of this kingdom is to source your animal foods well.

We cannot and should not rely on conventional supermarket animal foods.

We need to know that there is a distinction between chicken and chicken, eggs and eggs, milk and milk.

Source is key.

Even more so than plant foods. Because how an animal is sourced, raised and/or fed, makes all the difference between health and disease.

I was many forms of vegetarian including vegan and raw vegan for more than a decade, and I could argue with anyone how damaging animal foods are to your health and the environment.

But what I didn’t realize, is that this is only a half-truth.

The real truth and what matters more, is the system the food comes from.

As an example, beef or milk from an industrial factory farm where the cows are mistreated and fed an inappropriate diet of grain, is among other health and environmental problems, full of inflammatory omega 6 oils.

Yet, beef or milk from pastured grass-fed cows is a sustainable choice, full of healthy anti-inflammatory Omega 3 oils and a healthy kind of Omega 6 oil as CLA.

Again, this example is not meant to suggest you need to consume milk or beef, but it is important to make a distinction of source as we talk about this food group.

The spectrum of foods you can and should source from this kingdom go far above and beyond just meat…

A partial list all foods and their sources from this kingdom are:

Meat, milk and milk products, eggs, organs, bones, marrow, and blood from mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and of course the largest component of the kingdom arthropods: like insects, crustaceans, arachnids, centipedes, and millipedes.

I’m not suggesting we eat all those, but if we just look at insects alone, there are over 2000 very nutritious, sustainable and edible species of insects including the bee and its honey, pollen and other hive products.

Though it is often argued, there are specific nutrients in both quality and quantity that cannot be as easily found or assimilated from any other food group other than the animal kingdom.

These vital nutrients though one can supplement are best found in pre-converted, digestible forms from well-sourced animal foods.

They are:

• Protein: including all essential as well as non-essential amino acids such as creatine, carnosine and tyrosine.
• Fats & Oils: Saturated fats and essential omega 3 and 6 fatty acids like EPA, DHA and CLA.
• Minerals: like Iron, Calcium & Zinc.
• Vitamins: Including vitamin B12 as well as the very important forms of fat-soluble vitamins such as A, D, and K2. It is these forms of vitamins which help put minerals in the bones and are lacking and difficult to absorb in proper quantities in a plant-only diet.

Above is only a partial list, as there are obviously far more nutrients available within animal foods, but I specifically highlighted a few that in my opinion are key and more easily obtained through animal foods than other sources.

Many in that list have been the subject of controversy and debate.

Can you get protein and amino acids from plants? Yes, but most people can’t maintain their weight, let alone build strength and muscle as easily.

So before you start sending me pictures of ripped vegan bodybuilders with massive muscles, because whether we can accept that for a short period of time these folks have achieved their results through just plants alone, we have to acknowledge they are the exceptions.

I have known so many well-meaning, highly motivated and educated individuals who have wholeheartedly taken on vegetarianism and have not thrived. Their health only returned when animal foods of some kind were added back in because it truly delivered the nutrients they were missing and not able to obtain sufficiently from plants.

I truly believe that if we as humans do not eat foods from this kingdom we will not sustain health. Period.

We are omnivores.

We require nutritional input from the animal kingdom of one sort or another from start to end. Milk is our first and most essential food as mammals – we are not vegans.

There has never been a vegan culture anywhere in the world that has successfully bred vegan after vegan for generations.

Yes, there may be select individuals who choose veganism for certain periods of time in their own life, but I have yet to meet many truly healthy long-term vegans, and none that are 2nd generation.