Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Notes on "The Omnivore's Dilemma"

I am currently reading "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and am thoroughly enjoying it. Like Nina Planck's "Real Food" it dives into the history and make up of what we eat. I know I am biased, since I am an avid meat eater (although can't always afford to be), but small things like the fact that we (humans) produce in our stomachs an enzyme specifically designed to break down elastin, a type of protein found in meat and now where else, and that our metabolism requires specific chemical compounds that can only be gotten from animals (like vitamin B-12) confirms my belief (or preference) that eating meat in moderation is natural and healthy. One thing that I am learning from "The Omnivore's Dilemma" is that the difference of grass fed and grain fed meat, may be the difference between it being healthy or not. Studies show that grass fed meats and poultry do not have the same problems leading to cardiovascular disease, and have a higher content of omega-3, which plays an indispensable role in human health, especially in the growth and health of brain cells. It makes me wonder how many of our health problems are really ones that we can easily avoid if we pay more attention to what we eat, and eat more naturally in ways that God intended for us to. He obviously created us this way, why fight it?
-Andres

1 comment:

cyj said...

Also animal protein takes a longer time to digest so man could concentrate on other things instead of just eating continously like birds, sounds like a very interesting book.