Dear Reader,
Somehow big food manufacturers have convinced millions of Americans that filling their plates with ultra-processed veggie burgers, plant-based cheese, and soy milk is somehow better for them than eating real, wholesome meat, cheese, and dairy.
But these “trendy” diet choices actually put your health at risk.
The worst part? The younger you are, the longer these choices ROB you of the vital nutrients needed to build a strong body and mind.
Of course, I always urge you to stay away from these health trends. But I also I suggest guiding your grandchildren away from them, too. Because young girls between the ages 11 and 18 years are especially prone to the harmful messages about what makes up a “healthy” diet. And if they’re not careful, those poor dietary choices will eventually catch up to them.
Let me explain…
Humans NEED balanced diets
The so-called “plant-based” food movement picked up momentum a few years ago when it latched onto a flawed report created by a politically driven, Stockholm-based nonprofit organization.
The report suggested that following a plant-based diet is healthier for humans—and for the environment—than a balanced diet that includes seafood, meat, and dairy.
But that argument is complete nonsense. And there’s no evidence to back it up.
In fact, humans evolved to be omnivorous, meaning we must consume a wide variety of foods—including seafood, meat, and dairy—in order to meet our nutritional needs.
Indeed, it’s ONLY by eating a balanced diet (full of these wholesome foods) that you get all the healthy proteins, fats, and bioavailable vitamins and minerals your body NEEDS.
Meanwhile, it’s nearly IMPOSSIBLE to obtain all these nutrients from plant sources alone.
In fact, research links a vegetarian/vegan diet to a higher risk of developing deficiencies in B vitamins, vitamin D, minerals, and essential fats. All of which can have a disastrous effect on health…especially for young girls.
Plant-based movement targets young girls
Ian Givens, director of the Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health at Reading University in the U.K., recently gave a presentation arguing that young girls are much more susceptible to harmful marketing messages about diet and the environment.
As a result, they’re much more apt to cut out healthy foods like seafood, meat, and full-fat dairy. And it’s RUINING their nutritional status…
In fact, Givens says, according to his research, half of girls ages 11 to 18 years get well below the minimum recommended levels of dietary iron and magnesium. (I’ll tell you more about the importance of magnesium for blood pressure, across all ages, in tomorrow’s Daily Dispatch.) And 25 percent of these girls get too little dietary calcium, iodine, and zinc into their diet.
Not to mention, my own research into the relationship between childhood diet and adult cancer show that young women are among the most malnourished groups of people in the entire U.S. population. And the harmful effects of malnutrition in the teenage years carries over into older age.
In fact, according to Givens, the “teenage years are absolutely critical for bone development. If you don’t get it right, it has major significance in terms of bone health in the elderly, increasing the risk of breakages which can reduce the quality of life.”
So, if you have young grandchildren, I hope you’ll help make this message loud and clear: Their dietary choices now absolutely WILL affect their health in the long run.
In addition, although Givens’ research involved young girls, we can safely assume that following a disastrous plant-based diet is bad for you at ANY age!
Give your body what it wants…and NEEDS
It appears the highly profitable plant-based movement isn’t going away any time soon. Especially if well-meaning folks continue to buy the ultra-processed junk, thinking it’s healthy.
And now, there’s an even bigger problem lurking on the horizon: Cell-cultured “meat.” (When will the nonsense stop?!)
But my advice to you remains the same…
Continue to give your body what it really WANTS and NEEDs by following a balanced, wholesome, Mediterranean-type diet.
This healthy, satisfying diet includes:
- Full-fat, whole-milk dairy, including butter, eggs, cheeses, and plain yogurt. (Remember, in the Mediterranean, they typically eat cheese as the after-meal “treat,” and desserts are small and rare.)
- Wild-caught fish and seafood.
- Grass-fed and -finished, free-range, organic beef, chicken, and especially lamb.
- Nuts and seeds.
- Five servings of fresh fruits and vegetables each day.
- Alcohol, in moderation.
For more help cutting through all the clutter, take a look at the September 2019 issue of my monthly newsletter, Insiders’ Cures (“Cage-free, grass-fed, organic…oh my!”). Subscribers have access to all of my content in the archives. So if you haven’t already, click here to sign up today!