What is wrong with meat?
Wednesday, June 18th, 2008
I get this question over and over from Christian people who think that there is nothing wrong with meat, because the Lord has given us meat after the flood in the days of Noah. God spoke to Noah after they had come out of the ark, and said specifically: “Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.” Genesis 9:3,4
And later meat is used by the priests who were ordained by the Lord to eat the meat of the slaughtered animals which were brought for various offerings.
Yes, I agree that meat has been given to us, the Word of God tells us so, so in that sense there is no sin in taking meat as such.
On the other hand, we see in practice that people recover from a range of diseases when they stop animal products, meats, eggs and dairy. And also scientific studies tell us that meat and animal products are not good for our health. But I would say, clinical practice is the most convincing, at least for me.
So how can these two things be reconciled? On the one hand God allowing us animal products and on the other hand the reality that animal products are causing disease.
I will give you my thoughts.
Some, like Dr J.R. Christopher, who was a well known and successful herbalist in the USA, believed that meat was only for times of winter and famine, and even then to be taken in moderation. But when it comes to healing the body, there is no place for meat or other animal products. They are not healing foods like fruits and vegetables are!
What are the data against meat etc? There are a few points to remember and consider.
1 Meat can be considered as secondary food, secondary choice, because all the nutrients we need come from vegetation the primary source. Cows don’t eat meat (normally) and don’t drink milk in order to get strong, no, naturally they live on grass, and see how that provides for all their needs, for the hard hoofs, the hairs, the horns, the muscle, etc.
2 It has been proven that “vegetable protein” is much superior over animal protein. Have a look at the scientific studies and you will be in for surprises. We can get all our proteins from vegetable matter, vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts and seeds, and if you want more concentrated protein there are legumes, there is no shortage there. And besides that, the vegetable protein is not burdening the body as does the animal protein. I have already shown an example of that in a previous entry on osteoporosis.
3 Meat has high concentrations of uric acid, contributing to diseases like gout, rheumatism and bursitis, to name a few.
4 Meat has high concentrations of arachidonic acid, a long chain omega-6 fatty acid. One big problem with our modern society is the omega-6/omega-3 ratio which is totally out of balance. We get high concentrations of omega-6 and most people hardly any omega-3 if any. There should be a balance there. You can ‘Google’ this and find numerous articles on this. Short chain omega-6 fatty acids compete with short chain omega-3 fatty acids when it comes to converting them to long chain fatty acids, which are needed for certain functions in the body. Because they are competing for the same enzym systems, the balance should be ideally 1:1. Some compromise and allow 4:1 because a 1:1 ratio is pretty difficult to achieve without giving up some of the foods of our modern society. Excess omega-6 contributes to the diseases which came with our modern civilisation, hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, asthma, etc etc, there is quite a list here. Omega-3 keeps it all in check, and does the opposite, that is why there needs to be some balance.
Now why would God give us meat when it is apparently not healthy because of the high concentration of arachidonic acid for example?
We must realize that
1 There is no command which says that we should eat meat. We are allowed, but there is no obligation there.
2 It also does not say that we should have lots of meats on a daily basis, which will clearly compromise our health. I have read that in those old days meat was scarce and only consumed at special occasions. Nothing like the meat eating of today.
3 The cows in Biblical times are not the same as the cows today, far from that. There is a huge difference for example in the omega-6/omega-3 ratio of the meat. When cows are allowed to have their natural food, then the meat has a favorable omega-6/omega-3 ratio, but if they are fed grains and animal products (ever seen a cow catching another animal to get its meat? Yet it is mixed in with their additional feed!), and all sorts of rubbish besides that, then the omega-6 to omega-3 ratio gets very unfavorable, and we have an unhealthy product. I have read that the cows in the land of Israel in biblical times were able to graze the whole year round, there was no need for extra feeds, so naturally you got a much better product there. Because of the omega-3 it could be argued that fatty cold water fish would be very good for us, but what have we done with our fish? It has accumulated unhealthy concentrations of heavy metals, PCB’s, dioxin, etc etc, which discourage someone from recommending it. Really, mankind has spoiled a lot over the years.
4 Vegetables with meat in moderation may be a lot healthier than a vegetarian diet with lots of refined grains, or with lots of dairy and eggs which are very very mucus forming and constipating, and congesting the whole system. But if one sticks to a variety of natural wholesome foods, then animal products become a disadvantage.
5 Our intestines seem to be adapted to vegetable matter, not to meats. Digestion of meat easily leads to constipation and putrefaction of the protein, because of the length of our intestines, which are not adapted to eating meat like the shorter ones of carnivorous animals are.
6 Before the flood the people got very old, but there was no meat eating then, so that proves on its own that we do not need any meat, except in times of famine of course.
7 Meats start rotting as soon as it is dead. And with that comes contamination with lots of bacteria and virusses, causing many illnesses we don’t even hear about.
8 When a cow is killed, fear of the animal causes substances in the animal’s blood and tissue caused by the stress. When we eat the meat, we also consume those “fears” which are transmitted to us.
9 Meat is very acid forming. We need to have a healthy acid/alkaline balance of our foods. And most conditions are caused by over-acidity of our system, so meat would not be a healing food, it would be pretty difficult to counteract the acidity. When it comes to healing we need to concentrate on the alkalizing foods, fruits and vegetables. There are other factors of course. Stress can be a source of acidity, or a compromised digestive system, to mention a few. Fish and eggs are equally acid forming, so not the best choice when we talk about healing.
10 Without animal products it is highly recommendable to take a vitamin B12 supplement. For a long time I had the opinion that that was proof that human beings need animal products, but I have changed my mind on that. B12 is not an issue in a “clean” body, free from any constipation and congestion anywhere in the system. So in ideal circumstances I believe we would make our own and we absorb our own. But circumstances are not ideal at all. Our bowels are clogged up and our whole system congested, so the body is not able to absorb its own B12. Since very few people will reach that level of optimal health, I would recommend a B12 supplement to avoid all risks. We normally have enough stored for 2-3 years, so for cleansing purposes one does not need to worry about B12, only long term vegans would be wise to consider this issue.
No doubt I have forgotten some important points, but the above is enough proof for me that at least modern animal products are not the way to go, just because people have spoiled their resources. In our family we consume omega-3 egg yolks from our own free range 100% organic and chemical free chickens, they are totally free and have grass and greens and lots of insects, so the yolk we consider a welcome and healthful addition to our diet, where we can not get the needed variety of other foods.
Hope this will clear up some confusion about meats! There is a lot more to say about eggs and dairy, which are even worse offenders.
Yours,
Jannette Benschop
