Authors: Rip Esselstyn
I asked Chris if he could tell me what these superhuman runners ate to fuel themselves during races. His answer: “I remember that we once made this great, 35-mile run—most of it straight up an incline. These guys would stop for a moment, take a long drink, reach into their pocket, and take out these little burritos that were a hand-made tortilla with a schmear of squash or beans inside. Then they were ready to go. When you’re doing this kind of exercise, you want maximum energy and minimum effort processing it. They don’t have much margin for error.”
Hey athletes! Think of your body like a car. If you put in premium fuel, it will run longer and better than on economy unleaded. Meat isn’t premium fuel. Maybe it does the job short term, but it comes with a lot of other baggage that isn’t doing you any favors. And don’t forget to fill up your tank, either. Athletes on plant-based diets are generally advised to eat 3,000 to 6,000 calories a day, while supermen like Jurek actually consume 6,000 to 8,000.
You might have to consume more than meat eaters, but a full tank of premium beats a quarter-tank of economy any day.
O
ften, when meat eaters see that they are beaten, they fall back on the tried-and-tested diet rationalization “Moderation in all things.” In other words, they’re saying a plant-extreme diet is too much for nice, moderate people like them.
This phrase has been a favorite for eons. The Greek historian Hesiod said it way back in the ninth century BC. Aristotle also wrote about it. A version of it (
meden agan
, or “nothing in excess”) was written on the Oracle of Delphi. The English poet Geoffrey Chaucer wrote: “In every thyng, I woot, there lith mesure.” (For those of you who struggle with Middle English, me included, that means, more or less, “measure in all things”—but maybe you already wooted that.)
Chaucer lived to his mid-fifties. The ancient Greeks passed away, on average, at around thirty. So take a moment to consider the sources on this one.
The problem is that there are
some
things that should be abstained from completely. Whoever tells you it’s okay to have a moderate amount of cocaine, or a moderate amount of heroin? A moderate amount of time sitting next to radioactive waste probably isn’t very good for you either. Nor is moderate exposure to lead paint.
In fact, that little phrase, “Moderation in all things,” is doing more damage than anyone could possibly realize.
Perhaps the best examples of foods we already know aren’t good in moderation are the ones included in the fats, oils, and sweets section in the now defunct USDA food pyramid. They first appeared in the agency’s recommendations in 1979, a result of American society’s conquering malnutrition and becoming a nation that suffered from overeating.
In response, the U.S. government quickly shifted its focus from teaching people how to get enough nutrients to how to avoid the excessive food consumption that was causing chronic illnesses such as heart disease and stroke to skyrocket.
Contrary to popular belief, the inclusion of fats, oils, and sweets in the “Hassle-Free Guide to a Better Diet” (1979) was less an endorsement of “All things in moderation,” and more an admission that “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.” They remained in the “use sparingly” category until the most recent incarnation of the USDA’s food guide, where they have been abolished entirely.
Now, meat actually does have nutritional value. But let’s look at the other things it has which you don’t need in your body, even sparingly.
First, there is saturated fat, and plenty of it—it’s part of what makes red meat taste so good. Unfortunately, it also causes obesity, raises your bad cholesterol levels, and, over time, clogs your arteries and promotes cancer.
Next, there is animal cholesterol. All animal products and by-products including skim milk contain varying amounts of cholesterol. Our bodies need cholesterol, but our liver makes all we need naturally, so we don’t need to add more through our food. Red meat contains around 70 mg of cholesterol per 3-ounce serving, and chicken also contains 70 mg per 3-ounce serving—yes, they have the exact same amount! And meat eaters think chicken is healthier than red meat. What about fish, or eggs? Salmon contains 50 mg per 3-ounce serving, and 1 egg yolk contains 210 mg, which is the equivalent of the cholesterol found in two Burger King Whoppers! So, if you are trying to bring down your cholesterol and become heart healthy, you’re barking up the wrong tree with any type of flesh, muscle, or meat.
Third, there is animal protein. Whether it’s chicken, fish, or red meat, all flesh proteins create a rash of problems including raising our cholesterol levels, contributing to systemic bodily inflammation, draining precious calcium reserves from our bones, fertilizing and igniting tumors and cancer cells, and pummeling our kidneys and liver.
Next, let’s look at what lurks in all the different dairy iterations, including liquid meat (milk), congealed meat (cheese), runny meat (yogurt), mottled meat (cottage cheese), and frozen meat (ice cream). The assassin hiding within all dairy products is casein, the animal
protein that makes up about 86 percent of the protein in most dairy products. T. Colin Campbell, author of
The China Study
, refers to this animal protein as the number one chemical carcinogen in the American diet.
Fifth: In red and processed meats, you can find something called heme iron. Iron, of course, is an important mineral your body needs, but the type contained in meat has been linked to elevated levels of iron, which oxidizes in the body and contributes to inflammation, arthritis, diabetes, gallstones, hypertension, cancer, and heart disease. Plant foods contain non-heme iron, which is magically regulated by the body to prevent elevated levels and helps to prevent all of the aforementioned diseases.
Sixth: All meat and dairy increase what is known as insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) production in the body. This is a “pro” growth hormone and leads to increased inflammation and is another cancer and tumor promoter.
Once you understand the insidious and destructive nature of the different elements lurking inside all animal foods and animal by-products, it makes it much easier to eighty-six the stuff in exchange for life-enhancing plants.
Another argument for dropping the moderation mantra is that by continuously feeding your palate these addicting foods, you are
never
allowing yourself to lose your cravings for these foods. And I mean that. Everywhere I go, people tell me they could never give up their cheese, their steak, their ice cream, or whatever because they love them too much. Is this love or abuse?
When I think of a loving relationship, I think of a mutual give-and-take, something that loves you in return. The reality is that cheese, steak, and ice cream do not love you back. They punish you with the contraband that is inherent in each of them. I am hereby letting you know you are officially in an abusive relationship, and as such I give you permission to sever the relationship. When you get home tonight, I want you to let these foods know you are finished with them. And when you kick them out of the house, be sure to tell them to not let the door hit them in the butt. You. Can. Do. It!!!
All kidding aside, maybe your mind can justify moderation, but heart disease doesn’t know moderation, cancer doesn’t respect moderation, type 2 diabetes laughs at moderation, and obesity and metabolic
syndrome ridicule moderation. All these diseases begin at a cellular and molecular level, and all can be prevented and reversed at a cellular level with plant-healing food! Instead of nourishing disease it’s time to nourish your health.
Here’s a well-written e-mail I received from a man who achieved excellent results following the Engine 2 program and wanted others to know the reaction he got from friends and family when they found out he was ditching the “Everything in moderation” mantra.
My wife’s and my results have inspired a few folks to give the E2 diet a try, and I’ve had to warn them that they are going to be surprised how many scientist friends they have that they didn’t know about.
It’s amazing, really. I never heard a word of concern when somebody saw me eat my fifth piece of pizza after polishing off a plate of wings and a few beers. However, one word that I’m holding off on the meat and lowering my fat intake, and they come out of the woodwork.
They all seem to have kept their non-science office jobs, but suddenly they’re evolutionary biologists talking about the shape of my teeth proving our omnivorous lineage, dietitians concerned about the exact percentage of my calories coming from protein, and biochemists who suddenly are worried about the details of my blood chemistry.
My advice? Smile, thank them for the advice, and ignore them like they ignored you when you were eating crap that was killing you. Then give them first dibs on your clothes before you take them to Goodwill because they are too big for you.
If they get excited about how I’m harming myself now that I’ve engaged in that horror of horrors—eating fresh fruits and vegetables!—I just tell them what they want to hear: It is very possible that this is just a fad diet that I’ll stop doing sometime down the road, but if so, right now it is the most successful fad diet I’ve ever been on. So far, I’ve only seen positive effects from eating plant-strong. As soon as I see one single detrimental effect to my health, I’ll reconsider my choice. I’ll even give them the pleasure of buying me a nice juicy steak.
—Mike
H
ere’s a simple piece of advice: If you care about the environment, stop being a carnivore.
Why? The sustainability gap between meat eating and plant eating looms as large as the Grand Canyon. Livestock farming requires far more space, energy, and water than agriculture. Even worse, it destroys its own resources through deforestation, overuse of land, and toxic runoff.
Every animal in the United States that is not raised in a field, butchered, and eaten by the same farmers who raised it requires huge amounts of fossil fuels to feed, house, kill, and transport it. For example, chickens need about 4 calories of fossil fuel for every calorie they offer. Eggs need 30, beef 35. That Easter lamb needs about 57 calories of fuel—that’s about 6 gallons of gas!
If you average all of the meats, it takes about 25 calories of fossil fuel to produce every calorie of animal protein in America. In comparison, a calorie of plant protein requires only 2.2 calories of fossil fuel. You don’t need to be Einstein to do the math on this one. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, livestock production accounts for 18 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions—which is more than all of the world’s automobiles combined.
So don’t just bike to work and recycle your papers. Eat some broccoli!
A 2006 study from the University of Chicago estimates that the average American diet produces a two-and-a-half-ton carbon footprint every year, the same weight as a full-grown rhinoceros (who, by the way, is a plant eater!). A plant-based diet brings you down to a cool half-ton footprint.
Climate change too airy-fairy for you? How about deforestation? Chopping down trees to make room for supersize ranches is par for the carnivore’s course. Look at what’s left of the Brazilian part of the Amazon rain forest. A 2009 report released by the environmental group Greenpeace called cattle ranching the “primary driver” of deforestation in Brazil, with 79.5 percent of all deforested land being used for cattle ranches. It’s a real tragedy that trees, one of our planet’s greatest oxygen producers as well as filterers of pollutants, are being slaughtered without a second thought.
Aside from causing untold loss of biodiversity, cattle ranching has been responsible for nine to twelve billion tons of CO
2
emissions in the last decade in the Amazon region alone.
You can’t lose trees without losing soil. Erosion destroys the ability of land to regenerate itself and eventually turns it into a lifeless desert. Farming is one of the leading causes of erosion in the United States, with 90 percent of farmland losing soil at a rate thirteen times greater than what’s considered sustainable. Ranches and crop farms are both to blame, but erosion from plant farming happens at a rate six times slower than erosion from meat farming. Don’t forget that most of those plants are going straight back to the livestock farm to fatten the cows.
It just gets worse, folks. The way meat destroys land is peanuts compared to the way it exploits water. One kilogram (2.2 lb) of animal protein requires one hundred times more water to produce than one kilogram of grain protein.
Livestock farms also pollute the same water they consume with pathogens like
Salmonella
,
E. coli
,
Cryptosporidium
, and fecal coliform, which seep into water tables, lakes, streams, and oceans. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, more than forty diseases can be transferred to humans through manure. Translation: You don’t want to be anywhere near this stuff in large quantities.
People living near cattle, pig, and chicken farms have found this out the hard way. In California, cattle farms and other types of agriculture are one of the major sources of nitrate pollution in roughly 100,000 miles of polluted groundwater. Nitrates have been linked to many issues, from increased rates of spontaneous abortions and blue baby syndrome to gastrointestinal problems and even cancer.
And then there are pig lagoons—cesspools of hog waste that often
overflow and/or burst their banks when it rains. When that happens, you can kiss the nearest bodies of water goodbye. The 1995 bursting of one such lagoon in North Carolina released twenty-five million gallons of pig manure into the New River, killing about ten million fish and closing 364,000 acres of wetlands to shellfishing. (You might want to do a Google search to find out how far away you are from a pig lagoon.)
Even when it isn’t causing fecal Chernobyls, everyday runoff from hog and chicken farms in Maryland and North Carolina is believed to be linked to outbreaks of
Pfiesteria piscicida
in the areas surrounding the farms, killing millions of fish and causing skin irritation, short-term memory loss, and other cognitive problems among those humans unlucky enough to live near these farms.