PDA

Ver la versión completa : Diet for a new America (book)



sujal
16-sep-2010, 10:19
I recently finished reading John Robbins' book, Diet For A New America. It has been around for a while, so maybe you have already read it yourself. For me, it was very educational as well as inspiring. Today I am going to share with you a couple highlights that I marked in the book as well as my reasons for pursuing a vegetarian diet.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Ylv8jy4dmr4/SqdFRAmEACI/AAAAAAAAAGI/H_ku58ceBi0/s200/t_dna.gif

Overall, the message of the book is to persuade the reader to forgo meat and animal products in one's diet. The reasons are plentiful and backed up with abundant scientific research. Some reasons include the following:


The animals we eat are raised in horrendous, unnatural conditions on factory farms, fed an unnatural diet of corn and soybeans, and endure an unbelievable amount of suffering.

The meat from the animals raised on the factory farms is unhealthy as a result of the poor diet and unhappiness of the animals. For example, the adrenalin that courses through the animal just before it is slaughtered poisons the meat. And that is just the beginning.

The hormones and antibiotics given to the animals are imparted to the consumer through the flesh and negatively impact one's health by causing hormonal imbalance and destruction of one's internal digestive ecology.

The factory farms on which most meat is raised, pollute and destroy the environment.

The vast amount of resources such as grain and water that go into fattening herds of cattle, for example, could eliminate world hunger. The number of input calories is far fewer than the number of output calories. It is a very inefficient way to feed humans.

The human body really does not require so much protein that eating concentrated sources such as meat is necessary or useful. In fact, it is often damaging causing gout, kidney stones, and osteoporosis.

Meat and dairy products acidify the blood and tissues leading to overall calcium loss and osteoporosis. Drinking milk does not result in calcium increase and stronger bones as we may have been led to believe. It actually has the opposite effect.

Pesticides are concentrated in animal products many times more than in plants and vegetables. This toxic load impedes the body's ability to efficiently regenerate and carry out primary functions for optimal health.

The human digestive system is not best suited for digestion of meat. In fact, it is much different from that of carnivorous creatures. The regular consumption of meat will, over time, result in various physical maladies such as colon cancer.

The meat that is mass produced in this country and all over the world is so unhealthy it is seriously damaging the health of all those who eat it which increases the burden on the health care system as well as supports a society dependent on pharmaceutical drugs leading ultimately in a continuous downward spiral of degenerative disease.


My reasons for being vegetarian are out of concern for the following:

1.My health: I wish to live to an old age, free of physical pain and physical limitation. I always wish to be active and dwelling in a fully functioning body. Being vegetarian and eating whole foods will greatly contribute to the accomplishment of this goal.

2.The environment: It is apparent how much the meat industry from start to finish irrevocably damages the environment. Climates change; drinking water becomes scarce and contaminated; clean air becomes polluted. It is important to think ahead rather than live for today's profit or pleasure.

3.The suffering of animals: A certain passage from the book sums up my viewpoint regarding the animals - "It's not the killing of the animals that is the chief issue here, but rather the unspeakable quality of the lives they are forced to live." Most people have no concept of what suffering was endured by the animals they have eaten. It is so bad that it is nearly beyond belief. I personally don't wish to make that suffering literally a part of me.


Another passage from the book states the issues succinctly: "We have become protein obsessed, and we pay an incalculable price for it. We feed an enormous amount of grain to livestock which could otherwise be fed to the world's hungry. We cause a great deal of needless suffering to animals. And finally, we seriously compromise our health."

Busting the Protein Myth

The book presents a great study on how much protein is really needed for a proper functioning body and how easy it is to consume sufficient amounts on a vegetarian diet. Healthy protein intake ranges on a spectrum of 2.5 - 10% of daily calories. Mother's milk provides 5% of its calories from protein which feeds babies who are growing faster than at any other time in their lives. If one eats protein at the high end of the spectrum (10% of calories), it is almost impossible to not get enough protein on a well balanced vegetarian diet. 49% of the calories from spinach are from protein. If we ate nothing but spinach, we'd have WAY more than enough protein. If we ate nothing but cabbage (22%), we'd have more than double the maximum protein requirement. Even a cantaloupe diet (9%) would provide our bodies with sufficient protein.

A meal of 1 cup of beans and 1 cup of brown rice, for example, provides complementary amino acids and contains approximately 19 grams of protein. Add 1.5 cups of broccoli for 6 more grams. And that's just lunch! If you are consuming enough calories with natural foods, you are virtually certain of getting enough protein.

Be Thankful & Aware

I don't wish to come across as dogmatic or judgmental in my approach. I am just so passionate about both physical and environmental health, I want others to grasp some portion of the impact that eating meat has in myriad realms of our world. I realize that people are not going to give up meat over night, but my hope is that people could be concerned enough about their own health at the very least to cut consumption of meat and animal products in half.

I always thought that I would not hesitate to eat meat if given some from an animal that was properly raised in a natural environment. I allowed myself the opportunity one night to partake of meat from a non-factory farmed animal. While it tasted pretty good, I ultimately realized, I liked the vegetables that were on my dinner plate much more. The meat felt heavy in my stomach and did not make me feel particularly well. It was good to allow myself that experience and realize that my body truly no longer desired meat. I am not harsh with myself. Sometimes I will allow myself to eat a little meat thinking that I want it. In the end, it so happens that the experience only reinforces my desire to stay vegetarian.

Whatever your eating philosophy, I implore you to eat with positive thoughts and thankfulness. If you are on a road trip and have to eat something you would typically not, bless it and be grateful for it. Otherwise, the supposed unhealthy food will truly create unhealth. So often, people who are pursuing a healthy diet will beat themselves up when they falter a bit. For instance, I very often talk to raw foodists who express guilt at having eaten cooked food. My philosophy is to be gentle with oneself. Make the best choice you can at the moment. If you are going to break your eating plan, do it consciously, realize how it makes you feel, then get over it. The most important thing to remember is to eat with gratitude. A statement from the book (paraphrasing Mark Braunstein) says, "The person who eats beer and franks with cheer and thanks will probably be healthier than the person who eats sprouts and bread with doubts and dread."

http://lemonletter.blogspot.com/2009/08/diet-for-new-america.html

pizke
17-sep-2010, 09:55
stupendo!! gracias por compartirlo!voy a intentar traducirlo por si alguien lo quiere leer, es una buena fuente de argumentos para aquellos que no sabemos muchas veces qué decir a la pregunta de : "porqué no comes jamón ñiña, questá mu rico?"
** que quede claro que no soy milingüe y que habra mil cosas que se pueden decir mucho mejor, pero tengo un ratito, jeje.

Son los puntos fuertes de un libro del autor John Robbins, que se titula "Dieta para una nueva AMérica"
Por encima de todo, el mensaje de este libro es convencer al lector de que se olvide de la carne y productos animales en su dieta. Las razones son variadas, y han sido respaldadas por muchas investigaciones científicas. Las razones qe se incluyen son las siguientes:
- Los animales que comemos crecen en condiciones horribles y muy poco naturales en grandes granjas, alimentados a base de dietas muy poco apropiadas de maiz y semillas de soja en increibles situaciones de sufrimiento,.
- La carne de estos animales criados en granjas es insana, debido a la dieta pobre y a la infelicidad de los animales. Por ejemplo, la adrenalina que crea el animal justo antes de ser matado contamina la carne, y esto es solo el comienzo.
- Las hormonas y antibioticos que se dan a los animales se derivan a los consumidores, distribuyéndose en su cuerpo y creando un impacto negativo en ellos, ya que causa un desequilibrio hormonal y destrucción de la flora intestinal digestiva.
- Las granjas "industriales" donde la mayoria de la carne es alimentada, provoca polución y destruye el medio ambiente.
- La grandísima cantidad de recursos como grano y agua que se utilizan para el engorde de rebaños y rebaños de ganado, por ejemplo, podría eliminar el hambre en el mundo. EL numero de calorías que se consumen es mayor que las calorias que se queman, lo que es un modo muy poco apropiado de alimentar a los humanos.
- EL cuerpo humano no necesita tanta proteina que se encuentra concentrada en productos como la carne. De hecho, este exceso suele causar gota, piedras en los riñones y osteoporosis.
- La carne y los productos lacteos acidifican la sangre y los tejidos, llevando al consumidor a una perdida de calcio y osteoporosis. Beber leche no hace que aumenten los niveles de calcio y tengamos huesos más fuertes, como nos han hecho creer, sino que realmente tiene un efecto contrario.
- Los pesticidas se encuentran concentrados en productos animales mucho mas que en plantas y vegetales. Esta carga toxica impide la capacidad del cuerpo de llevar a cabo funciones primarias para una salud óptima.
- EL sistema digestivo de los humanos no está capacitado para la digestión de carne. De hecho, es muy diferente del de las criaturas carnívoras. El consumo regular de carne puede, con el tiempo, resyltar en diferentes enfermedades como el cáncer de colon.
- La carne que se produce a gran escala en este país, y en todo el mundo, no es sana, y realmente esta deteriorando la salud de todos aquellos que la comen, incrementando la carga en el sistema público de salud, ademas de una sociedad dependiente de drogas farmaceuticas, llevandonos a una espiral descendente y continua de enfermedades degenerativas.

Mis razones para ser vegetariano son las siguientes:
1.- mi salud: desearía vivir hasta una edad avanzada, libre de dolores y sin limitaciones físicas. Siempre he deseado estar activo y poder vivir en un cuerpo a "pleno rendimiento". Ser vegetariano y comer ¿comidas integrales? contribuye ampliamente al cumplimiento de este objetivo.
2.- La naturaleza: es evidente como la industria de la carne desde el principio hasta el final daña de manera irreversible el medio ambiente. EL clima cambia, el agua potable será mas escasa y contaminada, asi como el aire se vuelve mas contaminado. Es imporante pensar mas alla de la vida de hoy.
3.- el sufrimiento de los animales: un pasaje de este libro resume mi punto de vista respecto a ello: "no es la matanza de los animales el tema mas importante, sino la indescriptible calidad de vida en que son forzados a vivir." La mayoria de la gente no tiene una idea de como sufren los animales que comen. Es tan malo que casi no se puede creer, Personalmente no deseo formar parte de este sufrimiento.

Otra parte de este libro plantea este asunto sucintamente " nos hemos convertido en unos obsesos de la proteina y pagamos un precio incalculable por ella. Alimentamos con grandes cantidades de grano a unos animales de cría, que de otra manera podria acabar con el hambre en el mundo". Causamos un gran sufirmiento innecesario a los animales, y encima comprometemos seriamente nuestra salud.

Desmantelando el mito de la proteina
El libro presenta un estudio de como la proteina es necesaria para un funcionamiento adecuado del cuerpo, y como se consume la cantidad suficiente con una dieta vegetariana.
La cantidad de proteína que se considera saludable se refiere a un consumo en un rango que va desde el 2.5 hasta el 10% del total de calorias diarias. La leche materna provee un 5% de estas calorias alimentando a bebes que, es en esta etapa de su vida en la que crecen mas que nunca. Si alguien consumiera el máximo de este rango de proteinas diarias (un 10%), sería casi imposible no obtener suficiente cantidad en una bien equilibrada dieta vegetariana. El 49% de las calorias de las espinacas son proteinas. SI no comieramos otra cosa que no fueran espinacas, tendriamos proteinas mas que suficientes. Si no comieramos otra cosa que no fueran repollos (22%) tendriamos mas del doble del maximo de proteinas necesarias. Incluso una dieta basada en el consumo de melón (9%) nos porporcionaria suficiente proteina.

Un almuerzo de una taza de judias, y una taza de arroz integral, por ejemplo, nos aporta aminoacidos complementarios que contienen aproximadamente 19 gramos de proteina. Añade una taza y media de brecol para conseguir 6 gramos mas. Y aqui tienes una comida!! Si consumes suficientes calorias con alimentos naturales estas practicamente seguro de obtener proteinas suficientes.-

Snickers
17-sep-2010, 14:52
gracias por la traducción