What Does A Vegetarian Diet Have To Do With Toxin Reduction ?

With increasing industrialization, meat, poultry, fish and dairy products now account for between 60 and 80% of the pesticide and organo-chlorine residues in the American Diet.

Organo-chlorine chemicals are a family of industrial chemicals that have become widespread in our environment.

A number of these chemicals like PCB and dioxin have been shown to be potent immune system poisons .... of the pesticide residues, only about 10 per cent come from vegetables, fruits and grains.

So even if you consume only commercial rather than organic produce and LIMIT your meat, fish, dairy and poultry intake, you can partially avoid this pesticide and industrial chemical burden.

People who eat meat are at a higher risk of various viral, bacterial, fungal and parasitical infections such as toxoplasmosis, mad cow disease, e-coli, camphlobacter and salmonella bacteria.

There is a large body of scientific evidence from epidemiological studies, animal research, and randomized controlled trials in humans showing that high-protein foods, particularly excessive animal protein, dramatically increase the risk of breast cancer, prostate cancer, heart disease, and many other illnesses.

In the short run, they may cause kidney problems, loss of calcium in the bones, and an unhealthy metabolic state called ketosis in many people.

The Bad News about Meat.....

• High Fat
• Protein overload (excess protein is linked to cancers, kidney problems as mentioned above)
• Iron overload (iron from meat is easily absorbed and can cause heart disease and cancer)
• Contains immune system poisons, such as dioxin and PCB
• Contains arachidonic acid that is turned into prostaglandins which are linked to cancer.
• Contains hormones and antibiotics (drug resistant bacterial infections are on the rise)
• White blood cell count rises, fat saturates the blood and sex hormones increase in the body when an oversized portion of meat is eaten.

On the other hand .... whole foods such as fruits, vegetables, grains, and beans contain literally thousands of other substances that are protective against heart-disease, cancer and slow down the aging process. These include fiber, isoflavones, carotenoids, bioflavonoids, retinols, lycopene, genistein and many more.

Barbara is a qualified nutritionist and health and wellness expert offering one to one nutritional counseling in person or online. See Barbara's healthy lifestyle course with tips and support for a healthier lifestyle.

'The Mediterranean Lifestyle Program' is a 12 week course developed to create healthy lifestyle habits and attitudes.