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Jill Cruz
Chicago, IL
Recent Activity
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Jill commented on the article |For those who say that milking a cow for human consumption causes pain: what do you eat? Seriouosly. I really want to know. I bet you anything I can find some pain in your food.
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Jill commented on the article |
Michelle,
I would like to know what you eat that is so wonderfully healthy and does no harm. Fruit and vegetables are alive too and you kill them when you eat them and sometimes you kill their offspring too (unless you're planting a tree every time you eat an apple). And grains are seeds, so you're taking not only the plant but also the offspring.
The reality of life is all around you. It takes life to make life. Just look out your window.
I still would love to get the logic behind why humans shouldn't consume milk beyond the age of 4 or 5 or whenever they wean. Why shouldn't they? Really, it doesn't make any sense to me. We eat all sorts of things, some of them more healthy than others. We eat bones, fat, skin, intestines, brains, feet; we eat it all. And who are you to decide what is fit for human consumption or not? I think it's more up to the person doing the eating. Many people eat bugs (and I'm sorry to say but vegans and vegetarians probably unknowingly eat bugs on a regular basis, provided they're eating vegetables, which is not always guaranteed).
The argument that humans shouldn't eat milk just doesn't have any foundation to it except some emotional beliefs. On what basis?
Now for the health benefits or not. There is this wonderful tool that people have but rarely use and that is the power of observation. If you want to know if something is good or bad for you, try observing how your body reacts to it. Some people shouldn't drink milk, raw or not, because they're allergic. Others are able to consume raw but cannot consume pasteurized without getting sick. Others are fine drinking milk and dairy products. Just fine. Others have also been cured of all sorts of health issues from it. So when you say it is not healthy you are talking about for yourself perhaps? Don't push what's right or wrong for you on other people. Everyone is unique and any food can be bad or good for some people. I think we're on the same page that food matters and that whole, fresh food is best. Stop demonizing this whole food, just because you don't like it.
And as for safety, well, I hate to break the news but if the government or any company were really concerned with our health there would be a long list of things they would need to outlaw before raw milk. GMO corn? Cigarettes? Alcohol? Sugar? They really don't care at all.
The raw milk debate is not about milk, never was and never will be. It's about money and power. And that's that.
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Jill recruited Shannon to sign the petition | -
Jill signed the petition |
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Jill commented on the article |
Mark, I'm a little confused. I am saying that I don't think vegan is a healthy diet. I wasn't saying that protein is the only problem with a vegan diet. That is just one of many. I could go on and on so I just left it at that because the post was long enough. I agree that B12 is a major problem for vegetarians and vegans. I had a B12 deficiency until I began eating read meat again (I ate a mostly vegetarian diet for many years and suffered because of it).
Thanks for the study, I will look later. But from a cursory glance I can see there was no distinction between types of meat eaten, like you said. This is a major issue because then we could go on and on about the ills of factory-farmed meats, which most people eat. So in a sense these articles help to prove my point that factory-farmed meats are bad. Would love to see a study on grass or pasture-raised or even organic meat-eaters. Like, sample farmers from across the country. Of course, then we would have trouble because overall they have a pretty high level of physical activity. Sheesh..... -
Jill commented on the article |
Thanks Mark.
I agree that meat-eaters who eat conventional meat and other unhealthy things in general have more health problems. I have recently read the excerpt from such a study. However, what I would like to see is a study comparing meat-eaters that consume only grass-fed or organic meats to vegetarians.
The only real evidence we have to go on there are the indigenous populations still existing today. The Inuit, Swenki and Masai are some examples. They eat large amounts of animal products. The Masai live on the blood, milk and meat of animals pretty much exclusively, the Inuit live on 98% animal products (blubber, seal oil, raw fish, etc) and these are the healthiest people in the world. It is not the meat that is the issue, it is how the meat is produced that is giving us many troubles.
I don't have the study, will have to look, but I did read one that showed the health of Indians. They compared the statistics of the vegetarian diet in the South and the meat-eating diet of the north. They found many more health problems in the South (and these people do consume dairy).
There are no traditional vegan diets. This is because animal protein is far superior in quantity and quality over the proteins you get from matching grains and legumes (which is how many vegetarians and, hopefully, all vegans are getting thier protein). At least a vegetarian can get protein from dairy. But it needs to be in large amounts and for it to be truly healthy it needs to be from raw milk. Vegans, on the other hand, run the risk of major deficiencies.
The body and the brain need lots of fat to function optimally. I take in about 50-60 percent of my calories from fat. Fat is essential for the absorption of nutrients. On a vegan diet I cannot imagine how you would get enough fat and cholesterol for good health.
Fish oil is essential for the brain to function properly, how does a vegan or vegetarian get this?
Another risk on the vegetarian and vegan diet is the overconsumption of grains and soy products. Soy, even in it's organic form, contains large amounts of estrogen. Soy is in almost all processed foods, read the labels carefully. Most of it is NOT organic and therefore quite dangerous. Grains are relatively new to the human diet (compared to meat and even dairy). Traditionally people prepared grains properly, neutralizing the gluten and phytic acid, thereby allowing proper nutrient absorption. These days, even if you eat whole grains, almost all grain consumption is not in the soaked or sprouted form. We are consuming large amounts of gluten and many people are developing gluten senstivities which do damage to the gut. Celiac disease is caused by too much gluten. Without fermenting or soaking grains we are leaving the phytic acid intact which blocks mineral absorption. Over-consumption of grains also results in weight gain for many people.
Another issue with the grain-based vegetarian/vegan diet is that many people (believe me, just about every vegetarian I've met) tend to eat a lot of industrially processed foods. Crackers, pretzels, pastas, granola, and cereals become a daily fixture in the diet. Even in the organic, whole grain form, these are not real foods. They often contain sugars, soy products, and fillers and again the phytic acid is not neutralized, making what little minerals they contain inaccessible.
Vegans need to be especially careful to get enough protein and fat. This involves major amounts of home-cooking to get. I'm still not even sure if it is physically possible to get the fat you need on a vegan diet. -
Jill commented on the article |
I don't think anyone is undervaluing medicine, the problem is that they are overvaluing them. Way overused. I agree antibiotics are valuable when necessary. However, between their excessive use in treatment of the common cold and flu and the obscene amount in commercial dairy and meat products, our systems are overloaded with them. This results in a loss of efficacy.
I think there is a fundamental difference in what you call health here. I don't think that "holding bad effects in check" is actually being healthy. It may keep our longevity up but we cannot qualify ourselves as being healthy. The system as it is now is not sustainable. Take infertility for one, it is a major problem now because of the pitifully poor American diet.
I'm not sure if I agree that pesticides alone are to blame for our poor health. I think it is a combination of many things. Pesticides are one problem but lack of movement, fresh air and sunshine, toxic and heavy metal overload in our bodies (from pesticides and many other environmental elements), over-medicating, vaccinations, over-consumption in general, over-consumption of rancid vegetable oils, factory-farmed fats, sugar and highly processed foods, and under-consumption of fat and basic nutrients, and inability to absorb basic nutrients are some major issues that need to be addressed.
I say, get yourself and the kids outside, run around and have fun and support those local farmers who are practicing conscientious and sustainable agriculture. Not using synthetic pesticides is a key to sustainable agriculture because it allows for the eco-system to operate in a holistic manner. -
Jill commented on the article |
One doesn't have to become vegetarian to help alleviate these problems. Buy from local sustainable farmers or go hunting. And yes, talk to your congressional reps, absolutely. Like NAIS will be very damaging to small scale farmers and will benefit the factory (so-called) "farmers" (I prefer to call them food manufacturers). But please don't blame meat perse, the culprits are those who manufacture meat and dairy.
It is hard to maintain good health on a vegetarian or vegan diet. -
Jill commented on the article |
Please lead us to the research that says we are healthier than ever before in terms of longevity.
I will also question whether "longevity" equals "healthy" at this point. If we are filled with medications so we can live longer while managing disease I don't think we can say we are healthy. What we should be striving for is preventing disease. But our system here is much more concerned with making money. The holistic view is only for freaks I suppose. The mainstream take on health is eat what you want and take medications to cover up the damage. Doctors are taught how to fix, not how to prevent. And large food manufacturers are always seeking more efficient and cost-effective ways to sell their products with little or no regard for the affect on people's health. And drug companies are there to clean up the mess. Everyone makes a bundle but we are left with a national health crisis. -
Jill commented on the article |
I agree that factory-farming is causing all sorts of woes; to the animals, the environment, and those people consuming the meat and dairy from sickly animals that stand in their own excrement and are pumped with antibiotics. I say avoid conventional meat altogether and support sustainable agriculture. As someone mentioned sustainable agriculture supports a healthy eco-system, makes for happy animals, and when they are grass-fed, gives highly nutritious food.
I also agree flouride should be out of our water now! And for the person who relies on flouride for tooth health, please look into the concept of eating a nutrient-dense diet to help with your teeth. People around the world in traditional cultures live without even brushing their teeth, let alone putting toxins on them, and they have perfect teeth and jaw bone structure. The reason why is because they eat highly nutrient-dense diets. When your body is not able to absorb nutrients properly or is not getting enough of them then minerals are drawn out of your teeth and bones and sent to where they are needed more urgently. Sugar, industrially processed and refined foods, grains and legumes that have not been soaked or fermented and rancid vegetable oils will either inhibit your body's ability to absorb nutrients or they will deplete them. If you really want to address the issue with your cavities, a change in perspective might be in order. Cavities do not occur from what goes on in your mouth for the most part, rather, they are a symptom of a larger health issue.
As for saturated fat causing clogged arteries, this has not been proven. There are many societies around the world that consume large amounts of cholesterol and saturated fat that have extremely low incidents of heart disease. The Inuit with 96% of their calories coming from animal foods have an average total cholesterol level of 141, Evenki shephards in Russia take 41% of their calories from animal foods with a cholesterol average of 142 and we, the smart Americans, take in only 23% of our calories from animal foods and have an average cholesterol count of 204. We also take in much less calories total. Also, humans have been consuming diets high in saturated fat throughout history but heart disease is a relatively new disease, only about 100 years old.
Heart disease, diabetes and obesity are the children of industrialization, not saturated fat and cholesterol intake. As a matter of fact, as our consumption of these have gone down on a national level, so the rates of heart disease, diabetes and obesity have risen. And coincidentally, refined sugar and carbohydrates and vegetable oil consumption has risen with these diseases.
So instead of placing blanket blame on foods with saturated fat how about looking at the true culprits in our national health crises? I agree that we all need to be more active, I'm sure we can't compare to the Inuits and Evenki in our levels of activity, but we also need to stop eating industrally processed foods.
Before you become a vegetarian, which can pose some health issues if you are not extremely careful, try throwing away all of the boxed food in your house. Try to cut out manufactured cereals, pretzels or crackers, foods with refined sugars, and vegetable oils. Then maybe you can find some local farmers who practice sustainable farming and buy your meats, eggs, dairy and vegetables from them. Instead of eating more grains, eat less, in place of that add more seafood, fish, meat, eggs and raw dairy products. Supplement that with fresh, in-season veggies and some raw fermented foods. You will see a dramatic improvement in your health!!
Oh, I would just like to add that changing your diet like this may be cost-prohibitive but there are ways to be frugal about it and still make improvements. Starting with supporting your local sustainable farmers is great though because they often do have competitive prices as there is no middle-man.
