Eat Fruit and Stay Alive

Futurama knows funny but they sure as hell don’t know vegans. In an episode geared at making fun of conscious herbivores, some whacked out hipsters on the show used a lion forced to eat a diet of tofu as an example of a vegan diet’s “numerous benefits.” Said lion was puny, impish and sickly looking, aka: vegan stereotype. When people hear I and my whole family – 14 month-old toddler included – eat an exclusive animal-free diet, it appears they’re surprised we don’t look like strung out lions forced to eat a diet completely contradictory to our bodies’ natural physiology. “But… but… how?!”

Fact is, eating a vegan diet – not the lazy man’s Coke and Sweet ‘n’ Spicy Doritoes diet but a real, ground grown vegan diet (with maybe the occasional guilty hydrolyzed chips pleasure) – can make you stronger and healthier than those sustaining off of flesh foods, specifically in regards to the plague of modern day man. Cancer. Some carcinogenic factors are totally out of our control – genes, environment in some cases – but all’s not lost. There’s something we can all do every day to significantly reduce our risk. Like they say, mama knows best – eat your fruits and veggies!

Loaded with a plethora of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, these plant-produced power foods can literally save your life. I’ve heard many an omni nil-for-brains argue that our bodies need meat and dairy to live and be healthy. Oh, is that so Mr. Omniscient God of the Omnivorous Masses? More meat, more dairy = more likely to get cancer*. More fruits, more veggies = less likely to get cancer.

For bodies apparently so hell-bent on leeching every needed nutrient from rotting flesh and putrid bodily fluids, this all seems a li’l backwards. After millions of years of evolution, you’d think our bodies would evolve to thrive off of what we need. Oh wait. THEY DO. Which is precisely why that T-bone can end with a guy sticking probes up your rear in search of cancer causing polyp nastiness. There is no amount of blueberries you can eat that will cause any type of cancer whereas daily doses of filet can result in frequent does of chemo.

It doesn’t even stop there. The list of preventable chronic diseases that can be curbed with a vegan diet is ridiculously ginormous. Oh, fruits and veggies, how I love thee.

If you’re not already at the fridge groping around for that maybe-still-good celery stalk, here’s some advice from a former junk food vegan on downing your 5-a-day. Eat organic produce ranging in a variety of colors – different colors usually is generally a good sign of different concentrations of nutrients. A half-cup of blueberries, a half-cup of strawberries, a cup of 100% fruit juice each equal one serving. Not so daunting, huh? Toss the lot in a blender with a whole banana and some vanilla soy yogurt and now you’ve got a smoothie packed with your entire recommended daily intake.

Be sure you buy produce you like otherwise you’re just going to end up with some of the best compost on the block right next to your carton of Almond Breeze. Try new things but if it’s a no-go for the taste buds, steer clear. If you tend to be out and about, stock the pantry with portable grub. While I’m a sucker for a perfectly ripe mango, dried slices are a close second – they’re a great go-anywhere nutrient packed power snack… that fights freaking cancer! Try finding a bag of pork rids with that kind of resume.

So next time a skeptic squeezes in their two cents about proper nutrition in between bites of their mega bacon triple patty burger barf fest, take a second before your next green leaf garnished falafel wrap mouthful to appreciate the palpable irony.

I don’t know about the rest of you out there, but I don’t like to eat fecal matter. If you’re eating meat, you are undoubtedly eating feces. Feces belongs in the toilet or used for fertilizer, not human consumption.

Wondering why you get sick so often? Why you have about 20 nasty colds per year? Why get get those stomach viruses? Why you get sore / strep throat? Why you have no energy? Why you are tired all day long after 8 hours of sleep?

Well, I’m sure it has a lot to do with meat consumption. It’s bad enough that you cells are being invaded with toxin-riddled flesh, now your body has to deal with animal waste on top of that! Phew….

Would you sprinkle dried pellets of human feces on your salad? No, I don’t think you would. But you may as well, since you’re already enjoying plenty of feces every time you bite into a juicy hamburger or rip a part some “mouth watering” steak. Think about that the next time you consume some animal flesh.

Washington, D.C.-A new study shows that 84 percent of adults have no idea that the primary source of salmonella, campylobacter, E. coli, and other foodborne pathogens on poultry and meat is animal feces.

The survey of 1,000 men and women was completed during the period of July 26-29, 2001, by Opinion Research Corporation International on behalf of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM). Foodborne illnesses are at epidemic levels in the United States; the Centers for Disease Control estimate there are at least 76 million cases each year, usually from consumption of animal products.

“Our findings show the vast majority of Americans do not understand there are feces on meat and poultry,” says PCRM staff attorney Mindy Kursban. “In fact, there’s a major disconnect in the public consciousness between the foodborne illnesses that sicken so many of us and their originating cause: animal excrement.”

Survey respondents answered the following question: “When salmonella and other disease-causing bacteria are found on meat and poultry, which of the following do you think BEST describes where these bacteria originally came from?”

The answers were as follows:

“They [foodborne pathogens] came from animal blood.” [10 percent]

“They came from dirty hands.” [19 percent]

“They are naturally present in the meat.” [17 percent]

“They are naturally present in the animal’s skin.” [9 percent]

“They came from animal feces.” [16 percent]

“They came from dirty air in a slaughter house.” [15 percent]

Didn’t think any of these were the right answer or didn’t know. [13 percent]

Doctors Petition USDA to Ensure “Feces-Free” Meat or Issue Biohazard Labels

According to Vernon Coleman, eating meat has health hazards because along with the meat you may be consuming hormones, drugs and other chemicals that have been fed to the animals before they were killed. No one knows precisely what effect eating the hormones in meat is likely to have on your health. Some farmers use tranquillizers to keep animals calm. When you eat meat you are, inevitably, eating those drugs. In America, over half of all antibiotics are fed to animals and it must not be a coincidence that there is a sharp rise in the percentage of staphylococci infections resistant to penicillin that have gone up from 13% in 1960 to 91% in 1988.

It is also known that vegetarians visit hospitals about 22 % less than meat eaters and have shorter hospital stays. Vegetarians tend to be fitter and healthier than meat eaters. Many of the world’s most successful athletes follow a strictly vegetarian diet.

What is not well known is that meat eating has devastating environmental consequences. Take a look at these statistics that are taken from a website called as peta2.com and then decide for yourself, whether you want to be a vegetarian or a non-vegetarian.

Open Your Eyes to these Shocking Statistics

In the U.S., animals raised for food are fed 70 percent of the corn, wheat, and other grains we grow. The world’s cattle alone consume a quantity of food equal to the caloric needs of 8.7 billion people—more than the entire human population on Earth.

Land:

Of all agricultural land in the U.S., 80 percent is used to raise animals for food—that’s almost half the total landmass of the lower 48 states.

Water:

Nearly half of all the water consumed in the U.S. for all purposes is used to raise animals for food. It takes 2,500 gallons of water to produce a pound of meat, but only 60 gallons of water to produce a pound of wheat. A totally vegetarian diet requires 300 gallons of water per day, while a meat-eating diet requires more than 4,000 gallons of water per day.

Pollution:

Raising animals for food causes more water pollution in the U.S. than any other industry because animals raised for food produce 130 times the excrement of the entire human population—87,000 pounds per second! Much of the waste from factory farms and slaughterhouses flows into streams and rivers, contaminating water sources.

Energy:

Of all raw materials and fossil fuels used in the U.S., more than one-third is used to raise animals for food. The energy needed to produce the food that a meat-eater would burn in walking a given distance is greater than the energy needed to fuel your car to travel the same distance.

Deforestation:

Each vegetarian saves an acre of trees every year! The tropical rain forests are being decimated to create grazing land for cattle. The space equivalent to seven football fields is destroyed every minute. Fifty-five square feet of rain forest may be razed to produce just one-quarter pound burger.