- Diets high in animal products can cause a host of health problems ranging from increased risk of heart disease and certain cancers to weight gain and autoimmune disorders. What many people don’t realize, however, is just how aging consumption of animal protein can be. While many people think that animal protein is healthy as long as its lean, the truth is that all types of animal proteins are unhealthy and can lead to critical imbalances in your body that sap you of your energy, drain minerals from your bones and cells, and actually speed up the aging process.
Animal Protein and the Environment
How can environmental issues contribute to aging? Polluted air and waterways contribute to the toxic sludge that builds up in your body over time, depleting your energy and keeping your body from functioning at its optimal best.
Production of animal products has a profound impact on the environment, contributing significantly to water and air pollution. Factory farms generate nearly 2 billion tons of animal waste every year. In fact, about 20 tons of livestock waste is generated for every household in the United States. All of that waste has to go somewhere. Unfortunately, where it often winds up is seeping into groundwater, being dumped in the waterways, and winding up in the foods we eat and the water we drink.
Animal production also contributes to toxic gases in the environment. The butchering, processing, and shipping of animals consumes more than 1/3 of fossil fuels used in the United States. These fossil fuels dump dangerous and toxic chemicals into the air we breathe, further increasing your toxic load.
Animal Protein is Acidic
Your body functions within a very narrow range of pH at about 7.0, which is slightly alkaline. When the foods you eat move your body out of this range of alkalinity, the cells don’t function properly. In these cases, your body then seeks to pull mineral salts from cells and bones in order to restore alkalinity. This can result in free radical formation, which accelerates the aging process. It can also contribute to bone demineralization, which leads to weakened bones and, ultimately, osteoporosis.
Animal protein is one of the most metabolically acidic foods humans eat. It creates conditions of acidity within the body after ingestion, forcing the body to seek to return to an alkaline state through demineralization of the bones and the cells. The result of eating significant amounts of animal protein is accelerated aging.
Antibiotics and Hormones
Factory farmed animals exist in almost incomprehensible conditions. Instead of roaming free and feeding on the natural foods available in pasturelands, factory farmed animals are piled nearly one on top of the other with very little room to move about freely. This results in easily spread infection and fecal contamination. To combat this, factory farmers supply antibiotics in the animals’ feed as a preventive measure.
Because there is such demand in the Western diet for animal protein products, factory farmers also seek ways to enhance the animals’ growth so they reach maturity far more quickly than their normal life cycle would indicate. To do this, they supply hormones in the animals’ feed to enhance growth and increase production.
If your food consumes these things, then so will you when you eat that food. Factory farmed animal products are laden with hormones and antibiotics. In many cases, the animals are also filled with the pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and genetically modified food products the farmers’ use to feed them. This means that you, too, are ingesting pesticides, genetically modified products, and fertilizers every time you eat a factory farmed animal product. This increases the amount of toxic sludge in your body, which keeps you from efficiently digesting the foods you eat, absorbing nutrients, and using your life energy well.
Antibiotics in animal proteins also kill the beneficial flora in your colon. That flora is essential in intestinal health. Why is intestinal health so important? Because your colon serves as one of your body’s chief organs of detoxification. When it doesn’t function properly, then your colon is unable to thoroughly and efficiently eliminate the toxins that age you.
Most of the products you find in grocery stores come from factory farmed animals. Even animal proteins labeled as “organic” or “natural” may be laden with these toxins. If you do eat animal protein, I recommend purchasing them from a trusted local source that uses sustainable ranching practices, allowing the animals to reach maturity naturally while grazing on indigenous, organic plants.
Animal Proteins and Putrefaction
Your body does not digest animal proteins well under the best of circumstances. If you regularly eat animal proteins, then chances are they are not digesting. Instead, the proteins putrefy in your colon and become part of the toxic sludge, blocking efficient digestion ofhealthier foods that contribute the important enzymes and nutrients to keep you youthful and energetic.
Vitamins, Minerals, Fiber, and Enzymes
Aside from having protein and vitamin B12, animal protein has very little to offer nutritionally- being devoid of fiber and low in vitamins and minerals. Furthermore, unless you are eating it raw, animal foods have been heated, which denatures the amino acids which make up protein chains, reducing the actual amount of protein your body is able to use and assimilate. When you fill up on animal proteins, you don’t eat as much of the nutritious foods your body needs for vibrant health, such as raw green veggies. Similarly, animal proteins may keep you from consuming the fiber you need to clean your intestines.
Eating to Prevent Aging
An anti-aging diet, then, is one that is low in animal products (including meat, dairy, and eggs). Instead, it is high in beneficial raw plant foods like green vegetables, other vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds. These foods fight the free radicals that age you. They also create alkalinity in the body, protecting cellular function and promoting health.
reprinted from: http://www.kimberlysnyder.net/blog/2012/04/10/why-high-animal-protein-diets-age-you-faster/