By Kathy Freston on December 2, 2011
Are you addicted to meat? I see it all the time – people who want to break the meat habit, but who just keep eating those nuggets, burgers and hot dogs. In fact, as I travel the country talking about veganism, meat addiction (acknowledged and not) may be the biggest barrier I see to a societal shift toward healthy, sustainable and kind eating patterns. So I decided I should reflect on what meat addiction looks like – and how you can break it. If you don’t have any urge to stop eating meat, this column really isn’t for you. But more and more Americans do want to cut back or cut out meat, and some of them find it difficult. If this is you, please keep reading.
First, let’s consider how we identify a meat addiction. You know you are addicted to something if, despite knowing that it’s bad for you or doesn’t jibe with your ethics, and despite wanting to drop it from your life, you keep consuming it. Addiction entails a craving that has more control over our behavior than our rational mind and desires. Of course, breaking an addiction can be extremely challenging — you don’t just snap your fingers and lose a craving. But in more than a few ways, those who struggle the most to break an addiction are, often, those who benefit the most.
In the case of being addicted to certain foods like meat or cheese, the addiction can manifest as obesity, disease, or loss of sex drive, energy or self-esteem. It can deaden our awareness of the impact of our actions and our capacity for empathy. When we fully understand and own the end results of poor food choices, we can challenge ourselves to break free, in the same way we might stop consuming other addictive substances. Nothing — no habit or food or substance – should ever own us.
Before beginning, it’s important to remember that, like any addiction, an addiction to animal products is both physiological and psychological. The culture and family traditions have held that indulging in meat and dairy and eggs is good and right. And omnipresent marketing and advertising campaigns constantly tell us that we should feel good about eating animals. So while it’s certainly critical that we take responsibility for our current state of health, we should also give ourselves a bit of a break.
Now, on to breaking the habit:
1. Recognize that you are addicted. By simply calling it out for what it is, you will no longer blindly and unconsciously keep indulging. You will be aware, alert to the denial that wants to repress any effort to change. When I first wanted to stop eating meat — for reasons of health and ethics — I did battle with my urges. I wanted to be a vegetarian, but I also wanted that taste of steak in my mouth. Or the tuna sandwich wolfed down with a root beer. I thought, “Wow, I can’t seem to stop myself from eating this stuff, even though I know it’s not right.” So I labeled it. I thought, “I must be addicted.” Which lead to, “I really don’t want to be held hostage by any addiction or attachment. I need to handle this. If I don’t handle this, I will not rise to my best potential.”
2. Be willing to do things differently. There is a magic quality to willingness; when you are willing to be different, you don’t have to know exactly what that looks like, but only remain open to change. When I was moving toward a plant-based diet, I said to myself, “I don’t know how I’m going to find foods that taste as good to me as the steak and tuna fish that I love, but I’m willing to believe there might be some other foods that are just as satisfying that don’t do that kind of harm. I’m willing to just try a few different menu choices when I go out, and I’ll at least pick up a few new items at the grocery store that would fit in to my new world view.”
3. Stay in the moment. Remember everything you’ve learned and seen. Every time you look at meat or cheese on your plate, even if you are still eating it, think about the process that went into making it. On my way to giving up animal products, I would try and see a quick visual of who the animal once was and what she went through before becoming the meal on my plate. That way, I was not in denial; I was aware. I did that enough times until it was just naturally distasteful to me, and the addiction no longer had a hold on me. I just didn’t want it anymore.
4. Replace the old habit. Do not deprive yourself so that you end up going back to your old habits. Find delicious food and enjoy the old traditions you always had with family and friends. Substitute hamburgers with veggie burgers, hot dogs with soy dogs, chicken enchiladas with bean and guacamole enchiladas. Have your familiar looking meals but make (or order) them with better ingredients.
5. Make yourself useful. This is the fun part, because you start feeling so empowered by the change you’ve undergone that you naturally want to give back. Cook some vegetarian meals and invite friends over; volunteer to bring cake or cookies that are made without eggs or milk to your kids’ schools; volunteer at an animal sanctuary so that you can feel even better about what you are not eating. This will make you feel good, even while it opens the eyes of people who might never even considered this way of eating.
6. Re-invigorate your path of healing. As I mentioned earlier, there is a huge sector of the economy that relies on people continuing to eat animal products; this means that there will be a constant onslaught of advertising that attempts to keep the business of animal agriculture and factory farming going strong. So it’s a good idea to stay on top of peer-reviewed nutritional reports, news about the environment and the economy, along with alerts from farm animal protection groups so that you remain informed and bolstered. I like Farm Sanctuary, the Humane Society of the United States, the Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine and PETA.
7. Watch out for the little addictions. One thing I’ve found to be true: healthy practices support other healthy practices. And of course, unhealthy ones do the reverse. If you want to be healthy and steer away from animal products, you might also consider how you feel after eating junk food or sugar. When I eat sugar I get depressed, slothful and anxious. Those feelings weaken me — and could weaken my resolve to be healthy. Of course we don’t have to be perfect or give up every little thing we’ve ever indulged in, but it’s a good idea to note what makes us backslide and then curtail it. Getting sugar out of my system, for instance, made me feel so good that I just started considering myself a healthy person. Once I began to perceive myself as healthy, it was easier to remain that way.
One thing about breaking your animal product addiction (that is less true of some other addictions) is that it’s okay to lean into a vegan diet — you don’t have to beat yourself up over small backsliding, and you don’t have to go (ahem) cold turkey right away. Many people have success with Mark Bittman’s “Vegan until 6,” and then they progressively move to “Vegan 24/7.” Some start with Meatless Mondays, and then move to three days per week. Before they know it, they’re vegan all the time. I encourage people who can’t (or don’t want to) adopt a completely vegan diet all at once to “lean into it” in whatever way makes the most sense for you.
Happy Eating!
For more information on how to optimize your health, visit kathyfreston.com
Originally published on HuffingtonPost.com
Photo credit: brew127
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By Kathy Freston on March 8, 2010
Blessing us with hot knowledge on this Meatless Monday, health and wellness warrior Kathy Freston provides another powerful case for the plant-based diet. She offers historical, anthropological, and biological testimony to refute the idea that we evolved to consume mass quantities of meat and animal products. By now, we think you’re out of excuses: Go Meatless with us today!
I often notice the frequently stated notion that eating meat was an essential step in human evolution. While this notion may comfort the meat industry, it’s simply not true, scientifically.
Dr. T. Colin Campbell, professor emeritus at Cornell University and author of The China Study, explains that in fact, we only recently (historically speaking) began eating meat, and that the inclusion of meat in our diet came well after we became who we are today. He explains that “the birth of agriculture only started about 10,000 years ago at a time when it became considerably more convenient to herd animals. This is not nearly as long as the time [that] fashioned our basic biochemical functionality (at least tens of millions of years) and which functionality depends on the nutrient composition of plant-based foods.”
That jibes with what Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine President Dr. Neal Barnard says in his book, The Power of Your Plate, in which he explains that “early humans had diets very much like other great apes, which is to say a largely plant-based diet, drawing on foods we can pick with our hands. Research suggests that meat-eating probably began by scavenging—eating the leftovers that carnivores had left behind. However, our bodies have never adapted to it. To this day, meat-eaters have a higher incidence of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and other problems.”
There is no more authoritative source on anthropological issues than paleontologist Dr. Richard Leakey, who explains what anyone who has taken an introductory physiology course might have discerned intuitively: humans are herbivores. Leakey notes that “[y]ou can’t tear flesh by hand, you can’t tear hide by hand… We wouldn’t have been able to deal with food source that required those large canines.” (Although we have teeth that are called “canines,” they bear little resemblance to the canines of carnivores).
In fact, our hands are perfect for grabbing and picking fruits and vegetables. Similarly, like the intestines of other herbivores, ours are very long (carnivores have short intestines so they can quickly get rid of all that rotting flesh they eat). We don’t have sharp claws to seize and hold down prey. And most of us (hopefully) lack the instinct that would drive us to chase and then kill animals and devour their raw carcasses. Dr. Milton Mills builds on these points and offers dozens more in his essay, “A Comparative Anatomy of Eating.”
The point is this: Thousands of years ago when we were hunter-gatherers, we may have needed a bit of meat in our diets in times of scarcity, but we don’t need it now. Says Dr. William C. Roberts, editor of the American Journal of Cardiology, “Although we think we are, and we act as if we are, human beings are not natural carnivores. When we kill animals to eat them, they end up killing us, because their flesh, which contains cholesterol and saturated fat, was never intended for human beings, who are natural herbivores.”
Sure, most of us are “behavioral omnivores”—that is, we eat meat, so that defines us as omnivorous. But our evolution and physiology are herbivorous, and ample science proves that when we choose to eat meat, it causes problems, from decreased energy and a need for more sleep up to increased risk for obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
Old habits die hard, and it’s convenient for people who like to eat meat to think that there is evidence to support their belief that eating meat is “natural” or the cause of our evolution. For many years I, too, clung to the idea that meat and dairy were good for me; I realize now that I was probably comforted to have justification for my continued attachment to the traditions with which I grew up.
But in fact top nutritional and anthropological scientists from the most reputable institutions imaginable say categorically that humans are natural herbivores, and that we will be healthier today if we stick with our herbivorous roots. It may be inconvenient, but alas, it is the truth.
Photo Credit: Kurt Elster
Originally posted at HuffingtonPost.com
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By Kris Carr on May 6, 2009
Glitter glam!
Before I get started on todays post, check out the newest items in our store! The number one question we get at CSL is: What juicer and blender do you use and where can I get them? Finally, we have our top picks.
OK, Food & Lifestyle Journal time…
Here are some basic questions that will guide you through the 28 days. It would be wonderful if you could answer them at the end of each day. This way you can track your progress and identify your weaknesses. I look at these questions like a road map. You’ll see where you’ve been, where you are and where you’re going. Hope my 20 questions helps. They sure keep me in line!
1. What did you eat today and did you juice? Please include breakfast, lunch, dinner and any in between snacking. Remember to choose from a wide variety of healthy (organic when possible) veggies, leafy greens, sprouts, gluten-free grains, beans, nuts and seeds. If you can get your hands on some wheat grass – good for you! One 2 oz shot on an empty stomach can really perk you up.
2. How much purified water did you consume? My Suggestion: drink up to half your body weight in ounces. Example: I weigh 128 pounds. 128 divided by 2 = 64 Oz. So I need to drink eight 8 oz glasses of water. You can include fresh veggie juices in your calculation.
3. Did you abstain from coffee?
4. Did you abstain from alcohol?
5. Did you abstain from gluten?
6. Did you abstain from animal protein?
Note: I suggest that you eliminate all flesh and dairy products for the 28 days. If that isn’t possible please reduce your flesh consumption to no more than twice per week. Remove dairy completely.
7. Did you choose low-glycemic sweets – if at all?
8. How were your cravings?
9. Did you have any detox symptoms?
10. What supplements did you take?
11. How was your elimination?
12. Did you dry brush today? How about exercise? Did you move your body for at least 35 minutes?
13. Did you meditate for 15-20 minutes?
14. Did you chew your meals mindfully?
15. What time did you stop eating? 3 hours before bed is optimal.
16. What time did you go to sleep and for how long? 8 hours is optimal.
17. How did you feel emotionally physically?
18. How do you feel emotionally?
19. Did you laugh out loud and tell someone you love them today?
20. Did you spend time in nature? Even 5 minutes is better than nothing.
Bonus question: On a scale from 1-10 how do you rate your overall energy and attitude today?
If you would like to include a record of your pH in this journal that would be helpful. Remember that pH fluctuates all the time. Use it as an educational tool and not as the be all end all guide.
You can start tracking and graphing your urine pH 3 times per day for about a week to get a basic snapshot of your acid/alkaline level. Although the blood pH is more accurate, urine is a helpful gauge worth exploring. Urine is far more accurate than saliva. You don’t have to get you’re blood pH tested unless you’re really curious. If your sick, tired, overweight, etc, more than likely your pH is acidic.
Remember, the first reading in the morning will always be acidic due to the metabolic process of overnight repair. Therefore, start with the second reading and take the others BEFORE eating meals. You can find many litmus papers (pH strips) online or at health foods stores. A good measure falls between 6.5 and 7ish. Happy testing!
Peace & scribbles,
Kris
ps- Congratulations to our April Contest winner, Jessica Stone from Ripe London. Here is her raw Dulce de Leche Bars recipe…
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By Kris Carr on March 16, 2009
Good morning gentle banana,
I just read this important news about Downer cattle on Wayne’s blog and wanted to share it with powerful you. Why powerful? Besides the fact that you’re a magical dancin’ spirit, you’re also a consumer. And as a consumer, you have the right to know where your food comes from! BUT, ya have to be willing to look. Painful images can make us shrink away. Don’t. It kills me too but I’d rather know the truth than perpetuate the “Happy-Farms” lie. Make the connection and understand WHERE your food comes from. Bear witness. If I was a tortured being I would want someone to see. Without our eyes their lives are even more of a waste.
The safety of our food depends on these small victories. Thank you Prez. O for being bold and humane. Keep it up!
From Wayne…
“It’s been a long fight, and today, we closed another chapter on it. Since the mid-1990s, The HSUS has been working hard to stop as a matter of public policy the abuse of downer cattle—animals too sick or injured to walk. And today, President Obama himself announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture was officially putting a stop to non-ambulatory cattle being mishandled in order to get them into slaughter plants. He made the announcement along with two top selections for the Food and Drug Administration and a series of other statements about food safety.
We’ve had two major crises that validated The HSUS’s long-standing admonition that the federal government and the cattle industry were reckless and inhumane in allowing sick and crippled cows into the food supply. In December 2003, a downer cow tested positive for mad cow disease in Washington state, and a national and international furor ensued. More than 50 nations in short order closed their markets to U.S. beef, and the federal government tried in vain to recall meat that was linked to the animal with the fatal neurological disease, which is transmissible to people. A recent government report said the economic fall-out of that single finding of a BSE-positive downer cow was $11 billion. So it was not a trifling matter by any means, as a food safety or economic issue.
In the wake of that incident, former Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman—President’s Bush first Agriculture Secretary—announced an immediate ban on the slaughter of downer cattle, in order to quell the concern of consumers and trading partners. But USDA, under her successor Mike Johanns, quietly weakened the rule very soon after it was promulgated, allowing some downer cattle to be slaughtered, if they were ambulatory on first inspection and then went down later. That weakened downer policy was made final in mid-2007, though it had been in effect for several years since Veneman announced the no-downer policy. In short, if cattle went down after passing first inspection by USDA personnel, then they could be approved for slaughter on down the line.
This tremendously damaging loophole provided cover to unscrupulous slaughter plants to keep downer cattle moving into the food system and giving them an incentive to accept downers at slaughter plants in the first place.
And that’s the precise attitude that triggered the second crisis. The HSUS sent one of its investigators into a medium-sized slaughter plant in Chino, Calif., which specialized in the killing of spent dairy cows. At this cull plant, as it was known, our investigator found downer cows—at all stages of the handling and pre-slaughter process—being tormented to get them to stand and then walk toward the kill box. Plant workers—two of them later convicted of animal cruelty charges—were seen on video ramming downer cows with forklifts, applying electric “hot shots” in sensitive body parts like the eyes or genitals, and even using high-pressure water hoses in their mouths, all in order to cause the animals so much distress that they would try to stand and get away from their tormentors. They would torture the cows before the USDA inspectors arrived, in order to show them that the cows were standing.
Like the 2003 BSE case, these findings whipped up a storm of protest and angst. The $110 million-a-year plant voluntarily shut down operations, and then USDA officially closed the plant’s doors. School lunch programs, which got tens of millions of pounds of meat from this cull slaughter plant (it was the second largest supplier to the National School Lunch Program), then started pulling the meat from their shelves in 47 states, and parents across the nation panicked. USDA then initiated the largest meat recall in American history—143 million pounds—and retailers starting pulling meat from the shelves, too. The first of eight Congressional hearings were launched. And there were international effects. There were riots in the streets of South Korea—which is, with Japan, among the two largest American beef importers—with tens of thousands of people protesting the resumption of imports of American beef. They took to the streets after seeing the Chino footage, and riot police were unable to quell the dissent.
Former Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer, who succeeded Johanns and took office the day before we released the Chino footage, initially handled the situation in a decisive way by launching an investigation and urging the recall. But he hedged on making a decision to ban all downer cattle in the food supply. Then, more than three months after the Chino facts came to light—and after several meat industry groups announced they’d support a no-downer policy—he announced USDA would take action. But we waited and waited for final action, with the rule being held up in the bureaucracy of the USDA and perhaps also at the White House’s Office of Management and Budget. The Bush team left Washington eight months after Schafer announced a change in policy would be forthcoming, and the rule was still not instituted.
The Obama team, led by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, did not dither. With Obama’s radio address today, they’ve announced the implementation of a no-downer policy within the first 50 days of taking office. I say it’s about darn time that the federal government took action. No sensible policy like this should have ever taken this long to enact—more than 15 years. And there is a long line of lawmakers and other federal officials and industry actors who share the blame in allowing this economically disastrous policy to have persisted. It was bad for animals, but it was also terrible for industry. It was a penny-wise and pound-foolish policy, and the Hallmark investigation probably cost the industry billions of dollars as well.”
To read the rest of Wayne’s blog go to HSUS. If you can stomach it, see the video report from their investigation into abuse of downed dairy cows.
Peace & kindness,
Kris
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