The Weston A. Price Foundation has developed these guidelines as an alternative to the unscientific and unhealthy USDA dietary guidelines and food pyramid. Every week, I will share more on these 4 groups to help you and your family to achieve optimal health for generations to come.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CLICK HERE!

These days it is a very popular practice to be a vegetarian, that is, to eat no meat or fish. Some people even adopt a vegan diet, eating no animal foods at all, not even dairy products or eggs.

People who promote vegetarianism or veganism claim that this diet is healthier than a diet containing animal foods. Sometimes they say that if you don’t eat meat you won’t get cancer or heart disease. This claim is not true. The heart is a muscle that requires the nutrients found in animal foods. And vegetarians and vegans can develop cancer; in fact, some types of cancer are more common in vegetarians than non-vegetarians.

The problem with a vegetarian, and especially a vegan, diet is that sooner or later it leads to deficiencies. Complete protein, healthy fats, important minerals like iron and zinc, and critical vitamins A, D, K2 and B12 will be lacking in a diet low in animal foods. Over time these deficiencies can lead to low energy, difficulty concentrating and then to serious health problems.

Vegetarianism and veganism are especially popular among teenagers and young adults. Unfortunately, this is just the age when these future parents need a nutrient-dense diet containing animal foods to prepare them for having healthy children. Vegetarianism can often lead to infertility and, in children, can result in failure to grow properly. One of the earliest signs of deficiency in children raised on a vegan or vegetarian diet is serious tooth decay.

Many people embrace vegetarianism out of concern for the welfare of animals. They reason that if they don’t eat animal foods, they will not contribute to the suffering of animals. It is true that our modern agricultural system treats animals very cruelly, keeping them in confinement in deplorable conditions. However, an alternative exists in the pasture-based farming system, where animals live happy, healthy lives in the open, eating green grass and enjoying the sunlight. They are then killed quickly and painlessly. Animals living in the wild often die of starvation or are painfully killed by predators.

Human beings are omnivores, meaning that they need both animal and plant foods to be healthy. Animals that eat only plants have several stomachs, while human beings and other omnivores have only one stomach. And in many other ways, humans resemble meat-eating animals like dogs more than plant-eating animals like cows and sheep.

Every day eat high-quality WHOLE FOODS to provide an abundance of nutrients, chosen from each of the following four groups:
1. Animal foods: meat and organ meats, poultry, and eggs from pastured animals, fish and shellfish, whole raw cheese, milk and other dairy products from pastured animals, and broth made from animal bones.
2. Grains, legumes and nuts: whole-grain baked goods, breakfast porridges, whole grain rice; beans and lentils, peanuts, cashews and nuts – all properly prepared to improve digestibility.
3. Vegetables & fruit: fresh or frozen, preferably locally grown, either raw, cooked or in soups and stew, and also as lacto-fermented condiments.
4. Fats & oils: unrefined saturated and monounsaturated fats including butter, lard, meat fats, poultry fat and other animal fats; palm and coconut oils; olive oil; cod liver oil for vitamins A and D.

Thanks to the Weston A. Price Foundation, the Healthy4Life dietary guidelines (above information from page 10 of Healthy4Life book) are easy to follow – you do not need to count calories or servings to follow these guidelines – and they provide foods that are satisfying, delicious to eat and healthy for your whole family. Please visit the Weston Price website, click on “Order Materials’ and order their annual Shopping Guide.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CLICK HERE!

Happy with your health condition(s)? Schedule your Nutritional Exam today at The B.O.S.S. GROUP LLC

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**This blog is intended for educational purposes only and should not be used as a guide for diagnosis or treatment of any kind. This content is brought to you by the brilliant work and thinking of the pioneers of nutrition: Dr. Royal Lee, Dr. Weston A. Price, Dr. Melvin E. Page, Dr. Francis Pottenger, and many more for their ceaseless dedication to better nutrition and health!