grain fed beef

[Guest guest]

Paul

 

I want to see if I can tie together a few threads from your argument.

 

1. EFA's are essential to good health

 

2. grain fed beef, even if organic, is deficient in EFAs

 

3. you recommend that people supplement with EFA's in the form of fish

oils in order to rectify this situation

 

4. You also would advise eliminating refined omega 6 oils as they are

the main source of pro-inflammatory fats in the modern diet.

 

What I would now ask is how a person who wanted to have moderate

protection from heart disease, cancer, etc. w/o using supplements could

accomplish this? Do you think supplements are necessary under all

circumstances inorder to have good, not optimum, health.? Or would a

scrupulous diet that avoided all refined polyunsaturated oils and was

high in EFA's and monounsaturates in whole food form fit the bill? If

beef was the main protein source in such a diet, would it be necessary

to eat mostly grass fed beef in order to insure adequate EFA's? While

Tim may consider such an issue to be one of good versus optimum health,

I consider certain food choices to be baseline for moderately good

health. For example, there is no place at all for hydrogenated fats.

And one must also have a proper EFA balance. In order to have optimum

health, one must further engage in exercise above and beyond 3 20

minute cardios per week, plus self-cultivation (stress management,

counseling, etc.) and make use of various supplements and herbs.

 

 

 

Chinese Herbs

 

 

FAX:

 

 

[Guest guest]

I think we are emphasizing mechanism of action too much & ignoring the

individual. Some people can consume massive quantities of toxins & still

live a full happy life. If a substance doesn't cause a decrease in quality

of life, or if that decrease is exceeded by the enjoyment derived from the

activity then it's pure folly to say that the substance is unhealthy toward

that person (unless the enjoyment is fueled by addiction). Would you have

denied cigars to George Burns because they were bad for his health?

Nutritional purity isn't a holy grail. I completely don't support

deprivation simply because someone in a lab says a substance has a known

carcinogenic effect. Life is about living. A number of years ago I had a

diet that involved mostly organic raw foods & steamed vegetables, plus fish.

I didn't eat refined sugars or stored grains. I avoided foods that

encouraged yeast & bacteria growth including corn & nearly all fermented

products. My skin was clear, my eyes were bright, my energy level &

digestion were good, my HDL was high & my LDL was low. I now consider that

almost fanatical dietary devotion far LESS healthy than my current diet of

organic meat, grains, veggies, home-made yogurt & DHA supplementation. One

must also feed the soul, which means the occasional trip to Ben & Jerry's.

Health is a mind/body issue & reducing it to biochemical markers like

" inflammation precursors " is just poor medicine in my book. One simply

CANNOT state what MUST be done in order to be healthy. As soon as you do

then we learn about someone who lived to be 106 eating nothing but hot dogs

& orange jelly beans. We are all different & we all have different

tolerances. If I consume a boatload of Omega6 & trans-fatty acids - & it is

within my body's tolerance - then it is categorically NOT unhealthy for me.

Arguing anything else is nutrition for nutrition's sake, not for the sake of

health.

 

Incidentally this does not mean that I turn a blind eye to nutritional data.

I value everything said in this thread so far. Unfortunately most of us

don't have George Burns' tolerance for tobacco, (or Wilt Chamberlains

fountain of essence , & we must be more mindful of the issues Todd & Paul

bring up. They just apply to each of us in different ways.

 

Finally, if there is a baseline for optimum health, whose constitution is it

based on? Such concepts are moderately effective for generic self-help

books, but they are insufficient for use by practitioners on a diverse

patient population.

 

Tim Sharpe

 

 

 

Thursday, March 04, 2004 1:06 PM

 

While Tim may consider such an issue to be one of good versus optimum

health, I consider certain food choices to be baseline for moderately good

health. For example, there is no place at all for hydrogenated fats.

And one must also have a proper EFA balance. In order to have optimum

health, one must further engage in exercise above and beyond 3 20 minute

cardios per week, plus self-cultivation (stress management, counseling,

etc.) and make use of various supplements and herbs.