denial, anger, bargaining, and acceptance

[Guest guest]

I found an article that Tom, one of my guests yesterday, wrote.

 

Exploding the Protein Deficiency Myth

by M.T. Salsberg, B.A.(soc.), B.Ed., A.M.I., R.B.C., M.A.(couns. psych.)

 

- The Sun revolves around the Earth

- The Earth is flat. If you sail too far, you will fall off the edge.

- Tomatoes are poisonous to humans.

 

What do these three statements have in common? They are all well known to be

false. At one time, however, these beliefs were universally held up as truths.

When the real truth emerged and these old ideas had to die, many people reacted

with resistance.

 

According to Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, author of On Death and Dying (New York:

Macmillan, 1969), there are four stages to coming to terms with a death.

Psychiatrist Neal Barnard has stated that these stages apply even to the death

of an idea. The first stage is denial. The second is anger. The third is

bargaining. The fourth is acceptance.

 

Our society is grappling with the burning truth that meat (including poultry and

fish), eggs and dairy are products of cruelty to animals, responsible for

ecological devastation and, along with smoking cigarettes, one of the most

significant contributing causes to such devastating and even deadly human

illnesses as strokes, heart attacks, atherosclerosis, hypertension, male

impotence, urinary diseases, osteoporosis, arthritis, diabetes and cancer.

 

Some of us have accepted these facts and stopped eating these foods completely.

Others are in denial, anger or bargaining.

 

- Denial

The majority of our society is in denial. They know that animals are slaughtered

to be turned into bacon, fish sandwiches, or hamburgers but they have switched

off a part of their minds to this fact and the suffering of the animal that was

killed to make their meal. This switching off of the mind is called " psychic

numbing " . We all do it in various circumstances. We desensitize ourselves as men

to the plight of women. We desensitize ourselves as whites to the plight of

people of colour. We desensitize ourselves as adults to how tough it is to be a

child. And we desensitize ourselves as humans to the pain and death we bring to

animals.

 

Fundamentally good people go through life in a consensus trance, sharing a

mass-held belief that goes unquestioned and when questioned, immediately

dismissed.

 

- Anger

Sometimes, though, the question comes up again and the consensus trance is

shaken. How do you feel if you are rudely awakened by someone loud and

completely insensitive to your desire for sleep? If you’re like most people, I

imagine you’ll say you feel angry! Well, that’s how some people feel when a

fundamental belief of theirs which came to them from an allegedly good authority

and supported by their own personal experience is repeatedly questioned. They

have what they think is truth and they don’t want to be confused with facts.

Such a person is likely to close off dialogue, ignore messages, send back

letters unopened, etc. If the agent of change persists in questioning those

cherished beliefs, things could get ugly. One well known vegetarian medical

doctor, trying to promote the eating of tofu was indignantly asked by an

impatient patient, " Toad food? Why would I want to eat toad food? "

 

- Bargaining

Leonard Cohen sings in his song Anthem that " there is a crack in everything " ,

which is how the light gets in. Bargaining is the stage where the crack in our

tired old belief system starts to get bigger, and the truth, the light, starts

to take the place of the obsolete thinking.

 

The most common example of bargaining I hear these days in reaction against the

idea of giving up animal products is the false statement once universally touted

as truth: the need for high quality, complete protein found almost exclusively

in eggs, dairy and the flesh of animals. People say, " I’ll eat more fruits and

vegetables, but I can’t completely give up meat, milk and eggs I can’t live

without them! " They use the myth as a shield to hold off change a bargaining

chip to obtain a compromise and so continue with their old, slightly modified,

habits.

 

Actually, only the second half of the statement used as a bargaining chip is

untrue. Although it is true we do need to eat foods that contain essential amino

acids (E.A.A.), i.e. protein building blocks that cannot, unlike other amino

acids, be formed in the body, it is not true that only animal products and one

or two exceptional plant source foods contain all eight E.A.A.s. The truth is

that all foods except animal gelatine, (which was bone that had tryptophan

processed out of it) contain all E.A.A.s.

 

There’s some of every E.A.A. in each gram of protein of every food listed. The

sources of this hard-to-get information, Thorson’s Guide to Amino Acids by Leon

Chaitow (1991) and Nutrition Almanac, (McGraw Hill, 1979) are both very

reputable.

 

- Acceptance

This leads to the fourth and final stage: We have to accept that the myth - only

animal foods give us the high-quality protein we need - is just that, a myth.

The American Dietetic Association (ADA) has done so. In their latest position

paper on vegetarian diets (Journal of the ADA, Nov. 1997) they write: " Plant

sources of protein alone can provide adequate amounts of essential amino acids

if a variety of plant foods are consumed and energy needs are met. "

 

In regards to complimenting protein in the same meal, the ADA goes on to write:

" Research suggests that complementary proteins do not need to be consumed at the

same time... " , although they do recommend consumption of various foods over the

course of the day.

 

Still, even if the protein quality concern has been allayed, some people might

yet question whether we can get enough quantity of protein from just eating

plant foods. The answer is yes. We need to get about 10 percent of our consumed

calories in the form of protein. According to data obtained from Nutritive Value

of American Foods in Common Units, a U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Handbook, fruits

derive about five percent of their calories in the form of protein, but all

other foods average 10 percent or higher.

 

Some green leafy vegetables like lettuce (34 percent) or spinach (49 percent),

if eaten exclusively, could lead to some of the same problems of protein

overconsumption that people eating lots of eggs, dairy and animal flesh ought to

concern themselves with, namely osteoporosis and kidney disease. However, no one

except gorillas, elephants, cows and other big, highly muscular creatures (and

overexuberant ones like rabbits) eat a diet so high in leafy greens. The few

people who do eat half a bushel of green vegetables daily would be wise to

balance their high protein intake by filling up on fruit in the morning and

later in the day as snacks.

 

As a general rule, one can do well on a vegan diet, as long as one is (1) eating

a variety of different kinds of foods over the course of a day - not necessarily

at the same meal, (2) eating enough food to satiate natural hunger, thus meeting

caloric needs, (3) exercising outdoors in sunshine regularly, and (4) ensuring

one gets B12 into one’s body in the form of vegan vitamin pill supplements,

fortified vegan foods like soya beverage or friendly bacteria.

 

Please be good to yourself, the planet and all life you share it with!

--

 

 

_____________

Free email services provided by http://www.goodkarmamail.com

 

 

powered by OutBlaze