Every day that passes I am more and more convinced that we do not need any vegetables in our diet to have vibrant health and longevity. I do actually enjoy eating vegetables. I prefer it when someone else buys, stores and cooks them for me. I get most of my vegetable intake when I eat out. Since I am trying to eat out as little as possible I figured I would take a moment to analyze non-vegetable sources of vitamins and minerals.
FYI, I am talking about above-ground vegetables. I believe starchy below-ground (aka root) vegetables are a perfect staple food even though I do not eat a lot of them myself.
My main issues with vegetables are:
1) You get a very small amount of calories for the amount of food you consume. Hardly anybody is getting their energy (aka calories) 100% via vegetables. Most vegetarians eat a diet high in refined carbohydrates. Even though refined carbs are basically "bad" for your overall health, they are an easily obtainable, palatable form of energy. If you goal is to be skinny, frail and weak, then yes, a diet high in raw vegetables and refined starch calories may be for you.
2) The financial cost to energy supplied ratio of vegetables is terribly high. This is not even including the extra expense of buying organic which I think is very important.
3) Vegetables are more difficult to digest than meat. Try eating 300 calories of steamed broccoli vs 300 calories of medium rare meat. 300 calories of broccoli is 10 cups of broccoli! 300 calories of grass-fed beef will not even fill the palm of your hand. The broccoli will also sit in your belly longer than the meat because of the fiber.
4) Vegetables go bad quickly. I've thrown away so much food in my lifetime and this is something I am working on. Vegetables make it more difficult because they spoil so quickly, often before I am ready to eat them.
5) Cooking vegetables kills a large percentage of their inherent vitamins and minerals. A person would need to eat their vegetables raw or very lightly steamed to get their full benefits. Once a vegetable goes from the crunchy raw state to the mushy cooked condition I believe we are eating non-nutritious sludge.
Here's a list of the basic vitamins and minerals we need for good health and their non-vegetable sources.
You can see why I love raw eggs and milk!
Vitamin A - eggs, liver, orange fruits
Vitamin B1 - meats, nuts
Vitamin B2 - milk
Vitamin B3 - meat, fish, poultry
Vitamin B5 - chicken, beef, potatoes
Vitamin B6 - organ meats
Vitamin B12 - fish, meat
Vitamin C - oranges, kiwi, strawberries
Biotin - eggs, milk, berries
Folic Acid - egg yolk, sunflower seeds, liver
Vitamin D - sunlight, fish liver oil, milk
Vitamin E - sunflower seeds, almonds, peanuts
Vitamin K1 - one of the few vitamins I can not find a non-vegetable source
Vitamin K2 - eggs, cheese, liver
Calcium - milk, yogurt, cheeses
Iron - beef, eggs
Phosphorus - milk, meat, eggs
Iodine - iodized salt
Magnesium - most nuts, particularly almonds
Zinc - red meat, seafood
Selenium - organ meats, seafood
Copper - seafood, nuts, seeds
Manganese - nuts
Chromium - meats, poultry, fish
Fiber - fruits, flax seeds, chia seeds
Meat is not "bad" for you unless it is factory farmed or cooked past the medium rare state. I eat all of my meat medium rare, it's juicy and delicious.
Milk is only bad for you if you buy the shitty, low quality milk that most folks buy. When you finally try organic or raw milk you will get all of the benefits of milk with none of the drawbacks. Lactose intolerant? Try raw milk, there are more than a few people out there who claim to have lost their lactose intolerance by avoiding low-quality milk.
Ethics of eating animals? That is the only reason I can see for avoiding animal products.
I do not believe eating animals is inherently unethical unless you are eating factory farmed crap. I think I am doing all I can do for our fellow animals by avoiding factory farmed products. I am doing my part by replacing factory-farmed foods with grass-fed meats, organic cage-free eggs and raw milk (grass-fed cows).
There is one reason for eating vegetables that I believe has been verified by science. Certain foods contain antiangiogenic properties. These foods decrease the growth of new blood vessels which may or may not feed cancer cells. There are plenty of fruits with these properties so again, no need for vegetables! http://www.standup2cancer.org/article_archive/view/foods_that_fight_cancer
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