Also, here is a link to a nice article Dr. Williams wrote a while back about why he's vegan: http://www.medpagetoday.com/Blogs/CardioBuzz/46860
Endgame 2050
Kim A. Williams, Sr., M.D. is the Chief of Cardiology at Rush University Medical Center and the current President of the American College of Cardiology. He has been vegan since 2003, and discusses the benefits of avoiding animal foods and adopting a plant-based diet. Our co-founder, Sofia Pineda Ochoa, M.D. interviewed him on August 25, 2015 at his office in Chicago.
Also, here is a link to a nice article Dr. Williams wrote a while back about why he's vegan: http://www.medpagetoday.com/Blogs/CardioBuzz/46860
Also, here is a link to a nice article Dr. Williams wrote a while back about why he's vegan: http://www.medpagetoday.com/Blogs/CardioBuzz/46860
updated 9 years ago
Also, here is a link to a nice article Dr. Williams wrote a while back about why he's vegan: http://www.medpagetoday.com/Blogs/CardioBuzz/46860
♦ FULL "ENDGAME 2050" DOCUMENTARY:
- YouTube: youtu.be/o8YomEOExkc
- Amazon Prime: https://www.amazon.com/Endgame-2050-S...
♦ WEBSITE: endgame2050.com
♦ FACEBOOK: facebook.com/endgame2050film
♦ INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/endgame2050
♦ TWITTER: twitter.com/Endgame2050
* * *
"Impending Boom" and "Interloper" by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Sources: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100198 and http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100401
Artist: http://incompetech.com
I invite you to watch this video and learn more about the scale of our disastrous land-grab, and what we can do in our personal lives to help the situation. You can also read the article that accompanies this video here: endgame2050.com/post/extinctions-to-pandemics
- Dr. Sofia Pineda Ochoa
♦ FULL "ENDGAME 2050" DOCUMENTARY:
- YouTube: youtu.be/o8YomEOExkc
- Amazon Prime: amazon.com/Endgame-2050-Sofia-Pineda-Ochoa/dp/B088FF2253
♦ WEBSITE: endgame2050.com
♦ FACEBOOK: facebook.com/endgame2050film
♦ INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/endgame2050
♦ TWITTER: twitter.com/Endgame2050
--
Dr. Sofia Pineda Ochoa statement:
I was born and raised in Guadalajara, Mexico. I attended medical school there and, as a student, my dream was to help people as a doctor. I devoted a full decade of my life for medical training in that pursuit. Over time, however, my perspective changed on what I believe is most urgent.
I have come to understand that humans - myself included - are literally destroying the planet on which we live. Humanity is not only making the planet uninhabitable for human civilization, but also for countless other species with whom we share this world. I believe this is a crime like no other and feel a deep sense of concern, in particular, for all the other animals who are being decimated by human activities.
I made ENDGAME 2050 because I want people to wake up to the gravity of the situation before it’s too late.
I think many environmental films sugarcoat our reality and the extent of changes needed. They sometimes don’t want to make people too uncomfortable. But I think that does a grave disservice to the audience and the planet. I wanted this film to clearly lay out the dire situation in which we now find ourselves, and the responsibility for these global problems that we all bear. I think we owe it to the planet, other species, and ourselves to not bury our heads in the sand.
--
FEATURING: Moby, Boris Worm, Paul Ehrlich, Claire Kremen, Bill Ryerson, Malcolm Potts, Alicia Graves, David M. Romps, Daniel H. Miller, James Gerber, Philip Wollen, Kim A. Williams, Josh LaJaunie, T. Colin Campbell, Bandana Chawla, Munish Chawla, Michelle McMacken and Robert Ostfeld
--
WEBSITE: endgame2050.com
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FULL MOVIE HERE: youtu.be/o8YomEOExkc
--
Humanity has backed itself into an ecological endgame as we approach 2050. Featuring musician Moby and prominent scientists, this upcoming environmental documentary thriller lays out the reality that, unless we take responsibility and act urgently now, we are hastening our own destruction and that of virtually all other life on the planet.
--
MESSAGE FROM SOFIA:
Hello everyone! It's great to be back on the YouTube ;)
I have been very quiet the last few years, not releasing videos, because I was working on this feature length documentary. Now, the film is FINALLY finished and will be released soon! :) :) :)
The movie is called "ENDGAME 2050", and I changed the name of my channel from "Meat Your Future" to "Endgame 2050" as well.
The film deals with the urgent and pressing issues humanity is now facing, with a focus on mid-century projections.
What will the future be like in the year 2050? I certainly hope to be alive in three decades. So, what kind of future awaits us?
The film includes a 17-minute fictional segment set in a hypothetical year 2050, to help us imagine the consequences of our continued inaction. The remainder of the film is a nonfictional documentary format, featuring top scientists and leaders of the world who provide testimony on the dire state of the planet.
More details will be released soon!
What do you think of the trailer? Let me know your thoughts below. :)
Or is our carb-aversion actually hurting our health?
Sources and accompanying article available here: meatyourfuture.com/2019/01/carbs
Pony es un orangután que fue rescatado después de ser utilizada como esclava sexual. En este video explicamos su historia, y como nuestras dietas tienen un papel sorprendentemente importante en los peligros que los primates enfrentan actualmente.
Las fuentes, créditos, y la transcripción están disponibles en nuestra página de internet aquí: meatyourfuture.com/2018/08/primates-sp
The sources and credits referenced in this video, along with a transcript, are available on our website here: meatyourfuture.com/2018/07/primates
Contrario a la tradición que impera en nuestra cultura, hay razones de peso para abstenerse de consumir pescado.
La Dra. Sofia Pineda Ochoa discute esto y más asuntos relacionados al pescado.
Las fuentes, créditos, y la transcripción están disponibles en nuestra página de internet aquí:
meatyourfuture.com/2018/05/pescado
The sources and credits referenced in this video, along with a transcript, are available on our website here: http://meatyourfuture.com/2018/04/eating-fish
The sources and credits referenced in this video along with a transcript, are all available on our website, here: http://meatyourfuture.com/2017/07/two-legged-piglet
Also, while this violent killing strikes us as senseless and unnecessary, could there be parallels with our everyday food choices? Our co-founder, Dr. Sofia Pineda Ochoa, discusses.
The sources and credits referenced in this video along with a transcript, are all available on our website, here: http://meatyourfuture.com/2017/05/vince-rhino-vid
Please watch, share and consider the implications of your food and consumption choices. It's easy to live vegan and withdraw your participation in the unnecessary harm and death we inflict on countless billions of animals, just like this beautiful cow.
The interview is an excerpt from the film, "Vegan: Everyday Stories", and the slaughterhouse footage was taken by Dr. Pineda Ochoa and Bob Rapfogel of Meat Your Future. Many thanks Hovav of Gary-TV for editing this version.
You can view the original version, without the slaughterhouse footage, here: youtu.be/RmwQZQIt6_Y
CREDITS:
Footage: Vegan: Everyday Stories (VeganMovie.org)
Meat Your Future (MeatYourFuture.com)
Music: 18 By Moby - MobyGratis.com
Editing: Gary-TV.com
This presentation was originally aired live on Vegan World Radio (KPFT 90.1 FM Houston) on August 9, 2016. The accompanying video and visuals were later added.
The full one-hour radio show is available in the archives section of http://kpft.org. The sources and credits referenced in this presentation, along with a transcript, are all available on our website, here: http://MeatYourFuture.com/2016/08/radio-veganbasics
Dr. McMacken is an honors graduate of Yale University and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, board-certified internal medicine physician, assistant professor of medicine at NYU School of Medicine, and the director of the Bellevue Hospital Weight Management Clinic in New York City.
These are highlights from an interview, the full extended version of which can be viewed here: youtu.be/OmhIEJ-0K9w
Dr. McMacken is an honors graduate of Yale University and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, board-certified internal medicine physician, assistant professor of medicine at NYU School of Medicine, and the director of the Bellevue Hospital Weight Management Clinic in New York City.
These are highlights from an interview, the full extended version of which can be viewed here: youtu.be/OmhIEJ-0K9w
Dr. McMacken is an honors graduate of Yale University and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, board-certified internal medicine physician, assistant professor of medicine at NYU School of Medicine, and the director of the Bellevue Hospital Weight Management Clinic in New York City.
These are highlights from an interview, the full extended version of which can be viewed here: youtu.be/OmhIEJ-0K9w
Dr. McMacken is an honors graduate of Yale University and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, board-certified internal medicine physician, assistant professor of medicine at NYU School of Medicine, and the director of the Bellevue Hospital Weight Management Clinic in New York City.
Some excellent articles written by Dr. McMacken can also be found here: http://www.forksoverknives.com/contributors/michelle-mcmacken
This is an excerpt from the wonderful film, "Vegan: Everyday Stories", which can be viewed in its entirety for free here: youtu.be/V4JwBgaAEmk
To listen to Sofia further discuss this experience, as well as talk about some of the problematic health aspects of eating animal foods, please watch her related speech here: youtu.be/uRCEAlVFUqI
Dr. Ostfeld is the founder and director of the Cardiac Wellness Program at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, where he recommends a plant-based vegan diet to his patients.
He earned his MD from Yale and his masters of science in epidemiology at Harvard. He is also an associate professor of clinical medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
However, we treat highly intelligent and sentient animals like Inky as mere objects to buy and sell for consumption — sometimes even eating octopuses alive.
In this video, we explore issues related to octopuses as well as the broader implications of using and consuming animals generally.
The video transcript, sources and credits are available at this link: http://meatyourfuture.com/2016/05/octopus
Dr. Pineda Ochoa answers all of these questions and more in this short presentation.
The first part of the transcript is included below for reference, and the full transcript (which is too long to post here) is available on our website, along with sources and credits, here: http://meatyourfuture.com/2016/05/vitaminb12
[The following transcript is an approximation of the audio in video. To hear the audio and see the accompanying visuals, please play the video.]
PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT:
More and more mainstream health authorities are promoting plant-based vegan diets – like Kaiser Permanente, one of the largest HMOs in the U.S. that wants to make plant-based diets “the new normal for [its] patients and employees”; or the president of the American College of Cardiology, Dr. Kim Williams, who vigorously promotes a vegan diet; or the chair of Harvard’s Department of Nutrition, Dr. Walter Willett, who recommends “choosing plant proteins over animal proteins.”
As we see this awareness about plant-based nutrition increase, concern is sometimes expressed about vegan diets and vitamin B12 deficiencies. Some might ask, “If a vegan diet really is healthy and natural, why do I need to watch my vitamin B12 levels or take vitamin B12 supplements?”
And this is a great question. So, let’s review the current information about vitamin B12, and the causes and prevalence of vitamin B12 deficiencies.
Vitamin B12, also called cobalamin, is a water-soluble vitamin. It is produced by bacteria, not animals or plants. So animals, including humans, must obtain vitamin B12 directly or indirectly from bacteria.
In the past, vitamin B12 from bacteria was naturally and more reliably present in plant foods. Today, however, with modern hygienic practices that more deeply clean and sanitize our produce, along with the soil being exposed to more antibiotics and pesticides, most plant foods are no longer reliable sources for vitamin B12. And, it’s probably not a good idea to go back and reverse sanitary practices just to get more of this bacterial product in our diet.
[Remainder of transcript, along with sources and credits, available here: http://meatyourfuture.com/2016/05/vitaminb12]
We originally posted this video in July 2015, shortly after this alarming report was published in the journal Scientific Advances. We have since updated the video and re-posted it now (as of April 2016).
The first part of the transcript is included below for reference, and the full transcript (which is too long to have here) is available on our website, along with sources and credits, at this link: http://meatyourfuture.com/2016/04/livestock-and-the-sixth-mass-extinction-recut
[The following transcript is an approximation of the audio in video. To hear the audio and see the accompanying visuals, please play the video.]
PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT:
Hi, I’m Dr. Sofia Pineda Ochoa with Meat Your Future. Is our species already the “walking dead”? According to a report authored by scientists from Stanford University, Berkeley, Princeton and UNAM University, we are likely facing the sixth mass extinction in our planet’s history.
This beautiful planet where we live has been around about 4.5 billion years, and, in those years, it has faced five mass extinctions thus far. The last one was about 65 million years ago when the dinosaurs disappeared. All of the previous mass extinctions have been caused by natural phenomena, like meteors and volcanic eruptions.
But, it now looks like we are facing what could be the sixth mass extinction, and, unlike the previous five, this one is entirely man-made — caused by human activities like deforestation and overfishing. Species are disappearing and going extinct forever at a rate of 1,000 to 10,000 times faster than normal.
And the experts think this will affect humans as well. They pointed out that, “using extremely conservative assumptions” which “likely underestimate”…”underestimate the [actual] severity of the extinction crisis…, [t]hese estimates reveal an exceptionally rapid loss of biodiversity over the last few centuries, indicating that a sixth mass extinction is already under way.” They repeated, “we can confidently conclude that modern extinction rates are exceptionally high, that they are increasing, and that they suggest a mass extinction [is] under way — the sixth of its kind in Earth’s 4.5 billion years of history.”
I can see how human activities like leveling forests and overfishing are causing species to go extinct. But in my selfish survival mode — in my selfish survival mind — I could think, while this is a terrible thing, it’s not going to directly affect humans, is it? If there are no more rhinos or no more kangaroos, that’s a terrible thing. But, it’s not like that would affect me personally, my way of life, right? But, it’s not like that. Unfortunately, it’s not like that.
As the scientists behind this study point out, “The problem is that our environment is like a brick wall. It will hold if you pull [out] individual bricks, but eventually it [just takes] one to make [everything] fall apart.” Biodiversity provides a lot of critical functions that we don’t even think about — from cleaning up the water and air, to bees and other animals and birds pollinating plants.
[Remainder of transcript, along with sources and credits, available here: http://meatyourfuture.com/2016/04/livestock-and-the-sixth-mass-extinction-recut]
The first part of the transcript is included below for reference, and the full transcript (which is too long to have here) is available on our website with sources and credits at this link: http://meatyourfuture.com/2015/05/hea...
[The following transcript is an approximation of the audio in video. To hear the audio and see the accompanying visuals, please play the video.]
PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT:
Harvard’s School of Public Health explains very nicely the mechanism by which protein can cause problems for bone health. It says, “as your body digests protein, it releases acids into the bloodstream, which the body neutralizes by drawing calcium from the bones. Following a high-protein diet for a few weeks probably won’t have much effect on bone strength. Doing it for a long time, though, could weaken bone.”
Now we’ve known for a very long time that meats, including fish, are acid forming in our body. Scientists from Columbia University, back in 1912, analyzed acid and base forming elements in food, and noted that, “all the meats (including fish)…show a decided excess of acid-forming elements”; all the “meats (including fish) show [a] decided predominance of acid-forming elements.”
Back in 1920, Columbia’s Department of Chemistry also reported that adding meat to one’s diet results in increase of calcium loss in urine, thought to be because “the added meat gave to the diet as a whole an excess of acid-forming over base-forming mineral elements[.]”
And what have we seen from the results of the consumption of animal protein with regards to bones? Researchers from Yale University’s School of Medicine looked back across a broad array of thirty-four prior published studies across sixteen countries, and they found these studies over time showed “a strong, positive association” between dietary animal protein and female bone fracture rates.
So, we’ve known for some time that this association exists. We know eating a diet high in animal protein results in acidity, and that our body leaches calcium from our bones to buffer the acid. One of the mechanisms behind this phenomenon is that animal protein has a higher amount of sulfur containing amino acids, and the “sulfur-containing amino acids from animal protein lower blood pH”.
So animal proteins — including meat, fish, dairy, poultry or eggs — have higher amounts of sulfur-containing amino acids than plant foods. As a result, when we eat diets high in animal proteins, our body produces sulfuric acid, which increases the acidity in our bodies. One of the body’s mechanisms to neutralize this acidity is to draw calcium from our bones (similar, for example, to when we take antacids that are made with calcium to neutralize the acidity in our stomach associated with heartburn). The problem is that constantly leaching calcium from our bones can reduce bone mass, making our bones weak and more prone to fractures and osteoporosis. Moreover, the chronically higher calcium excreted in our urine can also lead to the development of kidney stones.
This Harvard study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology followed over 80,000 women over twelve years, and found that animal protein was associated with increased risk of forearm fracture, but no increase in risk was observed with higher intakes of vegetable protein. It found that women who consumed the largest amount of animal protein in the study had a 22% higher risk of fracture. Evidence suggests that “higher protein intakes in young…women have a negative impact on radial bone measurements”, meaning that women who consumed higher protein diets have been found to lose bone mineral content and bone density.
So we know that our body uses base stores (including calcium from our bones) to neutralize the acidity we get from our diet. This article from The Journal of Nutrition explains the same thing. It says, “diets that are net acid producing…induce and sustain increased acidity of [our] body fluid. With increasing age, the kidney’s ability to excrete daily net acid loads declines, invoking increased utilization of base stores ([from our] bone [and] skeletal muscle) on a daily basis to mitigate the otherwise increasing baseline metabolic acidosis, which results in increased calciuria and net losses of body calcium...
(Remainder of transcript, along with sources and credits, available here: http://meatyourfuture.com/2015/05/hea...]
The first part of the transcript is included below for reference, and the full transcript (which is too long to have here) is available on our website, along with sources and credits, at this link: http://meatyourfuture.com/2016/01/rethinking-eggs
[The following transcript is an approximation of the audio in video. To hear the audio and see the accompanying visuals, please play the video.]
PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT:
"Eggs are a traditional breakfast food in the West, and are popularly thought of as highly nutritional. However, numerous experts disagree with this culturally popular idea and instead advocate strongly for not consuming any eggs.
When egg companies use funding from the federally overseen American Egg Board for marketing and advertisement, they are expressly not allowed to lie or be misleading. And, for this reason, they have been warned by the USDA to not couch eggs as healthy or nutritious because doing so could be considered misleading.
Through the Freedom of Information Act, Dr. Michael Gregor from NutritionFacts.org obtained some very interesting exchanges between the USDA and egg companies that wanted to use the federally overseen American Egg Board advertising funds.
Here are some excerpts of Dr. Gregor’s presentation discussing this:
'This is some egg company trying to put out a brochure on healthy snacking for kids. But because of existing laws against false and misleading advertising, the head of the USDA's poultry research and promotion programs reminds them that you can't couch eggs or egg products as being healthy or nutritious.... You can't say eggs are nutritious at all. Can't say nutritious. Cannot say eggs are 'nutritious', sometimes you have to tell the industry a few times. Can't say eggs are 'healthful', certainly can't say they're 'healthy'.... Since you can't say eggs are a 'healthy' start to the day, the USDA suggests 'satisfying' start. Can't call eggs a 'healthy' ingredient, but you can call eggs a 'recognizable' ingredient. Can't truthfully say eggs are good for you. Can't say they're good for you. By law, the egg industry 'needs to steer clear of words like healthy or nutritious'.'
So, the USDA warned the egg companies not to represent eggs as either healthy or nutritious to steer clear from false advertising claims. Let’s look at some relevant nutritional studies that illustrate this point."
[Remainder of transcript, along with sources and credits, available here: http://meatyourfuture.com/2016/01/rethinking-eggs]
Dr. Esselstyn recommends a whole foods, plant-based vegan diet, that excludes all meat, fish, dairy, eggs and other animal foods.
A surgeon by training, Dr. Esselstyn has conducted substantial research into diet and disease, in particular cardiovascular disease. He previously served as the president of the Board of Governors of the Cleveland Clinic, and chaired the clinic’s Breast Cancer Task Force and headed its Section of Thyroid and Parathyroid Surgery.
At the age of 82, this still practicing physician and former Olympic gold medalist follows his own advice of eating a whole-foods, plant-based, vegan diet.
A surgeon by training, Dr. Esselstyn has conducted substantial research into diet and disease, in particular cardiovascular disease. He previously served as the president of the Board of Governors of the Cleveland Clinic, and chaired the clinic’s Breast Cancer Task Force and headed its Section of Thyroid and Parathyroid Surgery.
At the age of 82, this still practicing physician and former Olympic gold medalist follows his own advice of eating a whole-foods, plant-based, vegan diet.
Our co-founder, Sofia Pineda Ochoa, M.D., interviewed him at the International Plant-Based Nutrition Healthcare Conference, on October 1, 2015 in Anaheim, California.
The first part of the transcript is included below for reference, and the full transcript (which is too long to have here) is available on our website, along with sources and credits, at this link: http://meatyourfuture.com/2015/12/dairy-and-bones
[The following transcript is an approximation of the audio in video. To hear the audio and see the accompanying visuals, please play the video.]
PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT:
Got bone problems? If you “got milk”, there’s a chance you’re increasing your risk.
I’m Dr. Sofia Pineda Ochoa with Meat Your Future. Today, I’ll be talking about dairy. Last October 2014, a study came out in the British Medical Journal and was reported by many news networks because the results were so impressive. Here’s a clip from Fox News Channel: "Some brand new research to tell you about that goes against almost everything you've ever heard about the benefits of drinking milk. A new study shows that in-taking a higher intake of milk may actually cause an increased rate in fractures, and even death in both men and women."
The study included more than 100,000 people and found that women who drink three or more glasses of milk per day had a 60% increased risk of a developing hip fractures and a 93% increased risk of mortality and that for each glass of milk per day the risk of “all-cause mortality” increased by 15%.
Another study, this one from Harvard in 2014, found that “Greater milk consumption during teenage years was not associated with a lower risk of hip fracture in older adults.” As a matter of fact, they found that “each additional glass of milk per day during teenage years was associated with a significant 9% higher risk of hip fracture in men[.]"
Another Harvard professor did a study of fracture incidence and calcium and dairy intake in 10 countries, and found that a higher consumption of calcium was associated with a higher risk of bone fractures. United States made the top of the list on this graph. “[S]usceptible populations apparently consume more, rather than less calcium[.]” “[H]ip fractures are more frequent in populations where dairy products are commonly consumed and calcium intakes are relatively high.”
[Remainder of transcript, along with sources and credits, available here: http://meatyourfuture.com/2015/12/dairy-and-bones]
Dr. Campbell is one of the most prominent figures in nutritional biochemistry and research. He was trained at Cornell University (M.S., Ph.D.) and MIT (Research Associate) in nutrition, biochemistry and toxicology. He then spent ten years on the faculty of Virginia Tech's Department of Biochemistry and Nutrition before returning to Cornell in 1975, where he presently holds his Endowed Chair as the Jacob Gould Schurman Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Biochemistry in the Division of Nutritional Sciences.
We had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Campbell at the 2015 International Plant-Based Nutrition Healthcare Conference in Anaheim, California, and are very grateful for his time.
The first part of the transcript is included below for reference, and the full transcript (which is too long to have here) is available on our website, along with sources and credits, at this link: http://meatyourfuture.com/2015/09/herbivores-carnivores
[The following transcript is an approximation of the audio in video. To hear the audio and see the accompanying visuals, please play the video.]
PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT:
Are humans herbivores, carnivores or omnivores? It’s very important for a given animal to eat what they are physiologically and anatomically designed to eat, to improve the chances of survival and health. So, what are humans designed to eat?
When looking at a species to determine what they are in terms of carnivore, omnivore or herbivore, we can look at their behavior or we can look at their biology. From a behavioral standpoint, humans behave as omnivores because we observe many humans in their behavior eating a wide variety of both animal and plant-based foods. Biologically, however, from a physiologic and anatomic standpoint, it’s a different story.
Dr. Williams C. Roberts from the National Institutes of Health and Baylor University — who is the editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Cardiology and one of the most prominent cardiologists in the world with over 1,500 publications in peer reviewed medical journals — summarized our answer very nicely. He wrote:
“Although most of us conduct our lives as omnivores, in that we eat flesh as well as vegetables and fruits, human beings have characteristics of herbivores, not carnivores. The appendages of carnivores are claws; those of herbivores are hands or hooves. The teeth of carnivores are sharp; those of herbivores are mainly flat (for grinding). The intestinal tract of carnivores is short (3 times body length); that of herbivores, long (12 times body length). Body cooling of carnivores is done by panting; herbivores, by sweating. Carnivores drink fluids by lapping; herbivores, by sipping. Carnivores produce their own vitamin C, whereas herbivores obtain it from their diet. Thus, humans have characteristics of herbivores, not carnivores.”
That’s right. Humans have characteristics of herbivores, not carnivores or omnivores — because omnivores, like bears and raccoons, actually retain most of the carnivorous characteristics, so that they are still able to digest and hunt their prey, and do so effectively.
[Remainder of transcript, along with sources and credits, available here: http://meatyourfuture.com/2015/09/herbivores-carnivores]
The transcript of the speech is available here: http://meatyourfuture.com/2015/06/rowdy-girl-speech
The first part of the transcript is included below for reference, and the full transcript (which is too long to have here) is available on our website with sources and credits at this link: http://meatyourfuture.com/2015/03/chapter-2
[The following transcript is an approximation of the audio in video. To hear the audio and see the accompanying visuals, please play the video.]
PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT:
In the previous chapter of our health section, we discussed the basics of protein and diet. In this chapter, we’ll be discussing the relationship between animal protein and cancer.
Dr. T. Colin Campbell, from Cornell University, one of the most prominent figures of nutritional biochemistry, noted that “an elevated intake of protein (particularly animal protein) is a risk factor for certain cancers” and that it “promotes carcinogenesis.”
In this particular study, researchers from Berkeley and Cornell, including Dr. Campbell, delivered a liver carcinogen to rats and then fed those rats different amounts of animal protein. One group of the rats was fed a high protein diet containing 22% animal protein. The other group was fed a diet with only 6% protein. Again, all of the rats were first given the same liver carcinogen. It was observed, at 100 weeks, that most of the lower protein fed rats were still alive and “were healthier and thriftier in appearance”, whereas many of the higher protein fed rats were “already dead or were severely burdened with tumors”. The group with the highest animal protein intake — 22% — developed the highest incidents of tumors (90% developed tumors), had the largest overall tumor mass and had three times higher prevalence of tumor metastases as compared to the group fed the lowest animal protein diet.
In another experiment, rats were similarly administered a carcinogen and then fed differing levels of animal protein. Specifically, the rats were given a liver carcinogen called aflatoxin, then half were fed a diet containing 20% animal protein. As shown on the upper curve of this graph, that group exhibited the expected increased cancer development corresponding with the higher doses of the carcinogen they received. This is not surprising. The more carcinogen they were given, the more cancer they developed. But, look what happened to the other half of the rats who were instead fed a lower protein diet after being given the carcinogen. Cancer development did not increase for these rats, as would have been expected with the increasing doses of the carcinogen they received. Decreasing the amount of animal protein in their diet almost made the cancer producing substance stop having its cancer producing effect. As the authors of the study put it, “These data rather convincingly show that the growth and development of preneoplastic foci” (…the precursor clusters of cancer cells that grow into tumors…) “primarily occur in response to the level of dietary casein[,]” providing evidence that, “nutrient intake…is more rate limiting towards the development of these preneoplastic lesions than is the carcinogen dose.” In other words, this study indicated that some cancer development may be controlled more by dietary protein levels than by exposure to the underlying carcinogen.
These two studies that we just reviewed examined animal protein. But what about plant protein? Would it have the same effect on cancer development that animal protein has? The answer is, “No” it does not. When rats under the same conditions were similarly dosed with the same liver carcinogen (aflatoxin), but then fed diets with plant protein instead of animal protein, they did not exhibit the same increased cancer development — even when they were given diets with high levels of plant protein after being dosed with the carcinogen. The study found that the rats fed a diet of 20% plant protein after being dosed with the carcinogen exhibited far less cancer development than rats fed diets with 20% animal protein. Again, all of the rats were dosed with the same liver carcinogen, but the rats fed a high animal protein diet exhibited the high levels of cancer development, while the rats fed a high plant protein diet did not. The conclusion of this and similar studies is that large amounts of animal protein greatly enhance tumor growth, while large amounts of plant protein do the opposite.
[Remainder of transcript, along with sources and credits, available here: http://meatyourfuture.com/2015/03/chapter-2]
[The following transcript is an approximation of the audio in video. To hear the audio and see the accompanying visuals, please play the video.]
TRANSCRIPT:
In this first chapter, we’ll discuss some basics about protein. We’ll talk later about the relationship between animal protein and our health, but for this first chapter let’s start with some general information.
As Dr. Walter Willett, the chair of Harvard’s Department of Nutrition, explains, “To the metabolic systems engaged in protein production and repair, it is immaterial whether amino acids come from animal or plant protein. However, protein is not consumed in isolation. [I]t is packaged with a host of other nutrients” that vary depending on the source. He therefore recommends to, “Pick the best protein packages by emphasizing plant sources of protein rather than animal sources[.]”
Although meat has long been touted as a “basic food group” and many people assume it’s a necessary part of a healthy diet, there is a broad body of scientific literature and studies that lead physicians like Dr. Willett and myself to recommend plant protein over animal protein
First, it’s important to note that proteins are abundant in both animals sources (like meat, fish, dairy and eggs), as well as plant sources (like vegetables, grains, legumes and nuts). Proteins are chains of organic compounds, called amino acids, which are joined together by peptide bonds. The term “essential amino acids” refers to nine amino acids that our bodies do not synthesize and we therefore need to get from food. With few exceptions such as gelatin, most proteins, from both animal and plant sources, are “complete proteins,” meaning they contain all of the essential amino acids our bodies need.
The fact that plants have protein is for some reason, not always well known. But, just as an example, according to the USDA, broccoli has more protein per calorie than beef. Specifically, beef has 14.63 grams of proteins in 204 calories, whereas broccoli has 17.15 grams of protein in 207 calories. This equates to about fifteen and one-half percent (15.5%) more protein per calorie in broccoli than in beef.
This well cited review in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition addresses protein in plant foods, noting that most animal and plant foods, not only meet — but exceed the required concentration of essential amino acids. A joint panel of the Food and Agriculture Organization, World Health Organization and United Nations University, estimated our nutritional amino acid requirements. When those requirements are compared with the amino acid patterns of plant and animal sources of protein, the amount of amino acids in all of these foods was found to be “much higher (per unit of protein) than required.” “Thus,” the review concludes, “all usual food proteins would readily meet and even exceed the requirement for indispensable amino acids.”
To be clear, this means we can get more than enough, and even exceed, our protein requirements, including all of the essential amino acids, from either animal foods or a purely plant-based diet. So, if we can get adequate protein from either plants or animals, which one should we use? Well, Harvard’s Healthy Eating Plate states, “Go with plants. Eating a plant-based diet is healthiest.”
And, as mentioned earlier, the chair of Harvard’s Department of Nutrition recommends that you, “Pick the best protein packages by emphasizing plant sources of protein rather than animal sources.” Also physicians from Kaiser Permanente have recently suggested the same thing, noting in their medical journal that, “Further research is needed to find ways to make plant-based diets the new normal for our patients and employees.” And, as I mentioned earlier, that’s what I recommend to my patients.
So, let’s talk more about animal protein and health, which we’ll do in the next video chapters.