Real Food FAQ's
#Ever since I became a vegetarian, right away I felt a lot better. Isn't that proof enough that a vegetarian diet is better?
#Experts with entire walls of credentials under glass say "Don't drink milk" so I quit. Are you the last person in the world standing up for dairy products?
#How about soy?
#I hate taking pills and I always forget. Can I skip the supplements if I eat real food?
#I like the idea of using locally grown food but it's hard to find. Anyway, how do I know?
#If I ate butter like you say, I know I'd be fat. What's your answer to that?
#If I went back now to meat all my friends would be offended. What would I say to them?
#I'm into a serious thrift policy. Real food sounds more expensive, or am I missing something?
#I'm not hungry in the morning and anyway I don't have time to eat. Any suggestions?
#What do you think of the Food Pyramid?
#What do you think of The Zone?
#Why do you tell people to eat meat? Nobody else does.
#You lose me a bit when you talk about how to feed babies and children. Can't we just cut to the important stuff, like heart disease and cancer?

Why do you tell people to eat meat? Nobody else does.
Other people are beginning to. And most people who eliminate meat eventually resume eating it because they get tired of having to sleep extra hours and feeling tired. You can find safe meats at a fair price if that is your concern.

You lose me a bit when you talk about how to feed babies and children. Can't we just cut to the important stuff, like heart disease and cancer?
Food that supports healthy youth will support healthy maturity but the reverse is not true. Even if babies and children aren't your concern right now, what happens to them is a snapshot of what is happening to adults at a slower rate. The pesticides, herbicides and drugs which have been with us since the '50's and '60's were all tested on healthy male rats and mice; then a formula was/is applied to extend the results to a broader population. Nutrient requirements have mostly been established similarly. But when pregnant and baby rats and mice are used, a different result often emerges: a level of damage deemed acceptable in the healthy male model may cause unacceptable levels of stillborn or malformed young or result in low conception rates. Older people and those with a weakened immune system also fall into this category ... which includes all of us at some point. Better to eat real food.

I hate taking pills and I always forget. Can I skip the supplements if I eat real food?
No. Although it was probably possible 100 years ago, there is no practical way to get optimal amounts of either vitamin C or E from even high quality food. C & E get zapped by environmental pollutants. Even critters that ordinarily make their own vitamin C now can't make enough to stay healthy; fish in the Mississippi River now suffer from scurvy for this reason.

What do you think of The Zone?
The Zone by Barry Sears is the most recent in a succession of books published in the last fifty years to make a case for a diet with more protein and less carbohydrate. Sears is extremely well qualified and makes the case compellingly. He errs in rejecting red meat and eggs because of their poor arachidonic acid balance; this imbalance is true only of animal products of confined feeding, not of free ranging animals.

If I ate butter like you say, I know I'd be fat. What's your answer to that?
My answer is, I know you haven't done it. It's carbohydrates and fake fats that make one overweight.

I'm not hungry in the morning and anyway I don't have time to eat. Any suggestions?
It's important to work this out because steady functioning without fatigue depends on starting the day with protein. Try eating cubes of a nice cheese. Make sure all snacks and lunch include real protein. Two or three days of this and you won't feel the need to stuff at supper. Then you'll be hungry in the morning.

Experts with entire walls of credentials under glass say "Don't drink milk" so I quit. Are you the last person in the world standing up for dairy products?
So it would appear. Most advice to avoid dairy products is irresponsible in that it ignores long term outcomes. There is no ready substitute for the protein, calcium, riboflavin and much more in dairy products. Quality of life also suffers when you lose these foods. Experts should be advising people to demand better quality dairy products, organically grown. Good health isn't something left over after you eliminate everything delicious, especially something as nutritious as milk.

Ever since I became a vegetarian, right away I felt a lot better. Isn't that proof enough that a vegetarian diet is better?
Lots of things make you feel better at first including buying a new car.  It may also be that you are eating less processed food on your vegetarian diet.  Just try and avoid things that are wrapped for moon voyages and you can probably eat meat again.

If I went back now to meat all my friends would be offended. What would I say to them? You probably won't need to say very much as most vegetarians are pretty sedentary, whereas you'll be out on your mountain bike. But you could say you're catching a new wave.

How about soy?
Soy is now everybody's darling. Food processors love it because you can make it look like anything and it doesn't have to be milked at 6AM. All the claims made for it and a lot more are true of dairy products, meats and fish especially when organically raised.

I like the idea of using locally grown food but it's hard to find. Anyway, how do I know?
It may take a little detective work until you locate sources. Nearly all locales now have farmer's markets and the produce is so much tastier that eating foods as they come naturally into season will not be a hardship. More farmer's markets are now offering dairy products and meats. If yours doesn't, ask the merchants for some leads. Chasing down good food sources is more rewarding than mall shopping, I think you'll find.

I'm into a serious thrift policy. Real food sounds more expensive, or am I missing something?
Real food is more expensive than living off day old bread and bulk purchases of puffed cereal or any of the plans I've seen presented by low-cost-living gurus. These experts are clever at seeing through the claims of car salespersons but their critical skills desert them when confronted with government food policy. They should not attempt dietary advice. Consider real food as part of your investment plan. Then you won't be wrinkled and faded when it's time to cash in those IRA's.

What do you think of the Food Pyramid?
I think of it as little as possible. As Lily Tomlin once said, "No matter how cynical you are, it's never enough." Even the most superficial application of the principle "Follow the money" leads you to agribiz and its helpful friends at USDA, devisor of the Pyramid. Some nutrition researchers call USDA the "The Food Processor's Protection Asssociation". Eating the 11 servings of carbos recommended by the Pyramid will make you fat. The Pyramid lumps butter (highly nutritious and loaded with vital factors) together with sugar (overtly harmful). This further proves the weakness of dairy interests, now in such disarray they are unable to apply the Quaker maxim "Speak truth to power".