Foooooooooooooood

Today is my first day without meat, fish, and dairy, for perhaps the first 24 hours of my adult life. I cant even remember the last day I didn't have meat, or an egg, or some milk on my cereal. Why should I care anyway with regards to the last day i fed myself on animals, or animal products? I'm not obese, I have no particular love for cows or chickens, so why choose to go without these food sources today? Anyway, meat will make you strong right? Egg yolk is full of 'good' fats, yeah? I think so, or maybe, I thought so... Something i watched last night made me think.

My lunch

Documentary: What the health

"What the Health is the groundbreaking follow-up film from the creators of the award winning documentary Cowspiracy. The film follows intrepid filmmaker Kip Andersen as he uncovers the secret to preventing and even reversing chronic diseases – and investigates why the nation’s leading health organizations don’t want us to know about it. With heart disease and cancer the leading causes of death in America, and diabetes at an all-time high, the film reveals possibly the largest health cover-up of our time.

With the help of medical doctors, researchers, and consumer advocates, What the Health exposes the collusion and corruption in government and big business that is costing us trillions of healthcare dollars, and keeping us sick.

Join Kip as he tracks down the leading and most trusted American health nonprofits to find out why these groups are staying silent, despite a growing body of evidence. Audiences will be shocked to learn the insidious roles played by pharmaceutical companies, agribusiness, and processed animal food companies in the nation’s health, especially in the most vulnerable communities, and will cheer at the transformation and recovery of those who took their lives into their own hands.
What The Health is a surprising, and at times hilarious, investigative documentary that will be an eye-opener for everyone concerned about our nation’s health and how big business influences it." source

You can watch the trailer here: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/whatthehealth And also the full documentary is available at a cost, here and on Netflix. Of course there may well be other methods to take a look for free ;)

Pass the chicken wings love, we're watching a film tonight

Last night my girl picked our viewing entertainment for the evening. I'm fairly indifferent with regards to what we choose to fill our minds with as long as it's not horrors, those give me nightmares and I don't understand why they exist! (There's enough horrific stuff going on in the world, why consume more?) Anyway, the documentary starts and within 15 minutes, i'm already visualizing the kitchen and fridge and wondering what I can throw in the bin. We have eggs, processed meat, tins of tuna, cows milk, 3 different varieties of cheese, and they are all receiving some seriously bad press from doctors, experts, and people recovering from serious illness after ditching processed food and animal related food sources and switching to a plant-based diet.

The great, Government, food manufacturers, pharmaceutical industry, and health care circle jerk

Throughout the film, reference is made to what these organisations are saying (and not saying) with regards to health and diet. The picture painted is that they are seemingly sponsoring each other to the tune of 100's of millions to say the right thing, not say anything, censor if required, seemingly to keep a chain in place which makes all of the above a hell of a lot of money - apparently at the detriment to the health of the people.

Other eyebrow-raisers include:

• Scholarly articles showing potential links to red meat and cancer/diabetes are presented to health experts who refuse to read them

• North Carolina is shown literally swimming in pig shit, and the standard of health in certain towns looking poor to say the least

• Cattle stated as producing more greenhouse gases/pollution that the global transport network

• Ill members of the public dropping all foods bar plant-based and making great progress in health in only 2 weeks

• Vegan athletes competing at the highest level and stating they've improved since disbanding meat and dairy

It is biased though?

Probably. Should forget what i saw then? Ignore the research and facts and carry on as I was? Like i said, I don't see myself as unhealthy, so yeah, it's probably nothing to worry about.... No chance! 'No smoke without fire', and what's the harm in seeing for myself? I'm in for some plants.

I will be on board if/when...

For the foreseeable future, I'm going to try to eat as a Vegan. I could well mess it up, either by accident, or if i'm drunk, but I'm going to try. There are direct and indirect reasons, some i can measure/evaluate, and others i'll just have to take on trust. Firstly, and most importantly to me (cause I'm a selfish twat at times), I want to sleep better. For the last 3/4 years at least, sleep has been my nemesis. Can i change in what I eat help? I've noticed that red meat in the evenings means a poor sleep, wonder if the same goes for chicken and dairy too.

Secondly, I don't want to turn into a rake. I've long worried about a lack of protein should i ditch the meat and milk. Protein comes from plants too, so I'll need to research and make sure i consume enough - the gym will be where this is evaluated. A factor i can't measure is how the rain forests are doing without that cow I eat each year potentially requiring that tree-space to graze upon. For that i guess we'd need to see a billion people quit eating cows....... yeah right!

Is the proof really in the pudding?

So I will let you know how i'm doing physically and mentally over the next few weeks and months. I'm hoping to have good news to share, or will this be considered bad news cause them barbecued wings are just so... oh my god?! shhhh, get the wings out of your head and just read the contents of your lunch box today:

Iceberg lettuce
Cherry tomatoes
Pickles
Sweetcorn
Peas
Spinach
Broccoli
Sunflower seeds
Pumpkin seeds
Sesame seeds
Flax seeds
Poppy seeds
Apple cider vinegar
Pepper

Finally

Consider watching the documentary, or at least the trailer. Be prepared to be more confused about what's healthy food and otherwise. Become a little sickened and a little embarrassed about the poor health of our people, and the conditions our fleshy food lives in before being delivered to our faces. Join me on a vege/vegan trip? Or just take another bite of your burger and skip to the next blog in your 'home' list nom nom nommmm.

I'll be on the lookout for people to follow who are on the same path, and have advice and ideas on (god i never thought i'd type this) recipes to share.

Thanks for reading

Asher