Calcium, Iron, Omega Fatty Acids, Protein, & B12: How to get them all without animals and how to THRIVE via Plant-Based Whole-Foods.

3.17.2020

Until I was 34, I was fully entrenched in the mindset that I needed meat to thrive, and I internally balked ala Leslie Knope when vegan souls crossed my path. The ones I had met had arguments that were always based in animal kindness (an extremely valid base!), but each one I knew was eating an unhealthy diet (ie their health wasn’t reflective of the vitality, research, and clinically proven benefits of Plant-Based WHOLE-FOODS), they didn't bring up the health harms of animal products, the environmental reasons, or how to healthfully make the transition.

They did bring up that humans are not meant to consume animal products, but I obviously didn’t care enough to research the truth (<— we really are not biologically set up to be carnivores). I brushed Veganism off as a compassionate lifestyle-choice and continued harming myself, animals, and the earth.

Sound like you, Dear Reader?

Now here I am 37 years old, thriving on plant-based whole-foods, and healthier, keener of mind, stronger, more energetic, and happier than I’ve ever been. That photo above is a from a 27º February dip, and taken by Jim McDonnell: a dear soul and fellow Coney Island Polar Bear Club member. We’ve been swimming with CIPBC for 11 years, but 2020 is the first time I’ve done so without any pain of the lactic acid build up that comes from bobbing on my tiptoes for dips no-less-than-ten-minutes-in-length. Why did I recover without pain this year? Because I had no cow breastmilk byproduct riddling my system (I was vegetarian before I became fully plant-based, and I would have sworn to you that I could not live without dairy) and plant-based diets are proven to have faster recovery time. I even had the energy after the swim to sprint —for the sport/joy/fun of it— up the beach and back to the clubhouse, and running is something I’ve never, ever enjoyed.

I’m here to explain why you need to make the switch and what foods you should eat instead of animal products, because I had the very same doubts you may have, and I am ashamed at how very wrong I was: plant-based whole-foods are better for your immune system (especially paramount now, eh?), they are proven to help protect you (and your family) from diseases, and it is the only diet that is going to help prevent climate tipping points.

CALCIUM

Calcium is a mineral needed for strong bones and teeth. Who here thinks you need the breastmilk of a cow to give you calcium? I sure did; and I loved cheese and ice cream so much I ate my weight in them several times over.

It is true that cow breastmilk has a lot of calcium and protein in it (for that growing calf), but did you ever stop to think that the reason mammals breastfeed is to grow babies (not adults)? I never did, but Boy Howdy does it rattle my brain now.

Did you know the etymology of “dairy” means female servant? It also removes you from the mental image of just what it is you’re consuming, and I’m a proponent of direct words, so this is why you’re forever going to see me bring us right back to the truth that we are the only species drinking the breastmilk of another species into adulthood.

Humans are supposed to be weened around 2 years of age, yet we persist with drinking the breastmilk of another animal. The protein in cow’s breastmilk is meant to double the size of a calf in 40 days. Humans babies are supposed to double their weight in 180 days (and not end up the size of a cow), so by continuously feeding yourself a mammalian growth slurry you are setting yourself up for a feast of diseases.

Wait, why would it give us diseases? Did you know that there is a negative chemical reaction that happens within your body when you try to consume another species’ protein? Why? Because those animal proteins are not meant for you, your body knows this and recognizes them as a harmful, it is trying to neutralize the threat, but by doing so the stress of this back-and-forth can cause osteoporosis. This process is called metabolic acidosis.

Here’s a video that explains it perfectly and how it is causing osteoporosis and cancer.

If videos or the research articles highlighted above aren’t your thing, let me explain:

When animal products enter your system, they cause an acid reaction (your body is trying to kill them, because it DOESN’T WANT THEM IN IT) and this reaction is metabolic acidosis. To neutralize the acid, your body utilizes its most readily available acid buffer (calcium) and pulls it from your bones which leads to osteoporosis. You flush this all out in your urine, which leads to a direct correlation between prostate cancer and casein (cow breastmilk protein) consumption.

These animal proteins also linked to other cancers, asthma, hormonal diseases, kidney failure, and diabetes.

Wait! How do they cause diabetes? Your body can’t process those animal fats, so they build-up and create toxic fatty breakdown products and free radicals that block the insulin-signaling process, close the 'glucose gate,' and make blood sugar levels rise.

Hormonal diseases? But I get the kind of milk that is RGH free, so I’m good…right?

“This has absolutely nothing to do with bovine growth hormone which is being used in the States but not in Canada to increase milk production. That’s an irrelevant factor. But what is not irrelevant is that today cows are milked for about 300 days a year, and much of that time the cows are pregnant. Estrogen sulphate, the main estrogen in milk, is about thirty times as abundant in milk from pregnant cows than in milk from non-pregnant ones. And the amount of estrogen increases during the later stages of pregnancy.”

This is a great interview with Dr. Neal Barnard explaining it all in depth, but in short: estrogen is a handy little hormone that we naturally produce, and it likes to signal cells to multiply and divide. When we add high-in-estrogen-cow-breastmilk into our systems it throws our body out of balance leading to: early menstruation, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, endometrial cancer, ovarian cancer, and the prostate cancer mentioned above.

What do our kidneys have to do with this? Again (and again, and AGAIN), your body isn’t meant to process those animal fats, so your kidneys go into overdrive trying to filter out the contaminants. Just like your endothelial cells are affected moments after you consume animal products (harming your whole cardiovascular system and leading to heart disease and dementia), your kidneys are put in the same lurch. Animal products cause “an impairment of kidney blood flow, inflammation, subsequent leakage of protein in the urine, and a rapid decrease in kidney function.”

Did you know that even Canada removed dairy from its food pyramid and we have doctors here in the United States trying to do the same thing, or to at least post warnings that it is linked to cancer? Did you know that 70% of humans are lactose intolerant and that the numbers are higher in those of Asian and African descent? Did you know there are doctors out there —like Dr. Milton Mills— sounding the alarm that the American Dietary guidelines pushing milk are institutionalized racism?

If you like the taste of cow breastmilk so much you don’t care about any of the above damage and could care less about how dairy production is harming the earth (and the animals suffering to give it to you), that is your inarguably selfish choice to make, and it is my empathetic choice to illuminate the imperatives of pivoting for the sake of all the species you’re harming for the sake of flavor, because (again): ignorance is bliss until you have been informed, and then it is just willful disregard.

If you’re like us and the above information slapped you right up side the head, here are a feast of plant-based calcium sources that are as kind as they are healthy; and incase you don’t want to click those helpful links, here are a few listed out for ease:

Plant-Based Milks (our favorite is oatmilk)

Almonds

Broccoli and Broccoli Rabe

Brussel Sprouts

Butternut Squash

Chia Seeds

Kale

Oats

Quinoa

Tofu

Turnips

Sesame Seeds (and tahini)

Sunflower Seeds

Sweet Potatoes

White Beans

IRON

Wait, but I was told I needed the muscles of another soul to get my iron!

Nope! You can get all the iron you need from plants, and in case you didn’t know: iron is best absorbed when consumed with Vitamin C (which you can only get from plants).

Why do you need iron? It is vital for muscle strength, brain function, hemoglobin (<—protein that transports oxygen in the blood) and crucial for your immune system to function properly, and it proliferates immune cells (particularly lymphocytes).

Here are some plant-based sources of iron, and some more favorites listed out for those click-adversed:

Apricots

BEANS (any and all)

Broccoli

Brussel Sprouts

Leafy Greens (beet greens, collard greens, kale, spinach, swiss chard, etc)

Lentils (any and all, as well)

Mushrooms

Nuts and Seeds

Oats

Olives

Quinoa

Peas

Potatoes

Squash

Tomatoes

Some on-hand Omegas: blue-green algae, flax seed, chia seed, hemp hearts, and walnuts.

OMEGA-3 FATTY ACIDS

Omega fatty acids are those things I get from fish, right? Yeah, there are omega fatty acids in fish, but you also get mercury and PCBs, all the microplastics you can imagine, and if they are farm-raised you’re getting antibiotics to boot. They are even high in cholesterol and TMAO! YOU WANT NO PART OF FISH.

But you do need omega fatty acids because they:

Are important components of the membranes that surround each cell in your body. DHA levels are especially high in retina (eye), brain, and sperm cells. Omega-3s also provide calories to give your body energy and have many functions in your heart, blood vessels, lungs, immune system, and endocrine system (the network of hormone-producing glands).

You can get them safely and kindly through the following plant-based sources:

Algae and Algal Oil

Chia Seeds

Brussel Sprouts

Flax Seeds

Hemp Hearts & Seeds

Pumpkin Seeds

Walnuts

PROTEIN

Every cell in your body contains protein. Protein is “made up of amino acids that join together to form long chains. You can think of a protein as a string of beads in which each bead is an amino acid. There are 20 amino acids that help form the thousands of different proteins in your body.” You need protein to build and repair tissue, give you energy, to make hormones and enzymes, to bolster your immune system, and transport and store nutrients.

There are so many plant-based proteins I gave up trying to photograph them, because every single plant has some form of protein in it (even an apple!) and they all have amino acids within.

You may think you need animals for protein, but you could not be more wrong. As seen from all the studies and doctor-lead-research I’ve shared, you can get all the proteins, amino acids, iron, and calcium you need from plants. In fact, the protein in the animal products you are consuming, came from plants those souls ate. They are simply middlemen, and consuming animal products for the sake of flavor is causing inflammation/disease/suffering.

You could go straight to the source and thrive in health and kindness.

VITAMIN B12

B12 is an essential and vital vitamin needed for brain function, nerve tissue health, and the production of red blood cells.

Where does it come from? It is produced by tiny, powerful bacteria.

In the past, humans consumed B12 via the soil on our freshly plucked veggies and from our not-so-pure water. In modern day, misguided souls think that we need to get it from animal products, but what you may not know is that those slaughtered animals are actually fed B12 ( again, middlemen, just like all that plant-based protein beefing them up).

Wait, why are they fed B12?

Cattle no longer feed on grass and chickens do not peck in the dirt on factory farms. Even if they did, pesticides often kill B12 producing bacteria and insects in soil. Heavy antibiotic use kills B12 producing bacteria in the guts of farm animals. In order to maintain a source of B12 the meat industry now adds it to animal feed, 90% of B12 supplements produced in the world are fed to livestock. Even if you only eat grass-fed organic meat you may not be able to absorb the B12 attached to animal protein.

So how do you (carnivore and plant-based warriors alike) get your B12? Doctors recommend that all of us take a B12 supplement, get it through fortified cereals, or you can get it through the super tasty, cheesy-tasting Nutritional Yeast. We put Bragg’s on and in dishes all the livelong day and it is as delicious as it is nutritious.

If there’s anything you should have learned from above, it is that opting for a slab of muscle, chicken embryo, or coagulated cow breastmilk will give you diseases and inflammation, and it’s better to skip them and go right to the source of health: plant-based whole-foods.

The earth depends on it, all the species harmed by your selfish craving of taste (not nutrition or health: TASTE) need you to, and your health relies on it (as do the bodies of your children.)

Now that you can’t plead ignorance, and know all the many delicious/healthy/better options available to you, I hope you grow forward with kindness and vitality. It’s the only way we can heal this earth and ourselves.