Meatless Mondays: A Healthier You, a Healthier Planet

Razz said:

My only sources on this are Robb Wolf and Mat Lalonde who both say that grassfed local is the way for a sustainable food business in the future.

Check out polyface farms on sustainability too http://www.polyfacefarms.com/

Robb Wolf has a background in biochemistry, but neither of those guys are experts in the field of sustainability or environmentalism, so their knowledge/opinion on the subject is going to be based off the research of others. Without seeing that actual research it's hard to say if there's validity to the opinion, but I definitely do support grassfed over factory farm meat in general. But still, even with grassfed meat you still have far more pollution and land/water consumption than with the production of plant foods, so either way you look at it a day of plant foods is still great for the planet.

Thanks for the link to that farm, looks like they have a great program. Consumer health, and well-being of the animals, seems to be a priority there, and the "transparency" policy is a great one. Hopefully independent farms like that become more common as food awareness spreads. I know the Paleo movement is a huge supporter of grass-fed meat, but what's the opinion on dairy products? Do they also advocate purchasing dairy products from independent farms that don't use artificial bovine growth hormones? (I suppose that's not an issue in other countries, though, since America is the only modern nation that hasn't banned the use of rBGH)

Mikael said:

I do not know the details of the process, it is being used mostly by small farmers, but the big producers are already adhering to this sustainable change too. The deforestation in the Amazon is illegal, isn't the correct practice and not all producers do it, for sure is minority . Also, a new law started this year forcing these producers reforest part of these areas and The Project Monitoring Deforestation in the Amazon (PRODES), which analyzes the deforestation in the biome over 12 months, in December presented the finding of 11% drop in the devastation of the forest. The things are getting better.

Great, I'm very glad to hear that things are getting better there

Mikael said:

Maybe we'll discover what's the best choice the next years. Here, the scientists are manipulating the soy and they are able to "deploy" in the plant growth hormone, what a splendid thing, because before it was believed that plants could have no hormons animal / human. But it is still only the beginning. And maybe Siddhartha was right when said: "The Earth would be happy if all beings were united by the ties of benevolence and only feed on pure foods, without bloodshed. The GOLDEN GRAIN, bright fruits and delicious herbs that grow for all, would be enough to feed and give abundance to the world."

Very true, plant foods aren't immune to harmful modifications by greedy corporations either. Pretty much anything Monsanto does can be summarized as Evil with a capital E, and they've created huge environmental and health hazards in both the animal and plant food industries. It's really up to consumers to be aware of what foods they purchase, and where that food comes from.

Yes the paleo movement recommends local raw grassfed dairy in general.

Robb Wolf has however put a great deal of time into researching this stuff with other paleo advocates in order to see what is sustainable for the earth.. one of the future promotion techniques of paleo will no doubt be that it is actually sustainable vs. corn and grain agriculture which is not.

Razz said:

Robb Wolf has however put a great deal of time into researching this stuff with other paleo advocates in order to see what is sustainable for the earth.. one of the future promotion techniques of paleo will no doubt be that it is actually sustainable vs. corn and grain agriculture which is not.

I can see the argument for grass-fed beef being more sustainable than factory farmed beef, but it's pretty hard to argue that it's more sustainable than grain agriculture when the resource consumption and pollution for beef vs grains aren't even in the same ballparks, as we discussed earlier in the thread. A plot of land of grains will produce far more calories than a plot of land with grazing cows of the same size.

While grass-fed beef is preferrable to factory farmed beef, if everyone were to switch to grass-fed beef how would the demand be met? The current demands for meat require that efficient factory setting, as the U.S. alone currently slaughters nine billion animals per year. The resources to raise that many animals in a grass-fed, humane setting would be tremendous, not to mention that the world population is still growing and those numbers are on the rise. The only solution I see is for consumers to cut back on their consumption of meats; even just going from two burgers a day to one burger a day is a huge difference when adapted by many people, which leads back to the purpose of Meatless Monday.

Meatless Mondays are painful... Carb intolerance makes that the slowest, most angry day ever.

PHILIP said:

Meatless Mondays are painful... Carb intolerance makes that the slowest, most angry day ever.

At least it's not 3-5 days in a row, then you'd be able to empathize with women!

PHILIP said:

Meatless Mondays are painful... Carb intolerance makes that the slowest, most angry day ever.

What form of carb intolerance do you have? Celiac disease? Even without gluten you can get tons of energy from plant-based foods. Plus if you're just doing a vegetarian Meatless Monday you still have eggs and milk, so I don't know why you'd have less energy unless there was something wrong with the specific meals you had. I've had so much more energy since introducing tons of veggies, fruits, nuts, and legumes into my diet

Aurele said:

PHILIP said:

Meatless Mondays are painful... Carb intolerance makes that the slowest, most angry day ever.

What form of carb intolerance do you have? Celiac disease? Even without gluten you can get tons of energy from plant-based foods. Plus if you're just doing a vegetarian Meatless Monday you still have eggs and milk, so I don't know why you'd have less energy unless there was something wrong with the specific meals you had. I've had so much more energy since introducing tons of veggies, fruits, nuts, and legumes into my diet

Not celiac. Just not a carb tolerant person. I don't eat legumes. Fruits tend to send me into feeding frenzies.

PHILIP said:

Aurele said:

PHILIP said:

Meatless Mondays are painful... Carb intolerance makes that the slowest, most angry day ever.

What form of carb intolerance do you have? Celiac disease? Even without gluten you can get tons of energy from plant-based foods. Plus if you're just doing a vegetarian Meatless Monday you still have eggs and milk, so I don't know why you'd have less energy unless there was something wrong with the specific meals you had. I've had so much more energy since introducing tons of veggies, fruits, nuts, and legumes into my diet

Not celiac. Just not a carb tolerant person. I don't eat legumes. Fruits tend to send me into feeding frenzies.

Any idea if it's due to an infection of your intestinal tract, or have you seen a doctor about it? Only forms of carb intolerance I've heard of are celiac disease, lactose intolerance, protein deficiency, and intestinal disorders. Definitely worth getting treated; can't imagine life without carbs If you don't eat legumes, fruits, or grains, and get all your energy from fats and protein, then I would just go with eggs, vegetables, and nuts for Meatless Monday. That will easily fulfill all your nutritional needs, and there are thousands of recipes just for those three things.

Hey when you put it that way, it doesn't sound so bad. I might give it a try then. I am a huge fan of eggs (salsa, tomato sauce, omletes) because they're one of the few ways for me to actually enjoy the vegetables I put in them. And sea salted nuts are a guilty pleasure.

Nice adaptations!

I crash so hard after eating fruit that I avoid them like the plague...

Patrick Smith said:

I crash so hard after eating fruit that I avoid them like the plague...

This is what I mean by carb intolerant by the way. I just generally feel like sleeping after. And leaning out for me doesn't work well with carbs.

And you experience that with all forms of carbs? I guess everyone is different; personally I am a complete fruitaholic, and get about 60% of my calories from carbs. If I don't eat carbs I tend to feel super lethargic, whereas eating fruit gives me a lot of energy.

For those that want to try Meatless Monday but dunno what they'd eat, the main website has hundreds of recipes.

http://www.meatlessmonday.com/

Aurele said:

And you experience that with all forms of carbs? I guess everyone is different; personally I am a complete fruitaholic, and get about 60% of my calories from carbs. If I don't eat carbs I tend to feel super lethargic, whereas eating fruit gives me a lot of energy.

For those that want to try Meatless Monday but dunno what they'd eat, the main website has hundreds of recipes.

http://www.meatlessmonday.com/

Pretty much. Has to be very very small amounts at one time. Or I experience the same thing you do. A lot of my family is like that.

PHILIP said:

Aurele said:

And you experience that with all forms of carbs? I guess everyone is different; personally I am a complete fruitaholic, and get about 60% of my calories from carbs. If I don't eat carbs I tend to feel super lethargic, whereas eating fruit gives me a lot of energy.

For those that want to try Meatless Monday but dunno what they'd eat, the main website has hundreds of recipes.

http://www.meatlessmonday.com/

Pretty much. Has to be very very small amounts at one time. Or I experience the same thing you do. A lot of my family is like that.

I'm somewhere in the middle. I function great on sweet potatoes, buckwheat, veggies and milk. I... do not particularly like fruit all that much anymore, but I have it as sweet treats. I"m fine with a piece or two, but in bulk it doesn't make me feel good. I probably have fruit 2 days per week. I eat something like 2-3 lbs of veggies per day, and I try to get 480g of carbs from buckwheat.

That is the diet I function the best on. It turns out I'm getting around eight 60g (of carbs) servings of buckwheat each day, with 9-10g of each being soluble fiber. I stay lean with virtually no effort and perform very nicely. Growth is better too, when I have this amount of food.

Looks like I'm getting 2960 calories with the protein included, which is pretty awesome. I'm glad, I am just under a 400 kcal deficit. No good to really be more than that. That number is including my veggies and sometimes a bit of butter in them. Some days I get less.

Regardless, those kinds of carbs seem to make me feel incredibly good, especially when I remember to drink lots of water! Fortunately, the buckwheat absorbs a TON of water when cooked, so it actually has quite a bit and reduces my need to drink a good bit.

Your buckwheat post are giving me an excuse to make pancakes out of them. I feel okay with sweet potatoes too. Fructose not so much.

Me either, fructose doesn't do it for me. One thing I have noticed is that my body handles occasional indulgences with ease, and I also never seem to really have a huge desire for sweets. Even when I eat sweets, I just don't really want a whole lot.

A far cry from my days of eating football-sized chunks of cookie dough...

Buckwheat is awesome What type of stuff do you use it for? Right now I just consume it as Japanese noodle dishes, but would love to add some more buckwheat foods into my diet.

I cook 4 cups dry groats in probably 9 or 10 cups of water with 1 teaspoon of salt, makes 8-9 cups of food in 20 minutes. That's 480g of carbs, 72-80g fiber, 80g protein and 80% of iron for the day. Pretty awesome. This is also how I almost get my minimum 2400mg of sodium, this is probably about 2200mg. And that's it! Everyone who has tried it thinks it is quite delicious. Surprising, for such a simple food.

Sounds fantastic, I'll have to try that. This morning I gave buckwheat pancakes a shot, and those were pretty delicious. Gonna try a buckwheat/lentil salad for lunch.

Razz said:

My only sources on this are Robb Wolf and Mat Lalonde who both say that grassfed local is the way for a sustainable food business in the future.

Check out polyface farms on sustainability too http://www.polyfacefarms.com/

This farm is only a 3-4 hour drive from where I live

Aurele said:

Buckwheat is awesome What type of stuff do you use it for? Right now I just consume it as Japanese noodle dishes, but would love to add some more buckwheat foods into my diet.

What is the benefit of eating buckwheat? No gluten? I try to eat paleo most meals, but I am not strict about it. I do like the occasional baked good or pancake. I have found some good paleo substitutes, but I am interested in other options.

I have found that having boozeless Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesday, and Thursdays (Thor's Day!) has been very helpful to shedding some unwanted pudge.

Wolf with one Ear said:

What is the benefit of eating buckwheat? No gluten?.. but I am interested in other options.

Hey Wolf with one Ear- Buckwheat is as you have hinted... gluten free and just another option of many! Although I have no gluten allergy that I'm aware of I have looked into some research regarding wheat germ agglutinin and possible gastrointestinal inflammation and absorption problems associated with it and I've tried to limit my consumption as a personal experiment so to speak!! I find the real benefit to buckwheat is when I sprout it. When sprouting buckwheat you allow the germination process to unfold promoting enzymatic reactions withing the groat that reduce the total starch content while improving the protein quality, vitamin content, mineral absorption (through chelation-or binding with amino acids), and fiber content (picture the seed itself breaking down into a more usable state for the growing plant to utilize for food)... essentially making the buckwheat more nutritious and easier for your body to digest and absorb... I'll also take dry buckwheat groats and grind them in a blender a bit then cook them in the microwave like I would oatmeal (water, cinnamon, and some stevia)... tastes great- kinda like a cream of wheat hot cereal.

Wolf with one Ear said:

I have found that having boozeless Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesday, and Thursdays (Thor's Day!) has been very helpful to shedding some unwanted pudge.

Through the years I've found that one of the keys to staying lean is avoiding the intra weekly drinking as well!!!.... but I DO like to go out and grab some cold ones friday and saturday though.... especially now that the weather here in Chicago is starting to get warm and summer is on its way!!! -John

Wolf with one ear, I make buckwheat waffles from buckwheat flour. They are easy to store and taste great.

I'm experimenting with buckwheat bread. It's a challenge, but I'm on it.

Cos let's face it - sammiches are handy and toast is delish