Alicia Silverstone's book The Kind Diet

I just got Alicia Silverstone's health book The Kind Diet in the mail, and decided to update you guys with important facts as I go along. So far it is a great book, exactly what I wanted. The following is from the first two chapters.

"Frightened animals prduce lots of cortisol and adrenaline right before slaughter, and we can become stressed from eating their meat."

Heart disease is the #1 killer of women in America and meat is mainly to blame.

Here's what happens: meat has saturated fat - this elevates blood cholesterol - which creates plaque buildup - which leads to clogged arteries - which leads to high blood pressure - which can lead to a stroke or heart attack.

"A low-fat plant-based diet would lower an individual's risk of heart attack by 85 percent."

In one of the studies listed in the book, women who ate the most meat were more likely to develop breast cancer. In a different study, a sugar molecule called NeuG5c, which shows up in many cancerous human tumors, is not produced by the human body, it comes from red meat. And another fact: "dioxin is the most toxic chemical known to science and is recognized as a human carcinogen. It is estimated that 93 percent of our exposure to dioxin comes through eating animal products - beef, lamb, pork, chicken, dairy, eggs, and especially FISH."

"When either red or white meats hit a grill, they create cancer-causing compounds called heterocyclic amines. FYI: grilled chicken has more than 17 times the number of these compounds than grilled steak."

When you eat meat your blood becomes acidic and your bones have to lend their minerals in order to balance out that acidity, especially when it is combined with sodium, caffeine, tobacco and inactivity. This can lead to osteoporosis.

Because of the conditions animals are kept in before getting to the slaughterhouse, they are given antibiotics. "Farmed salmon have more antibiotics administered by weight than any other form of livestock." What's the problem with free antibiotics? You good bacteria in your gut is killed off, leaving your immune system weaker, and the bacteria you want gone just gets stronger. Meat also carries pathogens, some from the animals' bowels, some from unsanitary conditions. Sometimes, as in the case of "pink slime," they use heavy duty chemicals like chlorine and bleach to make it "safe."

You are also eating what the animal ate, the food it was given to make it grow big and strong - in this case livestock feed instead of grass. Livestock feed contains bones, blood, viscera, and even the remains of euthanized cats and dogs (and the chemicals used to euthanize them).

Lastly (although I'm sure there's more) they are injected with growth hormones to make them grow fast, grow meaty, and stay constantly pregnant and lactating.

So, in summary, you are eating meat that came from unhappy, scared, tortured animals in crowded, filthy conditions, injected with growth hormones (in addition to their stress/fear hormone before slaughter) and antibiotics, that carry pathogens and are treated with chemicals, and is known to have carcinogens. Do you really want to eat that? Do you really want to feed your kids that?

Hope you enjoyed my fun facts from the first two chapters. I know I did. Stay tuned for fun facts from the rest of chapter two.

Leave me a comment if you're vegetarian yet. =)