Everyone from celebs to social media gurus to the news keeps telling us that to be truly healthy, hit our ideal weight, and feel awesome, we have to ditch all animal products, especially red meat. This constant chatter can make you feel super guilty and confused, convincing you that animal foods are just plain bad for you. But after years of helping tons of clients reach their health goals, I can tell you straight up: that popular idea just isn’t true for most women.
While it’s totally crucial to build your diet around awesome plant foods – like lots of colorful veggies and fruits– it’s also true that high-quality, properly sourced animal foods are packed with vital nutrients that plants just can’t easily or efficiently provide on their own. I’m talking about things like Vitamins A, D, E and K – the fat-soluble vitamins. As well as easily absorbable iron, vitamin B12, creatine, carnosine, and long chain fats EPA and DHA (especially from fatty fish), and specific amino acids essential for rebuilding muscles, making hormones, and keeping all your cells happy. When you consciously include the right kinds of meat, poultry, and fish, you can seriously boost your metabolism, turning your body into an efficient fat-burning machine. These foods help you feel full, keep your blood sugar steady, and give your metabolism the building blocks it needs to thrive.
Take a look back through history, and you’ll see a big truth: there isn’t a single traditional culture that stayed healthy, had strong immune systems, and kept having babies generation after generation without some kind of animal food in their diet. From the Arctic people relying on seals and fish, to African tribes doing great on dairy and meat, to ancient farming societies adding domesticated animals to their plant-based meals, animal foods have always been super important for human evolution and well-being. This historical evidence really shows that animal products are naturally compatible and necessary for us to be at our best. For addition information and research please visit www.westonaprice.org.
It’s also super important to remember that we all have unique body needs, genetics, and lifestyles. So, the exact amount and type of animal protein you need to reach your personal best health and ideal weight will naturally be different from someone else. The most important step here is to let go of that deep-seated fear that eating quality meat is inherently bad for you. This fear can lead to restrictive diets that accidentally cause nutrient deficiencies and make your relationship with food unhealthy.
Instead, embracing the idea of choosing the right kind of animal protein is incredibly nourishing and empowering. I’ll give you the exact info and practical tips to pick the best sources – focusing on pasture-raised, grass-fed, wild-caught, and ethically sourced options that are free from hormones and unnecessary antibiotics. These superior choices have way more nutrients compared to regular, factory-farmed stuff. When you properly add these high-quality animal proteins, you’ll powerfully crush cravings by getting essential nutrients that tell your brain you’re full and effectively stabilizing your blood sugar levels. This steady energy and reduced hunger lead to sticking with your diet better, feeling happier, and finding a more sustainable path to long-term health, wholeness and weight management without feeling deprived or constantly fighting your body or hunger pains.
Learn more about why grass-fed meats and other animal foods might be part of a healthy diet in my book co-authored with one of the top holistic doctors, Dr. David Brownstein, The Skinny on Fats.
If you want to buy grass-fed meats look for local farmers at your farmers market. You can also order online through a great company US Wellness Meats. My son and I are also going to be featured nutritionist/chef next month – look for our recipes and posts coming out in July!
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