A note from the website owner:
My health journey involved exploring dozens of diets, including vegetarianism and veganism "done right." I read all the 'health experts' talking about how to make it work, and I gave a hard core shot for a year.
The result?
My health got even worse. I was already chronically ill before that, but after about 6 months of a plant-based diet, my hair started falling out, I lost so much weight I looked like a frail bamboo shoot, and I became intolerant to almost every food I ate. My brain fog got worse, my energy went even lower, and I was constantly dealing with bowel distress. I was so confused, partially because of the increasing copper toxicity in my brain, but also because I had some initial improvement the first two months. Yet, by the end of the year, I was barely functional. It took me quite some time meat eating, detoxifying, and working with Mineral Balancing to fully recover.
Turns out this is a common story. I've seen many people and worked with many clients who have had veganism/vegetarianism wreck their health. Biochemically, there is a long list of reasons why this happens, including leaching minerals from the body, damaged metabolic rate, copper toxicity, inability to detoxify metals, and so on.
I share the following post in the hope that I can shatter this health illusion for whoever reads it.
Dr. Paul Eck is the main pioneer in Mineral-Nutritional balancing, and his work helped me understand what my vegan experiment did to my body, and to so many others.
What follows is an excerpt from "Energy: How it affects your emotions, your level of achievement, and your entire well being." , an interview with Dr. Paul Eck. Reprinted with permission.
There are so many more gems in that chapter alone, but I've compressed for the purposes of this blog. I highly recommend picking up a copy of the book to learn more.
Paul Eck: The Truth about Vegetarianism
When you speak candidly with a vegetarian, you may discover that they experience a variety of health issues. Despite what health literature may suggest, vegetarians are not necessarily healthy people.
While some of their symptoms may disappear, they often fail to realize that a weakened immune system can temporarily alleviate certain symptoms. Vegetarians may interpret these temporary improvements as positive signs of their lifestyle. However, they are unlikely to consider that their diet may actually harm their long-term health.
Additionally, vegetarians tend to be ideologically committed to their lifestyle and primarily focus on its benefits. They may struggle to comprehend that their diet could be doing more harm than good. Furthermore, they may not recognize a slow decline in energy levels, which could indicate that their diet is negatively affecting them.
On average, vegetarians may experience initial benefits for a few months, but eventually, their health may decline. Despite setbacks, they often continue with their lifestyle, assuming that it is only a temporary problem.
It's unlikely that vegetarians will agree that meat-eaters have more energy. Since they do not experience high energy levels themselves, they are less aware of others' energy levels. Additionally, they tend to be defensive of their lifestyle and may not admit its shortcomings.
For vegetarians, their lifestyle is more than just a diet; it's a cause. They tend to build a philosophy around their dietary habits.
Why do people go vegetarian?
People often become vegetarians for health benefits or because they believe it's an intellectual and philosophical decision. However, it's usually a biological imperative due to a collapse in their metabolism.
As their metabolic rate slows down, their digestion and assimilation become impaired, leading to discomfort and distaste for red meat. They then start gravitating towards poultry and fish before finally adopting a diet based on fruits and vegetables.
There are three main classes of vegetarians - lacto, fructo, and strict. Many vegetarians concentrate on dairy products, cottage cheese, yogurt, and vegetables to fulfill their protein needs. However, dairy products are also high in fat, eventually becoming a problem for them. The last available food alternative is a diet built around fruits and vegetables, which are low in fats and high in sugars and complex starches.
Vegetarians who specialize in fruits and fruit juices need quick energy that is easy to digest. They can't produce enough energy from slowly digested sugars in starches, so their only alternative is to eat high-energy foods like fruits.
Some people become vegetarians because they are philosophically opposed to killing animals or are concerned about hormones in meat or other health hazards. However, behind these assertions exists a low energy level. Any high energy person realizes that a vegetarian diet fails to support high energy levels.
Some people reduce their intake of red meat drastically because they are practical, even though they would never describe themselves as vegetarians. Some claim they eat meat but only once or twice a week, which isn't the same as eating meat protein at least once a day, every day.
Almost all vegetarians are in a state of slow oxidation, which indicates a decline in metabolism.
Debunking Vegan Dogma
Research studies do suggest that vegetarians have a lower incidence of heart disease and cancer, and these studies have some merit. A low-fat diet can be beneficial for vegetarians, as fats tend to slow down their already sluggish metabolism. Avoiding fats may improve their health temporarily and reduce their risk of chronic diseases like cancer and heart disease. However, it's important to note that heart disease and cancer aren't the only diseases that affect people. Vegetarians may be paying a price for their dietary choices that isn't being measured, such as their chronic slow metabolism. This slow metabolism can be more harmful to them than any hormones in meat.
A vegetarian metabolism is on a slow bum. As a result, the vegetarian may live longer - in theory. The problem is that their slow metabolism is reducing the quality of their life. No one is measuring that. In conclusion, I have to say that I have known many vegetarians who had cancer and who had been vegetarians for years. Also, most vegetarians are in a state of slow metabolism. Slow metabolism is highly conducive to slow growing cancer. It is also conducive to hardening of the arteries. Overall, vegetarians are not healthy - in spite of what the studies may show.
Does a vegetarian diet help with stress?
The vegetarian diet does not reduce stress. It merely reduces the awareness of stress. As one's adrenal and thyroid activity decline, there is a lessened ability to respond to stress. To make an extreme analogy, how can one respond to a needle poking one in the arm when one is anesthetized? Similarly, when one is in slow oxidation, as vegetarians are, one is partially anesthetized. It is energy that makes awareness possible. Without sufficient energy, awareness is dimmed. The lower the energy, the less one can 'feel' stress - regardless of how great it is.
As an individual loses his energy, he becomes more detached from the world. In his own mind, the individual sees only the apparent benefits - the sense of serenity and peace. He does not see what he has lost.
Normal vegetarian symptom profile
Almost every vegetarian I've seen has dry skin, and it has to do with their slow metabolism. Individuals with a slow metabolism have a low sodium level. It is sodium that retains water in the skin. Without adequate sodium levels, the skin dries out.
Vegetarians may be so used to their dry skin that they have no idea of just how moist their skin could be - if they were healthier. Vegetarians also have cool hands and perspire very little. This is also due to their reduced level of metabolism. At times, though, vegetarians may perspire greatly and have hot palms and greatly increased body heat. This occurs when they are experiencing anxiety. Anxiety tends to increase metabolism temporarily.
Anxiety is perhaps the dominant underlying symptomatology of a vegetarian. Due to their slow metabolism and high copper levels, they suffer from a continual high level of free-floating anxiety. This anxiety is not necessarily caused by any stresses in their environment. It is an internally-generated anxiety.
The vegetarian's anxiety is expressed in many different ways. It is most noticeable when it comes to matters of food and health. Vegetarians are obsessed with avoiding food additives, animal products, binders in tablets, environmental pollutants, and heavy metals. They become obsessed with avoiding every impediment they feel might do them harm.
Vegetarians should be much more concerned about their slow metabolism.
What happens when vegetarians begin to recover from their slow oxidation?
They don't like it - and for understandable reasons. As you increase a vegetarian's energy, you also increase his awareness of his own anxiety. He becomes more aware of how bad off he really is. This can be frightening - and overwhelming.
On our program, the vegetarian will find himself feeling more energetic and revitalized. His mind will work more quickly, and he will be sharper than before. But all the anxieties that used to plague him will, for a time, still be there. Only now, he has the energy to become acutely aware of these feelings. Now that he becomes awake and 'alive,' he will rediscover those factors that originally upset him. He may not be able to handle these anxieties, and he may regress back into vegetarianism rather than deal with his increased awareness. If a vegetarian wishes to return to health, he must make up his mind to avoid shrinking back into the introverted and fearful person he once was.
Connect with me to learn more or began a Mineral-Balancing Program.