Conclusion of book-
The crucial role of HIGH-QUALITY animal foods in achieving optimal health and the development of humans.
The necessity of properly preparing plant foods TO GUARANTEE THEIR BIOAVAILABILITY, as failing to do so could cause harm over time.
I was given the idea for this blog post when a friend who has been vegetarian for 15 years became interested in change.
For me, I was just like: "okay well, eat some meat, or whatever" .. but that is not too compassionate of the situation. Adjusting lifestyle is difficult without a pure whole-hearted reason, or the motivation to do so for a better cause.
In this specific case, my friend was uncomfortable with the thought of consuming an animal, yet sensed something was lacking and was uncertain if it was diet-related. Coincidentally, I just finished reading the book The Carnivore Code by Paul Saladino and am currently engrossed in binge-watching Vikings.
Is it possible for us to thrive without consuming entire animals, as our ancestors did? Could we be lacking essential nutrients necessary for optimal health?
Animal foods vs. plant foods
There are some mixed opinions about animal foods and animal products, are they sustainable? Or destroying the planet? We have a trendy plant-based movement encouraging the importance of minimizing meat and dairy while in conjunction maximizing the consumption of plant foods for health benefit. On the other hand we have an underground movement of carnivores and paleolithic lifestyles emerging, claiming the opposite. With such contrasting opinions, are we all really that different and unique as humans? Does it have to be so extreme?
When I was still holding onto being Vegan, I believed there could never be such a thing as 'too many plant foods', HOW could that be?
Perhaps an excess of fiber and the potential for antinutrients to disrupt my body's natural rhythms...
I've been following YouTube accounts for many years, and in the recent year, there has been an ever-increasing number of ex-vegan YouTube channels converting their content to carnivore-like or keto/paleo eating styles after admitting health consequences due to eating a plant-centered, a.k.a. 'plant-based'/'plant-strong,' diet for too long.
Claims like digestive pain, acne, hormonal loss (low sperm count, amenorrhea, fibroids, etc.), thyroid imbalance, low energy, and a general consensus of 'feeling off'—all complete opposite effects to their initial bout into plant-based eating. I too experienced similar uncomfortable side effects when I was vegan, and I was in complete denial it could be related to eating too many plant foods and living too extreme of a lifestyle.
So is it true? Can we get out of balance without enough animal foods?
Perhaps you have heard about the carnivore trend?
As mentioned earlier, I recently read a book called "The Carnivore Code" written by Dr. Paul Saladino, who eats a diet primarily of animal foods and wrote a handbook to help others guide themselves on the journey too. In the book, he writes about different levels of being a carnivore, some including modest amounts of lettuce, sprouts, and fermented foods, but still mimicking the eating habits of the original man/woman, who feasted on meat, skin-to-tail, fasted regularly, and only ate plants out of necessity and balance—and none of the farmed fruits and veggies we have today, just various natural species of berries and wild leaves.
The Carnivore Code depicts Saladino's personal experience, various clinical tests and epidemiology studies his research team is conducting and famous ones throughout history that have shaped our global idea about eating.
A controversy to the mainstream messages we have learned?
You might think: darn, eating meat all day, every day must clog your arteries, and what about vitamin C!? He busts these thoughts, proving how all essential nutrients can be found somewhere, many times in organ meat. Just like I've written on this website, Saladino writes about the common diet misconceptions around saturated fat and cholesterol and demonizes the processed veggie oil industry and the detrimental side effects of excess sugars lingering within our body. Above all, he reinforces the idea that animal foods are the most metabolically balanced for our body since they run similar metabolic processes as our own.
Want stronger muscles? Eat muscle meat! Want to nourish your liver? Eat a liver!
Overall, Saladino's work challenges and provides evidence against the common information about plant nutrition, a.k.a. the 'eat as many fruits and vegetables as you can' phenomenon, and even claims that plants have evolved to contain toxins and pesticides to protect them against predators that eat them—aka us.
This was something I noticed in my own body when I began to incorporate more whole animal foods into my diet and focused on reducing the surplus of fiber that had been associated with my plant-based diet goals.
As my digestion grew stronger, I noticed that I had been eating foods causing gas and upset.
Food preparation is important for optimal digestion. For example, dairy became a great source of fuel when I fermented it into yogurt, ate cheese, and prepared ghee. Sourdough is amazing, and boiling vegetables softens fibers and prevents gas and bloating.
Antinutrient & plant toxins
Plants contain toxic compounds that, if not properly removed or prepared, can lead to indigestion and mineral deficiencies with regular consumption.
Through my nutrition education, I have learned about these plant toxins. Have you heard of them? Phytic acid? Oxalate?
Do these terms sound familiar? These are plant compounds that, rather than supporting our body's functions, actually inhibit them. These anti-nutrients bind to minerals in our digestive system, preventing absorption. Over time, continuous consumption of these anti-nutrients can result in mineral deficiencies and system imbalances!
Why do antinutrients exist? Plants have developed them as a defense mechanism. When we consume seeds, they remain undigested, pass through our system, and are excreted, allowing the seeds to continue growing.
In "The Carnivore Code," Saladino goes further, suggesting that our ancestors resorted to eating plants as a survival strategy when meat was scarce. He contrasts our relatively comfortable modern life with a survival-focused Paleolithic existence. His research, using bone and tooth samples along with historical and contemporary studies, illustrates how the cultivation and farming of plants have led to a decline in human physique and metabolic health throughout history. It's quite a fascinating read!
Learning from a young age that broccoli is one of the healthiest foods, only to later encounter Saladino's research indicating it might gradually damage DNA and disrupt thyroid function, is quite startling. However, we are aware of goitrogens, a type of antinutrient, and understand that cooking the vegetable can break down this compound...
WHAT I TOOK FROM THE CARNIVORE CODE
Approaching the read, I was quite open-minded about what the Carnivore Code had to offer. With some prior knowledge and intuition, it reinforced two messages I have consistently highlighted on this website:
The critical importance of QUALITY animal foods for our optimal health and the evolution of humans.
The necessity of preparing our plant foods to ENSURE THEY ARE BIOAVAILABLE, as otherwise, they MAY cause harm over time.
The book, the Carnivore Code, was quite a read; it was exaggerated, somewhat humorous, and frankly, another addition to the list of extreme diet books. I believe it contained some valuable information, but it was very one-sided.
With that in mind, I have compiled some essential information that I believe is vital for us to understand as a society to ensure everyone has a chance at achieving optimal health. The nutrients listed below are crucial for our productive survival and should not be underestimated!
As mentioned at the start of the post, this was written for those interested in learning about the nutrients they might miss if they continue a diet that is meatless, or includes very little animal products, and is predominantly plant-based.
Nutrients unavailable in plant foods:
B12
I always think of B12 as a nervous system vitamin. It's key for iron absorption, energy and sleep patterns. It is needed for cellular metabolism, methylation and cell division. Deficiency is strongly related to neurological disfunction, research is being done for deficiency being a correlated with multiple sclerosis, depression, and Alzheimer's dementia.
Our top sources: dark meat but also in white meat, eggs, dairy, and fermented things! Try homemade yogurt and kombucha, it's biologically active and bacteria produce B12. It's in blood too. The best part about getting your B12 from food versus popping a pill is that whole foods contain synergistic nutrients.
Plant version of B12?- Dried algae can be a source of it. That being said you would have to eat LOADS of algae to get the RDA in B12, so an animal source is definitely a short-cut for optimal levels in the body, especially for active people! I recommend spirulina or chlorella tablets for insurance, Brian & I take them mostly everyday since algae is said to be one of the most nutrient dense foods on the planet!! I wrote a blog post on it here.
Cricket powder (from ground crickets) is another option for B12 since it is the crushed insect and we get the whole nervous system, which is comprised with B12. This is new and becoming a trend, check out your local grocery store to see if they have it in stock! It's pretty delicious in a banana peanut butter smoothie.
OTHER B's
B2/riboflavin - hard to obtain in significant amounts from plant foods alone due to reduced bioavailability. RDA is 2-3mg. Spinach is the richest plant form of B2, it contains 0.2mg per 100g. Animal sources are richer and contain 3mg of B2 in 100g of liver or kidney meat. (Saladino, Carnivore Code, 2020).
B6/pyridoxine - less absorbed from plant foods. For example: fibre reduces bioavailability by 5-10% and when bound to a glucoprotein like in cruciferous veggies reduced bioavailability by 75%. (Saladino, Carnivore Code, 2020)
HEME IRON
In plants, iron is found 'non-heme' meaning it is naked without the porphyrin ring that surrounds iron in animals (and humans), called 'heme iron'. This iron found with a ring + oxygen forms hemoglobin and is carried all throughout our body! The non-heme iron is less absorbed in our digestive system and results in a higher risk of iron deficiency anemia.
For example: iron in steak is absorbed at roughly 20%, chicken 18%, liver 15%, soybeans 7%, lettuces 4.4%, corn 3.8%, spinach 1.4% (Insel, Ross, et al. Nutrition, 2010) So just to put that in perspective because I like balance, without having an animal source the increased quantity of plant foods needed to achieve optimal iron levels would result in a lot of fibre!
VITAMIN A/ RETINOL
Only found in plants in the form of beta-carotene, which is not vitamin A retinol the active form in our bodies, beta-carotene is the precursor. 21 units of beta-carotene is needed to equal the biological value of one unit of vitamin A retinol.
Deficiencies in retinol are related to night blindness, reduced eye sight, skin inflammation and fertility issues.
Top sources of vitamin A retinol are in dairy and fatty meat. Consuming both animal foods with retinol + plant foods with beta carotene is how I keep my levels up!
CHOLINE
Not found in plant foods in significant amounts. Can be produced endogenously but not in optimal amounts. Used by the body in neurotransmitter formation and methylation of DNA.
Top sources are in egg yolks, liver, kidney and muscle meat.
RDA = 500mg, although some research suggests more is optimal, 5 egg yolks=600mg.. 1 pound of broccoli= 500mg (Saladino, Carnivore Code, 2020)
CREATINE
Found in muscle meat and brain. Generally known as a nutrient for muscle recovery, injury healing and optimal brain functioning. Used by the body to store energy in phosphate bonds which is what we can use to make ATP quickly (ATP is the energy currency among our cells).
Top sources are muscle meat. No such thing as a plant source. You can try a supplement otherwise.
One study placed people on a lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet for 26 days and found that doing so caused a significant decrease in their muscle creatine levels (PubMedSource).
"45 adult vegetarians found significantly improved mental performance when they were given 5g of creatine per day (the amount found in 1pound of red meat) for 6 weeks in a double blind, placebo controlled intervention" (pg.110, Saladino, Carnivore Code, 2020)
CARNITINE
Can be made endogenously but not for optimal functioning. Helps the body shuffle fatty acids across the mitochondrial membrane for oxidation- a.k.a energy production from fat.
Not found in plant foods. Top sources are red meat, but still white meat, dairy and organ meat.
There has been a link between the body's ability to use fat for fuel and levels of depression: "Fat-based metabolism is particularly important in the brain, and levels of carnitine are lower in the brains of humans during periods of depression." (pg. 113, Saladino, Carnivore Code, 2020)
CARNOSINE
Found in muscle meat. Can be formed in the body but not in sufficient amounts. Carnosine is an antioxidant molecule known to reduce the formation of glycation (when excess sugar molecules attach themselves to protein and lipids aka fat), a process associated with diabetes, dementia, heart disease, etc.
Can be formed by the body with the use of amino acids histidine (found in plant foods, dairy & eggs) and beta-alanine (only found in meat). However, the need for both those pre-cursor amino acids to be present can diminish supply if the body is not consuming the best source: animal meat.
Vegetarians and vegans have 50% less carnosine in their muscles compared to omnivores. (Healthline)
TAURINE
An amino acid/sulfur compound found in brain, heart and kidneys, but also found in muscle meat. It is commonly supplemented in energy drinks and athlete formulas.
Plays a role in muscle function, bile salt formation, and antioxidant defences. Similar to carnosine above, it plays a role in preventing glycation.
VITAMIN K2
Needed for healthy and strong bone formation/density, teeth and joints, it is also important for arterial health since involved in the clotting processes.
Found in grass-fed animal meat (higher amounts red meat) and grassfed dairy. K2 is much less absorbed from plant foods because it is found in the form K1/phylloquinone. K1 is found in brassica vegetables and seaweeds, but easier absorbed when fermented.
VITAMIN D
Our body produces it with sunlight from the fatty acids in our skin. There are also 2 types we can consume: D2 (from plants and less absorbed) and D3, which is more easily absorbed and found in the fatty bits of animal foods that have had exposure to sunlight and eat fresh grass.
Fatty fish, liver, grass-fed dairy, and algae are also sources.The vitamin D supplements we buy in the store are synthetic.
A study showed that "free-range eggs, which were laid by hens allowed to roam out in the sun, contained three to four times the amount of vitamin D than the eggs of hens that were raised indoors" (Healthline via PubMed source)
OMEGA 3
Found in animal brain tissue (90% of the fat in our brain is made up of it), grass-fed animal meat & dairy, and algae—like the spirulina and chlorella I mentioned at the beginning of the post. Commercial meat and dairy do not show optimal amounts of omega-3 because the animals are not exposed to the outdoors where they have access to fresh grass and sunlight!
The form of omega-3 found in plants is the precursor alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and must be converted to our body's active forms: eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosapentaenoic acid (DPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).
When we hear about getting our omegas from plant sources, like chia, hemp, walnuts, and flax seeds, this can be somewhat misleading. The active forms of omega-3 must be assimilated by our body from the oils in these foods—that is why the quality, including freshness and storage, is greatly important to ensure the oils are not oxidized or damaged in any way. Buy from a trusted source, read the packaging date, and store in the fridge or freezer. If you grind them for easier consumption, consume within a week from a sealed jar in the fridge. Consuming rancid oils is not beneficial for our body’s function and can also be detrimental!
Protein
Animal foods contain 'complete' protein structures, meaning they have high amounts of all the essential amino acids (which are the building blocks of the protein strand). Plant foods are known as 'incomplete proteins' because they do not contain high amounts of all the essential amino acids. Additionally, nuts, seeds, legumes, and grains contain antinutrients in the form of protease inhibitors, which prevent our body from fully absorbing the amino acids that are available, resulting in less protein actually obtained from the food.
Due to these protease inhibitors, the absorption rate of amino acids is much lower in plant foods. Take a look at the graph shown above to see a demonstration of this. The graph shows the DIAAS index, the digestible indispensable amino acid score, which gives us a sense of how much protein in a food can actually be used by our body.
What about combining plant foods to create complete proteins—the whole rice & beans, nuts & legumes, corn & grain idea? Based on that graph above and the amount of fiber consumed to gain adequate protein amounts, it would be wise, and my recommendation, to take an interest in learning the traditional techniques for preparing plant foods for optimal digestion & assimilation, such as soaking, rinsing, fermenting, sprouting, and cooking to gain access to the available amino acids. Further, I would recommend pairing plant foods with adequate animal protein sources to ensure our body has the opportunity to build complete protein strands for optimal functioning.
That is all for now! I hope this post has had some interesting ideas to think on and further about, until next time.
Samantha
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