“Concerning flesh meat, we should educate the people to let it alone. Its use is contrary to the best development of the physical, mental, and moral powers.” –Counsels on Health, p. 477–478
“Flesh was never the best food; but its use is now doubly objectionable, since disease in animals is so rapidly increasing. Those who use flesh foods little know what they are eating. Often if they could see the animals when living and know the quality of the meat they eat, they would turn from it with loathing. People are continually eating flesh that is filled with tuberculous and cancerous germs. Tuberculosis, cancer, and other fatal diseases are thus communicated.” –The Ministry of Healing, p. 313
In a previous issue we learned that food guides were established to be education tools to help people follow a healthy diet, based on analysis of the nutrition of food, taking into consideration the production and supply of food available. The guides are meant to translate the science of nutritional requirements into a pattern of food choices, that will supply the population with variety and flexibility in incorporating the recommendations provided by the food guides. In the previous article we learned that the first food guide established in Canada in 1942 was called Canada’s Official Food Rules, and it contained six different food groups—milk; fruits; vegetables; cereals and breads; meat, fish, etc.; and eggs. The guide also stated, “eat these foods first, then add these and other foods you wish.” Although the guide provided for a variety of foods, the six categories were the recommended foods that should be included in the diet.
In the first four decades the food guides were changed and adapted based on food availability, and increased knowledge regarding the nutritional needs of people. In 1982, two very significant modifications were made to the food guide. The first one was the emphasis on balancing one’s energy intake with energy output, as there were increases in obesity which led to chronic diseases. And the other message was to eat certain foods in “moderation”. The moderation statement specifically encouraged Canadians to limit the use of sugar, salt, fat, and alcohol. This was in recognition of the types of foods which could lead to many of the chronic illnesses that were becoming prevalent in a society where indulgences occurred in consuming these foods. The food guides were now attempting to discourage the types of foods that were leading to the rise of chronic illnesses arising from unhealthy eating habits.
In this article we will focus on the meat section of the food guide. Meat and animal products were part of the first food guide issued in 1942 and for most of their iterations over the years, with the direction to have one serving of meat daily. In 1944, cheese and eggs were put into the meat section, based on the levels of protein they contain. It also suggested some plant alternatives to meat, including beans, peas, and nuts. The 1949 Food Guide recommended using liver frequently; then in 1961 the recommendation was to eat liver occasionally. In 1977, “meat and alternatives” now became the name of the original meat group. This was in recognition that animal-based proteins were not the only option for including protein into one’s diet. In 1982, the group was made more inclusive to be called “meat, fish, poultry and alternatives”. Again in 1992, it went back to “meat and alternatives”. It was not until the 2019 food guide that a radical change was made to the “meat and alternatives” section.
The heading of the new 2019 Canada food guide states to “eat a variety of healthy foods each day”. The picture that sums up the 2019 food guide is a plate with three sections, with vegetables and fruits being half the plate, with the direction to “eat more fruits and vegetables;” one-quarter of the plate consists of grains with the direction to “choose whole grain foods”, and the final quarter is titled “eat protein foods”. From the first food guide in 1942 in which three of the six food groups were protein-based, the final food guide acknowledges that protein needs to be only ¼ of our diet. Also included in the document which provides an overview of the 2019 food guide, it states to “choose protein foods that come from plants more often.”
The various food guides in place over the years are a testament as to how the science of nutrition has evolved. Milk is no longer the beverage of choice. Fruits and vegetables are now to encompass ½ of the total food we consume. After 67 years, the word “meat” is no longer is part of the food guide. Animal protein is no longer considered a food of choice. In fact, the recommendation is to eat plant-based proteins more often.
The emphasis on protein overall has gradually been reduced over the years, initially encompassing three sections in the 1942 guide (eggs, milk, meat and fish), to two sections in 1944 (meat and fish, milk), to 1977 where the heading was changed to “meat and alternatives”, to finally removing the word “meat” completely in 2019. Over the years, the guides have been more inclusive of plant-based meals, with less emphasis on animal products.
The 2019 food guide also acknowledged that the amounts of the different types of foods we should eat are in proportion to our full diet, and not based on servings. This is easier for people in that they did not need to focus on the amount of servings that they ate, as often the number of servings per day was beyond most people’s calorie counts.
Over the years, the food guides reduced emphasis on animal products as a necessary part of one’s diet. Foods that were considered similar, that provided the same nutrition without the unhealthy portions were increasingly part of the new food guides. As mentioned, we see in the latest 2019 food guide, for the first time, there is no “meat” or “milk” category. Animal products, milk, cheese, and meat included, are now part of the larger “protein” category. And the most surprising addition was the food guide’s emphasis on a plant-based diet. As mentioned in previous articles, the most current food guide did not allow any lobby groups, including those of the animal and juice industry, to influence the recommendations provided in the food guide. It was solely based on the science of nutrition, and the needs of the human body to obtain optimum health.
Protein is an essential nutrient in the human diet. All cells of our muscles, bones, skin, nails, and hair contain protein as building block. Protein helps to build and repair muscles, organs, and bones. It has also been shown to be helpful in reducing fat, losing weight, retaining muscle mass, and providing an feeling of fullness. It increases your metabolism. After carbohydrates stores are used up, the body uses protein for energy. The amino acids in protein boost the immune system. Plant proteins lower blood pressure. Protein aids in recovery from injuries by creating new tissue at the injury site. They carry vitamins, minerals, sugars, cholesterol, and oxygen through the blood to the cells and tissues that require them. Many people believe that animal protein is necessary to build muscle, but this is not true. The same amino acids in animal protein that build muscles are contained in plant proteins. Animal proteins are not superior in this respect. “It is a mistake to suppose that muscular strength depends on the use of animal food. The needs of the system can be better supplied, and more vigorous health can be enjoyed without its use. The grains, with fruits, nuts, and vegetables, contain all the nutrients necessary to make good blood. These elements are not so well or so fully supplied by a flesh diet.” –Child Guidance, p. 384
The science behind the new food guide recognizes that large amounts of protein in general are not needed to meet one’s nutritional needs. The amount of protein that a person requires is 0.8 g/kg of weight, or 0.36 g/pound. For the average sedentary woman this equals 46 grams per day, and for a man 56 grams per day. Of course, for those who are more physically active, the need for protein increases, but still in proportion to the total calorie intake per day. The typical North American individual eats double the recommended intake of protein per day. Not only is this amount of protein
unnecessary, but it can create many health problems. The theory also is that protein consumption increases our metabolism, which helps us lose weight. This is offset by the amount of calories contained in protein foods. The truth is that many protein foods are high in calories—they are calorie-dense—and it is easier to eat too many calories when focused on protein-rich foods. For example, a tablespoon of peanut butter is twice as many calories as a tablespoon of fruit jam. Weight gain was significantly associated with diets where animal protein replaced carbohydrates; these diets were also found to be deficient in the nutrients found in carbohydrate foods. When calculating total protein, consider all food and drinks, as well as any supplements that may contain protein.
High protein diets have many negative effects on one’s health. Any excess protein that the body cannot use is stored as fat. This can lead to weight gain, especially if you consume calorie-dense protein foods to increase your protein intake. For people who have kidney disease, a high protein diet can damage the kidneys further due to the high nitrogen content of many protein foods, and the need to filter out the waste products that are created during protein metabolism. High animal protein diets that restrict the consumption of carbohydrates can cause constipation because of the low fibre content of the diet. Excess red meat-proteins are linked to increased risk in cancer due to the saturated fats, carcinogenic compounds, and hormones found in meat. Conversely, plant-based proteins are associated with a decreased risk of cancer. Heart disease and stroke risk also increases because of the saturated fat and cholesterol in animal protein. Loss of calcium in the body is also connected to high protein diets, which leads to osteoporosis and bone fractures.
It is not necessary to focus on eating specific protein foods to ensure that we get enough protein in our diet, as most plant foods contain protein, including all cereals and grains, nuts, seeds, beans, lentils, etc. Even vegetables contain small amounts of protein. The only food group that does not contain any protein are fruits. In years past, nutritional guides recommend eating animal protein because they are a “complete” protein. They contain all the essential amino acids that we can only get from our food; whereas, all plant proteins are deficient in at least one of the essential amino acids, and therefore a plant-based diet is not healthy because it will be lacking some of the essential amino acids that our bodies need. However, this theory has been disproven; eating a variety of different plant proteins will ensure that all the amino acids that our bodies require will be contained in our diet.
There is evidence that plant proteins provide health benefits, and do not contain the negative health effects from animal proteins. For example, it has been shown that diets high in soy protein are associated with lower LDL cholesterol levels (the “bad” cholesterol”), and diets high in processed meat are associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer, due to the lower fibre content of a meat diet. Plant-based proteins are high in fibre, therefore protect our colon from cancers, constipation and hemorrhoids. Diets high in fibre also help control blood sugar.
Over the years, there have been conflicting recommendations as to the best diet—high fat vs low fat, high carbs, low carb-high fat, etc. In every bookstore, and on every website, you will find recommendations for virtually every diet option. With the increasing popularity of diets such as the Paleo Diet, there is more focus on high-protein diets. The assumption is that a high animal-protein diet was man’s original diet, based on the thought that man evolved from the cave man, and consuming animal meats was the main part of the diet. This was considered the first diet of our human ancestors; therefore, we should continue to consume it as we evolved to survive on eating meat. Science even goes against this theory, stating that the first humans were actually more “gatherers” than “hunters”, and ate more plant than animal foods.
Unfortunately, science denies the fact that Jesus created the earth and the original diet of man, who was created in God’s image, was a diet consisting only of plants. When we look at human anatomy and physiology, our teeth, our digestive system including our stomach and intestines, we were designed by God to consume and digest a plant diet. Humans were created to be herbivores—not carnivores, not even omnivores who eat a combination of plant and animal foods. Consuming animal products are the cause of many of the diseases we see in the world today. We are most healthy when we consume a completely plant diet, as evidenced by the health and longevity of vegans compared to meat eaters.
Dr Catherine Mah of Dalhousie University comments about the new 2019 Canada’s food guide, “the guide reminds us that large amounts of protein are not necessary to meet nutritional needs. We are advised to choose plant-based proteins more often, because they typically contain more fibre and the evidence shows that they can be protective of heart health.”
Prevention of serious health issues was the basis of the most current version of Canada’s food guide. Statistics show that obesity and chronic diseases are major public health issues in Canada; 2 in 3 adults and 1 in 3 children are overweight or obese, while 2 in 5 Canadians live with 1 of the 10 most-common chronic diseases, such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes or cancer.
“Plant-based proteins are encouraged,” reports Mr Legault-Thivierge of Health Canada, “because eating more vegetables and fruit is linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, eating more nuts or soy protein is linked to improved blood lipid levels, and the higher fibre intake of plant-rich diets is linked to improved blood lipid levels and a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, colon cancer, and type 2 diabetes. [In addition], processed meat has been linked to colorectal cancer, and foods that contain mostly saturated fat are linked to unfavourable blood lipid levels and a higher risk of type 2 diabetes.” Overall, the increase in chronic illnesses and mortality worldwide is strongly linked to our dietary habits.
Not only has Canada developed these new guidelines for the country’s food guide, but many other countries around the world, including Australia and The Netherlands, have revised their current food guides to also focus on the prevention of chronic diseases. Poor diets are shown to be a leading cause of death and disability worldwide.
The change in food guides to reduce focus on animal products is welcome news for God’s church; we have always promoted a plant-based diet, yet we have had many detractors who insist that animal-based proteins are a necessary part of one’s diet. This change in understanding within the scientific and nutritional community gives even more credence to our message, that from the beginning, God gave us a plant-based diet because He designed us, and He knew what we need to eat to keep our bodies healthy.
The science of nutrition, the science of food, and the impact that our food choices have on the human body, have all made great strides in the last few years. There is finally a recognition that the plant-based diet that man originally was given by God, is the best diet for man. It took only 6,000 years for science to catch up with the Bible.
“Among those who are waiting for the coming of the Lord, meat eating will eventually be done away; flesh will cease to form a part of their diet. We should ever keep this end in view and endeavor to work steadily toward it. I cannot think that in the practice of flesh eating we are in harmony with the light which /god has been pleased to give us. . . . Again and again I have been shown that God is bringing His people back to His original design, that is, not to subsist on the flesh of dead animals. He would have us teach people a better way. . . . If meat is discarded, if the taste is not educated in that direction, if a liking for fruits and grains is encouraged, it will soon be as God in the beginning designed it should be. No meat will be used by His people.” –Child Guidance, p. 383
We are nearing the time of the end, the events in the world today tell us that Jesus’ coming is near. We need to prepare for heaven now. Keeping our diet aligned with the diet that God originally designed for us is yet another way to prepare for heaven. Our diet in heaven will not contain any animal products; it will be the same diet given to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. We need to begin that preparation now.
“Had the use of flesh been essential to health and strength, animal food would have been included in the diet appointed man in the beginning.” –Ibid., p. 384