A little food for thought for you today. Now, I talk about this topic in my book, Eating for Energy, but I thought I would bring it up here as well.
When explaining to people the benefits of eating more natural raw foods (as opposed to heavily process garbage) I often ask them to think about wild vs. domesticated animals.
I ask them…
“How many wild animals do you know of that suffer from obesity or any other ‘human-like’ disease?”
“Why is that so many of our domesticated cats and dogs are falling prey to the same conditions that plaguing humans (think diabetes, cancer, obesity, etc…)?”
It’s an idea that many people haven’t spent much time thinking about. But there is a very simple reason that animals, that are taken from the wild and domesticated, begin to demonstrate human-like diseases.
Look the crap they’re being fed. Actually, the owners are the ones to blame. I know many dog owners who feed their dogs donuts, pizza, and other horrific foods!
Come on people!
Where on this earth, since the beginning of time, have animals been able to access processed foods?
Try never.
In one of the best nutrition books that I’ve ever read, Enzyme Nutrition, Dr. Howell discusses several experiments in which the transition of wild animals to a domesticated diet has negative consequences.
In one experiment, wild dogs were taken off their primal raw diet and fed a domesticated “dead” food diet. Now, before this happened, wild dogs did not produce salivary enzymes (like amylase) because they did not need to. Their diet was already enzyme-rich because they ate “raw” flesh.
However, once the dogs began feeding on the domesticated food, they begin producing salivary enzymes within less than 24 hours!
It was their body’s way of compensating for a lack of natural living enzymes in the feed.
Now, this may not seem like a big deal but the problem is that each animal/human has a finite number of enzymes that their bodies can produce. Once this limit is reached, it’s good night Charlie.
That’s just one reason why it’s important to eat more raw foods – so you can spare your body’s inherent enzyme stores.
It’s also interesting to note that wild animals don’t cook their food.
We do.
Who seems to be healthier?
Animals also get more fresh air, exercise much more, and probably have a great social network than most humans.
Nonetheless, the fact remains that animals eat what’s right for their bodies. 95% of humans don’t.
We eat what food companies tell us to eat. Not because it’s good but because it’s what makes them the most money.
Just something to think about.
I suspect that not many wild animals are tested for diseases. They probably die of trauma or infection or starvation. I will read the book sited above.
That’s a fair point. Let me know once you read the book.
That seems like a fair assessment by Jami.I can’t speak to trauma but infection and starvation are just a part of the life cycle of wild animals.As harsh as it may seem,natural selection is the only way to ensure the survival of any species.I stopped eating all forms of meat 18 years ago but have only been experimenting with a raw food diet for about a month.Two days raw then one day cooked(if I want).I have noticed an increase in my energy but more than just a physical difference I feel a real change in my emotional and mental state.Less irritable and more focused.And I’d forgotten how good raw veggies taste.Non human species always appear to have something to teach us.
That’s awesome Bob. Thanks for sharing your journey with us.
lol
I think we all hear and know that we should be eating way more fruits and veggies. The hard part for most people in a fast food world is that they think it’s easier to just go grab something from the drive through, when in reality if they took that same amount of time each day (that they spent in the drive through), they could prepare delicious, healthy foods and feel much better and be healthy. I think nature has a lot to offer us in the way of examples of how to eat healthier as well as offering us an abundance of variety. As easy as it is to not eat healthily, it’s also easy to eat healthily. I know that for me and our family, we feel much better eating a more raw/vegan diet and that our fruits and veggies taste much better after a few days of eliminating the junk from our daily food intake.
Hi Candice,
This is Pierre from the team of Pierre & Pierrette. We contribute articles on Yuri’s Eating for Energy Blog.
I just wanted to comment on how your comments are right on.
If people understood what you say, we would all be much healthier.
Thanks for sharing your views with all of us here.
Pierre
Thee Quest For Perfect Health
We already see that if a pet is overweight, you have to only look at its owner. We tend to want to make them sedentary (and sick) like us. We really have to start connecting more dots. Thanks for the reflection Yuri.
” The China Study ” get this book now!