Guest Post: You Can't Fool Mother Nature For Long: Profiting from Sickcare

Tyler Durden's picture




Submitted by Charles Hugh Smith from Of Two Minds

You Can't Fool Mother Nature For Long: Profiting from Sickcare

Sickcare, the fast-food/packaged food industries, the entertainment industry and the Marketing/Mainstream Media complex are all facets of one system.

In America, the implicit belief system promoted by marketing is that you can eat anything you want in whatever quantity you want, and if anything goes wrong with your body or mind, there is a pill or procedure to fix it. In other words, your diet and fitness level is given lip service, but what really counts is access to all the medications that are constantly touted and pushed by the Marketing/Mainstream Media complex.

It would be comical if it wasn't so tragic: if you've seen one advert pushing a med, you've seen them all: the description of the disorder, the fear and pain it inflicts, the solution in a pill, and then a voice-over, spoken at a manic pace to fit all the possible side-effects in the waning moments of a 60-second spot: suicidal thoughts, symptoms of heart attack, heart attack, itchy skin, dizziness, bizarre dreams, and on and on. Good golly, all these side-effects from one med? What happens when they're combined with 7 or 8 or 11 other meds with their own swarms of nasty side effects?

The core of sickcare is this: creating and treating illness is highly profitable. For creating illness, we have the packaged food, Big Food and fast food industries. Does anyone seriously believe that human beings can function healthily for decades on a diet of sugar water, fried potatoes, white-bread buns and fat-larded hamburgers?

Large family gatherings during the holidays are often interesting opportunities to witness the consequences of corporate brainwashing via the Marketing/Mainstream Media complex. For example, I heard more than once that So-and-So dislikes fish and vegetables, and only like burgers and fries or equivalents such as hamburger "steak."

In a surreal divergence of entertainment and reality, our society broadcasts popular food shows in which chefs routinely assemble impossibly complex dishes while our schools produce students who cannot identify a healthy home-cooked meal, much less actually prepare one.

In a similar fashion, fitness has been marginalized in much of American education; in our rush to raise math and science to "must haves," we have neglected finance and the science of nutrition and fitness--applications of math and science that really count.

In fitness, another surreal divergence has opened between the entertainment provided by "extreme sports" touting superhuman endurance and daring, and the average American's ability and desire to run a mile (or even a kilometer). We have been brainwashed into a nation of spectator/consumers who know very little about living a nutritious and fit life. We are content to watch extreme sports training on TV but are averse to becoming even marginally fit ourselves.

Preparing programming and food for spectator/consumers is highly profitable; teaching people how to prepare healthy meals at home and becoming fit on their own is not.

The food industry is the tangible analog of the entertainment industry. Both have access to reams of data about what activates the reward centers of the human brain--what tastes, sights and smells bypass the conscious mind and go directly to the primitive brain centers that control appetite and response to high-value, rare-in-Nature triggers such as sugar, fat and salt.

Fast food and packaged food are specifically engineered to trigger these reward centers. No wonder they "taste good"--they are super-saturated with tastes that are sparing and rare in natural food.

In a similar fashion, newscasters speak with an unnatural urgency and tone that we instinctively respond to as evidence of danger or threat.

The entire sickcare system that includes the food/diet industries and "entertainment" is engineered to maximize profit by triggering instincts wired to reward sensitivity to danger/threat and sugar, fat and salt. In addition to these instinctive triggers, corporate cartels and their handmaidens, the Marketing/Mainstream Media complex, have actively embedded the craving for sugar, salt, fat and "excitement" (of the profitable, corporate kind) in American culture. Consumption of these triggers is viewed as "cool," "hip," "elite" activities, or as culturally sanctioned expressions of self-reward, i.e. of "treating yourself because you deserve it" and self-indulgence, i.e. spontaneity as instant gratification.

Then there's over-treatment. If we test 1,000 people for cancer and treat 50 and end up with one person who received treatment that extended their life while 49 others suffered early deaths or negative consequences of needless treatment, then American sickcare calls it good.

Those statistics come from studies of treatment of prostate cancer, as detailed in a Scientific American report (February 2012 issue): The Great Prostate Debate: Evidence shows that screening does more harm than good. (Subscription required, or find the issue at a library)

These are difficult issues in any caregiving system, but the downside of overtreatment and overtesting is rarely addressed in American sickcare because somebody's making big money from administering the tests and treatment, and from suing anyone who "withholds" treatment-- even if the treatment helps one in a thousand and demonstrably harms 49 others.

Mother Nature cannot be fooled for long. A sedentary lifestyle and a diet heavy with sugar, empty carbs, salt and unhealthy fats derived from factory-farm animals cannot sustain a human body selected for an omnivorous, active hunting-gathering lifestyle. Health is simply impossible when the body is destroyed by this sort of diet and inactive life.

Infectious diseases can be miraculously cured by a pill--an antibiotic. But cancer and other "lifestyle" diseases are not caused by single-source infections; in these diseases and chronic conditions, health is rarely restored with a pill or even a handful of pills.

How can anyone be healthy in a culture whose most powerful industries are actively and ceaselessly promoting consumption of products and "entertainments" that derange the mind and body because they are unnatural super-doses designed to "hit" natural triggers so hard that resistance is futile?

Our caregivers are tasked with "giving lifestyle advice" to their patients, each of whom gets a few moments a month at best with their doctor/nurse, and then the patient goes home and absorbs 4-8 hours a day of Marketing/Mainstream Media pushing of illness-producing consumables and a fear-based desire for an endless array of costly "magic pills" to fix all the diseases which mysteriously ail us--for what we eat and our fitness levels are never mentioned as causal factors.

There are never enough tests and treatments--more can be added every year-- and of course there can never be enough money spent on healthcare. We just need to leave enough money to consume the food and lifestyle that spawns many of the illnesses, and then we can spend the rest on treating these diseases.

Mother Nature is not amused by the destruction of her systems for profit. Sadly, it isn't the corporate cartels who suffer the consequences of what they push for profit, it's the people who absorbed the marketing and consumed the fantasy.

"Without health there is no happiness. An attention to health, then, should take the place of every other object." (Thomas Jefferson, 1787)

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Sat, 01/21/2012 - 12:56 | 2084187 economics1996
economics1996's picture

 

The Silent Generation, and the world’s politicians, cannibalized the baby boomer generation, in the industrialized North America and Europe.  Global theft.  Time to chase down the thieves and hang them five at a time.  Lock and load.  

 

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 12:56 | 2084192 Bobbyrib
Bobbyrib's picture

You're blaming the Silent Generation? LOL. Evidence please!

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 13:03 | 2084202 economics1996
economics1996's picture

Or the gimmie generation.  Gimmie this, gimmie that.  

But I guess you may have a point, the GI generation is the generation that voted in FDR. 

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 13:09 | 2084216 DeadFred
DeadFred's picture

I will gladly pay for my health care on Tuesday for a hamburger today, mmmm. Especially if YOU'RE the one paying for my health care on Tuesday.

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 13:31 | 2084263 Oh regional Indian
Oh regional Indian's picture

Eating meat is begging for disease. It is the single largest cause of man's malaises. And understandably so, given how mercilessly we slaughter them and how much we eat of them. I've been in the great midwest, seen california feedlots up close and personal.

And most of all...well, just visit http://farmsanctuary.org/

A close second is Beer and then alcohol in general.

Simple test, take a ph strip and pee on it first thing in the AM. Do it 2/3 days in a row, to get a good average feel.

If you are acidic (sub 7 ph), you are in deep trouble. Simple.

it is the single test you need. And if you are acidic, change something (quit drinking/eating meat for a month), check again.

Our blood/saliva ph is meant to be between  7 and 8 (mildly basic).

It is critical to our health. And meat and alcohol (and soda/stress) destroy our ph balance.

Nature-o-Pathy. ;-)

And the rest, well, mix money with anything, you ultimately get Greed as key driving factor. Health care, Education, politics.....everything really.

The madness of Mammon.

ori

 

/shattering-midass-curse-gold-de-spell-ed/

 

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 13:42 | 2084310 john39
john39's picture

respectfully disagree.  The problem is with how the animals are raised, what they are fed, and what drugs they have ingested.  Grass fed natural meats are incredibly healthy.   mass produced soy fed diseased antibiotic and hormone laden meat, on the other hand, will kill you.

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 13:47 | 2084318 Bobbyrib
Bobbyrib's picture

I pay extra for organic. I'm wondering if I'm a sucker. Feel like one at the check out line.

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 14:01 | 2084361 john39
john39's picture

depends i guess.  where there is a dollar to be made, lies are sure to follow.   I try to buy meat from local known farmers...  don't trust the stores as much as you get a better deal anyway.  support local food production, its one of the few things that you can do to fight the global takeover.

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 14:54 | 2084469 Whoa Dammit
Whoa Dammit's picture

Grass fed beef may still be fed vitamin/mineral licks that contain Rumensin. Overdoses of Rumensin cause heart lesions and congesitive heart failure in cattle. It is also used for dairy cows,and using it as labeled causes reproductive problems. Trace amounts will kill a horse. There's not much info on Rumensin's effect on people (other than requiring full hazmat gear when handling its concentrated form). But it can't be good for you.

http://www.drugs.com/pro/rumensin.html 

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 14:56 | 2084492 john39
john39's picture

interesting.  always something else isn't there...

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 15:45 | 2084677 economics1996
economics1996's picture

An economic solution would be to have health savings accounts, creating a economic incentive to stay healthy. 

Also private social security accounts. 

People dismiss the power of money to influence behavior but economists know economic incentives drive 89% of the rational population. 

As for the irrational 11% your solution is going to be as good as mine.

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 16:42 | 2084848 juggalo1
juggalo1's picture

The problem with HSA is that you can never save enough to treat catastrophic care.  Poor people simply can't afford expensive treatments.  If you combined a PSA with a catastrophic care plan I could understand, but the truth is most people who need catastrophic care could never afford it themselves.  Especially because (not coincidentally) their productivity is often impaired.

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 18:45 | 2085094 IrritableBowels
IrritableBowels's picture

Hughes is on fire! Keep it up man!

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 20:30 | 2085318 economics1996
economics1996's picture

Buy a $5,000 deductable catastrophic health care policy with the HSA.

Sun, 01/22/2012 - 05:18 | 2086073 respect the cock
respect the cock's picture

We have health savings accounts at my job.

$2000 deposited annually, which is your max out of pocket for medical care.  If you don't use it...it is saved in an investment account to be cashed out upon retirement.  I try to avoid using it at all costs.

That being said...I have another 35+ years left before I plan to retire so we'll see where things are down the road...

 

Sun, 01/22/2012 - 11:13 | 2086381 AldousHuxley
AldousHuxley's picture

medicare isn't free government handout Ripoffblicans would have you believe.

You still have to pay monthly premiums. $2000 saved annually would be what you will have to cash out annually to pay for the premium.

 

to lower healthcare costs, import doctors, create more hospitals, and limit healtcare coverage for the irresponsible (smokers, drinkers, obese, etc.)

Sun, 01/22/2012 - 15:55 | 2086853 rocker
rocker's picture

Does that include those who think cheese stuffed chesse bread is better than cheese bread. When will it end. LOL

Sat, 01/28/2012 - 00:52 | 2104935 JeffB
JeffB's picture

Paying with your own money does change buying patterns. People pay more attention, look at less costly alternatives etc.

When my Mother died we found the bill for my birth in an old box. It was a little over $100 and included a week in the hospital. I think they payed something like $35 a month before I was due, $35 when I was born, and another $35 a month or two later.

A dollar was worth a lot more then to be sure, and they have a lot more fancy machines and computers, of course, but paying out of pocket definitely changes things. They didn't have private rooms then and probably no air conditioning, and certainly no TVs with VCRs & cable channels either. If people had to pay extra for that stuff, I'll bet a lot of them wouldn't.

Once again it's the businesses that have the most government interference that are the most expensive. It started with the federal regulations on group health insurance, and continued on from there...

Look at the parts of medical care that medical insurance won't pay for... Lasic eye surgery & cosmetic plastic surgery. They don't have the big inflation rates that the covered care has. In fact, they've had a lot of innovation and price drops to boot.

 

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 15:00 | 2084507 Mr Lennon Hendrix
Mr Lennon Hendrix's picture

Protien goes a long way.  Not much is needed to stay fit.  20 grams does me fine per meal, and I eat meat maybe once a day. 

It is important to eat properly fed and properly treated animals.  You are what you eat, ya know?

As far as beer and alcohol there are good and bad things about them.  Alcohol is a detoxifier, so a little bit can do great wonders for the body.  But if you drink too much, then it's trouble.

Every body is different though, and this is the kicker.  It is important to listen to yourself, and know what is best for you.

Oh, and while I am at it, green foods are perfect for women, and good for men in small doses.  If you are eating green foods (blue-green algea/kelp/chlorella/etc)  would recomend also eating Maca.  Maca will clean your thyroid and other glands.  These glands can get filled up with green foods/iodine and begin to rely on the intake and stop producing properly.

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 16:28 | 2084808 lasvegaspersona
lasvegaspersona's picture

Is there ANY data on this? I can't imagine any journal investigating 'green' food. A little scepticism in your diet goes a long way.

My belief based on personal experience combined with physician training (YES we DO get nutritional training in medical school, stop saying we don't) is  that any diet that maintains normal weight and has 45 to60 grams high quality protein and not laden with the icky fats will keep most people healthy.

The developed world has the luxury of being weird with their diet. In the third world and the coming world it will be back to basics. I'm spending my preparation budget wisely. Green food? really?

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 18:00 | 2085016 kekekekekekeke
kekekekekekeke's picture

who funds the research?

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 22:27 | 2085567 pan-the-ist
pan-the-ist's picture

Doctors have to treat patients by specific rules or they don't get paid by insurance companies.  Those rules are heavily influenced by industry.  Nutritionist (not any thing close to being doctors) are horrible offenders.  They cannot tell the truth and must treat their patients based on the common lore rather than any empircal studies.  Bottom line - you can not really trust anyone in the medical field, don't even get me started on pharmacuticals and "Health Maintenance."

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 19:01 | 2085130 Cathartes Aura
Cathartes Aura's picture

the "icky fats" like coconut oil? which the FDA allowed commercial advertising against so as to promote "low saturated fat" vegetable oils like CORNtm, or the ever-ubiquitous SOYtm, both pretty much "owned" by Monsanto?

or butter, which was demonised in favour of crap margarines, that "scientific" manufactured food product, more corporate profits, all "recommended" in the govt. sponsored *cough* food pyramid, taught in amrkn schools from grade to graduate.

as to your "can't imagine any journal investigating 'green' food" - the journals that publish "science" funded by the corporate food 'n' pharma industries?  because "science" serves the funding master, the point of view is directed at the paycheck.

plenty of research out there should you care to look.

http://www.alsearsmd.com/coconut-oil-fat/

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 20:25 | 2085305 DaveyJones
DaveyJones's picture

well said

Sun, 01/22/2012 - 05:21 | 2086076 respect the cock
respect the cock's picture

Coconut oil is the shit.  I use it to cook all the time.

Coconut butter is even better.  Great, healthy and energy dense snack.  Still pretty cheap @ PCC.  

 

Sun, 01/22/2012 - 12:39 | 2086514 ToNYC
ToNYC's picture

Science went all Corporate and Military-Industrial complex sponsorship starting on November 23, 1963. Science has been a tool to prove the big six Monopoly-Oligarch agenda. Multiple-choice faked the education: make the wrong answers look more obvious to maintain the educational baseline and declare the majority passed.

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 19:35 | 2085197 Mr Lennon Hendrix
Mr Lennon Hendrix's picture

Nettle leaf, horsetail, alalfa leaf juice, dandelion leaf juice, barley grass juice, oat grass juice, wheat grass, basil, tulsi, parsly, spinach, spirulina, chlorella, kelp, dulse, nori.....

Yes, a lot of research, Dr.

Sun, 01/22/2012 - 00:11 | 2085771 DaveyJones
DaveyJones's picture

nettles and dandelion are packed with nutrient. Most edible "wild plants" are tremendously more nutritious because, for their survival they have deep tap roots which pull up and into them superior amounts of minerals etc. The toughest edible berry plants from the toughest of environments have similar qualities. It makes sense when you think about it.   

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 17:29 | 2084965 bbq on whitehou...
bbq on whitehouse lawn's picture

Listen to your body, not your mind, not your craving or want.  To know what your body needs you must go without, 2 weeks without food should do it more if you want but you need to listen to your whole body. Its not about hunger or desire its about what my flesh, bone and blood need. You have 3 days of food in your blood now. So you can go at least 3 days without any food before your body even starts the backups like fat and muscle.

Listen to your body, sometimes it will need supplements sometimes not. Most will need a supplement pill once a month sometimes more. But remember 1 million years ago your father and mother were eating old bone marrow and brain under a hot sun and loving it. Some still enjoy them to this day. Enjoy your wine and beer if it makes you sick you drank to much of a good thing.

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 18:00 | 2085015 kekekekekekeke
kekekekekekeke's picture

yes to maca and chlorella!

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 19:04 | 2085134 Cathartes Aura
Cathartes Aura's picture

agreed, excellent detoxifiers, critical now, and as we go forward.

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 19:45 | 2085221 delacroix
delacroix's picture

thumbs up, for the blue green algae (fresh water grown)

Thu, 03/29/2012 - 05:57 | 2299924 marusca91
marusca91's picture

jocuri cu bile diseases which mysteriously ail us--for what we eat and our fitness levels are never mentioned as causal factors. ben 10

Sun, 01/22/2012 - 06:13 | 2086110 forrestdweller
forrestdweller's picture

you can always find something that is not good for you, in every kind of food. but you have to eat, and inthe end, something has to kill you. you can't go on living forever.

buy your meat from local farmers who work with biological farming methods. healthy meat, free of any chemicals en medicals and hormones.

you pay a bit extra, but for that, you have healthy meat that tastes much better and the animal has a better life.

 

Sun, 01/22/2012 - 14:35 | 2086693 RafterManFMJ
RafterManFMJ's picture

 

 

Rained Hellfire on Bambi a few weeks ago; won't find better than natural, wholesome forest-raised venison. Chops, burger, hot sticks, sausage...the freezer bulges with Nature's bounty.  I suggest you get a rifle and try it; wild pigs are good as well.

Sun, 01/22/2012 - 23:59 | 2087572 pan-the-ist
pan-the-ist's picture

Couldn't disagree more.  I'll take marbled corn fed beef any day of the week.

Mon, 01/23/2012 - 15:23 | 2089875 RafterManFMJ
RafterManFMJ's picture

 

 

I wouldn't turn that down, either.

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 18:34 | 2085079 ToNYC
ToNYC's picture

After the truck strikes to your city, you will fight to get on the good side of your local growers. It's all fun and games 'till the cops show up...not.

Sun, 01/22/2012 - 08:07 | 2086180 HungrySeagull
HungrySeagull's picture

The United States will federalize all CDL's and convoy food trucks in closed interstate highways first before they will allow places like NYC to be out of food.

NYC is fed daily by thousands of trucks coming from all points of North America.

Sun, 01/22/2012 - 17:24 | 2086876 ToNYC
ToNYC's picture

The food on those trucks, after they make it down from where the real food grows is marked "Soylent Green". Works with first-growth, downed redwood, crawdads, acapulco gold, etc.

The truck strike marked the end for Salvador Allende in Chile on 9-11-73.

h/t Henry the K.

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 14:04 | 2084365 Hulk
Hulk's picture

Organic is now just marketing. If you can, grow your own food and/or buy from a local pasture farmer.

pasture raised animals and forest fed hogs are an entirely different meat. Low in fats, high in omega 3's and CLA...

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 17:51 | 2085001 Mike in GA
Mike in GA's picture

I farm organically.  I have not sought the USDA administered "organic" label because of the silly hoops one has to jump through to obtain that designation.  I market my foods (locally only) as "naturally grown", using only NATURAL methods of pest control (companion plantings, beneficial insects, etc) and NATURAL compost fertilizer.  I use no chemicals but I cannot refer to my operation as "organic".  The "BUY LOCAL" customers do not care about officially certified BS.  My customers can come to my farm, see their food, pick it if they's like and inspect my grounds for any evidence of chemical use.  Seeing is believing and tasting the freshly picked, locally grown fruits and vegetables makes believers out of everyone.  BUY LOCAL is restoring some control over what goes in your body.

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 17:56 | 2085010 OneLessZombie
OneLessZombie's picture

What you speak of above is an unfortunate byproduct of insidious bureaucracy.

I expect that it will [if not already] be 'illegal' to do what you are doing.  Which is a shame of gigantic proportions.

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 19:13 | 2085157 Cathartes Aura
Cathartes Aura's picture

"organic" has been co-opted by corporate, as most things are in amrka - I agree with you Mike, it's important to actually know your food sources, as definitions of words now betray the trust we once had in them.

"organic" can mean different things to different growers as well, and it's important to know how each farmer interprets that term, particularly if certain methods/chemicals are not desired, or are toxic to you as an individual.

The "BUY LOCAL" customers do not care about officially certified BS.  My customers can come to my farm, see their food, pick it if they's like and inspect my grounds for any evidence of chemical use.

this is why it's so important to support local growers, so that one can access food from trusted sources - even buying from a "farmer's market" means you are going what is told you, vs. actually building up a relationship with your grower.

BUY LOCAL supports keeping healthy food within your community.

Sun, 01/22/2012 - 05:14 | 2086069 respect the cock
respect the cock's picture

Good stuff - spot on.

One of the guys I work with has his own pasture biz.

I got a quarter of 100% grass fed beef from him, another on order for next year.

Cheaper in the long run, and much more healthy.

Mon, 01/23/2012 - 00:01 | 2087574 pan-the-ist
pan-the-ist's picture

But not as tasty.

Sun, 01/22/2012 - 06:48 | 2086132 Sean7k
Sean7k's picture

FWI, you can sell up to 5000 dollars worth of product as organic, providing you do farm organically, without certification.

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 14:18 | 2084391 El Gordo
El Gordo's picture

You are.

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 15:00 | 2084503 TheMerryPrankster
TheMerryPrankster's picture

on a long enough time line we are all dead.

The whole point in living well is moderation in diet and exercise. Too active and you are destroying your joints prematurely and increasing your chances of sprains and breaks.

Too much food, too often are just more pounds to carry around and more additives and pollutants for your body to process.

Eat simple and walk,bike or lift weights. I highly recommend weight lifting, when you heavy a haevy weight in your hands, you really aren't thinking about anything else. It clears the mind and focuses the thoughts.

Don't overdo, the idea is constant exercise over your life span, not get it all out of the way in one session. Better to underestimate your capacity, than to strain and hurt yourself and not be able to exercise until you heal.

There is no perfect diet, just as there are no perfect humans.

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 15:50 | 2084699 economics1996
economics1996's picture

For older people the bike class at the Y is great.  You get a good cardiovascular work out without a lot of stress in the joints.  I had to stop walking/running because of the stress and the bike class was a good alternative.

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 16:21 | 2084787 Amish Hacker
Amish Hacker's picture

Good advice, and don't forget swimming (great cardio, no impact) and the sensible use of free weights. Weight training is especially important for athletes of, ahem, a certain age. Great for general strength, sense of balance and bone density.

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 22:15 | 2085540 pods
pods's picture

Actually older people need the contact stress on their bones to stimulate bone growth.  

The sorry fact is that most, if not all, older people are too broken to do any kind of impact training, such as walking.

pods

Sun, 01/22/2012 - 05:24 | 2086081 respect the cock
respect the cock's picture

Intelligent strength training is the way to go. 

If you did barbell squats and supplemented with a mix of high/low intensity cardio you would be better off than most people.

Sun, 01/22/2012 - 11:28 | 2086399 MachoMan
MachoMan's picture

+1 for squats.  I see your squats and raise you deadlifts.

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 18:43 | 2085091 smlbizman
smlbizman's picture

according to penn and teller and their show bullshit...your feelings in the check out line would be correct

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 23:17 | 2085686 zerotohero
zerotohero's picture

I hear ya - from everything I've read organic is nothing but $$$$

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 13:50 | 2084331 DaveyJones
DaveyJones's picture

Good post. grass fed animals, those that feed on perennials and whose byproduct is part of the soil nutrient is how it was always done..until we lost our mind and the bad guys took over. That said, do not think we were meant to eat the amount of meat that is in the normal US diet. The body can instantly process plant based portein and put it into your bloodstream. There are plenty of "superfoods" that do this and are very easy to grow in many climates and soil Quinoa is one of them. It takes a tremendous amount of time and energy to do the same for meat. At the other end, B-12 is very difficult to obtain with a plant only diet. It can only really be obtained by using animal byproduct to add nutrient to the soil.   

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 19:28 | 2085186 Cathartes Aura
Cathartes Aura's picture

amrkns "lost their minds" when they were force fed the diet of white coat "science" models, "better living through science," everything with the blessed hand of the scientist's lab tested approval - just another form of religion, requiring unquestioned belief, until proven to be. . . manipulated bullshit.

who paid / pays for this "research" - who benefits - and who is the test subject, the ultimate loser.

and quinoa rocks - great source of a complete protein, magnesium, etc. - versatile, quick and easy to sprout (most nutritious), and gluten-free.

Sun, 01/22/2012 - 16:22 | 2086895 ToNYC
ToNYC's picture

B-12 deficiency cured 100% with a direct addition is the downside vs high risk of colon cancer from long-term styrofoam-encased unidentified animal cell pathogens, soon-to-be-named and 100% blamed; and periodontal disease from bits of rotting animal cell like human cell pathogens feating on gum roots like staphlococcus feasts on heart valve tissue?

Shuite yourself, dear ones and eat hearty. Argggh!

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 14:39 | 2084444 Gully Foyle
Gully Foyle's picture

john39

"Grass fed natural meats are incredibly healthy. "

Right up until you force them into a shipping container and slaughter them at a factory facility.

Pumps a shitload of bad fear based hormones and chemicals into the meat.

Why is it people stop before the death part when considering their food? Even at that free range Turkeys and Chikens are fed foods with Arsenic. Yummy, yummy Organis Arsenic.

We get all hung up on the pretty sounding words and forget the ugly nuts and bolts reality.

 

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 16:50 | 2084870 john39
john39's picture

i don't buy into the fear hormone pollutes the meat thing...   no proof.  besides.  my local farmer has his stuff processed at a small local facility.  

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 17:05 | 2084915 Max Hunter
Max Hunter's picture

agreed.. I've spent a lot of time on farms as a kid.. All animals live in fear all the time.. That's what keeps them alive..  Cows, Chickens, Rabbits, you name it, it looks like it's about to have a heart attack anytime anything goes near it..

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 19:28 | 2085187 Tegrat
Tegrat's picture

Cows...not so much...you can call them over to pet them...then ka-pow....hamburger...

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 19:29 | 2085188 Tegrat
Tegrat's picture

Cows...not so much...you can call them over to pet them...then ka-pow....hamburger...

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 19:29 | 2085190 Tegrat
Tegrat's picture

Cows...not so much...you can call them over to pet them...then ka-pow....hamburger...

Sun, 01/22/2012 - 06:43 | 2086127 Sean7k
Sean7k's picture

Gully,

Most small ranchers take their animals to the slaughter house in an open air stock trailer. The animals are tagged and processed separately to insure you get only YOUR meat. There are zero chemicals involved, unless you choose to have some of your meat processed into a different end product ( for example, sausage or jerky). The meat is frozen and kept that way unrtil you purchase it. 

Free range turkeys and chickens are only as good as the farmer you get them from and their practices. They only have naturally occuring arsenic, if it is in the biosystem, unless they are fed feeds that have it. 

It would be nice to process your own meat, but it is illegal to sell meat you process yourself- except chicken, but the rules are pretty tight there as well.

Real organic, grass fed animals produce the healthiest meat you can find and live the best possible lives given the alternatives. 

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 21:34 | 2085047 ToNYC
ToNYC's picture

Of course, but try doing that organic thing in the size the market demands tomorrow. The Madness of crowds; the Cure is one by one.

Sun, 01/22/2012 - 05:40 | 2086092 Sean7k
Sean7k's picture

The problem is this: there are zero sources of food that can be completely trusted- the system is that compromised. You must raise your own food, on your own land and hope your ground water is not polluted to the degree there is no escape from the toxins.

That entire paragraph sounds delusional, yet decades of study have demonstrated, for me atleast, that it is true. Just as everything in this article is true.

The human body is incredibly good at clearing toxins from its' system, but the food, water and air of the modern world has overwhelmed it. For anyone old enough, think back: do you remember this many people with allergies? Autoimmune diseases? Cancers? 

My theory? They want us alive long enough to get the most production from us at the cheapest cost- then drain any wealth we acquire through medical mayhem, plastic baubles and technology toys. Compassionate eugenics. We are factory farms for humanity.

 

Sun, 01/22/2012 - 08:23 | 2086196 mind_imminst
mind_imminst's picture

I respectfully disagree as well. Not eating meat for ehtical reasons is a fine practice. I applaud it. Just don't try to make the scientific case that eating meat is the reason for all man's ills. The case cannot be made. Most humans evolved as omnivores over the course of hundreds of thoudands of years. Nearly all of our primate cousins eat meat as well. Many past human populations ate almost exclusively fat and meat. It is well known that the traditional Masai and Intuit had extremely low incidence of heart disease even though they ate nothing but (organic) meat and fat their entire lives.

Keep pushing the ethical argument and you will make more headway.

Sun, 01/22/2012 - 12:27 | 2086500 monoloco
monoloco's picture

I enjoy a good juicy ribeye as much as anyone but this really opened my eyes:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_China_Study_(book)

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 13:50 | 2084332 Ignatius
Ignatius's picture

Thank you for not making the "moral" argument about eating meat.  Those that do are the biggest impediment to progress with the food system.  We are omnivores.  That said, we can certainly eat less meat.  The key is sustainable and grass fed meats which are humanely treated.  Factory farms are a horror.

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 14:20 | 2084399 francis_sawyer
francis_sawyer's picture

We are omnivores

one word... "bicuspids"...

The day I look into the mirror & smile & my teeth look like that of a ruminant, I'll start chewing cud...

Sun, 01/22/2012 - 00:47 | 2085829 Oh regional Indian
Oh regional Indian's picture

Heck francis, you must have a serious set of canines. 

I look at most people, they smile, and you see a mild canine in most people. Hardly meat shredding good. Or we would not need to "soften' up the meat so much no? I mean yes?

ori

Sun, 01/22/2012 - 05:25 | 2086085 respect the cock
respect the cock's picture

How many Indians excel at olympic sports?

 

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 14:52 | 2084473 Max Fischer
Max Fischer's picture

 

 

If God didn't want us to eat animals, why did He make them out of meat?  The fact that animals are not made from styrofoam packing peanuts is very telling. 

Max Fischer, Carpe Hunc

Sun, 01/22/2012 - 12:41 | 2085070 ToNYC
ToNYC's picture

Dietary laws regarding meat no doubt were the key to many tribes' survival. Without 99% of meat, no need for the religious hierarchical and profound separatist baggage. Call any vegetable, and the chances are good they ain't watching TV.

 

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 17:42 | 2084990 bbq on whitehou...
bbq on whitehouse lawn's picture

Humans are efficient, one of the most effecient animals on the planet by brain size to body. We have a huge need for calories and have a mind that can access normaly unaccessable food. Walking up right saves large amounts of calories, siting stationary equily so. its a vast topic but know that humans can and do operate at far less calories then you would think they could.

Humans are built for productivity. Need heavy lifting build a lift or get someone or something else to do it, brains built for creative problem solveing and its vary good at what it does.

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 13:51 | 2084337 bob_dabolina
bob_dabolina's picture

Why we evolved to have sharp pointy canine teeth I will never know. Maybe we evolved with them to make carrot shreds for our tofu salds.

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 14:06 | 2084371 Hulk
Hulk's picture

Our canine teeth are evolving and getting even better at opening up plastic packaging...

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 14:34 | 2084432 smiler03
smiler03's picture

I thought the US was immune from evolution?

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 14:49 | 2084471 Sunshine n Lollipops
Sunshine n Lollipops's picture

We have our own version: survival of the fattest.

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 15:07 | 2084535 Mr Lennon Hendrix
Mr Lennon Hendrix's picture

Is that what the Little Village song "Big Love" is about?

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 15:21 | 2084583 Sunshine n Lollipops
Sunshine n Lollipops's picture

It would certainly seem so.

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 15:02 | 2084516 ohhhhhbaaaaahhh...
ohhhhhbaaaaahhhhhhhhhmaaaaaahhhhh's picture

Because it was essential to eat meat to survive. Is it essential now? Yes if all you can find is meat. Choice of not killing or be part of killing is wiser and more civilized if you can make it without meat. This is arguable esspecially if you eat meat like me. 

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 17:48 | 2084996 bbq on whitehou...
bbq on whitehouse lawn's picture

I am not responsible for your sins nor should you be held responsible for mine. " I am not my brothers keeper" "he was dead when i got here."

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 18:30 | 2085073 ToNYC
ToNYC's picture

We evolved with pointy canine teeth so we can eat your liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 14:09 | 2084376 Hulk
Hulk's picture

The Eskimo, the Adi and the Reindeer people of Siberia will be fascinated by your writings ORI...

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 14:52 | 2084479 Winisk
Winisk's picture

Caribou is the most gentle tasting wild game I've encountered.  I could eat it and pickeral every day.  Beaver legs and bear sausage, not so much.

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 15:07 | 2084534 Hulk
Hulk's picture

Beaver is  one of my favorites but it can cause labored breathing and extreme cranial pressure...

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 15:09 | 2084540 Mr Lennon Hendrix
Mr Lennon Hendrix's picture

Sometimes when I've tried to eat beaver I've gotten whiplash.

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