Foods That Kill

The American diet is an animal based diet. Consuming too much animal products can cause disease, and unhealthy weight. In “Food That Kills”, Dr. Michael Klaper discusses the dangers of consuming animal by-products, the benefits of a plant diet, and how a plant diet can boost your health. Klaper believes that completely eliminating the consumption of animal by-products is the key to a healthy diet. Although I agree that Americans eat too much meat, cutting meat completely out is not beneficial either. It can be concluded from the documentary that cutting down on the consumption of animal meat and by-products can improve health in America. Consuming an excess of animal flesh can cause numerous health problems including high blood pressure, Le tenia (abnormal blood), kidney failure, stroke, and heart attacks. Heart attacks are the number one killer in America. Klaper solely blames animal by-products for these diseases. Eating too much of anything is never good, so it isn’t fair to put all the blame on steak and burgers. It is important to remember eating that in moderation is imperative. Americans believe that animal flesh is the main source of protein, but it is often forgotten that there is plenty of protein in vegetables and grain. In opposition to Klaper, meat is necessary for our diet, but eating too much meat and animal by-products can cause health issues. Because of the amount of protein packed into meat, consuming excessive amounts of it can cause protein induced hypercalciuria; when you expel too much calcium through urination. Klaper says the solution is to stop consuming meat all together, when simply cutting down on meat can reduce the risk for protein induced hypercalciuria. It is agreeable that Klaper states that there is a lot of fat hidden in animal flesh, milk, etc. Red meat is the number one source of fat in the United States; followed by egg yolks and milk. This is true, but a healthy diet calls for fats. A section for fat is seen on every food pyramid by every American from the time the get to grade school, until adulthood. "Fats provide the energy needed for growth and basic body functions. (Scott Allan, benefit) The average American eats 5x too much meat per day. There is also little fiber in animal flesh. Consuming enough fiber contributes to maintaining a healthy weight, and lowers the risk for diabetes and heart disease. It is true that we need fiber in our diet, but cutting animal-by products out of our diets is not going to improve fiber intake. Nowadays there are plenty of cereal products high in fiber that can be eaten at breakfast and for snacks throughout the day. It is important that people remember to eat their daily servings of fiber, but removing meat from their diet is unnecessary; and has nothing to do with fiber intake. Klaper points out that cows don't even drink milk to get calcium. So because cows don’t drink milk humans shouldn’t? We are not cows. There is plenty of calcium packed in green vegetables, nuts, seeds, and soy, but milk provides other nutrients like vitamin D. Milk cannot be replaced or supplemented. From the documentary, it is obvious that cutting down on eating animal by-products can have some benefits. This is especially hard for people in America because meat is almost always the main component in meals. A great meat substitute is tofu. Tofu is made from soybeans, water and a coagulant, or curdling agent. (Jolinda Hackett) Tofu is a substantial substitute for protein and calcium, and mimics meat well. It absorbs flavor well, and gives meals texture. For example, you can use tofu to make burgers instead of ground beef, or add tofu to a salad instead of using chicken. Eating tofu once in a while is fine, but it is highly doubtable that every American will substitute meat for tofu in every meal. Klaper insists that humans can get everything they need from a plant based diets. Were humans really meant to eat meat? Klaper points out that humans are built more like herbivores than carnivores. Carnivores have canine teeth, while humans have flat teeth. Carnivores have short intestines which make for very quick digestion; and humans, like herbivores, have long intestines. These facts are true, but humans have the intelligence and ability to domesticate and consume animals. Eliminating meat entirely is unnecessary. In the documentary, Klaper explained his personal dilemmas and how he came to the decision to completely cut animal by-products out of his diet. While working in general practice (and studying to work in anesthesiology), he discovered first hand what eating excessive amounts of fat can do to the body. His took a blood sample from his patient and soon later he could see the fat literally rising to the top of the sample. It is understandable that seeing something like this can make anyone think twice about what they put in their body. Jumping to the conclusion that meat is suddenly unnecessary is a little extreme. Looking forward, Americans need to consider decreasing the amount of meat consumed. It can be concluded from the documentary that cutting down on animal flesh and by-products can decrease the risk for diseases, and improve overall health. Klaper believes that animals are not a necessary part of our diet, but that is very controversial. Humans need meat as much as they need plants. Eliminating the consumption of meat might do more harm than good.