Benefits of a Plant-Based Diet

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Nutrition is a very controversial and confusing topic. One day coffee is bad for you, but the next day it is good. Alcohol is detrimental for our health one day, but the next day red wine is the elixir of life. There are dozens of diet plans and they promise a leaner and healthier body. There is the 3-Hour Diet that involves constantly eating small portions of anything we want to eat. The latest diet craze, the Paleo Diet, is based upon eating foods that our “hunter-gatherer ancestors” would have thrived on during the Paleolithic era. And there is the Blood Type Diet, the South Beach Diet, the Macrobiotic Diet, the Mediterranean Diet, and the list goes on. But who and what should we believe? Well, there is an optimal diet for humans and the answer might surprise many. Since 1916, the United States Department of Agriculture (the government agency responsible for all U.S. policy regarding agriculture, food, and farming) has revised their recommendations several times. Unfortunately, money talks and the USDA’s recommendations are based on outdated science and are influenced by people with business interest. Even so, its recommendations are considered almost “holy” by physicians, nutritionists, and dieters, but in reality, they are the root cause of the problem. A single visit to our local public school cafeteria and it will become clear that they do not have the best interests of the children at heart. What they are feeding our innocent children is preposterous. Doctors, the people we trust and expect to be “the experts”, do not know much about the subject of nutrition. A vast majority of medical schools in the U.S. require just 25-30 hours or less of nutrition training, and some do not require at all. So doctors must rely on the ... ... middle of paper ... ...calpel). Works Cited Campbell II, Thomas M., and T. Collin Campbell. "The Breadth Of Evidence Favoring A Whole Foods, Plant-Based Diet: Part II: Malignancy And Inflammatory Diseases." Primary Care Reports 18.3 (2012): 25-35. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Nov. 2013. Campbell II, Thomas M., and T. Collin Campbell. "The Breadth Of Evidence Favoring A Whole Foods, Plant-Based Diet: Part I: Metabolic Diseases And Diseases Of Aging." Primary Care Reports 18.2 (2012): 13-23. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Nov. 2013. Gulli, Cathy. "Secrets To Longevity." Maclean's 121.20/21 (2008): 60-62. Master FILE Elite. Web. 25 Nov. 2013. Tarver, Toni. "The Chronic Disease Food Remedy." Food Technology 66.10 (2012): 23-31. Academic Search Complete. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. The Holy Bible, New International Version. Grand Rapids: Zondervan House, 1984. Print.

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