Meatless Mondays? How about meatless Tuesdays and Wednesdays and………
The problem: Too much animal protien in our diets
While meatless Mondays gained popularity a few years back have you ever considered taking that principle a step further? In fact it is not just meat that should be avoided. We should also limit our consumption of dairy, seafood and eggs. All contain animal protein which has been implicated in promoting cancer among other things. One of the culprits is IGF-1. Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) promotes fetal and childhood growth. Later in life however, if the levels are high they promote cellular replication and growth that can accelerate aging and promote cancer. Diets high in animal products and animal protein (this includes seafood and dairy) increase the levels of IGF-1 in the body. IGF-1 stimulates mitosis or cell division and inhibits aptosis, a process leading to cell death. What this means is that IGF-1 stimulates the growth and proliferation of cancer cells while simultaneously inhibiting the immune system’s ability to seek out and kill abnormal cells before they become cancerous (aptosis). In numerous studies high levels of IGF-1 have been shown to have a positive correlation with breast and prostate cancer in particular (Joel Fuhrman, The End of Heart Disease).
The solution:
It may be quite difficult to completely cut animal products out of your diet. You may be a huge meat, egg and dairy eater. What I’m asking is for you to try to add more animal free meals and maybe even whole days into your diet. Small steps to becoming meat and animal product free are fantastic. Small steps lead to great change! You may find a whole new world of recipes and foods that are quite satisfying! Just give it a try!
Try reading up on the subject. Two great online resources are nutritionfacts.org and drfuhrman.com. These are two fabulous resources that are based on unbiased scientific research. The more you know the more you can make an informed decision about your diet and your health.
“If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always had.”
- Albert Einstein