Big Changes!

    Have you ever made a change in your life that was so big you wanted to tell everyone and no one at the same time?  You wanted support but at the same time you don’t want to tell anyone because what if the change was a bad one for you or it didn’t work out???   Well a few weeks ago I took the giant leap of eating red meat again for the first time in 23 years.  For you existing meat eaters it may not sound like a big deal….for me?  It was huge, colossal, gigantic!  And here’s why…..

     When I was in college I was in a philosophy class that had an entire section of the semester dedicated to ethical treatment of animals.  I was already an animal lover (most of you who know me know how deeply passionate I am about animals…all of them), but this particular class had an assignment that pushed me over the edge into animal loving.  I mean shoved!   We were to read a story about “Downed Cows” and write a paper on it.  I remember so clearly sitting on my couch in my apartment reading the story about how cows were taken to slaughter.  Back then there was no Temple Grandin speaking for the animals, no huge movement on eating grassfed humanely raised beef  (insert link) leading the way.  The story told of the workers in the field putting the cows into a large truck….just shoving them all in on top of each other and when they reached the destination at the slaughter house they opened the back and some of the cows had broken legs from overcrowded conditions.  They explained how the last cow had been so crushed that they had to put a rope around his neck and a tree and drive away to get him out of the truck…therefore when he “fell” out of the truck he broke his pelvis and was rendered useless since they couldn’t move him.  He died a terrible suffering death.  I cried until I couldn’t even see the paper.  Remembering this story (it is forever burned in my brain) has me tearing up today….23 years later.  It’s a terrible story but one I wanted to tell because it gives you an idea of WHY I was completely committed to NEVER eating beef or pork (the pig story was equally disturbing) again.  I stuck to my convictions for almost a quarter of a century…until my health demanded a change.

     Fast forward to my life today where I am struggling with low iron regularly. When I stopped supplementing my iron it would drop again over and over. Without good iron my thyroid medicine won’t work…it’s a tricky balance for me.  Add to that a host of other issues that accompany a low functioning thyroid and I decided to evaluate my diet again.  I had to figure out where I was going wrong.  Bio hack my health even deeper if you will.  I took inventory:  I sleep 9 hours a night, do relaxation and meditation for stress relief, have fun in my life and trust me when I tell you my diet is pretty damn good.  I eat a paleo style template -loads of veggies, good fats, very little fruit and all our food is raised humanely and organic etc.  So what was wrong with my iron?  Why wasn’t it staying in the cells for use or was it even penetrating the cells for long enough to help me be well?
 
      I did some research and found out I wasn’t eating enough animal protein.  Protein is an essential macronutrient that our bodies can’t make on it’s own.  Iron comes in two forms:  Heme (found in meat products) and non heme (found in non meat products).  The body uses heme much more efficiently and helps to prevent anemia.  I read more about that and knew I had to make a change.  Being a person who does not eat red meat was not serving me…and chances are it’s not serving you.  I ate fish and poultry all those years and it was not enough. 

   
     I started prepping myself for this life change a few months ago.  Teasing the idea of eating steaks and burgers around in my mind, extensively reading about “killing animals” and the inhumanity of it etc.  I found out eating ruminant pastured animals might be LESS cruel than a vegan diet and it wasn’t isolated to meat eaters.  “Animals living in and around agricultural fields are killed during field activities and the greater the number of field activities, the greater the number of field animals that die.  A partial list of animals of the field in the USA include opossum, rock dove, house sparrow, European starling, black rat, Norway rat, house mouse, Chukar, gray partridge, ring-necked pheasant, wild turkey, cottontail rabbit, gray-tailed vole, and numerous species of amphibians (Edge, 2000).  In addition, Edge (2000) says, "production of most crops requires multiple field operations that may include plowing, disking, harrowing, planting, cultivating, applying herbicides and pesticides as well as harvesting."  These practices have negative effects on the populations of the animals living in the fields.” (insert scream and reference: https://www.morehouse.edu/facstaff/nnobis/papers/Davis-LeastHarm.htm)  The more I read the less guilt I started to have over beginning a red meat diet again and the more conflicted I felt about tractors (ha).

     I took my first bite of a grassfed (Come on...you know you want to know what grass fed means! click here!) burger one night after taking enzymes for a few weeks in preparation.  My husband sat watching me as if I might throw the burger down and say “I CAN’T DO IT!!!” and run off in tears.  Instead…I slowly chewed, cried (yep…through the entire meal) and gave thanks to the animal I was eating.  I felt it was important to show gratitude for the sacrifice that was given so I could continue to live my optimal life even though this animal had lost his.  That was a few weeks ago and while I am not a HUGE meat eater I am eating it at least 3 times a week and will be watching my iron levels for improvement.  I stopped taking supplemental iron and hope to see a stabilization in my ferritin, TIBC, UIBC, Serum and saturation percentages.  Want to know more about iron?  Iron information

     This blog ended up being a LOT longer than I anticipated but I wanted to be sure I completely explained my choices in life and how they have affected my health.  Make no mistake this decision did not come easily to me.  I am including a link by author Lierre Keith that totally opened my eyes to eating meat (she herself was a vegan for almost 20 years) and helped me to find peace with the changes.  Sometimes we have to do what we don’t want to do and said we would NEVER do in order to be healthy.  This was a big change for me and I applaud myself for making it.  I can’t imagine sitting idle and being “content” with suboptimal health when I KNOW it’s in my hands to change my circumstances.  Being tired, irritable, achy and anemic is no fun and it’s unnecessary.

I am on a mission to be off thyroid meds, to be as healthy as I can be with no medical intervention using food and lifestyle changes to get there….will it happen anytime soon?  Who knows but my life is worth the effort no matter how long it takes.  What big change are you willing to make for an off the charts life?!


In Health,


CFH