The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet Read Online Free PDF

and aggression in us? Are we eating fear and anger? Although there’s very little hard science on this, many people report becoming much calmer and more peaceful when they give up meat.
    Fish has its own dangers: These days fish contain mercury and other industrial toxins. Coal-burning power plants release mercury into the air, which then falls into the ocean. Bacteria consume this mercury, which then is consumed by little fish and is concentrated up the fishy food chain. Smaller fish and seafood like salmon, cod, shrimp, and trout have lower levels of mercury, while swordfish, tile, mackerel, and tuna have the highest. But they ALL contain mercury, which has been shown to damage the brain, kidneys, and lungs and is particularly dangerous to pregnant women and their growing babies.
    Does that mean farm-raised fish are better? Well, besides the fact that they are pumped full of antibiotics, farmed salmon were found to contain levels of industrial toxins called PCBs 16 times higher 17 than their wild counterparts, so neither choice can be considered clean.
    Why don’t we know this stuff?
    The meat industry has created entities like the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the American Meat Institute, and the National Pork Producers Council, which spend millions and millions of dollars on print and television ads to cast their products in a positive light, despite evidence to the contrary.
    Approximately 650,000 Americans die of heart disease each year. Half a million die of cancer. Those two diseases are slaying our population like modern plagues. And you know what? They’re basically preventable—and often even reversible—through diet and lifestyle changes. Some people are trying to get the word out there: Groups like the American Heart Association, the World Health Organization, and the American Institute for Cancer Research. They all agree that a plant-based diet will help prevent these horrible illnesses that are killing our friends and families.
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Superhero: Olympic Wrestler Chris Campbell
Chris became vegetarian after doing research on how to maximize his athletic potential for the 1980 Olympics, but because of the U.S. boycott, he was not allowed to compete that year. After an injury kept him out of the 1984 Olympic Games, he stopped competing and went on to earn a law degree. Still in world-class shape 8 years later, Chris qualified for the Barcelona Olympics and took home the bronze medal in 1992 at the ripe old age of 37, making him the oldest American wrestling medalist and one of the greatest comeback kids in wrestling history. He feels that his vegetarian diet allowed his body to use more energy for training because less was needed to process meat.

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    However, unlike the Cattlemen, these groups aren’t in it for the money—they’re simply trying to disseminate information as a public service. But it’s hard to compete with big business: Did you know that the meat industries are subsidized by the U.S. government and continually lobby Congress to keep the subsidies alive? On its Web site, the National Chicken Council clucks with pride that it pays off politicians: “[We] collect funds through [our] Political Action Committee to distribute to congressional candidates who support the industry.”
    The doctor of the future will give no medication, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.
    —Thomas A. Edison
    MAYBE WE’RE JUST NOT BUILT FOR THIS
    Many argue that we’re not actually designed to consume much animal flesh. True carnivores, like cheetahs, have razor-sharp teeth and long claws and run as fast as a speeding car. You can’t run that fast and your molars are flat, meant for grinding grains. Yes, we have four vestigial canine teeth, but good luck ripping flesh with them, much less your nails.
    Our intestines tell a story, too. A carnivore’s intestines are only about 6 feet long, because meat isn’t meant to hang