Modern humans have a mind-boggling capacity to create complicated things. From bikes, cars and trains, to quantum computers that ‘think’ and learn for themselves. We are on the verge of combining robots with humans, and creating vaccines in record-breaking time.

Yet, we are the only species which has consciously and actively destroyed its own habitat. Today’s world is plagued with problems: Climate emergency, biodiversity collapse, viral pandemics, human trafficking, escalating conflict and mass migration all of which we tackle in ever more sophisticated ways. 

Are we so drunk on our masterful achievements that we no longer think we have to live by universal laws? Do we see ourselves as entirely outside and beyond nature? Natural law, no longer relevant, living in a world where all is out-sourced and out of sight?

Cheap food for example, is grown on intensively managed land where the fertility comes from fossil fuels, and the ‘pests,’ also known as ‘wildlife’, are killed with toxic chemicals. These intensive systems are fraught with destructive, direct and indirect consequences. 

Results are decoupled from problems, so costs are kept low for the polluter, the tab, picked up by the citizen, under the guise of seemingly disconnected issues. Issues such as: adapting to climate chaos; cleaning up ocean dead zones; pollinating by hand due to insect population collapse; the huge social and environmental cost of human migration due to an area half the size of the European Union, turning to desert each year. 

In human health, the outsourced costs are vast: Since 1990 global cancer rates have almost doubled; autoimmune rates skyrocket, coeliac disease alone increases up to 9% each year; a tenfold increase in obesity; and now in the UK 1 in 54 children have autism. Rampant viruses from covid 19 to swine flu sweep through the world population, the latter of which resulted in the slaughter of 10 million factory-farmed pigs.

I believe that the most significant challenge we face today is not climate change, world hunger or a killer virus – these are all symptoms – it’s our inability to understand and work with complexity or find the real root cause of an issue. 

There are approximately 370 million indigenous people in the world occupying or using up to 22% of the global land area, which is home to 80% of the world’s biological diversity. 

Indigenous cultures understand/understood complexity. They live/lived as part of their ecosystem, watching and learning from the patterns of nature; knowledge handed down, through storytelling, rituals and the guidance of elders. 

But this ancient wisdom is sadly all but gone. Meanwhile we worship the gods of economics and technology. Distracted by soundbites of a marketable world, a far cry from any universal truths. ‘Meat is murder’ takes just a second to say but several hours to debunk – and that’s if you can get anyone to listen!  

Getting to the root cause of a wicked problem requires the ability to see the complex, interconnected, ever-evolving picture; it takes time, patience, a willingness to learn and think critically.

Who’s paying for that new scientific study? Who is really benefiting most from that new wonder drug? Are we asking these critical questions?

So, where did it all go wrong?

During the ‘enlightenment,’ Rene Descartes mechanistic thinking – the idea that everything can be taken apart like a machine, became the predominant way of looking at the world. Applied to living systems, such as human health and natural ecosystems, this is frankly disastrous.

Living systems are complex, interwoven, self-organising and emergent. The ‘whole’ system has properties that cannot be understood by separating and studying them. 

But evolution continues and beyond ‘mechanos’ has emerged ‘systems thinking,’ a new, ‘holistic’ paradigm. A way of seeing the world, that really can solve our most pressing problems, be it in our inner ecosystems (our bodies), or our outer ecosystems (our farmland and wild spaces).  

It is time to say, ‘enough is enough’, to rebel intelligently and quietly by taking the time to develop your own capacity to see the whole picture. This is the age of complexity. A new set of skills are required to work alongside ‘specialists’ – the capacity to see the world as the living, complex intertwined system that it is. 

In this series of posts, I plan to cover a wide range of issues. In each example, I will show a problem and how systems thinking can help to solve it. I hope to illustrate how every separate issue from crop failures to cancer, is utterly connected because it is all one system.

Below is the first of these, a short video looking at the issue of intestinal parasites in livestock. In a mechanistic paradigm, these are treated with chemicals, which have a chain of destructive knock-on effects. Within a holistic paradigm, we show how we can deal with this problem in a different way.

So what do we stand for? What can you expect from us in terms of standards and assurance? 

P – Pasture for life. 

Cows and sheep should eat pasture and only pasture, that’s what they’re designed to do. Feeding grain to livestock has negative consequences for animal health, and brings with it many environmental concerns. 

So we are committed to 100% pasture fed, and to assure you of our commitment, we use the ‘Pasture for Life’ certification, for all our herbivore meats. This includes a tracks-traceability system. 

Our omnivore (poultry and pork) meats, will eat an appropriate diet for optimal digestion and nutrient requirements. We will choose the most sustainable option available to each farm, based on a sourcing primarily from local farms, then UK grown organic feeds, and lastly, only if necessary, imported organic feeds.

We will also be exploring, and funding projects to develop the genetics for livestock that can thrive on more natural, and sustainable diets.

R – Regenerating soils. 

The farmers that supply our meat, farm in a way that regenerates soils. In order to tackle climate change, with its resulting extremes of weather, we need to farm in a way that takes more carbon out of the atmosphere than it emits. By using regenerative practices, our grazing systems are actively sequestering carbon into stable forms that are locked into the soil. 

Farms supplying us are monitoring carbon sequestration so we can demonstrate over a five-year timescale, a net-negative trend. Farmers also use ‘Soil Mentor’ annually, to show that the soils’ physical structure is getting healthier. This is a practical and straightforward proxy indicator, to show that the soil is sequestering carbon. 

I – Improving ecosystem processes. 

While carbon is important, so are farming practices which enhance biodiversity, rehydrate landscapes and rebuild the soil food web, so minerals can be passed from healthy soils, to healthy animals, and regenerate the health of the people eating the meat. 

Farmers supplying us are trained to monitor their land for the effectiveness of their ecosystem processes. From noting species diversity, to doing infiltration tests and worm counts, we use several simple, but scientifically proven ways of monitoring for improvements in these ecosystem processes. 

The farms that supply us with meats never use artificial fertilisers or herbicides.

M – Mature Meat.

Our culture is sold on the idea that only meat from young animals is tender and tasty.  This is not true, in fact, some of the tastiest and most celebrated types of meat around the world, come from more mature animals. Before the war, these meats were traditionally eaten in the UK as well. 

This prejudice has led to the devaluing of perfectly prime protein, resulting in the long-distance transport of live animals to foreign countries for slaughter in abattoirs with lower standards than our own. 

Although younger animals may have a more tender texture and delicate flavour, older animals produce meat of a deep, rich flavour, and delicious texture if dry-aged on the bone.  

We have created a ‘Prime and Mature’ range to help celebrate this forgotten delicacy. All the meat from beef and sheep is dry-aged on the bone for optimal periods.

A – Animal Health.

The farmers that supply our meat are proactive with regards to the health of their livestock. Farmers always aim to prevent diseases, by designing farm systems that address the root cause of why livestock get sick. They do this by leveraging the power of the natural ecosystem processes. Healthy ecosystems support healthy animals. In this way we can significantly reduce the need for medical intervention.

The livestock on our supplying farms are never routinely treated with antibiotics. 

We give you assurance of this, because we personally work with each farmer to design a whole-farming-system livestock-health-plan, that addresses any recurring health issues.

L – Living Naturally.

We believe livestock should be able to express their natural behaviours. Cows and sheep should be grazing on pasture, chickens need to scratch in healthy soil, alive with invertebrates, and pigs need to be able to root and nest. 

The breeds of animals that our supply farmers choose, are appropriate for their climate, topography, and reflect the cultural heritage of the region. 

As meat-eaters, we have a great responsibility to ensure a quick and humane death for the animals that we eat. We work with a hub system to ensure livestock are transported only short distances to slaughter, and we aim to support small, local, family abattoirs where possible. The kill process is quick and appropriate for the animal, conducted under veterinary supervision and will always include livestock being rendered unconscious before slaughter.

Take a listen to this podcast in which I am featured talking about my views on veganism. It may be a surprise to know that as the owner of a meat business I welcome the movement as an important catalyst for change.

I hope you enjoy it. Caroline x

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/is-vegan-a-dirty-word/id1490590788?i=1000461549444

The EAT-Lancet Commission on Food, Planet, Health has gathered scientists from across the world to try and answer the follow questions:

1) What is a healthy diet?
2) What is a sustainable food system?
3) What are the trends shaping diets today?
4) Can we achieve healthy diets from sustainable food systems? How?
5) What are the solutions and policies we can apply?

Their aim is to define ‘what is a healthy and sustainable diet?’. But more so, what actions can support and speed up food system transformation. (Eatforum, 2019). Whilst it seems they have the right intentions in some areas discussed, we do need global food systems to change if we have any hope of obtaining a truly sustainable and eventually a regenerative farming system, it also seems they have missed the mark in areas like nutrition and the limitations of reducing beef and lamb consumption over poultry.

We want to make sure you, as our customers and followers, aren’t mislead or confused by the outcome of this report. We want to re-assure you of our, joint, beliefs in what a healthy and regenerative diet should look like.

The Eat Lancet Diet is Nutritionally Deficient

Firstly, if we look at the wonderful work of Dr Zoe Harcombe and her latest article, we can see the suggested ‘healthy reference diet’, also known as the EAT diet, by Lancet is deficient in the following nutrients:

Vitamin B12 – the US RDA is 2.4mcg, the EAT diet is slightly deficient in providing 2.27mcg.
Retinol – The EAT diet provides just 17% of retinol recommended.
Vitamin D – the EAT diet provides just 5% of vitamin D recommendation.
Sodium – the EAT diet provides just 22% of the sodium recommendation.
Potassium – the EAT diet provides just 67% of potassium recommended.
Vitamin K – 72% of the vitamin K in the EAT diet came from the broccoli (K1). As is the case with all nutrients, the animal form (K2) is better absorbed by the body.
Calcium – more seriously, the EAT diet provides just 55% of calcium recommended.
Iron – the EAT diet provides 88% of iron recommended. Our bodies better absorb heme iron, which comes from meat, poultry, seafood and fish. It is recommended that vegetarians eat 1.8 times more than those who eat meat.
Omega-3 – essential fatty acids. Unfortunately, the tool doesn’t aggregate to the fatty acid level, but this diet is highly likely deficient in omega-3 and highly likely (given the 350 calories of nutritionally poor, highly unsaturated, vegetable oils) has an unhealthy omega-6 to omega-3 ratio. This is a concise overview from ‘the eat lancet diet is nutritionally deficient’, Zoe Harcombe, 2019)

The Problem with Epidemiology Science

Another major issue with this report is the ideology that red meat is bad for human health, this has never been proved by sound science and the data for this report has been extracted from epidemiology science, which cannot be used to work out causation (The Nutrition Coalition, 2019). This means the evidence in the study can suggest a pattern but it can’t confirm or deny the cause of certain health issues. Are we really going to build a whole new diet, farming method and lifestyle from a pattern?

The Nutrition Coalition explains “A prominent example of this (weak
epidemiology science) was the World Health Organization’s 2015 designation of red meat as a carcinogen (for colorectal cancer). But this decision depended entirely upon epidemiological data which showed that the relative risk of getting this cancer for red meat eaters, compared to non-meat eaters, was only 1.17 to 1.18. Relative risks below 2 are generally considered in the field of epidemiology to be too small to establish a reliable correlation.”

What we do know about the effect of Red Meat on our health

The following findings from ‘Scientific Evidence on Red Meat and Health’ by The Nutrition Coalition, 2019, highlight:

Two of the largest clinical trials of 54,000 men and women, concluded that saturated fats had no effect on cardiovascular mortality or total mortality.

Two large clinical trials on more than 50,000 men and women who significantly cut back on red-meat consumption (while increasing fruits,vegetables and grains) did not see any risk reduction for  polyp re-occurrenceor anykind of cancer. 

Two meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials (in theJournal of ClinicalLipidologyand theAmerican Journal of Clinical Nutrition) both found that red meat had either neutral or positive effects on most cardiovascular outcomes (blood pressure, cholesterol and other lipids).

Red meat cannot possibly cause diabetes, because glucose (sugar) is the principal driver of type 2 diabetes, and meat contains no glucose. Moreover, red meat availability has dropped dramatically as diabetes has skyrocketed , making any proposed connection between red meat and diabetes self-evidently unreasonable

How should we manage our land?

The Eat Lancet report shows we need to action change in farming systems and modern diets. However, as presented in ‘EAT-Lancet report’s recommendations are at odds with sustainable food production’ by the Sustainable Food Trust, it doesn’t educate the public about how we can achieve a sustainable future and in some key areas it could make things worse.
Patrick Holden, chief executive of the SFT said, “A key weakness in the report is the failure to fully differentiate between livestock that are part of the problem and those that are an essential component of sustainable agricultural systems. This results in messages that are likely to add to existing confusion around what constitutes a healthy and sustainable diet”.

Furthermore, the report correctly shows that excessive nitrogen fertiliser use in farming has led us to exceed sustainable planetary boundaries for reactive nitrogen. However, they recommend maintaining current fertiliser usage levels by increasing use in developing countries to match any decreases that can be achieved in developed countries. This is likely to accelerate the rate of soil degradation and loss and reduce yields in some of the most vulnerable communities. This isn’t a solution. (The Sustainable Food Trust, 2019)

Is there a healthy, sustainable diet out there?

We have partnered with Wilderculture to create a new set of guidelines for eco-omnivores. The Wildervore Approach is designed to drive sustainability, save the planet and recover your health. A Wildervore is someone who chooses foods that are ethical, environmentally regenerative and right for their unique health requirements over and above a simplistic segregation of vegan, vegetarian or meat eater.

References

Eatforum, 2019. Access at https://eatforum.org/eat-lancet-commission/

Zoe Harcombe, 17th January 2019, The EAT Lancet diet is nutritionally deficient. Access here: http://www.zoeharcombe.com/2019/01/the-eat-lancet-diet-is-nutritionally-deficient/

The Nutrition Coalition, 2019. Scientific Evidence on Red Meat and Health. Accessed at: https://www.scribd.com/document/397606855/Two-pager-Scientific-Evidence-on-Red-Meat-and-Health

The Sustainable Food Trust, 2019. EAT-Lancet report’s recommendations are at odds with sustainable food production. Accessed at: https://sustainablefoodtrust.org/articles/eat-lancet-reports-recommendations-are-at-odds-with-sustainable-food-production/

Chris Kresser has us feeling pretty inspired by his arguments with Dr. Joel Kahn on why you should eat meat. Chris Kresser is globally recognised as a leader in the fields of ancestral health, Paleo nutrition, and functional and integrative medicine. Dr. Joel Kahn is one of the world’s top cardiologists and believes that plant-based nutrition is the most powerful source of preventative medicine on the planet. They battled it out for nearly 4 hours on the Joe Rogan Experience.

Chris covers topics that really cement our beliefs that eating meat is good for our health and the planet. In the podcast, he covers the following topics:

• There Are Serious Problems with Epidemiological Research
• Vegetarians and Vegans Don’t Live Longer
• Is There a Connection between Red Meat and Cancer?
• Does Saturated Fat Increase Your Blood Cholesterol?
• Where (and When) Conventional Ideas about Saturated Fat Come From
• Will Eating Animal Protein Shorten Your Lifespan?
• Did the Sugar Industry Influence How We Think about Saturated Fat?
• Red Meat and TMAO: Red Herring or Meaningful Association?
• Does Fish Increase Your Risk of Diabetes?
• Correlation Is Not Causation
• Here, We Agree: There Should Be Lots of Plants on Your Plate
• What Happens When You Give Up Nutrient-Dense Animal Protein
• Is the Carnivore Diet Healthy?

Chris has put together an abundance of additional resources to back up his statements, this can be read here.

Primal Meats’ aim is to offer you nutrient rich meat from Farms who rear their animals to high standards of welfare and manage their land in harmony with nature. We also aim to further educate our customers in holistic land management and nutrition. Our meats are perfect for those following diets based on ancestral wisdom as they are as close as possible to meats from the wild. Visit the shop here.

We have written several informative pages to help you further understand ‘is healthy to eat meat?‘, ‘is it morally right to eat meat?‘, ‘is it sustainable to eat meat?‘

Watch the podcast yourself here and let us know what you think!

1. You eat more Protein

Our hunter- gatherer forefathers ate about 19-35% protein. Modern Western diets only comprise of about 15% protein and it rarely includes a good range of amino acids. Getting enough protein on a Paleo/Primal diet can help to balance blood sugar levels, more energy and healthier bones. Good quality meats, fish and eggs should contribute to most of your protein requirements.

2: You eat ‘better’ carbohydrates

On a Paleo/Primal diet you will eat carbohydrates that have a lower Glycaemic load – Non starchy fruit and vegetables will provide most of our carbohydrate requirements, this will keep your blood sugar stable. Avoiding blood sugar spikes will keep you slim and maintain consistent energy levels.

3: You eat more fibre

Yes even without eating whole grains! Dietary fibre is essential for good health; vegetables and fruit contain far higher amounts of fibre than grains. Some vegetables have 31 times more fibre than refined flour products.

4: You eat more fat

But only the good stuff – Recent comprehensive large population studies show that saturated fats have little or no adverse effects upon cardiovascular disease. Yes that means your GP’s information is out of date! Choose your meats wisely so that the saturated fat you eat is from grass-fed animals. 100% grass fed meats have up to five times the Omega- 3 fats of animals that have been fed grain based diets. Eat healthier monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats with a higher Omega-3 to and Omega-6 ratio. Cut the trans fats and reduce the Omega-6 polyunsaturated fats in your diet. Wilderculture has a great free course, ‘is it healthy to eat meat?‘ which covers a variety of topics from ancestral diets to vegan and vegetarian deficiencies to help you get a well-rounded view of the topic.

5: Your diet will be higher in potassium and lower sodium

Our ancestors had a ratio of about 5 potassium to 1 sodium and our body needs this balance to help our organs function efficiently. Modern diets are likely to have a ratio of 2 sodium to 1 potassium, this has been linked to high blood pressure, heart disease and strokes.

6: Your body will be more Alkaline

By eating a diet high in fruit and vegetables you will reduce your acid load to the kidneys. High dietary acid may lead to bone and muscle loss, high blood pressure, risk of kidney stones and aggravate asthma. Therefore more Alkaline in our bodies will keep these issues at bay.

7: We will receive more vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and plant phytochemicals

Grains are no substitute for grass fed meats, fruits or veggies as they contain no vitamin A, C or B12. Many of the minerals and some of the B vitamins that whole grains contain are not synthesised in the body well.

8: You can have Diary!

We left this paleo diet basics ‘hot potato’ until last. Dairy was not available to our hunter-gathering friends however has been eaten by traditional pastoral cultures for thousands of years and some tolerate it well. As a natural product from an animal which (in some form) would have been around in prehistoric times, it is acceptable. The main reason Paleo purists avoid dairy is that some people have a problem with lactose and casein intolerance. Both of these molecules are present in human breast milk, this means our ancestors must have not just tolerated it but thrived on it for some time, in many Western cultures the ability to digest these proteins continues into adulthood.

I do, however, think that milk and its derivatives should be ‘raw’ as the pasteurisation process takes away the beneficial bacteria and enzymes that help us digest it. We believe homogenisation is a no-no, it messes with the way our body recognises food and our bodies are more likely to mark it as an allergen. If dairy was an unpalatable food there would be no good reason to include it in our diet. Raw dairy and its products are delicious and can make a very difficult diet regime much easier. Diary can add flavour and texture to many dishes.

Comment below and let us know how your Paleo or Primal Diet has improved your health…. 

Have friends who might like to know 8 Key Differences between Paleo/Primal Diets and Modern Diets? Share it with them to….

We have created our own health plan that draws from ancestral wisdom and helps you build a way to eat that is good for the planet and good for your unique life circumstances too. Take a look at our ‘Wildervore Approach.’

Through all the research on diet and lifestyle of our early ancestors and into healthy indigenous and traditional cultures, one thing is now crystal clear.

There’s no ONE natural human diet.

Different parts of the world have hugely varied landscapes that grow different native foods and humans have adapted rather nicely to utilising on these available foods.
However what’s also clear is that although traditional diets varied hugely, the inclusion of at least some animal foods was essential to maintaining robust health over the long term.
There are no essential foods, but there are essential nutrients only found in animals foods. Plant-based diets are virtually devoid of B12, calcium, iron, zinc, the long-chain fatty acids EPA & DHA, and fat-soluble vitamins like A & D.

Adequate B12 intake is thought by some to be possible from certain plant sources such as seaweed, brewer’s yeast, spirulina and fermented soy. As it turns out, plant sources of B12 are mostly B12 analogues or cobamides which in fact block the intake of, and increase the requirement for true B12.

Vegans are often found to be deficient in calcium. Not just because their diet doesn’t include calcium rich animal foods but the calcium-rich plant foods they’re eating contain oxalates and phytates which block absorption of some of the calcium contained within them. (1) (2) (3)

Vegans often have lower serum ferritin concentrations than omnivores even though their iron intake calculations are comparable. Once again this is due to the form in which the iron is eaten. Many plant foods are high in iron but the iron is in the (non-heme) form that’s poorly absorbed. Many of these plant foods are high in iron absorption inhibitors, such as phytates, polyphenols and oxalates. The result of this combination is that 90% or more of the iron in those foods isn’t absorbed. Luckily the absorption inhibitors in only seem to apply to the non-heme sources of Iron, so If you’re eating plenty of veggies with your meat then you’re good to go. (4) (5) (6)

Zinc’s the same story, although there’s not too much concern about the intake levels of zinc in a vegan diet, the high levels of phytate in the plant foods being consumed increase the volume of those foods required to absorb sufficient zinc. (7) (8)

EPA and DHA are two (omega-3) essential fatty acids found nearly exclusively in fish and animal foods. These long chain fatty acids are thought to protect against diseases such as: cancer, asthma, depression, cardiovascular disease, ADHD, and autoimmune diseases. Some plant foods contain both linoleic acid (omega-6) and alpha-linolenic acid (omega-3) which are essential fatty acids. Some plant based omega-3 (ALA) can be converted into DHA and EPA however, the conversion rates are very low at about 5- 10%. The successful conversion of these ALA’s is dependent on adequate absorption of synergistic nutrients such as zinc and Iron – hmmm!
If we eat too many omega-6 fatty acids this will interfere with the successful conversion of ALA into DHA and EPA. This is why grass fed meats with a higher ratio of 3:6 are important. and why vegans who are eating diets high in omega-6 (which they inevitably are) are less likely to successfully convert ALA into EPA or DHA. (9) (10)

It’s been shown that traditional cultures all have a near equal balance of omega-3 and omega-6 in their diets.
As Nora explains in her wonderful article  here’s a very special fat out there that is found only in the fat of grass-fed and finished animals. CLA or ‘conjugated linoleic acid’ could be one of the most healthful and potent cancer-fighting substances in our diet.

CLA has been proven to – even in amounts we’re likely to eat – can block all three stages of Cancer unlike most “anticancer nutrients” which are only effective in one stage. Research has demonstrated beneficial effects of natural CLA from animal fat have been found in cancers of the breast, prostate, colon and skin.

Correlation is not causation but it can give us clues. Several studies strongly suggest CLA could be particularly helpful in the fight against cancer. In one Finnish study, women who ate the most CLA had a 60 percent lower risk of breast cancer than those who ate the least. Some French researchers sampled the breast tissue of 360 women and found that the women with the most CLA had a staggering 74% lower risk of breast cancer than the women with the least CLA.

In a study that perfectly highlights the need for whole food solution not isolated nutrient supplements; human breast cancer cells were incubated in milk fat high in CLA or in an isolated form of CLA without any milk fat. The milk fat high in CLA decreased the growth of cancer by 90 percent compared to 60%. What was shocking is that some cells were incubated in linoleic acid (the omega-6 fat high in grain and grain-fed animals meat) the growth of the cancer cell increased by 25 percent!

There are more and more studies being done on the preventative properties of CLA against breast and Colon cancer and the findings offer a great deal of hope for those willing to source good grass fed and finished milk, butter and meat.

As Jo Robinson says on ‘Eat Wild’ ‘Many people take a synthetic version that is widely promoted as a diet aid and muscle builder. New research shows that the type of CLA in the pills may have some potentially serious side effects, including promoting insulin resistance, raising glucose levels, and reducing HDL (good) cholesterol.’  You just can’t fake natures processes.

Vegan diets are nearly entirely absent in fat soluble vitamins A and D. Fat-soluble vitamins are critical activators to human health and are found mainly in animal foods particularly seafood, organ meats, eggs and dairy.
Vitamin A has a critical role in maintaining healthy vision, neurological function and healthy skin.
Vitamin D deficiency is common and linked to increased risks of developing common cancers, autoimmune diseases, hypertension, and some infectious disease.

Apart from certain hard to find mushrooms which contain vitamin D, most plant foods don’t contain vitamin A or D. Plants contain beta-carotene which is the precursor to vitamin A but the conversion rates are poor. (12) (13) (14)

Vitamin D levels have been shown to be 74% lower in Vegans than in Omnivores.
To get the same vitamin A hot as a portion of beef liver you would have to eat 14 cups of carrots. We know that in healthy traditional cultures people at up to ten times the amount of Vitamin A than our current RDA. To attain these levels of vitamin A today from plant sources would be virtually impossible. (15) (16)

In 1945 Weston A Price discovered through the chemical testing of the organ meats, eggs and butter eaten by healthy traditional cultures an unknown fat soluble nutrient he called ‘Activator X.’ He discovered that the nutrient was present in higher quantities in the meat, milk, butter and eggs of animals eating quickly growing green plants in healthy pastures.
Dr Price found the nutrient played an influential role in the absorption of minerals, protection from tooth decay, growth and development, protection from disease and the healthy functioning of the brain.
A growing body of scientific work now confirms that the mysterious activator was Vitamin K2 which work synergistically with the other fat soluble activators vitamins A and D and is usually conveniently packaged with them in traditional fatty grass fed animal foods. (17)
Vitamins A and D tell the cells to produce certain proteins and vitamin K then activates these proteins. The K vitamins are also essential for effective blood clotting.

As illustrated in Kate Rheaume-Bleues’ ,‘The Calcium paradox’, vitamin K2 is the transport mechanism that gets calcium to your bones and eating calcium without sufficient K2 will be essentially wasted. Supplementing calcium could even be harmful in the absence of animal foods as it could increase the formation of plaque in the arteries or kidney stones if it’s not utilised in the bones.

Apart from fermented soya ‘natto’ and some other fermented vegetables, plants don’t provide vitamin K2. The K2 found in fermented foods is produced by the bacteria (animals) in the fermenting process. The K1 found in green leafy vegetables has a low conversion rate when ingested directly by humans – approximately 10% .
Vitamin K2 is thought to be one of the main nutrients responsible for the wide facial structures, lack of tooth decay and fine stature of the non-civilised people Weston Price studied in his research.

Weston Price found that ‘the diets of healthy, non-industrialised peoples contain at least four times the minerals and water-soluble vitamins, and ten times the fat-soluble vitamins found in animal fats (vitamin A, vitamin D and Activator X, now thought to be vitamin K2) as the average American diet.’ (18)

Modern diets in ‘civilised’ parts of the world are now based on processed foods, refined grains, sugars and vegetable oils. But even the animal foods we are eating contain only a shadow of the nutrients our ancestor’s wild meats would have offered up.

In one study Cows grazing pasture and receiving no supplemental feed had 500% more conjugated linoleic acid in milk fat than cows fed typical dairy diets. (19)

In another study, fatty acid profiles were significantly modified by different diets in milk cows. CLA, vaccenic acid (VA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) significantly (P < 0.05) increased in plasma as a function of the proportion of pasture added to the diet. (20)

In a study on lamb by Bristol University the favourable fatty acid profiles of lamb improved when lambs where grazed on habitats with a greater diversity of species against a control of lowland pasture.

It’s clear from numerous studies that animals eating a natural diet with produce meat, milk and eggs that are higher in many of the nutrients helpful to human health. It is also clear that the health of the land, diversity of the habitat and breed or species of the animal influences the potential health and therefore the produce it supplies. Choosing produce from animals that have been reared in ways that mimic nature will outperform those which have been reared on un-natural foods in confinement every time.

I need no convincing that a diet high in poor quality and processed animal proteins is bad for your health and I would also like to make it clear that I’m not necessarily suggesting a high-protein diet is a great idea either, especially it reduces the amount of nutrient dense veggies you eat. Individual health, associated eating habits, quality of food choices, hormones, common gene mutations and the composition of our gut microbiome are hugely influential on how successfully we utilise and convert nutrients. Some people will manage very well on a vegetarian diet who others will feel and look terrible. A vegetarian diet based on junk food is a very different deal to a raw food diet which includes pastured eggs and raw milk. We need to be careful about jumping on a bandwagon or making sweeping statements. (21)

That said there’s no credible evidence that being a vegetarian is any healthier than being a health-conscious omnivore. (22)

There are many studies being thrown around to ‘prove’ a vegetarian diet results in better health but in nearly all of them they are loaded with what is known as the ‘healthy user bias.’ The healthy user bias occurs because the type of people who would take a huge step like cutting out an entire food group from their diet in the name of improving their health, are already some of the most health oriented and ethically minded people within society. (23)

To compare vegetarians with a general selection of meat eaters which includes a considerable number of McDonalds eating and sugar addicted elements of society is a tad unfair! But even with a fair heap of healthy user bias included, this study found no difference in mortality rates between vegetarians and meat eaters in the UK. (24)

Here’s an example of why these types of studies don’t prove cause:
This study compared smokers with non-smokers and analysed their consumption of vegetables and other healthy habits.
‘Although Americans as a whole have unhealthy diets, smokers appear to have worse diets than their nonsmoking counterparts. Prior epidemiological studies have shown that smokers consume more fats, alcohol, and caffeine and less fruit, vegetables, and fiber than nonsmokers.5–7 These unhealthy habits are evident even among adolescent smokers. Teenage smokers are more likely to skip meals8,9 and eat less healthy foods10 than their nonsmoking counterparts’.
From this study, you could conclude that smoking somehow stops you eating vegetables. The more sensible conclusion, however, is that people who smoke aren’t educated in healthy eating choices or don’t give a hoot about their health.

Thankfully there is one study that does consider this healthy user bias. This study compared omnivores and vegetarians that both shopped in health food stores and found no significant differences in rates of mortality even though vegetarians are likely to be consuming far higher amounts of nutrient dense vegetables.

This study also studied omnivores and vegetarians that were considered healthier than the average population and found no statistically significant differences in rates of mortality.

Being a healthy vegetarian seems to be as achievable as being a healthy omnivore, but remaining healthy as a vegan for a prolonged period is a far harder task. Vegans need to supplement heavily and there’s little room for ‘empty’ calories; every mouthful should contribute towards a carefully planned nutritional plan that fills all the gaps.

Be aware that we have no historic evidence of any healthy cultures that didn’t eat at least some animal foods, nor do we have any long-term evidence of vegans that have maintained robust health for more than one generation. If you choose to follow this diet you’re part of a rather uncertain human experiment!

I would love to hear your thoughts on ‘Are you missing out? The potential nutrient deficiencies of a vegan diet’ below.

For many more links to relevant research and evidence please take a look at the ‘healthy Omnivore‘ board.

So perhaps YOU are one of the many livestock farmers who are locked into the seemingly inevitable decision every spring of paying your ‘dealer’ exorbitant wads of cash in exchange for a ‘fix’ that no longer delivers its high?

With the advent of inorganic fertilisers, land managers had a flexible, simple, relatively cost-effective tool for increasing the productivity of land to reduce livestock finishing times, add condition to breeding stock at critical times and to guarantee a bumper crop of silage or hay to secure your winter feed requirements. At first, the costs seem reasonable and the results tangible, but over time things don’t seem to be working as well.

A growing number of innovative farmers are starting to deepen their knowledge of the world below their feet in order to reduce their feed and fertiliser costs whilst increasing the resilience and carrying capacity of their land.

Here are a few facts that you probably won’t hear from your average farm rep;

• Natural soil fertility depends on a healthy underground army of micro-organisms to exchange sunlight for nutrients.
• These micro-organisms build soil organic matter which supports healthy plant growth.
• Healthy plants contain the full spectrum of nutrients in their most digestible form required by ruminants to maximise health.
• Healthy soil is critical for ruminant bacterial health which directly influences productivity.
• When livestock are consistently given a diet of mineral-rich native grasses, served up on clean pasture everyday, it can significantly reduce    expenditures on medicines, supplements, dips and vaccines.

Inorganic fertilisers damage and kill soil microorganisms which over a period of time will dramatically reduce your soil’s natural fertility, resilience to droughts and floods and its ability to keep your livestock healthy.

The modern view of a farming will take each component of management and try to maximise productivity or profitability.

An example would be the simplistic view that a mineral block, bolus or feed additive can provide the missing nutrient highlighted on a test undertaken by your vet. But our most recent scientific findings of how animals and humans assimilate nutrients allows us to see that picture is far more sophisticated than this. If nutrients are not in a bio-available form, the gut microbiome of the ruminant has been negatively impacted by medicines or the additive nutrients are not in the correct balance, your high costing supplements could be splattering between the slats!

In the context of a simple soil analysis, you may be told that your soil needs more of certain minerals; but new research is showing us that it’s a complex underground army of organisms that keep the whole thing ‘productive.’ The fertilisers and mineral additives you are using – and paying hard earned cash for – could be directly reducing your lands ability to grow plants and support your livestock in the future.

This aspect of modern agriculture reminds me of the perfect drug dealer’s scenario; we have created an addiction that ensures continued and increasing reliance. There’s only one winner here, and it’s not you!

But there’s hope. Over 3 Million Ha of land is being managed under people who have trained in ‘Holistic Management’, this system has been developed to guide land managers through the process of repairing their land and building natural fertility; often using livestock as one of their most effective tools. Holistic management can help any farm, anywhere, increase productivity whilst reducing input costs. There are a growing number of forward-thinking farmers in the UK jumping on board.

This is a wonderful video of one US farmer’s journey of realising that ‘chemical farming’ methods were leading them on a path to nowhere and how they now have one of the most productive farms in the world. He outlines impressive hard economic facts too.

So if you are curious or perhaps sceptical about what holistic management could do for you, then you’re in luck. Here  is an introductory webinar (online training session) where you can watch a presentation and ask questions about how holistic management could help you leave your farm in better health than when you took it on.

Caroline x

There are dozens of scientific studies and interesting articles HERE to dig into if you want references and research for these concepts.