Ultramarathoner Jurek takes diet to the extreme

I eat a normal diet and I haven't gone to the doctor in years and I haven't gotten a cold or flu or bacterial infection in at least 5 years. But guess what, I am under 30 and people our age generally are less prone to disease. It doesn't have anything to do with diet.

AC XC wrote:

You do realize that only a small portion of the planets land can support grain crops. And that the natural diet of most animals we eat doesn't involve grains. Eating locally raised, grass fed beef hardly costs any natural resources at all (all it takes is pasture and minimal transportation).

bootsie wrote:

What about the water? It still takes 5000 gallons per pound of meat, and water, as we know, will soon the be the new oil in terms of resource scarcity.

The 5000 gallon figure presumes the cattle are grain fed using irrigated crops, which is the case for much of the industrial agriculture of the western US. The number is much smaller for cattle fed grain produced without irrigation as is typical in the east or for grass fed cattle grazing on non-irrigated land. Obviously the water still exists in the latter scenario, but it's falling from the sky, helping stuff grow, and evaporating or running off more or less the same way it would if the cattle weren't in the equation.

The 5000 gallon figure presumes the cattle are grain fed using irrigated crops, which is the case for much of the industrial agriculture of the western US. The number is much smaller for cattle fed grain produced without irrigation as is typical in the east or for grass fed cattle grazing on non-irrigated land. Obviously the water still exists in the latter scenario, but it's falling from the sky, helping stuff grow, and evaporating or running off more or less the same way it would if the cattle weren't in the equation.[/quote]

Thank you.

"bootsie wrote:

What about the water? It still takes 5000 gallons per pound of meat, and water, as we know, will soon the be the new oil in terms of resource scarcity."

The biggest problem here is that if you don't have a list of biased "facts" to support any reasonable thought the ones on the other side of the argument will continue to insist they are right. Even if it did take 5000 gallons of water for a range fed cow, the cow got to live a good life.

If you insist that animals using water is so bad then maybe we should just get rid of animals and push for an all Planta world ecosystem, except of course the morally upright Vegans, they can stay because they don't use as much water.

He looks sick. He needs to eat some red meat.

This is my idea of a vegan diet. I have tried it before, but since I am in college, I don't follow it so closely anymore, but I still try to avoid dairy products and high sugar. Here are some examples of what I have done on a vegan diet:

Breakfast- A fruit smoothie, toast with sesame tahini butter and wheat germ, buckwheat panckakes with honey (yes honey is fine) or natural maple syrup, natural cereals with rice milk or almond milk, clif bars.

Lunch- Amy's vegan burgers (my favorite is the Texas burger) with onions, lettuce, and condiments, a black bean or bean and rice burrito, veggies with dip (celery with PB or carrots with hummus), a salad.

Dinner- refried bean tacos, beans and rice, steamed veggies, a salad with vinegar and olive oil dressing, hot molasses milk (made with rice milk), vegan lasagna (a special recipe), pasta with homemade marinara sauce, tofu.

Snacks- corn chips with salsa, Odwalla bars, gourmet popcorn (a special recipe), Rice Dream or other dairy-free ice creams made with rice, coconut, almond milk, or Soy, various nuts.

Drinks- natural sodas, tea, juice, etc.

Many others- pumpkin pie, muffins, PB&J, etc.

Vegan diets can most certainly be healthy and give you everything you need. Meat is not required, and dairy products should be avoided as much as possible, even if you do eat meat.

AC XC wrote:

You do realize that only a small portion of the planets land can support grain crops. And that the natural diet of most animals we eat doesn't involve grains. Eating locally raised, grass fed beef hardly costs any natural resources at all (all it takes is pasture and minimal transportation).

And there's prohibitively little potential profit in grass-fed beef. There's good reason they've gone to grain-fed factory feedlot production, to provide cheap protein (corn/soy subsidies of course help there) that brings a consistent profit. Most people wouldn't (or couldn't) pay for meat raised on grass.

look i cited a source

http://www.thecourier.com/Opinion/columns/2010/Jan/GW/ar_GW_011910.asp?d=011910,2010,Jan,19&c=c_10

albeit not a necessarily reliable one, but just as reliable as "goveg.com"

it says the water per pound is more like 435 gallons.

it obviously isn't 5000 gallons considering beef is like $2-3 per pound and 5000 gallons would be over $5

His diet isn't that extreme. What's extreme is how people can eat so much fast food, processed garbage and still be alive.

Xtreme soda wrote:

His diet isn't that extreme. What's extreme is how people can eat so much fast food, processed garbage and still be alive.

this is wrong. The amazing thing about people is how we all have the abilities to eat just about anything and perform well. Around the globe, you've got everything from American meat eaters to Japanese fish eaters to Kenyan starvation diets to everything in between, and people from every eating pattern can be world class.

Of course, if you aren't exercising you can't eat whatever you want.

Bootsie's claim about saliva being unhealthy was probably the most ignorant (non-racist related, obviously) statements I've seen on this board. Saliva causes disease? Saliva PREVENTS disease! There're compounds in saliva that stop bacteria from f***ing with your teeth. Ever notice how your mouth feels shitty if you fall asleep without brushing your teeth? That's because there's less saliva while you sleep and the bacteria go crazy.

It blows my mind how people can be so ignorant and yet sound off like they know anything.

Maebe wrote:

Bootsie's claim about saliva being unhealthy was probably the most ignorant (non-racist related, obviously) statements I've seen on this board. Saliva causes disease? Saliva PREVENTS disease! There're compounds in saliva that stop bacteria from f***ing with your teeth. Ever notice how your mouth feels shitty if you fall asleep without brushing your teeth? That's because there's less saliva while you sleep and the bacteria go crazy.

It blows my mind how people can be so ignorant and yet sound off like they know anything.

Right..... so when you're sick, and you hack up a huge loog, you obviously swallow it down because it is healthy and will cure you, right? Wrong... you spit it out because it contains the pathogens and bacteria that are causing you to be sick What I'd originally said, was that the overproduction of saliva as a result of dairy consumption creates a perfect environment for germs and pathogens to find their way into the body. Ordinary saliva production is healthy and good for the mouth, etc.... Overproduction is not. There's a difference.

You would be completely fine swallowing a loogy, your stomach will kill any bacteria present in it. A loogy is not excess saliva, it is mucus.

Maybe bootsie means mucous instead of saliva. I've never seen anything suggesting dairy increases salivation any more than any other food (or that that would be a problem). As far as I know the mucous thing is just an old wives' tale anyway.

http://www.jacn.org/cgi/content/abstract/24/suppl_6/547S

I've noticed some extremely hateful responses to the vegan diet on this post, and I'm very confused as to why? If you don't care, why post? Why do you feel the need to bash people? I get that some of the people posting here may present their opinion to suggest they may think they are better for being vegan, but I don't think it's necessary to be so angry about it.

Someone posted earlier about Boca and mentioned that it contains eggs. Actually, Boca changed their ingredient list within the last year to exclude all animal products.

Also, being vegan does not mean that you abstain from eating meat, fish, dairy, eggs, honey, etc. It means that you don't eat any of these things for ethical reasons. If you abstain from eating the above mentioned items for health reasons or environmental reasons, you are not vegan.

Also, people are asking why there are no vegans running sub-28 10ks. I think this argument is extremely flawed, as there are far fewer vegan runners than non-vegan runners. Not only does it take a good diet to run at the elite level, but also great genes. However, if you need an example, look at Carl Lewis. He is vegan and was vegan when he set the WRs.

So "environmental reasons" can't be ethical?

I guess I didn't phrase that the way I should have. If the ethical reasons are not for the animals, it is something different. The word was originally created to make that distinction. I am not suggesting that eating this way for environmental reasons is not great, just that it doesn't fit the definition.

I take it to mean "no animal products," regardless of reason.

And there's prohibitively little potential profit in grass-fed beef. There's good reason they've gone to grain-fed factory feedlot production, to provide cheap protein (corn/soy subsidies of course help there) that brings a consistent profit. Most people wouldn't (or couldn't) pay for meat raised on grass.[/quote]

This is not true. Go to the grocery, half of the time the grass beef is the same price, sometimes less, and if it is more it is maybe a dollar per pound. People alread eat too much meat, so there is no reason we can't, when it is not on sale, eat just a little less. Plus, ignoring the already minimal price disparity, if demand increased there would be more. There are a lot less cost inputs, othe than land, necessary to produce grass fed meat. The problem is producers are cheap and greedy, which is fair since people are willing to b crap meat. If demand went down for crap meat, ranchers would produce more grass fed and still make a profit. Overall your point is entirely wrong; the problem is people are too lazy to look or ask for it.

I agree with you. The market doesn't.