We are back from our hiking expedition in Pyrenees!

• 15 miles in 2 days with accumulated altitude changes of +10.000 feet!
• In total 18 hours of hiking (without counting the resting time in between)
• Over 10 hours of hiking in snow at a high altitude (we got up to 2.600 meters!)

Afterwards we were so exhausted that we slept almost 14 hours back home. Nevertheless the trip was worth it. I have never seen me so lean before as this morning! I’ve lost over 6 pounds in these two days! Even more than on a tuna diet!
We are planning to repeat the trip in the summer.

I my previous post I mentioned raw-foodism. For those of you wondering what is, raw-foodism is eating food which chemical composition wasn’t altered in any way (for example, by cooking).

It is often associated with vegetarianism, but it’s not quite the same. Raw-foodists, by definition, CAN be meat-eaters. Yeah, I know that eating raw meat is “savage”, but I am not talking about meat here. They can eat raw eggs or drink milk, for example.

I have read quite a lot of positive opinions about this kind of diet. Don’t know if it’s worth it. But hey! You will surely save some bucks on energy bills!

I still prefer some of my food cooked. What about you?

Notice: Raw meat, poultry, fish or eggs can be harmful. Cooking destroys all bacteria and parasites. Eating them raw means taking the risk. For example, bird-flu is destroyed by cooking. So think twice before eating that chicken alive!
Cost: none, some serious savings

You do not have to be vegetarian to consume less meat and benefit from it. I am not a vegetarian either, but most of my daily meals are meat-free. If you’re an extreme meat eater, here are some of the facts compiled by John Robbins and updated by Arlin, Dini and Wolfe than might change your mind.

Meat vs. Veggies:

1. Amount of potatoes that can be grown on 1 acre (over 4,000 square meters): 20,000 lbs. (over 9,000 kg)
2. Amount of beef that can be grown on one acre: 165 lbs. (75 kg)
3. The same land to feed 1 “meat-eater” could feed from 20 to up to 150 vegetarians!
4. Amount of protein fed to chicken to produce 1 lbs of chicken: 5 lbs. (1 to 5 ratio!)
5. Amount of protein fed to hogs to produce 1 lbs of hog flesh: 7,5 lbs!
6. Number of people who starve to death yearly: 60 million!
7. Number of people who could be saved if Americans reduced their meat intake by just 10% percent: 60 million! World hunger could be solved by just introducing a meat-free day.

Water:

1. Water needed to make 1 lbs of wheat: 25 gallons (95 liters)
2. Water needed for 1 lbs of meat: 2,500 gallons (9465 liters)
3. Cost of 1 lbs of wheat: $1.50
4. Cost of 1 lbs of beefsteak: $15.40
5. Cost of 1 lbs of beefsteak if the water that is needed for its production wasn’t subsidized: $89

Energy and materials:

1. Time that petroleum reserves would last if everyone ate meat only: 13 years.
2. If everyone was vegetarian: 260 years.
3. Percentage of energy return (1 unit of food energy compared to 1 unit of energy used to produce it) from meat: 34.5% (over 65% of energy loss).
4. Percentage of energy return from plant food: 328%!
5. Raw materials consumed for all purposes for a meat-centered diet: 33%.
6. Raw materials consumed for all purposes for a pure vegetarian diet: 2%.

Health:

1. Frequency of heart attack in US: every 25 seconds.
2. Frequency of death from heart attack in us: every 45 seconds.
3. Heart attack death risk by average American man: 50%
4. Same risk for a pure vegetarian: 4%
5. Same risk for a raw-foodist: 0%
6. By reducing your meat intake by 10% you wouldn’t only help fighting world hunger, but reduce the risk of heart attack by: 9%.
7. By consuming 1 egg a day your blood cholesterol rises by: 12%
8. Increased cholesterol by 12% rises the heart attack risk by: 24%
9. Risk of dying from a disease caused by clogged arteries if you don’t consume saturated fat: only 5%
10. Breast cancer risk of a woman who eats meat daily compared to a woman who eats meat less than once a week: 4 times higher.
11. Ovarian cancer risk of a woman who eats eggs over 3 times a week compared to a woman who eats eggs less than once a week: 3 times higher.
12. Pesticides of total pesticides in our diet supplies by meat: 55%
13. By dairy products: 23%
14. By fruits: 4%
15. By grains: 1%
16. Pesticide contamination in breast milk of meat-eating mother compared to a vegetarian mother: 35 times higher.
17. The Meat Board says you don’t have to be concerned about dioxin pesticide in your diet. What they don’t tell is that dioxin is a incredibly potent pesticide: an ounce (28 grams) could kill 10,000,000 people!

These are some of the most important facts. You can find the complete list in Nature’s First Law: The Raw-Food Diet. It also has a list of important vegetarian and raw-food athletes (for those who think that meat-protein is vital for sports) like Dave Scott, 6 time Ironman triathlon winner, or Edwin Moses, an 8 years undefeated Olympic champion in 400 meter hurdles.

In my opinion, we are not meant to be vegetarians. But an equilibrium has to be found between all the food sources available. Meat is just a very, very small part of it. Therefore it is not logical having so much meat in your diet. Think about it.

Cost: $6 if you want to buy the book. (Not vital, but worth reading :P)