"The Dirty Dozen" #12

12. Beer, wine, and alcoholic drinks: by Jordan Rubin

Although Im a teetotaler who may enjoy a glass of organic wine a couple of times a year, I recognize that there have been studies pointing out the benefits of drinking modest amounts of red wine for cardiovascular health. The "French Paradox," so called for the obeservation that the french typically suffer low rates of heart disease despite having a diet rich in saturated fats, was attributed to alcohol and olive oil intake. The "French Paaradox" is only a paradox if you assume that saturated fat is the cause of obesity and heart disease. No wonder the french--eating all kinds of real food to their hearts content and toasting family and friends with a glass of vin rouge--have that certain joie de vivre.

I balance alcohol benefits against the downside of ,excessive drinking which damages family relationships as well as every organ in the body (especially the liver), promotes depression, causes digestive ailments (ulcers, gatritis, and pancreatitis), and impacts fertility. Alcohol adds weight, a full 7 calories per gram, almost twice that of protain or carbs. Thats a significant reason why we seee beer bellies in this world.

(long story short, drinking has become a weight inducting habit that needs to be trimmed back.)

"The Dirty Dozen" #11

11. Artificial flavors and artificial colors by Jordan Rubin

(This is a contraversial issue, I just think its something to think about and take into consideration.)

The dictionary definition of artificial refers to something not made by himan beings or a copy of something narutal. Since the gail of Perfect Weight American is to eat natural foods, anything containing artificial flavors or artificial colors will be naturally unhealthy as well as increase the toxic load on the body.

Take the recipe for Waldorf-Astoria Red velvet cake--please! The cooking instructions for this ooh-la-la confection, which originated at the iconic Manhattan hotels, calls for squeezing two bottles of FD&C Red No. 40 into a mixing bowl filled with the requisite shortening, flour, eggs, and sugar. Pastry chefs say they have to wear gloves to keep the shameful dye off their skin or rub nail polish remover if any red spots appear on their double breasted white jackets.

"Why should a dose of Red No. 40 turn Betty Crocker into Hester Prynne?"
asked Slate.com writer Daniel Engber, referring to the fictional colonial woman forced to wear a scarlet letter "A" for committing adultery. "Ask a gourmand, and youre likely to hear three specious answers. First, Epicurean: Artificial color tastes bad. Second, Hippocratic: Its bad for your health. And third, Platonic: It makes food unnatural."

Dont purchase foods that list artificial flavors and colors on the packaging. These additives have been linked to behavioral problems in children and increase the body's toxic load. They have also been associated with allergies and skin rashes.

"The Dirty Dozen" #10

10. Artificial Sweeteners: by Jordan Rubin

Dieting and artifical sweeteners go together like...ham and eggs? Mea culpa for the jarring smile, but the huge demand for low calorie and sugar free foods and beverages by those seeking to consume fewer calories has created a $6 billion market for artificial sweeteners. Aspartame, saccharin, and sucralose are found in umpteen thousands of foods as well as in blue, pink, and yellow packets of Equal, Sweet N' Low, and Splenda found on restraunt tables.

If you have always thought that artificial sweeteners will help you lose weight, you might want to rethink your position. Reserachers at Purdue University say these sugar substitutes could interfere with the bodys natural ability to count calories based on a foods sweetness. In other words, drinking a diet soft drink instead of the full octane sugar version will reduce you caloric intake, but it could also trick the body into thinking that other sweet items dont have as many calories either. This sort of thinking gives weight conscious people another mental alibi for overindulging in sweet foods and beverages.

I understand the rationale behind drinking low-cal or no-cal drinks--lower total caloric intake--but spping artificially sweetened drinks is not the solution. Sweeteners like aspartame are addicting. Read this edited exchange between skeptical Bill O' Reily host of the O' Reilly Factor, and Shari Lieberman, PhD, a certified nutrition specialist:

Bill: In the "Back of the Book" segment tonight, Americans drink billions of gallons of diet soda a year. Its incredible how much we consume. And some believe millions of Americans are addicted to the stuff. They have to have it.
With us now is Dr. Shari Lieberman, a certified nutrition specialist her ein NYC.
All right, so its--tenn billion cases of soda sold every year in the USA, and 30% of that, approximately, is diet soda, and I know people who walk around all day long drinking diet soda. What is that all about??

Shari: Its unbelievable. It is such an addicting substance. You have the aspartame, the Nutra Sweet, combined with the caffeine. Youre basically getting a rush all day. It actually messes with your brain chemicals, Bill.

Bill: Does it really?

Shari: It really does. You know, aspartic acid actually makes what we call excitatory neurostransmitters. Imagine we have a balance of ones that calm us down and ones that hype us up. So, if youre drinking something thats going to make the ones that are excitatory or making us hyper all day long, thats why there are so many side effects associated with NutraSweet, such as irritabiility and anxiety...

Bill: Now is this physically addicting, do you believe, or is it psychological?

Shari: I believe its physically addicting. You know, we know that caffeine is. So youve got a ton of caffeine in the diet sodas. Then you actually have a substanc thats affecting neurotransmitters. So theyre really getting a double whammy, and, of course, were tlaking about people that are drinking it all day long.

Bill: Yes, and they think that, well, I can drink it all day long because theres no calories in it, Im not going to get fat. Go ahead.

Shari: I have to tell you something about that. If you look at the research, people that drink diet sodas are oftentimes, eating more calories than people drinking regular sodas.

I already made the last point, but Id like to make another: as bad as sugar and HFCS can be for your body, Id rather you consume them than artificail sweeteners. Theyre that bad for you.

"The Dirty Dozen" #9

9. High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) by Jordan Rubin

HFCS or corn sweetner, is more than plain bad for you--its horrible for your health and the worst form of sugar. Americans receive some 200 calories daily, mainly from soft drinks. HFCS is a major contributionto weight gain because foods with fructose may not turn off your hungar signals. You get hungry after eating a snack containing HFCS because youre not satiated. Your appetite is saying, " Nice try, but Im still famished!"

With such a high falutin' name, youd think that a sweetener with the word corn in it wouldnt be as bad for you as regular white sugar, but it is. With HFCS, research scientists invented an enzymatic processing method tha tbegins with milling corn to produce cornstarch, which is then made sweeter by chemically converting some of the glucose to fructose. The more fructose in the end product, the sweeter it is. A widely used variety of HFCS, known as 55-HFCS, consists of 55% fructose and 42% glucose. Thanks to a system of price supports and sugar quotas that have been in plance for 25 years, importing sugar into the US has become cost prohibitive, which has opened up a huge markey for American companies manufacturing HFCS.

Coca-Cola and Pepsi dumped the sugar from their carbonated soft drinks back in 1984, substituting cheaper HFCS in its place. These days youd be hard pressed to walk into a 7 eleven and find a soda pop sweetened with sugar. The only hold out I could find was Goose Island sodas, although Jolt Cola did use sugar one time with the following marketing slogan: "All the sugar twice the caffeine." But the makers of Jolt Cola reforumlated their product with HFCS, no doubt to make the product less expensive in stores. Im sure the opportunity to lower costs is the reason HFCS has become the principal sweetener in fruit juices, baked goods, canned fruits, dairy products, cookies, gum, and jams and jellies.

So what makes HFCS such an unhealthy, fat promoting form of sugar? The body handles fructose differently than it does other sugars. For starters, the body metabolizes fructose into triglycerides more than other sugars, which raises blood triglycerides significantly and increase the risk of heart disease. (Triglycerides are the body's storage form for fat and are found in fat tissues.) Unlike glucose, fructose does not stimulate leptin, the hormone that tells you "Im Full," but reduces ghrelin hormone levels, which tell you "Im still hungry." Consumption of fructose from corn sweeteners comes with no enzymes, vitamins, or minerals, so it cheats the body of micronutrients. HFCS is different from the natural fructose found in whole fruit because with fruit, the body gets the enzymes, vitamins, and minerals to help with digestion and utilization of the fructose.

The liver cannot handle fructose very well. When fructose reaches the liver, says Dr. William J. Whelan, a biochemist the University of Miami School of Medicine, "the liver goes bananas and stops everything else to metabolism the fructose." The fructose propels the liver into a fat promoting maode by activating the formation of enzymes that lead to elevated levels of "bad" cholesterol and triglycerides.

The consumption of HFCS in beverages--about 2/3 of all HFCS consumed in the US is in beverage form--has certainly left its fingerprints vis-a-vis our nations obesity epidemic. The consumption of HFCS increased 1000% between 1970 and 1990, far exceeding the changes in intake of any other foods or food group. Juice drinks like Minute Maid's Hi-C are among the worst offenders: despite flavors like Blazin' Blueberry and Orange Lavaburst, Hi-C lists pure filtered water and HFCS as its first and second ingredients. At least they're filtering water!

"The Dirty Dozen" #8

8. Soft Drinks: By Jordan Rubin

A 12- ounce, sugar or HFCS sweetened beverage contains nearly 9 teaspoons of sugar and 150 calories--empty calories that provide little or no nutritional value. If you drink one can of soda per day and dont change anything else about your diet or exerecise regimen, you will consume 55,000 extra calories in one year, which adds up to 15 pounds of weight gain. (wow...thats insane!...think about that one! Quit drinking sodas and lose 15lbs a year!)

Soft drink manufacturers know that once teenagers leave the adolescent years, they become more health conscious, or at least more aware of how bad sweetened soft drinks are for them, so thats why they try to hook 'em young. Nicki swore off soft drinks during her senior year of high school (so did I and I lost 20lbs!), but not because she wanted a better fit in her prom dress. Her epiphany came after conducting an experiment in her science class. One day her teacher informed the class that they were going to learn about acidic reactions. He dramatically dropped a galvanized contruction nail into a glass of Coke to see what would happen over night. The nail didnt desolve--that was an old wives tale--but the red rust encrusting the galvanized nail blew Nicki away. She hasnt had another soft drink since then.

"The Dirty Dozen" #7

6. White Sugar: by Jordan Rubin

Ill bet you that any food with enriched flour also contains sugar or one of its sweet relatives-high fructose corn syrup, fructose, and sucrose. Youll find these sugars among the first ingredients listed in candy bars, pastries, snack cakes, cookies, and ice cream. You will also find plenty of sugar in foods you might think are healthy, like "natural" breakfast cereals, energy bars, raisin bagels, certain whole wheat breads, hot dog buns, salad dressing, steak sauce, ketchup--the list is endless.

Sugar is so omnipresent that most people dont realize they eat sugar with every meal: their breakfast cereal is frosted with sugar; break tim is soda or coffee mixed with sugar and a Danish; lunch has its cookies and treats; and dinner could be sweet and sour ribs, sweet potatoes covered with marshmallows, a garden salad doused with artificially sweetned dressing, and a sugary parfait for dessert. Talk about adding a sweet exclamation point to the day! A US Department of Agriculture study reavealed that we eat an average of 31 teaspoons of sugar a day--- with 17 teaspoons coming from High Fructose Corn Syrup, and 14 tsp coming from cane or beet sugar(sucrose). This adds up to more than 500 calories daily!!!!

If youre looking for a guilty party to blame for the bellies hanging over beltlines, then look no further than King Sugar, which takes sugarcane or sugar beets from the fields and processes it 99.9% before its dumped into 5 lb bags of bleached white sugar. (Im sure research scientists are working over time to remove the last one-tenth of 1 % in sugarcane thats healthy.)

According to Ann Louise Gittleman, author of "How to Stay Young and Healthy in a Toxic World," "Sugar is not an innocent substance that gives us pleasure and causes no harm. Quite the contrary; there is perhaps othing else in the diet that promotes disease and aging more over the long term than excess sugar." She says that more than 60 ailments, ranging from allergies to yeast infections (candidas overgrowth, which feeds on simple carbs), have been associated with this dietary demon.

"Without a doubt the biggest change in our diets has been our sugar consumption...refined white sugar known as sucrose, brown sugar, corn sweetners, High Fructose Corn Syrup, dextrose, glucose, lactose, and maltose," said Gittleman. "Over the past 2 centuries, we have literally shocked our bodily systems with outrageous and ever growing amounts of nutrient robbing sugar. At the end of the 1700's, sugar consumption was less than 20lbs per person a year. By the end of the 1800's, sugar consumption had risen to 63lbs annually. Now, 100 years later, the average American eats over 170lbs of sugar each year."

ATTENTION: all that sugar makes for a pounding headache when you cut it out from your diet. When you change your diet and cut out drastic amount of sugar, you can expect to experience withdrawl-like symptoms like less energy, gyrating mood swings, and monster cravings. (Just an FYI)

"The Dirty Dozen" #6

6. Pasteurized, homogenized skim milk: By Jordan Rubin

When it comes to dairy products, the conventional wisdom in the diet world can be summed up in this way: whole milk, bad; skim milk, good. (depending on if its people that dont know anything about real nutrition and just on "dieting to lose weight", or nutrition buffs)

Whole milk is loaded with fat and calories, right? But removing the fat to make it 2 percent or skim milk makes the milk less nutritious and less digestible as well as cause allergies. Yes, whole milk has more calories, but I have seen research suggesting that the mix of nutritents found in milk, such as calcium and protein, may imporve the body's ability to burn fat, particularly around the mid section. Besides, the thought of a cow naturally delivering reduced fat or fat free milk is " udderly" ridiculous, but Im gong to milk this topic for all its worth because milk does a body good. (end of cliche' alert.) lol!!

The richest food sources of calcium are milk and milk products, but I dont recommend drinking any commercially homogenized and pasteurized milk. The pasterization process alters vital amino acids, which reduces your ability to access the protains, fats, minerals, and great vitamins like A, B 12, D, Folic Acid found in raw, unpasteurized milk. The homogenization process may be even more dangerous as it alters the fat globules and creates a compound known as XO, or xanthine oxidase, which is believed by some to cause damage to the arterial walls and may lead to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

I recommend drinking unpasteurized milk from grass fed animals instead of homogenized, pasteurized milk. Unfortunately, raw milk can be dangerous if it comes from a farm that lacks sanitary practices, which is why its not available in many states. The next best thing is finding cultured or fermented dairy whole milk products, such as yogurt and kefir (mmmm sooo good), which are produced from pasteurized, nonhomogenzied milk.

If you can get used to its "goaty" smell and tasste, goats milk is naturally homogenized, less allergenic, and more rapidly absorbed in the digestive tract. (I have tasted goats milk and its pretty darn good!! And Im picky!) Goats cheese, which has become widely available in the last few years, is very healthy, as is cheese made from raw cows milk. My fav dairy products are made from sheeps milk, which are easy to digest and more nutritious than dairy products made from cows or goats milk. I find the creamy taste wonderful. Look for sheeps milk yogurt and cheese at your local natural foods grocery.

Youve probably noticed the major supermarkets as well as warehouse clubs sell organic milk. I dont believe commercial organic milk is the answer however. Some companies with organic brand names you would recognize produce pasteurized and homogenized milk.

"The Dirty Dozen" #5

So we are almost half way through this series. Has anyone learned anything new yet?? Now its on to Number 5! One of the most "hidden" but not hidden ingredients in foods.

5. Hydrogenated Oils by Jordan Rubin

Pick up a loaf of bread at the supermarket, and you will notice that hydrogenated oils or partially hydrogenated oils are usually recorded right after enriched white flour on the ingredient list. If you see any words with the "hydro-" prefix or "partially" on a package or box, dont buy it. If a friend offers you a packaged doughnut or cupcake, dont eat it. (all in moderation but best to stay away from)

During the hydrogenation process, hydrogen gas is injected into the oil under high pressure to make the oil solid at room temperature and prevent the oil from becoming rancid too quickly, but as mentioned earlier, this hydrogenation process produces an ugly stepchild: TRANS FATS!!! Research shows that trans fats by far are the most dangerousfor your heart. They lower the good HDL cholesterol, increase the bad LDL cholesterol, and increase triglycerides as well as another fat called lipoprotein (a).

As mentioned ealier, if the ingredient list includes the words, "shortening," "partially hydrogenated vegetable oil," or " hydrogenated vegetable oil," then the food contains trans fat. Even if the ingredients label says, "zero trans fat," that doesnt mean what you think it does; the FDA allows food manufacturers to have any amount less than .5 grams of trans fat in the food (per serving) and still legally say "zero trans fat" on the packaging.

Its a good idea when youre eating in a restaurant to ask the server if the kitchen is using partially hydrogenated oil for frying, baking, or cooking their dishes. Ask about salad dressing as well.

"The Dirty Dozen" #4

4. White Flour By Jordan Rubin

One major reason why we have an obesity epidemic is beacuse the stardard American diet (aka-S.A.D...added by Meagan) is weighted heavily with sketchy foods containing refined grains where the wheat has been stripped of wheat germ, bran, and half of the healthy fatty acids during the milling process. The end result is something calld "enriched white flour," but the only reason why enriched wheat flour is bright white is because the wheat stalks are rinsed with various chemical bleaches that sound like a vocabulary test from a high school biology class: nitrogen oxide, chlorine, chloride, nitrosyl, and bezoyl peroxide. The "enriched" adjective comes from the millers adding a few isolated and synthetic vitamins and minerals back into the nutritionally stripped flour, but that's like dressing an American Girl doll in tattered clothes.

Enriched flour, the main ingredient in nearly all the bread and buns on super market shelves as well as a zillion other food items baked in commercial bakeries, is easy to spot on the list of ingredients: it's usually the first item listed. The healthy alternative is purchasing or making your own whole-grain bread from unprocessed whole-grain flour.

"The Dirty Dozen" #3

3. Processed meats and hydrolyzed soy protein: By Jordan Rubin

The quintessential processed meat of all time is SPAM, a syllabic abbreviation of "Shoulder of Pork and hAM," because it deserves Hall of Fame status in pantheon of faux foods. Spam is one of those mystery meats--along with breakfast links, frankfurters, salisbury steaks, bologna, sausages, and salami--where you have no idea what part of the steer or pig is used. You can figure, though, that youre eating ground up stomach, snout, intestines, spleens, edible fat, and even lips!

One thing you can be sure of is that processed meats contain nitrates to convey flavor, give meats their blood-red color, and resist that development of botulism spores. Nitrates can convert to nitrites, which have been studied for decades in public and private settings and found to cause cancer and tumors in test animals.

While we're on this unpleasant topic, I would also steer clea of processed turkey and chicken luncheon meat for the same nitrate reasons (unless its organic and the ingredients dont have nitrates in them).

You may be wondering what hydrolyzed soy protein is all about. Have you ever substituted imitation carb for the real stuff when making a pasta dish for the family? Sprinkled imitation back buts on their salad? Ordered inexpensive sushi at a restaurant? All these foods are forms of hydrolyzed soy protein.

Hydrolyzed soy protein usually contains a significant amount of genetically modified soy as well as compounds that closely mirror the dangerous monosodium glutimate, or MSG. Hydrolyzed soy protein is also a known excitotoxin, which means it has the potential to cause neurological disturbances. Its not fish or fowl, and its not real food.

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Any comments or questions please let me in and know! I love to hear what people have to say about things like this!

"The Dirty Dozen" #2

From Jordan Rubin.

2. Shellfish and crustaceans:

If you were blown away by my recommendation to strike pork from your diet, Im not done yet. Shrimp and lobster, two of the most popular foods in America, are, in my opinion, extremely unhealthy to eat and should aslo be avoided, even if chains like Red Lobster and Olive Garden delectably advertise entrees like breaded shrimp or scampi with pasta.

Invairably, whenever I take out my wife, Nicki, for our anniversary dinner at an expensive seaside restraunt in South Florida, a waiter with a Frenc accent will approach our table and say, " Monsieur et Madame, ze special tonight is pork tenderloin ringed with Alaskan crab and drizzled with a lobster sauce."

But thats not what I heard. His description sounded more like this: Monsieur et Madame, ze special tonight is fresh garbage, ringed with raw sewage and drizzled with solid waste.

Stay with me here. Shelfish and crustaceans, as well as fish without fins and scales such as catfish, shark, and eel, where also declared to be detestable back in Moses's day. The reasons are similar to those that make pigs out of bounds: lobsters, crabs, shrimp, and catfish are bottom feeders. The troll along the seabed or lakebed, sustaining themselves with fish waste. The physiology of crabs, clams, ad lobsters means that whatever they consume goes straight into their system, which is why scientists can measure water pollution by checking the flesh of shell fish and crustaceans for toxin levels. While all this "clean up" is great for water quality and one of nature's ways to scrub the aquatic environment, eating shellfish and crustaceans is not good for your bodies or your health.


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Now, someone brought something to my attention ,me, Meagan, about pasture fed or farm fed animals...that is a grey area in my opinion...so I will just stick to not eating them. That may be one of the questions Ill ask Jesus when I meet Him! lol...

"The Dirty Dozen" #1

The dirty Dozen by Jordan Ruibin, with commentary by me.

"No matter what time of year, you will be strealing from your future and robbing you health if you eat any of these foods that I call the "Dirty Dozen."

I wouldnt be suprised if some of thse are among your favorite goods to eat. Nor would I be suprised if you find my list of foods to be controverisal. When you elminate these foodsfrom your shopping list and/or toss out what's left in your cupboards and fridges, however, you will take a major step toward excellent health and reaching your perfect weight.

The following "Dirty Dozen" items should never find a way onto your plate or into your hands (and here is why):

1. All Pork Products:

Did you just sit up in your chair? I'm sure I got your attention because America loves pork! Fast food establishments have watched their earnings sizzle by topping every hamburger and chicken sandwich in sight with strips of salty bacon; they go by names like Bacon Mushroom Melt, Big Bacon Classic, Cravin Bacon Cheeseburger, Mesquite Bacon Cheeseburger, and Arch Deluxe with Bacon. America's favorite toppings are pepperoni and Hawaiian (pineapple and Canadian Bacon). Only the Chinese, who have 4 times our population, consume more pork meat than us.

Ive met people who have told me they have an emotional attachment to bacon for breakfast and pork chops with mashed taters and gravy for dinner. That was how they were raised, and maybe you feel the same way. Marketed brilliantly as "the other white meat," pork chops and pork ribs are usually the most inexpensive meats on display at the supermarket. Many folks eat pork 3 times a day: ham and eggs in the morning; a BLT or a bacon topped burgerr for lunch; and pork bbq or pork tenderloin for a hearty supper. Others love snacking on pork rinds-the cooked skin of pigs...ewww...

So whats my beef with pork?? My aversion to swobelly is partly based on a pigs physiology. A pigs fast acting physiology make up and instinct allow them to eat any
swill thrown at their muddy feet. Well, maybe swill isnt the right word. Actually, Im thinking about the old saying: Happy as a pig in slop.

Yes, pigs will chomp on pails of you know what and not be bothered in the least. They derive nutrition from human excrement (waste) dredged from a latrine pit, eliminating a sanitary problem for their rural masters. Even their own waste tastes frin to them. Although its anecedotal, I heard the story about the pig farmer who stacked ten pigs one on top of the otehr. All the farmer had to do was feed the pig on the top and let trickle down economics prove itself. As I am fond of saying (and I Meagan is fond of saying...) in my seminars, "Remember, if you eat the meat of animals, you are not just what you eat; you are what THEY ate/eat!"

As Im for their physiology, pigs have a simple stomach arrangement. Whatever a pig eats goes straight into a simple stomach, wheres its rudimentarily digested and pushed out the back end in the matter of 4 hours.

Now compare the pigs digestive tract to animals that are OK to eat, such as cows, goats, sheep, oxen, deer, buffalo, and so forth. These animals put their vegetarian diet-they usually chomp on grasses, alfalfa, and hay-through a "wash and rinse cycle," thanks to a stomach and a secondary cud receptacle available for the task. Instead of speedy four hours to digest and eliminate their waste, these animalstake a more leisurely 24 hours.

Another reason I dont eat pork is my Jewish background. In Leviticus and Deuteronomy, two of the first 5 books of the Torah or the Bible's Old Testament, God forbade the Hebrew people to eat swine: "You shall not eat any detestable thing. These are the animals which you may eat: the ox, sheep, goat, deer, gazelle, roe deer, wild goat, mountain goat, antelop, mountain sheep. And you may eat every animal with cloven hooves, having the hoof split into tow parts, and that chews the cud, among the animals. Never the less, of those that chew the cud or have cloven hooves, you shall not eat, such as these: the camel, the hare, and the rock hyrax; for they chew the cud but do not have cloven hooves; they are unclean for you. Also, swine is unclean for you, because it has cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud; you shall not eat their flesh or touch their dead carcasses." (Deut 14-3-8)

The Scriptures used Hebrew words that can be translated as fould, polluted, and putrid, to describe these unclean meats that were to be banished from their diets. What were God's reasons for doing so?

It wanst because the Israelites didnt have refrigerated trucks following them from Eqypt to the Promised Land to keep ham, bacon, or baby back ribs in a cool environment "safe" for consupmtion. No, God scratched pork from their meal plan because He knew all about the physiology, and He created them to be nature's garbage cleaners.

If you decide to strike pork from your diet, I am predicting that you wont miss sausage, bologna, salami, bacon, and butchered cuts from the hog at all. I promisse there are great alternatives (Turkey bacon!)

Some of you will feel that swearing off pork completely is too drastic--too radical given your attachment to Easter ham and carnitas burritos. If thats the case, remember that every time you choose beef, chicken or fish--especially from organic sources--you are taking a fantastic leap forward in your health, but each time you take a bite of crisp bacon, grilled sausage, and shredded pork, you are falling further behind.