***The Dietitians’ Blank Slate

In The Blank Slate Myth, I talked about parents who see newbo babies as blank slates, an invitation to push, pull and otherwise shape their kids to fit their parental fancies. Well, good luck with that.

And parents aren't the only blank-slate believers. Hoo boy! Medicine comes chock-a-block full of blank-slate types. That's what they know, and that's what they do. And if things don't work out, well it's your fault, not theirs.

Prominent in the blank-slate parade are dietitians.

A throw-away newspaper landed in my driveway, with an insert called "Spry Living." Now, I hate that name with its suggestion that age means your brain goes away and all you can hope for is spry and perky. Sheesh. But, back to the blank slate.

Spry Living included an article, "Test Your Protein I.Q," written by a registered dietitian, certified dietitian/nutritionist and exercise physiologist, Samantha Heller. Ms. Heller has appeared on programs such as the Dr. Oz show, written for several health magazines, and is a spokesperson for pharmaceutical companies.

In other words, Ms. Heller is what's known as a heavy hitter.

Unfortunately, she's also a big-time, blank-slate believer.

The article starts, "How much protein you need, and how you should get it are hot topics nowadays. We set the record straight on these common protein presumptions."

The first 'presumption' she corrected was "Red meat is the best protein source." Well, as a matter of fact, that's reality, not a mistaken presumption. You may wish to avoid red meat, but then you have to take steps to replace what red meat provides, such as heme iron, the form of iron our bodies recognize and can handle.

She goes on to lump processed meat, grain-fed meat and naturally-fed meat together as all the same, but they're all as different as they can be.

And she claims eating meat shortens your life, but neglect to mention she has no research to back up that statement. Zip, zero, nada.

Meat blesses our socks off–if it's the real deal and hasn't been monkeyed with.

Processed meats are a disaster, and eating processed meat does a number on you. It's not the meat, although it's not quality stuff, but the processing. Including the stuff added for, say, better color, to lengthen shelf life, and so on.

And all unprocessed meats aren't necessarily a home run. Factory-farm meat raised on grains and living cheek-to-jowl in barns–which is the meat you buy in grocery stores–is another kind of disaster. The grain diet turns their healthy fat into the health-defeating stuff of nightmares.

Plus, all that cheek-to-jowl living means the animals get lots of antibiotics. In fact, the vast majority of antibiotics produced nowadays goes into farm animal feed–which you get to eat later!

And factory farms lack patience, so they feed their animals hormones to speed growth. And we get hormones for our dining pleasure. Can you say "estrogen dominance?" As in getting on the fast track for breast and/or prostate cancer?

Grass-fed beef is where it's at. It has the protein our bodies need to build muscle. And also the healthy Omega 3 saturated fat our brains need to work and our endocrine glands need to produce their hormones.

All grass-fed beef lacks are the antibiotics and hormones that do us in.

People who sneer at red meat should raise a red flag in your mind, a warning of an hidden agenda.

After missing the mark on false presumption #1, the article continues to promote its blank-slate view of things. Rather than refute, refute, refute, let me share some facts.

A good diet leads to good health.

On the other hand, the low-fat, low-protein diet touted by dietitians leads to disease because it doesn't give our bodies what they need to fight the good fight.

Protein is what makes muscle; not enough protein means not much muscle, exercise aside. So you look like a sad sack–and you feel like one, too, because muscle creates energy.

Our bodies convert protein into amino acids, which then go on to bless every cell in our bodies.

Enzymes, which work as catalysts to keep everything going at a good clip, come from amino acids. In case your mind needs a little boggling, our bodies custom-make enzymes on the fly, to exactly meet your needs of the moment.

But a low-fat, low-protein diet prevents this entire, bountiful cascade of health-producing events.

We have amazing bodies. Miracles, really. And great things happen when you give your body what it needs. You get energy, joy, and good health, to mention just a few benefits.

Avoid blank-slate thinking. Live long and prosper.

God is good,
Bette Dowdell