Category: Stuff to Read

Ain’t Got No Home

I have found out that there ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.

― Mark Twain

Greetings from the United States of America, where I just arrived about 24 hours ago.

I’ve made the trip from Asia to North America many, many times in the last 15 years. This trip was by far the easiest, and I’d like to talk briefly about why. I should state first of all that I did get a direct flight, which did cut the total travel time, door to door, to about 16 hours. That’s pretty quick. It’s not unheard of for Asia to North America trips to take over 24 hours door to door, depending on which cities you travel.

However, the biggest thing was the eating.

Before I left, I had a mug of butter and coconut oil coffee, a 4oz ribeye steak, and some bacon. I didn’t eat again for 16 1/2 hours. And I felt absolutely great.

Continue reading Ain’t Got No Home

The China Study

China is a big country, inhabited by many Chinese.

–Charles de Gaulle

And that’s about the quality of the information we can glean from The China Study.

The China Study is a book by T. Colin Campbell and Thomas M. Campbell that purportedly proves without a doubt that the eating of animal foods causes all the chronic diseases of civilization, like heart disease, cancer, or diabetes. It’s supposedly based on the results of the China-Cornell-Oxford Project which was, interestingly enough, directed by T. Colin Campbell and involved China, Cornell, and Oxford. As you can probably guess, the study followed Chinese people in rural areas of China and recorded what they say they ate, when they got sick, and how they died.

And The China Study is pretty much the “inspired by actual events,” made-for-TV movie version of the China-Cornell-Oxford project.

Now if you haven’t heard of this book, you obviously don’t have any vegan friends because this is their favorite thing in the world besides tofu. This proves, proves mind you, that if you get cancer it is entirely your own fault for insisting on eating chicken.

Continue reading The China Study

A Mess of Greens

I don’t want any vegetables, thank you. I paid for the cow to eat them for me.

–Doug Copeland

I’m going to say some things about vegetables now. It might hurt their feelings, but I’m not going to say it to their faces. I’d appreciate if you wouldn’t repeat it to your asparagus, either. Hang on, here we go:

Continue reading A Mess of Greens

Oh My Aching Heart

Fat is not the problem. If Americans could eliminate sugary beverages, potatoes, white bread, pasta, white rice and sugary snacks, we would wipe out almost all the problems we have with weight and diabetes and other metabolic diseases. 

–Dr. Walter Willett

I’d say the biggest of all questions I get is an objection to the amount of fat I eat. I totally understand this: even if you aren’t paying attention you still can’t help but have noticed that it’s blamed for all society’s ills.

Continue reading Oh My Aching Heart

The Best Laid Plans

It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.

–J.R.R. Tolkien

Especially if dragons make good eating. I’ll have to check on that.

I’ve gotten a few requests to be more specific about what I eat and especially to discuss the proportions and “how to” of it all.

Continue reading The Best Laid Plans

That Is The Question

A bear, however hard he tries, grows tubby without exercise.

–A.A. Milne

Another big question I get in eating this way is, “what about exercise?” This is a good question. If you read at all, or are able to hear, you’d think that exercise was the magic elixir that solves all of life’s problems. You can’t open a web page anywhere without seeing it lauded in glowing terms as the key to weight loss, heart health, and even longevity.

Of course you can’t find many centenarians who exercise, but we’ll just call that a paradox and pretend it doesn’t happen. The key for you to live a long life is obviously to exercise.

Only maybe it isn’t.

Because there are enough paradoxes lying around here to build our own gym with.

Continue reading That Is The Question

Some Quick Reads

Only two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity. And I’m not sure about the former.

–Albert Einstein

At the bottom of the page are some links to great books, but I realize that not everyone has the time or energy to read a whole book. There are some good articles out there on various subjects, and I’ve compiled a list here. I hope it goes without saying that I don’t necessarily endorse every single statement made on everything I link to; but that’s what God gave us brains for.

Continue reading Some Quick Reads