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.
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