In Hawaii, there is a very significant word. That word is Makahiki. The definition of makahiki is as follows:
“A period of several months, which was celebrated each fall (Nov – Feb) in ancient Hawaii with athletic contests, religious rites, and payments of tribute to chiefs and during which all warfare was tabooed”.
Basically, this was the longest celebration ever. The Hawaiian’s then and all of us here now have so much to be thankful for. We live in a tropical paradise, we are surrounded by sun, cooling trade winds, soothing rains, majestic mountains, never ending waves, fertile soils, and incredible indigenous fruits and vegetables that are to die for.
In ancient Hawaiian times, Thanksgiving was a daily happening. There was always receiving and giving. Somehow, when the Pilgrims thrust their belief system on the Indians, they told them to celebrate Thanksgiving by slitting the throat of an innocent turkey and then cooking it and eating it. Of course, back then, that turkey was not top heavy due to all the growth hormones shoved into it. But still it was loaded with heaps of cholesterol and saturated fat, which no one then knew was associated with high risks of heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and other chronic diseases that now kill 1.3 million Americans a year.
Even now the American Dietetic Association has admitted that “vegetarian diets tend to be lower in saturated fat and cholesterol and have higher levels of dietary fiber, magnesium and potassium, vitamins C and E, folate, carotenoids, flavenoids, and other phytochemicals”.
So, this Thanksgiving and/or Christmas why not take a walk on the wild side and give thanks by preparing a meal that is heart-healthy, compassionate, and friendly to all involved – one that is totally plant-based?
Although it has taken eons to achieve, the California and Hawaii legislatures recommended that their schools offer a daily vegetarian lunch option and many other states are also considering similar options.
Aside from the adverse health effects previously listed, consider this: mad cow disease comes from these naturally vegetarian cows forced to eat the remains of the dead, dying, diseased, decaying cows, road kill, poultry remains and genetically modified feeds.
What, you thought that these people that raise these animals to kill them would give them organic feed? No way! The cheaper the feed, the higher the profit.
So, back to the adverse health effects: turkeys are pumped full of antibiotics because they are always diseased due to the “caring” and “heartfelt” way they are made ready for slaughter. Yet, with all those antibiotics pumped into them, we, the humans, are becoming more resistant to the antibiotic medicines we receive to ward off illnesses. Gee, could there be a connection here?
According to the CDC (Centers for Deceit Control and Procrastination), “resistant bacteria may be transferred to humans through the food supply or direct contact with animals”.
Likely, when you are treated with an antibiotic to which the bacteria is resistant, the antibiotic not only doesn’t work but it makes your illness worse and requires you to get yet another dose of another antibiotic. Nothing like all those synthetic chemicals to keep your immune system nice and strong.
To add insult to injury, upwards of 90% of poultry become infected with E.coli during slaughter, 39 – 75% of the poultry in grocery stores are still infected when you buy them despite the chlorine baths they undergo before leaving the slaughterhouse. And then 70 -90% are infected with campylobacter. Nothing like inviting the family over for food poisoning.
Now, if you think that these turkeys spend their lives in a cushy penthouse suite you are grossly mistaken. Would you believe that the 300 million turkeys killed each year spend their entire lives in large, cramped sheds so tight that they spend most of their time rubbing against each other with hardly any room to move? Imagine, 25,000 birds crammed into a shed, barely any ventilation, and their eyes and lungs burned from the fumes of their nitrogen-enriched doo-doo. The good news – one in ten turkeys die on the factory floor.
Ok, so much for the health ramifications. What about the environmental effects? Where do you think most of the 10 billion pounds of doo-doo dropped by the 7,300 factory farms in 33 states ends up? Would you believe the streams and eventually the drinking water? And why? Because of the water run-offs that leach into the water table from the piles of untreated manure from its use as a crop fertilizer. When you add in other factors, livestock as a whole accounts for 9% of the carbon dioxide derived from human-related activities and creates an even much larger share of greenhouse gases.
What does the future hold? How about going to 465 million tons of global meat production by 2050? And that’s more than double the 229 million tons of 2001. What’s more disturbing is that milk is estimated to go from 580 million tons to 1,043 million tons with most of the consumers being lactose intolerant. Who cares as long as it sells?
Did you know that there are manure “lagoons” that store untreated doo-doo that create enormous amounts of methane that contribute the most to global warming? So, cooling the earth is easy – reduce flesh consumption.
We, in the good ol’ USA, lead the world in the consumption of flesh products. We also lead the world in arthritis, cancer, diabetes, stroke and all kinds of other good stuff. Imagine what the possibilities could be if we cut back drastically. How then could we reduce factory farming? If we cut way back on poultry consumption there would be less birds to factory farm.
Let’s cut to the chase: turkeys are bred to gain large amounts of weight in a very short period of time. Like us, they suffer heart attacks, broken bones, disease and premature death. And if you think “range free” is a better option you are grossly mistaken. To qualify for “range free” all they have to do is open one door in a football field sized dormitory, let in a bit of light, and presto, The USDA says that’s “range free”.
Regardless of how they are raised they all end up at the same slaughterhouses, hung upside down by their legs, their throats slit, and then dumped into boiling water to de-feather them even if still fully conscious.
So, this Thanksgiving or CHristmas why not have all the fixings you usually have except substitute tofu for the turkey? Hear me out. If you slice the tofu in ¼ to ½ inch slices and fry it or bake it and then add some nutritional yeast to it and pour the gravy you would normally pour on the turkey, it will blow your mind as to how good it is.
Doing this will improve your physical health, your compassion, will help the planet and give that innocent turkey you would have eaten another day. It will then be a truly Happy Thanksgiving and a very Merry Christmas for your body, a turkey, and the planet.
Aloha!
About Hesh:
I have been doing a radio show in Honolulu since 1981 called “Health Talk”. To listen to the show please go to www.kwai1080am.com on your computer at 8am Hawaii time. FYI, 8am Hawaii time is 11am on the West coast and 2pm on the East coast. To call in, the number is (808) 524-1080.
Now, American Voice Radio will be picking up my streamed show and playing it all week until the next one takes place. To listen, go to americanvoiceradio.com and click on my link at AVR 2. Starting in December I will be doing another radio show on AVR at 9:00 am Hawaii time. Just go to the website, click on AVR 1, and listen live or tune in later and listen via the archive. See you on the radio!
In 2007, I was “forced” to get a masters degree in Nutrition to stop all the doctors from calling in asking what my credentials were. Besides that, they never liked it when I asked them what their credentials were that would enable them to treat an illness without drugs or surgery.
If you go to www.healthtalkhawaii.com and click on Podcasts, there are years of shows there as well as hundreds of health related articles.
I am an activist. I am vehemently opposed to GMOs, vaccines, processed foods, MSG, aspartame, fluoridation, and everything else that the “pimps” (big pHarma, Monsanto, and the large food companies), and the “hookers” (the doctors, the government agencies, the Public Health officials, and the mainstream media) thrust upon us, the “tricks”.
At 75, I am in 3 softball leagues, racewalk, do stand-up paddling, hike, swim, do weights and cardio, and teach women’s self-defense classes based upon 20 years of Wing Chun training. I have been a vegetarian since 1975 and a vegan since 1990, have no illnesses and take no meds.
After being vaccinated with the DTP vaccine as a child, I developed asthma, which plagued me until 2008 when I learned about and started taking the organic sulfur crystals. My asthma was reversed in 3 days and has not come back.
So far, 26 cases of autism that we know about have been reversed, as has cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, asthma, osteoarthritis, joint pain, gingivitis, and erectile dysfunction. The sulfur has increased sexual activity, eliminated toxins, heavy metals, radiation, and parasites. It speeds up athletic recovery time, increases blood circulation, reduces inflammation, increases resistance to the “flu”, reduces wrinkles, allergies, PMS, monthly period pain, migraines, nausea, and way more, because the oxygen that the sulfur releases floods and heals the cells in the body.
The sulfur, as proven by the University of Southampton in England, enables the body to produce vitamin B12 and the essential amino acids.
You can find out more about this on my website under Products.
My book, “A Sane Diet For An Insane World”, which has been published, can be viewed and purchased at www.asanediet.com. The book clearly explains why what you eat, for the most part, is designed to keep you in a state of declining health.
I have recently discovered an amazing super food – Zeal – that contains 42 amazing probiotics, anti-oxidents and more, all designed to build and strengthen the immune system. For more info about this please email me.
And now I have come across an amazing bee pollen that is so soft it melts in your mouth and has so many benefits. It is rich in vitamin B12 and all B vitamins, proteins, minerals, beneficial fatty acids, carotenoids, bioflavenoids, antioxidants, antihistamines, enzymes, antibiotics, and natural phenylalanine, which acts as an appetite suppressant, and more.
Hesh Goldstein, MSNutri
“Health Talk” Moderator, K-108 Radio
POB 240783, Honolulu, Hi 96824
(808) 258-1177
www.healthtalkhawaii.com
www.asanediet.com
[email protected]