The World Peace Diet: Eating For Spiritual Health And Social Harmony

76 / the world peace diet
animal foods can lead to gallstones and gallbladder disease. The liver, as
the organ most directly responsible for dealing with the invasion of
toxic substances, is overtaxed when we eat dead animals, especially
those imprisoned under the abysmal conditions of modern factory
farms. These animals’ miserable bodies are so laced with toxins, artificial
growth hormones, drug and chemical residues, steroids, tumors,
and chronic illness that ingesting them poses a Herculean and unending
work for the liver.
The skin, as the largest organ of elimination, is also severely burdened
by the toxins in animal foods, and many of the skin maladies and
allergic reactions we experience may be attributable to the body’s
attempt to cleanse itself by passing toxins out through the skin. Our
skin may be adversely affected by the excess fat and cholesterol in dairy
products, which can clog the pores and may contribute to acne, allergic
reactions, and excess body odor. Many people comment about how
switching to a plant-based diet not only helped them lose weight, but
also gave them clearer, fresher-looking skin tone, reducing the need for
cosmetics.
The Fat of the Matter
The cholesterol and large concentrations of saturated fat in animal
foods increase our risk for heart disease and strokes. Their high fat content
increases our risk for obesity and the whole panorama of health
problems to which being overweight contributes, such as diabetes and
cancer. With sixty percent of Americans now overweight, and a concomitant
$100 billion (and growing) price tag in health services, 25 obesity
now kills 330,000 Americans a year and will soon pass tobacco as
the leading preventable cause of sickness and death. 26
Though we are all unique genetically, it is not natural for any of us
to have a high percentage of body fat or to be chronically overweight.
We are fat because we eat more calories than we burn, and fat is particularly
high in calories. Generally, fat concentrates in animal foods much
more than in plant foods, and the animals raised for our plates are especially
fat. They are specifically bred, confined, drugged, and manipulated
to be as fat as possible. The Butterball turkey we devour for our