Page 63 - Fall2012

All Thumbs Book Reviews

between. How do I decide what to believe? If there is a conflict of interest to death? What he’s really implying is throwing
on the part of those who did the study or funded the study, that study is Elsie to the wolves. I guess that’s the humane
probably worthless information. Short-term studies that ignore the long thing to do.
term are highly suspect at best. Ivory tower studies that come to conclu- Referring to elephants, hippos, cows, etc.,
sions based on their little data sets and ignore any relevant history or, he asks the question, “If plants can satisfy the
worse yet, contradict relevant history, don’t impress me either. demands of these enormous animals, wouldn’t
So when I got to the chapter that would have me believe we are eating you think they could easily meet our own pro-
too much meat, which means we have too many cows, which generate too tein needs?” On westonaprice.org you can find
much gas, which means the planet is going to melt, my cowpie-o-meter information explaining why fat and cholesterol
just sucked a valve. This is a classic example of ignoring obvious history. are important for good cognitive function. If
There were more tuba-tooting bovines several centuries ago than there the concept that different animals (as well as
are today and somehow, the world survived. This is an example of a claim humans) have different digestive systems is too-
that ignores history. We have really hit bottom when we not only don’t o-o complicated for you then you need a nice,
take responsibility for messing up our world but sink so low to blame it juicy, fat steak.
all on cows. The tired old argument that we can produce more food by After committing intellectual suicide, Mc-
getting rid of cows comes next. McDougall’s suggestions imply remov- Dougall goes on to include other knee-slappers
ing all cows and substituting mono-cropping on a huge scale. He ignores in the book like citing a study that observed two
certain inconvenient problems with that. What about land where crops people for six months, or claiming that vitamin
can’t be grown but is perfectly good for grazing? How do you maintain D is just as good as vitamin D .
3
2
soil fertility without animals? Mono-cropping may look good in the short There are almost one hundred pages of
run but is a great way to turn your land into a desert in the long run. Then recipes at the end of the book. Even though Mc-
what do we do? Dougall explicitly doesn’t like vegetarian fake
One of the biggest problems he ignores is that producing more food animal foods, I see nostalgic echoes of animal
is not going to solve the hunger problem. He even hints that he has some foods scattered around the recipes, including
vague awareness that food production is not the root issue, it is food distri- no-parmesan cheese, cashew milk, and veggie
bution. Producing more food will not solve that problem. Later he feels so burgers. Some recipes have Spanish names like
passionate about harm to health and environment that he encourages us to No-Huevos Rancheros. I know that if I want a
put Elsie the cow out to pasture and leave her there. Whose pasture? Who truly good breakfast, I’m going to have to break
is going to waste their resources on an economically worthless cow? Who a few huevos. No matter what language this book
is going to have pasture when they are busy mono-cropping themselves is written in, el-thumbo is DOWN.
Review by Tim Boyd

Living as Nature Intended, continued from page 61 That’s something every man has known for the
better cognitive function. past several thousand years." Perhaps some of the
Speaking of thinking clearly, chapter fourteen gives the reader some confusion is due to all the spin that occurs when
quotes from Dr. Russell Blaylock explaining that we have an epidemic of the British Medical Journal reports that there
neurological disorders that used to be rare. While neurosciences literature are 29 percent more deaths from breast cancer
has no explanation (perhaps because that group of scientists doesn't eat among those who had mammography compared
breakfast) there is a long list of likely causes, from MSG to aluminum, to those who didn’t. The spin gets dizzying as
lead, mercury and pesticide exposure, to mineral deficiencies, to trans vested interests try to explain why that doesn’t
fats, to lack of probiotics, to watching too much television. mean you stop scheduling those regular mam-
The subject of women’s health comes up toward the end of the book. mograms. If you had breakfast this morning you
Dr. Joan Borysenko is quoted as stating that "Women tend to be excluded may already know the thumb is UP for this book.
from medical studies because they are too complicated to understand. Review by Tim Boyd
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