Aimee Walker
Ex-vegan author Robb Wolf says that people should ditch plant-based diets and eat more offal, as he has argued that meat can be environmentally friendly if it’s been sustainably sourced.
Former research biochemist Robb Wolf, who is based in Texas, has co-authored the book ‘Sacred Cow: The Case For (Better) Meat’ with dietician Diana Rodgers.
Robb has suffered from ulcerative colitis, which is a long-term condition that affects the colon and rectum as they become inflamed, which happened whilst he followed a vegan diet.
Before switching to a high protein paleo diet, he was due for a bowel resection and was on statins, blood pressure medications and antidepressants. His new diet includes lean meats, fish, fruit and vegetables and ever since he has found that his problems have been resolved.
Diana has also improved her digestive issues after she found that she had a coeliac disease which was provoked by her vegan lifestyle. She decided to swap gluten-free packaged food for “whatever meat and vegetables I have in the house”. She has argued that well-raised meat can be good for both you and the planet.
In a discussion with the Daily Telegraph, the pair explained that “humans did not evolve to be vegan” and animal protein is “healthy and needs to be consumed”.
The pair continued by saying how our teeth are able to break down meat, while we have smaller colons – the section of the gut which breaks down fibre – than other primates.
They shared how cutting meat from our diets can lead to iron deficiencies and then pointed out how a woman would have to consume two whole tins of chickpeas (510g) a day to satisfy their RDA. If they were to eat pork liver, they would only need 80g.
In addition to this, the body can absorb up to 20 per cent of the iron in red meat yet a maximum of 4.7 per cent in plants.
Robb and Diana then stated that plant foods do contain as much protein per calorie as meat. To get 30g of protein, a person would need to consume 640 calories worth of beans, compared to 1137 calories of fish.
Government guidelines advise that your protein intake should be 0.8g per kilogram of your body weight.
Protein is vital for your body to retain its muscle mass, especially if you like to exercise regularly and keep your immune system, hormone production, hair and nails healthy and in good condition.
Despite their points, they did acknowledge that vegan can be good for some people’s diets, in particular those who like to eat processed meals often.
The pair have advocated that consuming sustainably sourced meat and eating more offal can be both nutritious and cheap.
When it comes to raising animals such as pig and cattle, both believe in keeping a traditional approach.
Diana has adopted a “regenerative agriculture” farming mindset and claims that climate change can be reversed by rebuilding soil organic matter and restoring degraded soil biodiversity. She has an organic vegetable farm in Massachusetts.
She has explained how by using the urine and faeces of grazing sheep, goats and chickens, it can add further nutrients and microbes to the soil and its “fertility” for plants such as kale. She then added that the animals clear the leftovers once the crops have been harvested.
She told the Daily Telegraph: “Soil needs blood and guts.”
She then said how a return to kitchen leftovers can help to feed livestock and reduce the need for land to grow grain, purely for this purpose.
In a 2018 study, the pair claimed that cows spend their whole life on pasture which helps to cancel out their carbon emissions thanks to the carbon they put back into the soil.
Although Robb and Diana are both concerned about climate change, they passionately believe that well-raised meat consumption is much less to blame for climate issues than fast fashion and single-use culture.
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