Articles by Martin Polanco on different ways of eating well and in moderation abound.

Many look at studies published in respected journals and demonstrate the many ways in which a healthy diet, rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables and lean meats can make your life better.

In addition to the health aspect is the financial side says Martin Polanco – eating well let’s you save money on groceries, save on supplements and prescriptions or just have a spare cash leftover for that holiday or gadget that might not be too good for you but very pleasant none the less.

On the other hand there are marketing companies who feel they know better how your body works and what it needs most.

Take Protein World for example:

The marketing campaign says “Are You Beach Body Ready?” but misses completely something essential here – this ad campaign is a load of dangerous misinformation.
The ad features a slender model in a yellow bikini, asking people whether they’re ready for summer, implying that you need to be lean and slim to wear a bathing suit with confidence.
It is not about being healthy or feeling good but strictly about looking good.
Developed as an advertising campaign for Protein World weight-loss products, the ads featuring the well-known model Renee Somerfield have been appearing on London Underground since Monday this week. In addition, some 20 feet long posters are displayed prominently at train station exits across London.
Naturally companies like Protein World can spend their dough any way they want – after all it’s just business – which isn’t necessarily bad if your company make things like shoes or cars. But what if they make weight loss products?
Protein World’s flagship product is weight loss supplements for which their website claims dozens of benefits ranging from promoting rapid weight-loss to increasing lean muscle mass, improving digestion and immune system. The ad campaign talks about protein, the stuff that our muscles are made of but also has a subliminal message that you will lose weight by taking their products. Does one wonder whether the model was paid for with protein powder instead cash?
They’re all over the internet, they’re in magazines, and they’re even on TV. Despite this virtual avalanche of information about healthy eating habits, people are still sick (and often obese). I would like to suggest that the problem is that most people don’t want to hear this advice.
They don’t want to hear that they should cut down on fat and sugar and salt, so they don’t bother to read or watch these articles of advice.
They don’t want to hear that rich desserts and fatty meats are bad for them, so they turn the channel when Dr. Oz starts talking about obesity.
They don’t want to count calories every day, so they ignore all the calorie counters in supermarkets and restaurants.
But there is another group of people who do not just follow this advice – but take it one step further: They restrict themselves from eating almost everything we know is good for us! They become vegetarians (without even thinking about insects), eat paleo diets (ignoring modern farming practices which give us tons of healthy fatty meats and many more vegetables than our ancestors used to get), and they even stop eating carbs (not realizing that we actually need these brain foods).
I am of course talking about the vegans and vegetarians who sometimes call themselves “ethical eaters” or “conscious eaters”.
They do all this in order to protect animals from harm, but I think it is time for them to step back and consider how much harm they are doing themselves.
I don’t want anyone to read this article as an attack on veganism or vegetarianism. It is not. Vegans and vegetarians usually have their heart in the right place: They think of the environment, of helping poor people stay alive, and of animal rights.
But they often forget to think of their own health and the impact that their diets have on them.

Conclusion by Martin Polanco:

Vegans and vegetarians are doing themselves harm with their diets.

The common argument is that our ancestors ate meat, but I would like to point out that they didn’t eat any vegetables either. They also had no knowledge of things like vitamin B12 or calcium, so it makes sense to think that they were just as healthy as we are now (and probably even healthier than us since they were more active).

Another argument states that without meat there wouldn’t be enough protein – which is not true at all! There are tons of vegan athletes out there who get plenty of protein from a plant-based diet.