The Nutty Butcher

If every good journey starts with a “where”, I had just turned 18 and was heading straight home from an appointment with my endocrinologist. She had told be that I, for the sake of my kidneys, had to partly ditch animal protein in favor of plant-based sources. My diet back then wasn´t particularly beef-based but I loved (and still do) fish, cheese and chicken, so I still went through a complicated food-breakup on that tram ride across my hometown back then, Helsinki.

Why did I have to ditch chicken for lentils?

Later that day I told my mother that I didn´t in fact have a life-threatening disease but my body do have a predisposition to form very painful kidney stones. In my case, this seems to have a correlation with the amount of animal protein I consume. So, for this reason I switched meat for lentil soup a few times a week but didn´t really take things too seriously (the fact that it´s totally ok still stands today).

Soy yogurt topped with dried dates was another staple food of mine back then, as I didn´t spend a lot of time in the kitchen but slowly accepted the idea of swapping some dairy for plant-based products. If you aren´t doing strict keto you should try it some time.

It really is good.

2014-2016

During this time I didn´t restrict cheese but clutivated my list of vegan recipes suitable for every day cooking. I felt good eating around 45% plant based, beqause I didn´t (and still don´t) agree with the treatment of animals seen in factory farming. I got to know a few people still very dear to me, that ate plant based primarily for ethical reasons, including animal welfare.

I didn´t, however, see the need to go full vegan, and even today I wear leather shoes and wool clothing. To add to the list of contradictions that make us human, I knew that dairy production is problematic regarding the wellbeing of both mother and baby cow. Milk production restricts the mobility of the cow and includes separating calf from mother within 24 h of birth. The make matters even worse, the cycle of constantly being either inseminated, pregnant, giving birth or lactating puts huge stress on the cow´s body, and for that reason, most dairy cattle are slaughtered at age 3-5 instead of 25.

To get veal and rennet (there is vegan options), the calf is often slaughtered shortly after birth. In other cases, calves are brought up to become future dairy cattle.

Cheese and dairy is delicious though. In 2016 I swithed almost all milk and cream for vegan options, but kept consuming the types of cheese I really love, namely manchego, blue cheese, some feta and mozzarella in moderation.

2016 – 2021

During this time I started and finished med school. I learned the correlation between high consumption of red and processed meat and increased risk of bowel cancer, and that adequate consumption dietary fiber seems to lower it. I learned the relationship between too much saturated and trans fat, high blood LDL (low density lipoprotein) and increased risk of coronary heart disease. While the health benefits of high intake of dietary fiber are pretty straightforward, the relationship between animal fat, LDL-levels and coronary heart disease is a bit more complicated, though.

One might put it like this:

Plant oils contain less saturated fat than animal fat and are far healthier, but vegetable shortening, hydrogenated plant oils and margarine might contain too much trans fat if consumed in excess. Srict keto is hard to do on a plant based diet (moderate lchf is perfectly possible), and the faster weight loss that comes with strict keto might (if you are overweight) lower your LDL-levels in the short term.

I started swithing even more meat and diary for plant based options, as I slowly accepted the fact that the production of beef, lamb, dairy and pork is higly carbon intensive and thus contruíbutes disproportionally global warming. This food-breakup required a lot of fact-checking and emotional reasoning, but I finally got quite attached to the low carbon sources of protein (beans, lntils and nuts, sometomes even lowering net carbon emissions) and opted for a diet about 75% plant based.

2022

In 2022 I gradually switched from a carb based to a low carb diet. This change is primarily due to my current, quite sedentary lifestyle (my job is computer heavy). Currently, I eat about 50-100 grams of carbs a day, I find low carb food to curb my sugar cravings and sustain my energy levels throughout the day. I slowly lose weigh although my main goal is maintain a healthy weight with low to moderate exercise. I spend absolutely no time thinking about calories or burning them.

I eat at least 75% plant based, but consume meat (mainly deer, moose, chicken), fish, eggs and dairy once in a while. My reasons to do this is environmental, health related and ethical.

In conclusion:

When it comes to maintaining a healthy weight, plant based or vegan lchf is an environmentally firendly, healthy and ethical long term solution. You don´t have ditch meat and dairy completely, the thing is to lower cosumption.

When it comes to food, a variation is key.