A preschooler at West Hoke Elementary School ate three chicken nuggets for lunch Jan. 30 because a state employee told her the lunch her mother packed was not nutritious.

The girl’s turkey and cheese sandwich, banana, potato chips, and apple juice did not meet U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines, according to the interpretation of the agent who was inspecting all lunch boxes in her More at Four classroom that day.

The Division of Child Development and Early Education at the Department of Health and Human Services requires all lunches served in pre-kindergarten programs — including in-home day care centers — to meet USDA guidelines. That means lunches must consist of one serving of meat, one serving of milk, one serving of grain, and two servings of fruit or vegetables, even if the lunches are brought from home.

Interesting, considering studies have shown vegetarians live longer.

Interesting, considering studies have shown vegetarians live longer.

Interesting since I have never met a healthy vegetarian and human biology would indicate that this is a falsehood.

I've also seen studies that smoking is good for your lungs, a Paleo diet makes you live longer, coffee enemas make you live longer, and erratic sleep cycles make you live longer. Find the conclusion you want, and I bet there is a study that will support it, and plenty more to refute it.

What human biology would that be? I've never met an unhealthy vegetarian.

/shrug. Haven't seen a study that says eating meat regularly is better for you. I have seen studies that say eating fish and/or meat on occasion is not bad.

Like you say, draw your own conclusions - I'm not trying to convince anyone. I'm just basing my opinion on what evidence is available, not on what I want to hear.

Here is one: http://articles.cnn.com/2002-11-19/heal ... =PM:HEALTH

Eat a sensible, balanced diet as nature intended.

The article in Psychology Today ended on a baffled note with the author wondering if meat eating could potentially be in our genes?

I submit that the results of this survey are not surprising and are in fact a testament to the research of Dr. Weston A. Price. Dr. Price traveled the world in the 1920′s and 1930′s visiting 14 isolated cultures in the process. During this adventure which he documented in great detail with amazing pictures in his masterpiece Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, Dr. Price concluded that while the diets of these natives varied widely, nutrient dense animal foods high in the fat soluble vitamins A, D, and K (also known as Activator X) were the common denominator. Consumption of these animal foods were revered in these communities as they bestowed vibrant health, ease of fertility, healthy children, and high resistance to chronic and infectious disease.

This discovery was a disappointment to Dr. Price who had expected to find the vegetarian cultures to be the healthiest cultures of all. But, the vegetarian cultures he examined displayed more degeneration than the omnivore cultures which surprised him given that these vegetarian cultures did indeed have superior health than the Americans of his day.

A study focused on 572 women and 388 men from 55–92 years old living in Rancho Bernardo, California. Sorry to vegetarians who think they are eating healthy but facts are facts. For every 15-gram per day increase in animal protein intake, overall bone mineral density increased, especially in the hip, neck and spine.

Yet the opposite happened with vegetable proteins. The more vegetable protein, the lower the bone mineral density.(3) The study also showed that high calcium intake did not seem to protect those who ate a lot of plant protein. The women who took in the most calcium lost bone mineral density.

The simple fact is that your body can’t build bones from plants because they contain incomplete proteins.

Furthermore, studies showing better health among vegetarians don’t reflect dietary differences alone. Studies show consistently that vegetarians as a group are more likely to be non-smokers and more physically active than non-vegetarians.

Vegetarians are also less likely to be overweight. Excess body fat is strongly linked to heart disease, diabetes and cancer risk. But vegetarian eating won’t automatically lead to a healthy weight if it still includes excessive portions and foods concentrated in calories from oils and sugars.

Although a vegetarian diet has a positive influence in supporting weight control, specific food choices may be the overriding influence of plant-based diets on health. Traditional Mediterranean-style eating patterns, which are plant-based diets that include fish regularly but also may include modest amounts of meat occasionally, were identified as the principal eating style tied to lower incidence of heart disease in one recent review of available data.

If you have trouble figuring out what a balanced diet is that would be your problem. However, vegetarians by definition cannot eat a balanced diet since they restrict themselves to a singular type of protein, calories and carbohydrates.

But common sense and evolutionary biology would indicate that humans are intended to be omnivorous and a healthy diet should include stuff from Column A and Column B in moderation.

*shrug*

You can always look at an excellent "case study" in the Eskimo tribes- they were surviving great (healthy, good longevity, etc) on a completely carnivorous diet. Then the population became riddled with disease almost as soon as carbohydrates were introduced.

The problem with taking in large amounts of carbohydrates is that our systems use them as one of the central regulatory molecules for the control of all metabolic pathways. Our system is designed such that an excess of fats and proteins leads to high blood sugar levels, and hence high blood sugar levels are a direct indicator of high protein and lipid levels. If you take in large amounts of carbohydrates directly, however, you blow that regulatory system all to hell.

You must be around a lot "better" vegetarians than I am. A lot of the ones I know just load up on carbs.

I tend to eat lean meat + fruits and vegetables, and try to steer away from carbs- most of the vegetarians I know would replace what I eat in meat with carbs, rather than replacing it with more fruit and vegetables.

You must be around a lot "better" vegetarians than I am. A lot of the ones I know just load up on carbs.

All of the vegetarians (I include vegans in this category) I know have to eat a handful of vitamins every day to offset the nutritional disadvantage they have placed upon themselves. If you have to go outside of your own dietary restrictions to get essential vitamins and nutrients, then you are doing it wrong

And yet dietary supplements are recommended for just about everyone.

And yet dietary supplements are recommended for just about everyone.

I've also seen studies that smoking is good for your lungs, a Paleo diet makes you live longer, coffee enemas make you live longer, and erratic sleep cycles make you live longer. Find the conclusion you want, and I bet there is a study that will support it, and plenty more to refute it.