I tend to agree that mostly veggies and some meat is the best way to go for most of us (certainly for me, anyway), though I also agree with Griz that the source and quality of the food makes all the difference.
Besides their diet, Okinawans have also traditionally benefitted from a healthy lifestyle (note the reference to exercise) and less toxins and pollution. Besides converting to a different diet than they had adapted to for centuries, I can see how inclusion of American SADS junk items led to health problems and decreased longevity. We have seen that happen in many groups of peoples.
One important note, Chris: The soy consumption by Okinawans was mostly fermented soy and has not traditionally been GMO soy either. Which brings up another notable result of people changing their tradtional diet. Until the introduction of soy into their diet, the people of northern Africa has very little incidence of stomach cancers. Since the introduction of soy, the stomach cancer rates have sky-rocketed. Thus soy can be a double edged sword, unless one is careful to consume fermented soy such as miso, tempeh, natto and fermented soy sauce.
As far as the health benefits of eating raw meat (other than fish), I will never likely know first hand.
As an aside: this morning my breakfast was composed of lightly scrambled eggs with broccoli, yellow squash, zuchinni and garlic added in, along with sliced tomatoes (with sea salt - tomatoes are in season and delicious right now), a buttered whole wheat muffin and orange juice with pulp (I always add a dropper of iodine in my OJ and also take a methylselenocysteine pill with it). After Luella and I take our found dogs for a mile or so walk and get our daily D3, next up will be a snack of baby carrots and some mixed nuts. Haven't yet decided on what to do for late lunch/dinner. Hmmm, I could go with either marinated chicken breasts (cooked of course) plus salad and sides of veggies and perhaps a few blueberries and/or melon for dessert. Or I could go with fish and have either broiled salmon or cod topped with butter, lemon juice, lemmon pepper, garlic and almond slivers, steamed asparagus with the same toppings as the fish, and some wild and long grain rice. Yummmm!
One important note, Chris: The soy consumption by Okinawans was mostly fermented soy and has not traditionally been GMO soy either. Which brings up another notable result of people changing their tradtional diet. Until the introduction of soy into their diet, the people of northern Africa has very little incidence of stomach cancers. Since the introduction of soy, the stomach cancer rates have sky-rocketed.
This is a questionable statement. Studies are very conflicting on this and as they point out in this meta analysis soy contains various anticancer agents:
http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/9/10/1051.full
Furthermore, the primary cause of stomach cancer is H. pylori, which is believed to be spread by flies. Proper food storage such as refrigeration is a luxury in many parts of Africa and flies are frequently all over the food potentially spreading H. pylori. Add to that other factors such as the stressful lifestyle, malnutrition, and other immune suppressing factors and we have the perfect storm for increased stomach cancer rates.
Its easy to blame soy, which is why it is blamed so often for things it has nothing to do with. But proving those claims is a much different story, especially when the evidence to the claims does not exist. For example I had a naturopathic doctor actually tell me that the reason Asian people are so short is because the soy they consume stunts their growth!!! I was given soy milk as an infant since I was allergic to both mother's milk and cow's milk. And I have continued to consume soy ever since. Yet I am 6' 2". I guess it was a good thing that the soy stunted my growth otherwise I would have been a giant!!!
By the way I am extremely healthy, am not brain damaged or gay either as the anti-soy proponents also claim these are side effects of soy consumption. I really wish people would rely on real science and some common sense instead of anti-soy propaganda sites for their information.
The anti-soy issue I believe has more to do with GM than the soy itself... same with corn, cotton, canola, etc.
If you read the anti-soy propaganda GMO is not the major issue. The claims refer to the aluminum they claim is in soy, the goitrogenic effect, the phytoestrogens and the phytic acid mainly. But the same people making the claims apparently do not have a clue about the chemistry behind these things and the benefits of some of them.
By the way I . . . am not brain damaged . . .
Are you sure about that? 
OK, seriously, I agree that there are quite a few anti-soy propaganda sites. However, the soy propaganda machine is one of the very largest in the entire food industry, as might be expected when you are talking about a product whose sales are in the billions each year.
Though they obviously have their own agenda to push, I will take the science and information of sites such as Weston Price over information that comes from soy industry sites which tell us that Roundup Ready soy is healthy.
The increased incidence of stomach cancer coinciding with the introduction of soy into the diet of northern Africans may be just that - coincidental. However, I would say that flies and malnutrition are hardly newcomers to the area.
While I like the benefits of soy, I will choose to take those benefits in the form of non-GMO fermented soy as much as possible (not an easy thing to do considering that GMO soy, along with canola and corn, is found in just about everything on the grocer's shelves).
OK, seriously, I agree that there are quite a few anti-soy propaganda sites. However, the soy propaganda machine is one of the very largest in the entire food industry, as might be expected when you are talking about a product whose sales are in the billions each year.
Actually the largest propaganda machines are the beef and dairy industries, who's sales exceed those of soy and their biggest competitor happens to be soy. So they stand to gain a lot more by disseminating as much anti-soy propaganda as possible.
Though they obviously have their own agenda to push, I will take the science and information of sites such as Weston Price over information that comes from soy industry sites which tell us that Roundup Ready soy is healthy.
Science from the Weston Price Foundation? LOL!!!! The WPF is funded by the beef industry as I have shown in previous posts. Why do you think they push beef and dairy so much? And the WPF has been shown to promoting false propaganda numerous times. Here are some great examples:
http://curezone.com/forums/fm.asp?i=1542308#i
http://curezone.com/forums/fm.asp?i=1547245
http://curezone.com/forums/fm.asp?i=1547490
http://curezone.com/forums/fm.asp?i=1548041
http://curezone.com/forums/fm.asp?i=1548163#i
http://curezone.com/forums/fm.asp?i=1530386#i
The increased incidence of stomach cancer coinciding with the introduction of soy into the diet of northern Africans may be just that - coincidental. However, I would say that flies and malnutrition are hardly newcomers to the area.
To begin with where is the proof that this claim is even true to begin with? I am not talking about some link to a discredited site like the Weston Price Foundation. I am talking about the actual research proving this link.
As I noted earlier, I like the reported benefits of soy, but have seen enough information about dangers associated with GMO soy and nonfermented soy to convince me to try to steer clear of anything of most soy items. Besides the issue of fermented versus non fermented soy, it has been reported that about 97% of soy products come from GMO soy. A very great portion of the GMO soy is the "Roundup ready" GMO soy. The introduction of soy and concurrent rise in stomach cancers in northern Africa MAY have been coincidental, but I don't think that it was a coincidence that soy allergies increased by 50% in the UK shortly after the introduction of GMO soy. In the case of "Roundup ready" GMO, at least one study found that a portion of the transgene from ingested "Roundup ready" GMO soybeans, along with the promoter that switches the gene on, transfers into human gut bacteria during ingestion. That might well explain the allergies, as it might also explain stomach cancers if the body is recognizing the transferred material as foreign. I don't want any transfer of GMO transgenes in my gut and neither do I really want any GMO content in general. We are seeing more and more health problems and potential problems associated with GMO foods and, like the overuse of vaccines, unnatural drugs and environmental toxins, I think GMO foods is a health nightmare we and our children will come to regret.
I have seen you label the Weston A. Price foundation as a shill for the beef and dairy industry. I disagree. Simply because they have accepted sponsorships for their annual conferences from beef and dairy groups, among many others, does not make them shills. In addition, while they have extolled the benefits of healthy beef and dairy, which is in line with their promotion of healthy nutrient dense foods in general. They also recommend grass fed organic beef and dairy that is free of growth hormones and antibiotics, both of which may be small and healthier niche markets in the beef and dairy industries but certainly are not in line with the positions of the large majority of those industries.
H, you are well known as a fan of soy. Likewise I am known to be an opponent of soy. We are BOTH known to get involved in lengthy debates, though I tip my hat to you on that one - lol. Now, we could lock horns and post handpicked studies, article quotes and even Yahoo Answers (as I noted in one instance) that support our own views ad infinitum, this thread has already reached epic proportions in a support forum and if we were to lock horns and bring all the rest of the folks who have strong opinions one way or another about soy into the discussion this could go on for pages and pages. And, when all was said and done, I sincerely doubt that either of us would change our minds.
I don't like soy and you do. Enough said.
Past my bedtime - think I'll have a glass of half organic milk/half almond milk and catch some Z's.
I note that besides the issue of fermented versus non fermented soy, there is the fact that about 97% of soy products come from GMO soy. A very great portion of the GMO soy is the "Roundup ready" GMO soy. I don't think that it was a coincidence that soy allergies increased by 50% in the UK shortly after the introduction of GMO soy.
I am not a fan of GMO either. But I also don't like false propaganda such as the stuff the Weston Price Foundation has put out or unsubstantiated statistics like 97% of soy being GMO or an increase of soy allergies by 50%. Anyone can make up or manipulate statistics like this, and is is very frequently done. For example in the Jupiter Study conducted on the effectiveness of a statin drug the drug companies claimed a 44% decrease in heart disease. Yes the difference was 44% from placebo, but it was also less than 1%. The placebo group showed 1.36% of the people had a cardiac event after 2 years. In the statin group only 0.77% had an adverse cardiac event. So they claimed a 44% reduction in cardiac events, which is technically true, but this is only a 0.59% difference between the two groups, which worked out to 53 adverse events out of 18,000 people in the study. So percentages can be viewed or manipulated in many ways to reach whatever conclusion one wishes to reach. This is why propaganda sites rely so heavily on statements of percentages without showing the actual proof. They can manipulate the findings any way they want to make something sound dangerous or beneficial depending on what they want to show.
I have seen you label the Weston A. Price foundation as a shill for the beef and dairy industry. I disagree. Simply because they have accepted sponsorships for their annual conferences from beef and dairy groups, among many others, does not make them shills.
You are forgetting how much false propaganda they have posted about soy, the biggest threat to the beef and dairy industries. And regardless if beef and dairy are organic or not they still carry risks. So why has the Weston Price Foundation refused to post these risks? Yet again they continue to post bogus information about soy even though they could easily verify is false. So you can disagree all day long, it is not going to change the facts! To say that the Weston Price Foundation is not supporting the beef and dairy industry is like saying the FDA is not supporting the pharmaceutical companies!!!
In addition, while they have extolled the benefits of healthy beef and dairy, which is in line with their promotion of healthy nutrient dense foods in general, they also recommend grass fed organic beef and dairy that is free of growth hormones and antibiotics -
Again this does not make them safe. So where are all the warnings about the dangers of beef and milk consumption by the Weston Price Foundation? I see all the false propaganda about their biggest competitor, which is soy. But if they were really in to healthy foods I would expect safety warnings about beef and dairy consumption as well as some real research on the benefits of soy such as those against cancer, for bone heath, for hormone balance..........
both of which are not the positions of the beef and dairy industry.
Who says? You don't think that the organic farms and ranches are part of the beef and dairy industry? Again if we want to see why the Weston Price Foundation has been so active in posting false propaganda about soy all we have to do is see who is buttering their bread.
What a worthless tasteless fools food. Talk about a gimmick. They plant it in the midwest because even the crows won't eat it. Besides you support soy you support Monsanto and the toxic effect they have on the planet. Why would any one promote that?
Why would anyone post about something they clearly don't have a clue about?
By the way Monsanto is not the only supplier of soy seeds But talking about supporting Monsanto do you have any plastics in your life? Water bottles, cars, carpeting, plywood or particle board, etc? If you do then you could be supporting Monsanto since they also develop plastics.
Do you wear any cotton? If you do then you are probably supporting Monsanto since they also supply cotton seed. Same goes for wheat, corn, other vegetables and seeds for oils. So unless you are growing all your own food from heirloom seeds you are likely supporting Monsanto.
If you have taken any pharmaceutical drugs then you may have supported Monsanto.