Since the mid-late 20th century, profit-based propaganda has been trying to convince the western world that eating meat, eggs and full-fat dairy products is unhealthy, and that people should opt for processed, grain-based foods if they care about their health.
This claim is contrary to real evidence. There is a direct correlation between less saturated fat and animal products consumed and more cases of heart disease, obesity and other health problems.
Sugar, refined grains and vegetable oils are very cheap and easy to produce. They also have addictive properties.
An added benefit of these foods is that it makes people sickly and docile.
A man who is badly fed, cannot bear for a long time, the fatigues of prolonged labor; his strength even abandons him, and to him rest is only loss of power. If his labor be mental, his ideas are crude and undecided. Reflection contributes nothing to them, nor does judgment analyze them. The brain exhausts itself in vain efforts and the actor slumbers on the battlefield.
-Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826)
Khan unified various nomadic tribes and used perceptive strategies to conquer almost all of Western Asia, initiating multiple military and economic reforms that helped expand the power of his army and provided for the development of trade. He also appreciated beauty and valued art.
The Mongols were basically invincible, intelligent, ruthless and fearless warriors.
The Mongols are said to rely on two food groups: Red food and white food.
Mongolia has a harsh climate, with long, cold winters and short, hot summers so farming was basically impossible because of the climate and their nomadic tendencies.
The Mongols almost exclusively consumed meat and fermented milk products.
The Chinese noted with surprise and disgust the ability of the Mongol warriors to survive on little food and water for long periods; according to one, the entire army could camp without a single puff of smoke since they needed no fires to cook. Compared to the Jurched soldiers, the Mongols were much healthier and stronger. The Mongols consumed a steady diet of meat, yogurt, and other dairy products, and they fought men who lived on gruel made from various grains. The grain diet of the peasant warriors stunted their bones, rotted their teeth, and left them weak and prone to disease. In contrast, the poorest Mongol soldier ate mostly protein, thereby giving him strong teeth and bones. Unlike the Jurched soldiers, who were dependent on a heavy carbohydrate diet, the Mongols could more easily go a day or two without food.
–Ghengis Khan And The Making of The Modern World
While the Mongols consumed milk products, they didn’t drink fresh milk.
They would ferment and process it into milk curds, kefir, yogurts, and “airag,” an alcoholic drink because many Mongolians were and still are lactose intolerant, and fermentation destroys the lactose in milk while making it nourishing and digestible for just about everyone.
Fermented milk products have impressive benefits:
- Improved digestion and tolerance to lactose
- Antibacterial
- Hypocholesterolaemic
- Controls plasma glucose
- Anti-hypertensive
- Anti-inflammatory
- Antioxidant
- Anti-carcinogenic
- Anti-allergenic
The Mongols also ate meat from all of their animals, which included horses, sheep, camels, cattle and goats. It was either skewered and roasted over fire, or boiled into stews and soups.
Meat eating has been associated with:
- Strong immunity
- Muscle growth
- Better blood circulation
- Better heart, skin and brain health
The Mongols also ate seasonally, consuming cooling dairy products in the summer, and warming meat and animal fat in the winter.
Of all corporeal operations, digestion is the one which has the closest connection with the moral condition of man.-Jean Anthelme Brillat Savarin
Most Importantly, Mongol vitality had more to do with what they avoided.
The Mongols didn’t have access to sugar, vegetable oils, or processed grains, which weaken the body and mind.
Jean Anthelme Brillat Savarin (1755-1826), a French lawyer and politician obsessed with gastronomy, had a multitude of theories on food’s effect on man.
He believed that an excess of high-glycemic carbs destroys motivation, and blamed too much pasta for the Italian’s lack of conquering abilities. He also thought that Indians succumbed to whoever decided to colonize them because they relied so heavily on rice.
Tell me what you eat and I will tell you who you are.
-Jean Antheme Brillat Savarin