On this episode, I am joined by Ty Beal, Ph.D., a Research Advisor on the Knowledge Leadership team at the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN). So he is the perfect person to talk about nutrition at the global level including nutrient deficiencies and how best to address those gaps in different populations around the world. 

We were both in Washington DC presenting at a conference and took advantage of a break in our schedules to have a chat. During this episode, Ty shares the highlights from his talk, “Contributions of Animal-source Foods to Healthy Diets for Improved Nutrition,” which is a topic you all know I am passionate about. 

Ty references his presentation slides during the show and each one is pictured in the website show notes with timestamps so you can follow along, plus there is a downloadable pdf to the full slide deck. For those that want to dive deep into the science, there are also links to the studies he mentions.

For those that just want the good news about including meat in your diet, here are the key takeaways:

- Low consumption of meat and other animal-source foods increase the risk of undernutrition

- Animal-source foods contain unique nutrients and are evolutionarily appropriate for humans

- Meat and other animal-source foods are among the top sources of nutrients commonly lacking, especially among vulnerable groups like young children

- Too little animal-source foods may hinder child growth and development and may not be optimal for longevity

- Meat and animal-source foods are important for healthy diets and are compatible with sustainable diets when produced appropriately

- Meat, eggs, and dairy provide unique essential nutrients important for healthy diets

- Consuming too little animal-source foods worsens diet quality, increasing the risk of nutrient deficiencies and ill-health

Additional Resources:

2019 Burden of Disease Study

The Grocer: Red Meat Health Risks Study is ‘Unreliable’, Claim Scientists 

Sustainable Dish Episode 84 with Frédéric Leroy

Eat-Lancet Diet

20 Ways Eat-Lancet’s Global Diet is Wrongfully Vilifying Meat (Sustainable Dish blog post)

White Oak Pastures Beef and Organ Meat Blend

US Wellness Meats Beef Blend  

Lulun Project

Connect with Ty:

Website: Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN)

Twitter: @tyrbeal

LinkedIn: Ty Beal

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Episode Credits:

Thank you to all who’ve made this show possible. Our hosts are Diana Rodgers and James Connelly. Our producer is Emily Soape. And of course, we are grateful for our sponsors, Patreon supporters, and listeners.

This episode was brought to you by my new Sustainavore Course! Are you confused about which diet is best for your health and the planet? Are you feeling frustrated with quick-fix diets and conflicting nutrition information? Check out Sustainavore.  You will learn how to feel confident that the food you’re buying is the right choice for your health and the environment. The course includes over 7 hours of video instruction from me and 60 daily emails full of tips, tricks, and motivation to keep you going - plus lots of bonus material. For a limited time, I am offering special discount pricing so head over to The Sustainavore Course now!

This episode is also being sponsored by Levels, a continuous glucose monitor that gives you individualized insight into your metabolism. This is a tool I personally use and recommend to people I work with. It’s helped me figure out what foods spike my blood sugar and which ones keep me level. I can also see how certain tricks like walks after a meal affect my body. Right now Levels has a waiting list of over 150,000 but they are allowing my listeners to skip the line if you go to sustainabledish.com/levels and sign up. Try it out to see how the food you eat affects your metabolism. This is a must-have tool for anyone interested in personalizing their nutrition.

Friend and fellow dietitian, Lily Nichols is back to catch us up on what she’s been up to and fill us in on the latest in nutrition research. Since our first episode together, Lily has been busy advocating for updated dietary guidelines, especially as they relate to pregnancy and postpartum. She is the author of two books: Real Food for Pregnancy and Real Food for Gestational Diabetes. Lily is also the co-founder of Women’s Health Nutrition Academy, an organization dedicated to providing continuing education in women’s health.  

In this episode, Lily and I take a deep dive into all things protein. There is a long-held belief in dietetics that as long as you are getting enough total protein in your diet then your amino acid requirements will be met too.  Lily sets the record straight by pointing to new evidence that shows this simply isn’t true. In fact, the need for the full array of amino acids for children is so important, that deficiencies during certain development periods can cause irreversible problems.

There’s so much to cover in this episode that we actually ran out of time so stay tuned as I’m sure to have Lily on the show again.

Even if you are not pregnant or considering getting pregnant, you’re sure to find something interesting in this episode. Listen in to hear us rant about the need for protein and so much more including:

- Why the RDA (recommended dietary allowance) for protein needs an update

- All things B12 

- Cheap nutrient-dense food options

- The need for culturally appropriate nutrition recommendations 

- A thought experiment about the environmental cost of being unhealthy

- Why meat does not have to be grass-fed to be healthy

- Why nutrition professionals need real-world perspective

- Our personal results from continuous glucose monitoring and why everyone should try it

Resources:

Women’s Health Nutrition Academy

Sacred Cow

Research Paper: Animal Source Foods, Rich in Amino Acids Important for Linear Growth and Development of Young Children in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

US News and World Report “Best” Diets

Levels

Lily’s books:

Real Food for Pregnancy 

Real Food for Gestational Diabetes

Lily’s Articles

Protein Requirements in Pregnancy are Higher Than Previously Thought

Vegetarian Diet in Pregnancy: Nutrients of Concern

Choline in Pregnancy: Folate’s Long-Lost Cousin

Budget-Friendly Prenatal Nutrition Following Real Food for Pregnancy Principles

Why Prenatal Nutrition Guidelines Needs to be Updated

Liver and Organ Meat: Nutritional Benefits & How to Make it Palatable

Connect with Lily:

Website: Lily Nichols, RDN

Instagram: @lilynicholsrdn

Twitter: @LilyNicholsRDN

Facebook: Lily Nichols, RDN

LinkedIn: Lily Nichols, RDN

***

Episode Credits:

Thank you to all who’ve made this show possible. Our hosts are Diana Rodgers and James Connelly. Our producer is Emily Soape. And of course, we are grateful for our sponsors, Patreon supporters, and listeners.

This episode was brought to you by my new Sustainavore Course! Are you confused about which diet is best for your health and the planet? Are you feeling frustrated with quick-fix diets and conflicting nutrition information? Check out Sustainavore.  You will learn how to feel confidant that the food you’re buying is the right choice for your health and the environment. The course includes over 7 hours of video instruction from me and 60 daily emails full of tips, tricks, and motivation to keep you going - plus lots of bonus material. For a limited time, I am offering special discount pricing so head over to The Sustainavore Course now!

This episode is also being sponsored by Levels, a continuous glucose monitor that gives you individualized insight into your metabolism. This is a tool I personally use and recommend to people I work with. It’s helped me figure out what foods spike my blood sugar and which ones keep me level. I can also see how certain tricks like walks after a meal affect my body. Right now Levels has a waiting list of over 150,000 but they are allowing my listeners to skip the line if you go to sustainabledish.com/levels and sign up. Try it out to see how the food you eat affects your metabolism. This is a must-have tool for anyone interested in personalizing their nutrition.

Jake Marquez and Maren Morgan are the creators of the forthcoming documentary Death in the Garden, which is their journey to “save the world through embracing the cycles of life and death and changing cultural paradigms.”

These two acknowledge the challenge and complexity of the project they have taken on but have pledged to question everything, remain honest, and uphold the highest levels of integrity.  

It’s inspiring to see members of a younger generation not accept black and white thinking or the latest trendy narrative. Jake and Maren challenge the world-saving stories that have been sold as facts like eating a vegan diet, renewable energy, and recycling plastics. Instead, they view the world holistically and refuse to rely on the system that created our problems to solve them.

Jake and Maren have traveled the world interviewing experts in regenerative farming, human nutrition, carbon, soil, human rights, and the list goes on. You may even recognize some of the experts from the Sustainable Dish Podcast, like Lierre Keith and Nina Teicholz.

My co-host, James Connolly, has gotten to know this team as the producer of the Death in the Garden, and now he is interviewing Jake and Maren on what it was like to make the film.

This in-depth conversation covers:

- How James found Jake and Maren

- Jake’s time as a vegan

- Maren’s involvement with humanitarian projects 

- How the film started out about regenerative agriculture and carbon but they realized it needed to be about more

- The problems with renewable energy sources

- Embracing death as part of the story

- How industrial civilization treats life like a commodity

- The next steps for Death in the Garden

Resources:

Interview with Lierre Keith

Interview with Nina Teicholz

Interview with Derrick Jenson

Silent Spring by Rachel Carlson

Peter Donovan of the Soil Carbon Coalition

30x30

COP26

Thacker Pass

Connect with Jake and Maren:

Website: Death in the Garden

Podcast: Death in the Garden

Instagram: @deathinthegarden

Twitter: @death_thegarden

Support their work: substack and Patreon

***

Episode Credits:

Thank you to all who’ve made this show possible. Our hosts are Diana Rodgers and James Connelly. Our producer is Emily Soape. And of course, we are grateful for our sponsors, Patreon supporters, and listeners.

This episode was brought to you by my new Sustainavore Course! Are you confused about which diet is best for your health and the planet? Are you feeling frustrated with quick-fix diets and conflicting nutrition information? Check out Sustainavore.  You will learn how to feel confidant that the food you’re buying is the right choice for your health and the environment. The course includes over 7 hours of video instruction from me and 60 daily emails full of tips, tricks, and motivation to keep you going - plus lots of bonus material. For a limited time, I am offering special discount pricing so head over to The Sustainavore Course now!

We’ve all heard about the microbiome and how important it is to human health. But have you thought about the microbiome of animals? Native Microbials is an innovative company that specializes in optimizing the gut bacteria of animals including cattle, chickens, and even your pets!

My guest today is Mallory Embree, Chief Science Officer at Native MIcrobials. She along with her co-founder, Mike Seely, started Native Microbials in 2015 to produce the next generation of feed supplements to improve the health, productivity, and sustainability of animals with microbes that are native to them.

Mallory’s love of microbes comes across as we chat about:

- How Native Microbials started

- What microbes can do for animals

- What the microbiome actual is

- Antibiotic resistance Native Microbials products can help

- How Native Microbials is different than just a probiotic

- The process for finding the best microbes

- The promising data on reduction in methane production

- How Native Microbials may impact the cell-based meat industry

Resources:

Robert Hungate

Research Paper: The Western Diet–Microbiome-Host Interaction and Its Role in Metabolic Disease

Connect with Mallory:

Website: Native Microbials

Email: mallory@nativemicrobials.com

LinkedIn: Mallory Embree

Instagram: @arksusdaily and @galaxis_native

***

Episode Credits:

Thank you to all who’ve made this show possible. Our hosts are Diana Rodgers and James Connelly. Our producer is Emily Soape. And of course, we are grateful for our sponsors, Patreon supporters, and listeners.

This episode was brought to you by my new Sustainavore Course! Are you confused about which diet is best for your health and the planet? Are you feeling frustrated with quick-fix diets and conflicting nutrition information? Check out Sustainavore.  You will learn how to feel confidant that the food you’re buying is the right choice for your health and the environment. The course includes over 7 hours of video instruction from me and 60 daily emails full of tips, tricks, and motivation to keep you going - plus lots of bonus material. For a limited time, I am offering special discount pricing so head over to The Sustainavore Course now!