Laura Schoenfeld: I honestly, for these people, would definitely check their zinc status because, again, zinc is one of those weird nutrients that causes anorexia and meat aversion if somebody is deficient. That can potentially be an actual medical reason for somebody not wanting to eat meat. There are also psychological things with meat. I know it’s a little bit difficult to work through those kinds of things, but these days, with the kind of separation from our food systems, a lot of people don’t have the exposure to meat the way that they should, or maybe they never helped their parents cook. If they don’t have a lot of experience cooking, then when they get into their teens and 20s and they have to start cooking for themselves, they get grossed out by meat. I used to live with people in college that would be grossed out by things like raw chicken or raw beef and that kind of thing. Honestly, I think a big reason for that was because they didn’t have the cooking exposure as a kid. If you never see raw meat until you’re 18 years old, then of course, you’re going to be grossed out by it. Or I shouldn’t say “of course.” You would think maybe that would be a natural thing for humans to be OK with, but I think that’s definitely something that’s become more of an issue as we’ve been moving away from cooking and moving away from knowing where our food comes from.
Like I said, I think some nutrient support, definitely the zinc is the big one that I would say you want to make sure someone is sufficient in. Possible also B6. Make sure they’re getting B6, and if you don’t think they’re getting enough in their diet, then doing a little supplementation of that might be helpful.
Now, if somebody has a real aversion, like Marnie is asking about these kids that don’t like to eat meat and they get sick from it, that can actually be more of an exposure issue, and you probably have to do some kind of exposure therapy with that person or that child where they’re getting exposed to the raw meat more frequently. Maybe they’re just standing next to whoever is cooking the meat and just watching and not touching it and not actually making it themselves. Maybe it’s physically touching the raw meat and being exposed to it that way. I’m not an expert in exposure therapy, but it is possible that someone has more of a phobia-type issue with meat, so don’t ignore the possibility of psychological issues. It’s not always biochemical that causes these things.
Like I said, the first line of action, definitely make sure their zinc and B6 levels are good. Possibly supplement if necessary. Give them some protein powder if they need to have an interim source of protein that they can eat more easily. If they do tolerate legumes, it’s not the worst thing to have legumes as some protein options. If they want to have, like, one or two servings of meat a day and then the other one or two meals are legume based and they tolerate the legumes and they’re cooking them and preparing them properly, I don’t personally have a problem with that as long as they’re getting the protein that they need. Maybe they do more eggs or dairy, if they tolerate dairy, to get some protein, but like I said, if they’re physically averse to the protein, then there’s probably a reason for that, either biochemically or psychologically, and there should be some treatment there.
Hopefully that answers the question about protein. I don’t want people to think that their patients have to be eating, like, 6 to 8 ounces of protein at each meal. Maybe the person should just be eating, like, 3 or 4 ounces at each meal, which is palm size or three-quarters of a palm size, so not a ton. I think one problem with the Paleo approach is … or I shouldn’t say a problem with the Paleo approach specifically. I think the problem with the popularized Paleo approach is that everyone thinks Paleo is eating 8 ounces of meat at each meal or something, and honestly I’d say most people would do just fine having 8 to 10 ounces of meat in a day. If somebody doesn’t really like meat that much, then just let them eat a smaller amount, and then maybe bulk up the rest of their diet using starches and vegetables and fat and that kind of thing.