The winner, Jay Bost, a vegetarian returned to meat-eating, wrote a great essay which you can check out here.

Below you’ll find the Bulletproof version I submitted to the New York Times for consideration.

The ethics of eating meat have been on my mind for a long time, during which I’ve tested everything from raw vegan diets to vegetarian to Paleo.

Along the way, I stayed at a Buddhist monastery in Nepal eating vegan “no death” food and learned about the ethical precepts behind “no killing.” It made sense.

But as I continued my explorations deeper into Tibet, I came across a stunning high altitude monastery halfway between Lhasa and Mt. Kailash. On its central prayer pole hung a giant yak skin. Being a curious American, I found the crimson-robed Lama who ran the monastery and asked him, point blank, “Isn’t that a yak skin? What happened to the whole “no killing” thing?”

He smiled and his eyes twinkled as he said very simply, “One death feeds many. We need meat and fat to survive.” Given his faith, I trust that this man would have gladly avoided that one death if he did not actually need meat and fat to survive in the harsh environment his monastery sat in. It was a laughably simple argument for ethically eating beef while avoiding chicken.

There is another more personal glaring ethical implication of not eating meat. It is rooted in the new science of epigenetics, which studies how our environment – and food – affect our children and even change our grandchildren’s genes. My wife Lana, a Karolinska-trained physician, and I authored “The Better Baby Book,” which will be released by Wiley & Sons in December. Our book describes everything we know about how to use epigenetics to have a smarter, healthier baby and is based on 1300 science references.

Our research found overwhelming evidence that a vegan diet in both parents leads to negative epigenetic changes in the health of our children and grandchildren, and it shrinks their intelligence too. We used our knowledge – and meat – to have two healthy children after age 40 with no fertility assistance. Native cultures knew this too; there are extensive records that the fattiest animal products – liver and fish eggs – were preferentially provided to pregnant women to ensure the healthiest babies.

There is an overwhelming ethical argument to doing whatever it takes to keep our children’s minds – and genetic inheritance – as strong as we can. To do otherwise is monstrous, both to the children harmed by their parents’ well-meaning but poorly researched vegan diets, and to our evolution as a species.

It turns out that the Tibetan monk’s simple wisdom may very well have saved me from sabotaging my already damaged health with more vegetarian diet experiments, but I still believe it is unethical to eat chicken because it causes more suffering than necessary. If you eat a pound of grass-fed beef every day for a year, you are responsible for precisely 0.7 deaths.

I smile with satisfaction when I think of my shockingly healthy 2.5 year old son happily gnawing on a rib bone from a lamb I’ve butchered myself, knowing I’ve done what is possible to support his neurological growth in a way that minimized suffering of all beings. It doesn’t get any more ethical than that.

However, for us ordinary mortals with young kids, it can feel like having the curves of a goddess is not within reach unless you’re prepared to undergo long periods of starvation and hours of exercise, or somehow roll the clock back to when you were 25.

The good news is you really don’t need to be 25 and spend 5 days a week in the gym to get your goddess figure back!

Using the Better Baby Diet, I was able to do what some people think is impossible: quickly and easily regain my figure after having 2 kids when I was over the age of 40, in a matter of weeks.

Measuring Progress

Being a mother who is also a physician, I decided to monitor my progress. I took two measurements to track how I was doing: waist and hips. If you, like many new mothers, feel that a waist is something you USED to have, but have no idea where to find it now, don’t worry. On the diet and with the exercise program, it will come back, faster than you think.

Why the waist to hip ratio? Because it’s critical, and not just for looks, but for overall health and longevity. The waist to hip ratio (WHR), according to the American journal of Clinical Nutrition, is a better indicator of health than the BMI (body mass index).

Your waist to hip ratio also indicates fertility and hormone levels.  For women, a WHR around 0.7 spells fertility and is correlated with optimal levels of estrogen and a decreased risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and ovarian cancer. This is literally the “goddess ratio” – for centuries this is the WHR of goddesses depicted in temples from India to Greece or on the silver screen (we are talking Marilyn Monroe here, not a Hollywood starlet with killer abs who is just skin and bones – and possibly infertile as a result).

Many of us become so focused on moving the scale down, that we forget about the importance of maintaining muscle mass and keeping some necessary healthy fat on our bodies.

How I Got My Goddess Figure Back

Before I got pregnant, my WHR was 0.82. I was skinny, with slim hips. Like most first time mothers, I ate for two and gained some 40 lbs. My daughter weighed 8lbs at birth. The placenta, retained fluids and increased blood volume accounted for another 8-10lbs. That left me with a good 20 lbs of  new “curves” and a WHR of 0.85. Not even close to 0.7!

I lost most of it simply by nursing and  just sticking to the Better Baby Diet. I put on the same 40lbs during my second pregnancy. Now, most women will tell you that to get your body back after the SECOND child is a lot harder than after the first. True enough, after having my second child at age 42, I had a WHR of 0.81 with 37.5 inch hips and 30.5 inch waist. And I really wanted to get the goddess figure I had dreamed of. As a physician and mother of two young children, I didn’t want to starve myself, or avoid fat (bad idea in general, and especially if you are breast feeding!) or over-stress myself with exercise.

Here’s What I Did

I stayed on the “green” side of the Better Baby Diet (part of the Better Baby Guide – sign up on the right hand side of this page).  This is the same diet Dave and I used to boost our fertility and help us get pregnant in the first place.  It helped me get back to my healthy weight without a single modification. This took about 4 months, and I never cut a single calorie or felt hungry. Instead, I ate the right foods, including healthy butter, meat, and eggs, as well as vegetables. This part was easy.

However, it’s one thing to lose weight, and another to have the waist, hips and abs you want. You may be the same 135lbs, it’s just that the pounds aren’t where they used to be. So to address this, my “biohacker” husband suggested I start doing T-Tapp exercises for 20 minutes at a time, 3 times a week, for 4 weeks.

This is a simple, effective workout plan based on compound movements.  It also helps circulate lymph fluid which clears toxins from your body. I had exercised regularly throughout my life, and was used to putting in long hours on the yoga mat, sweating it out with weights at the gym, and adding miles on my running shoes, to see results.

I couldn’t believe it when I saw tighter abs and thighs after only THREE sessions of T-Tapp. It was too good to be true, I thought. Yet here I was, 20 minute sessions, in my living room, three times per week, and after 4 weeks, I looked toned all over, fit, felt good, had noticeably increased core strength and the best WHR of my life: 0.74. People notice these curves!

And the physician in me likes that T-Tapp is safe. There is no jumping, no over extending of ligaments, no hard repetitive stress on joints that are still loose from a pregnancy.

I regained – and even improved – my figure using the same diet that allowed Dave and me to get pregnant.  It was simple, easy, and fun.  I didn’t have to worry about counting calories or crazy techniques to lose weight fast.  You can use the same techniques to build or regain a goddess figure, no matter when in life you have kids.

There are lots of theories about why this condition is becoming so common and what causes it.  Genetics play a role, but as you know, genes don’t dictate your future.  How you express your genes matters.  Changing the expression of your child’s genes can drastically reduce their risk of autism, and may help reduce the symptoms if they already have it.

Autism is an inflammatory neurological disorder, which is why doctors often focus on the brain.  New evidence is showing that autism is far more than a brain problem.

Researchers at the Columbia University have found that children with autism and gastrointestinal problems express genes in their digestive tract differently than normal kids.  This leads to changes in gut bacteria, which directly affect brain function.  Changes in digestive gene expression alter the way humans are able to metabolize certain foods.  It’s a vicious cycle.  Autism causes the expression of genes which disrupt gut flora.  The bad gut flora disrupt brain function.  Poor brain function leads to more bad gene expression, and so it goes.

The connection between gut health and autism is already well established.

Fifty percent of children with autism are proven to have gastrointestinal problems.  The actual number is  likely much higher.  The digestive system plays a large role in brain function.  In fact,  your gut makes many of the neurotransmitters your body uses.  Making dietary changes is an effective way  to treat some neurological problems with almost no side effects.

Mady Hornig, MD, Director of Translational Research at the Center for Infection and Immunity, has been one of the most proactive researchers in this field.  After one of the latest studies looking at the effect of gut flora on brain function, she said,

“The findings are consistent with other research suggesting that autism may be a system-wide disorder, and provide insight into why changes in diet or the use of antibiotics may help alleviate symptoms in some children.”

According to Dr. Hornig, autism is more than just a problem with the brain.  It’s a “system-wide” disorder which involves the entire body.  The use of diet and supplements can change the way your body expresses certain genes, which can reduce your child’s risk of autism.

We don’t recommend taking antibiotics in most cases because they can cause real damage to the GI tract.  However, there are ways you can manipulate gut flora in a way that can improve the health of your child.

One method is to take a well formulated probiotic with the right strains of beneficial (pro) bacteria.

Glutamine, an amino acid, can be used to heal the gut lining and reduce inflammation.  Eating small amounts of soluble fiber from whole foods are also a good way to feed beneficial bacteria.  The bacteria digest the soluble fiber, and turn it into short chain fats which fuel the brain and augment inflammation and metabolic function.  Good sources of soluble fiber include sweet potatoes, squash, broccoli, cauliflower, and small amounts of fruit.

By ensuring the health of your child’s gut, you can improve their brain function and reduce their risk of autism.

For most parents, autism seems to be a sick game of Russian roulette.  Doctors say there’s no way to predict with certainty if your child will be born with autism.  They’re right.  What they don’t tell you is that there are steps you can take to reduce the risk of your child developing autism.

In our Better Baby Book, we outline specific protocols that will help prevent your baby from being affected by neurological disease.  There’s always an element of chance, which is why we’ve worked to turn the tables in your favor.  By focusing on epigenetics, we’ve been able to craft methods that will turn the inflammation/autism genes “off”, and the healthy genes “on.”

Diet is one of the biggest factors when it comes to gene expression.  We’ve created a diet that enhances fertility and nourishes your child’s brain while you’re pregnant. It also supports healthy gut bacteria to reduce the risk of autism. Click here to see the diet.

By using the dietary and lifestyle guidelines in our book – you can give your baby the best chance at living a long, healthy, autism free life.

You pop open a low-fat yogurt and enjoy it’s flavor, and congratulate yourself on avoiding that bowl of ice cream.

You might have just given your baby asthma.

I know, this might seem contradictory to the advice of your doctor who says you need lots of dairy to build strong bones for you and your child.  As is often the case, your doctor hasn’t done his homework.  We have.

A new study has shown mothers who consume low-fat yogurt increase the chances their offspring will have an overactive immune system.  The children of women who ate low-fat yogurt during pregnancy were 1.6 times more likely to have asthma by age seven.  They were also more likely to have rhinitis, chronic infections, and display symptoms of asthma before it fully developed.

Since some of aging can be attributed to chronic infections, eating low-fat yogurt is not good for you either.

Milk and other dairy products have proteins that can be extremely allergenic. When the mother consumes dairy, she is sharing those proteins with her unborn (or nursing) baby as well.  Babies are meant to consume mother’s milk, not cow’s milk.  Your baby’s immune system is still developing.  When she is fed low-fat yogurt (in utero) her immune system overreacts.  These allergies can become worse as the baby grows older, eventually becoming a serious problem.

However, not all dairy is created equal.  As this study showed, the protein in dairy is the main problem.  The fat in dairy is extremely healthy.  That’s why removing it was a bad idea, but I suspect that the addition of powdered nonfat milk to low-fat yogurt is a contributor to the allergies.  There are some children who don’t respond well to any form of dairy, but most can handle a good stick of grass-fed butter after they’re finished weaning.  My children both eat grass-fed butter almost as if it was a candy bar.  Processed dairy also contains hormones, synthetic compounds, sweeteners, colorings, and antibiotics from the cow.  These chemicals can wreak havoc on a baby’s immune system.

The low-fat yogurt in this study also contained fruit.  The fruit used in yogurt is selected because it wasn’t fresh enough to be sold at a higher price in a store, which increases the likelihood that it contains toxins.   The mold on those fruits produces mycotoxins which can cause numerous diseases.  By eating low-fat fruit flavored yogurt during pregnancy, you may be exposing your baby to mycotoxins as he or she develops.  This can interfere with normal growth and lead to future health problems. Mycotoxins are a major contributor to fertility and pregnancy problems.

Nutrition is confusing enough for regular people – it’s a complete enigma for pregnant mothers.  They get advice from all sides, and feel immense pressure to do the right thing.  That’s why we’ve put our entire knowledge into a simple program for the entire family to follow.  The Better Baby Book tells you what to eat, how to pick healthy foods, and what to avoid.  By following the principles in the Better Baby Book, you can avoid being blindsided by things like low-fat yogurt.  You can trust you’re doing everything right when it comes to the health of your child.

The researchers measured vitamin D levels in obese and normal-weight children and discovered obesity occurs with decreased vitamin D and increased insulin resistance.

This is just one study, but it’s one of the first done on kids vs. adults, and it’s no surprise that it showed that low vitamin D3 is associated with yet another health problem.

That’s why one of our most important recommendations in the upcoming book is to get adequate vitamin D3 during pregnancy (1000 IU for every 25 pounds of body weight). Your body will thank you, and so will your kids.

Read more on the study at  Low Vitamin D May Raise Diabetes Risk in Kids.

“Maybe you’ve been spending too much time in the sun.”

We’ve all heard it before.  Usually, it’s a “polite” way relatives like to tease you about your brain not working.  In reality, spending more time in the sun might be one of the best ways to prevent mental illness.

I’ve written before about the health improving effects of vitamin D for both mothers and children.  Now you’re going to learn how vitamin D helps prevent one of the most common and horrible childhood impairments: autism.

Vitamin D versus Autism

There is a strong correlation between low vitamin D levels and autism.  Kids with paler skin usually have lower levels of vitamin D.  These kids are also likely to get autism.  This doesn’t make sense at first.  People with lighter skin generally have an easier time creating vitamin D.  One possible explanation is well intentioned parents are telling their pale skinned children to avoid the sun for fear of getting burned.  As you’re about to see, this noble action could be increasing their child’s risk of autism.

A study in 2009 found women who live farther from the equator have a greater risk of having autistic children.  People who live farther from the equator generally receive less sunlight, and less vitamin D.  Low vitamin D levels impair brain development and weaken then immune system of the mother.  If the mother’s immune system is weak, pathogens could damage the development of the child’s brain.

Another study found the children of mothers who are vitamin D deficient are more likely to be autistic.  This study was particularly interesting because it was performed on Somali women, in an area where vitamin D deficiency is not usually a problem.  This suggests that even people getting adequate sunlight may be vitamin D deficient.

Mothers with low vitamin D levels are more likely to have children with schizophrenia and autism.

Children with autism have lower levels of vitamin D.

There is a strong link between low vitamin D levels and autism.  As summarized by this study,

“Much evidence indicates prenatal and early postnatal vitamin-D deficiency increases autism risk, probably through multiple effects, including impaired brain development and increased de novo mutations.”

Research suggests adequate vitamin D intake during pregnancy is needed to prevent mental illness.  Supplementation is almost always necessary to ensure the mother’s breast milk has enough vitamin D for the baby.

Autism isn’t the only mental condition where vitamin D plays a role.  One study found 55 percent of people with Parkinson’s are vitamin D deficient.  Only 36 percent of their “healthy” counterparts were deficient in vitamin D (It’s hard to call them healthy if they’re vitamin D deficient, but nonetheless…)

Low levels of vitamin D can also cause MS.  A study in 1997 found, “…strong support for the importance of vitamin D3 in reducing the risk and susceptibility for multiple sclerosis.”

Supplementing with vitamin D before your child is born is critical.  It will help prevent mutations which could cause disease later in life.  Making sure your baby has adequate vitamin D levels after birth is also crucial for preventing the development of autism or other mental illnesses.

How Much Vitamin D Should You Take?

The vitamin D council recommends mothers consume at least 6000 IU per day from all sources (sun, diet, supplements) during pregnancy.  After accounting for diet and sun exposure, this usually means at least 1000 IU per 25 pounds of body weight from supplements.

Vitamin D supplementation is covered extensively in the Better Baby Book.  After years of working with anti-aging specialists, pediatricians, and our friends from the Vitamin D council, we’ve found that adequate vitamin D is one of the best ways you can prevent autism.

Do you think vitamin D supplementation is necessary during pregnancy?

This isn’t a bad thing – in fact, it’s essential.

The human brain is composed of over 2/3 fat, the rest being water, proteins, minerals and a very small amount of glucose.

Fats aren’t just important for stable energy levels and weight management, they’re built into the actual structure of your baby’s brain.  They influence how smart he or she becomes later in life.  Without the right building blocks – including healthy sources of saturated fats -  your baby may never reach his or her full potential.

These fats make up 70 percent of the myelin sheath which surrounds brain neurons and allows them to make new connections.  Connections between neurons are a key part of your child’s intelligence.

More connections = more ideas, better memory, and smarter baby.

When a baby eats essential fats, they are converted into something called a ketone – a product of fat metabolism – and then taken directly into the brain tissue, where they are reassmbled into the specific fats needed to fuel mental development and learning.  That’s why a baby’s brain is so large compared to the rest of it’s body.  This period of brain development is critical for their intelligence throughout life.

A baby needs to get these fats from his or her diet.  They don’t magically appear and many of them can’t be made from other fats, proteins, or carbohydrates.  If your baby doesn’t get these fats – brain tissue doesn’t form, or it forms incorrectly.

There has been a lot of talk recently about the importance of omega-3 fatty acids for infant development.  Omega-3’s are important, but there are many kinds of omega-3’s.  The kind you get from plants is ALA (alpha-linoleic-acid, as opposed to the “bad” omega-6 oil named alpha-linolenic-acid). This omega 3 ALA isn’t bad for you, but what your baby needs is DHA and EPA.  ALA is poorly converted into DHA and EPA, which is why flax seeds and other plant sources of omega-3’s are not enough.  Your baby needs meat and animal fat.

Your baby needs DHA, which is found in fatty fish and grass-fed meat.  This is the material with which your baby’s brain will grow.  Cutting fat from your young child’s diet will impair their cognitive function, focus, mood, and learning capacity. It won’t do anything good for their waistline or heart function either.

Obviously, you can’t feed meat (or any other solid food) to a newborn.  Breast milk is the ultimate brain fuel while a baby is young, and the best breast milk comes from moms who eat lots of healthy saturated and omega-3 oils.  Don’t try to start your baby on a “healthy” low-fat diet.  Babies need fat to grow healthy brains.

In the next post, we’ll be writing about the single most important thing you can do to improve your child’s intelligence – for life.

It’s hard to provide everything your children need to become healthy.  It’s even harder to keep toxins from impeding their growth.

In the years of research my wife and I put into the Better Baby Book, we looked at every possible toxin that could effect the growth of our children.  Not only did we look at toxins they could be exposed to after birth, we took every precaution to keep them safe during pregnancy.  We wanted our children to grow up as nature intended – strong, smart, and healthy.

This is why it’s so hard for me to see stories about how the world’s most commonly used weed killer causes birth defects.

A recent report entitled “Are Birth Defects Being Caused by the World’s Top-Selling Weedkiller?” came to my attention.

Round-Up, the popular herbicide made by Monsanto, contains compounds known as glyphosphates.  Glyphosphates have been shown to cause birth defects in both animals and humans.  What’s worse is that some grains are genetically engineered to produce their own Round-Up.  By eating grains, you’re eating weed killer (another reason to follow the dietary guidelines we’ve laid out in the book).

The EPA estimates that American farmers have used almost 100 million tons of glyphosphate between 2005 – 2009.

The herbicide industry has known about the negative effects of glyphosphate as far back as 1993.  Even in small doses, glyphosphates have been shown to cause heart problems and developmental malformations.

A study in 2007 showed Round-Up “…induced adverse reproductive effects on male offspring rats: a decrease in sperm number per epididymis tail and in daily sperm production during adulthood, an increase in the percentage of abnormal sperms and a dose-related decrease in the serum testosterone level at puberty, and signs of individual spermatid degeneration during both periods.”

In summary, here’s what glyphosphates can do to your children…

1. Decrease sperm production.
2. Alter the formation of sperm.
3. Decrease testosterone levels (especially during puberty).
4. Degenerate pre-existing sperm.
5. Cause birth defects.
6. Impair bone formation.

Despite this evidence, the government has decided to postpone serious research until 2030.  Most governments around the world still say Round-Up is safe.

You know better.

My wife and I took great care to collect as much data as we could to protect our children from toxins like Round-Up.  We looked beyond government recommendations and dove into the actual research.  After compiling as much information as possible, we’ve been able to keep our children safe from substances like Round-Up.

We’ve developed an entire lifestyle that you can adopt by reading the Better Baby Book.  By avoiding hazardous chemicals like Round-Up, you can ensure a long and healthy life for your child.

Hormone Production

Hormones are one of the most essential parts of a healthy pregnancy.  Without the proper amounts, ratios, and kinds of hormones – it’s almost impossible to conceive.  Even if you do get pregnant, your child could be damaged by improper hormone levels.

Many women resort to supplemental hormones when they could be making their own.  The best thing you can do to improve your hormonal status is to provide your body with what it needs to manufacture it’s own hormones.

Hormones can only be built with the right nutrients.  Healthy fats, proteins, minerals, and vitamins.  Vitamin D is unique in that it’s a pro-hormone.  In addition to providing the substrate for other hormones, it directly influences your cells.

Numerous studies have shown “emerging evidence that maternal vitamin D status during pregnancy is important for the health of the mother and offspring across a range of possible health outcomes.”

The effects of vitamin D deficiency can’t be ignored.  As a 2010 study determined,

“Vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy has been linked with a number of maternal problems including infertility, preeclampsia, gestational diabetes and an increased rate of caesarean section. For the child, there is an association with small size, impaired growth and skeletal problems in infancy, neonatal hypocalcaemia and seizures, and an increased risk of HIV transmission… type 1 diabetes and effects on immune tolerance.”

Many of the common ailments that accompany pregnancy may be caused by insufficient vitamin D levels.  Calcium won’t be incorporated into the bones of the fetus without vitamin D.  Diabetes is becoming more common in infants, possibly due to vitamin D deficiency.  Vitamin D has also been shown to support the immune system, which is critical for both the baby and the mother.

Vitamin D & Fertility

A study in 2010 showed high doses of vitamin D decreased estrogen in women.  For every 10mg/nil of serum vitamin D, progesterone dropped by 10%, and estrogen dropped by 3%.  Estrogen dominance is one of the main causes of infertility.  “The favorable implications for breast cancer come immediately to mind…lower female hormones sometimes help women in all kinds of ways…”, said Dr. Cannel of the Vitamin D Council, “I suspect the women also became more fertile.”

In Turkey, supplemental vitamin D increased fertility rates by 6 percent.  Vitamin D deficiency decreases fertility by 75 percent in rats.  Vitamin D has also been shown to improve the success of in-vitro fertilization.

However, a study in Greece showed that too high of vitamin D levels decreased the rates of pregnancy.  This may seem confusing, but there are several factors to consider.  The women in this study were taking 24,000 IU’s a day, far more than the necessary amount.  As experts have shown, problems arise when you have too much vitamin D and too low of vitamins A and K.  As long as you’re fully nourished, you should be fine.  To be on the safe side, test your vitamin D levels to establish a baseline.  Take 1000 IU’s for every 25 pounds of body weight, and retest.

Are You Getting Enough Vitamin D For You And Your Baby?

Probably not.

A study in 2008 showed that 93 percent of women with infertility were vitamin D deficient.  Another study in 2008 showed that most women are deficient in vitamin D, infertile or not.

What You Can Do For Your Baby

Take vitamin D.  The perfect amount is different for everyone, but chances are you’re not getting enough.  A good starting point is 4,000 IU.  Take enough to reach the necessary blood levels and no more.  Without proper vitamin D levels, it will be harder to become pregnant.  You also put your baby at risk for disease.  By taking Vitamin D, you can boost your fertility and improve your babies’ health before he or she is even born.

Check out the fine print of this ad. It says “Laboratory tests have proven that babies who start drinking soda early…have a much higher chance of … fitting in during awkward pre-teen years.” And it recommends a “strict regimen of sodas and other sugary carbonated beverages” for your baby.

From a health damage perspective, the difference between soda drinking and cigarette smoking is getting harder to tell apart. The big difference now is that Big Tobacco got caught lying and is regulated, but Big Soda is still much more free to sponsor “laboratory tests” that say things like “corn syrup is just sugar from corn” despite overwhelming evidence that free fructose is metabolized directly into triglycerides and causes fatty liver disease as well as glycosylation, when fructose gets bound permanently to proteins in your body.

But it’s this kind of “research” that is confusing people. Our goal with the Better Baby Book is to read as many studies as we can find, then determine which are make sense and are trustworthy, and incorporate them into our book materials!