Naturally, it’s not just man who’s an extension of the leafy, green plant—it’s all animal life.  To gain a better understanding of man’s dependency, as well as the entire animal kingdom’s dependency, on the leafy, green plant we must go back to the beginning of life.

The first sustainable life form was a one-celled green plant.  It contained chlorophyll, a complex compound that is the agent necessary for photosynthesis to take place.  By means of photosynthesis, plants use the sun’s energy to convert carbon dioxide and inorganic substances into organic material such as sugars, fats, and proteins.

Here is a quote from my 1979 edition of Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia.  I’m quoting this older edition to illustrate the fact that the science of life is not new, it’s just all too often ignored.

“The lives of plants and animals are dependent upon the photosynthesis that occurs both on land and in the oceans, because this process is the chief means by which energy from nonliving sources is transformed into chemical energy that can be used in the life processes.  All the oxygen taken in by animals and plants originates in the photosynthesis process; enough oxygen is produced by 180 square inches of green leaf surface during a summer to supply the average oxygen requirement of a human being for a year.  All the food by man and other animals also originates in photosynthesis.  With the aid of enzymes, plants convert the products of photosynthesis, called photosynthates, into starch, cellulose, gum, protein, hormones, vitamins, and fats.  Terrestrial plants annually produce about 88 trillion pounds of photosynthesized carbohydrates.”

One-Celled Plants Were First

Without there first being plants, there would not be any sustainable food sources for animals.  So plants were first with the very first green plant being the one-celled plant of the oceans.  Soon after came the first animal.  I was a one-celled animal that ate the one-celled plant.  In time, more microscopic complex plants (bacteria, algae, and fungi) developed.  These plants are called photoplankton.  The microscopic animals (protozoa, crustaceans, jellyfish, worms, and mollusks) are called zooplankton.  Together these microscopic plants and animals comprise what is known as the “plankton soup” of the oceans and lakes.

I’ll quote again from the 1979 edition of Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia.

“It has been estimated that 90 percent of all photosynthesis takes place in the oceans.  Marine photoplankton is thus directly or indirectly the primary food source of all marine organisms and constitutes the first link in the vast aquatic food chain.  The zooplankton, which feeds on the photoplankton, is consumed in turn by larger animals such as fish and even the largest mammal on earth, the blue whale.”

The green plants of the fresh water lakes and rivers were the forerunners of the grasses, legumes, forb plants, and trees on land.  As green plants migrated from fresh water sources onto land, so could animals move from the sea, lakes, and rivers.  This tie between green plants and animals remains to this very day, so the green plants on land perform exactly the same functions as their predecessors in the water.  Consequently, the green leaves of grasses, legumes, forb plants, and trees are the foundation food for all land-based animal life.

Here is a quote from “Exploring the Secrets of the Sea” by William Crombie circa 1962.  He wrote, “Every plant and animal on earth starts its life in the same state as the first living things that were formed in the sea billions of years ago—as tiny blobs of protoplasm.  Protoplasm is a combination of water, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen, together with smaller amounts of inorganic substances such as phosphorus, sulphur, iron, sodium, chlorine and magnesium.  All these elements are dissolved in the ocean.”

Yes, life springs from a small beginning and its development is guided by the invisible hand of the DNA map for each species of plant or animal.  In every case a single cell develops first.  In the case of more developed life forms the original individual cell divides, then the resulting two cells divide again, and the process is repeated over and over again until a fully developed adult results.  This is God’s doing and undoubtedly we are products of His work as are all life forms on Earth.  Some folks say it’s nature’s way; for others it is God’s way.  In either case it is the way.

The point of this essay is not to debate spiritual beliefs; it’s all about the science of nutrition . . . our nutrition.  It’s all about identifying the foundation food for both man and beast.  For the past few centuries scientists have worked at gaining a greater understanding of life through observations that have grown more sophisticated as technology advances.  In the past 50 years scientists have become very sophisticated in DNA research and other aspects of life far surpassing what was once just speculation or theory.  Science today is moving at a blistering pace and what was cutting edge just 10 years ago is often considered parochial by today’s standards as scientists blaze even deeper trails into the understanding of life.  And just like with so many other scientific advancements in the past, progress today is being attacked by charlatans who tar and feather change.

We all begin as one cell.  What does this mean?  For a glimpse into the composition of cells I’ll quote Funk & Wagnalls again.

“The main parts of a living cell are the plasma or cell membrane, the nucleus, which is surrounded by its own membrane, and the cytoplasm, a complex liquid filling the space between the nucleus and the cell membrane.  More than a protective barrier, the cell membrane keeps some substances out of the cell and keeps others in.  Substances involved in the functioning of cell life may pass through tiny pores in the cell membrane.”

Essential Nutrients Keep Organisms Healthy

Animals (including man) are quite capable of “manufacturing” many of the nutrients needed for proper body function.  But there are certain, very critical limitations in that there are many nutrients that can only come from the food an animal eats.  Nutritionists call these nutrients “essential.”

Scientists have determined that the “essential fats” in the membranes of cells have a very powerful influence on each cell’s ability to function.  These essential fats consist of the Omega-6 family of fatty acids and the Omega-3 family of fatty acids.  Via laboratory experiments on rats and in some cases humans, scientists have determined that the appropriate balance between these fats is one to one.  That means the O-6 and O-3 fatty acids must be in nearly perfect balance for proper cell function.  When the balance between O-6 to O-3 exceeds 4:1 cells malfunction and chronic disease is the result.  All chronic diseases are body failings.  They include, but are not limited to, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, arthritis, lupus, attention deficit syndrome, autism, and most other mental disorders, Crohn’s disease, obesity, osteoporosis, and the list goes on and on.

A chemical analysis of the fatty acid profiles of the cells of cattle tells the story that is common for all animal life.  Our cattle, which are raised on pastures and only in major emergencies are fed hay, have a 1:1 fatty acid ratio.  (We haven’t fed hay to our cows or growing young cattle since the late 1990s.)  We’ve tested them and their fatty acid ratios hover right around 1:1.  Feedlot steers that have been fed grain have a ratio of 15:1 or higher.  Skinless chicken breasts from chickens fed all “vegetarian diets” (grain) have a 18:1 ratio.  Here are some additional ratios:  wheat, 11:1; rice bran, 32:1; corn germ, 59:1; raw kale, 0.5:1; and raw spinach, 0.1:1.

Fatty acids consist of the elements carbon (C), hydrogen (H), and oxygen (O) arranged as a carbon chain skeleton with a carboxyl group (_COOH) at one end.  Saturated fatty acids have all the hydrogen that the carbon atoms can hold and therefore have no double bonds between the carbons.  Monounsaturated fatty acids have only one double bond.  Polyunsaturated fatty acids have more than one double bond.  Because there are hydrogen atoms in the molecule it is called an acid.  Amazingly, since these fatty acids have been consistently manufactured by leafy, green plants in the same balance since the beginning of life on Earth and animals ate the plants or the animals that ate the plants, no animal body has had to manufacture the essential fatty acids for themselves.  Thus we have the absolute tie between green plants and animals.  (For more on the chemical makeup of fatty acids visit https://www.scientificpsychic.com/fitness/fattyacids.html.)

There is another tie that holds the animal kingdom captive to the leafy, green plant.  It’s the vitamins plants manufacture.  Many of the vitamins required by animals and humans come directly from the leafy, green plants or the meats from animals that ate the leafy, green plants.  Without this tie animals can experience severe vitamin deficiencies.  For instance, after 180 days in a feedlot eating grain a steer can lose as much as 80% of the vitamin A that would normally be in its liver and 75% of the vitamin E that would be in its muscle tissues!

Grains Perpetuate Life

But what about grain?  Why is it bad?  Grain is the seed head of grasses.  Grain is one of the ways the grass-plant kingdom perpetuates itself.  Consequently, the plant kingdom does everything it can to protect its survival as a species.  Grains can host defensive fungi (endophyte) and mycotoxins.  Mycotoxins are nearly all cytotoxic, disrupting various cellular structures such as membranes and interfering with vital cellular processes such as protein, RNA, and DNA synthesis.  Of course, they are also toxic to the cells of higher plants and animals, including humans.  In addition, the chemical composition of seed heads differs significantly from the leafy, green plants themselves.  Green plants can be clipped over and over again and they grow back.  A green leaf falls to the ground and it becomes a food source for microorganisms that break down the leaf into organic matter that ultimately feeds the next generation of green plants.  The green plant creates its own perfect cycle.

A seed head has a strong protective coat that protects the “internal workings.”  When a seed falls to the ground it can remain in the soil for decades (under appropriate conditions) and still sprout when favorable conditions occur.  For grain to perform its natural function it has to have a totally different fatty acid profile than the grass it will be once it sprouts.  Seeds cannot regrow.  They are the grass plant’s one-time shot.

Man invented grain farming by isolating certain grasses and protecting them from grazing pressure until their seeds had ripened.  Then he harvested the seeds in a narrow window of time and was able to store the seeds for future use.  This turned a minor food source into something that was more abundant.  Unfortunately, even though grain farming increased the quantity of “food” available for the masses, it dramatically lowered the health of the people who ate the new food source.

Anthropologists can tell when ancient populations started grain farming from the signs of chronic diseases observed in the human remains of the ancient people they unearth.  Anthropologists believe Stonehenge, a stone monument in England, is a monument to the diseases brought on by grain farming.  Stonehenge is an astrological site that aligns the sun and the moon in its central arch every 18 years.  It is believed that the people of that time were losing faith in the sun god (the god of farmers) because they were not as healthy as they were when they were hunter gatherers.  Hunter gatherers worshiped the moon god because they hunted at night.  As a result, the high priests built Stonehenge to prove to the people that both gods had equal ranking.  In the same way as the high priests of old, our government’s department of agriculture (USDA) is trying to convince folks that our food system is not only safe but nutritional.  Times change but people (governments) don’t.

Today, in America’s grain-based food system in which nearly all livestock products come from grain-fed livestock and nearly all food products have grain additives or are made from grain because it is cheap, the food system is more grain-based than during any other civilization in the history of the world except that of India.  This is why 70% of all deaths in our nation are due to chronic diseases.  Most other deaths are from accidents, infectious diseases, murders, and wars.  Very few people die of natural causes in our country.

Grains Affect Vitamin Levels

Here's why.  Take a steer off pasture and put him in a feedlot.  As he comes off pasture his O6 to O3 fatty acid ratio is close to 1:1.  After about 180 days in the feedlot his fatty acid ratio will have increased to the 15:1 to 18:1 range.  As his fatty acid ratio changes his vitamin levels plunge.  Vitamin A in the steer's liver can drop as much as 80%.  Vitamin E in his muscle tissue can fall 75%.

This is the same thing that happens to people who eat grains, grain-based foods, and food products from grain-fed livestock.  Alarmingly, scientists in the know estimate that due to "modern" foods the average American consumes a fatty acid ratio of from 20:1 to 30:1.  It's no wonder then that children in America (grain-fed from conception) have ADD, diabetes, are obese, and suffer from many other chronic diseases unheard of 60 years ago.  Their parents are in deeper trouble, yet they are none the wiser.  The entire population resembles deer in the headlights.  It focuses on materialistic consumption while its health and well-being wallows in the sewer.

Leafy, green plants are the foundation food for all animal life.  Grains are the leafy, green plants’ means of perpetuating their existence and the existence of all animal life.  By violating the natural order of God’s given laws and/or of nature’s way, through grain farming man has created the worst of all WMDs.  Now he’s killing himself off—because it’s cheap and convenient.

Ted Slanker

Slanker's Grass-Fed Meats
https://www.texasgrassfedbeef.com

Critically Important Additional Reads are:
Food Analysis
The Real Diet of Man