Pop!: I’m hypothyroid, have some pretty bad joint pain in my knees, beginnings of joint pain in my hands, have asthma that’s flaring up worse than it’s been in the past…receding gums, not much energy. My general health complaint is that I do what I’m “supposed” to do but don’t feel that great, and it kind of drives me nuts. A friend recommended a holistic doctor who she’s seen for years and who has helped her a lot with some health issues.

My results came back that pretty much I “need” to eat red meat at least once per day, and ideally eat meat for every meal. I’ve felt so certain that a plant based diet was the healthiest one—after all, the only thing we really know for sure about nutrition and disease is that fruits and vegetables help to prevent it. However, here I have a doctor who has been doing this for three decades telling me basically that the diet I’m eating now is making me sick. Somebody help me sort this out?

kmouse: I would probably try to do some research on different vegan foods that have the same or similar nutrients as red meat. (Nutrients in red meat? Sounds so wrong!)