I'm going to disagree and state that it's not the animal products, but the processed foods and refined sugars that are causing much of the health issues we are noticing today. In regard to animal products it depends. Highly processed meats like deli meat, salami are a big issue. Good quality grass fed meats free from hormones are fine. Free range chicken is fine. Butter is fine. Coconut oil is fine. Bone broth is actually awesome and is great at curing leaking gut syndrome which many people have today.
As you can tell I'm pro keto. I've met a ton of people who have been on keto for many years. No issues Their diets consist of high animal fats, but no sugar and carbs. Sugar is a much bigger issue. Check out "The Case Against Sugar" for more.
Check out the Inuit and the Inuit Paradox. Their diets consist primarily of whale and seal blubber. They boil down the blubber for dipping sauce. They eat moose as well Very low rates of heart disease and cancer.
Finally, with regard to aging, IMO, a diet free of low fats causes our body to age quicker. Collegen breaks down. Much of the subcutaneous fat that is present in young people disappear as we get older. It's why veins are more prominent in the back hands of old people. There is no fat. Much of that can be avoided via a high fat diet. Studies have been done on the telemers in our bodies and it has been shown that they benefit most from a high fat diet. Your body is going to look younger on a high fat diet A high fat diet has been shown to help with depression, alzhemiers, and arthritis. The fat is coming mostly from animals
While I agree that any reduction in processed foods and refined sugars is going to be majorly beneficial for your health, having done Keto myself as well, I can't say it's the end all, be all diet that people need to follow. For one, it's an "Emergency Power" mode for humans. Can it be effective on an individual basis? Yes, but would I recommend it for the greater population, absolutely not. And I jokingly say sometimes, why run off emergency power when you can run off the grid more efficiently and cheaply?
There are a few key differences that happen with your body when you compare Plant Based vs Keto. Plant based diets are naturally and significantly superior sources of fiber, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and contrary to popular belief, strong and complete sources of protein, too. And with that, all the benefits of an extremely nutrient rich diet are exhibited within the human body. Carbohydrates are also the cleanest and most energy efficient energy sources for the human body, as the conversion of one to the other isn't favored. In fact, the human body will always directly use carbohydrates for energy, protein for building and rebuilding, and fat for storage if it can, which is why the saying, "The fat you eat is the fat you wear," is largely true.
There is also one very key and highly important detail missing when we talk about large scale meat consumption; land usage. The amount of land required to sustain one person on a heavy meat diet is vastly more (30-40x more, or 1/6th of an acre vs 6-7 acres per person) compared to someone eating plant based. We do not have the land required to sustain our population on a keto based diet. Does that mean that meat is evil? No, go ahead and eat it. What I'm saying is though is that the way we're plowing down forests and clearing land for livestock is unsustainable.
I do not think taking away meat is the answer btw, I just think at the way we produce meat is not sustainable for our planet. Meat should be treated as more of a delicacy and not the main course, and we pay the price for it dearly. On top of a highly inefficient medal system, we have incredible rates of disease due to our poor diet choices. The best thing we can do is go back to eating a more wholesome, plant based with bits of meat here and there, and we'll save trillions in the process.
