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Negative effects of eating meat or animals
The benefits of being a vegetarian
The benefits of being a vegetarian
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Should We Eat Meat? From all the best foods out there, a simple thought of spicy roasted meat can make our mouth watery. Most of our favorite cultural foods usually contain meat as a main recipe. This is why we have a huge supply of meat at affordable prices. However, its affordability and our cultural tie with meat, mean nothing compared to the harm. Consuming meat has negative impacts on the environment as well as on our health. Starting from raising animals, to producing the meat, the industry contributions to global warming. It is also the reason behind most chronic diseases. So, we should stop consuming meat to control climate change and lead a healthy life. Since industrial livestock uses machineries to accommodate the animals and to process their meat, it plays a great role in climate change. Carbon dioxide from the factories pollutes our …show more content…
It is known for accumulating body fat and resulting in high level of cholesterol. According to health.harvard.edu, “In addition to raising the risk for colorectal cancer and other health problems, it can actually shorten your life.” Even though we are aware of consuming meat will leave us with obesity and related health disasters, we hardly try to change. Some of us may decide to reduce our intake but we lack the commitment. To escape the temptation we must stop being in the middle and turn to vegan completely. On the other hand, plant based diets can lower the risk for several diseases. In fact being a vegetarian can earn us longer life spans and a healthier body. abcnews.go.com mentions that, ”Antioxidants, a type of chemicals found in plants, help neutralize free radicals and protect cells, thus bolstering the immune system.” While consuming meat exposes us to different health disorders, eating plants boosts our immune system. This is a decent reason to switch our menu to
Imagine living a life without eating anything with an animal product in it. No meat, fish, milk, eggs, honey, not even gelatin. Vegans are people who adapt a lifestyle where they live without any animal based goods; some do this for the health benefits that come with eliminating meats and dairy. Many become vegan as a way to protest and eliminate animal cruelty which is extremely apparent in the meat industry. A vegan diet is based largely on fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, and soy. Many people would say this is unhealthy, that a person cannot live like this. Much of this skepticism comes from being misinformed, and under informed about veganism. It is safe to live a vegan lifestyle. On a vegan diet a person can get all the vitamins
This statement is a myth and can be backed up by Meat Mythcrushers. According to the video, Myth: Going Meatless One Day a Week Can Have a Significant Environmental Impact, “reducing meat consumption one day per week as recommended by the Meatless Monday campaign has a negligible impact on greenhouse gas emissions.” This means that of the 3.4 percent of the gas emissions that are from animal agriculture, beef only contribute 1.4 percent. Even if the whole world were to reduce their beef consumption for one week, their carbon footprint would be just a meager .2 percent (2013). This misconception comes from people believing that livestock production is causing large emissions of greenhouse gas emissions when it is more so the transportation and energy production causing the problem. Meat is both economically and nutritionally efficient. Today, livestock farms require less land, water and energy than was required in the past
Rachel K. Johnson, a spokesperson for the American Heart Association and professor of nutrition and Medicine at the University of Vermont says, “[Your risk of heart disease reduces] because of the fatty red meats and many processed meats that are high in saturated fat, which raises LDL cholesterol which increases risk of coronary heart disease.” Being vegetarian doesn’t just help women with heart disease, but it helps with so much more. For one it helps lower your blood pressure, in a research that was done on a group of people it was found that only vegetarians were found with the lowest blood pressure (Alexandra p.1). Secondly it helps lower the risk of death. A 2013 study showed that more than 70,000 people found that vegetarians had a twelve percent lower risk of death compared with non-vegetarians (Alexandra p.2) With the absence of the saturated fat and cholesterol that clogs arteries, vegetarians are at a lower risk for chronic disease overall. Thirdly, when being a vegetarian you are also in a better mood. “ A 2012 study randomly split participants into three diets: all-meat allowed, fish-only and vegetarian no-meat. The researchers found that after two weeks, the people on the vegetarian diet reported more mood improvements than those on the other two diets.”(Alexandra p.3). Being a vegetarian also gives you a less risk of being over weight, which we all know has been one of the biggest problems here in America. Too many people are overweight and are not doing
Diets high in plant protein, such as the vegetarian diet, are linked with many health benefits. Studies suggest vegetarians tend to have a lower body weight, lower cholesterol, lower risk of diabetes, lower blood pressure levels. (21) (18) They also have a lower risk of stroke, cancer and death from heart disease than non-vegetarians (15) (16).
According to “Meat the Truth”, a 2007 documentary directed by Karen Soeters, the film exposes the consequences of meat and dairy. It influences people about increasing the consumption of a plant-based diet and decreasing the intake of meat. Marianne Thieme, the narrator of the documentary and a Dutch politician who is a Member of the Party for the Animals in the Dutch Parliament, states, “Eating meat is the number one most environmentally destructive behavior, not cars, planes and power plants”. A consumer can make a great impact by changing their diet and restricting the consumption of meat. The transition to a plant-based diet is strongly informed by the film. Consumers have fallen into the advertising and marketing of meat to trigger minds the satisfaction of meat. Statistics from the Food and Agriculture Organization prove that from 1950 to 2000, the population of the world went from 2.6 to 6 billion and from this meat production increased five times as great. It is possible it can keep doubling this amount every fifty years if there isn’t a change that occurs. From the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, they state, “The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that roughly 80 percent of ammonia emissions in the U.S. come from animal waste.” Raising animals to
Today’s medical experts say that avoiding meat helps you avoid saturated fat. They have found out from studies that women who eat meat daily have a fifty percent greater risk of developing heart disease than vegetarian women and a sixty-eight percent greater risk in men (staff writer). People may not know about serious diseases meat can cause such as, mad cow disease and foot-and-mouth disease. In the September 1999 issue of the Emerging Infectious Diseases, approximately 76 million food-borne illnesses- resulting in 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths occur in the United States each year from improperly cooked or diseased meat (Licher). That is a lot of fun!
Many people have always wondered why people who had always ate meat their entire lives, decide to become vegetarians. People would presume that they wanted to lose weight, become healthier, or even just to try it out. Several would say non-vegetarianism is healthier and could help your body; however, vegetarians can be healthy too by what they eat and how much they eat of that particular food. Although I eat meat and I’m not a vegetarian, being a vegetarian can help your body in more ways than one and have many advantages in helping your body. Many become vegetarians to remove non-healthy things from their body, are animal lovers, or even religious or cultural reasons.
Many Americans are eating unhealthy diets in the typical American style characterized by lack of moderation. This average diet is defined by high contents of red meat and other fatty foods. Eating these types of food, and the following factor of being overweight, can lead to heart disease and other health problems. A vegetarian lifestyle, on the other hand, limits the intake of meat and other fatty animal products and is known to confer a wide range of health benefits. However, there are many different types of vegetarianism. First, there is the semi vegetarian, who is someone who simply limits meat intake to some degree, the lacto-ovovegetarian, who cuts out all meat, but not animal products such as cheese and eggs, and then the vegan, who chooses not to eat any animal products or byproducts such as honey or gelatin. Each type of vegetarianism has specific benefits, all of which outweigh the benefits of the average American’s diet. I am going to look primarily at the benefits of the lacto-ovovegetarian lifestyle. By eating this type of diet, Americans can balance out their food intake with more fruits, vegetables, and grains and create a diet that is healthier overall. A typical vegetarian diet closely matches expert dietary recommendations for healthy eating, being low in saturated fat and high in fiber, complex carbohydrates, and fresh fruit and vegetables (VSUK). A more balanced diet leads to a healthier lifestyle and a longer, happier life. Therefore, more Americans should be eating a vegetarian diet, specifically a lacto-ovovegetarian style.
Meat is a coroner stone to the majority of American’s diets. I would venture to say the majority of American’s eat meat for their three meals a day. Eating meat isn’t all bad, it actually brings a good source of protein to one’s diet, in a moderate amount. In 2012 a study was done and found that the U.S. total meat consumption was 52.1 billion pounds. That comes out to be 270.7 pounds per person. We still eat more meat than just about any other country, besides Luxembourg (A Nation of Meat Eaters). Eating red meat is bad for humans because of the negative health effects, the environmental issues it causes, and the inhumane treatment of the animals.
A United Nations report states that land used for animal agriculture, both for grazing and production of crops fed to livestock, takes up an astounding 30% of land on Earth. ("Meat Production Wastes Natural Resources") To meet the industry’s demands, over 260 million acres of forest in the U.S. have been cleared to grow grain fed to farm animals. ("Meat Production Wastes Natural Resources") With that in mind, the meat industry also dumps disease-causing pathogens through animal waste that pollutes water and forces the need for waste lagoons to be constructed, which are susceptible to leaking and flooding. ("Facts about Pollution from Livestock Farms”) Scientists say that about 14% of the world’s greenhouse gases are released by said agriculture industries, which is a growing concern for climate change and global warming. (Silverman) The meat industry uses one-third of all the fossil fuels consumed in the United States. (Moore) There is no question that farming animals has a negative effect on the environment and steps should be taken to mitigate air and water pollution risks and future deforestation. If animal agriculture was phased out, land used for animal grazing could be returned to forest land and some of it converted into fields for cultivating crops for humans. A global shift toward veganism, resulting in the elimination of the meat and animal agriculture industries, would protect the environment from various detrimental effects.
The health benefits of a vegetarian diet are hard to ignore. Vegetarians have a lower chance of developing many diseases, such as cancer and diabetes. Women who eat meat daily are more likely to develop breast cancer. According to an article in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, “consumption of well-done meats and, thus, exposures to heterocyclic amines (or other compounds) formed during high-temperature cooking may play an important role in the risk of breast cancer.” Men are also more than almost more likely to develop prostate cancer than those who do not include meat in their everyday diets. “Up to 80 percent of prostate cancer is attributed to dietary practices, and international comparisons show strong positive associations with meat consumption” (Alexander, 2010). Vegetarians have also shown to have lower blood pressure, better digestion, and more energy than humans with a meat based diet. The effects of a vegetarian life style ...
According to Bonnie Beezhold et.al found that vegans and vegetarians, “…report better mood than non-vegetarians, suggesting that even less animal food intake is associated with better mood” (293). Also, Beezhold et.al, “…have found that the risk of major chronic diseases such as obesity, heart disease, and type-2 diabetes may be reduced by adopting a completely plant-based diet vs. an omnivore diet” (Beezhold et.al 289). Overall, the medical community has agreed that veganism is a healthy option to avoid disease, but their concerns are that vegans will be deficient in certain vitamins and minerals that the regular omnivores are not deficient in. If a vegan is deficit in a certain mineral or vitamin that person can take supplements to combat it. People can say that if I take supplements will that make me healthy even though I consume meat? No, because you are consuming meat and that can clog arteries and increase cholesterol. I think that veganism is probably one of the healthiest options available for everyone. I also think that it is the healthiest because you do not see people become fat off of eating vegetables and fruits. I also agree with Beezhold et.al findings which show that vegans have less stress and anxiety because of the food they ate. Beezhold et.al think this may be because omnivores consume meat and the food the animals were fed where “…higher in certain
Everything that we as humans decide to do has a consequence. Our agency that we are given opens up so many opportunities of lifestyles we are able to live. Many people search for the “perfect lifestyle” that has all the right answers and gives the perfect insight as to what is right and what is wrong. Although the perfect lifestyle seems great, it does not exist. There is not one single answer to everyone’s problems and life answers simply because every being on the planet is different. One way of living may be perfect for Betty Sue, but quite unsatisfactory for Jim Bob. It is very important that we make smart choices and are informed and know the facts about the lifestyles we choose to live. Being a vegetarian is a lifestyle that many people choose to live and pursue. The reasons behind choosing this style may vary person to person, but no matter what the reason is, it is important to be informed about all the pros and cons of being a vegetarian in order
Vegetarians tend to be healthier than those who consume meat. This is due to the prevalent unnatural chemicals used in the processing of meats, and eating these are unsuitable for the body. Meats already contain harmful amounts of cholesterol, and over-consumption of red meat can lead to early heart disease. Animals that are raised on farms for their meat are not treated well, and this mistreatment can lead to harm in the meat they are producing. Although one life choice cannot change one’s environmental
Every person has the ability to make their own choice of whether to eat meat or not. However, eating meat is directly tied to negative health effects, pollution leading to a depletion of ozone, and the depletion of hundreds of thousands of acres of land “wasted” on animal production when they could be used to solve the hunger crisis or lower emission levels. What humans eat is no longer a matter of choice; it has become a matter of life and death. Literally, the future of the whole planet rests on the decision of whether or not to eat meat. If humans chose to eat less meat the world that wouldn’t have to suffer the consequences (outlined above.) Vegetarianism is one possibility, as is Veganism; however the world would be