According to Socrates, “The best diet consists of bread, olive oil, cheese, fruit, vegetables and moderate amounts of wine,” but in American society today eating meat is a large part of most diets. For the average person, changing their diet would be required to follow the wisdom of Socrates, and since change is always difficult, finding an adequate motivation to carry it out is critical. Although there is an ongoing debate whether or not the humans benefit of a diet rich in meat, there are multiple sources that clearly show that is not a healthy alternative for your diet.
Many people do not think they need to change to a vegetarian diet because they think they do not have health problems, or they just cannot imagine eating any other way than they had before although the benefits of not eating meat are great. They are not quite right because the consequences of eating meat do not just show up right away so they are not aware of how much they are harming their health by eating meat in a long run. However, there is a large group of people who would prefer not to eat meat, but do not know what to eat instead.
They all have different motivation. Some of them want to become vegetarian because of their beliefs and some of them because of health reasons. Many older people have eaten tons of meat in their life and after reading all the articles they have chosen to pass on meat because of health reasons. There are also children and young people who are concerned about suffering animals and no longer want to put animal tissue in their mouth. This scenario happens frequently especially after watching the video showing how animals are being killed in slaughterhouses.
There are also mature people who decide to resign from eating meat after much reflection, guided by the broad sense of compassion for animals and ecological considerations. It turns out that vegetarians are healthier than their carnivorous counterparts. According to the study, “a low – carbohydrate diet based on animal sources was associated with higher all – cause mortality in both men and women, whereas a vegetable – based low – carbohydrate diet was associated with lower all -cause and cardiovascular disease mortality rates” (Novak).
“Women who ate large amounts of red meat had a 20 percent higher risk of dying of cancer and a 50 percent higher risk of dying of heart disease than women who ate less. Men had a 22 percent higher risk of dying of cancer and a 27 percent higher risk of dying of heart disease” (Moritz). This statistics clearly shows a health risk associated with eating meat. The human digestive track is long and very complex, as in all herbivorous creatures. According to “Celestial Healing” the human stomach acids and intestinal enzymes are not able to digest meat containing animal protein.
Carnivores have short, straight intestines to be able to quickly expel reproached meat, often within 2 hours, which prevents it from rotting and poisoning the digestive system. “Meat putrefies within 4 hours after consumption and the remnants cling to the walls of the intestines for 14-21 days. If a person is suffering from constipation the rotting meat can stay in the intestines for months or years” (“Celestial Healing”). Meat strains all human organs, particularly the pancreas, which also is involved in digestion.
“Meat intake, particularly red meat, has been positively associated with pancreatic cancer in some epidemiologic studies” (Cross). The pancreas is not designed to digest animal proteins. Instead, the pancreas produces digestive juices that break down molecules of respective proteins, which can be found only in plants. When the pancreas is digesting a plant, it reveals its second goal, production of pancreatic enzymes, which fight diseases. When forced to digest meat, pancreas neglects an important protective role.
Once meat is eliminated from a person’s diet, the chances of cancer, diabetes, heart disease and a lot of other diseases decrease dramatically. After a fatty meal red blood cells stick together. Billions of these small cells are not able to deliver the right amount of oxygen to the cells of the whole body, including the brain. According to Andreas Moritz drinking milk causes another disease, osteoporosis, which is a painful, lengthy, deterioration of the bone, but doctors prescribe milk for the alleged treatment of osteoporosis, because milk contains calcium.
But eating meat also causes osteoporosis, because the digestion of meat produces phosphoric acid and an acidic body is not able to function properly. The body should maintain homeostasis, a very precise level of acid-base equilibrium. But when you are drinking milk the acidity is too high and the body has to compensate somehow. And what does it use for this purpose? Calcium. And where will it get calcium?
Expert from North American Diet on “Freedom You” says that is not absorbed from milk because it loses important enzymes during pasteurization. Therefore the body cannot use it. The problem is only exacerbated. The body is thus forced to get calcium from the bones. The solution to this problem is eating things other than meat. Carrot juice mixed with the green that comes from carrots is rich in calcium and along with the enzymes from green juices, and drinking it gives body the opportunity to rebuild the calcium loss in bones.
People should reduce intake of animal protein and diary and eat it only unprocessed, and low fat from animals, which re given feed containing no hormones, pesticides and antibiotics. Another reason to remove meat from your diet is that it contains a lot of harmful purines, organic compounds that cause the deposition of uric acid in joints and hinder calcium absorption, and arthritis while clogged by cholesterol and other fatty acids. Arteries are unable to provide enough blood that the brain needs, causing aging and hypertension.
A diet based mainly on meat contributes to many diseases such as heart attacks, obesity, osteoporosis, varicose veins, diabetes, stomach poisoning, muscular degeneration, rheumatoid arthritis, high blood pressure, hardening of the arteries, gout, asthma, migraines, ulcers, cancer, stones, hernia and kidney disease. Is it worth it to eat meat? The risk of developing those diseases increases because of the meat industry that is acting like a factory where cattle is treated as a commodity by weight. During the breeding, animals are stuffed with various antibiotics to protect them against diseases (Zoe).
Animals are fed with food that contains high levels of pesticides. In addition, the animals are given medication that calms them to limit their mobility and thus increase muscle tissue. Doctors fear that people consuming large amounts of meat will develop a resistance to the drugs that are contained in the meat and due to that effective treatment with antibiotics will not be possible in case of serious diseases (“High Vibration”). Swami Sivananda says that people who eat meat absorb the hormones of fear and panic, produced by the body just before the butchering of animals.
“Harvard studies showed that daily meat eaters have approximately three times the colon cancer risk, compared to those who rarely eat meat” (“Cancer Project”). According to the scientists at the University of Manchester, people who cannot go a day without red meat are twice as likely to suffer from rheumatoid arthritis. Today, with the increase in meat consumption and a decrease in consumption of leafy green vegetables, even younger people suffer from it. Just go on a diet without meat to relieve the symptoms of this disease! Anemia, which is another disease, is about people that eat meat, but do not consume green plant products.
“Chlorophyll increases the production of hemoglobin in the blood and helps strengthen the immune system” (“Nutritional Supplements Health Guide”). This is why humans need a daily serving of greens, so that the chlorophyll can produce hemoglobin, while there is no possibility of finding a replacement for its preparation. Vegetarian diet is a mainstay of treatment for cancer in any form, the basis for the treatment of atherosclerosis, heart disease, cardiovascular disease, dementia, depression, osteoporosis, anemia, kidney and all the major diseases of civilization. However there are even more reasons!
Use of land for animal feed production makes less of an area that is to be used for the production of food for humans. Wikipedia says that it is estimated that you need to use from four to ten times more land to produce 1 lb of beef protein than 2 lbs protein of vegetable origin. Feeding animals for slaughter will increase hunger among people, because instead of growing food for people they are growing food for animals. Therefore a diet without meat is a perfect way to ensure low cost of food for large populations and low-developed countries. It was also found that vegetarians are thinner, which further reduces the risk of cardiovascular
disease (Craig). It was observed that many people already in the early days of this diet could boast the weight loss. Additional benefits resulting from the consumption of large quantities of vegetables and fruit, is that they contain a lot of antioxidants which neutralize harmful effects of so-called free radicals in the body, while the list of diseases caused by them is already impressive. Modern research supports the ancient wisdom of Socrates, and clearly shows getting a few nutrients from a tasty piece of meat are not worth the health risks involved. I believe everyone should adopt a vegetarian diet to live a better and healthier life.
Works Cited: Moritz, Andreas. Timeless Secrets of Health and Rejuvenation. 3rd. 2005. 443. eBook. Novak, Sara. “High Protein, Meat-Based Diets Mean Higher Mortality Rate, Study Says. “planetgreen. com. N10. 09. 2010. Web. 7 Dec 2011. Cross, Amanda. “Meat and Meat-Mutagen Intake and Pancreatic Cancer Risk in the NIH-AARP Cohort. ” . Web. 7 Dec 2011. <http://cebp. aacrjournals. org/content/16/12/2664. long>. Moritz, Andreas. “Eating Meat Kills More People Than Previously Thought. ” NaturalNews. com. N. p. , n. d. Web. 7 Dec 2011. Zoe, .
“Animal Antibiotic Alert. ” Zoe. N. p. , n. d. Web. 7 Dec 2011. <http://www.zoenature. org/2010/09/animal-antibiotic-alert/>. Sivananda, Swami. “DIET AND NUTRITION. ” Arhanta Yoga Shram. N. p. , n. d. Web. 7 Dec 2011. <http://www. anandayogashram. org/yoga-teacher-training/DIET-AND-NUTRITION-1 .html>. “Cancer Prevention and Survival. ” The Cancer Project. N. p. , n. d. Web. 7 Dec 2011. <http://www. cancerproject. org/survival/cancer_facts/meat. php>. “How humans are not physically created to eat meat. “Celestial Healing. N. p. , n. d. Web. 11 Dec 2011. <http://www. celestialhealing. net/physicalveg3. htm>. “Is Dairy Good?. ” Freedom You. N. p. , n. d. Web. 11 Dec 2011. <http://www. freedomyou.com/nutrition_book/Milk and Cookies. htm>. “Are We Meat-Eaters By Nature?. “
High Vibration. N. p. , n. d. Web. 11 Dec 2011. <http://www. highvibrations. org/archive3/veg. htm>. “Wikipedia. ” Environmental Vegetarianism. N. p. , n. d. Web. 11 Dec 2011. <http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Environmental_vegetarianism>. “Wheatgrass Benefits You Should Know About. “Nutritional Supplements Health Guide. N. p. , n. d. Web. 11 Dec 2011. <http://www. nutritional-supplements-health-guide. com/wheatgrass-benefits. html>. Craig, William J. “Health effects of vegan diets. ” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition . 89. 5 (2009): n. page. Web. 11 Dec. 2011.