Eating Animal Products has been Linked to a Host of Deadly Diseases
The consumption of animal products has been conclusively linked to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity, and a host of other chronic and deadly diseases.
Animal Products Lead to Heart Disease
Heart disease is the number one health problem in the United States, accounting for more than a million heart attacks and half a million deaths every year. Researchers have found that cholesterol (found only in animal products) and animal fat clog arteries, which leads to heart attacks and strokes. One of the largest studies on lifestyle and health found that heart disease mortality rates for vegetarian males was only one-third that of meat-eating men. The British Medical Journal published findings from a study concluding that lifelong vegans have a 57 percent reduced risk of death from heart disease.
Cancer’s Connection to Animal Products
Studies have shown that vegetarians are between 25 and 50 percent less likely to suffer from many types of cancer, including prostate, stomach, esophagus, pancreas and lymphatic cancers. The number one recommendation in the American Cancer Society’s (ACS) Guidelines on Nutrition for Cancer Prevention is to eat a diet “with an emphasis on plant sources.”
Sign up for the OV Daily Newsletter
OV Social
While eating large amounts of fatty meat will undoubtably affect your health, it is ignorant to ignore the amount of diseases that can be contracted by vegetables and not eating meat. I am neither in favor or not in favor of eating meat, but I ask that PETA show both sides of the argument equally. Don't get me wrong, EAT YOUR VEGETABLES KIDDIES. They will help prevent heart disease and keep your weight down. (1) Broccoli, for example, can help prevent arthritis.(2)
However, as shown by frequent E-Coli outbreaks, vegetables and fruits can be susceptible to contamination. A recent 2010 outbreak of E-Coli was traced to shredded lettuce.(3) In fact, A study by Scripts University stated that "Vegetables are nearly as dangerous as under-cooked meat when it comes to transmitting deadly food illnesses like E. coli, salmonella and hepatitis."(4)
And not eating meat, especially when young, can be harmful to your health. Chemical studies have shown that vegetarians often have mineral deficiencies, specifically iron, and harmfully elevated levels of copper and other metals in their blood. (5) (6) I am not anti- vegetarian , but claiming everyone should become vegetarian to avoid disease is both biased and uneducated. Every food presents dangers. So eat your vegatables, and maybe some meat to, if your so inclined.
1 http://health.usnews.com/health-news/diet-fitness/diabetes/articles/2010/08/20/green-leafy-vegetables-linked-to-lower-type-2-diabetes-risk.html
2. http://esciencenews.com/articles/2010/09/15/eating.broccoli .could.guard.against.arthritis)
3. http://abcnews.go.com/Health/WellnessNews/shredded-romaine-lettuce-recall-linked-uncommon-coli-strain/story?id=10586887
4. http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=18714
5. http://www.arltma.com/VeggieReportDoc.htm
6. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6TB1-3X29G1N-3&_user=10&_coverDate=05 %2F31%2F1999&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_origin=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1462125601&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=2bb0f69b5b0ef79f280307519fa25c7f&searchtype=a
You forgot that life will absolutely end in death. The problem with such scare tactics is that you forget to weigh the positive traits of the consumption of animals.
The most dramatic steps in the evolutionary chain on our branch of the tree tends to come from the introduction of complex proteins that were derived from animals. We are here today simply because we changed from herbivores to omnivores. Of course, it doesn't change the fact that we now face such things as heart disease, but your implication is that vegetarianism is not fraught with its own complications that have been teased out over time.
We haven't had to eat the scavenger diet en mass since the agricultural revoltion... are you still evolutionarily speaking "that far behind?" Yes, sorry to have to break it to you but we evolved a long time ago. Some societies have been vegetarian for thousands of years already... why hold on so tightly to something so destructive? I know you didn't plan to be like this but here you are, you can let go now.
Not critters need to die for you in particular, yes you, you don't have to eat another animal, egg, or any derivative. What would you be fighting for? Why?
I am neither a scientist nor a physician but I do believe from everything I have read on the subject, that eating meat in moderation, as with all other things, cannot really be harmful or have long-lasting negative health effects.
The artery-clogging effects most likely come from eating very large portions of fatty meats and not eating enough fruits, grains and vegetables. In addition, those who over indulge generally do not have other good health habits such as getting sufficient sleep and exercise which are known to contribute to better health.
In addition, there are certain B Vitamins and I imagine other nutrients which are not easily found in other foods. Those who abstain from eating meat and are healthier than the meat eaters, probably owe their better states of health to their healthier lifestyles in general and not simply because they avoid eating meat.