Are Vegetarians Healthier?

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Meat consumption has been conclusively linked to many diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, and certain forms of cancer. For example, an American Cancer Society (ACS) study found that people who eat “high” amounts of red and processed meats have a greater risk of colorectal cancer. A CS researchers defined “high” amounts of red meat as just three or more ounces of meat per day for men—about the amount of meat in one large fast-food hamburger—and only two or more ounces per day for women. For processed meat, including bacon, sausage, hot dogs, bologna, and salami, “high” consumption was considered just one ounce eaten five or six days per week for men, and two or three days per week for women. This is well above the “ four and six ounces of meat in a single meal” suggested by Mr. Gold.

According to T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D., arguably the foremost epidemiological researcher alive today, animal proteins are the prime carcinogen in meat and dairy products. Says Dr. Campbell, “[H]uman studies also support this carcinogenic effect of animal protein, even at usual levels of consumption. … No chemical carcinogen is nearly so important in causing human cancer as animal protein.”

The American Dietetic Association (ADA) and Dietitians of Canada have noted that vegetarians are less likely to suffer from some cancers and other deadly diseases than meat-eaters. Said Cynthia Sass, a registered dietitian and longtime ADA spokesperson,

“Vegetarians have been reported to have healthier body weight than non-vegetarians, as well as lower rates of death from heart disease, lower blood cholesterol levels and lower rates of high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and prostate and colon cancer.”

It’s easy to eat a healthy vegetarian diet; no charts, measurements, spreadsheets, or food combining is necessary. If you simply eat a variety of nutritious vegan food you will easily get adequate amounts of protein, iron, calcium, zinc, vitamins, and other essential nutrients—without all the fat and cholesterol found in meat. (Even supposedly “lean” cuts of meat derive at least 20 to 40 percent of their total calories from fat.)

Heath experts encourage everyone, not just vegetarians, to take a multivitamin or a B12 supplement (or eat B12 fortified foods like breakfast cereals, soymilk, meat substitutes, and nutritional yeast) to ensure that they are getting adequate amounts. Vitamin B12 is made by bacteria, not animals or plants. (The bacteria in an animal’s gut, for example, make B12, and it passes into the animal’s flesh. B12 was once found on root vegetables, but it disappeared from our soil when we moved away from natural fertilizers.) About 15 percent of older meat-eaters—and some younger ones—are low in B12. Regardless of diet, some people simply cannot absorb B12 adequately because of various stomach disorders.

Fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, and other plant foods contain healthy fiber and complex carbohydrates, as well as important vitamins and minerals. Soybeans are a healthy source of protein and contain all the essential amino acids the human body needs. The human body is able to digest 91 percent of the protein found in soybeans. (By comparison, we are able to digest 92 percent of the protein found in meat.) In addition to causing cancer, animal protein can cause kidney stones and leach calcium from the body, ultimately causing osteoporosis.