Is vegetarianism healthy? That’s the question, I am going to be asking myself as I chew into my natural turkey during November. I’ve been wanting to write about this issue for a while but I just was not as interested as much as I thought I was. I am interested in it at the moment and insight has kicked in so its time to start my blog spot! Over the past few days this subject has given me great concern and I believe its because it keeps coming at me from everywhere .
I just recently had a companion of mine who I did not know was a non-meat eater until she disclosed it in a conversation we were having. After her telling me this I immediately asked her if she ate soy products and she said yup I started to make an assumption about somepresent-day health issues she had been going through and sure enough I was right!
Now…I’m not a vegetarian basher and I do not like to tell men and women how to eat or what to eat, but I am a big advocate of eating for health versus screeching recklessly into the pit stop of dying. As a matter of fact, I attempted being a vegetarian myself but I was living on a recent university student’s stipend which almost always narrows your choices to pizza parlors. Back then my brunch choices were always driven by my finances and I did not know anything about eating food to prevent physical degeneration and deterioration.
I’m happy I finally woke up and now my goal is to cleanse the veil over people’s eyes.
My initial experience into veganism was very straightforward. I went to a soup and sandwich shop for about a week and instead of getting animal meat on my sub sandwich, I opted to purchase vegetables with vinegar and oil. I told myself I was a vegetarian but what I really was, was an dunce for thinking I could become a vegetarian by just choosing to get rid of the lean meat on my sandwiches. I will admit I didn’t know one thing about being vegan and within a week and a number of hunger pangs later, I went back to meat with a vengeance. I made the decision to give it another try when I trasferred to Duluth Georgia. I started dating a lady who was just starting to explore the vegan way of living. She strictly believed in eating no meat and so she would frequently make plant-based lunches.
The food she prepared was delicious and a far cry from the sub sandwiches with veggies I ate years ago when I called myself a non meat eater. I was amazed at how she prepared things without using animal flesh but they tasted just like she used animal flesh. Now these were some scrumptious meals, I was never really sure that I should get rid of eating meat. My reasoning was this,”my grandfather ate flesh from animals, my grandmother ate flesh from animals, and my mother ate animal flesh so guess what I’m gonna do? Yes…eat animal products and that is literally what I did every chance I got. My decision to continue eating meat was a good one because if I had stuck with my decision, I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy my organic free range turkey I’m having for supper. I just love a huge juicy turkey leg what about you?
I have never been a person to force my beliefs on anyone so I will not do that here. If you have been a follower of my blog site by now you know I like to deal in facts. Its a lot easier to make a decision when you deal with specifics vs. hearsay, wouldn’t you agree? By the way, even though I never really made it completely vegan I leaned heavily towards it because I thought it was a much better way to eat. I also thought it was a more conscious and humane thing to not consume animal flesh. In order to be as impartial as I possibly can about this topic of is vegan beneficial, let’s talk about some of the motives why non meat eaters actually become vegans and then present the real specifics.
1. Risk of Cancer - I recently saw a tv documentary named, Fork over Knives which was in support of vegetarianism and one of the major points was it lowered cancer risk. This wasn’t necessarily true as a study was done in 1994 which demonstrated vegans had a decrease risk for breast and lung cancers but their risks for these cancers were considerably elevated: brain, skin, cervical, ovarian, prostate, and uterine. Research shows carbohydrate based eating plans are major causes of cancer. Yes..green vegetables are considered to be carbs. As a side note, meat intake was never linked with elevated cancer risk.
2. Heart Disease - The country of India has one of the largest populations of vegetarians and one of the highest occurrences of heart disease. On another note female vegetarians have a higher incidence of heart disease than womennon vegetarians.
3. Arteriosclerosis - Vegetarians seem to think plaque will not occur in the arteries as a result of consuming plant based foods…not so. Vegetarians have just as much occurrences of plaque in their arteries as those who ingest meat.
4. Longevity - Some vegetarians insist consuming only plant based foods will prolong your life. Hindus who are mostly non meat eaters have the shortest life spans in the world.
5. Osteoporosis - Eating meat was considered to make the entire body acidic but consuming plant based food makes it alkaline therefore meat for animals was considered a contributor to Osteoporosis. The rationale is if the body is acidic through meat eating, calcium from the bones is used as a buffer to make the whole body alkaline. The research used to prove this were done with protein powders and not real meat. How can you make a generalization like this if you don’t use genuine meat?
6. Energy and Growth - Vegans will usually say they have more energy when following a plant based eating plan but in reality most vegetarians will complain of shortage of energy because meat provides some vitamins and minerals plants cannot give you. On the flip side, kids who follow a vegetarian diet program can have growth and development issues. I have heard more than one tale where females have difficultiescomplications conceiving a child as a result of following a strict vegetarian diet. They also have problems with their teeth and emotional problems.
7. Saturated Fat - Vegans tend to believe eating a vegetarian diet will help them lower cholesterol by lowering saturated fat. Well…our bodies need saturated fat and cholesterol isn’t necessarily the bad thing its made out to be. It has been proven that cholesterol is needed for brain and hormone performance thus the body needs the saturated fat animal meats deliver to function properly.
8. Moral Issues- We shouldn’t eat animals is what some vegetarians list as a rationalzation for not eating flesh from animals. Well, if we did not consume animals, they would overpopulate the planet, correct? Think about it this way if you were tossed in the jungle or forest and a lion or bear was starving would they have a issue eating a human being like you? We are all part of a large food chain and its just by luck that humans are on top of this food chain.
Just make sure if you are continuing to take in animal flesh that it’s all natural. It’s the anti-biotics and hormones in commercially raised livestock that is making men and women unhealthy.
Now…as I talked about earlier I don’t force my individual beliefs on anyone and I will stick to this. I believe we get into problems when we try to take things to the extreme. Like it or not,veganism is an extreme way of eating which does not have any significant health rewards over those who choose to consume flesh from animals. So what’s the conclusion? All things in moderation. Excessive animal flesh can be bad, just as too many veggies can be unhealthy but if there is balance which is what our body desires you can get the very best of both worlds and there will be no desire to ask the question, “is vegetarianism healthy?.
Disclaimer: The preceding post is for informational purposes only. Consult a doctor before taking any medical advice.
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