My response to people that say humans HAVE to eat meat...

songbyrdsweet

No where does it say that humans have to eat meat. There are plenty of plant based foods that provide adequate protein. Many of the top killer cancers and diseases of Americans are caused by food and poor nutrition, overconsumption of animal based foods, and refined sugars that cause high cholesterol and high blood sugar. 40% of Americans are overweight, and cost the U.S. billions of dollars in health care due to treatments and surgeries for otherwise mostly preventable causes (Diabetes, heart disease, prostate/breast cancer, etc.) Eastern cultures in which diets are mostly plant based, have little to almost bar none death rates of cancer and disease compared to Western civilizations in which meat/dairy consumption is part of an everyday diet. Not saying nobody should ever eat meat or dairy again, but we should be more aware of what we are putting into are bodies and cutting back on what is killing us. It has been tested and proven that we can prevent and even reverse most illnesses with diet oppose to prescription medications. (FYI to everyone) Many vegans and vegetarians have far few health problems than people who "have" to eat meat. Many who make the switch are smart enough to provide their bodies with the necessary vitamins and nutrition to live a healthy life. Many Americans have no idea how to sacrifice, even if it means for their health in the long run. It is sad we live in a world where our temporary satisfaction we get with the foods that "comfort" us, trump that of our lifelong health. We don't know any better anymore. We are raised with greed and overconsumption and most of us will never now what it is like to starve and struggle. Chew on that!




I am not looking for a heated debate, just opinions, and I love to hear what people from other countries have to say about this American argument. Thank you.

As someone with 3/4 of a PhD (so far lol) in studying diet-related obesity and metabolic disease and dysregulation....false.

As someone who deals with scientific literature every day, I really appreciate cites to studies.

Great, go look some up. ^_^ Not here to do your homework. I just do the stuff so you can read about it.

songbyrdsweet

Hmmm. So how is it that I induce obesity, diabetes, fatty liver, etc....in my vegetarian mice? :huh:

http://www.biomedcentral.com/1743-7075/6/43

Rhetorical question. I know how I do it since I'm the one FEEDING them.

VegesaurusRex

As someone with 3/4 of a PhD (so far lol) in studying diet-related obesity and metabolic disease and dysregulation....false.

As someone who deals with scientific literature every day, I really appreciate cites to studies.

By the way, I do not imply or agree with the ad Verecundiam argument, which I believe you were advocating. Experts make mistakes. In my experience, frequently.

Gargwin82

So pretty much the chemotherapy, insulin injections, emergency inhalers, pacemaker, ect ect companies all have a giant conspiracy to stay in business by hiding the fact all hospitals need to do is install a salad bar to solve all of humanities diseases and health problems.

I was a vegetarian for 3 years. I knew before I even started not to bother trying to convince other people because 1) If they want to change they will 2) I didn't want to sound like a preachy know it all 3) If you spout off be prepared for backlash. Why did I start eating meat again, because I missed it and I continually had a b-12 deficiency. Do I see it as a failure, no. Do I see it as a sucess, no. It was something I gave a try and it wasn't for me.

amandavictoria80

Furthermore, your claim that we can prevent and reverse most illnesses with diet is absolute bull ****.

Not true at all. I have heard this on so many shows in regards to diabetes, etc. If people change the way they're eating, the world would be a healthier place and health care cost would go down.

I only wish that the world would stop eating any meat from a cow. Trust me, I LOVE steak, meatballs, etc. It would be hard.
But realistically, cows are the #1 cause of global warming and the break down of our ozone. SO I'd give it up if it meant a more sustainable planet. Completely off the topic but just saying....

songbyrdsweet

As someone with 3/4 of a PhD (so far lol) in studying diet-related obesity and metabolic disease and dysregulation....false.

As someone who deals with scientific literature every day, I really appreciate cites to studies.

By the way, I do not imply or agree with the ad Verecundiam argument, which I believe you were advocating. Experts make mistakes. In my experience, frequently.

The experts aren't the ones doing the studies. It's their grad students. Maybe you should read from journals with higher impact factors.

VegesaurusRex

Hmmm. So how is it that I induce obesity, diabetes, fatty liver, etc....in my vegetarian mice? :huh:

http://www.biomedcentral.com/1743-7075/6/43

Rhetorical question. I know how I do it since I'm the one FEEDING them.

It may have been a rhetorical question, and another subtile suggestion by you that I submit to the ad Verecundiam argument, which I will not do. I gave you a citation. Why don't you give me one that proves your point (whatever it is)? Or can't you?

shalinimunjal

I'm a life long vegetarian and come from one of those eastern cultures. I've seen plenty of disease and disorders that are rampant there. Let's not paint the entire population of the east with one brush.

I just want to live and let live. I don't have extreme views due to being vegetarian. I don't want people to dislike vegetarianism because of posts like this. That is all.

beach_chelle

you are right you aren't interested in starting a heated debate, you are interested in preaching to people and showing your superiority over everyone else. because look how you treat your body so much better because you don't eat meat. i am glad it has worked for you but if we all ate the same thing there wouldn't be enough for everyone. not to mention that there are numorous links and cause of cancer. if we knew what caused cancer we would be able to stop it, duh!

songbyrdsweet

So pretty much the chemotherapy, insulin injections, emergency inhalers, pacemaker, ect ect companies all have a giant conspiracy to stay in business by hiding the fact all hospitals need to do is install a salad bar to solve all of humanities diseases and health problems.

:laugh: !!!

VegesaurusRex

As someone with 3/4 of a PhD (so far lol) in studying diet-related obesity and metabolic disease and dysregulation....false.

As someone who deals with scientific literature every day, I really appreciate cites to studies.

By the way, I do not imply or agree with the ad Verecundiam argument, which I believe you were advocating. Experts make mistakes. In my experience, frequently.

The experts aren't the ones doing the studies. It's their grad students. Maybe you should read from journals with higher impact factors.

Gee, I guess Nature, Cell, Science, PNAS, PLoS One, JBC, and the other journals I read are shoddy. Tell me which ones I should be reading.

Contrarian

I can't stand the amount of preaching in this thread. I don't eat meat, but that's for my own reasons. I don't expect anyone else to make the same choices I make, nor do I think my way is any better.

VegesaurusRex, you actually do more harm than good. Not only is your self-righteous attitude offensive to people who eat animal products, but you also push other vegetarians away because they don't want to be in any way affiliated with you.

It's great that you have found a way of life that works for you, but please stop trying to cram it down everyone else's throat with your biased science and smug belligerence. Please stop being such a harsh toke.

ichorica

Vegetarian/vegan doesn't mean healthy - and I know quite a few vegetarians/vegans (and I happen to be a dairy-free veggie myself). One of my closest friends has been veggie for over 25 years but is a little overweight, regularly getting pretty bad chest infections and has recently been diagnosed with gallstones. All of which is probably to do with the amount he smokes (or did until recently) and the amount of beer he drinks (proper beer/ale, not lager, just to specify )

There are worse things for your health than eating meat. (although the long term ethical and ecological impacts of meat-eating is something else *whistles innocently*)

Agree. I was a vegeterian for 3 years and was ill. So its definitely not the answer for getting healthy. I dig the moderation idea.

songbyrdsweet

As someone with 3/4 of a PhD (so far lol) in studying diet-related obesity and metabolic disease and dysregulation....false.

As someone who deals with scientific literature every day, I really appreciate cites to studies.

By the way, I do not imply or agree with the ad Verecundiam argument, which I believe you were advocating. Experts make mistakes. In my experience, frequently.

The experts aren't the ones doing the studies. It's their grad students. Maybe you should read from journals with higher impact factors.

Gee, I guess Nature, Cell, Science, PNAS, PLoS One, JBC, and the other journals I read are shoddy. Tell me which ones I should be reading.

Well then I'd love to hear about all these mistakes so I can avoid making them in the future.

kiminikimkim

I love eating meat!
Always will!

soy protein gives me constipation and I have to eat 17 figs to fix it.
=(

That hamburger looks so tasty

Kizzle87

Everyone's choice is there own, and regardless of what science throws at us it will never stop us from doing what we want to do and that's our right as being at the top of the food chain and the most intelligent animal that walks this earth. I'm currently changing my diet from being an omnivore to ovo - vegetarian as my body has an allergy to meat and dairy protein's. I've chosen to be vegetarian in the past and to be quite frank, it's people like yourself that give vegetarian's a bad press. I've never once preached to someone about me being a vegetarian and never will, it's rude and unthoughtful. We all have the right to our own opinion's.

Don't preach to people, you will instantly get there back's up, it's people's individual choice, just as much as it's your choice to not eat meat.

There are alternative's these day's for everything, but doesn't mean we all have to jump on the bandwagon, and start forcing our view's down other people's throat's, just because we think people should live their live's a certain way. This is a the same argument with religion, raising kids, smoking and termination's and just about every topic in this whole bloody planet, there will always be someone for and some against. Trying to convert people to your way of thinking is dictatorial, and as Hitler proved, it didn't work.

I totally understand about obesity, crikey i need to lose over half my body weight, but there are some people out there who don't want to change and after all ignorance is bliss

delilah47

<<We are raised with greed and overconsumption and most of us will never now what it is like to starve and struggle.>>

I DO agree with the first part of this sentence. This goes for food, money, and material possessions. Greed is, unfortunately, what makes the world go 'round these days. Unless you are upper management of a major corporation the second half of the sentence is debatable.

Rhea30

Our physiology is made up to eat both animal products and plant material, we're not herbivores. Plain and simple.

woou

I went vegan for about a year and caved to my meat addiction. I'm slowly weaning myself off meat again, because I just felt so much better physically and emotionally on a vegan based diet.

VegesaurusRex

I can't stand the amount of preaching in this thread. I don't eat meat, but that's for my own reasons. I don't expect anyone else to make the same choices I make, nor do I think my way is any better.

VegesaurusRex, you actually do more harm than good. Not only is your self-righteous attitude offensive to people who eat animal products, but you also push other vegetarians away because they don't want to be in any way affiliated with you.

Your choice. I am not actually trying to convert anyone. I don't care if people want to do stupid things, and I have no desire to stop them, just so long as I don't have to pay the consequences, e.g., Obamacare.

It's great that you have found a way of life that works for you, but please stop trying to cram it down everyone else's throat with your biased science and smug belligerence. Please stop being such a harsh toke.

As they say when, I come into the room, "One toke over the line, Sweet Jesus!"