Why do so many people think meat is essential? (NOT DEBATE)

protein is essential, meat is not.

^this

I have been a vegetarian for close to eight years now, and the reason I am so bothered now is because someone I met through a friend is being quite rude about it. He admits to having a "personal bias" to vegetarian lifestyles =/

I know it's all dependent on the person, I just wanted to get some thoughts on it. Thanks y'all!

Ignore that person. Just like the cray cray "ZOMG MEAT IZ BAD" vegetarians and vegans are not representative of the vegetarian lifestyle as a whole, the "ZOMG YOU'Z GON' DIE IF YOU DON'T EAT MEAT" pro-meat nuts are not representative of the carnivorous lifestyle as a whole.


Do what you do, and ignore the naysayers.

^ What he said.

Furthermore, dairy is really not essential. Calcium and Vitamin D are of course, but they are much easier for your body to process when consumed from vegetables and legumes rather than dairy, especially with what we do to dairy products these days during preparation.

I cut out dairy ages ago and my body has shifted back to its natural state of not wanting it anymore, even rejecting it when I have for example cream in my coffee. Amazing what our bodies can do! I was given the idea by a doctor when I went in for fatigue and low energy levels in general. He suggested it, I tried it, and my energy levels increased. And by cutting out dairy, my daily calorie intake is a few hundred calories lower, which has helped me maintain my weight since dropping it, and is now helping me with my calorie deficit during my diet.

Dairy may not be essential, but it is a very easy thing to fit into my macros, get me my protein and to allow me my ice-cream.

Hiya,

I get a lot from friends, and no so close friends, that I should eat meat and a strict vegetarian diet is unhealthy, and meat is essential in a healthy diet blah blah.

Why is this such a common astigmatism? What are your thoughts (WITHOUT BEING RUDE OR DEBATING) on a no-meat lifestyle? If you are vegetarian/vegan, do you find yourself to be healthy?

So...no 'debate', so basically you are just looking for people who agree with you, in order to justify your own position to yourself...gotcha.

/backs out of thread

the reason I am so bothered now is because someone I met through a friend is being quite rude about it. He admits to having a "personal bias" to vegetarian lifestyles =/

What you should have said to him: "Huh, weird. Usually it's us vegetarians who are the ***holes."

(I know it's [maybe] not true - but that's the perception, probably moreso vegans than vegetarians though, thanks a lot to P3TA, but the point here is the shock value and hopefully shutting the idiot up. Maybe it wouldn't have worked, but I would have tried it, but that's just me. haha)

I've been a vegetarian for 36 years because I don't like meat. That's it. Believe me, there is a lot more awareness of, information about and even acceptance of being a vegetarian now than there was way back then. There were small Health Food stores then not the variety of organic supermarkets that seem to be so pervasive. Yes, I am healthy!!

@gallow: no...I want people to post their thoughts on why there is such a debate between meat-eaters and non-meat eaters. I am in no way against people eating meat, I hardly even comment unless I am joking. So, I don't have a "position on myself".

Nice try though.

Very well. Think about it this way: most people cling to their way of eating as much as they cling to their religion. You are taking two camps of people with very different preferences and personal experiences and pitting them against each other, so to speak.
It becomes so 'hot button' because rarely does either side come out with hard science, but anecdotal evidence. The Vegans demand hard science to back the meat eater's claim while basing their entire argument on YouTube videos and heartstring documentaries. The meat eaters demand hard science from the Vegans, but rely only on various historical references to back them. Now, looking at things realistically, the meat eaters do have the leg up here, but not by much.
As an example, I have pointed out many times that Vegans do terrible in strength sports compared to meat eaters. I am greeted back with 'maybe Vegans just don't do steroids' and other such assumptions, along with the occasional Vegan name dropping some people that no one's ever heard of because they haven't done anything worth knowing about. No one can give me a real reason why they are sub-par in comparison.

Being vegetarian doesn't necessarily mean you eat healthily, in fact that's what got me above 100+ kilos.

I was young, uneducated and only really ate potato, white bread, noodles, mock meats and rarely touched a vegetable.

Now I can't imagine eating like that, no wonder I gained so much weight, I was pretty much eating a shizzload of junk food, but somehow my blood results were all good (not iron deficient, b12 etc).

Look in a mirror and smile.....see those 4 pointed teeth??? Those are for meat. Herbivores have mouths full of Molars. Carnivores have a mouth full of sharp teeth. Omnivores have both molars and sharp teeth because their diet is meant to contain both plant and animal. It's not a debate and it's not opinion it's simple science. Don't believe me? Go look in the mirror and smile

Look in a mirror and smile.....see those 4 pointed teeth??? Those are for meat. Herbivores have mouths full of Molars. Carnivores have a mouth full of sharp teeth. Omnivores have both molars and sharp teeth because their diet is meant to contain both plant and animal. It's not a debate and it's not opinion it's simple science. Don't believe me? Go look in the mirror and smile

How does that address the OP? Did you see what the question actually was?

Points to her canines but not saying that eating vegan or vegetarian is bad i felt just fine when i did it for several months but my husband was not maybe its a person to person thing.