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

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  • AlanTuring
    AlanTuring Posts: 159
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    Rebutting someone else's assertion = crying.

    Those are the MFP forum rules.


    ETA: I am declaring this post as "(NOT DEBATE)", so no disagreeing with me.

    :flowerforyou:
    Diving as hard as you can into a thread where you know that you're going to disagree with the main premises and participating in it until someone makes an assertion you can disagree with sure sounds a lot like crying to me. :(
  • GG70
    GG70 Posts: 232 Member
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    I have been a lacto-ovo vegetarian for over 20 years..I am extremely healthy.. got pregnant without trying every single time... gave birth full term 3 times to 3 very healthy babies each over 7 and 8 lbs.. my middle child is also a vegetarian and is tall and has bright beautiful skin and fit as can be. At this point it has become her personal choice to remain a vegetarian . So absolutely yes.. you can live a very healthy life never eating meat. You just have to supplement your diet with healthy non-meat choices for protein. hope this helped.
  • sherrirb
    sherrirb Posts: 1,714 Member
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    If-God-wanted-us-to-be-vegetarians...He-would-have-made-broccoli-more-fun-to-shoot-at._355.jpg

    haha.

    likewise, if god didn't want us to eat our babies, why did He make them out of meat??? (and fun to shoot at, apparently)

    ETA:I just like to turn this kinda tongue in cheek banter around. My favorite bumper sticker is the one that says "Vegans Taste Better" because it can be anti vegan or pro vegan, depending on what you mean by "eating" them ;)

    Ummm.... wha...? Thats not even the same kind of comparison... Having a preference for meat (carnivorous) is nothing even remotely close to being cannibalistic. This isn't "tongue-in-cheek" banter, you are just sick!

    My post of this picture was meant to be funny and not derrogatory, I didnt think it was necessary to post that it was meant to be funny. I saw people getting a bit hot under the collar in discussion and it was my attempt to lift some of that into a more conversational tone.

    Wow.....

    haha.

    my comment about the babies was *also* meant to be funny and not derogatory. Take a chill pill!

    Sorry, I tend to value human life far above that of animals. I hate to think of the hypocrisy of people who value animals far above that of humans. Not saying that applies to you, just that I've met enough that do.
  • AlanTuring
    AlanTuring Posts: 159
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    I bet that babies really are delicious, though. Like little veal cutlets.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
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    If-God-wanted-us-to-be-vegetarians...He-would-have-made-broccoli-more-fun-to-shoot-at._355.jpg

    haha.

    likewise, if god didn't want us to eat our babies, why did He make them out of meat??? (and fun to shoot at, apparently)

    ETA:I just like to turn this kinda tongue in cheek banter around. My favorite bumper sticker is the one that says "Vegans Taste Better" because it can be anti vegan or pro vegan, depending on what you mean by "eating" them ;)

    Ummm.... wha...? Thats not even the same kind of comparison... Having a preference for meat (carnivorous) is nothing even remotely close to being cannibalistic. This isn't "tongue-in-cheek" banter, you are just sick!

    My post of this picture was meant to be funny and not derrogatory, I didnt think it was necessary to post that it was meant to be funny. I saw people getting a bit hot under the collar in discussion and it was my attempt to lift some of that into a more conversational tone.

    Wow.....

    haha.

    my comment about the babies was *also* meant to be funny and not derogatory. Take a chill pill!

    Sorry, I tend to value human life far above that of animals. I hate to think of the hypocrisy of people who value animals far above that of humans. Not saying that applies to you, just that I've met enough that do.

    Take a couple of deep breaths and get over yourself. Seriousy, it was only humor. Tacky humor humor. But humor none the less.
  • AlanTuring
    AlanTuring Posts: 159
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    Take a couple of deep breaths and get over yourself. Seriousy, it was only humor. Tacky humor humor. But humor none the less.

    I think the important thing to remember here is that babies sound really friggin delicious.

    Can anyone link me to any good recipes? I was thinking of doing them up like breaded veal cutlets, but I'm worried about the frying making them tough. :(
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
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    Take a couple of deep breaths and get over yourself. Seriousy, it was only humor. Tacky humor humor. But humor none the less.

    I think the important thing to remember here is that babies sound really friggin delicious.

    Can anyone link me to any good recipes? I was thinking of doing them up like breaded veal cutlets, but I'm worried about the frying making them tough. :(

    i like cooking with baby oil to get that good baby taste.
  • AlanTuring
    AlanTuring Posts: 159
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    :lol: !

    I can't believe I didn't think of the obvious. I prefer extra-virgin cold pressed baby oil, not that stuff they get after the third or fourth pressing of the baby.
  • PosterGuy1
    PosterGuy1 Posts: 163 Member
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    Since I began my journey, the only meat I eat is chicken and seafood. I don't eat red meat, because its a "gateway food" for me.
  • triciab79
    triciab79 Posts: 1,713 Member
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    It might be the millions of years of evolution where we evolved into omnivores and thrived as a species. That or we are just all blood crazy misinformed carnivores who are happily beating our clubs at the top of the food chain. :-)
  • lilmisfit
    lilmisfit Posts: 860 Member
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    I'm not going to read all of the replies in these 14 pages, because, as a vegetarian, I'm sure I would get majorly pissed off it I did.

    So, I am going to respond to the OP only. I have been vegetarian for 2 years ( just celebrated my 2 year veggie-versary last week!) and have not eaten red meat for over 11 years.

    I can honestly say that I feel healthier now than when I ate meat, I have more energy, my skin and hair look better, and I don't have any of the pesky IBS symptoms I used to have (gas, bloating, diarrhea, etc), and it's been much easier for me to lose weight and maintain weight loss. In addition, I haven't been sick (cold, flu, etc....) since becoming veggie.

    There is a lot of scientific data that I could post to show how eating meat is unhealthy for you, causes cancer and other illnesses, etc...but the truth is, the true carnivores don't want to hear it and will never open their mind, so it's a moot point. I don't push my beliefs onto other people because it's a waste of time, and truth be told, the only person I'm concerned about living a healthy life is ME!!!

    :bigsmile:
  • Graelwyn75
    Graelwyn75 Posts: 4,404 Member
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    I was a vegetarian for 13 years and then pescetarian for a further 10 years. I recently reintroduced some meat, in the form of free range chicken, organic if possible, and occasional turkey, i try and limit it to twice a week, and otherwise still have fish, beans and eggs as diet mainstays. I just started craving meat again, my mother and brother both used to be vegetarian too, but their health suffered for it as they got older so both went back to meat. I don't have an interest in red meat, or lamb, just chicken and turkey and maybe some liver occasionally if I feel low on iron. I also have days I eat vegan and days I eat vegetarian. I like to mix things up and some days I have no wish to have fish or meat. But I am pretty dependent on dairy to keep me full. If I did not have dairy, I would be resorting to soya yoghurt and a lot of nuts to replace it, which would take my calories way up and not be as filling. I try to get organic dairy where I can, and have goats milk products also. Variety is key for me now, and trying to eat as natural as possible. I relied too much on soya and quorn as a veggie, and microwave meals.
  • BellehavenfarmDawn
    BellehavenfarmDawn Posts: 248 Member
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    I eat an entirely plant based diet, and no oil, for now no nuts as I am Reversing Heart Disease and Arthritis. It's taken me about three months to methodically clean up my food.

    I was hanging onto yogurt, then I watched Forks over Knives. I learned a lot from theses doctors. I am 61. all joint pain left! I can't wait to see my blood work. for Me, this is the way to go.

    I do want to be healthy and active at 90 and I think I can achieve that on the plant based diet recommended by too many doctors to list.

    Also, I really love animals! all animals. I have a dog and a horse. I don't want to eat anything with a face or a mother! LOL
  • FlaxMilk
    FlaxMilk Posts: 3,452 Member
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    Very true, but most of these things come with all kinds of 'extra' macros that some people might want to avoid. For example, even the best beans are a nightmare in their carb to protein ratios. Many meats (especially beef) have this problem as well, but with fat to carb. However, most poultry can be obtained in ways that render it much better in that area.

    I think if someone is really committed to staying vegan and watching macros closely, they'd likely be willing to rely on protein powders. I do, because with my food intolerances, I'd never be able to get enough protein while keeping everything else in balance. It doesn't bother me to take advantage of modern conveniences any more than it bothers me to be using this laptop. It's not "natural" but most food we eat is not in its natural state and many are even engineered/bred, so the vegetarian vs meat eating debate about what we are designed to do to me seems moot. (Last bit not directed at quoted poster, just a preemptive to someone saying, "But protein powder isn't natural!" Neither is a pacemaker.)
  • FlaxMilk
    FlaxMilk Posts: 3,452 Member
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    Well keep in mind that I'm in my early 20's and having studied at two large universities (by Australian standards) I have met a lot of vegetarians and vegans. They have clubs. So when I say that they mostly look like a bag of bones, I am referring to this population. And again, the majority of them don't look like what I'd call healthy. They also attend a lot of protests :D

    We can't assume that this population cares any more about their appearance and fitness than any other random group of people (outside of athletes and fitness groups.) Vegetarians who don't care may look like a bag of bones, but random groups of average people in general don't tend to look like the picture of health these days either.
  • FlaxMilk
    FlaxMilk Posts: 3,452 Member
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    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16267554

    An excerpt which is leaning towards the suggestion that algae does.

    That's really interesting. I recently was told by my doctor that my B-12 is too high and I take supplements that source Omega 3 from algae. (For the record on the B-12 debate, animals aren't the true source of this, they don't make it either, but it's because of bacteria they eat that their tissues supply it.)
  • FlaxMilk
    FlaxMilk Posts: 3,452 Member
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    It took me a while to realise not every vegetarian is like that. Once I did, I stopped pushing "eat meat, it's healthier" because I found that an educated vegetarian will still be healthy without meat.

    I appreciate that you changed your views on that. :flowerforyou:

    I tend to say, "An educated person will be healthy." Most of us who have food readily available don't eat healthfully naturally or intuitively. Someone earlier mentioned that once a vegetarian understands nutrition, it's very simple. I agree with this, but the same principle is true for anyone. Once we grow to understand nutrition, it's not so hard to know what to do. But a lot of us are not raised with a good understanding of nutrition.
  • coachrocketryan
    coachrocketryan Posts: 3
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    Everyone has their own opinion when it comes to eating meat or not. I personally am a vegan.
    The key is education. You can still get all basic vitamins and minerals and nutrients you need
    through being a vegan or vegetarian and to be honest we probably are a little ahead :)
    We eat fruits and vegetables and nuts and the common meat eater neglects these types of foods.

    Ok, I could go on a lot longer. I would suggest to anyone curious about vegans or vegetarians to
    check out a book called "eating animals" or go to your netflix and watch "forks over knives."
    See how you feel after. Make the choice for yourself.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    What if I told you that conspiracy theories were nothing more than cognitive shortcuts?
    I really have a strong tendency to hate conspiracy theorists, but that's hardly a conspiracy theory. The FDA has been called out several times for being terribly lazy and the cronyism and swapping that goes on between the largest drug companies and the FDA is pretty nasty.

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidmaris/2012/10/10/fda-recall-points-to-serious-problems-at-the-fda/

    There's an article with a really great recent example, and sadly it's far from the only example available.

    Anyway, go veg*ns. :P And thank you to whoever used that term in this thread, because it's so much easier. :P

    TYVM

    If someone thinks the FDA is doing something beneficial for Americans, they are not very well-informed about the issue.

    LOL@ "conspiracy theory"
  • groversa
    groversa Posts: 450 Member
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    I am vegetarian, and I feel healthy about it. The only down fall is not getting enough protein unless I try to. I have been drinking Herbalife shakes lately though, and with those I get enough protein so all is good!

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