Embrace a healthier diet by eating less meat
By Jordan Roberts.
Animals have been forced to take a subordinate role to humans for nearly 12,000 years and even now in the modern age we still rely on animals for our food source.
What’s striking is how unnecessary and cruel it is to eat the meat of another animal or drink the milk of another mammal (we’re the only species that does this).
People are so concerned about getting enough protein; they think it’s the holy grail of dietary sustenance. It’s normal for a person in our culture to have meat with every meal and skip out on fruits, vegetables, grains or nuts.
I believe that depending on a meat heavy diet actually limits a person’s ability to obtain a well-rounded diet and steers them toward health problems.
One cup of beans is 39 grams of protein. That is already more than half your daily amount right there. Even peas offer almost 10 grams of protein per cup.
Protein is important but it’s not the only thing a person needs to be concerned about getting enough of. Fiber is one substance that many American’s are lacking.
There are zero grams of fiber in meat; it can only be found in vegetables, fruits and grains. Fiber can help with weight control because it helps you feel full faster, it aids digestion and can prevent constipation.
Eating meat also has another negative aspect to it – the killing of the animals. Other animals may not be as autonomous as us, and haven’t developed a prefrontal cortex, but they still have a nervous system to sense and process stimuli and have the ability to interpret and display their own range of emotions.
I’m not suggesting removing all meat from your diet right away. This is a lifestyle change so ease into it so your body can adjust.
There are many different kinds of vegetarianism. There’s Lacto-vegetarian which excludes red or white meat, fish, poultry and eggs, but consumes dairy products; Ovo-vegetarian which excludes red or white meat, fish, poultry and dairy, but consumes eggs; Lacto-Ovo which excludes red or white meat, fish, poultry, but consumes eggs and dairy products; Pescatarian which limits the consumption of meat to fish and seafood only.
The appeal to vegetarianism is based around its ethics, variety of dishes and its sustainability. It’s not as scary as it sounds and it’s hard to miss meat when you realize how you are benefiting your body and supporting those that can’t fend for themselves: animals.
There’s nothing wrong with eating meat
By Gabrielle Martin.
When I was in high school, I thought I wanted to be a zoologist; I was going to be the next Steve Irwin. Since I was a child, I have always loved animals; however, I have also always loved eating them.
Eating meat has many benefits to a person’s health that can be difficult to replicate with a vegetarian or vegan diet; obviously, meat has a high protein content. Your body needs proteins to build muscle; in addition, studies show that protein – particularly animal proteins – helps prevent osteoporosis as you get older, according to Authority Nutrition.
Of course, there are other ways to get proteins. You could eat beans, lentils or quinoa; however, there are some things in which plants substitutes just can’t compare to meat. For example, there are nine amino acids that we as humans can’t make and need to get through our diet, according to Authority Nutrition. Animal protein contains all of these proteins whereas plants do not.
In addition, plants do not contain B12. You cannot get B12 from a vegetarian or vegan diet without taking a vitamin for it or unless the plant is fortified. Who cares about B12? If you don’t, you should. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, B12 helps in sustaining a healthy metabolism, the formation of red blood cells and in keeping your central nervous system up to par.
I will say that we, as Americans, often eat too much meat. Do you really need to kill three different animals per day for your consumption? You could probably go without the bacon for breakfast (don’t kill me for saying that; I know we all love bacon) or have a salad rather than chicken for lunch.
Not only could you do that, you should do that. According to fitday.com, eating too much meat can increase your risk for cancer by about 20 percent.
On this topic, I also do find it disgusting how we treat livestock that will go to slaughter. Chickens never know the feeling of dirt beneath their feet or the feeling of spreading their wings. Cattle are packed into tight quarters. I do think that this needs to be changed; however, I’m a bit of a realist and know it won’t be. That’s a whole different can of worms, though.
When it comes down to it I wholeheartedly think that a healthy diet needs to include the many benefits that meat provides.
