harley5How to prevent acne, obesity, cancer, diabetes and live longer? Become a vegetarian. Aside from the obvious reasons regarding animal cruelty, there a myriad of reasons as to why you should become a vegetarian.
It is often said that a vegetarian diet is unable to provide all the vital nutrients such as protein, for a healthy lifestyle. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth as there is no nutrient necessary for prime human functioning which cannot be obtained from plant food. Just look at Mike Mahler; a vegan bodybuilder!
It is also thought that it is in human nature to eat animals, this is also not true. Early Homo- sapiens relied on scavenging and collecting fruits and nuts as their primary source of food, only eating meat when they found the remains of a carcass, because of this the human body is designed in a way which is catered towards eating plant matter. The human intestines are long and coiled, similar to that of a herbivore`s, whereas carnivores have short, straight intestines. Similarly, Humans have short, soft fingernails and pathetically small “canine” teeth. In contrast, carnivores all have sharp claws and large canine teeth capable of tearing flesh. Visit: http://www.peta.org/living/vegetarian-living/the-natural-human-diet.aspx for more information on why humans are, in fact, designed to be vegetarians.
Vegetarianism has many physiological benefits, such as the prevention of obesity. Studies confirm that vegetarians tend to be thinner than meat eaters, as plant material has much less calories than meat. According to a study carried out by Cancer Research UK, people who eat meat put on more weight than people who are vegan or vegetarian. The study observed the diets of diets of 22,000 meat eaters, fish eaters, vegetarians and vegans over a 5 year period and found meat and fish eaters gained on average 2 kilos each year over a five year period, whereas vegans and vegetarians gained on average just 0.5 kilos. Also the correlation between meat consumption and a wide range of degenerative diseases is well founded and includes acne, arthritis and gum disease.
It`s not only physiological benefits that vegetarianism provides, it also provides many internal benefits. There is an endless list of diseases that vegetarianism can prevent which include: cancer; vegetarians are 45% less likely to develop cancer than meat eaters, heart Disease; the country’s No.1 killer and Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease); the odds of a vegetarian contracting this and other contaminated meat illness such as food poisoning are virtually non-existent. The health benefits of a vegan/vegetarian lifestyle are clearly exemplified by ex- US president Bill Clinton who chose to become a vegan due to heart problems, demonstrating that a vegan or vegetarian diet is a much healthier lifestyle choice.
As well as benefiting you, vegetarianism also benefits the world and the environment. Being vegetarian can help to conserve our non-renewable sources of energy, as it takes much less energy to manufacture plant material compared to animal material (1 calorie of fossil fuel for plant material compared to 78 for meat). Becoming a vegetarian also contributes to water conservation, conservation of forests and prevention super-bugs such as MRSA (Farm animals receive 30 times the antibiotics than people do which are ingested when the meat is consumed). If the majority of people in the world adopted a vegetarian diet, it could be assured that every human being on the planet would be well fed.
Perhaps the most momentous reason to become a vegetarian is for the countless ethical issues raised from the consumption of meat. Is it fair that each leg of lamb, each chicken breast was cut off of a sentient, living creature that was sacrificed for your plate? Is it fair that the animal has spent its single life on earth enduring pain and suffering just so we humans can enjoy a single meal? Despite the fact that in this day and age there are many cruelty free options.
By buying and consuming meat we are supporting the cruel meat industry which practices psychopathic and unethical conducts such as throwing male chicks in a sack on top of each other where they are left until they suffocate. Most animals are also not killed humanely due to the lack of care taken , meaning many remain conscious when they are plunged into the scalding-hot water of the defeathering or hair-removal tanks or while their bodies are being skinned or hacked apart. It is this type of callous conduct which raises the issue: what is the difference between someone who tortures and butchers animals and cannibals and murders who gruesomely kill humans? Could you ever inflict this much pain and suffering on another living creature? After all, who are we to decide that the life of an animal is worth only a meal? So it is no wonder that so many geniuses of the human race such as Pythagoras, Leonardo de Vinci, Albert Einstein, Charlotte Bronte and Ghandi were all vegetarians or vegans. Many celebrities now have also adopted such a diet, for example Anne Hathaway, Lea Michele, Tobey Maguire, Jared Leto, Ben Stiller and Travis Barker just to name a few.
It is all of these factors which lead to vegetarians and vegans generally living longer, healthier and cruelty- free lifestyles. However just because of this, it doesn’t mean that sacrifices have to be made. It’s a common misconception that vegetarians only eat vegetables. Most meat products such as burgers, bacon and sausages to name a few have a vegetarian alternative, for example Quorn has a variety of meat-free meat products, meaning that a life isn’t destroyed every time you eat a meal. So when you think about it, why isn’t everyone a vegetarian? In the words of Einstein ‘nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.’
And if that still hasn’t convinced you, watch Earthlings, a film so shocking that after watching it most people become vegans!
Vegetarian or Meat Eater, sign this petition for change; http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/35854