Eating Our Way to Death, Literally

141 Comments

Photo by Jordan Fraker. See more of his work here.

What would you say if I told you that meat and dairy consumption are associated with heart disease, cancer and diabetes? Or if I told you that the meat industry kills more than 10 billion animals a year, in the US alone, and contributes more toward pollution than the exhaust from all the cars in the world?

For the past few weeks, I’ve been researching the health benefits of vegetarian diets, to gain more clarity on the topic. Due to its controversial nature, this has been a topic which I’ve avoided, until now. What I learned shook me both emotionally and intellectually.

I am not here to cast judgment on what you eat or how you live your life, but rather to present you with the information that I’ve discovered and find valuable. Knowledge is a powerful energy which gives us the gift of understanding, through which, we are empowered to make more informed decisions that benefit our wellbeing and benefit the world we live in.

I predict that some of you may be feeling an urge to be defensive, and that’s okay. I totally understand. When that happens, take a deep breath and remember that I am just a messenger. Hear me out.

Health Implications

Note: For the sake of discussion, Americans are used in research findings for this section. Similar numbers can be found for regions with similar “western” diets and lifestyles. Example, Canada.

One in three Americans will die of heart disease. One in five will die of cancer. Two in three are overweight. Over 8 million people have an autoimmune disease. Over 15 million have diabetes. Over 60 million have some form of cardiovascular disease. Over 100 million have high cholesterol.

Imagine, as you read this, for every minute that passes, 2 Americans will have had a heart attack, and another 2 will have had a stroke or heart failure. That’s 3000 heart attacks in the next 24 hours, roughly the number of people who died in the 9/11 attacks. These are not sexy numbers. They are very real.

Dr. T. Colin Campbell, the country’s top nutritional researcher, presents overwhelming evidence that “the data from the China Study suggest that what we have come to consider as ‘normal’ illnesses of aging are really not normal. In fact, these findings indicate that the vast majority, perhaps 80-90 percent of all cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and other forms of degenerative illness can be prevented, at least until very old age, simply by adopting a plant-based diet.” I highly, highly recommend his book. It’s very eye-opening, educational, simple to understand, and covers all the evidences to date on the effect of animal protein on our health.

Did I mention that Dr. Campbell grew up on a dairy farm and got his Ph.D. in animal nutrition? Here are some highlights from the book worth mentioning:

Casein, which makes up 87% of cow’s milk protein, promoted all stages of the cancer process.
Proteins from plants (including wheat and soy), did not promote cancer, even at high levels of intake.
Cancer growth can be turned on and off by changing the level of animal proteins consumed.
Heart disease, diabetes and obesity can be reversed by a whole food, plant-based diet.
Various cancers, autoimmune diseases, vision and brain disorders (Alzheimer’s) are influenced by diet, and it has been shown that we can reverse and/or prevent these diseases on a whole food, plant-based diet.
We are being exposed to small amounts of cancer causing chemicals on a daily basis, but cancer does not occur unless we consume foods that promote and nurture tumor development.
High animal protein intake, in excess of the amount needed for growth, promotes cancer after initiation. The average American consumes 15-16% of their diet in protein (70-100 grams) every day, while the recommended daily protein consumption is 10% (50-60 grams).
People who eat the most animal protein have the most heart disease, cancer and diabetes.
Consumption of animal-based foods, especially cow’s milk, is associated with greater risk of autoimmune diseases.
Dietary changes can enable diabetic patients to go off their medication.

Meat and eggs also contain Arachidonic Acid (AA), which is a pro-inflammatory fatty acid found only in animal products. According to Dr. Andrew Weil, “Heart disease and Alzheimer’s - among many other diseases - begin as inflammatory processes. Even chicken is full of arachidonic acid. You are stoking the fires of the disease process. It doesn’t matter if the chicken is free-range or the beef is grass-fed. The offending fatty acid is natural and inherent in the meat.”

Turns out, “The human body can derive all the essential amino acids it needs from the natural variety of plant proteins that we encounter every day. It doesn’t require eating higher quantities of plant protein or meticulously planning every meal.” says Dr. Campbell.

If we can get all the proteins, minerals and calcium we need from plant food, it seems risky to subject ourselves to the side effects of animal proteins: saturated fat, archidonic acid, cancer-promoting proteins, heart diseases and increased blood cholesterol levels. Additionally, whole, plant-based foods contain the antioxidants, fiber and complex carbohydrates, missing in animal-based foods.

Ethical Implications

“Our task must be to free ourselves…
by widening our circle of compassion to
embrace all living creatures and
the whole of nature and its beauty.”
~ Albert Einstein

When I became a vegetarian, my main motive was for health, but as I dug deeper into what was happening in animal agriculture, the truth was heart breaking. I was in distress after learning about it, and thinking about it still makes me sad.

About 10 billion land animals are killed each year for food in the US, according to the USDA; this includes 35 million cattle, 100 million pigs, 300 million turkeys, and 9.5 billion chickens. That is more than 1 million animals killed every hour. Animal agriculture is a $100 billion a year industry, with even more powerful lobbying interest than the oil and pharmaceutical lobbies (exposed by Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation).

At such a scale and with efforts to drive down cost, how do you think animals are treated? The answer: the most time efficient way possible to minimize cost. With that in mind, animals are skinned alive, limps ripped out of them, beaks or testicles chopped off without pain relief.

Photo by © Marithé and François Girbaud

Here are some highlights from Kathy Freston’s research on the topic:

“Crammed into cages and lying in their own filth, mother pigs and almost all egg-laying hens cannot turn around or lie down comfortably.”
“Dairy cows are lactating females who give birth to one baby per year to keep their milk flowing. When male calves are born (a million each year), they are shipped to veal farms, the moment they are born. The baby cows are yanked away from their mothers, all the while mooing furiously for her as she tries to follow. For the four months of their lives until slaughter, they live in the dark without ever getting to suckle, play in the field, or learn to walk on their wobbly legs. They are denied solid food to chew on and made anemic so that their flesh stays a pale white. When sold at auction, before shipped to slaughter, they sometimes cannot walk and are therefore dragged.” — This is the suffering of an innocent, gentle and affectionate creature that allows us to have veal, tender veal.
Chickens have natural pecking instincts, and because egg-laying hens are confined in a tight space, they end up pecking each other. To prevent this and to protect the company’s bottom line, their beaks are cut off. “Beak trimming causes severe pain that lasts for more than a month.”
“The baby male chicks who serve no purpose (they can’t lay eggs and are of a different strain from meat chickens) are ground up alive and disposed of.” - Apparently, it’s the most efficient way to fix this problem of surplus useless chicks.
More detailed quotes can be found on page 107 of Kathy’s book, extracted from Slaughterhouse: The Shocking Story of Greed, Neglect, and Inhumane Treatment Inside the US Meat Industry. I will spare you the disturbing details. They brought me to tears.

I want to know, what makes a dog or cat different from cattle? Just that we’ve given them the label “domesticated pets” and decided to love them? Can you imagine eating a dog? Having its legs torn off, ribs ripped out, its breast sliced so that we can have it for dinner? One might say, “No, that dog is cute.” But what about this calf, Isn’t it cute?

Aren’t we humans biologically similar to these animals? They have a central nervous system, pain receptors, a heart and a brain. They can see, smell, hear and sense touch. When we poke them, they flinch. When we prick then, they bleed. When they are surprised or sense danger, their hearts race. Try looking into the eyes of a cow, a dog, a rabbit or a horse and see if you don’t sense peace, love and life within their being.

I know it’s much easier to not think about animal cruelty, out of convenience. Besides, we are so far removed from it that why should we care? Well, because once we know the truth, we cannot deny them, and we can’t help but to feel, within our hearts, that it is wrong. We may even be afraid of the truth (I certainly was) and avoided hearing details, because knowing the truth may challenge our comforts and change the way we live. For your courage and openness for reading this far, I applaud you.

Environment Implications

I was shocked to learn that the United Nations published a 2006 report concluding that “The livestock sector emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global.”

Here are some highlights with regards to animal agriculture and its effect on the environment:

Animal agriculture uses 70% of agricultural land worldwide.
83% of US agricultural land is used for pasture or to grow crops to feed animals for human consumption.
Raising animals for food is a primary cause of land degradation, air pollution, water shortage, water pollution and global warming.
Nearly 20% of the emissions that contribute to global warming come from livestock. That is more emissions of greenhouse gases than from all of the world’s cars, trucks, ships and planes! This does not even include emissions from the plants processing the animal products.
70% of the original Amazon rainforest is used for pasture and to grow feed crops. Remember that the trees work to absorb carbon dioxide. When trees are burned, the carbon gets released back in the air.
Additional harmful greenhouse gases are released from farm animals’ digestive processes and manure. Particularly, the following gases:
- Methane - 23 times the warming power of carbon dioxide.
- Nitrous Oxide - 296 times the warming power of carbon dioxide.
Accounts for 9% of all carbon dioxide emissions, 37% of all methane and 65% of all nitrous oxide.
Accounts for most of the water consumed in this country, generating 75% of the world’s ammonia caused by acid-rain.
World’s largest source of water pollution.

Currently, 5 million tons of animal manure is generated daily on US farms. Let me repeat, 5 million tons - 10 billion pounds - of poop is generated every day, 100 times more than that generated by all humans in the world. This amount is more than what our land can absorb, meanwhile polluting our air and our water.

What’s worst, meat consumption is expected to double in the next fifty years. It’s disturbing to consider what the future will hold. Imagine what that will do to our planet.

Vegetarian Myths & Facts

Kathy’s book has an outstanding Q&A section in chapter 8 that covers more questions and in greater detail. Here are some common ones that I frequently hear.

Photo by Sarah Kidmose Hansen

Q: How do you get proteins?

Believe it or not, there are proteins in plant food. Nearly all vegetables contribute to our daily protein needs. Plant-based foods with high protein content are: almonds, avocados, soy and grains. Whole, plant-based foods are also high in fiber, rich in antioxidants, low in saturated fat and cholesterol.

Q: I have a fear of going hungry. Can you get full without meat?

Vegetables are high in fiber, and since our body doesn’t digest fiber, it actually contributes towards making you feel full. Other food groups like whole grains, nuts and seeds are surprisingly filling. Try eating a stash of raw almonds next time you’re hungry.

Refined carbohydrates like white bread and pasta are also filling, but I would avoid those as they are void of nutritional content and are concentrated in sugar content.

This is the first thing my friends learn when they eat at my house. I’m primarily a raw vegan, so I eat a lot of salads (and yes, avocados). People are always shocked to discover that they can get full, to the point of not finishing everything I give them.

Q: I love the taste of meat so much that I don’t want to give it up.

Have you tried mock meat? When mixed into dishes during cooking, you’d barely notice the difference. I have to note that mock meat can be highly processed and one should not focus their diet around it.

Our taste buds can change, in around 21 days. If you can go off meat for 21 days, you’ll notice that the craving either stops or dramatically reduces.

If you mentally do not want to give it up, ask yourself why. Be clear on why you are attached and what eating meat means to you. Write these reasons down on paper in the form of statements. Now, see if there’s an alternative solution to address each statement.

Q: Isn’t meat part of the essential food groups? We’ve always eaten it.

“Although we think we are, and we act as if we are, human beings are not natural carnivores. When we kill animals to eat them, they end up killing us, because their flesh, which contains cholesterol and saturated fat, was never intended for human beings, who are natural herbivores.“, William C. Roberts, M.D., editor of the American Journal of Cardiology.

As with most herbivores, almost all our teeth are flat and blunt, and we have long intestines. Carnivores have large canines usee for tearing flesh, and they have short intestines, so flesh can be flushed out quicker.

Tips for Transition

Photo by Thomas Hawk

1. Meatless Mondays - If making a switch is too difficult for you, start by dedicating one day a week towards eating only plant-based foods. You can even tell people, “Today is my vegetarian day.”

2. Try Alternatives - Keep an eye out in restaurants for meat alternatives. Occasionally order them and experiment. You may discover new dishes that you really like had you not tried them. This also helps us to see that there are plenty of options for vegetarians.

3. Find Recipes - Check out new vegetarian recipes from friends, family, books and websites. It’ll be fun to try something new that’s a healthier alternative. Who knows, you might end up really liking them. I tried making this scrambled tofu the other day, and it was fantastic!! You have to try it.

4. Don’t Fuss Over Details - One of the things I had a hard time with during my transition from vegetarian to vegan, was noticing how many things contained eggs. I was so anal over fitting in all the “rules” that I wasn’t enjoying it anymore, especially since I couldn’t have my favorite ice-cream. I felt deprived and cranky. So if your whole grain bread or hand-made pasta contains a little bit of eggs, don’t fuss over it. The whole point is about being conscious with what you eat, and not about feeling deprived. Use your best judgment and relax!

5. Never Go Hungry - It might take some time to get comfortable with portions during your transition into a vegetarian diet. If you feel hunger, eat more and/or snack often. I used to carry baby carrots, almonds, sun flower seeds, or apples with me to snack on. I now eat a regular three meals a day without needing to snack in between.

6. Give Up Everything But … - If there’s one dish you feel that you can’t give up or don’t want to give up, consider giving up everything else except the one thing. Example, you really enjoy sushi, so give up all other meats like chicken of beef, except raw fish at restaurants.

7. Gradual Transition - Going cold turkey works for some people, but not for me. Cold turkey may make you feel deprived, thus, making it harder to stick with it long term. Like a pendulum, if you swing too far to one side, you’ll swing back almost equally far on the opposite side. I tried doing the extreme dietary change initially, but lasted only 2 weeks, before I went on a binge meat eating session. You can try this for yourself and if cold turkey doesn’t work for you, I recommend to transition gradually. Create a plan, start by reducing certain items from your meals. Example, you might reduce chicken for the first 3 weeks, after which beef is also reduced. For any dietary changes, aim to maintain the change for at least 21 days.

Parting Words

We live in a time where we are so separate from where our foods are produced that it is natural and easy to ignore the facts and continue doing what has been convenient for us. But what is easy and convenient is killing our planet and us.

If you were not a vegetarian prior to reading this, I know that the information here can be challenging to habituate. It took me several tries and many months to transition. My goal here isn’t to convert you on a ‘religious’ path to vegetables, but rather to bring some of the facts to your awareness and allow you to decide for yourself, when the time is right for you.

Living consciously is a choice. Through knowledge and understanding, we can gain clarity to our body’s needs; thus empowering ourselves to make better, more conscious and responsible lifestyle choices. “By eating a whole food, plant-based diet, we use less water, less land, fewer resources and produce less pollution and less suffering for our farm animals.” Sounds like a win-win situation.

Within each of us, there is a light, like a single candle lit on a dark night. Our choices may seem insignificant on their own, but the effects of our choices give us hope for a brighter future. As more candles are lit, the night drifts away from darkness and the night’s details slowly uncover. Before we know it, the night has changed and is now warm and bright, lit by millions of luminous candles.

What are your thoughts? Is there a related issue or point that you like to add? Talk to us in the comments. See you there!

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If you are interested in learning more about our body works, follow me on Simply Tina, where I will be covering the basic workings of cancer, diabetes, and heart disease using extremely simple to understand terms and examples. Check out my first post on autoimmune diseases.
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If you enjoyed this article, please vote for it on Digg, share it on StumbleUpon or bookmark it on del.icio.us. I appreciate your support. :)

External Resources:

Book: The Food Revolution
Book: The China Study
Book: Quantum Wellness (Chapter 7,8)
Book: Diet for a Small Planet
Book: The pH Miracle
Book: Diet for a New America
Report: The Comparative Anatomy of Eating
Book: Hope’s Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet
Info: Humane Society of US Farm Animal Advocacy

141 Responses (140 Comments, 1 Trackbacks ):

Comments

Nathalie Lussier

Sep 10 08, 5:38 pm PDT

1
What would I say? I would say it’s about time we woke up and realized these things. After getting my dad on a vegan diet, he has lost over 12 pounds, and looks so much younger! I come from a family where the life expectancy caps at about 50 years old, and I know for a fact that this is due to poor diet!

Thank you for this great information Tina!
Aw

Sep 10 08, 5:40 pm PDT

2
Frankly, I ate a lot of meat…. But the transitions you given above seems to be very useful :)
Jon
Sep 10 08, 5:41 pm PDT

3
I am a vegetarian myself(mainly for ethical and environmental reasons), but I think that a lot of the health reasons you presented are very misleading, and the China Study itself is misleading.

Casein-I agree with this, but I think it should be noted that casein is handled along with lactase, differently within the body when it is fermented, becoming yogurt or cheese. I believe that raw milk is ideal for Americans if they are to consume any dairy.

Soy- Soy is a very disputed substance. It has been linked to lowering cancer in various studies, but it also is responsible for some known thyroid problems and estrogen problems. This goes to say with a fair amount of legumes.

Fermented soy, on the other hand, is largely free of these problems.

I believe that an omnivore’s diet can be extremely healthy if followed well. High-quality meat eaten at a moderate level along with plentiful plant-based foods in-fact is probably more helpful. I can’t tell you any statistics, but I definitely suggest you look at this website:
John Rocheleau

Sep 10 08, 6:00 pm PDT

4
I was vegetarian for many years. My choice was based on a natural aversion to meat that kind of crept up on me. My lifestyle was very healthy. I was a runner and a long-time practitioner of Tai Chi and Chi Gung. Eliminating meat was a natural progression.

My only challenges with this were related to my relationship. My Wife and Son wanted no part of my new direction, so cooked for myself and my Wife cooked for her and my Son.

It worked out fine for about 6 years. I cooked with a slant to macrobiotics. I was very inspired by Aveline Kushi’s book, “Complete Guide to Macrobiotic Cooking,” and also by the Chinese Five Elements cooking theory. Eating in that way slipped my body and mind into a natural ease. I totally recommend it.

Another thing I think is important is an eating philosophy called the one hundred mile diet. Basically, you eat from produce grown within one hundred miles of where you live. I make some exceptions to this, but since we have our own very large vegetable garden, we largely adhere to it. It makes sense for a lot of reasons.

Happy eating :-)

John
Jonathan Mead

Sep 10 08, 6:03 pm PDT

5
I’m glad you shared this Tina. This is a sensitive subject that often sparks a lot of controversy. I’ve been a vegetarian for 6 years and have always struggled with whether or not to educate people, or just to wait until they ask me. I’ve found I’ve gotten better results simply letting them come to me, not proselytizing.

This is very educational though and I’m glad you shared it to help shine some light on this issue.
Jon
Sep 10 08, 6:10 pm PDT

6
It’s funny, just today I was having a conversation with a friend about how, in this day and age of healthy eating, with more and more people moving toward plant-based diets, I see a Burger King flyer with a picture of a hamburger with cheese, bacon, onion rings and mayo with the slogan “If you don’t reward yourself, who will?”

This flyer really hit the point for me. We in the developed world know that bacon, beef, cheese, and grease isn’t exactly a healthy meal. But we eat this stuff all the time anyway. It’s not a lack of knowledge. We choose, knowledge or not, to “reward ourselves” and enjoy these unhealthy foods. We trade off short term enjoyment for long term health issues.

What I hope people take away from this article, is that hopefully the thought of _others_ can get us to change our diets. Your own health is at risk, but what about your kids, your family, the people and planet you’re impacting via the global food markets? Think about it!
Aramal Malik

Sep 10 08, 6:17 pm PDT

7
Unfortunately, one of the major causes of death, was actually found to be… being alive!

Almost, 100% of all people who suffered from being alive always died…

If you eat too much your gonna die, If you don’t eat enough your gonna die…
And if your a vegan or just practice moderation, you will be hit by a bus driven by a fat man.

Just because you pick at yourselves about your daily consumption doesn’t disregard the simple fact that one day, any day,
YOU WILL DIE.
Tom
Sep 10 08, 6:22 pm PDT

8
The web is becoming predictable.
Tom Stine | Life Coach

Sep 10 08, 6:22 pm PDT

9
I always find humor in any study that purports to be the latest and greatest on diet and human health. For everything we know about the effects of food on health, we don’t know a thousand things. About the only thing that you can say for sure is “being fat will kill you.” One thing I’ve noticed: rarely are vegetarians fat. In a quick review of Campbell’s book, it is obvious that most of the benefits he shows can be attributed to a lower calorie diet. Some of his biggest critics emphasize this exact point, and shred his evidence for its selectivity and obvious bias.

Sorry, Tina, but while you present some great stats on the raising animals on factory farms, I can’t go along with you in condemning the eating of meat. Humans have never been herbivores, and 500,000 years of paleo-biology stand as evidence to that. Man has been a hunter-gatherer for most of his evolutionary history, and it has only been in the past 10,000 years that he has been a farmer and grower of crops and grains.

I could continue in this vain for quite a while, but I won’t hog your comments. IMHO, it is safe to say that vegetarianism is a great choice for some, for ethical, societal and possibly health reasons. But a choice it is, not a necessity nor even the best one.

And yes, I prefer my buffalo medium rare. ;-)
Evelyn Lim

Sep 10 08, 6:31 pm PDT

10
Well done! You have written an excellent well researched piece on the benefits of going vegetarian. I have been keen on this idea for some years now.

I grew up in a meat eating Chinese family so it took a while to make an adjustment to having more vegetables served now in my home. I have not gone totally vegetarian. However, I have made a choice to alter my diet on a gradual basis. I now eat only fruits for breakfast. Occasionally, I have plain (meatless and cheeseless) salads for lunch or dinner. At every meal, I pile my plate with vegetables. I love them now!

I do not rule out the possibility of eliminating meat altogether in time. I find that it is best to allow it to take place naturally for me. One day, the decision will become clear.
Jason
Sep 10 08, 6:48 pm PDT

11
I’d like to throw my support for Tom Stine’s comments above. This article was well written, but lacking in or misrepresenting the science. However, it would take an entire article to reveal the real story, so I’ll just make a couple of points.

Humans lack the dentition and intestinal development of a true herbivore. That doesn’t mean we aren’t evolved to eat plant-based foods. Humans are actually omnivores, we are adapted to eat meat and plant-based foods, and have been for our entire evolutionary history.

Also, while it’s true we can get all the amino acids from plants, that doesn’t mean they are all as equally accessible to us. The appropriate forms of the amino acids have to present in our diet, and they are most useful if eaten in functional ratios. This can be done in a vegetarian diet, but is very difficult. This doesn’t even touch on other nutrients and micronutrients that are often difficult to get in vegetarian diets as well.

Dietary guidelines dictate we would be healthier if we would eat a lot more fruits and veggies, but this article is grossly overstating the argument for going vegetarian/vegan.
Karl Staib - Your Work Happiness Matters

Sep 10 08, 7:04 pm PDT

12
I eat meat about twice a week. The rest of the week I eat vegetarian. The hard part for me is saying no when I go to a friends house. I want to just join in.

When I do eat meat I notice that I’m more sluggish and my stomach is more likely to get upset. That’s why I’ve gone to more vegetarian dishes. I would suggest lentil soup - recipes are all over the internet. It’s high in protein and fiber. A great meal in so many ways.
Ari Koinuma

Sep 10 08, 7:13 pm PDT

13
Tina,

First of all, I wholeheartedly agree with you on the findings of meat industry practices. Not only is it terrible for the animals, but the whole thing is backfiring on us humans, too. For example, it is a common practice to feed cows corn — but cows are not meant to eat corn. Because they can’t digest this grain, cows get fat. So we are fed unhealthy cow meat, which causes all kinds of problems.

That said, saying that meat consumption is unethical because the industry is going bad is like saying using paper is unethical because of logging industry’s poor practice. I myself am with Tom Stine on the ethical issue regarding meat consumption itself. First of all, I don’t follow the logic that eating animals is bad because animals are being killed. Plants are life, too, and they are getting killed and consumed. Some say plants don’t feel pain, but how do you know?

But that said, I do think that we oughtn’t eat more than what we need to (never a good practice to do otherwise) and that we meat consumers should know what went into producing the meat we’re consuming. In US the whole thing is so sanitized and desensitized. We see packaged meat and we can hardly imagined that we are eating a piece of once living and breathing animal. In other countries, they eat everything — heads, sexual organs, liver (really good), gizzards. Because we are taking lives, it is inethical to be wasteful. And we all need to face the full consequence of our actions, and eat with great gratitude and reverence for lives lost, efforts spent, resources used to create our food.

Anyway, after much experimenting with both vegetarian and non-vegetarian diet, my family settled on natural, organic, traditional diet. By “traditional” we mean eating unprocessed food. We drink raw milk and our dairy products were made from it, including butter. It turns out much of the woes of dairy comes from the whole pasteurization process, which makes the nutrients in milk indigestible. We do our best to buy only free-range, grass-fed, organic, no-hormone meat. It is expensive, so we buy in small packages. My wife even buys animal bones and cook broth from it — which I swear makes the best soup stock in the world. We lost weight with this diet but have tons of energy — we’ve never felt better and tasted better food.

People curious on traditional food movement should check out Traditional Foods Are Your Best Medicine by Ronald Schmid.

ari
PeaceLoveJoyBliss
Sep 10 08, 7:17 pm PDT

14
That’s a lot of poop, Tina.

Many of us have got it so easy; everything is so convenient, but I think passionate, informative articles like yours will go a long way towards waking us up to the consequences of what we eat.

But what is easy and convenient is killing our planet and us.

I couldn’t have put it better. Thanks for a great article. It’s obvious you put a lot of thought and effort into it. Lots of great ammo, too.

Cheers,
Christopher
Sham Ong
Sep 10 08, 7:31 pm PDT

15
A true eye-opener on things. Like they say, what you don’t know and see, won’t hurt you. What the society lacks is awareness of such things and the openess to accept such harsh facts of this depleting Earth.

While it is not a sure thing that we won’t get heart diseases and such from being vegetarian, one thing is definite though is that, we will in one way or another slow down the “process-of-destroying” this land that we live in.

It’s a slow road to transitioning a whole majority of us, but hopefully one day, with enough awareness and realization on things, we just might switch sides and make this world a better place to live in (cos too much manures isn’t exactly a very ideal place to live in now would it? ;-))
Sat
Sep 10 08, 7:37 pm PDT

16
For those of you who are vegetarian for ethical reasons, I would suggest checking out the following essay: http://unpopularveganessays.blogspot.com/2008/09/what-is-wrong-with-vegetarianism.html

For everyone else, I would suggest the excellent book “An Introduction to Animal Rights: Your Child or Your Dog?” by Gary Francione. It may open your eyes to the inconsistencies between what we say about animals and how we act toward them.

In response to Jason, I would like to challenge your point that it is difficult to eat a healthy veg*n diet. It seems like you are drawing on the myth that you need to do some magical balancing act to get the proper amino acids. This simply is not true. Even the USDA recognizes that a vegan diet is perfectly healthy. I will not argue that it isn’t possible to eat a healthy omnivore diet because it is possible. However, eating animal products is choice not a necessity.

Eating vegan may seem like a daunting task but with the recent explosion of excellent vegan cookbooks and an ever-expanding array of vegan-friendly food at restaurants and grocery stores, it is so easy.
Anthony

Sep 10 08, 7:39 pm PDT

17
You have listed many so called “facts” but provided no evidence!

The proteins and meats and those found in products such as tofu are very different and absorbed very differently. Vegetarians also suffer from many dietary related health problems.

I don’t eat meat everyday - in fact I only eat it a couple of times a week. But suggesting that meat will kill you is a complete lie - you are far more likely to suffer health problems from eating an unbalanced vegetarian diet then eating a healthy diet including lean meat.
JJ

Sep 10 08, 7:42 pm PDT

18
Holy Cow :) You had me going with the health benefits, but all the other reasons have put me over the top. The transition tips you offer sound good, especially the tip about sushi. Thanks for a good write up and all the great research!
Jessel

Sep 10 08, 7:47 pm PDT

19
I am what you would consider a ‘triple threat’. My family has a history of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. We also have a threat of violence (my grandfather was shot to death in front of our house). So I really should stop eating red meat.

But it’s just so good! Okay, I will at least try to cut down.

You guys can hold me accountable. :)

Jessel
http://tycoondreams.com
Ivan Brezak Brkan

Sep 10 08, 8:11 pm PDT

20
I have to agree with Tom Stine on this one. While a vegetarian diet is understandable from a ethical point of view, saying that meat kills is like ignoring the evolution of man. Being an anthropologist, I unfortunately can’t do that. Plant protein is very rarely as good a protein source as meat. I do laugh at wannabe-vegans who tell me they eat lots of soy when asked about protein. Soy products? Oh come now - let’s really intoxicate our bodies.

It has been proven time and time again that the best diet is like most things in life, a well balanced diet. Vegetables, meat, fish, etc. The human body is a complex organism and changing our lifestyles to suit every bit of research is not the way to go. People think they shouldn’t drink any alcohol, yet red wine, as well as white has it’s true benefits to once health. Balance anyone? Quite.

If meat kills, Inuit people (Eskimos) would be all dead. Their diet has and is almost entirely made up of meat and fat. Oh look, they’re more healthy than most of us. Looking outside the US at this problem, I think you guys and gals look to much on various studies and not enough at your own bodies.
pearl

Sep 10 08, 8:12 pm PDT

21
Hi Tina..

Glad you decided to write about this subject, however controversial it is, and backed up with strong research. I was eating meat up until a couple of years ago but after learning some of the things you’ve highlighted here, went cold turkey one day! Never craved it again…

Being that most of the restaurants have started to serve vegetarian dishes, it’s not that difficult to join friends who are not complete vegetarians either..

Pearl
Daniel Richard

Sep 10 08, 8:23 pm PDT

22
I’m gonna just skip lunch. :)
Shun Jian | RichGrad.com

Sep 10 08, 8:44 pm PDT

23
Very well-researched article Tina!

I went on a 10 day Vegan Diet about a year ago…

Here’s the writeup of my experience:

Detoxifying the body, My 10 day Vegan Diet Experience

I’d recommend all the meat lovers to try out a detox diet once in a while to experience the vast difference. I noticed that my acne actually disappeared when I was on the Vegan Diet (Sadly it came back again after)

This probably is a message that it’s time for my next one…
Love Animals
Sep 10 08, 9:10 pm PDT

24
I became a vegetarian after I exposed myself to the way we treat animals. We are all creatures of the Earth and deserve to be free. Factory farms disgust me. I suggest you watch the video “Meet Your Meat” to see what they’re all about.

http://tinyurl.com/25k93c

If you still think you should eat meat because that’s what we were meant to do, then by all means, go out with sticks and rocks and hunt down some game and eat it for dinner. You’ll have my respect then. Otherwise, eating meat from a farm is about as natural as hunting with an automatic weapon and passing it off as “sport”.

The things we do to animals, the things we do to the planet, and the things we do to each other, sometimes make me ashamed to be a human. I wish people would just wake up and learn about the impact their choices truly have. Especially when it’s at the expense of another precious creature’s pain and misery.
WTL

Sep 10 08, 9:27 pm PDT

25
I think I’ve been drifting over to a more vegetarian diet over the course of the past few months, but I don’t think I could be 100% veggie, but, I suppose, who knows.

For those who would like some more information, this TED Talk is well worth the time to watch:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/mark_bittman_on_what_s_wrong_with_what_we_eat.html
Christoffer
Sep 10 08, 9:31 pm PDT

26
Hi Tina,

As you mentioned in the article, it’s always a touchy subject. It’s like religion, that one thing you simply don’t talk with people about. Good article, if anything it might help a few at least make up their minds as to what they eat and whether they should continue with it.

Now for my comments.

@Jason, @Tom. You say that the information Tina provides is misleading. Tina did at least provide some references, where are your references?

Jason, wouldn’t it be better to try and contribute to the discussion in a constructive way? Add something that supports your arguments. That way we can actually have a meaningful debate concerning this.

Not enough vitamins here, “functional” ratios of amino acids here, give me a break. What vitamins can’t we get? B12, wow, didn’t see that one coming. It’s not “naturally” found in meat, it’s a bacteria, found in soil. Animals get it because they eat the soil. We’d normally get it when we gathered food but due to our extreme cleanliness these days we wash it off or food. Ironically it’s mostly unhealthy people that have a b12 deficiency due to intestinal diseases (http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2007nl/nov/b12.htm).

The human body is extremely complex, and I don’t think we fully understand it. So health reasons set aside, what about the ethical questions raised in regards to the meat industry?
J.D. Meier

Sep 10 08, 9:51 pm PDT

27
I love exploring patterns and practices for health. Cancer, heart disease, and diabetes are way too prevalent for my cup of tea.

I don’t know if you’ve checked out the Zone, but it’s focused on how food impacts your hormone levels, and how your hormone levels impact how you think and feel throughout the day, and their impact on heart disease and diabetes.
Kit
Sep 11 08, 12:00 am PDT

28
As a culinary student I can understand the need to go on a plant-based diet but as other posters have noted, there are going to be difficulites when making a transition like this. The major one is availability, not all the products that can be used as meat substitutes are readily available to the normal consumer. They have to be found durring the growing season. I may not have all the knowledge to put on here but certian plants have to be grown in certian climates. It also costs more to be on a plant-based diet, to make sure you get all the proper nutrients we need to survive there is a multitude of produce we have to purchase.

I also hate to put a damper on your thoughts of ‘no hormone’ meat, but think about what happens to the plants while they are growing. They are treated with fertilizer and pesticides, unless said otherwise. I know I am probabbly striking a few nerves but unless you go out there and look at the place you get your food, you don’t truely know what goes into your plants and meat. I can already make the argument that tomatoes are not the same as they use to be in the old days, they all have had their genes manipulated to make them last longer with a salmon gene. I also know that when a label says ‘fat free’ or ‘low fat’ that is not always true. Yes the government regulates the requirements to fall into these categories but there is still fat in the ‘fat free’.

I sadly will argue the point that every thing in this world can kill you in some way, or give you cancer. For example too much sun attributes to developing skin cancer, too little well you have the possibility to have a deficiency of some sort. It is all the argument of moderation, not too little and not too much. It is just the american mentality that everything has to be big.
matt
Sep 11 08, 12:02 am PDT

29
What a pile of shit.

Excessive eating of anything is bad for you. Nothing beats a healthy, rounded diet containing all groups of food.

Stop pushing your “ethics” on me.
Kit
Sep 11 08, 12:04 am PDT

30
If you check the lable of any product it will say ‘as regulated by law’ to fit the requirements to fall into a label.
Danny
Sep 11 08, 12:24 am PDT

31
It’s evident in the first paragraph this is going to be a pro-vegetarian website….If you want to be a vegetarian that’s cool, but the real problem whether you’re a vegetarian or omnivore is overeating. If people ate more sensibly this wouldn’t be a problem. Given the typical weight of most Americans (and not only us but also some other countries) if we were all vegetarians we’d have a problem producing enough plants to feed the fat masses.
Lovelyn

Sep 11 08, 1:08 am PDT

32
I’ve been a vegetarian, a vegan and a meat eater, and I have to say that I agree with Ari’s comment 100%. My family eats a diet of whole foods, including organic free range meat in moderation and we’ve found that we are healthier.

I have to agree that Americans eat far too much meat, but I think the true problem in the American diet is the chemicals and hormones the average American consumes. High fructose corn syrup, aspartame, MSG and other produce that make food taste better in the cheapest way possible are slowly killing us.

People must use common sense when making food choices.

A side note: You said that America has the best health care system. Part of what makes a health care system good is accessibility. The American health care system is definitely not accessible to a growing number of Americans. That is not good at all.
Andrew
Sep 11 08, 1:38 am PDT

33
I’m sorry, but the claim that the US has the best healthcare system in the world could not be further from the truth. The WHO gives that honour to France. The United States was way down at #37.
kabir

Sep 11 08, 2:03 am PDT

34
There’s so much I’m feeling that i can’t say it.

Samuel Johnson said, “He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man.”

We are all that..
Mari
Sep 11 08, 2:14 am PDT

35
But I liiiiiiiiiiike my meeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaat. DX
the meat problem
Sep 11 08, 3:18 am PDT

36
I personal tend to believe the main problem with meat diet is that we don’t consume the rest of the animal, like bone marrow and intestines.

Eating both flash and intestines would be in a sense “whole diet”.
I was born in Bosnia, and I know that my ancestors had a tradition of eating food prepared from bone marrow, intestines, or animal brain, which has not been accepted in our modern age, and such meals are considered disgusting, except for the small majority of gourmands.

If animal meat by itself has an inflammation promoting chemicals, then the rest of the animal must have the anti inflammatory substances, otherwise animal itself would not be healthy and in harmony?

I haven’t dug deeply in this problem, but I intend to.

Note: since I can’t make my self eat animal intestines with the meat, I think I’ll stick with fish and vegetables..
Johnny

Sep 11 08, 4:26 am PDT

37
Vegetarian vs non-veg diets always seem to be a touchy subject. I’ve been vegetarian for roughly 11 years, and I can’t imagine going back to eating meat. Americans eat way too much animal products. I won’t argue that a healthy diet can’t include meat and dairy, but if ever asked about why I’m vegetarian, I cite similar statistics to my meat eating friends and family. The U.S. would be a lot healthier if the population just made more sensible dietary choices. Eating lots of highly processed food with too much factory farmed meat (and then leading a sedentary lifestyle on top of it) isn’t good for anyone. The simple act of eating less meats, more plant based foods, and definitely more whole foods does a world of good for overall health, the environment, and the soul.
Wakas Mir

Sep 11 08, 4:28 am PDT

38
Very nicely put together info Tina.. as always :)

I come from a family of non-veg and veg people. But in the past few months I have focused more on veg food, just to see the difference. And well couldn’t manage for so long although felt quite good and light as well.

I am sure more people can benefit from your info and decide.. :)
Anthony

Sep 11 08, 4:59 am PDT

39
See above web site for true clarity.
Z. Peters
Sep 11 08, 5:39 am PDT

40
It’s sad that there is no mention of exercise here…
Mike Robinson

Sep 11 08, 5:42 am PDT

41
This article has certainly given me a lot to think about. I’ll definitely be following it up with some research of my own so I can decide what I think is right for me. Very interesting.

Though you should note that while reading this I noticed there was two ad banners with big beef burgers on them (”Want to have a bite? Live & word in USA!” ad), so you might want to check your advertiser ;)
Wendi Kelly-Life's Little Inspirations

Sep 11 08, 5:54 am PDT

42
Tina,

I left a comment on your other blog, but I’ll ask the question here in case it benifits other readers. What about a severe aneamic person? I am under a Doctor’s care taking constant liquid iron and eating lean red meat, dark green veggies, calcium, vit C and D and still have very low iron. I shudder at the thought of what deciding to become vegan might do, although the humanity of the argument is very compelling, honestly, I would be afraid to try.

From my understanding, although veggies are a great source of iron, a lot of people’s bodies simply don’t assimilate the iron from those sources as well as from animal protein sources. Does anyone here know of any thoughts or research on that?

I enjoyed the article and I love learning new thoughts and perspectives on issues. I welcome the viepoints on this.
Scain
Sep 11 08, 6:33 am PDT

43
Oh man, it’s that one agruement that always gets me. Myself, I don’t eat meat, including fish. I do eat eggs, laid from chickens kept on my property and cared for by myself, and cheese occasionally, which I buy. I do not consider myself a vegetarian even if I fit into some definations of the practice, the day may come when I’m not able to be so discretionary in my diet choices. But that one arguement vegetarians make, the poor animals suffer & suffer for our pleasure, as if life so sacred. Actually for your life to continue, something living has to die. Animal, plant, bacteria, what difference does it make, life is life regardless of form and it takes life to continue life, this is just a fact of living. I know, it’s much easier to see the similarities animals share with us, but if you follow botany & biology, you’ll also know plants share almost all the same hallmarks with animals (including us) that we find so distressing when someone chooses to continue their life by eating animals.
Chris

Sep 11 08, 6:41 am PDT

44
Tina,

I stopped reading at

“Yet, we have a higher quality Health Care system compared to any other country. ”

Americans always assume they have the best of everything. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) ranks the US health care system 37th in the world - after countries such as Colombia.

Any health care system that only provides a decent level of care to those with insurance or large wallets will NEVER be number one in the world.

It’s a shame you succumbed to the rah-rah ‘america is best’ line in this article - as you had some great points to put forward. There was no need to try to overstate your case.

Chris
Brandi Magill

Sep 11 08, 6:59 am PDT

45
I am trying to go vegetarian for the health benefits but you brought up many more great reasons to do so Tina!
Terry
Sep 11 08, 7:16 am PDT

46
I understand your reasons behind pushing a Vegan diet, but it is just not me. I have unsubscribed from your newsletters Via Email after reading this. I felt the article was one sided and was pushing a agenda. Good luck and God bless.
June Savage
Sep 11 08, 7:19 am PDT

47
I have struggled with the whole should I be a vegetarian and agree with many of your points. I was for about twelve years and began eating meat again which I still do. One point I’d like to mention is the use of Tofu. If you go to www.mercola.com you will find much convincing evidence that tofu is actually anti-nutritional. So called “soy beverage” is filled with so much crap it really is a garbage food. History shows us that many cultures survived and were very healthy on an almost total animal protein diet. Today things are different, most of our meat is so filled with hormones and grain fed as opposed to grass fed that it is a crime. If one can find organic grass fed, free range and wild seafood from clean northern waters life would be grand. But for the masses this unfortunately is not viable. There are too many people on the planet, and too many corrupt corporations who are killing us with their greed. The 100 mile diet certainly has a great appeal, we must learn a new way of feeding ourselves with communities taking responsibility for its citizens if we are to survive.
Daniel Edlen

Sep 11 08, 7:44 am PDT

48
Like I’ve said before, I think it’s about balance. There are always going to be arguments for both sides, that’s the nature of a conflict between opposites. The trick is to listen to the other side, be tolerant, find understanding, and love.

Also, I think it’s about intent. Listen to your own body. Personally, I wouldn’t make choices that will physically affect me based upon political and social arguments from either side of an issue.

Life is individual.

Peace.
eDragonu

Sep 11 08, 7:55 am PDT

49
agree on everything except the shy tone… I’m a vegetarian for almost 3 years and it just made me feel great, period. No need to be shy on things that makes you feel great…

For the last month I’ve been a complete raw food vegan and the impact was an order of magnitude higher. Maybe you want to check on my thoughts on this one: edragonu.ro/raw-food-diet

Thanks for an informative article :)
Jonathan Mead

Sep 11 08, 7:57 am PDT

50
@ Aramal: That was classic.
Tina Su

Sep 11 08, 8:04 am PDT

51
Hey @Andrew and @Chris,

My bad for the mis-quote of the US having the best health care. This was an editing error on our part.

The original sentence was “US spends more money per capita on health care than any other country.”, but during editing it was re-worded by an editor.

I apologize for that, and thanks for catching it. :)
I’ve fixed the error in the post.

Warmly,
Tina
Shun Jian | RichGrad.com

Sep 11 08, 8:09 am PDT

52
Oh to add on to my previous comment, it’s quite hard to just go into a vegan diet like that… you can try the “cutting down” approach.

I was able to do that because I had already prepared my mind for it…
Chris

Sep 11 08, 8:39 am PDT

53
Hey,

Thanks for the correction Tina.

There are a lot of great reasons to go veggie.

George Monbiot has written about how meat-eating is not only a huge contributor to global warming and the future of this planet, but also how it contributes to world hunger.

Interestingly, like me, he is a meat eater. Also like me, he’s tried going vegetarian, but simply was not able to do it and feel healthy at the same time.

He’s gone so far as to do the calculations and work out which meats are actually the least harmful to the planet - both in terms of climate change and of diverting plant food sources from the human mouths that need them to the livestock that keeps us westerners plump.

A couple of short, interesting articles he’s written on the subject:

The Pleasures of the Flesh

The Poor Get Stuffed

It’s interesting stuff, and I’ve definitely cut down on my meat consumption as a result. I’ll often go 2-3 days in a row without any form of meat without even realising. But so far I’m just not able to give it up entirely.
mansuri
Sep 11 08, 9:04 am PDT

54
I learned from this is don’t eat meat without veggies. :-)
Nick
Sep 11 08, 9:51 am PDT

55
I would say that meat is delicious and I will continue to eat it in moderation and without guilt. All the animals we kill were bred for eating. If we all became vegans we would either kill them for other uses (like leather seating and designer handbags) and throw the food away, or they wouldn’t exist in the first place.

I sympathize with people starving to death in Africa who can’t understand why people in America that have SO MUCH, choose to starve themselves. Almost every strict vegan that I’ve met has been grossly underweight and I wouldn’t push that on anyone.

If you don’t want to eat meat or drink milk, fine. But don’t try to make me feel guilty for enjoying the top spot on the food chain.
Ernesto

Sep 11 08, 9:55 am PDT

56
Hey Tina,
did you consider killing yourself ?
It will most definetly spare your suffering amongs the carnivours !
It goes to all other vegans too :)
Tonyadaye
Sep 11 08, 10:03 am PDT

57
Humans are opportunistic eaters. We are omnivores. Just because we are capable of eating meat, doesn’t mean we have to eat it all the time. Just because rose petals are edible doesn’t make them nutritious or tasty.

A vegetarian diet is a good way to go, but you don’t have to be strict about it, either. I think a big problem some people have is the rabid way that some vegans and vegetarians present themselves. It’s become a political statement, rather than a health choice. I am not a strict vegetarian. I generally do not eat meat, but I might. I don’t drink milk, but I might have cheese every now and then. Cottage cheese is a good source of protein. I also might eat a piece of crispy bacon.

The point here is moderation. If you generally stick to fruits and vegetables, but occasionally chomp down a Big Mac, you are not going to keel over with a heart attack. If I feel like having a double scoop mint chip ice cream in a chocolate dipped waffle cone, my body is not going to suffer any lasting health defects.

I think one of the most MAJOR points is that Americans (I’m one of them) tend to simply consume too much food. Period. Our portion sizes are outrageous. My husband and I like to go to Claim Jumper. They’ve got fantastic food, but ridiculous portions! We like to get the Cobb Salad…. but we share one salad between the two of us AND we end up taking some home. There are four servings in one salad! We never order desert because one desert is larger than the average adult’s head! Americans are taught to eat until they’re stuffed. The proper way to eat a meal is to stop when you’re not hungry anymore, not when you physically are unable to shove another bite down your throat hole.
Gavin
Sep 11 08, 10:04 am PDT

58
Ok, the fact that people eat meat is not the reason for obesity. People get fat because they DONT EXERCISE. Many athletes eat upwards of 6000, 10000, even 12000 calories a day, a large portion of which is eggs and meat. You NEED a balanced diet…The majority of vegetarians I know look fragile and malnourished, and often complain about being tired.
Daniel

Sep 11 08, 10:06 am PDT

59
I watched the movie “Surfwise” the other day. One of the brothers in it quoted his father as saying something like, “For most of human history, man has struggled to not be hungry. Modern man now struggles to be hungry.” I found that very profound.
HowCanSheSlap
Sep 11 08, 10:06 am PDT

60
Interesting how “statistics” was used to play on your fears:
“One in three Americans will die of heart disease…That’s 3000 heart attacks in the next 24 hours….”
I guess the age of those who have died aren’t important enough to mention in this article. Try this table for size:
http://www.the-eggman.com/writings/death_stats.html

I don’t know how informative this article is or of what value it is to the readers of this blog. Seems more like preaching to the choir. You can’t save everyone! Why would you want to save everyone anyway?

I’m waiting for the morbidly obese couple next door to kick the bucket so their house will go up for sale. It’s a great piece of real estate.
Marc and Angel Hack Life

Sep 11 08, 10:10 am PDT

61
Thanks for sharing this information Tina. I wish I had it in me to quit eating meat, but I love it. I may try to take small baby steps towards reducing my intake.
Yardsnacker

Sep 11 08, 10:11 am PDT

62
Great to see this on Digg! I was blessed to find out about the living food movement, or raw vegan food lifestyle. I’ve reversed EVERY problem I had health wise, emotional and spiritual.

Great info, great job!
Omar Samad

Sep 11 08, 10:15 am PDT

63
OK, its not just meat thats the danger .. it’s processed foods in general .. over 90% of food purchased has been processed in some way or form, which is a scary statistic considering that anything processed will have added chemicals most of which will affect us in some way.

Cows milk is one of the most fascinating things ive read about, our bodies are not really designed to process cows milk, yet its amazing how many people consume it.

Think for a minute about if everyone wanted to eat meat every day.. where would we get that from? Answer lies in pumping cattle full of chemicals, dangerous chemicals that leek back into the meats and animal products.

2 years ago I did a life experiment, i went from a meat eating diet about 4/5 days a week .. to 0. and i dont think ive ever felt better in my life. Also im a very competative squash player, and was training for a big tournament in the mean time, i was on a training schedule of weights, and court drills, and matches about 4-5 days of the week, and i was fitter, and stronger than ever., powered by hemp and other vegetable proteins. That year I even won the Canadian Amateur championships as a vegetarian.

So I know it’s possible to achieve a lifestyle with out meat, and these days I will maybe have one or two days a week of meat, just from the convience of it already being prepared for me.
Sylvan Korvus

Sep 11 08, 10:18 am PDT

64
Fantastic article Tina. You put all the primary arguments for veganism forward in a sensitive, non-confrontational manner. While I’m sure many people will react with hostility towards the suggestion that there are good reasons to give up meat eating, from a rational standpoint it’s clearly the better choice.
meatatarian
Sep 11 08, 10:20 am PDT

65
Animals are so delicious though. I mean they really are. Seriously though, the only reason your body absorbs cholesterol and the majority of fats is due to the amount of insulin in your system from the carbs you ingest from grains and sugars. Little carbs, little absorption and high fat loss. Everything in moderation people. I lost 60 pounds this last year following this philosophy and I need protein from animals and dairy to build my physique. Eggs and milk are the key.
Ss

Sep 11 08, 10:25 am PDT

66
Nicely written. Makes me want to drop my luscious tenderloins.
/FF

Sep 11 08, 10:26 am PDT

67
Great info! Consumption of animal meat is creating eco-imbalance;
10-20 pounds of plant creates one pound of flesh - feeds one person
if you were to grow vegetables in the same space that you feed your livestock, you could feed more than 20 persons!
Rory Reiff

Sep 11 08, 10:30 am PDT

68
Excellent and well written article…a perfect summary that I can send to all my friends and family.
D
Sep 11 08, 10:34 am PDT

69
I think you need to eat some meat to have better critical thinking skills. No, you are not just a messenger, you articulated, summarized, and argued for vegetarianism. Again, please eat some meat, so you brain can function better and realize the difference.

So, you are saying no vegetarian or vegan EVER get cancer? If it’s as simple as turning on and off, why hasn’t it been hailed as a cure? No conspiracy theories please.

Industrial worlds are most responsible for the pollution in the world, does that mean everybody in the industrial worlds should stop reproducing, stop living, cause that’s equivalent of your suggestion of getting rid of the animals because their existence is causing the pollution. As oppose to the technology used or the lack of technology created to deal with the pollution, which humans are trying to do, like solar power?

Those numbers show a problem, however, the solution you propose is the same as what every dictator who commit genocide does, let’s simply get rid of the first thing associated with producing the problem.
“Jews owned all of the business, and we are not getting paid, let’s get rid of them.” “Indians are on our land, let’s get rid of them.”

The world is ever changing, just like we are learning to deal with new technologies and their consequences, i.e. internet and the ease of soliciting prostitutes, the solution is not elimination, but rather incorporation.

Eat some meat please, I think you need it.
Weirdsmobile

Sep 11 08, 10:39 am PDT

70
The author of this article has gone out of her way to stress that she isn’t trying to push the idea of vegetarianism on anybody. So the natural response of commenters on this article? “Stop trying to push vegetarianism on me!”

Do you people have any idea how ridiculously defensive you sound? Nobody is trying to tell you how to eat. This article is simply presenting information. If some of you find this threatening, well, that sucks, but it’s your own issue.

I’m not a vegetarian by any means — I’m actually enjoying some delicious ham as I write this — but I agree 100% with this article. Unlike some of you, my enjoyment of meat doesn’t mean I have to shut my eyes to the truth. It’s called making choices.

I’m willing to strike a compromise between optimum health and sensual pleasures. I know eating meat isn’t good for me, just as I know that a night of drunken carousing isn’t good for me. But I’m willing to indulge in those things consciously and in moderation.

This is not about proselytizing and converting people to a 100% vegan lifestyle. If you ate a diet of even 50% fresh fruits and vegetables, your health would improve vastly over that of the average Western eater.

So don’t worry, fellow meat eaters. Nobody is coming to take away your sausages. This is information. What you do with it is up to you.
Matt
Sep 11 08, 10:39 am PDT

71
You made many great points, Tina. I myself went vegetarian, then vegan due to ethical reasons (harming others = bad… not any more complicated than that), but the health benefits I find to be a nice reward. I would disagree with just one point of the book “Slaughterhouse” in that it’s hardly inhuman… the ability to toss conscious aside in order to satisfy greed is a human capacity that no other animal comes close to.

I’m often amused at the responses meat eaters have at the arguments for veganism/vegetarianism. The defensiveness and outright anger seems to stem right from the desire to consider themselves good people, while still contributing to pain and death.
Chris

Sep 11 08, 10:40 am PDT

72
There are some pretty ridiculous comments on here.

In my opinion, vegetarianism is awesome and something to strive towards, but I’ve tried and failed. I love my meat. So, with that in mind, the best thing I could do was drastically reduce how much meat I ate, and be more selective in the meat I do eat.

How do you do that?

Simple.

1. You don’t need to eat meat at every meal. I was raised on meat and potatoes. I understand that to most North Americans it’s not dinner unless there’s meat. But that’s just not true. Some of the most delicious meals I’ve ever had were vegetarian - healthy, delicious and filling.

2. I eat much more chicken than beef. Why? Because ever pound of chicken requires 2 lbs of grain or meal whereas every pound of beef requires 8 lbs of grain or meal - beef is 4 times worse on the environment and the price of grain (which affects hunger in developing nations).

3. Where possible, I buy free range chicken and eggs. Yes, it’s more expensive. If I couldn’t afford it, then I just wouldn’t buy chicken. Did you know they slice the beaks off of chickens and turkeys so that they don’t peck each other in the confined living spaces they’re subjected to? That it’s done with no pain killers? Regardless of how much you enjoy the taste of meat, that’s just sickening and not something I want my money to contribute towards.

Ultimately, vegetarianism is awesome, and I’m glad there are people who have stepped up and gone the whole step.

For the rest of us - we can still do our part by cutting down on how much meat we eat. Start slowly. Find a few really nice vegetarian recipes that you really like.

As for the militant meat eater brigade - why so defensive? This is an important issue that needs to be discussed. Tina walks her talk, so how is her viewpoint any less valid than yours?
Webwarlock
Sep 11 08, 10:41 am PDT

73
I have a lot of issues with the fad of vegetarianism.

I don’t believe it’s the meat that’s killing us, it’s the carbs. If you cut your potatoes, your bread, your pasta, your rice, and eat meat and vegetables your body is forced to burn the fat for fuel instead of storing it as fat or cholesterol. Heart disease and diabetes drops.

Raising animals for food doesn’t kill the planet if you do it right. Instead of trying to shut down the meat industry, why not be realistic and call for more sustainable farming? Aquaponics grows fish and vegetables more efficiently than growing vegetables either via hydroponics or traditional agriculture; no oil based fertilizers are required, and less water is used. Eating a fish raised using aquaponics is better for the environment than eating a traditionally grown, or hydroponically grown vegetable.

more info here
http://www.drjaywortman.com/blog/wordpress/my-big-fat-diet-faqs/
Shane
Sep 11 08, 10:44 am PDT

74
Can you please give some advice on making the transition to vegetarianism? Especially for a 38-year-old male whose wife and daughter will likely not follow suit?
Shane
Sep 11 08, 10:45 am PDT

75
@Aramal, please do whatever you can to speed up the process.
Lewis H
Sep 11 08, 10:46 am PDT

76
I’ve gotten the notion that humans, although omnivores and exquisitely adaptable, have evolved to eat fruits and seeds. What do Monkeys monkeys eat?

When we left the jungle and headed into the savanna we had to scavenge our food, we couldn’t kill things, because we were slow and hadn’t developed weapons yet. But we had hands, and we used them to break open the bones of the freshly dead and scavenged corpses, to eat marrow. Plus, seeds were a majority of our diet and that’s the path we’ve evolved and specialized from.
The hunter-gatherer notion of human origin came after, still the majority of our calories came from seeds, since hunting was hard we relied on gathering.

I cast my trust in veganism, since I find myself more ethically inclined. But, will buy meat locally.
Flapjack

Sep 11 08, 10:47 am PDT

77
I respect everyone’s lifestyle, whether it be vegetarian or not. I love veggies to no end and I even enjoy the occasional veggie burger (okay, I love those things). What bothers me is ludicrous statements to subconsciously make people vegans. First off, meat WON’T kill you. Other bodies are MADE to eat and digest meat. Our bodies are MADE to eat and digest meat. Saying meat will kill us is like saying air is going to kill us… which with pollution it might. But that is besides the point. You can’t deny the fact that evolution (or God) made us omnivores. Meat brings a lot of great things to the table and so does eating vegetables.

The problem with meat is that now a days there are so many additives to it, it not as “pure” as it used to be. Okay, so burnt mean has cancer carcinogens in it. We have been eating meat for how long? The reason cancer is an issue now is because of pollution and chemicals put into items we use every day. Most farms use toxic pesticides on vegetables.

Also a claim about meat contributes to global warming: okay?? What about all the farm equipment that is needed to harvest your vegetables. What about the stuff that isn’t in season? All of that has to be flown here, which contributes to global warming.

The fact is that global warming isn’t a problem of meat or veggies – the problem is the technology that powers them from place a to place b.
Tony
Sep 11 08, 10:48 am PDT

78
I think the late Bill Hicks said it best when talking about smoking vs. non-smokers when he said: “You’re gonna die too.” We all have to die of something, and I like meat, and sweets, and cigarettes, and all the other things bad for me.
I’d rather have a short life that I enjoyed, than a long one where I was miserable all the time.
Benjamin Franklin
Sep 11 08, 10:48 am PDT

79
Eat to live, don’t live to eat.
Flapjack

Sep 11 08, 10:49 am PDT

80
By the way, I don’t eat a ton of meat. Only about once or twice a week. But honestly, I could never give it up. I love it too much :D
Jason
Sep 11 08, 11:00 am PDT

81
I would like to start by saying that I am not averse to a vegetarian diet especially given our access to a variety of foodstuffs in America and that I myself have been on a vegetarian diet for the past 3 months as a self experiment to see how my body reacts. That said I must disagree with one of the articles statements by way of William Roberts M.D. While i’m sure he knows what hes talking about when it comes to medicine and cardiology I think he may be a little less informed when it comes to evolutionary biology, specifically human evolution. While he is correct that we are not natural carnivores, he is incorrect in saying that we are natural herbivores. We are actually natural omnivores. Humans as a species being around 200,000 years old give or take have always in a general manner incorporated both meat and various vegetables into their diets. Prior to that going back some 2 million years all of our direct ancestors have incorporated similar eating patterns. In fact, among biological anthropologists (myself being one) and others in the scientific community, brain growth in our ancestors is attributed to their discovery of bone marrow (a highly nutritious substance) inside animal bones. Generally they were meat scavengers and this was often the only nutritious part of an animal left that other species without hands and opposable thumbs could get to. It is also worth mentioning that many of our closest relatives, i.e. the chimpanzee eat meat when available and will actually hunt monkeys for such reasons. Gorillas on the otherhand are strictly vegetarian which explains the enormous size of their gut which is required due to the vast amounts of vegetation they must consume on a daily basis. Now like i said I think vegetarians today can live healthfully but at the same time i think its important to understand where we came from in terms of our diet and that without meat in that diet it is very likely we would not exist today to be having this discussion. thank you
Greg
Sep 11 08, 11:02 am PDT

82
Good article. I’m a vegetarian myself, but I don’t think everyone needs to become vegetarian. I do, however, think it is important that we reduce animal products in our diet drastically. Have you heard of the plate method? Take a plate and divide it in half. Divide one of those halves in half again. Vegetables go in the biggest spot. “Protein” goes in one of the quarters, and grains in the final quarter. Currently, most people would likely choose to put “protein” in the biggest spot. This leads to diets where we eat a 16 oz. steak and have two carrots and two broccoli florets on the side. In truth, if the average person could shift to eating 16oz. of broccoli and two baby-carrots worth of steak instead, we’d be in a better place.

However, most people are surprised how good a no-meat diet can be. I do all the cooking, and even though my girlfriend hasn’t officially converted to vegetarianism, she usually keeps up with it when we go to places that have meat options. If you think about it, most of the flavors in our diet come from plants anyway.
peppy
Sep 11 08, 11:10 am PDT

83
I love seeing Digg care about stuff that isn’t Batman, Mr.Babyman, Sarah Palin, etc.

Veganism is the way to be. Vegetarians shouldn’t be so intimidated by it, really, it’s difficult for the first few weeks but then you figure it all out and now I can’t imagine going back.

On another note, I originally went vegan solely for the reason of animal rights, then as a happy side-effect dropped 20lbs without even attempting to lose anything. Just trying to eat a healthy vegan diet. No calorie counting or junk like that. Kept it off 5 years now, again, no effort.
Anon
Sep 11 08, 11:15 am PDT

84
Even though the article is VERY selective in it’s arguments that doesn’t invalidate the ones that aren’t. The article is slanted but also has some good info. Thanks for writing this, but on a hotly debated topic such as vegetarianism it benefits everyone the more objective you are.
blynn
Sep 11 08, 11:40 am PDT

85
I’ve been lived on a vegetarian diet for close to 5 years now and recently saw a hollistic doctor about stomach and back pain. Come to find out that my vegetarian lifestyle was causing me catastrophic digestive problems and I was terribly malnurished due to the lack of animal protien. I was given tons of scientific research on the health myths of vegetarian diets; I’ve read through it all and must agree with what was being said. The doctor urged me to introduce meat into my diet. I’ve had trouble doing so and thus have been given a long list of supplements and vitamins I will need to take everyday for the rest of my life to maintain a healthy digestive system and body all together.

just some food for thought
Will
Sep 11 08, 11:43 am PDT

86
Ask yourself why, this is off the top of my head why I still convince myself to eat meat:

Vegan ingredients tend to be inaccessible,
It’s expensive,
Vegan food generally tastes like crap,
It takes far more time and effort to prepare
Poor sources of protein. I would probably need to eat a bag of almond nuts to get the equivalent amount of protein from a piece of steak.
Say for example you got lost out in the wilderness, how would you survive? Whilst I’m chomping on a rabbit or some wild Salmon I just caught what are you going to do?

Diseases / Ethical Implications
I always buy organic, free range. And I eat in moderation. I don’t eat meat everyday. I also eat fish.
niaher

Sep 11 08, 12:22 pm PDT

87
I have always believed in the balanced diet, but hearing all the facts about the damage to the environment from meat production, makes me think once again. If I am changing to a vegetarian then the prime motive for me will be the environmental aspect. As for the health - moderation is the key. The statistics you presented about Americans are really different from the rest of the world, and mainly coz you guys are eating way too much from fast food chain stores like McDonalds, whilst the rest of the world still cooks at home.
Dan

Sep 11 08, 1:30 pm PDT

88
I’ve been vegan for over 5 years now and I’ve never felt better. I’m a long distance runner and a mountain climber and I’ve found my recovery time from extended runs and climbs has been cut in half (probably due to less lactic acid [from dairy products] in my system). I live in a somewhat rural area with NO big natural foods stores and I find being vegan incredibly easy. It seems most people who criticize vegan living have never given it an adequate try and know very little or nothing about what vegans eat (and it opens up a whole new world of awesome food of which most people aren’t aware).

FYI, Scott Jurek, a long-time ultra marathoner who has absolutely dominated the sport, has had excellent recovery and success as a vegan for about 8 years now.

For more on vegan Scott Jurek and his domination in ultra marathons, check out his website:
http://www.scottjurek.com/career.php
Amy
Sep 11 08, 2:57 pm PDT

89
Tony: (there was probably more than one Tony so this is to the most recent one :P)

I love Bill Hicks and the knowledge that he once existed comforts me greatly, and I still have to disagree with you.
Yes we will die one day anyway, (yet I do not meet many vegans/vegetarians or raw vegans who think they are immortal) but some people think their life is about more their temporary pleasures, or using food as an emotional analgesic. I for one believe that there is oppourtunity in every moment for growth, and greater joy in life.
For me, conscious eating is mostly about my spiritual growth (Bill Hicks statement on consciousness being on my wall right now) and I believe that I can choose in every moment whether to eat foods that will not only be the most nutritious for my body (and I don’t care to argue, but to let it be known that I have tried various diets and found one that has many benefits for me over the S.a.D.) but will be most beneficial for my emotional, physical, and spiritual being.

Although being 18 years old and having had cystic and normal acne since I was 13, my acne completely clearing up is still the best side-effect of raw foodish eating. (I still eat things if I feel like them, I’m not a food fascist! :P)
I remember reading in a book on Bill Hicks about when he quit smoking and his audidence booed him and kept throwing cigarettes on the stage. He explicitly told them that his views were and still were always about the choice and the freedom to make that choice. I have nothing against people who don’t eat the way I do, or disagree with me. I would however like to exercise my free speech in saying I’ve tried it for myself and I think other people should give it a try and see if there’s any truth in it. 30 days wouldn’t be long enough to give you malnutrition unless you’re Morgan Spurlock!
Kris

Sep 11 08, 5:07 pm PDT

90
Tina,
You’ve summed up the reasons for considering a vegan diet extremely well. From health to animal cruelty to environmental reasons, there is a compelling case to switch to a more plant based diet.

In my book The Secrets to a Healthy Life, I discuss diet as one of five factors to living your healthiest life. I try to stress to my readers to take things slowly, as you have prescribed.

I also share how when I first heard of the vegan concept I thought it was ridiculous. But it opened my mind to the possibility of it. As I read more information on how diet impacts health, it became a concept that started to make sense. A year later it became pretty easy switch for me.

To me plants=life. The higher percentage my diet is live or cooked plants the healthier. Sometimes I still have an animal based food, and it’s not a big deal.

I think the value of this post is that it will be many people’s first introduction to the concept. That will create the opportunity for each person who reads this to eventually choose a path that will make them healthier.

Nice job!
Russ

Sep 11 08, 8:22 pm PDT

91
I am a meat eater, however I consider myself a socially responsible meat eater. In the past years I have significantly cut back on how much meat and dairy I eat (and also gone vegetarian on and off), and have also tried to be more responsible about what I do bring into my home. Meaning organic dairy, and free range and artificial growth hormone free meats. A lot of why I actually still eat meat and dairy at all is convenience. Sometimes it is just hard to find what I want, and sometimes I am just bad and indulge. But regardless, I agree 100% with this topic, modern diets are killing us. Sure, we will all die some time of something, but that doesn’t change the fact that we put things in our bodies that were never intended to be in there. I am actually very interested in raw diets as well, as I have read numerous accounts of people beating diseases and cancers simply by going “raw”. Just giving our bodies what they naturally need. Great article!
Shun Jian | RichGrad.com

Sep 11 08, 9:38 pm PDT

92
Tina, maybe you can cover “juicing” and the process of doing it in a related article. Just a suggestion… =)
Noe Garcia
Sep 12 08, 5:37 am PDT

93
Miss Tina,
I just love your post, I need to make sure to put some $$$ for your avocados - I love avocados I can eat them just by peeling them :)

Love ya
Noe
fran

Sep 12 08, 6:19 am PDT

94
I’ve realized lately that I’m eating less and less meat, specially red meat.The taste is just not good anymore, though I still like the other ones. I am aware of the way they treat animals, the enviromental issues and all, but I’m not vegetarian…it just seems weird, but you made me wanna try it :) I already eat mostly veggies, so is not that hard! I’ll try the”vegetarian monday” thing to see if it works for me,thanks a lot!
Alison Wiley

Sep 12 08, 7:11 am PDT

95
Sara, I really respect your integrity in taking on this topic, and going out on a limb. It’s hard for all of us to stomach (no pun intended) that we have as much impact as we do when we choose food to put in our mouths. For myself, I need a lot of encouragement from others (like you) in order to make ethical choices consistently. This short article of mine looks at another angle of ethical eating: http://www.diamondcutlife.org/update-on-cooking-for-climate-change/
Mark

Sep 12 08, 8:04 am PDT

96
There has never been a race, society, country or other large group that has existed entirely on plants (or, conversely, without animal products). Even Campbell’s China study cohorts. The recommendation to “eat a plant-based diet” doesn’t mean that you should avoid meat. Both are necessary for optimum health. The caveat for meat-eaters is to find grass-fed animals that approximate what our ancestors ate (and what our genes evolved to ideally process) for over a million years.

Furthermore, to suggest that grains and soy are a good source of protein is like saying roofing nails are a good source of iron. The research on how bad grains are as a staple is now pretty overwhelming. Millions of people in the USA alone suffer from myriad health conditions because the UDSA food pyramid encourages them to seek these substandard foods.

Humans evolved to eat plants (unprocessed), animals and insects. Full stop.
Si

Sep 12 08, 1:35 pm PDT

97
1. If you think veganism is good for you, wait till you try raw :)

2. Ignore the haters. Everyone thinks they’re an expert on food.
Michelle
Sep 12 08, 3:37 pm PDT

98
This is a really thoughtful, well-researched post, Tina. Ethically and environmentally I agree wholeheartedly with you.

But every person’s body chemistry is different. Humans are omnivores ( I didn’t think that was in debate anymore, but I could be wrong.) Also, soy is as problematic and allergenic a food as wheat is, and the Textured Vegetable Protein used in meat substitutes is fake, chemical and genetically modified - not good for you.

Out of sickening guilt over the way factory farming practices affects animals in our country, animals we eat, I chose last year to go vegetarian. It wasn’t that difficult for me in terms of taste, and it was certainly easier on my wallet.

But within a month my hair was falling out, my knee joints were aching all the time inexplicably, I was more tired, moody and emotional, and my skin was sallow. And I wasn’t just carbing out, neglecting vitamins and fiber either. I’ve always aimed for 5-7 fruit & vegetable servings a day, as well as flaxseed and flaxseed oil every day, whether I’m eating meat or not. But the simple reality for me was that going meat-free made me feel unhealthy. I started eating just fish again and felt so much better. And it hurts my heart to think that we as a society have created a world where obtaining fish, something that’s clearly good for my body chemistry, involves hurting the environment. But nevertheless that’s my reality. Did you check out the book “Omnivore’s Dillema” in your research? I totally recommend it. In particular it talks about how we have removed ourselves from our food source, making killing animals less sacred. I believe we all have to make wise, even spiritual decisions about this issue that carefully balance the best diet for ourselves along with concern for the global good. I try to give thanks to the animal that gave its life for me every time I eat an animal product. That’s my ritual, much the way ancient humans said prayers and other rituals before sacrificing an animal for a village celebration.

Yes, the chicken, egg and beef industries are very upsetting. I cannot in any way argue with that. But in terms of cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease…there’s a big difference between eating fast food and eating home-prepared, well-sourced products. (By the way, there has yet to be a study that conclusively shows eating eggs raises cholesterol. Also, the biggest cause of diabetes is overeating refined carbs - again, I didn’t think that was in debate anymore, but I could be wrong.)

Another nutritionist whom you might find interesting is Anne Louise Gittleman. I don’t work for her and sorry to sound like an ad for a second here - but I’ve truly never felt better, leaner, stronger, healthier (especially my immunity and allergies) than since following her advice of eating 2 eggs a day, 8 ounces of lean meat a day, moderate amounts of lactose-free whey powder (no dairy otherwise) and not a single refined carb. And of course, tons and tons and tons and tons of veggies, moderate amounts of fruit, along with a few simple organic supplements and omega oil. According to her, hormone imbalances and liver toxicity play a HUGE role in high blood pressure and cholesterol (not to mention infertility, depression, etc.) And they are largely caused by refined carbs, alcohol, caffeine, drugs like Tylenol, etc. My cholesterol, blood pressure and weight all dropped very significantly by following her liver-supporting diet, which truthfully includes more animal products than I naturally would eat. For me, bad carbs and chemically stripped and processed foods are what’s disastrous for my health - not animal products. It’s not easy or cheap to find the best, most humane, organic sourced animal products. The beef industry is the worst - there are only 3 or 4 farms that raise truly grass-fed, humanely slaughtered cows. And they’re in the midwest, so I pay an arm and a leg for shipping to the west coast. But it’s worth it to me because I love both my health AND the planet.

One final note about the “every body is different” topic: I’ve heard a theory that ethnic ancestry, due to geographical climate, plays a role in how much meat or dairy you can or cannot eat. The idea is people whose genetic ancestors lived in colder climates (basically white people), evolved with digestive systems favoring slow-burning fuel to keep them warmer and last longer when food is scarce. That’s animal protein. Humans who lived in more tropical climates, where plants grow like crazy with little cultivation effort, where food just literally grows on trees ripe for the picking, had easier access to food, and could eat more frequently, so were better off with faster-burning fuel - carbohydrates. One bit of evidence that supports this is the fact that Asians are about 95% lactose intolerant, and Caucasians are only about 40% lactose intolerant.

Anyway, just some food for thought (pardon the pun!)
greenerman
Sep 12 08, 6:31 pm PDT

99
Oh, how little I know. Meat tastes so good, though. I had read that research could not tell whether it was the meat or lack of fresh veggies and fruits that was linked to health effects when comparing meat eaters with vegetarians. The few vegetarians I know do not strike me as healthier specimens compared to me. I think exercise is more important than food, overall.

I will read more….while eating some chicken. Thanks!
dave

Sep 12 08, 6:45 pm PDT

100
I agree, meat is just gross when you REALLY think about it. And pretty unhealthy to boot.

Click my name for a great recipe for a fake meat “chicken nugget” that tastes just like the morningstar/boca ones.
Natalie

Sep 12 08, 8:45 pm PDT

101
What we really need is a greater appreciation of our health, life, and environment.

Thanks Tina.
Cath
Sep 13 08, 1:04 am PDT

102
Why did you put a picture of the last supper to go with the article? Did you mean to show the implications of eating meat? ;D
Kerry
Sep 13 08, 3:11 am PDT

103
Well done Tina! People need to wake up that the planet is indeed finite, and that this destructive ‘lifestyle’ has a price. A price that is too high.
Chris Sharp

Sep 13 08, 9:14 am PDT

104
Thank you Tina! Just for the reasons of environmental harm and the way meat is actually prepared these days, I am more inclined to eat a lot less of it. The way it is being made to maximize production isn’t sustainable at all. If I saw what happens to the cow, chicken, or pig that I eat, I might not want to ever eat it again… but on the other hand, there’s many years of indoctrination to overcome about eating lots of meat, so going easy on serving size or gradually reducing it down to a few times a week would be a good approach I feel.
If we only listen to our animal more consciously, it will always tell us what it needs to be healthy. If a well-balanced diet, (and I mean food that’s whole, organic if possible, non-processed), is followed regularly in life, one will live healthier. Also, to prevent stress from happening. This may be as detrimental as an unbalanced diet.

One thing I’ve noticed since living in Japan, eating a very different diet of vegetables and more fish, I’ve lost the craving for the kind of food served in American restaurants, from the portion size, to the amount of fats like in the loads of cheese you find in so many dishes. I am originally from New Mexico, and from my perspective, the food has a lot of cheese in it, especially New Mexico style enchiladas. Though in Japan, cheese is a specialty food and not at all part of a traditional Japanese diet. Though it’s changing for the worse in the youth diets these days. McDonald’s is very popular among children here. Personally since following a typical Japanese diet of rice, miso soup, vegetables, tofu, fish, soba and udon noodles, and meat on occasion, has been a great switch since living here.
Simple Mindz

Sep 13 08, 12:06 pm PDT

105
I never really eat all that much meat. I like it - love chicken actually, but after seeing that video (which I could not finish watching) I am considering never eating meat again.
I eat mostly vegies & fruits as it is, so I do not think giving up meat for good would be too hard for me.
I do not think I want to give it up ALL the time though - and will reserve “meat eating” for Holidays.
That video was horrible. I understand we are at the top of the food chain - but it does not mean we have the right be so cruel. We still have the ability to stop suffering and come up with much more safer and sanitary ways.
Maxine
Sep 14 08, 2:51 am PDT

106
Part of the ‘defensive meat-eating brigade’. I don’t disagree that meat & dairy should be eaten in moderation and that we are eating far too much as a society at the moment and that animals are being made to live in terrible conditions just to guarantee a cheap supply of meat (so we can over-eat some more) but eh… this article is a touch too hysterical.

So to reiterate, the point is MODERATION. Turning into a rabid evangelical vegan with control issues is not moderation. We really have to evolve past this need to classify everything as either very good or totally evil. It is a very simplistic way of viewing the world and really doesn’t ultimately help in any sphere of life.
racheldiatene
Sep 14 08, 8:41 am PDT

107
I would ask:

who are you ‘associated with’?; what have they done and what do they do
the meat industry kills more than 10 billion animals a year: what and who do the major pollutants kill each year—heart and lungs disease, cancer and its related diseases?
the exhaust from all the cars in the world? (which you do not associate with theeffects of the meat industry) And what other forms of pollution is caused…carbonic, for example, in China
Knowledge is a powerful energy…show me how, even in dictionary definitions that knowledge is a powerful energy

Show me how knowledge give the gift of understanding : You know a tree grows, its biology and its death but do you understand why?

we are empowered to make more informed decisions that benefit our wellbeing and benefit the world we live in. being informed is not being empowered. Really this discussion is difficult.

Should I continue? I ask myself. Does it serve any purpose for a stubborn person?

Let the readers decide.

The soft hearted and lower-educated will say one thing.
The ones who expect more rigour in discussions will say another.

I suspect the softies win out in this and we go on to world descending into mush.
bobo
Sep 14 08, 8:37 pm PDT

108
You say that all these meat foods are bad and contribute to heart disease. They contribute to heart disease because people eat them and then sit around and let the fat saturate their body. America is becoming enamored with all of these low fat, low sodium, low cholesterol food. If you are physically active and exercise enough you can eat whatever you want and not have to worry about it. I can eat an amazing steak and know that I am using that fat for energy within 24 hours. If you are a vegetarian for moral reasons I think that is highly respectable. You may site these supposed terrible effects on your health but you can find any information you want on the internet as far as what food is healthy and what isn’t. Meat is perfectly fine for you if you are willing to do more than sit around and watch T.V. all day; or blog all day.
Laura
Sep 15 08, 11:43 pm PDT

109
I can never find a way to explain all the reasons why I’m vego- you’ve done it so well.
Jay

Sep 17 08, 2:28 pm PDT

110
As soon as the bacon plant gets engineered, I’m right behind ya.
Liara Covert

Sep 17 08, 4:55 pm PDT

111
Human beings raise self-awareness in different ways. I evolved toward vegetarianism because it makes sense to me. People can rationalize or justify why they do or do not make certain choices. As you evolve to listen more closely to the signs from your physical body, not only will you attune to energies and clues to your dreams, you will also evolve to make eating choices that energize rather than drain you. Since we are all interconnected to the planet and energy fields many levels seen and unseen, every choice you make has wider implications than you realize.
Shun Jian | RichGrad.com

Sep 18 08, 1:43 am PDT

112
To lead a healthier life, it’s important to focus on what you want (good health), not what you don’t want (cancer).
rams
Sep 18 08, 4:58 am PDT

113
Cruelty to animals is not happening in US alone ,Its much worse in developing countries such as my country India,But People here are changing to vegetarians lately.
The point is not whether we die or not.But how these fellow creatures suffers in their life and meet peace only in their death.
We have a options in our life ,we are no more barbarians or species controlled by evolution or nature.We have an option to make things
correct ,the way it should have been long ago.I am sure we will grow
out of it.
racheldiatene
Sep 19 08, 12:41 pm PDT

114
I have a friend who is an expert on the ways to treat psoriasis
Chris

Sep 20 08, 9:23 pm PDT

115
Nice article. May we all have a healthy eating habits.
Armand
Sep 20 08, 11:22 pm PDT

116
Human are not exactly herbivores. Herbivores are cows and rabbits, who have ways to digest plant cellulose ( the fibers you have mentioned above). cellulose and sucrose share one thing in common: they are both polymers of sugar, and cows can get sugar out of the plant fibers they eat. As for rabbits, I don’t know if you have heard of a behavior in rabbits that they produce poop with a membrane wrappings, and let the cellulose digesting bacteria living in their gut to slowly digest it, and rabbits will eat their poop once the cellulose are properly digested into sugar. now, the monkeys, our ancestors, were truly herbivores, and they shared the same style of plant digestion as rabbits. we humans have lost the genes to keep the cellulose digesting bacteria in our gut, and also our ancestor’s way of eating the poop.

what is really wrong about why meat damages human health is due to another mutation in our genes. you can find out more about it in this link:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/07/08/scimolecule108.xml

although it’s not 100% confirmed by current study, it has some strong evidence.

and also that even though plants does have the protein, sucrose, and minerals we need, it doesn’t have all the vitamins a human need. One of them I know of is Vitamin B12, so be sure you take the supplement :)
Liz

Sep 21 08, 9:55 am PDT

117
Great post. I’ve been considering vegetarianism for a long time (tried it once in college and ended up getting sick all of the time — of course I’m sure I didn’t have the best diet back then).
I do limit my meat intake to about 2 meals per week. The meat I do eat includes humanely raised and grass-fed beef, humanely raised pork, organic chicken.
I don’t think I’ll ever go full-fledged vegan… I love artisanal cheese too much, and honey, and dairy-based ice cream.
I try to be very mindful about everything I eat, and I can see myself as a vegetarian someday soon.
Mandy

Sep 29 08, 9:21 pm PDT

118
Going and staying vegan does amazing things for your willpower. It is true that meat tastes good, but I don’t need and and I feel better without it. I rarely miss cheese, and I was a cheese-a-holic vegetarian.

I’m vegan because I feel that I don’t need to eat animals or their products to be happy and healthy. I’m constantly trying to cut them out of my life as much as possible.

Thank you for this article. I wish you all the best heath.
Megan
Oct 01 08, 10:19 am PDT

119
I went vegetarian 18 months ago after watching the final scene in Fast Food Nation. That was it for me. I’ve been toying with the idea of going vegan for awhile - but the fact that eggs are in everything makes me nuts. My solution is to purchase food with eggs/milk in it from reputable companies - people who care like I do so I feel pretty comfortable with the fact that they get their eggs from people who treat their animals with some respect.
berkeleyjew
Oct 02 08, 10:44 am PDT

120
I think any approach that involves rigid dietary habits is at odds with our omnivorous nature. We have canines for tearing meat along with our plant-friendly incisors, and our molars are equally capable of cracking bones and grinding tough plant matter. Omnivores would eat plant matter most of the time, as it’s more readily obtained, and occasionally animal matter when the opportunity presents itself.

However, because meat is such a concentrated source of energy, and because it’s much harder for an omnivorous animal to obtain (versus fruit and vegetables) our sense of taste rewards us for eating meat much more than for vegetables. We are biochemically programmed to want meat more than vegetables, so that we’re willing to expend the extra effort to get some.

The problem is that while we now have the capability of having meat whenever we want, we also still have the biochemical programming to encourage us to obtain it. So we eat far more than we’ve ever been able to before.

I think the vegetarian diet is very similar to our natural diet, the one on which our omnivorous ancestors evolved to thrive, and that’s why it’s much more healthy than a “constant meat” diet. Many vegetarian diets also encourage people to cook their own food from raw materials, eliminating most of the nutrition and health problems derived from modern processed food. However, I don’t believe meat should be eliminated entirely. Why would we have a taste for something which is completely bad for us?
John

Oct 02 08, 11:19 am PDT

121
I was veg for 3 three years. I felt an immediate up tick in my health. I was able to shed 10 of the 20 pounds i had gain over the previous couple of years. I did not get upset stomachs any more. My then girlfriend who got me started, was sickly (meaning she got sick often) and was allergic to tons of stuff, she went pretty much vegan (I couldn’t give up the cheese). After the 2 year period she hardly gets sick and a bunch of her allergies are gone.

Don’t get me wrong we were never condescending toward any one who ate meat. Eating meat is perfectly natural for humans, but we made a choice to be veg and that was our decision. We often talked about how we would raise our kids and decided that we would let them make their own choice. But if they wanted meat they have to make themselves, it would be a family not a diner.
Liz

Oct 02 08, 5:40 pm PDT

122
berkeleyjew,

Thank you for the rational, science-based response.

I would say my diet is probably in line with our omnivorous ancestors in some ways (except for the processed organic cookies and ice cream I eat!). I choose to eat mostly veggies, grains, legumes, and fruit, with meat (only humanely raised) once or twice per week.

I totally support vegetarianism and veganism for their ethical and environmental implications.
Dan
Oct 09 08, 3:27 pm PDT

123
Berkeleyjew,

Taste, good feelings, etc, are not necessarily an indication that something is good for us, and it is especially not a degree-correlation. For example, certain spices make some food taste much better than without such species, but the spices themselves may have little or no nutritional value. Another example: heroin and crack cocaine makes us feel good (temporarily) and are very addictive, but are, in fact, completely bad for us.

It’s true that animal products in small amounts will not harm our health; however, they are in no way necessary for our health, and with the variety of vegan foods available today, it is not “rigid” to follow a well-balanced vegan diet.

With changing circumstance comes changing morality. Speciesism may have been very understandable in much different circumstances, but it is no longer morally justifiable today. Today, speciesism is just another cultural prejudice we ought to try to overcome, as racism was in the 19th century. The following is a blog essay challenging our speciesism as a cultural prejudice:

http://unpopularveganessays.blogspot.com/2008/10/cultural-prejudice-sentience.html
Morag
Oct 11 08, 12:17 pm PDT

124
I found this article interesting, and I certainly was not aware of the negative environmental impact of meat eating. I had also not thought much about how our dental arrangement (nowadays, at least) is a herbivorous indicator.

As a partial vegetarian, I’m not in the “need to be converted” camp at all. However, I would say that I do object to deliberately emotive words such as The baby cows are yanked away from their mothers, all the while mooing furiously for her as she tries to follow. For the four months of their lives until slaughter, they live in the dark without ever getting to suckle, play in the field, or learn to walk on their wobbly legs being used to argue the case.

I sell cloth nappies for my business, and there too I object to the women who promote them by trying to scare parents away from disposables. Do it because it is right for you, if it is. Same here.
gluten free
Oct 12 08, 7:10 am PDT

125
If you go vegetarian and find your health does not improve, consider the issue of gluten intolerance and/or celiac disease. It is under-diagnosed in this country, but really quite common in most gene pools with the exception of Asian.

DH discovered this after we tried to improve and “green” our diets over the last few years. It turns out that he is intolerant of wheat, dairy, soy and eggs, all the foods introduced to the human diet with the beginnings of agriculture . He seems to do best on the “Paleo” diet.
bethany

Oct 16 08, 6:28 pm PDT

126
What if I were to tell you that some of your facts came from research that wasn’t exactly true? While I am a huge fan of Michael Pollan too, I don’t think he advocates being a vegetarian. He is a fan of Nina Planck’s who wrote “Real Food”. Read that book and see where meat fits in a human’s diet and how there are some things we can’t get from plants. While we may not have teeth shaped like dog’s, we do have canine teeth for biting meat and hands to help with the kill. I’m not saying people shouldn’t be vegetarians, but there’s no conclusive scientific evidence that humans are not meant to eat meat and that it’s not healthy. Same with dairy. We have just changed our meat and dairy into things that are harder to digest and we’ve forgotten moderation. My family drinks raw milk and eats only free-range meats from farmers who I know and am familiar with their farming methods. It’s actually risky for a pregnant woman to be going strictly vegetarian. Again, check out Nina Planck’s website. It’s time to stop listening to every study out there, because a lot of them rely on data that ignores the diversity in the study and generalizes way too much. Humans are miraculously complex and we are all different!
Sarah
Oct 18 08, 10:04 am PDT

127
This is awesome that you researched and summerized those important facts everyone needs to know. I grinned throughout your entry, since I knew most of these facts. I have been off gluten and dairy for almost 2 years(lost 50lbs!). I never eat chicken, pork, or beef. My only exception is venison (deer), for my dad hunts. I see this as moral since the deer have been wild, and usually being shot is instant.

“The Ethics of What We Eat-why our food choices matter” by Peter Singer is an EXCELLENT book. Also, if you have not seen the documentary, “Future Foods”, its a must;) I believe ultimately mass producing food(primarily animal) that inturn pollutes our planet, will increase the population, thus causing the need to produce more food for more people. More food=more pollution=more people. Its a viscious cycle. People don’t understand how there is food all around us that the earth provided. Greed will cause human extinction.
Vincent | HealthMoneySuccess.com

Oct 29 08, 10:28 pm PDT

128
That is a lot of information on converting to vegetarian. I am thinking of making a transition to vegetarian by taking baby steps. I am taking less meat nowadays and hopefully I can become a full vegetarian.

Cheers
Vincent
Personal Development Blogger
Nicholas Powiull

Nov 02 08, 9:48 am PST

129
I used to sleep every 4 hours for 15 minutes around the clock. I had 6 naps total in 24 hour period. In other words, I was getting a total of 1.5 hours of sleep (I did it for 273 days).

During this experiment, I notice the affects meat would have on my body. I tried eating before a nap, but I noticed my digestive system did not work as great. I also noticed that even if I ate meat after I woke up from a nap, that the four-hour time is not enough in order to digest the meat. As a result, because I could not stand the feeling, I decided not to eat meats (I experienced even more benefit’s because of this).

I believe this is the most natural way to sleep based on my experience and noticing that babies sleep off and on in a 24 hour cycle. It showed me in my experience, that if this is the natural way of sleeping (which the benefits proved that to me), then it is not natural to eat meat.

Here are a very few benefits: clearer thoughts, feeling more awake, adjusted, aware, alive, vibrant, and energized. Also a growth in intuition, a unique scenery perception, happier with my life on every level, no negative thoughts or feelings of depression, more aware to the world around me, answers to any questions is was seeking, more insight, seeing more inner knowledge, experiencing more wisdom, feeling more peaceful, and more of everything that I define myself to be!

If you think eating meat is natural, test this sleeping pattern out, I am sure it will change your mind.

Thank you for your convincing words Tina, we need conscious people like you in this world.
Veggie in SA
Nov 06 08, 11:14 pm PST

130
Hey There, I’ve been a Veggie since birth, I’m 30 now, reasonably healthy - sugar, cholestrol, etc. Yeah I’m probably anaemic, but then again compsentate that by eating correctly. I don’t really bother with vitamins etc. We’re vegetarians for religous reasons, but it is nice to see that the rest of the world is also thinking about eating healthy. And I’m not saying convert to vegetarianism, if that were the case, I should have been able to “change” my husband. And I won’t do that - everyone is entitled to their own path and to make their own decisions.
My contirbution - being vegetarian isn’t a serious health risk. Like everyone we try to eat a balanced meal, with less sugars, caffeine, white breads, etc. But then again, we mostly lead very hectic lives, so every so often, we give in to takeaways of pizza and fries and burgers… As long as we eat healthy when we get the chance. Fruit and veggies are awesome for your body and your skin, think of health fanatics, and how they promote smoothies and the like.
End of the day, make your own decisions, enjoy life, eat chocolate and cake, but everything in moderation.
Cheers, from a sunny South Africa!!
Katie Jay

Dec 13 08, 7:40 am PST

131
Thank you for this thoughtful discussion. From an ethical standpoint, I agree with many of you — we do not treat our animals humanely. I keep that in mind when I purchase meat.

At the same time, some people do better from a health standpoint consuming meat. Some do not. It’s not a decision I would make based on other peoples’ experiences, or on research that is refuted by other research.

I track what I eat; how it makes me feel; and my lab values; including my blood sugar, triglycerides, and cholesterol. I actually feel better, and my lab work is better, when I eat a low-carb (not no-carb), moderate-fat, meat-based diet.

I know people who would feel awful if they ate the way I do, but others do great.

I used to weigh 331 pounds, had type II diabetes, etc. Now I am at a healthy weight, about 150 pounds. I have learned that my insulin volatility and levels influence my weight and health significantly. A high-carb diet raises my insulin level and exaggerates my insulin resistance.

Kathleen Des Maisons’ book, The Sugar Addict’s Total Recovery Program, explains my health challenge well, calling it “sugar sensitivity.” It’s a fascinating read. I highly recommend it.

Wishing everyone clarity and wisdom about their food choices, with all due respect to vegans and vegetarians, who admirably seek to be healthy and ethical.

Best regards,

Katie Jay
Director
National Association for Weight Loss Surgery
Puerhan

Jan 17 09, 3:31 am PST

132
Dear Tina,

Thanks for the great article, very courageous of you given the controversial nature of the subject as you were aware! And of course the comments demonstrate all the typical attitudes and reactions that people have to discussing this and raising awareness , let alone actually suggesting people make any personal ‘lifestyle’ changes! It seems that in western countries we have a hard job considering anything that we feel might impinge upon our ‘personal freedom’ (regardless of the impact these ‘freedoms’ might have on other people, other places and other beings) … and diet is prime example of this.

With best wishes for your health, happiness and continued heart-felt contribution to life.
J Nell
Jan 21 09, 6:07 pm PST

133
Hey Tina! Great article! Loooove it. Question… I read Tofu isn’t healthy for you and neither is soy. What are your thoughts?

Something I’d like to say to everyone:
I became a vegetarian because of the destruction meat production is causing on our planet. If not for compassion for animals then for that reason. It may be easy ignoring it now, thinking,”Well atleast I want be alive when it all goes bad and I am sure it really isn’t that bad.” Your right visit a meat production factory or a slaughter house just to be sure. Also realize people younger than you (siblings, friends, neighbors, family members, lovers, grand children) will live in what you think was worth ignoring or not caring about. If I am passing down my home to someone I care about, I want it to look as best as it can. You want them to like it right? Either way it’s easy to make a choice but harder to live with it.
Tina Su

Jan 21 09, 6:13 pm PST

134
Hi J Nell,

I haven’t done a whole lot of research on Tofu and soy, but I have heard similar things about them. I think it’s a certain kind of processed soy that isn’t good for us. Here’s a video my mother had sent me on soy that I found very useful:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjZs0DGW1Jk&feature=related

I have been trying to do as much raw food as possible. So this gets around the tofu issue. I still love my soy milk with chai tho.

If anyone has better information on tofu and soy, and/or have suggestions for substitutes that’s better for us, please let us know.

Tina
Robert

Mar 17 09, 4:53 am PDT

135
I think there are pro’s and cons to a totally meat free diet. Iron for one is always a factor. Women who are anemic would be able to boost iron levels much quicker and healthier with a few meat dishes. However I do think that the fibre content in plantfood is so much better for the digestive system.
meghan
Mar 31 09, 7:17 am PDT

136
thank you… big animal ag. thrives on people not wanting to think about or know the truth about where their food comes from…. the more people talk about it the more those blinders are removed from the publics eyes.. i personally dont want to eat misery and despair for dinner… i would rather take an iron supplement than support big animal ag. if you choose to source locally and from small farms, I don’t see as much of a problem.. the animals are treated humanely up until ‘its done’… if someone did choose to eat meat, small farm that raise free range and hormone free animals is the way to go.
cathy
Apr 19 09, 9:15 am PDT

137
my daughter wanted to become a vegetarian so i started looking into info thinking it would not be a good thing WELL that is when i became a vegan. i could not believe what is allowed to go on to get meat to the table it made me sick. to know we can still get what our body needs to sustain itself with a plant based diet we are being told meat is a good thing(GREED).don’t get me wrong i am still learning but what i have learned so for is that there is NO turning back.

thanks for sites like this one i can learn more
Gemma

Jun 05 09, 1:19 pm PDT

138
Thanks for writing this article. I agree with most of what you say.

I have been reading a book about diabetes (There Is A Cure For Diabetes by Gabriel Cousens, MD) because my diet is having a nasty effect on my health.

My family has a history of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and a short life-span.

My grandmother died at the age of 67. She suffered from high cholesterol, stroke and arthritis. She was an active woman so exercise wasn’t the issue. She was a non-drinker and a non-smoker. Even when she became afflicted with arthritis, she still did her best to be as active as possible. She wasn’t the type to sit down all day. She, however, had a diet high in refined carbs and sugars, high in meat, and high in dairy products despite eating a lot of vegetables.

My grandfather is quite overweight, he has diabetes and he has psoriasis. He had skin cancer. He’s a non-smoker although he used to smoke. He quit after he had three major heart attacks one after the other. He drinks in moderation. He eats a lot of salads, vegetables etc. But he also eats a lot of meat. I’m not surprised he has diabetes.

My maternal aunt has diabetes and IBS, as well as a myriad of other health issues. She’s in her late 40’s and the reason why she hasn’t kicked the bucket is because the meds she’s on is what keeps her alive. She smokes heavily, she drinks on occasion, she is grossly obese, she can barely walk without a stick. She eats a high fat, meat diet. I’ve never seen her eat a salad although she does eat veggies. I doubt she eats veggies on a daily basis. The lifestyle she leads is dangerous, the smoking etc, and yes that does contribute a lot to her health issues, but the diabetes and IBS is no doubt caused by the high meat diet.

Her middle daughter (mid 20’s) who is grossly obese, sits around a lot and takes no interest in life is heading the same way.

Mum died when she was in her early 40’s. She died from a heart attack brought on by her meds that were meant to keep her pain free. Why was she on these meds? Because she was in a lot of pain from the arthritis she suffered with. She was arthritic because of her diet which mainly consisted of processed foods, lots of refined carbs and sugars and barely any fruit and veg. She was grossly obese which would have caused the arthritis. She was also diabetic. She smoked heavily. I can almost hear some of you thinking that’s more likely to have caused the heart attack. Sure, all of these things contributed (the narrowing of the arteries for example). But an autopsy told us that there was a build-up of dihydrocodeine in her blood and it was concluded that’s what caused the heart attack. Bottom line - if she had followed a healthy diet that consisted of mainly plants early on in her life and kept the meat to a minimum, she wouldn’t have become overweight which lead to the arthritis which meant having to rely on strong painkillers. Her arteries would have been a bit more healthier as well (smoking aside).

I am inactive (due to health issues mainly brought on by diet), I smoke about 10 cigarettes a day, I drink rarely, I rarely eat fruit and veg, but I eat a lot of meat and fish. Guess what, I have suspected diabetes (going to be tested soon for that), I have IBS, I’m severely anaemic, I lack in essential vitamins and my diet in particular is slowly killing me. I’m only 27 years old. I’ve barely lived. I feel very sad about that. But I also know that I can reverse this just by switching to a raw plant-based diet with occasional meat and by cutting out refined carbs and sugars and processed foods. Currently, I eat a lot of chicken and fish, some dairy foods with very little if any vegetables and fruit. I was persuaded to buy and read this book, There Is A Cure For Diabetes by Gabriel Cousens, MD (it didn’t take much persuasion) and to look into adopting a raw foods diet. I haven’t made the switch yet but I have incorporated more organic foods into my diet. I will be making the switch from a meat-based diet to a mostly raw plant-based diet with occasional raw meat (tartare). I have made that my goal for this year.

One thing folks seem to be missing is that there’s a lot of corruption and deception particularly within the pharmaceutical industry, within the food industry and within our Governments. There’s a lot of money to be made and of course they don’t want anyone or anything to get in the way of that. So a lot of crucial evidence concerning health, diet and lifestyle has been suppressed until more recently. What we were told a few years ago cannot be trusted for that reason.

It’s simple. Eating too much meat (no matter if it’s organic or if it’s been screwed with) is not good for us. Thousands of years ago, before humans began farming, we were living on a diet that mainly consisted of plants. We occasionally had meat etc but we had a mostly plant-based diet. Diabetes for example was unheard of then. It only became more common when society began eating more and more meat each day.

We have the freedom to make choices. We can choose to shut our eyes to the facts that have been covered over with lies. When we do that we’re living in a bubble of illusion. We’re then being ignorant, unconscious and delusional. Those of you who refuse to see the facts, that’s because you have an attachment. That attachment you cling to so dearly carries a hefty price tag.

We can choose to reject the fast food and convenience culture we have right now. We can choose to teach our children the right foods to eat and to stop feeding them processed crap. We certainly have the freedom to make these choices.

It’s not the meat that kills. It’s not even the chemicals and the hormones in the meat that kills. It’s the sheer ignorance that kills. We need to wise up sharpish.

To those who slated Tina for having ethics, just stop because even though she may well have ethics, we need to respect our planet and the creatures that inhabit it a hell of a lot more than we do already. So having ethics is a good thing. No-one has shoved ethics in your faces, you CHOSE to read the article. All respect to Tina for having the bottle to speak out.
susan
Jun 24 09, 12:05 pm PDT

139
hi tina,

i sincerely enjoy your blog, it brings up a lot of my inner struggles onto a blog format and it really challenges the difficult topics I avoid in my life.

I am a meat eater and attempting to eat less meat and more vegetable. It will take time for me, but your post is teaching to be more aware of what I put in my body.

Aside from the food intake, I am a fashion lover who loves the luxurious leather goods. I think I can strive to consume non leather goods, but I really have a complex about keeping ones I have and continue to use them and enjoying them without gilt.

I know it is something I have to deal with on my own, but I would like your thoughts.

p.s. I hope you have a safe journey, and experience in your retreat.

Susan
Vinnie
Jun 30 09, 1:03 pm PDT

140
Tina, I first read this article when you first published it, and it was lingering in the back of my mind until last week when I re-read it. All the while, I would feel a tinge of guilt almost every time I ate meat.

I am now embarking on week 2 of vegetarianism, and I owe it to you! Thank you so much!

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55 Green Budget Tips to Show Nature You Love Her | Billionaire Woman.com - Jan 22 09

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Eating Our Way to Death, Literally

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