Is vegetarianism a healthier way of life?

Question

Is eating meat a moral way of life?

Answer 1

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Western Countries are usually non-vegetarians.... it is very foolish to argue on this delicate issue.... this is a matter of personal choice

Yet, I can only give you my personal views as taught to me by my culture

I am dividing my question into 2 parts

1--- Health
2--- Morality

HEALTH
On average, every person in the United states eats 194 pounds of pork, beef, and poultry, combined, each year--- about half a pound per day. Add fish and the per capita consumption of animals rises to well over 200 pounds.

Many pigs are raised in what we could rightly call “livestock factories” (the animals never see the light of day), and are slaughtered when they weigh about 265 pounds. The average American eats 53 pounds of pork a year, which is exactly one-fifth of an average pig. If every ounce of a pig was used for pork chops, spare ribs, bacon, and the like, then each person would be responsible for one porcine death every five years. Given that bones and other by-products can’t be used for human consumption, the death rate must be closer to one pig every 2 or 3 years.

Consequence
A large proportion of heart attacks and tumors are produced by the food we eat. And what kind of food do these reports indict as one of the main culprits that causes so much pain and suffering? Of course, we can guess.
Meat

In the Cornell Chronicle (Dec 1, 1994) Susan Lang writes:
“Americans will not reduce their rate of cancers, cardiovascular diseases and other chronic, degenerative diseases until they shift their diets away from animal-based foods to plant-based foods, according to research findings emerging---------------"

Nutritional biochemist T. Colin Campbell, study director said that eating just small amounts of animal based foods is linked to significantly higher rates of cancers and cardiovascular diseases typically found in the USA. A research associate on the project, Banoo Parpia, observed: “One of the most significant problems with the American diet is the excessive intake of animal-based foods and the inadequate intake of plant-based foods.”

Killing animals for food is an unwise and unsafe choice because it causes suffering to a form of life that has a refined mind which feels pain when slaughtered. For many people, this one thought is reason enough to become a vegetarian.


MORALITY
God created life in such a way that 'life thrives upon life'.
We HAVE to eat 'life' to live/ to survive--- we can't eat stones

But I shall explain my point with an example--- If I kill an insect, no one scolds me---if I kill a cat, they feel disgusted at my behaviour---if I kill an elephant, I would shock the society and maybe even put behind bars for some months---if I kill a man, I would horrify people and I would be put to jail for a long long time

This means that there is lesser evil in killing or eating that life which has lower levels of awareness and consciousness --- because when they are not completely 'aware', they do not undergo suffering or pain


There are two crucial questions about our basic requirements for life

(1)--- Which of them involves choices?---eg We have no choice but to breathe and kill germs by thousands while we inhale. We are morally not responsible for killing these germs
However, food does involve choices


(2)--- Which of them potentially causes suffering to other living beings?

If I am a habitual meat-eater, over the course of my life time, hundreds or thousands of animals will die to keep me alive--- every beat of my heart, every thought of my brain, every sensation that comes through my eyes and ears--- all that I experience in my physical body has been bought with the coin of killing and violence

The mass acceptance of all this killing and cruelty is sad. It indicates that we have accepted it as "normal"

Is morality an illusion, best left to each person to conjure up on their own, or is morality an objective attribute of the cosmos that can be discerned by those with eyes to see it?

COSMIC LAW
Do ‘good’ for others, and in return you will receive pleasure; do ‘wrong’, and receive suffering.

Life is fair, and those who kill get what they deserve. The suffering inflicted on animals by people who eat meat is the suffering that rebounds on meat eaters as a result of the sufferings they’ve caused. We reap what we sow.
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Answer 2

Contrary to the claims of militant vegetarians, there is nothing wrong with meat in moderation. Go overboard on it and you'll have problems, but that's true of a lot of things, so it's kind of disingenuous to single out meat for criticism.

Is it moral? I don't know. I wrestle with that. In nature, morality is a non-issue. If a bear kills and eats a rabbit, there is no moral issue. It's just nature red in tooth and claw. So from a strictly zoological point of view, there is no morality question inherent to meat-eating omnivores (which, again contrary to the vegenazis, is what we are). There is no question that we are efficient predators, and nature evolved us that way. But it may conflict with philosophical states of mind that only humans are capable of. I am not a religious person, but I follow Buddhism as a philosophy, and my meat-eating conflicts with that.

In the end I think empathy for other species is a luxury that we can give ourselves precisely because we are so efficient at feeding. If we were all scrabbling to survive, as most other species have to do, we wouldn't care what the prey feels.

Answer 3

Some one really needs to learn a lot more about anatomy before going about spouting how the body doesn't need more calcium or protein.

Your body uses protein in many ways,not just muscle. Protein has been linked to many cellular structures throughout the body and is also linked to memory.

Calcium is used in you blood stream and plays an integral part of muscle movement. When there is too much in your blood, it gets stored as bone. When there is too little in your blood it takes some from your bones. A proof of milk being beneficial is looking at those who are lactose intolerant. They often have calcium deficiencies.

Meat is also a great iron source. Most people don't realize the number one reason for a woman to be ornery (especially during their period) is due to a deficiency of iron. This has been linked to them eating less red-meat then men on average.

The fact of the matter is our body is built to be an omnivore. You just have to smile in the mirror to see that fact. Look at your teeth. Now examine the teeth of herbivores (their mouths are mostly molars).

Another place to look is in your intestines. They are filled with bacteria to help the digestion of food (both veg and meat) and those bacteria are usually only found in dairy and meat.

Answer 4

As a veggie I think it's healthier, you don't have to worry about e. coli, etc. As for whether or not it's moral depends on the person. I couldn't kill an animal intentionally but I could grow a veggie. One of my professors said she liked to eat things that eat other living organisms, it creates a balance. However, most meat isn't hunted in nature it's grown and slaughtered so is there really a balance?

Answer 5

Human beings are omnivores by nature,so there's nothing
immoral about eating meat. Also plants are living things too and
we eat them to live. I've been told vegetarianism is healthier,
but only until after one is fully grown. Children need to eat from
all food groups,meat is necessary for them.

Answer 6

vegetarianism is a very excellent way of eating. but eating meat is not that bad too. the important thing is to make sure that you're getting enough protein (meat or beans) in your diet. and to get enough vitamin and minerals (fruits and vegetables) and calories (meat) but it is optimal to get all of each. that's how i do it ;)

look at the links

Answer 7

Protein-intake is a myth.
I eat VERY little "protein". But everything I eat is full of enzymes to digest properly and naturally, full of vitamins, my body is totally efficient at this point, I have abundant energy off of something as simple as watermelon... My body doesn't NEED new protein. The most exceptional athletes can't build much more than 5 grams of protein-muscle mass in a day. Where is the rest going? To fix all the problems in your body due to eating a poor diet of cooked animal meat and plants.

Like the milk industry telling us to drink milk for stronger bones... it's SO false. You LOSE calcium drinking milk because the body needs to deplete calcium resereves from the bones to process the pasteurized, foreign animal, antibiotic Milk.. There's a defecit.

"there is no morality question inherent to meat-eating omnivores (which, again contrary to the vegenazis, is what we are). There is no question that we are efficient predators, and nature evolved us that way."

PROVE IT! I don't find it at all unquestionable.

"Natural" herbivores in captivity are OFTEN fed animal meat, byproducts, waste... That doesn't make them "omnivores" that makes them Miserable.


************ NATE wrong.
Just because my muscles, my enzymes, my tissue and bones are made of protein DOESN"T mean I need to eat "Protein" to make protein in my body. FOR ONE when you eat "protein" what happens?....... you have to break it down, digest it into smaller amino acids. That takes a toll on your body. Especially when your body is Fighting your cooked food intake as if a foreign invader with a dramatic increase in White Blood Cell production. We don't have the body chemistry to cope with it -- we get by but SICKLY.

Just because lactose intolerant people lack calcium doesn't mean milk is the answer.. it means they aren't eating green vegetables.

Iron the same.

Look at your teeth YUP. those tiny "canines" are no where near a bear, racoon, wolf or tiger. Our jaw not FOR ripping into flesh, nor our hands.The digestive tract for carnivores has a transit time of 6 hours, ours is double to quadruple that. Just like herbivores. Bacteria naturally occur in un-cooked foods.... I put my face in a pile of dead meat and I want to vomit. Try feeding it to a child or anyone. But any child will smile at a juicy apple. It's so obvious.

I don't delight in these discussions. There's always this mis-characterization of vegans, of nutrition, of diet, of teleology and I have to say something. Damn Lame that people are SO reactionary as to call people who don't kill their food "Nazis". The only reasons I can tell why vegans are characterized this way is 1) better arguments 2) meat-eaters are addicted and resort to name-calling 3) I can't think of another reason... Health! yeah it must be healthier! yeah. Healthy like dying 40 years too early. Healthy like cancer. Animals in nature are lean and mean.. they don't get domesticated and die of maladies and cancer... Heart Failure lol. What a nefarious world-wide lie.

Answer 8

its a very open ended question for me,,,,
i certaily woud like to not eat animals cuz more of them seem
to hav more self awarenes,but i dont really know how many plants do too
as for nutrition some ppl dont seem to get enuf when they'r
vegan, but nutrition is also not set in stone,,,,humans coud evolve to need less nutrition, some yogis eat almost no food

Answer 9

I think it is. I have been a vegetarian since January and I have lost 45 pounds. I feel better, I think better and I am living better. It is a concious choice. I think that it is something that you just want to have to do. I enjoy it ! Just try it.

Answer 10

yes,although you should still some meat