why do we need to eat meat?

Answer 1

Eating meat is a personal choice. You don't need to eat it.

"We continue to maintain diets full of animal proteins because that is what we have always done. Our taste buds have been trained to prefer meat and dairy over fruits and vegetables. If we can retrain our bodies to enjoy plant food sources, we can eliminate meat and dairy from our diets and reap the benefits of better health."

Answer 2

Eating meat makes you live longer. You can survive on a strictly vegetarian diet, but it is harder to thrive. You also have to find a way to supply your body with all of the protein and other healthy benefits of meat. Our bodies are designed to digest meat. Meat, like almost everything these days, still needs to be eaten in moderation. There are always healthy choices available for meat.

Answer 3

We dont need to eat meat, we can get all the protiens and vitamins we need from vegetables and legumes and stuff. also when you get your protiens from vegetables instead of animals its a lot healthier for you... I've been a vegan for a year and a vegetarian for 4 years and im fine... im actually healthier then when i ate meat.

Answer 4

I saw the first answer about canines, and can't not write this:

We are NOT anatomically designed for eating flesh. So many otherwise intelligent people say that since we have canines, our teeth are made for tearing flesh. OMG, who are we kidding??? Look at the canines of man, and look at the canines of meat eating animals, there's a HUGE difference. They have fangs, while our canines are puny. There's also a huge difference between the molars of carnivores, and the molars of herbivores (us!). Ours are designed to grind grain and vegetation, theirs are designed to continue tearing flesh. Meat eating animals have claws to tear flesh, we have delicate fingers to pick and peel vegetation. Their jaws only move up and down, while herbivores' jaws move side to side as well, so that we can grind grain and vegetation. Their digestive juices are SUPER STRONG, much more powerful than ours, so that they can digest raw and rotting flesh. Our digestive juices are not designed for that, they're not as strong. Their digestive tracts are much shorter than ours, that way they can eliminate rotting flesh much more quickly. Basically, their digestive tracts and juices and teeth and jaws are designed to eat entirely different things. Can we go out and gnosh on raw flesh and not wind up on the toilet all night? Try it.

NOW do you STILL think we're anatomically meant for eating flesh???

As for any nutritional need for consuming animals or animal products, there is none. Every plant food (veggies, fruits, grains, nuts, seeds, etc) has protein in it, even fruit. As long as we eat a variety every day, we get all 9 essential amino acids. Of the 26 amino acids, we need at least these 9 for good health. Our bodies produce the rest, so ingesting them isn't necessary. In other words, we get the protein we need just fine from plant sources. If we take a multi vitamin and B12 vitamin (if the multi doesn't have 100% RDA of B12), we're fine, really. Besides, only 9% of our caloric intake needs to come from protein, and since everything has protein, we're FINE. Really.

Answer 5

We don't. Everything our bodies need can be obtained from non-animal sources, even protein. Plus, we don't need as much protein as we are made to believe we do. Most of us, even vegetarians, actually ingest too much protein. And we actually need less protein as we age. The time in our life when we have the greatest need for protein is during infancy, where we double our weight within the first 6 months of our lives (or something like that). The food designed for infants is breast milk, which is very low in protein (less than 2%?).

Answer 6

We don't "need" to eat meat. . . .people choose to eat it. There are plenty of other sources of protein, including grains, beans, and nuts.

Non-meat sources of protein are a far more efficient use of natural resources than raising animals for meat.

Answer 7

Meat is a convenient source of protein, some minerals, and vitamins, especially vitamins of the B group, there are one or two easy to obtain from meat and more difficult to replenish in other ways.

Protein from meat is high quality. It provides all the amino acids we don't make ourselves and we need to build our own body.

From the minerals meat provides, iron is the most important. We need iron to build our blood -red cells- and it is easier for us to use the iron from meat than from vegetable sources. There are other minerals though. Vegetarians need more salt than those who eat meat, for instance.

But as good as meat is, you don't need it. You can get the same nutrients from other sources.

Answer 8

We do not need to eat meat, and why are you asking this in the vegetarian section of Yahoo Answers?

Answer 9

You DO NOT have to eat meat. Most Americans eat entirely too much meat, dairy and eggs and you can survive just fine without it. I have been vegetarian for 14 years and I am super healthy and it is easy. I just eat a balanced diet that includes lots of nuts, (peanut butter, trail mix, walnuts on salads), whole grains (whole wheat toast and cereals), soy foods (soy milk, veggie burgers, tofu) and tons of fruits and vegetables.

As for the canine teeth comments, they are just silly. Gorillas eat a largely vegetarian diet (About 67% of their diet is fruit, 17% is leaves, seeds and stems and 3% is termites and caterpillars.) And have you ever seen their canine teeth?? - they make our pathetic little stubby canine teeth look laughable.

Answer 10

We don't. The meat industry just likes you to think you do.