im tired of vegans saying meat is unhealthy, what about fish and lean cutts, free range chickens may i go on ?

Question

i understand if your a vegan due to animal cruelty or doctors orders but anything else i would call it a mental disorder, there is plenty of meat that is not unhealthy fish being a good example, you can abuse any diet even your vegan diet, if i ate donuts and cakes all day i would probably have shorten my life dramatically, and those of you who say fish is full of chemicals and does the enviroment harm are not educated enough about farming practices and the use of chemicals, sprays, and etc. i understand there is organic and the same goes for fish farming, at the crayfish farm i worked at the farmer and us worked together he used our wasted water as fertilizer and we used his rice to feed our crayfish, we both labeled our product as organically grown,also there is the topic of diseases associated with meat, sorry isnt good enough either, all you have to do is cook your food to get rid of this problem or boil it if your really scared " same process to store canned food "

my main question is why do vegans say meat is unhealthy?

you are; i come to this site to get some good ideas on side dishes and etc. and when i start looking i always see somebody talking about how unhealthy meat is and etc. it makes me sick to see how " vegans bash meat "

our crayfish has little or no fat same with most fish it is very tasty and healthy alternative to pork poulty and cow, my body couldnt cope with the grease and etc, but there was no way i could become a vegan, i cant live on side dishes for the rest of my life

aleister: i agree with you there some not all meat will raise chlestorol im living prove of that, but my point is there is a lot of other alternatives to greasy meat, some say the oil in fish will lower your count dramatically

some types of fish have no fat content at all

asleep: ill repost this topic everytime i see what i call is non-sense and no we were not officialy labeled by the fda as organic but however there is several other fish farms in this area that has the official stamp of approval, " fda certified " and also i am not talking about heavy meats and what i think your trying to say is meat heavy in fat or chlestorol your totally missing my point as usual

and the term factory farms, what is the definition and how is it harmful, any farm plant or animal is harmful to the enviroment if done improperly with the use of chemicals or pesticides just look what ddt did to the enviroment and not to mention a few others still used today

matt: ur another totally missing the point, there is no such thing as prions or mercury in organic fish, fish farms by law have to submit before even becoming a farm samples of water, soil, and stock before selling onto the market, you can get these samples through research of any company that has a liscense to sell food products

people this is my main question
why do people say meat is unhealthy?
i really dont care how enviromentally damaging it can be because this can go both ways, plant or animal, do your research, and if you want to go clean and healthy with no chemicals or hormones buy organic

Answer 1

First of all, I know I said I was going to avoid this kinda stuff, but like a moth to a flame...

You "asked" the same question two weeks ago!

To address what you have said this time, though:

You stated, "those of you who say fish is full of chemicals and does the environment harm are not educated enough about the farming practices."

You go on to say, "the crayfish farm I worked at... labeled our product as organically grown."

Ok. Let us address these two points first. Just because you had a certain experience with “organic” fish farming does not mean that others giving examples of fish farming that differ from your experience are "not educated enough about farming practices" (can I also ask were you certified organic by the USDA or did you just label them organic?).
You've committed what is called a logical fallacy, specifically proof by example (id est I know that this was my experience; therefore, this must always be the case).
Quite simply, you're wrong.
Sorry. I don't know how else to tell you but to put it bluntly. I don't mean to offend you (so often people taking your stance are looking to be offended in order to let loose their frustrations on people trying to have an intelligent debate).

Next, your overall argument.
Yes, to a degree you are correct that there are healthier meat choices compared to others. Everything in moderation and part of a well balanced diet is healthy.

However, studies do show that meat heavy diets are unhealthy and (another point you raise) factory farming is quite often harmful to the environment.

I could list a bevy of sites to support all of this, but I have seen other posters provide you these links before.

You have in turn posted "questions" arguing that vegans/vegetarians have an "eating disorder." Therefore, I can confidently assume you would dismiss any valid information we provide to you as nonsense... so I'll save us both the time.

Addendum:

Meat heavy diet as in a diet with a disproportionately high level of meat as opposed to fruit, vegetables, grains, et cetera.

As far as factory farming, a distinction should be made between “agricultural factory farming” and “fish farming (or aquaculture).”

Factory farming would essentially be the opposite of organic free-range farming. Factory farming is farming that utilizes industrial production type techniques (exemplar gratia gestation crates, IBP/ConAgra techniques which you’ll have to research yourself since it would take such a lengthy explanation, and so on).

Fish farming, on the other hand, would be more along the lines to what it seems you have experience with. Fish farming is fish that are raised in vats in a (pardon the redundancy) factory style establishment. The other type of fish harvesting would be wild caught fish (aka commercial fishing).

Now, fish farming is harmful to the environment in a number of ways.
1)Wild caught fish are often the food source for the factory farmed fish which can lead to over fishing in natural environments (harming biodiversity).
2)Since factory farmed fish are sometimes fed wild fish the opportunity for pollution contamination is present.
3)Factory farmed fish are often fed hormone enriched food. Granted the effects of the hormones on humans is up for debate in and of itself.
4)The factories, due to the sedimentary nature, means that the fish are often swimming in vats of hormones and large quantities of feces. Not exactly healthy.
5)All of that waste produced by these factories has to go somewhere. Well, environments are not designed to handle the dumping of the waste produced by these factories. Often the results are catastrophic to environments.

If you genuinely want to know more, will be patient, and give an opposing view a chance here are some sites that have pretty basic info on the subject.

http://www.fishinghurts.com/
http://www.meat.org/

Answer 2

am vegetarian and am not saying that meat is unhealthy but eating too much can be bad. it does have a higher fat content, higher cholesterol,though it gives you a lot of good proteins and such.
fish can also be bad too, or maybe it depends on where you get it. since some fish farmers, when feeding the fish there tends to be lead or mercury in there. so when the fish eats it, the customers eats it. but like meat it is good to eat once in a while.
being vegan or vegetarian can either be a moral, health or religious reason.

Answer 3

I am not sure what your question is, but you are coming off as a bit hostile. Who cares what vegans, vegetarians, pescatarians, or holy moses says, eat what you want! You need no ones permission. I chose to call myself what I want, eat what I want, live how I want, and I don't need the "rules" of some class of people to dictate how I will eat. My goodness. I would love some of those crayfish you helped farm! And I certainly will not ask anyone if I am "allowed": to have them I am vegetarian for the most part, but I indulge now and then, and feel no shame in doing so. If anyone is judging me for it, I shall simply ask them if they mind making my mortgage payment this month. If they are not, then I need not worry what they think, now do I

Answer 4

Your delusional. The vast majority of fish people eat are wild caught. Most if not all fish are high in mercury, chemical containment's, and heavy metals. Most fish are just as high in Cholesterol as a steak would be.

In regards to cooking your food to get rid of the risk of diseases, I fear that that does not tell the whole story and oversimplifies things way too much. when you eat out you put your health in those people's hands. It is up to them to prepare your food right. Barring that, even if you cook all your own meals, there is still the risk of cross-contamination. Not to mention the fact that cooking does not kill all diseases caused by meat eating. Namely Prions, the virus-like organisms responsible for Mad-Cow.

Besides that we have brest cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer, lung cancer, type 1&2 dibetes, heart disease, stroke, hypertention, and obesity all linked very stongly to meat consumption.

@ dissturbbed2008 : "Organic" fish are all well and good, and maybe your right, orgainc fish is healthful. But the majorty of people cant afford to eat only orgainic fish. What about them?

Answer 5

Do you really care if meat is unhealthy or are you just tired of listening to ther people's opinions? They are entitled to their opinions, you know.
I say meat is unhealthy because of the type and amount Americans eat. Red meat and even poultry is bad for you if you eat too much of it: it's high in cholesterol and fat. Fish is under eaten in the US and when it is eaten it's prepared in an unhealthy manner.
The industry of meat is also unhealthy, not just for your digestive tract but for the environment.

Answer 6

I am personally a vegetarian since birth.

A recent in-depth article in the New York Times Magazine (12 pages online) discussed the reasons meat is unhealthy and excessive.

The summary is that in order to live longer & stronger, eat a lot of veggies, drink a lot of water and avoid overindulgence. The article is free and does not require registration - please read it below.

Answer 7

When cooked properly, there is nothing unhealthy about eating leans cuts of meat, preferably organic, in moderation. They can absolutely be a part of a healthy nutritionally balanced diet for most people. Virtually all VEGANS mutated to this lifestyle for ethical reasons. Vegans typically state that meat is unhealthy because it furthers there argument in there futile and unrealistic attempt to abolish the use of animals for the benefit of mankind.

You would be wise to never question or disagree with a vegan, as they are typically quite intoleratant to any display of rational thought or ideals which do not conform to there narrow minded and unrealistic point of view. Many of them believe they are morally superior and are on ethically higher ground than the rest of us, and are never wrong. Just ask one, and there response will likely lead you to this very same conclusion. Cheers!

Answer 8

Biomagnification.

Answer 9

For example in most chicken you buy there are hormones and the same in veal
Meat is also known to raise cholesterol which is proven, and there many other chemicals that you won't even know of!

Answer 10

Many weak points well only mention one : Crayfish = Unclean.