Will I be heathier becoming a vegetarian?

Question

I am currently a meat eater but wonder if I would be heathier being a vegetarian. I questioned myself about the meat eating ethic when we had Foot and Mouth in the UK a few years ago with tv reports showing hundreds of animals being destroyed, I seriously thought about giving up then.

Answer 1

Speaking from your point of view and my own, I say YES. You will be healthier. You'll feel more energized, lighter (like youre floating on air) & happy you're helping an animal. I used to be a meat eater, but I slowly quit once I saw a chicken freight at a stoplight... I am vegetarian and going strong after 4 years. Try it for a month and see how you feel. Goveg.org ... order the free kit. =) do some research. hehe Good luck!!

Answer 2

i am a vegetarian, and have been for about 15 years. vegetarianism is only healthier than eating meat if u make sure u eat a sensible diet, and get the right amount of vitamins/minerals that u would normally get from meat. there are ways around this - i take a good quality daily vitamin supplement (multibionta by 7 Seas), and i eat a lot of meat substitutes, like Quorn, which is rich in protein, but low in fat. get yourself a good vegetarian cook book, and have a look online at the various vegetarian websites that there are.

Answer 3

Not necessarily. Assuming that you've been eating meat, fish and poultry since long, your digestive system will now be very accustomed to handle such foods. Your body will also be more familiar with protein from animal sources and blood will contain a good level of uric acid, which is created by the breaking of purines- released when meat is digested.

Abruptly switching to veggie food can throw your digestive system off track. Vegetables and vegetarian foods contain high doses of cellulose which are not easy for all to digest. Also, your body will crave for the protein it usually derived from meat based food and levels of uric acid can drop, causing severe discomfort or a medical condition. Also, veg food is pretty expensive in some countries. Above all, it lacks the taste of meat, fish or poultry.

While there are studies that claim vegetarian food makes one healthier, these are yet to be validated. There are conflicting claims that non-vegetarian food is beneficial to health.

Veggie people who have gone non-veg have suffered severe digestive and psychological problems and the same is true for non-veggies who stopped eating meat.

In any case, you or me or anyone giving up meat is not going to help animals or this planet. Imagine..if we stopped eating chicken due to bird flu scare, such chicken will reproduce and multiply beyond our human control. Bird flu will then become something really serious. Similarly, stopping to eat beef because of FMD will only lead to an increase in the number of cows.

As the old saying goes: We are all part of the food chain. So, go ahead and enjoy a nice, thick steak. There's nothing like sinking our teeth in a wonderful chunk of meat..

Answer 4

The key to good health is to get the right balance in foods (plus regular exercise.) I wouldn't suggest that you give up meat altogether. Since you now have the initiative to eat vegetables, then why not eat veggies in larger amounts than you would meat? In order words, instead of being an all-out herbivore, why not 3/4 herbivore and 1/4 carnivore? Or maybe 4/5 herbivore and 1/5 carnivore. There's also pleasure to be had in eating meats. And there are nutrients in meat that are simply lacking in veggies.

Answer 5

Being a veg doesn't necessarily mean you will be healthier. My in-laws are vegetarians by religion and they eat so much butter and sour cream, cereals, carb-laden foods that most of them are overweight. You can be healthier if you ensure you get lots of protein from alternative sources, like beans and tofu and you probably should take a supplement too. There is a lot more to being healthy than avoiding meat.

Answer 6

It is very possible to be perfectly healthy on a vegetarian diet, but this doesn't mean it's easy - not many of us really want to eat cute cuddly things that you're likely to see in a petting zoo, but even fewer of us understand nutrition well enough to avoid it. You can't get away with eating lettuce, celery and a whole pile of pills.

Personally, I'll eat animal products in small quantities about three times a week - that's all most people need.

Answer 7

Of course you would be healthier. Meat has growth hormones, antibiotics, steroids, blood, pus, urince, feces, diseases the animal had, and all manner of nasty stuff in it. Veggies have enzymes, vitamins, minerals, etc. Simple common sense says yes, indeed. My veggies don't need to be cooked to a certain temperature to kill of harmful bacteria, but meat does. Why eat dead bacteria? Veggies only need a quick rinse, and can be eaten raw, lightly steamed, roasted, grilled, etc. Whole grains, such as quinoa, millet, flax, and rice, and plenty of beans, legumes, pulses, and lentil will supply all of the protein necessary to thrive. Good luck!

Answer 8

I think it largely depends on the quality and quantity of meat you normally eat.

I am a meat eater and i try to stick to organic & free range. i rarely eat processed meat (mince - eeew, tinned meats, sausages, pies....) and i dont very often eat red meat. - so mainly chicken and alot of fish.

It is true that too much meat can cause allsorts of problems with your insides, so stick to a healthy portion which is approx the size of your palm, once daily.

I love bacon sandwiches once in a while so dont think i could do veggie - but fair play to the veggie population.

If you are doing it for ethical reasons, then do it properly and be vegan - dont eat products with eggs in, most likely they will be battery farmed, dont wear leather, no products with pork gelatine......list goes on.

Answer 9

This website will not answer your question directly, but will give you an idea to the answer you are looking for:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/prehistoric_life...

Meat eating is not an issue of ethics. If you do think that way, you would be better on fish only, anyway.

Eating vegetarian seems not the best choice. They key to being healthier is rather in this context:

http://www.newtreatments.org/FoodInfo/ga/458/Food%20combining:%20Don't%20mix%20carbs%20with%20proteins%20or%20fats

Do you combine your food properly and to the right amounts?

Answer 10

I'm not a great lover of meat myself but I make myself eat it (even if it's only chicken once a week)... i've always said there is a reason you have canine teeth in your mouth... if you wern't supposed to be a meat eater, you wouldn't have been gifted with them!

Meat is a valuable source of essential vitamines and minerals. I'm studying a science degree, soon to be doing my post grad medical degree and after the things i have learnt through my studies, i would never advise anyone to go vegitarian (unless it was for health reasons).

The foot and mouth was basically caused by some idiot thinking it would be ok to feed meat to herbivores...(very clever huh!?... who the hell gave him his job is i want to know!!)...

As for deciding to go vegitarian because of the killing of animals, i know, it's horrid the thought of killing animals, there is no one more of an animal lover than myself, i try and detatch myself from it. However, the truth is... yeah, ok, so... your going to stop eating meat... are you going to stop wearing leather shoes? are you going to stop buying leather bags? leather coats? leather belts?... how about suede?... it's not only the meat in your life that comes from dead animals...clothes aside, take a look at your sunday dinner.. gravy, roast potatoes, yorkshire pudding... (all homemade) they are all cooked using the fat of the joint... you going to stop eating those too?

If your thinking about turning vegitarian because of the "toxins" that are in meat as i have heared so many vegitarians talk about... i'll let you onto something, you will find more "toxins" and "poisions" in plants (your fruits & vegetables) than you will in ANY other food source.

So in answer to your question, would it be healthier? Nope!... as for your ethical reasons, i'm afraid your the only one that would be able to answer that question.

I do personally suggest you stay away from websites that "give you good reason to give up" (no offence intended to KnOwLeDge with her previous post) for the simple reason all they will end up doing is upsetting you and in a way "guilt tripping you" into your decision rather than helping you make your mind up logically.

The decision must be made by you and you alone, maybe you should weigh up the pro's and con's of it all and remember you don't have to eat meat every day of the week!.

i really hope you find the way you wish to go...

best of luck

j x