should i become vegetarian? why or why not?

Answer 1

That's a personal decision for you to make. There are a lot of good reasons to be a vegetarian, and I'm sure you're already familiar with them. There are also, admittedly, reasons not to. Eating out is a lot harder, you have to impose on the host or supply your own food at dinner parties, and you have to carefully manage your diet to make sure you get all of the required nutrients your body needs. Consider carefully and then decide.

Answer 2

Yes, I believe you should.
Meat is unhealthy, and there are supplements you can take and other foods you can eat to get the protein your body needs.
Animals farmed for food are often abused, and kept in horrible environments. Animals with cancer and other disgusting infections are killed for food and allowed onto the market.
They are pumped so full of antibiotics to raise their weight, that some lose the ability to walk and have to be dragged to slaughter.

Becoming vegetarian is healthy for you. You can lose weight, and save money. Have you seen how much a decent steak costs? You can get veggie burgers for MUCH cheaper.
You'll also lose weight, and you'll gain less cholesterol, giving you a longer life.

As far as liking the taste of meat goes, there are plenty replacements available. Morningstar Farms has a lot of great fake meat products, which you can just heat and eat. Also, veggie options are available at tons of fast food restaurants, including Burger King and Subway.

Really, what reason is there to NOT become a vegetarian? :)


Edit: Also, "free range" meats are just a buying incentive. The animals are still kept in cages and abused. Still feel guilt-free?

Answer 3

I'm a vegetarian. My opinion is: Could you look a cow in the eyes and kill it yourself then eat it, without feeling guilty or disgusted? What about a chicken? A fish?

I couldn't.

Of course, there are also a myriad of other health benefits of a vegetarian diet, and there are many ways to get sufficient protein and vitamins/minerals without resorting to supplements.

*edit* The use of words like "free range," or "natural" are not officially regulated, and do not necessarily mean cruelty-free meat.

Answer 4

There is only ONE reason to go veg, for the animals, but there are many other reasons to stay veg.


please watch this http://meat.org
and read this
http://www.veganoutreach.org/whyvegan/

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If you want to become a lacto-ovo vegetarian, the transition should be quite simple. Almost all meats have widely available commercial replacements. All that you have to do is replace any flesh in your diet (beef, pork, poultry, seafood) with meat analogs or just leave it out altogether.

Technically the term does imply that you don't consume anything that comes from the body of an animal that requires killing it. Many ingredients such as gelatin and glycerin are found in many candies, Fig-Newtons, and many of other foods as well as rennet found in many cheeses.
http://www.happycow.net/health-animal-ingredients.html
The best thing to remember is to take your time so that for example: when you are comfortable not eating beef and pork you can then give up chicken when you are sure you can make the commitment permanently.

You should keep in mind that a journey such as this this can be quite short but should just be the beginning of a longer one to a plant-based diet with no animal products. This is because of the reality of factory farming in which animals that are kept alive to produce milk, eggs, etc suffer much more than animals that are raised to a certain weight and then slaughtered.http://www.veganoutreach.org/whyvegan/
Some people use the word "vegan" in reference to this idea, but be aware that that applying that label to yourself should always come with the inclusion of wise activism and advocacy.http://www.veganoutreach.org/advocacy/index.html

Two extremely important examples of this are that you should never speak to someone about vegetarianism/veganism without their consent and genuine interest or as a comment on what they are eating AND your dietary beliefs should never be used as an introduction or explanation of who you are as a person. Veg*ism should be something that comes up AFTER people get to know you and they offer you a situation that makes it confusing to withhold the information/dicussion. Also, if you are presented something that you choose not to eat or you are
ordering food/eating together somewhere/picking the best place to eat.

When you you hold off on the subject until it's necessary and then act like it isn't a big deal at all, people are usually surprised and WAY more interested and curious than if you were to bring it up when someone's eating or just using it as a conversation starter.

Just to clear things up, the vegetarian/vegan diet is not composed of salads, vegetables, fruit and fake meat.
A balanced plant-based diet includes grains(breads, pasta, rice,cereal), legumes(soy, beans, peas, lentils), fruit and vegetables.
http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk/food_groups.html
http://www.peta.org/accidentallyVegan/
http://www.veganoutreach.org/whyvegan/eating.html
Being vegan can be an art, one whose challenge is to take things that involve the suffering of the innocent and change them into something free of cruelty.

If you meet someone that talks down to people for eating meat, dairy, etc or to you because they think they are "more veg" than you, laugh in their face and tell them they are a disgrace to the entire philosophy. People like this only hurt the idea of veg*ism AND the animals. The point of all of this is to live compassionately and and as free from cruelty as you can, all the while maintaining your health and a positive attitude. People who don't maintain either, need not open their mouths and represent our beliefs.

If you actually choose to read all of this, I hope it helps. If not, feel free to e-mail me if you have questions.

Answer 5

Yes, you should go vegetarian if:

-You care about the way animals are treated and this video bothers you: http://www.meat.org

-You care about your health. Research shows that vegetarians are 50% less likely to develop heart disease, and they have 40% of the cancer rate of meat-eaters. Also, vegetarians and vegans live six to 10 years longer than meat-eaters on average.

Answer 6

It's up to you.

Katherine D is totally wrong when she says there you have to eat meat to get certain nutrients. My wife is a licensed dietitian (with a Masters Degree in Nutrition) and a life long vegetarian. I willing to bet my wife knows more about nutrition than Katherine D.

Answer 7

i decided to become a vegetarian when i visited www.goveg.com and watched meet your meat, and 30 reasons to become a vegetarian its also a useful website if you do decide to become a vegetarian with recipes and such.

Answer 8

being a vegetarian is not bad.
but its not good too. because your body needs nutrients from meat and everything. and if your not getting it. your classified unhealthy.

i'm not saying that people who are vegetarian are unhealthy but they lack some health situations.

you can become a vegetarian if its for the right reason.
if you want to be a vegetarian because your against the torture for animals. then go ahead and become a vegetarian.

but if you're doing it to lose weight. its not gonna help THAT much. you can cut down eating on meat. but not 100%

Answer 9

our bodies are not equipped to handle the amount of protein that is in meat. if you like the idea of having meat rotting in your intestines and cause bowel problems than stick to meat but if you want to live a longer, healthier life than be a vegetarian

Answer 10

Well, I'm a little biased. I think everyone should become veg. People would be healthier, the planet would be healthier and the systematic torture of living, feeling creatures could end.