Where do I even start…?
1. Not eating cute defenseless animals relieves your conscience!
Having compassion for animals comes from deep in your heart. I once saw a billboard with a puppy and piglet on it that nearly melted my heart. It said something like, “how can you love one more than the other?” which really made me think through my decisions in life.
2. Avoid contaminants
Meat contains dangerous poisons and contaminants such as hormones, herbicides, pesticides, and antibiotics. Parasites can also be found in animals, making the consumption of meat not only risky, but also pretty gross.
3. Processed meats are dangerous to our health.
The World Cancer Research Fund has completed a detailed review of more than 7,000 clinical studies covering links between diet and cancer. They concluded that processed meats are dangerous for human consumption. Consumers should stop buying and eating all processed meat products indefinitely.
4. Eating a vegetarian diet can prevent cancer.
None of the vitamins known to prevent cancer are found in meat. Most meat, when cooked, produces benzenes and other carcinogenic compounds. The high fat content of meat and other animal products increases hormone production which increases the risk of hormone-related cancers such as breast and prostate cancer.
I need to stress that eating a vegetarian diet does not mean you’re giving up protein. When you remove meat from your diet, you just need to eat more vegetarian protein sources to stay healthy. The average sedentary woman should eat 46 grams of protein per day and the average man should eat 56 grams.
5. Eating a vegetarian diet drastically reduces risk of heart disease.
Meat is filled with fat and cholesterol. Studies show that men who eliminate meat from their diet late in their life are at a much lower risk of getting heart disease.
6. Live longer by avoiding meat.
Most deadly viruses come from animals and meat is known to induce health problems, like osteoporosis, kidney stones, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, gum disease and acne. An Oxford study found that vegetarians outlive meat eaters by six years.
7. Eating meat correlates with obesity.
The only weight-loss plan that has been scientifically proved to take weight off and keep it off for more than a year is a meatless diet. Studies show that meat-eaters have three times the obesity rate of vegetarians and nine times the obesity rate of vegans.
8. Prevent Climate Change
“Other scientists have proposed a meat tax to limit its consumption, but the report concludes that keeping meat eating to levels recommended by health authorities would not only lower emissions but also reduce heart disease and cancer. ‘The research does not show everyone has to be a vegetarian to limit warming to 2C, the stated objective of the world’s governments.'”
9. Water conservation
The largest user of fresh water is the livestock industry. By limiting meat production, we would use a lot less water. Grains and vegetables don’t need nearly as much water as livestock to grow.
10. Vegetarian food is SO delicious!
If you check out my recipe index, you’ll easily be able to understand why eating vegetarian is easy and incredibly delicious!
Resources:
https://www.downtoearth.org/go-veggie/top-10-reasons
http://www.britishmeat.com/49.htm
http://www.peta.org/
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/dec/03/eating-less-meat-curb-climate-change
http://www.vrg.org/environment/water_brochure.php
