So before you decide to stop reading right there and go back to your meatloaf, do yourself a favor and hold your decision making until you actually know ALL the facts. One cannot say "I will never stop eating meat" unless they're truly educated about what meat does to them. I did a lot of research on it and have felt all the positive effects of giving up meat products, such as clearer mind, weight loss, healthier body, better eating habits.
So if you don't really eat meat, read up- you'll be happy that you don't and this will motivate you to continue being healthy. If you do eat meat occasionally, but want a reason to make yourself stop, because you secretly know that it's not good, read up. It'll convince you your feelings are right and give you an extra push to skip on that huge steak you just ordered. Even if you're a meat lover and don't see any reasons whatsoever that you would willingly give up something as delicious as meat, read up anyways. It never hurts to be educated about things you're eating, even if you end up deciding to be ignorant about it ( in the nicest way possible).
But until you have all your facts, you cannot make the right decision for you and your body. And that decision will be yours and will be respected. At least by me.
So first, I'd like to start with my own "meat" story to establish a baseline here.
One more thing I'd like to mention: before you go on declaring something like:" I'd never be able to give up meat/cheese/milk/whatever! I love it too much", give it a try. If the facts I present are compelling enough, don't disregard them simply out of "weak will" expectations, but "attempt" to do something about it, even if you expect yourself to fail.
Again, I am not here to convince anyone, but give fact and information, to share my journey and experience, along with medical studies and research that has been done.
So here we go:Table of Contents
WHY IS MEAT MURDER?
Let's start with the minor stuff.1. Saturated and Trans Fats
{ “I don’t want any vegetables, thank you. I paid for the cow to eat them for me” Doug Coupland }
You've all heard it. Saturated fat is bad for you. Everyone is well aware that saturated fat is bad for our cardiovascular system as well as our diet. Eating foods that contain saturated fats raises the level of cholesterol in your blood. High levels of blood cholesterol increase your risk of heart disease and stroke. In addition to that, many foods high in saturated fats are also high in cholesterol – which raises your blood cholesterol even higher. The majority come mainly from animal sources, including meat and dairy products. Examples are fatty beef, lamb, pork, poultry with skin, beef fat (tallow), lard and cream, butter, cheese and other dairy products made from whole or reduced-fat (2 percent) milk. These foods also contain dietary cholesterol. Add to that the fact that most processed foods and baked goods are full of saturated fat due to current manufacturing processes and we have a nation that is inundatedwith saturated fat in their diets. We get up to 3 times more saturated fat that we should. All by itself in reasonable quantities saturated fat isn't that bad. However, if you review your daily food intake, you will surely find more than the allowable 16 grams of saturated fat.2. Digestion
{“Happiness: a good bank account, a good cook, and a good digestion” Jean-Jacques Rousseau}
I hear you saying "Ah! Who cares about digestion?" YOU should! Your large intestine (colon) is the most important under-repped organ in your body. It is the first organ to be developed in the fetus. Because without a proper waste elimination system, we will be literally poisoned. If you eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans and rarely any animal fat, your bowel movement should be perfect: fast easy and daily or more than once a day. For most people, however, who follow the standard American diet, the colon is the most toxic place in the body.3. Colon Cancer
{You are full of shit!}
Colon (large intestine) cancer is the fourth most common form of cancer in the United States and the third leading cause of cancer-related death in the Western world. What? You didn't think that all that disregard for our digestion and nutrition would get us anywhere? I realize many of you have never heard of this type of cancer, or never knew anyone with it, but do you really think anyone would willingly admit they have COLON cancer? Come on! It's much more prevalent than it seems. it's one of those things that you don't know about it until it hits you ( or your family). many studies have been done that linked dietary and lifestyle habit, specifically red meat consumption, to developing colorectal cancer. In a study involved more than 140,000 men and women that was led by the American Cancer Society, researchers collected information about the participants' eating habits over a ten-year period. When the study was over, the average age of participants was 63. In comparing red meat consumption to colorectal cancer incidence, researchers found that people who ate a lot of red meat were 30-40% more likely to develop cancer of the lower colon and rectum than people who didn't eat much red meat. However , lifestyle changes ( such as exercising, healthy diet) could decrease the risk of colorectal cancer as much as 60-80%.4. Cancer ( in general)
{“The more you cook, the worse you look. The more you fry, the faster you’ll die”}
Aside from a very high risk of colon cancer, according to the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research “red or processed meats are convincing or probable sources of some cancers.” Their report says evidence is convincing for a link between red meat, processed meat, and colorectal cancer, lung, esophageal, stomach, pancreatic, and endometrial cancers.5. Agricultural standards
(” You are what you eat and you are what what your food eats” )
6. Dioxins ( my favorite and most recent topic of research)
{If you’re a woman of childbearing age, this is of UTMOST importance to you}
Most people have heard about pesticides and other carcinogens, but very few people know what dioxins are, which is very strange, considering the omnipresence of these highly toxic substances. Dioxins are considered to be some of the most toxic chemicals known to science and describe a group of elements that are a by-product of many manufacturing processes involving chlorine. In simple words, these are very dangerous carcinogens that are present in our environment and our bodies without the general public really knowing much about them. Since dioxins are stored in fat of humans and animals and last virtually an eternity, they are everywhere: in our bodies, in animal products such as meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, in the oceans, on our grass and produce, in our bloodstream. Our major sources of dioxin are in our diet. Since dioxin is fat-soluble, it bioaccumulates, climbing up the food chain. A North American eating a typical North American diet will receive 93% of their dioxin exposure from meat and dairy products (23% is from milk and dairy alone; the other large sources of exposure are beef, fish, pork, poultry and eggs). In simple words, it's like this: dioxins "settle" on grass that is then fed to the cows, they accumulate in cows, that are then fed to humans, so we end up being the end carriers of all of the dioxins of the world. A worse scenario: cows being fed with animal by-products that are already full of dioxins-> we get triple the dose of dioxins, which then stay with us for 7-10 years. The fattier the animal product, the more dioxins it has. Even cows and animals who are WILD and GRASS FED have high levels of dioxins due to their exposure, especially in the Midland of America.is there ANYTHING GOOD about meat?
Well, red meat is high in iron, something many teenage girls and women in their childbearing years are lacking. The heme iron in red meat is easily absorbed by the body. Red meat also supplies vitamin B12, which helps make DNA and keeps nerve and red blood cells healthy, and zinc, which keeps the immune system working properly.Red meat provides protein, which helps build bones and muscles. “Calorie for calorie, beef is one of the most nutrient-rich foods,” says Shalene McNeil, PhD, executive director of nutrition research for the National Cattlemen’s BeefI really hope that you got something useful out of MY choices and reasoning behind them. And I hope you will make your own decision to be healthy, even if it's in you own way.
Some people will say: "So what now I can't live at all? If we're worried about everything then it'll be no fun to live?"
Yes, and it won't be any fun to die prematurely, will it? Or have a baby with birth defects, or diabetes, or cancer, or asthtma or high blood pressure, caused by your unhealthy lifestyle. One thing I can tell you from my own experience is that you LIKE what you're USED to. Once you make the choice to change your habits and stick with them, it becomes an easier choice every day. You eat an pear instead of a cookie, you make beans and veggies instead of meatloaf, you cook a vegetable pizza on a whole wheat bread, instead of ordering Pizza Hut, you drink water instead of Coke, you eat salt water fish instead of steak. It becomes second nature and you enjoy it just as much. You enjoy the clarity of mind that comes with clean eating, the unstoppable energy radiating from you every time you eat, you enjoy your lean body that doesn't seem to gain any weight regardless of how much you eat, you enjoy your clear skin and most importantly you enjoy passing it down to your children and bringing them up in the same manner, to be healthy and young forever.
I'm not saying meat will do it all. You have to start somewhere, and removing the biggest offender is the first move. I am a vegetarian and my husband just turned vegan about 4 months ago. He has lost about 30 pounds without cutting calories or dieting by just becoming vegan and has never been clearer minded and more full of energy. I will probably turn vegan as well, once I'm done making babies and breastfeeding, but for now I do allow myself kefir/yogurt and sardines for health benefits.
I’d love to learn about your experience with food and meat and weight loss and health. How do you feel about meat?
{I am currently writing a post about healthy eating and weight loss in general, not centered on meat, so look forward to many tips on how to make your diet more healthy and clean}
Please feel free to share a link to this post with your friends and family or reblog it on your sites. I think it's important to spread the information out as much as possible because our government doesn't seem to think it's important enough and people tend not to listen.______________________________________________________________________
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40 comments
A great post, I’ve been a vegetarian since I was a teen. I know just what you mean.
Elena, thank you so much for writing this! Very Helpful and informative! 🙂
This is an excellent post. Can I make a suggestion? It’s much too long. I loved the beginning. I prepped myself on the pillows to enjoy it all, but after I got to the “Facts” I had to just run through, because each was so long. A point after point would have made it so much more reader friendly.
Otherwise, I’m on the same page. We’ve talked about it. I stopped eating meat without even realizing it. I just began buying more of the things I REALLY love – fruit, veggies, fish,- and noticed I didn’t want to bother preparing meat. Now, I see the difference: I feel lighter. My body feels cleaner and more alive. When I think of someone consuming large quantities of meat, I immediately picture a red, round, shiny face, fat and grease oozing from every pore. However, I believe it’s a personal choice. If my date orders a Steak, I might try a little piece if he insists its good, but inevitably I just get more convinced how much I DON’T miss eating meat.
Wow, you sure did read a lot of stuff 🙂 It was really interesting reading all of your arguments, especially since you know we don’t quite share the same views on this topic 🙂 But I couldn’t help but notice that all of the studies are American ones. Not that eating the same meat is any different depending on where you live, but I believe Americans eat much more processed foods and it’s quite hard to compare some lean chicken breasts that have been cooked at home (or even at a restaurant – it’s not that different over here) to chicken mcnuggets for example. Plus American doctors say that you should substitute butter for margarine for a healthier lifestyle and everyone here knows margarine is probably one of the worst things you can possibly eat. It is even illegal to cook food with it in kindergardens here (only butter and olive oil allowed).
And as a friend of mine said “Thanksgiving food is probably the healthiest meal Americans eat all year, they just eat way too much.” And yeah, he’s an American.
The thing about how animals are fed and all the shitty stuff they put in them, now that I completely agree with! And that is the reason why I don’t eat anything that comes from the US (or any other country for that matter), especially meat (can you imagine they ship all the meat for KFC for example all the way to here?) The thing is, here it’s very easy to buy an animal and take good care of it. For example, my dad and some of his friends bought a pig a couple of years ago, hired a man to take care of it and in the end we got good quality meat that we knew for sure was good. Or you can very easily get milk straight from a cow (even my parent’s neighbors have cows and we see them graze every day).
And last, I think if humans were meant to be vegans, then we would just be herbivores and our teeth would look differently and babies wouldn’t need breast milk. My personal belief is that the closest to nature we stay, the better.
I agree, but see, even the cleanest meat is contaminated due to our pollution. Dioxins are at the same level in a remote village as they are somewhere in America. Regardless of where you get your cow, they’re still full of dioxins. So yeah we were meant to eat meat, but we werren’t meat to eat polluted meat. And that’s something we can’t get away from.
I wouldn’t say a typical american eats chicken mugnuggets instead of well cooked chicken, I mean we’re not all fast food junkies here. Most normal people avoid fast food just like anyone else in Europe. But there are still some other reasons for why meat is bad that I mentioned here, besides the typical hormone shot, animal fed, antibiotic full meat.
“I was still eating like shit” hahahahah, this is why I love your blog!
This post made me giggle, and I am so giving up meat after this…like honestly, blehhh I want to live till I’m 114 years old :] no joke
Great info. Very interesting to read 😉
I found you from the blog hop. I’m following.
ecwrites.blogspot.com
Read the book The China Study. It explains why animal protein causes cancer. Cancer shouldn’t grow unless it is fed with animal protein. I just found your blog through Sunday Snapshot. Love your photography and when I found this post it was all over for me. My husband who was a huge meat eater turned Vegan after reading The China Study. He tells me I should make a cookbook that shows men they can be full and satisfied on a vegan diet, because he, like a lot of men, didn’t think it were possible. Now he brags to everyone about the meals I make for us. Great blog and I can’t wait to check out more of it!
Hey, I was reading about saturated fats and found some articles about the connection between saturated fat and cholesterol. I am in no way trying to persuade you to eat meat or anything (god no!!) but the first point you put out there is just simply not true.
http://www.menshealth.com/nutrition/low-carb-diet
http://abcnews.go.com/WN/story?id=5388954&page=1
“While low-fat dieters lost an average of 7.3 pounds over the two-year period, those following the Mediterranean diet shed 10.1 pounds. The low-carb dieters peeled off the most weight, losing an average of 12.1 pounds.
And perhaps the most surprising: people on the low-carb diet, even after two years of dining on meat and cheeses and eggs, did not have increased cholesterol levels. In fact, it actually lowered the cholesterol numbers of study participants.
“A low-carb diet, by giving up pasta, and bread, and potatoes, lowers insulin levels in the body,” Dr. Eric Westman of Duke University said. “And when there’s less insulin, the body produces less harmful cholesterol.” ”
There’s even a lot of information and links on wikipedia too: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-carbohydrate_diet
The thing is the US apparently supports low fat diets with a lot of carbs (we adopted that in the EU I checked:) and the government is the one deciding for which studies to pay. Which means that of course it will invest in more studies that support their view. Whether it’s cheaper or easier to produce carbs rather than good quality meat or diary and therefore they advocate for it so much we will never know. But their views towards fat are slowly starting to change.
As for the pollution, well there’s pretty much no escape from that, even if you eat vegetables and nothing else. There’s so much nitrates, pesticides etc. “They found convincing parallels between age adjusted rises in mortality from certain illnesses — Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and diabetes — and the steadily increasing human exposure to nitrates, nitrites and nitrosamines through processed and preserved foods as well as fertilizers.” – http://www.naturalnews.com/026566_nitrates_disease_diabetes.html And peeling the skin of the fruit/vegetable isn’t always of much help.
My point is, eat whatever you like that’s not bad for you by itself and try to get it as clean as you can. If we have to worry about every single thing then we shouldn’t even be breathing because the air is polluted as well. Don’t get me wrong – I worry a lot about those things as hell but I sometimes find myself get too carried away.
That’s where I have to disagree with you. I am in no way saying that people should be eating no saturated fat, neither am I talking about any kind of diets. The point is that saturated fats need to be in our diets in reasonable amounts, not three times the amount like most people’s diets. The first point also talks about trans fats which are by far worse than saturated fats. I’m also not worried about losing weight or such, I’m simply talking about healthy eating. And yes, people on low fat diets ( which I am not a supporter of) eat a lot of refined carbs, which is wrong. If they were to switch to whole grains and vegetables, we wouldn’t have the effects of higher insulin levels. So you’re comparing apples and oranges. I don’t believe a diet should be “low” in anything. We need both carbs and protein and a tiny bit of fats, but it all has to be the healthy types.
Another point you tried to make is that everything we eat is “poisoned” which is true. But I am trying to pick the lesser of the two evils. Obviously, there is a lot more wrong with meat and animal products than just saturated fats. Veggetables do have nitrates and pesticides, but that’s why you buy them organic without all that mess. At least I have an option to do that.
I don’t think eating an very lean organic piece of meat is bad, but there’re very few options for it, and people tend to eat more than just that piece, including overly processed products, like deli.
But in light of everything that’s wrong with meat, I prefer getting my protein elsewhere, like beans and nuts and whole grains.
Alright, because 20 years ago people thought saturated fats were bad for you and your cholesterol (which is now proved that is totally wrong) they decided to use unsaturated fatty acids instead. And yeah, thanks to that now we have trans fat in so many foods. Using vegetable oils and cooking those and of course the processed food industry are the biggest sources of trans fats. Not meat. http://www.organic-coconut-oil.com/trans-fats.htm
It isn’t even proved that the trans fats that are found in the nature (meat and diary) are bad for you – “The US National Dairy Council has asserted that the trans fats present in animal foods are of a different type than those in partially hydrogenated oils, and do not appear to exhibit the same negative effects.” ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans_fat ). I couldn’t find exactly how much trans fat was in meat (it just says “little amount” or “very little” wherever I looked – if you have this as information I’d love to see it because I’m really curious). Also, there’s “natural” trans fat in human milk ( about 7.2% of the total fatty acids) and I believe nobody thinks breast milk is harmful for your baby, even the opposite.
There’s so much trans fat in baked goods though, cereals, crackers etc. Olive oil is great as long as you don’t cook with it (only butter or pure fat, as gross as this may sound, are suitable for cooking because saturated fats cannot become trans fats, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats can). It’s a little different story when it comes to olive oil but if you heat it above its smoke point (which varies from 110 to 204ºC depending where you are getting your information from) it oxidizes and you get peroxide. Not only that but when olive oil reaches its smoke point production of glycerol starts and that turns into acrolein which is well, toxic.
So all I’m trying to say is that meat is considered the root of all evil and if you compare what most people eat every day, meat is probably one of the healthiest things on their menu (I would put vegetables before meat but a lot of people don’t eat much vegetables, which is just crazy). So I say, remove all the processed food, eat only things that can be found in nature, get those as clean as you can (grow them yourself or buy organic when possible, including meat) and you should be okay.
Apart from that I agree with you 100%! I also eat whole grains and beans every day, I just don’t eat as much as the USDA suggests but let’s say that’s for everyone to decide for themselves. As for the amounts of meat I believe that the reason people eat more is because they eat only meat or meat and potatoes (at least that’s the reason I was eating more meat than I should have a few months ago) If you fill more than half of your plate with vegetables and you eat those it’s hard to eat more than one piece of meat with it. Perfect example is my dad when we had lunch the other day. He ordered baked fish and I told him to get a salad and vegetables as a side instead of french fries. In the end he ate his salad and almost all of his veggies and left 1/3 of his fish (the whole piece was about 150grams), he was just full.
You keep talking about saturated fat but that was only one of the reasons not to eat meat and as I stated a very minor one. When I was talking about trans fats I might have not made it clear but I was saying why trans fata are bad and what they can be found in. It’s an absolute given that all processed foods especially processes meat products are horrible and need to be avoided. But aside from sat fat there’s just so much more wrong with meat.
As far as some of your information is concerned , you really can’t get the actual facts from US national Dairy council Hannah that is just too biased. The council consists of the heads of agricultural businesses and dairy businesses :). I read the same thing from the head of the agricultural council. They can deny facts all they want and twist them to prove evidence to be limited, but the independent studies are there to prove them wrong. Us dept of cancer research has no monetary gain in telling people the facts about how meat and meat products especially cause cancer.
As far as oils are concerned you are 100% right and that is something people aren’t aware of. Recently I watched an friend of mine cook meat BOILING in oil and it took everything in me not to give him a lecture about what he’s doing to his food and body.
I noticed that the USDA also suggests a certain amount of healthy oils in your diet, if all of your protien is nuts (and fish) you get those oils naturally and healthily. If you even throw in two ounces of beef (for the once ounce of nuts you’d need to eat to make the same serving) you don’t get any of those oils. This was when I learned that we have evidence of a vegitarian diet being the healthiest everywhere (even/especially on the USDA’s resources and website, although tons of people act like the USDA is evidence of the opposite), if people care enough to broaden their mind and research a little.
This is really interesting! We haven’t been eating much meat lately due to the cost of it mainly. It would be a big transition to cut it out altogether and I also struggle to think of what to replace it with. Will have to do some looking up – have you got any posts on that and/or recipes?
Well, in general you should make veggies your main meal and grains and meats your side. But there’re plenty of things that you can use instead of meat in meals: beans, sauteed vegetables, veggie burgers, brown rice, whole grains.
You can read more about a healthier lifestyle every week on GET FIT: https://everyavenuelife.com/category/getfit/
Thanks for this post. It has given me a lot to think about. I’m still not convinced about vegans, but this was a great post with some good things to think about. Can I ask if you husband eats honey?
We aren’t really “honey” people, but it’s definitely not something he excludes or avoids. I don’t believe it has animal fat, so it’s not an issue ( though I no nothing about honey, it very well could have animal fat lol)
Also, In response to this comment from you,
“We aren’t really “honey” people, but it’s definitely not something he excludes or avoids. I don’t believe it has animal fat, so it’s not an issue ( though I no nothing about honey, it very well could have animal fat lol)”
vegans don’t eat honey because they think it is harmful for the bees,
“Like other factory-farmed animals, honeybees are victims of unnatural living conditions, genetic manipulation, and stressful transportation … Profiting from honey requires the manipulation and exploitation of the insects’ desire to live and protect their hive.” http://planetgreen.discovery.com/food-health/reason-vegans-honey.html
NOT because it has animal fats in it. WOW. I guess you skipped your research on that one.
Annie,
I am not going to respond to your earlier point, because obviously instead of taking everything I wrote at face value, you chose to read between the lines and make your own assumptions about what “I must have meant” and I just don’t have the time, energy or desire to dispute your opinion about what it is you think I said.
However, you obviously didn’t do YOUR research because ( on the honey subject, for example), because some people become vegans and vegetarians for reasons other than just animal cruelty. For us, it’s simply dietary and health reasons. We feel better eating that way (physically) and the research supports it’s better for us health-wise. That’s all. So honey isn’t an issue for my husband as long as it doesn’t have animal fat, because animal fat is what seems to have an effect on how he feels.
And ok, while I’m at it, yes, the idea of colon cancer did embarrass me until I read more about it and got used to idea of it ( my aunt had colon cancer too btw). And yes, cancer can get anyone (I thought it’d be a given for anyone who reads it, without making ridiculous assumptions), however taking certain steps might help mitigate the risk factors.
I would suggest that before you assume things about people and complain about things they “supposedly meant”, you should sort out your own feelings on the matter, move them aside and then read the article the way it’s supposed to be read, as an information piece written by a person with their own opinions, ideas and lifestyle that might differ from your opinion, ideas or lifestyle. I don’t need to be a dietitian or a doctor to cite publicly available research and give my own opinion.
I find it amusing that you felt the need to delete the part of my reply that actually had the most to do with your article. Could it possibly be that maybe you have no response to my argument because you’re wrong.
(…)
And I did do my research. Your husband is not a vegan if eats honey.
(…)
Annie, I deleted those parts, because I wasn’t going to respond to those parts ( I actually ended up referring to them at the end of the comment). Like, I said I wasn’t even going to respond to you comment at all, but you were respectful about how you wrote things, and that always deserves respect from me as well. Besides, if you’re writing this for me to read, what do you care if I take out the parts I am referring to? You know I read them.
I don’t care if my husband isn’t “vegan”, because he could potentially eat honey. I don’t care about labels, really. The point is he doesn’t eat most animal products. And you know what, sometimes he’ll lick the frosting off my cupcake, just because he wants to. Does that disqualify him as a vegan? There’re many types of people. Vegan is just the closest “label” one can put on him.
Just like, I normally a 100% vegetarian, but I also almost never drank milk and ate cheese, but I wasn’t determined to avoid them. I am not vegan, I know that. And now that I am pregnant and have to eat some fish for its nutrition and iron and etc. does that make me not vegetarian? And once I am not pregnant anymore and go back to not eating fish, am I a vegetarian again. I don’t know and I honestly don’t care. I don’t understand why you feel the need to argue over labels. That wasn’t the point of the article. It was a list of reasons for why meat could be bad for you. period.
Also, I don’t see how this post could be offensive to cancer survivors. If anything, I was trying to let people know how to possibly help them avoid it in the future. Education and knowledge is something cancer patients would support. Because I was embarrassed at of colon cancer before I got used to the idea? Because I wrote meat can cause cancer? Doesn’t make sense to me.
Different people get weirded out by different things. Some people are embarrassed by nudity, others gets squirmy when they see a woman breastfeeding. Again, don’t assume your opinions and feelings are the only one way to do things out there.
You seem to be reasonable enough to know that you can’t TELL people how to FEEL or THINK. It’s something they have to work through on their own.
I am not big on labels, but you say that you and your husband stick to a strict diet. You can’t be a vegetarian if you eat fish. That makes you a pescatarian. And, your husband cannot be a vegan if he really isn’t a vegan. I live by the beach, but that doesn’t make me a surfer.
And you’re right,
“Education and knowledge is something cancer patients would support”
but only when it comes from a trained medical professional. I’m pretty sure my Mom would have snubbed some random blog on the internet claiming to know the secret behind preventing cancer. You can’t make assumption because like I said earlier, you’re not a doctor.
When you write a blog for everyone to see, be consistent. I am not even going to go into everything else I see wrong with this article, because I have a beautiful son who I want to spend the rest of my day loving on. I guess we’ll agree to disagree. Good luck through the rest of your pregnancy.
Did I say we stick to a strict diet? I don’t remember that but maybe it was that way back then. Not anymore, as time went on, we had to make adjustments and such. I am now not a vegetarian, but I was before pregnancy and will be after, I think. It’s a bit hairy, because I change things as circumstances change.
“only when it comes from a trained medical professional. I’m pretty sure my Mom would have snubbed some random blog on the internet claiming to know the secret ”
You don’t need to be a doctor to put out there some more or less well known info and cite publicly available studies. I wrote about what I know personally . And hope that would prompt someone else to do their own research. I started on this path because I read something here, something there, and then kept going on my own and finding info. Without that initial push, few people would even know to look into that. And hell no, I don’t claim I know the secret behind cancer. That’s just a crazy assumption!!!! And a bit offensive, if you want to go there. Avoiding cancer is soooooo much more than simply avoiding meat. You keep concentrating on the cancer part in this post, while you SHOULD on the meat part, why meat isn’t so good for you ( especially in the amounts most people eat). That was my sole point. Cancer just showed up there, because it’s linked so much with meat consumption. Face value, Annie, face value.
I agree that we both have a lot more important things to do ( which is why initially I didn’t even want to get into it), than argue over semantics. Enjoy time with your beautiful son! And I am off to enjoy this beautiful weather with my husband and Alexis.
Great post. I agree 100%. I’ve been a vegetarian since I was ~15. 😀
I know this comment is a little late, but I have only just found your blog and I felt compelled to give my two cents.
Interesting post, but as I noticed in much of the research you quoted, as well as research I have done myself, red meat and processed meats seem to be the culprits of the adverse health effects noted, not white meat. Putting all meat into one category and saying “meat is murder”, is a little misleading. (Lean and unprocessed) white meat and many types of fish offer more benefits, in terms of protein, minerals and vitamins, than negatives.
I fully agree with your points regarding red meat and processed types of meat, though, so I try to steer clear of them.
Hannah
I just read this post that you wrote. I have several thoughts if I may:
1. The food industry, as a whole, is very corrupt. There are so many genetically altered food, that to say, “become a veritarian” is not that simple. There are far more toxins and poisons, if you will, in the grocery store than just the meat and dairy section. The FDA, oh Lord, I will not get stared on that.
2. To say that you should buy organic meat and dairy is really crap. Did you know what qualifies “free range” eggs and chickens? It’s a door. Chickens don’t know that they can go out if they are not taught. So you have tons of chickens crammed into a chicken house and not taught that they can wander out and they live the same life as the ones in a pin with their peaks chopped off. Do your research and know where your meat is actually coming from. Organic does not really mean “organic” anymore.
3. You (and by that, I mean the general public, we do!!) should be buying local and talk to your farmer. Ask them what they are using to spray their farm, if anything. Ask them to come and visit the farm. If they are doing what they should be doing, they will be so excited to show you their farm and the work that they are doing!
But please, do not say “buy organic” without doing your homework first! Know where the source of your food is coming from.
Wow wow wow wow wow. This information is SO wrong and SO inaccurate. I don’t even have time for this, but just felt compelled to tell you that you have missed the mark BIG TIME.
Just spend a few minutes over at the Weston A Price Foundation website, and read information from credible sources from an honest organization.
Oh and I know for sure, I will NEVER stop eating meat.
Oh do you mean the foundation that “has been criticized by medical and health experts for “purveying misleading information” and “failing to update their recommendations in light of contradictory evidence””?
Oh yeah I’m tripping over my own feet trying to hurry to read what it has to say.
Keep eating your meat, girl, no one is taking it away from you.
I recently stumbled upon your blog and love it! You’re a great story teller. However, I respectfully disagree with this particular post—specifically reason #5 on why one should not consume meat.
Let me preface my story a bit. I grew up in MN on a hog and grain farm. My family raised pigs, corn and soybeans. In college, I met my husband. He’s a dairy farmer; in addition to milking around 270 cows 2x per day, his family also raises replacement heifers, steers, corn, alfalfa (hay), soybeans, and oats. Growing up on a family farm taught me some of life’s most important lessons. Clearly, agriculture is in my blood. I become greatly offended when people misrepresent agriculture of any form. For without agriculture (whether you are a carnivore, omnivore, herbivore, vegan, etc.), where would you be? You would be naked and hungry.
Anyways, I wanted to offer a few comments from a farmer’s perspective.
1) “Agriculture is a business like any other.” Well, yes, that is true. It’s how my husband and I (in addition to his parents and younger brother; my mom and dad, and numerous friends) make a living.
2) “Faster, Cheaper, Easier” as a business model—We have implemented technologies on our farm to speed up the process of doing chores. This makes doing chores “easier” compared to 50 years ago. I digress, our real business model is do what’s right— take care of the animals and they will take care of you. We have several friends in agriculture, and I know they all would stand behind this motto. Farmer’s care. We care about producing safe and nutrition food and for the well being of our animals.
3) “Cows are shot up with growth hormones (steroids) to make them grow faster and stronger”- You make it seem like cows are mutant animals! In agriculture, we do use approved hormones in certain situations. Growth promotants are vigorously tested by the FDA for safety—for the animal’s well-being and for meat consumed by humans. The hormones all have been proven safe. They work by stimulating growth by increasing the efficiency where feed is converted to muscle. The results in a beef carcass that has more muscle and less fat; thus, leaner beef for consumers. Still don’t believe me? Well, let’s look at a few numbers for reference on one hormone in particular: Estrogen. The daily human estrogen production is 54,000 ng for prepubescent girls; 41,500 for prepubescent boys; 480,000 ng for nonpregnant women, and 136,000ng for adult males. One serving of beef (3 oz.) has 1.2ng (nonimplanted steer) and 1.9 ng (implanted steer). 34ng in 8 oz. glass of milk, 908 ng in 1 bowl split pea soup, 993 in 1 egg,, 2,700ng in 4 ox. Of cabbage,28,000ng in 1 TBSP. of soybean oil, and 35,000ng in a low dose birth control pill. Beef isn’t looking so bad now, is it?
4) “They are administered numerous antibiotics to keep them disease free and living longer”—You’ve got it half right. When a cow is sick, we treat her with antibiotics approved by our veterinarian. Again, this goes back to our motto of doing what is right. It’s not only right for the animal, but it’s right for the nation’s food supply. A healthy animal is a safe animal.
5) “They’re being fed the most horrible disgusting stuff you could ever imagine: chopped up animal carcasses” WRONG. Remember that one disease, Mad Cow (actually called bovine spongiform encephalopathy, BSE)? In order to protect the nation’s food supply, the FDA implemented a rule to protect animals and consumers against BSE. In 1997, the FDA banned the feeding of animal protein to ruminant animals (cows, sheep, goats). In 2008, the FDA strengthened the 1997 rule by prohibiting brain and spinal cords (tissues that carry BSE prions) from animals 30 months and older from entering the animal feed chain. Last time I checked, our cows were fed a ration consisting of corn silage, haylage, high moisture corn, cotton seed, soybean meal, distiller’s grains with soluble, and vitamins and minerals. I’m confident to say that this diet is right in line with the ruminant digestive system’s reqirements.
6) “These cows are stuck in modified cages…” NO. We confine our herd to protect them from the elements. However, they have plenty of room to lay down, eat, drink, or roam in our freestall barn. They are kept cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Again, it all goes back to our “business motto” of doing what is right.
Finally, I’d really urge you to visit a farm in your area. As a farmer, I love sharing agriculture’s story. If you’re ever in MN, please let me know.
Jenna,
I think what you misunderstood in this post (or maybe I didn’t make it clear) is that I wasn’t referring to smaller family owned farms but the mass producing ones. There’s a huge difference.
Like you said, your motto is do what’s right. You say you don’t do certain things and I respect that but it doesn’t mean bigger farms don’t cut corners and feed their animals crap as well as keep them in cages.
I very much respect local farmers and support them by buying mostly locally.
I’m not sure if I mentioned it in the post but one of the ways to get better beef is go to your local farm.
However while I agree with most of what you said, I am still grossly against hormones and preventative use of antibiotics . If I wasn’t responding from my iPhone and had time, I’d cite the studies done against RhB (is that the right name) and antibiotic use, but those things so horribly interact with our body that there can be a case for never drinking milk again. That’s aside from the fact that humans weren’t designed to drink other species breast milk.
I have one final question for you: Where can I find a “mass producing farm”?
Had I not mentioned that our farm is family owned, you may classify our farm as a “mass producing” one if you were to drive by. We have several buildings to house our hundreds of animals. The average dairy farm in MN is less than 100 animals. We have nearly 3x that amount in our milking herd. If you add all of our calves, young heifers, and steers the total number of animals is probably closer to 700! Also, you need to remember that large farms are important in rural communities. The rural-urban divide is great. The standards (and costs) of living in rural America are vastly different from urban and suburban America. It is important to remember, that large farms are vital to rural economies as they provide good paying jobs. We employ 3 FT nonfamily, 3 FT family members, 2 PT nonfamily, and 2PT family members at our farm. Yes, the jobs are hard work, but hard work pays off.
I know hundreds of farmers and have visited farms of all sizes all over the country: small (less than 50 animals) and large (over 10,000 animals). All the farms that I have visited and know are FAMILY owned and operated (even that large farm with over 10,000 animals). You should see the passion these hardworking men and women have for their farming legacy. No matter the size or facilities where animals are raised, I always see farmers caring for their animals. The whole idea of “Factory Farms” is just ridiculous and a fallacy that anti-agriculture groups have dreamed up in attempt to sway consumers from supporting agriculture. Many farmers are the 3rd, 4th, 5th or more generation farming the same land. Yes, farming practices have changed since our ancestors first settled this area, but our hard work, dedication, and care for what we do day in and day out remains intact and unchangeable. America has the SAFEST and least expensive food supply in the world.
Okay, I will step off my soapbox, and thanks for reading, but I urge you and all readers to visit farms to really see what is happening in agriculture. Don’t take the word of some commercial on TV. Meet the real men and women who work hard to provide families across the nation and world with safe and healthy food.
You have a point there. I know little about actual farms, aside from what I learned through documentaries and books. And I am not necessarily ragging on agriculture. I am a non-dairy vegetarian, which means I LIVE on agriculture. I have nothing against it. But I still won’t buy meat from cows treated with hormones or antibiotics, I will still not drink dairy or eat meat, because I do not think it’s good for you.
There’s nothing wrong with what you do and it’s great that you take pride in it, but it’s been proven many many times that a plant based diet is best for our health. That doesn’t mean that you will ever be out of a job, because plenty of people will continue eating meat and drinking milk regardless of studies.
I just found your blog this morning and immediately fell in love! Then I saw a link to this post and fell even more in love!
My husband and i just started this process a few months ago and are so glad. Some times it is hard having people think you are legit crazy for not eating these things, when in reality it’s the best choice we could be making for our bodies! Wake up people! Oh well, you can only change yourself, share your story and hope that people open their eyes for their own well being. I know this is an old post but wanted to share my thoughts regardless =)
-Love to you and your family.
Here is our elimination process:
http://ashleewray.blogspot.com/2012/07/its-not-diet-its-lifestyle-part-1.html
GREAT! I am glad you agree! 🙂 It’s really an amazing change and I am so happy that most of my friends have made the change as well. Makes it easy on the “you’e crazy for not eating meat” front 😉 lol
I think a lot of the same type of arguments can be used against not eating grains as well. I am coming into this a little biased because I was recently diagnosed with Celiac’s disease and had to switch to a gluten free diet. This has led me to research gluten and whole grains in general since they are marketed as the basis of our diets. The first thing I switched to was from wheat to organic brown rice and then started coming across all kinds of articles on how organic brown rice has high levels of arsenic. It just seems like everything now a days is bad for you.
I agree! We stopped giving our daughter rice bc of arsenic and I have read about gluten and it’s effects.
I’ve been a Pescatarian for 11 months now after watching Forks Over Knives and Food INC.
I commend you for your passion for healthy living and research! I was a vegetarian for fifteen years, and started eating a whole foods diet in my early 20s (I’m in my mid 30s now.) I am also really driven and motivated by research and study of nutrition. That said, I have actually put high quality, grass-fed, organic meat BACK into my diet (completely for health reasons) in the past few years. I did so on the recommendation of my acupuncturist, but not without pretty extensive research. Rather than try to convince you, I’m going to mention a few books you might want to check out. After reading these, I’m convinced that it is not healthy (especially for babies) to have a vegetarian diet. You seem like an avid reader and truth seeker, so before you fully disagree, check these out:
Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride –
(The science in these texts is presented thoroughly and compellingly, and dispels many commonly held myths about cholesterol and nutrition- pretty fascinating stuff.)
http://www.amazon.com/Put-Your-Heart-Mouth/dp/095485201X
http://www.amazon.com/Psychology-Syndrome-D-D-D-H-D-Schizophrenia/dp/0954852028/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1356831366&sr=1-1&keywords=gut+and+psychology+syndrome+by+dr.+natasha+campbell-mcbride
Real Food, by Nina Planck:
http://www.amazon.com/Real-Food-What-Eat-Why/dp/1596913428/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1356831586&sr=1-1&keywords=real+food
On myths regarding saturated fat and cholesterol:
http://www.amazon.com/Cholesterol-Myths-Exposing-Fallacy-Saturated/dp/0967089719/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1356831487&sr=1-2&keywords=the+cholesterol+myth
http://www.amazon.com/Myth-Cholesterol-Dispelling-Creating-Health/dp/0972123377/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1356831487&sr=1-5&keywords=the+cholesterol+myth
Check it out before you knock it. And congrats on having such a gorgeous little girl!
Thanks for the links! I hope to have enough time to look through them.
We have recently introduced fish back in as well. I feel that having a diet rich in fish rather than meat will meet all the requirements for iron, fats, protein etc.
Have you read anything in your research that says otherwise?
I used to be the same vegetarian as you believing I had read all there was to read.
Please read Nutrition and Physical Degeneration by Weston A Price and Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon… and please consider your information sources and any financial interests therein. Thousands of years of human development is not incorrect.
“Never does nature say one thing and wisdom another-Juvenal