Should I become a vegetarian?!
Should I become a vegetarian?
Most meant tastes good and stuff and some is healthy right?
But I can't stand it at all!!!!!! We finished having dinner and we had meat.(I absoultey HATE how meat looks) I was looking at my meat and there were to circley things that looked like the number 8 so i poked it with my fork and it was like a tube or something so I took it out of the meat and I swear i almost vomitted the one on top was even more gross it had red stuff running through it.
Also I have to think on how if it's healthy or not right?
And when I think about them once being alive and chickens running around
(I cried when I ate a lobster once it still had it's eyes and everything)
My parents say it's okay if I do become a veggieperson but should I really? Won't it be really hard for me to do because I like the taste of some meat Like Bacon I love bacon do I have to give up on all of my meat???
Answers:
Well become a vegetarian if you want to. It can be hard to give up all meat at once, so some people just eliminate one type of meat at a time. Like beef, and then follow with pork, foul, and seafood and fish.
I just gave it all up at once, and havent looked back since. I find that the meat subs or fake meats are pretty good. The fake bacon is a lot like turkey bacon, and the ground "beef" is great for tacos. I also love portabella mushrooms instead of meat, they are hardy and taste great in fajitas or stuffed with bread crumbs and veggies.
If you want to read more about vegetarianism you should check out this site www.veggie123.com. It has a ton of info on how to make the transistion and how to get the proper nutrition if you do become a veg.
Good luck, and enjoy your new lifestyle
No, but it may be wise to remain health conscious. I stay with chicken and fish, because you can't always eat different forms of nuts for your protein all the time, it'll make you crazy, and life isn't good without proper protein.
I'm not a big meat eater and when I do eat it I have to be the one to prepare it. My husband is not allowed to touch meat in this house unless it is going on his plate. ;)
You can stop eating meat and still be healthy. You can't live on fruits and veggies alone so do a search online for meat/protein alternatives.
We are raised thinking that milk and meat are the best things for us, but I'm slowly learning that its probably responsible for many health ailments.
Well...that IS your choice solely...you can eat all vegs and fruits and just splurge on what you like---the bacon...hey...a BLT sounds good!!
ok ive had the same thought last year wen i was 13 and well my mom said i can try being a vegeterian it did not last long, normally you would have to start when you really young otherwise you will still crave and if you dont have it once in a while you will feel sick
Becoming a vegetarian is a very personal choice. If you are truly disgusted by eating meat then maybe you should consider becoming a vegetarian. Just keep in mind that if you become a vegetarian you will have to be very conscious about eating a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes. Being a healthy vegetarian requires a knowledge of nutrition and eating a varied diet. If you are a woman you may also need to take an iron supplement.
I first became a vegetarian for the same reasons as you. Then I learned more about it--- and realized there were so many additional reasons to be a vegetarian that I have never been tempted to go back to meat. And meat was like my favorite food--- breakfast, lunch and dinner!
As far as missing the taste of meat--- there are some good things out there that can be substituted. No, its NOT the same...but then again, there aren't disgusting little bits of veins and tendons, gristle, fat, and other gross things.
Some of the fake meat products taste pretty good-- like baco-bits or soy "bacon" are okay in a lettuce/tomato sandwich--- good with avocado in the sandwich too. Veggie burgers--- there are lots of flavors, try until you get one you like--- then put it on a bun with all the condiments you like. Yum!
If you want to do it in steps that is okay, too. I wouldn't chose bacon, though, to hang unto. It is SO unhealthy for you! Give up pigs and cows first, maybe, then birds. Move on to fish and eggs if you want. I did it all at once, and it really was okay.
But you can be very healthy---in fact far healthier--vegetarian than eating dead animal carcasses.
good luck!
As several of the other posters have said, the only person who can make the final decision is you. If you like, you can concentrate on vegetables and then eat whatever meat appeals to you. You don't have to eat every kind if it doesn't appeal to you.
One thing that no one else has mentioned is that human beings were *designed* to eat meat. The proof is in your own mouth. If you look in the mirror, you will see that you have two kinds of teeth - flat ones in the back for grinding, and sharp ones in the front for tearing meat. Also, there are certain nutrients we need to be healthy that can only be found in meat.
Humans have eaten meat for millions of years and not done too badly. The problem with meat and other farm products today is the factory farming practices. The constant use of anti-biotics on healthy animals creates resistant germs/viruses that won't respond to their use when you are sick. The lack of biodiversity in cows, chickens, and other animals leaves us wide open for an epidemic that will kill off a good portion of our food supply, resulting in shortages. There are farmers who specialize in heritage breeds (like Dutch belted cows, whose milk is far superior to what you get in the supermarket), but there aren't enough of them to take up the slack. Fruits and vegetables are not immune, either; I refer you to Dutch elm disease and the fungus that killed off all the chestnut trees in America towards the start of the 20th century.
Remember: red meat isn't bad for you; fuzzy blue-green meat is bad for you!
Well,its really your choice but I think you should go for it!I mean you don't have to become one your whole life.You should just try,and see how it goes.
Yeah I cried too when I still ate meat a couple years ago.I kept thinking of the poor animals being slaughtered just for h umans which is really stupid.So then one day I searched on google to see the slaughter houses.And thats when I decided to be one for life.I always wanted to be one since I was nine but I just couldn't.It's best to start being a vegetairian when you're still young though.I started when I was 11.And it was kinda hard in the begginning,but then you get used to it.
Give it a try, you can always go back if you miss it. Just way up what you value more; taste/convenience vs. a clearer conscience over not killing things/improvement of the environment due to not having to feed animals then kill them (which is a tenth as efficient). A year ago, I said I would do it for a day, and havn't eaten meat since.
your parents are right. and if you feel that you can't swallow meat anymore then start being a vegetarian. it's your choice. veggies are healthy but our bodies also need meat. if i were you i would still eat meat. it's part of our diet.
I never became a true 100% vegetarian because I work out at the gym. I do eat some meat (fish).
Get a complete nutrition guide for foods so you stay healthy.
If a vegetarian diet is very carefully planned, and that may require either fortified foods or supplements, it can be about as healthy as a good meat eating diet. I think there are a couple of benefits, but they come from eating a wide range of fruit and veg and being health conscious as vegans have to be, not omitting meat, and thus those benefits can be go without actually going veggie. Needless to say a uncarefully planned vegetarian, or especially vegan, diet can lack many essential nutrients and be very bad for your health.
There are many benefits to a diet containing meat. Many vegetarians claim that meat is unhealthy. This is a blatant fallacy.
It is well established that eating meat improves the quality of nutrition, strengthens the immune system, promotes normal growth and development, is beneficial for day-to-day health, energy and well-being, and helps ensure optimal learning and academic performance.
A long term study found that children who eat more meat are less likely to have deficiencies than those who eat little or no meat. Kids who don’t eat meat ― and especially if they restrict other foods, as many girls are doing ― are more likely to feel tired, apathetic, unable to concentrate, are sick more often, more frequently depressed, and are the most likely to be malnourished and have stunted growth. Meat and other animal-source foods are the building blocks of healthy growth that have made America’s and Europe's youngsters the tallest, strongest and healthiest in the world.
Meat is an important source of quality nutrients, heme iron, protein, zinc and B-complex vitamins. It provides high-quality protein important for kids’ healthy growth and development.
The iron in meat (heme iron) is of high quality and well absorbed by the body, unlike nonheme iron from plants which is not well absorbed. More than 90 percent of iron consumed may be wasted when taken without some heme iron from animal sources. Substances found to inhibit nonheme iron absorption include phytates in cereals, nuts and legumes, and polyphenolics in vegetables. Symptoms of iron deficiency include fatigue, headache, irritability and decreased work performance. For young children, it can lead to impairment in general intelligence, language, motor performance and school readiness. Girls especially need iron after puberty due to blood losses, or if pregnant. Yet studies show 75 percent of teenage girls get less iron than recommended.
Meat, poultry and eggs are also good sources of absorbable zinc, a trace mineral vital for strengthening the immune system and normal growth. Deficiencies link to decreased attention, poorer problem solving and short-term memory, weakened immune system, and the inability to fight infection. While nuts and legumes contain zinc, plant fibre contains phytates that bind it into a nonabsorbable compound.
Found almost exclusively in animal products, Vitamin B12 is necessary for forming new cells. A deficiency can cause anaemia and permanent nerve damage and paralysis. The Vitimin B12 in plants isn't even bioavailable, meaning our body can't use it.
Why not buy food supplements to replace missing vitamins and minerals? Some people believe they can fill those gaps with pills, but they may be fooling themselves. Research consistently shows that real foods in a balanced diet are far superior to trying to make up deficiencies with supplements.
Lets not forget either that protein, while it is found in plants, is better quality in animal products.
Some people claim that meat is unhealthy because it contains saturated fat. So does margarine and olive oil, and they're vegan suitable (in fact the hydrogenated fats in Marge can be very bad, but that's another story). Besides, any excess calories in your diet, any excess sugar, starch or carbohydrates are stored in your body for later use. This is done by turning them into saturated fats.
Cholesterol too. Your body on average creates four to five times more cholesterol than the average person consumes, and compensates by creating more when less is consumed. Cholesterol isn't evil, it is essential; it makes up the waterproof linings of all our cells and without it we would die. Too much can be bad, but as with saturated fats there are more healthy ways of disposing of it, like regular exercise. Anyway, it isn't so much how much cholesterol you eat, but how well yur body handles it. A person who eats loads of dietary cholesterol and leads an unhealthy lifestyle can still have low cholesterol, and vice versa. Most people's bodies are able to take a large amount of cholesterol without getting atherosclerosis. For this reason that eating meat gives you heart disease is very misleading, and for the most part untrue. Of course, if you do have a problem eating loads isn't a good idea, but for most people there is nothing at all to worry about.
Yes, there are things in meat that there is some evidence can cause cancer in some people, but there are as many in plants too. Soy especially has some very potent carcinogens. Processing of soy protein results in the formation of toxic lysinoalanine and highly carcinogenic nitrosamines.
Soy phytoestrogens disrupt endocrine function and have the potential to cause infertility and to promote breast cancer in adult women. Also they are potent antithyroid agents that cause hypothyroidism and may cause thyroid cancer. In infants, consumption of soy formula has been linked to autoimmune thyroid disease.
Soy is bad for numerous other reasons, but that isn't the point, I'm just using it as a quick example relating to cancer not being exclusive to some animal products. The evidence that claims meat does cause cancer is patchy anyway.
No sensible vegans can contest that we were deigned to eat meat. Even most vegan scientists agree that human's are designed to eat meat, that is not in question.
That we do not have claws, talons, or incisors to hunt proves nothing. When early hominids ate meat they scavenged it, as vultures do, using their fingers to get the sinews and meat other animals couldn't. It was only after that that they began to hunt the meat themselves, and only much later they began to cook it. It is interesting that even now if someone was brought up eating raw meat he would have no problem with it.
The last few million years of human evolution have revolved completely around tools. We used advanced stone tools long before we began to hunt our own meat, and as such there was no need for evolution to bestow us with large claws or teeth to kill prey.
Simple research into human biology reveals how we are meant to eat meat. For one thing, our body produces hydrochloric acid and meat splitting enzymes that herbivores don't produce and are solely used for the digestion of meat. There are adaptations to our teeth (not incisors, rather the size of the jaw), stomach and intestines which have made a human being very adept at meat digestion. There is nothing wrong with the way our body digests meat, and we are so adept at eating it no scientists are of any doubt we've evolved to eat it.
In contrast, there are many reasons we aren't naturally herbivores. We cannot naturally get all the nutrients we need without animal products naturally. Vitamin B12 cannot be got, even now, without animal products or supplements, and a lack of it can cause anaemia and impending death. 60% of vegans even now have some level of B12 deficiency, as opposed to no meat eaters, which says something about how well adapted we are to a vegan diet.
All other nutriets can be got natually. That owes to that vegtables can now be sold all year round, even out of season, and can be flown into the country from all over the world. In bygone times people could only eat the relatively small range of plants that grew in their ecosytem, and only when they were in season. Thus many more nutrients would have been unavailable and still more unavaillable for most of he year. Until very recently it would have been impossible for a vegan human to live naturally without dying very quickly.
Now, meat makes up for all these lost nutrients very nicely, and it really shows how we aren't naturally vegans, as until very recently it was impossible to live like that.
The fact is Humans are omnivores, with the ability to eat nearly everything. By preference, prehistoric people ate a high-protein, high-mineral diet based on meat and animal sources, whenever available. Their foods came mainly from three of the five food groups: meat, vegetables and fruits. As a result, big game mammoth hunters were tall and strong with massive bones. They grew six inches taller than their farming descendants in Europe, who ate mostly plant foods, and only in recent times regained most of this height upon again eating more meat, eggs and dairy foods. We are adapted to eat meat, and it is just as natural as eating plants.
Some also claim that the digestion of meat releases harmful byproducts into our system. This is true, however such are our adaptations to eating meat that our bodies are quite able to dispose of said products without any adverse effects.
So, in summary: it isn't healthier to avoid meat. You can be healthy without meat, but likely not as healthy as if you did, assuming you kept things like the wide range of fruit and veg that a veggie diet usually entails. Too much meat can be bad, but normal amounts are no problem at all. Any health benefits that come from a veggie diet come from a wide range of fruit and veg, and being health conscious, as veggies often are; that doesn't require you to not eat meat."
I don't think a vegetarian diet benefits anyone in any way better than a better meat eating diet could at all. If you have no ethical qualms, it's quite pointless. PETA will tell you otherwise, but they have very strong ethical opinions, and mould their 'evidence' around it. There is, for example, some evidence that vegans live longer and are at less risk from cancer and heart disease; however those studies show only a very marginal and insignificant difference and none of those studies have yet managed to identify meat as the only variable. Veggies are less likely to smoke, drink or eat junk food, and eat a wider range of fruit and veg, making the test results inaccurate and unreliable.