Cruel to Animals, Cruel to People, Cruel to the Earth – I
The Shocking Paradox of Using Animals for Food
Section I – Human Health
How wonderful would it be if there was a simple, easy, effective way to solve some of the worlds toughest issues. Global warming, world hunger, and cancer. Though it may not be a complete solution, there is one thing that everyone can easily do to take their part in fixing all of these pressing issues and more: stop eating meat. It is a proven fact that vegetarianism is one of the best things you can do for the environment and your health. If animal factory farms and slaughterhouses vanished, world hunger would soon follow. It is a way to help others without needing to sacrifice your own well-being.
It is popular belief that it is difficult to meet health requirements on a vegetarian diet, but according to the American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada “appropriately planned vegetarian diets are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases.” In fact, vegetarians live, on average, 8-10 years longer than meat-eaters. A vegetarian diet is proven to reduce the risk of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, impotence, asthma, hypertension, and obesity. Meat-eaters are known to have more trouble with grogginess and depression, as well. There are two reasons for this: commercially processed meat is laden with numerous chemicals such as antibiotics, heavy metals, and hormones. In an attempt to remove harmful bacteria from meat, manufacturers have been granted permission by the FDA to irradiate meat, which is even more desperate than it sounds. Radiation of meat creates radiotoxins, some of which have never been identified, and are therefore classified as “unknown.” Carcinogens like formaldehyde are among some of those classified as “known.” Vitamins A, B1 through 12, C, E, K, amino acids, and essential fatty acids are all depleted by radiation. If the FDA believes we must go to such great lengths to protect ourselves from meat, surely it is not safe for us to eat in the first place. In lab studies, rats suffered from numerous problems after consuming the radiated meat: enlarged and bursting hearts, respiratory problems, severe damage to lymphocytes, death, and possibly more. In fact, the studies had to be abandoned because the animals died too quickly or were unable to eat after just 35% of their food was radiated. In most studies, all the rats died within 65 days or less. Symptoms like inability to move and heart enlargement were so common that researchers refer to it as “hemorrhagic syndrome.” Over 300 studies were ignored by the FDA. In these studies, staggering amounts of lab animals got cancer after consuming the radiated meat. Somehow, after all of this, the FDA approved beef radiation. Amazingly, radiated beef does not even have to be labeled as so if it is not the only ingredient in the package.
The second reason meat causes so many health problems is due to the fact that it is not nearly as digestible for humans as plant material. The common notion is that humans are omnivores, but our bodies were not designed to ingest meat. You don’t generally see people gnawing at raw carcasses with their bare teeth – in fact the idea of that would cause many people to lose their appetite entirely. Now maybe you are thinking, “But I have canine teeth, doesn’t that mean I was meant to eat meat?” No, not at all. Even horses have canine teeth. Our canine teeth are short and blunt, like many herbivores. Omnivores have curving, long, sharp canines, like carnivores. The same goes for molars, incisors, and jaws; our teeth resemble those of herbivores much more than they do those of omnivores. Herbivores have an enzyme in their saliva and have stomach acid with a higher pH level than that of carnivores. Humans also have that enzyme, and their pH levels is much higher than that of an omnivores (and therefore much weaker). This is why we cannot digest raw meat, but even cooking meat is not sufficient. William C. Roberts, M.D., editor of American Journal of Cardiology states “Although we think we are one, and we act as if we are one, human beings are not naturally carnivores. When we kill animals to eat them, they end up killing us because their flesh, which contains cholesterol and saturated fat, was never intended for humans beings, who are natural herbivores.” Dr. T. Colin Campbell, director of the Cornell-China-Oxford Project on Nutrition, Health, and the Environment goes as far as to say “In the next ten years, one of the things you’re bound to hear is that animal protein … is one of the most toxic nutrients of all that can be considered.” And as if meat itself is not harmful enough alone, 70% of all food poisoning is caused by contaminated animal flesh, according to the USDA.
A balanced diet does not have to include meat.
On the contrary, many critiques of the vegetarian diet argue that humans require animal in their diet in order to receive all dietary needs. But according to staff members of the Mayo Clinic, “No matter what your age or situation, a well-planned vegetarian diet can meet your nutritional needs. Even children and teenagers can do well on a plant-based diet, as can older people, and pregnant or breast-feeding women.” A study of 4,746 Minnesota adolescents published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine shows that vegetarian adolescents were more likely to meet the government’s most important dietary recommendations. “Daniel and his friends refuse to eat from the king’s table which has meat on it, but eat vegetables instead. After ten days they are found to be healthier than those who eat at the king’s table.” -Daniel 1:3-16
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