Jayvone Severin
30 July 2016
Humans Need to Stop Eating Meat
In the movie Food Inc., they go deep inside the fast food industry. The documentary shows how unhealthy meat is. The movie opened my eyes to health problems that come from eating meat. It even made me more aware of the ways animals are being treated to become food for us. I decided to look further into the major health problems that come from eating meat. Humans were never structured to eat meat. Our bodies were designed to only eat a plant-based diet. The health benefits that come from an all plant-based diet is very beneficia to us humans. Sometimes when someone stops eating meat, they don’t just do it for the health reasons, but also for the rights of animals and how they are being treated. Therefore, I argue that humans should stop eating meat and develop an all plant-based diet.
Among millions of people in America, obesity seems to be the number one of effect of junk food which can lead to other effects, like depression. One of the major causes of obesity is due to an unhealthy eating pattern according to a pediatrician. In the article, “Dangers of Child Obesity” we see that obesity in the early years among children exposes them to several health risks. Obese children are bound to have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, bone problems, type 2 diabetes, bone and joint problems, asthma, restlessness, disordered sleep patterns; liver or gall bladder disease and depression and they also manifest skin diseases such as heat rashes, fungal infections and acne. Being overweight as a child places them as being overweight as an adult and developing some of the symptoms mentioned above.
High blood pressure among people are one of the many effects that is caused by processed foods. In the article “Junk Food Dips Murang’a Into Health Trouble” James Wainaina says that poor feeding habits are linked to diseases found in the human body. 50 percent of the patients that Dr. Stephen Ngige treats has high blood pressure. Along with the high blood pressure he has found that more patients have been diagnoses with diabetes and arthritis. The people there developed a habit of eating junk and processed foods, instead of the used to be traditional staple. In another article titled, “The Public Health Crisis Hiding in Our Food” Thomas Farley also talks about the health risks of high blood pressure. High blood pressure is lethal and cripples people by triggering strokes and heart attacks. Sodium is taking between 40,000 and 90,000 people lives and cost billions a year. Everyone consumes way too much sodium because our food is packed with it, and sometimes it’s undetected and/or unexpected, and fast food doesn’t seem to make the problem any better.
Something that I never knew and I’m sure plenty of other people didn’t know as well, is the link between processed meat and cancer. In the article, “Processed meat causes cancer, says WHO” Alana Petroff talks about how The World Health Organization said that another cause of cancer is due to meat being processed. It is now classified as “carcinogenic to humans”, which is based on evidence from numerous of studies that were taken on. Processed meat is now in the same category as smoking and asbestos from its link to cancer. It is mainly connected to colon or colorectal cancer. They noted that simply eating 2 slices of ham everyday can increase your risk of cancer by 18%. The effects, about 34,000 cancer deaths per year worldwide can be attributed to diets that are high in processed meat.
In the article, “A Prospective Study of Red and Processed Meat Intake in Relation to Cancer Risk” Amanda Cross writes about a very thorough study related to cancer, she states that both red and processed meats were positively associated with cancers of the colorectum and lung. Other malignancies that could be separately linked to processed meat is bladder cancer and myeloma cancer. Women with high intake levels of processed meat have an elevated risk of developing cervical cancer, while red meat intake was separately linked closely to cancers of the esophagus and liver. Individuals of their highest quintile had a significantly high risk of several malignancies, including laryngeal cancer and endometrial cancer, all according to their research and tests, when going down to a further analysis among the sexes, they found that red meat was linked the pancreatic cancer among men only. The research that the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study have found was that high intake of processed meat had an increased chance of developing cancer then people who ate very little. They also found that colorectal and lung cancer could be avoided if people reduced their meat intake. Their study cited processed meat as the cause of over 5,000 colorectal cancer cases. Here we can see multiple cases of cancer and variety of cancers being caused by meat intake, which can lead to health problems in the future.
Another health problem brought on by eating meat is high cholesterol. In the article, “Meat Too Tough to Eat: by Dr. Neal Barnard, he makes an important note that the fat and cholesterol located in meat raises the levels of cholesterol in our blood, which in return leads to heart attacks. Diabetes is another problem that comes from eating meat. I can back this up with a personal experience of mine. The last time I wen to the doctor I was told that I was pre-diabetic. Which wasn’t as surprising to me as I blame the cause on the delicious, yet unhealthy deli store sandwich named the ‘chopped cheese.’ Which is basically a cheeseburger, but just chopped and offers a little bit more “meat” then a regular burger that you would get off the dollar menu at McDonalds. The meat from this sandwich was primarily the reason why I was pre-diabetic.
In the article, “Parasites, Killing Their Host,” Mark Bittman has made some interesting points about processed foods. The title makes the point even more understandable. He makes a very intriguing point stating that, “A mindless parasite knows that if it kills its host the party’s over, and by pushing products that promote “illth” - the opposite of health - Big Food is unwittingly destroying its own market” He is saying that the food market is killing their customers by feeding them food that will and can eventually lead to death. Hence the title of the article being “Parasites, Killing Their Host.” The companies are the parasites, while the host is the customers. Your business can’t continue running if the people you are feeding off of is dead. “Food companies are fully aware of the health problems that their products cause,” says Mark. They bring diet related type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease that disables and essentially will kill people. If big food companies want to remain cynical about their services, then in return, they should be titles as “Killers” since their food can be labeled as lethal.
One can only think that the simplest way to prevent all of this is to just eat less and less meat. Unless you want to take a different route and just become vegetarian or vegan, you will always be presented with meat. Obesity also isn’t a major problem to take care of as one can simply just be active throughout their day. And by doing so they can avoid fatal problems brought on by obesity. Prevention isn’t a problem; all the person has to do is take the first step in the process.
Instead of eating meat, try going on an all plant-based diet. Choosing a diet heavy in fruits and veggies may help wared off chronic diseases. In the article, “7 Reasons to Choose a Plant-Based Diet” Laura McMullen gives us several good reasons why one should stop eating meat. An all plant-based diet can help fight against type 2 diabetes. Research that was conducted suggests that a diet with huge amounts of fruits and veggies can lower blood pressure. Harvard researchers found out that when people ate more fruits and vegetables, they had a lower chance of developing cardiovascular disease. The amount of fiber intake that you will get from eating fruits and vegetables may lower cholesterol and blood sugar levels. This article shows that there are plenty of benefits that you can get out of an all plant diet then you would with meat.
While reading the book Conscious Collective by Joseph Kauffman, I have learned other reasons why you should stop eating meat. Not only should you stop eating meat because of health reasons, but also because of inhuman rights. Every time you buy meat you are getting involved in the process of killing and slaughtering countless of animals lives. Leo Tolsting once said, “A man can live and be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite,” Humans do not need meat to survive. We are designed to only eat fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, and grains. We don’t have teeth capable of chewing raw mat. Animals that hunt for food has this characteristic, they are designed to eat meat, which is their natural way of life (Conscious Collective 33).
A lot of people stop eating meat because they believe in inhuman rights. The rights for non-humans. They look at the food industries and see what is being done to the animals and how they are being treated. Animals are born in a slaughter house, overfed to the point where they cannot move, then butchered to become food for us, which is extremely cruel for the animas. Billions of animals live their lives as they are tortured in slaughterhouses and killed for meat daily (Conscious Collective 30).
In the article “The Immortality of Eating Meat”, Mylan Engel Jr. argues against the way the food industries treat animals. Here we can see a big reason towards his argument:
Broiler chickens and turkeys are warehoused in sheds containing anywhere from 10,000 to 100,000 birds; veal calves are kept in crates 22” by 54” and are chained at the neck, rendering them unable to move or turn around; pigs are confined in metal crates (which provides six square feet of living space) situated on concrete slatted floors with no straw or bedding; and beef cattle are housed in feedlots containing up to 100,000 animals. The inappropriate, unforgiving surfaces on which the animals must stand produce chronic foot and leg injuries. Since they cannot move about, they must stand in their own waste. In these cramped, unsanitary conditions, virtually all of the animals’ basic instinctual urges (e.g., to nurse stretch, move around, root, groom, build nests, rut, establish social orders, select mates, copulate, procreate, and rear offspring) are frustrated, causing boredom and stress in the animals.
Mylan Engel Jr. is talking about how animals are being treated in the meat industry. The way they are treated is very cruel. When people stop eating meat they are against the way animals are being treated to geed humans. They are basically stripped of everything from the time of their birth and have their lives planned out for them. Animals should be able to live a long and healthy life without being mutilated of their rights. Animals deserve to live and when you eat them, you are in favor of the way they are being treated in these inhuman places.
Even marine life is being affected by the meat industry. Overfishing is a huge problem among the marine life. Billions of fish are taken out of the ocean every year and are not able to reproduce as fast as they are being fished. Because of this, the oceans are dying, and the intricate web of marine life has been permanently affected (Conscious Collective 35).
When looking at a vegan diet, you see that they have the smallest carbon footprint; having a smaller effect on the greenhouse gases than meat eaters. A German study that took place in 2008 saw that a meat-eater’s diet is responsible for more than seven times the volume of greenhouse gas emissions than a vegan’s diet. Even the president of the Worldwatch Institute has said that the “world’s supersized appetite for meat” is one of the main reasons why greenhouse gas emissions are increasing rapidly. The amount of chickens, turkeys, pig and cows that are raised for food produce a tremendous amount of excrement, releasing methane and other greenhouse gases into our atmosphere. Cows produce more methane than landfills, natural gas leaks, and fracking combined (Conscious Collective 32 – 33). An all plant-based diet is helping to make the world a better place.
If humans stop eating meat, we not only support the rights of animals, but we can also live a healthier life. Take into consideration what Dr. Neal Barnard once said, “If beef is your idea of “real food for real people” you’d better live real close to a real good hospital.” We are also saving the planet when we eliminate meat from our diet. Here we learn that eating meat is unhealthy for you, and when you do eat meat you are supporting a cruel billion-dollar industry. We see how eating a plant-based diet can greatly improve our health. The movie Food Inc. has made me aware that humans should stop eating meat all together.
Works Cited
- Meat too Tough to Eat by Barnard, Neal
- Parasites, Killing Their Host by Bittman, Mark
- A Prospective Study of Red and Processed Meat Intake in Relation to Cancer Risk by Cross AJ; Leitzmann MF; Gail MH; Hollenbeck AR; Schatizkin A; Sinha R
- The Immortality of Eating Meat by Engel Jr, Mylan
- The Public Health Crisis Hiding in Our Food by Farley Thomas A
- Conscious Collective by Kauffman, Joseph P
- 7 Reasons to Choose a Plant-Based Diet by McMullen, Laura
- Processed meat causes cancer, says WHO by Petroff, Alanna
- Junk Food Dips Murang'a Into Health Trouble by Wainaina, James
*This was a research paper I wrote for one of my English class a couple year ago. I haven't published it yet, but figured it would be a great informative read for the steemit community. Let's start a discussion below.
*I'm fully aware that the formatting is off..