Eating meat is bad for you

there is no longer any doubt about the fact that eating meat is bad for your health.

The list of diseases known to be associated with meat, which are commoner among meat eaters, looks
like the index of a medical textbook.

Anaemia, appendicitis, arthritis, breast cancer, cancer of the colon, cancer of the prostate, constipation,
diabetes, gall stones, gout, high blood pressure, indigestion, obesity, piles, strokes and varicose veins are
just some of the well known disorders which are more likely to affect meat eaters than vegetarians.

Avoiding meat is one of the best and simplest ways to cut down your fat consumption.

Those who still eat beef are, in my view, foolishly exposing themselves to the risk of contracting the
horrifying human version of Mad Cow Disease.

Add to those hazards the fact that if you eat meat you may be consuming hormones, drugs and other
chemicals that have been fed to the animals before they were killed and you can see the extent of the
danger. No one knows precisely what effect eating the hormones in meat is likely to have on your health.
But the risk is there and I think it's a big one. Some farmers use tranquillisers to keep animals calm. Others
routinely use antibiotics so that their animals do not develop infections. When you eat meat you are,
inevitably, eating those drugs. In America, over half of all antibiotics are fed to animals and I don't think it is
any coincidence that the percentage of staphylococci infections resistant to penicillin went up from 13% in
1960 to 91% in 1988.

The healthiness of a vegetarian diet is perhaps shown most dramatically by the fact that lifelong
vegetarians visit hospitals 22% less often than meat eaters - and for shorter stays! Vegetarians tend to be
fitter than meat eaters - as well as healthier - and many of the world's most successful athletes (particularly
those who specialise in endurance events) follow a strictly vegetarian diet.

It is the fat in meat that does most harm - and which makes meat eating an even bigger health hazard than
smoking - but don't think you can avoid the dangers simply by avoiding red meat because you cannot. If
you want to eat a truly healthy diet then you must give up eating meat completely.

There are, of course, all sorts of old-fashioned myths about eating meat.

It used to be claimed that people who didn't eat meat would be short of protein.

But that is now known to be absolute nonsense.

And it is equally untrue that if you don't eat meat your diet will be deficient in essential vitamins or minerals.

Meat contains absolutely nothing - no protein, vitamins or minerals - that your body cannot obtain perfectly
happily from a vegetarian diet.

Becoming healthier isn't the only reason for turning green.

Many of those who stop eating meat do so for moral and ethical reasons as much as for personal gain.

Every minute of every working day thousands of animals are killed in slaughterhouses. Many animals are
bled to death. Pain and misery are commonplace - for animals suffer from pain and fear just as much as
you do.

In an average lifetime the average meat eater will consume 36 pigs, 36 sheep and 750 chickens and
turkeys. More and more people are deciding that they just don't want that much carnage on their
consciences. It is never too late to stop eating meat.

In addition, more and more people are becoming aware of the fact that hunger around the world could be
eradicated if rich westerners stopped eating meat.

Every year over 400 million tons of grain are fed to livestock - so that the world's rich can eat meat.

At the same time, 500 million people in poor countries are starving to death.

Many of those who toy with the idea of turning vegetarian (because they want to be healthier, because
they want to stop world starvation or because they can no longer bear the thought of encouraging such a
barbaric trade as the breeding and killing of animals for food) worry about what they are going to eat.

Such worries are quite unnecessary.

There are not only many different fruits and vegetables available these days but, if you miss the texture of
meat, you can buy vegetarian sausages, hamburgers and pies. Stews and curries can be made with soya
and you can buy tofu cheese too.

To keep healthy eat raw foods whenever you can (because vitamins are easily destroyed by cooking) and
use as little water as possible when boiling vegetables in order to avoid losing water soluble vitamins B
and C. Steam or stir fry vegetables if you can instead of boiling them.

Remember that keeping food hot - or reheating it - can destroy vitamins, try to eat fruit and vegetables in
their skins (because vitamins are often stored just below the skin) and be imaginative when shopping! You
can get the iron, calcium, zinc and other essential minerals that your body needs by eating dark green,
leafy vegetables, nuts, pulses, sunflower seeds and dried fruits.

There are heaps of books available about food. My own book Food for Thought should tell you everything
you need to know and is available through the shop on this website. Also, there are recipes for vegetarian
and vegan meals on this website.

Bad Things About Eating Meat

For decades we’ve been told there are bad things about eating meat.

I’ve always kind of wondered why meat gets such a bad rap considering that some form of human has
been eating meat for almost 3 million years. If it was so bad for you, how have we survived so long eating
it?

I eat meat daily and overall my blood work has always been great. I stay away from (for the most part) the
processed meats such as any lunch-meat, bacon, sausage, and hot dogs, just to name a few due to all the
other additives in them that I’m not very fond of.

Which leads to an interesting meta analysis of a collection of studies that showed kind of meat being
consumed is a better indicator of heart diseases risks rather than just lumping all meat as “bad.”
Specifically, that heart disease risk comes fromprocessed meat(such as bacon, sausage, hot dogs, lunch-
meat) rather than your non-processed meat such as steaks and hamburgers.

Here’s what the researchers found:

In a report that pooled data from 20 different studies from around the world, the researchers found that
daily consumption of about two ounces of processed meat was associated with a 42% increased risk of
heart disease and a 19% heightened chance of diabetes. By contrast, a four-ounce daily serving of red
meat from beef, hamburger, pork, lamb or game wasn't linked to any increased risk of heart disease.

It’s interesting because both types of meat have “high” levels of saturated fat so it’s believed that there is

the possibility that when it comes to meat, at least, the real bad actor may be salt. Processed meats
generally have about four times the amount of salt as non-processed meats.

Since I’ve pretty much dumped salt and products with sodium in them over the last couple of years, when I
bite into a piece of meat that is processed, it’s amazing how instantaneous you taste that salt (and more
times than not, my stomach doesn’t appreciate it either and let’s me know…).

The article also states that even though non-processed red meat didn’t increase the risk of heart disease,
it didn’t lower it either. Okay fine, then the meat producers can’t go out and start making a health claim on
meat now but at the same time, I think it adds a bit more evidence that non-processed meat isn’t UN-
healthy for you.

The article also mentions a second study that conducted a meta analysis of other studies that that was
published earlier this year that
found that intake of saturated fat wasn't linked to a statistically-significant increased risk of heart disease,
stroke or cardiovascular disease.

Which then leads to the best quote I think I read all week:

"There is growing evidence that it's not which nutrient we eat, but the type of foods we eat that is
important," said Harvard's Dr. Mozaffarian. "We have to get away from trying to micromanage nutrients
and look at the health quality of foods."

That last sentence is key. We continue to look at things in this tiny little box and say “that’s the part that is
making this whole thing unhealthy” instead of looking at the combination of things that could be resulting in
an unhealthy result.

I’ll give an example. When I’m walking through the grocery store, I tend to take notice of people that have
their cart pretty full with food. For the most part, 90% of the stuff in those carts is processed junk, very little
fruits and vegetables, and maybe a couple of steaks and some hamburger.

It hit me as rather odd that when reading the “bad things about eating meat” studies and looking at this
grocery cart full of processed foods that are loaded with sodium, sugar, trans fat, high fructose corn syrup,
etc., the least unhealthiest thing in there IS the non-processed meat.

In the end, and I know I keep saying this, I like to stick with eating meats (the non-processed kinds), fruits,
veggies, nuts, and oils. Nice and simple to follow and you get to stay away from the processed meat that is
looking like is the true villain in the equation of the bad things about eating meat.

Is meat good or bad for us?

It's the best natural source of iron and protein - but it has also been linked to cancer. Maxine Frith investigates the pros
and cons

The benefits of red meat...

Zinc

Children and teenagers, particularly girls, have been found to be deficient in zinc - half of all girls in their
teens do not have healthy levels of the mineral.

Some research has shown that having red meat less than twice a week can result in zinc deficiencies. Zinc
is particularly important for healthy skin and a healthy immune system. During the winter months in
particular a good supply may help prevent colds and other infections.

While other foods such as oysters, milk and lentils contain zinc, red meat is the most efficient way of
getting it into your body.

Iron

Red meat is an essential source of iron - lean beef has 2.7mg of iron per 100g - and is vital to good health,
as well as preventing conditions such as anaemia. Up to a quarter of menstruating women are thought to
be deficient in iron. Meat contains more iron than most foods, and it is more easily utilised by the body
than from vegetable sources.

Elderly people, pregnant women, children and those recovering from surgery could all benefit from
increased iron intake. Iron helps to generate red blood cells, which carries oxygen from the lungs to the
tissues and carbon dioxide back to the lungs. Red meat is also a good source of other vitamins and
minerals such as phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and selenium.

Protein

Red meat is a major source of protein, which is needed for muscle and organ health. The protein found in
meat is "complete", meaning that it contains all the amino acids that the body cannot make on its own. It is
essential for the body's repair and renewal as well as general health.

Weight loss
Australian scientists have found that people who ate a diet high in protein, based on lean red meat, as well
as fruit and vegetables, lost 25 per cent more weight over a fixed period of time than those who ate a low
protein, carbohydrate-rich diet that contained the same amount of calories and fat.

The scientists concluded that some people might be more successful in losing weight on a high-protein
diet because they felt less hungry and could go without food for longer. Those on the high-protein diet also
saw levels of their "bad" cholesterol drop.

B vitamins

Red meat is one of the best sources for these vitamins, which are found only in animal foods, and which
help to maintain nerve cells and normal blood formation.

It's natural

This is a controversial argument, but some experts have said that humans are in fact natural meat-eaters -
and that to totally eliminate such a big food-group from our diets could be unhealthy. There is a theory that
our guts contain bacteria that help us to digest meat, and that not to eat meat could mean that the bacteria
are lying idle, so making it easier for diseases to flourish.

Pork, lamb and beef: what's in your meat

Cancer-causing, artery-clogging and brain-damaging? Or a rich source of essential vitamins and minerals
that we can't do without? The debate over red meat and its impact on health continues to rage, and it hit
the headlines again last week when a study suggested that a high intake could double a woman's chances
of developing breast cancer.

So what is the truth about red meat? In essence, it all comes down to the type of red meat you are talking
about - and how you are eating it.

* The three official red meats are pork, lamb and beef. Pork is the leanest, lamb the fattiest and beef the
most nutritious.

* Beef has 2.7mg of iron per 100g, and 4.1mg of zinc. A large proportion of the population, particularly
teenage girls and women, are deficient in both minerals.

* Pork and lamb also contain zinc and iron, but not in the same quantities.

* Red meat is high in saturated fats and "bad" cholesterol, which can lead to clogged arteries and heart
disease.

* But lean beef is actually fairly healthy; it will provide you with essential vitamins and minerals, but it will
not have a high fat content.

* The British Dietetic Association says that up to 90g of lean red meat a day (equivalent to a portion of
bolognese) is acceptable.

* But the Food Standards Agency (FSA) points out that different cuts of meat will have very different
nutritional contents.

A lean pork leg joint will contain around 5.5g of fat per 100g, of which 1.9g will be saturated fat; compare
that with a grilled joint of pork belly, which has 23.4g of fat, of which 8.2g will be saturated.

* A lean rump steak, grilled, has 5.9g of fat per 100g, of which 2.5g is saturated.

But the same cut of beef, not trimmed of its fat, and fried instead of grilled has 12.7g of fat, of which 4.9g is
saturated.

The fat content of mince will vary widely, so the advice is always to look at the label and go for the leanest
versions.

The FSA recommends that you also look at the meat itself; the more white you can see, the more fat it will
contain.

* Some of the concerns that exist about red meat in America do not apply here; for instance, the US still
allows animals to be fed growth hormones (a potential risk factor in cancer), but the practice has been
outlawed by the European Union for some years now. The things to avoid are processed meats - these will
contain far more additives and fat than a simple cut of beef, pork or lamb.
* And, while red meat can have real health benefits, it is important that the food is treated simply as one
part of an overall balanced diet. For example, it is a poor source of fibre, which aids digestion; other foods
are required to provide that.

...and the risks

Bowel cancer

A pan-European study of nutrition and cancer found that people who ate more than two 80g portions of red
meat a week were 30 per cent more likely to develop bowel cancer than those who ate less than one
portion.

Scientists are still unsure why there is an increased risk, but there is a theory that the compounds
haemoglobin and myoglobin, found in red meat, trigger a process called nitrosation in the gut which in turn
leads to the formation of cancer-causing compounds.

Processed meats such as sausages may also be risky because the cooking process can create
carcinogenic compounds called heterocyclic amines.

Alzheimer's disease

Research has shown that a Mediterranean diet - low in red meat but rich in plant foods and fish - can
reduce the chances of developing Alzheimer's by up to two-thirds.

Again, there is no firm theory on this. Researchers University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) suggested
last month that red meat could be linked to a build-up of iron in the brain, causing the opposite effect of
antioxidants; in effect, the brain rusts. The researchers suggest it may also explain why more men develop
Alzheimer's, as men eat more red meat than women.

Bones

Too much red meat can have an adverse effect on bone health. The digestive process of protein leaves
acid residues in the body that need to be neutralised with alkalising minerals - and these may be taken
from the bones, leading to a higher risk of osteoporosis and other conditions. While green, leafy
vegetables are high in calcium, red meat has a low level and can cause excess acid to form, creating bone
problems for the future.

Arthritis

Eating red meat every day could double your risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis. Scientists believe that
collagen, found in red meat, may trigger an immune system response, which may also affect the joints.

Additives contained in processed meats may also play a part in the increased rate of the disease.

Cholesterol

Red meat is one of the first foods that doctors advise patients to stop eating if they are at risk of heart
disease, because it contains high levels of dietary cholesterol.

A build-up of cholesterol in the arteries can eventually stop blood flow and trigger heart attacks.

However, it depends on the type of meat you are eating; lean red meat is relatively healthy - it is the fatty
chops and burgers that are more risky.

Red meat is also high in saturated fat, which has been linked to a range of cardiovascular problems,
including high blood pressure.

Food poisoning

The Food Standards Agency has launched an investigation into the safety of red meat after research
suggested that beef, lamb and pork are the cause of one in six outbreaks of food poisoning. Experts are to
test samples to find out the amount of bacteria in them, although the problems are more likely to be linked
to poor hygiene in the home than to standards at abattoirs.

Breast cancer

A study from the Harvard Medical School last week suggested that eating more than 100g of red meat a
day could double the risk of a woman developing breast cancer. The risk was associated with young
women who had not yet gone through the menopause. Experts said the increased risk may be down to the
cancer-causing compounds created by cooking meat, or by excess iron levels.

However, the study was among women in the US, where animals are given growth hormones that are
banned in the EU; British experts say that women here may not be at such risk.

15 Reasons Why You May Want to Reconsider Eating Meat

We have no doubt all heard the statement “You are what you eat.” Well, while some of us at least
somewhat realize what that statement means and the ramifications of it on our health, it is still uncommon
for most in today’s society to take that statement seriously enough for the sake of their health and
ultimately their life.

We know that today we have an epidemic of obesity and heart disease, which includes hypertension,
atherosclerosis, arteriosclerosis and high cholesterol among many other things in North America and most
of the developed world. Many groups and organizations are trying to bring awareness to this situation.
Many restaurants are trying to make changes, no matter how small. Many doctors are changing their ways
of treating patients. And while all of this is great to hear, not enough of us are listening or hearing the
messages loud enough.

Most of us are still living with the conditioned idea that “we need meat to survive” and that “this is how
people always ate.” Both of these which are complete myths.

Thus, with the coming of Earth Day and the current epidemic of chronic health problems, I wanted to
share with you a quick guide on why you may want to reconsider eating meat. It is not a ploy to get anyone
to go vegetarian or vegan, but some “food for thought” on what this food, that we all think is so “normal” to
eat is actually doing inside of you, to your health and our environment.
1. Meat is very high in fat, especially saturated fat

Many experts and researchers claim that we do not need any saturated fat to survive, and in fact saturated
fat is the second worst fat (after trans fat) for our bodies and cardiovascular system. Not only is it linked to
putting a strain on one’s heart through possible fat deposits in the arteries, increasing one’s blood pressure
and causing artery damage, but it is the major fat responsible for dangerous weight gain. Today’s meat is
even higher than ever in fat because of how the animals are raised, with no exercise or natural grazing
capabilities. Hence they sit in a cage and are over fed, which leads to higher than normal unhealthy fat
deposits.

2. Meat is very high in cholesterol

Most animals produce their own cholesterol and there is no need to be eating someone else’s, especially
given the fact that your body is great at regulating its own cholesterol when we don’t throw in extra
cholesterol from foreign sources. Cholesterol production can also increase in times of stress and
decreased activity, both which are real problems for the animals of today.

3. Meat is very dense in calories

Since meat contains so much fat, and fat is the most calorie-dense nutrient, it is a substance that if eaten
regularly or in excess can easily lead to weight gain.

4. Meat produces carcinogenic compounds when cooked

These are called heterocyclic amines and they get produced when animal flesh is cooked, especially at
high temperatures. HCAs form when amino acids (the building blocks of proteins) and creatine (a
chemical found in muscles) react at high cooking temperatures. Researchers have identified 17 different
HCAs resulting from the cooking of muscle meats such as beef, pork, fowl, and fish.

5. Meat increases chances of colon cancer

Aside from the heterocyclic amines talked about above, meat does not clear from the intestines fast,
unless ample fiber is included in each meal. This is mainly due to the fact that meat is high in protein and
protein takes a very long time to get fully digested, thus it sits in our intestines the longest. This time factor,
allows any carcinogenic compounds to do the most damage to the lining of the intestinal walls.

6. Meat is hard on the digestive system

Besides the increased chances of colon cancer, meat can cause a lot of digestive disturbances for the
very same reasons. Meat takes a long time to pass through the intestines, where during this time it
putrefies. Putrefaction produces toxins and amines that accumulate in the liver, kidneys and large
intestines, destroys bacterial cultures and causes degeneration of the lining of the small intestine. Over a
few years of a regular meat diet, putrefied meat is going to adhere to the lining of your intestines, where it
often causes various digestive problems such as IBS, stomach cramps, prolapsed colons, haemorrhoids,
constipation and many other problems that are not even directly linked to the intestines.

7. Meat carries the highest risk of bacterial contamination

Meat is animal flesh, and animal flesh is most prone to bacterial growth. This process is increased even
more after the meat has been killed, as it starts to putrefy right away. Today, we do have many advances
to decrease this process as much as possible, mainly refrigeration, but the most common food-borne
illnesses still come from meats.
8. Meat increases chances of autoimmune diseases

Due to the fact that some animal proteins are very closely related to ours, the body responds to a lot of
these as foreign particles and tries to destroy them. (Not very different from how some organ transplants
get rejected.) When the body does this on a regular basis, after some time it begins to turn on itself due to
some auto-immune processes that end up resulting in things like arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis and
others.

9. Meat contains synthetic hormones, which disturb our hormonal balance

Unless the meat comes from an organic farm, most farms today inject the animals with various hormones
for no other reasons than to speed up and enhance the animal’s growth. The faster the animal grows, the
faster the monetary return and the bigger it grows obviously the more meat can be obtained for less
money. Most of the hormones are various growth hormones, which not only disrupt our own hormonal
balances, which can lead to many different health conditions, but also have been theorized for the faster
than normal onset of puberty and development of our children today.

10. Meat contains various drugs

Due to the fact that every animal translates to dollars, most if not all animals are regularly subjected to
various drugs, mostly antibiotics. These drugs do not magically vanish and researchers are studying these
effects of them on our bodies. However, what we do know for sure today is that it has contributed to the
current antibiotic resistance, where the antibiotics that we may need at a point in our lives, no longer work
because the bacteria have gotten so much experience with them in small doses to mutate against them.
11. Meat contains its own diseases

As well as each animal and farm is controlled for safety, regulations are nowhere as close as we would like
them to be. Even though it is easy to catch an infectious disease in an animal and then treat it
appropriately, other chronic diseases are not as easily caught. In fact, think of how healthy an animal can
be, that sits all of its short life in a tiny cage, where some cannot even properly stand up, let alone walk
around and get some exercise.

12. Meat eating results in killing billions of animal each year

According to ADAPTT, 140 billion animals are killed each year by the meat, egg and dairy industries. That
is a mind blowing number that most people are completely not aware of and most of this is simply due to
the fact that today we eat a diet in the developed world that is way too highly animal based.
13. Meat production leads to wasted natural resources like water and land

Having seen the above number, now imagine how much water is wasted each year to grow the food to
feed these animals and how much water is wasted to keep them hydrated while they are growing. In order
for land to be made suitable for animal production, land must be properly cleared and this usually involves
the chopping and clearing of many trees. Livestock production accounts for 30% of the entire land surface
of the planet. Just think of how many people can be fed in the world and have clean drinking water, if it
wasn’t all going to the billions of animals.

14.Meat production is heavily responsible for climate change

Animals produce natural gas, mainly methane. Methane is a very potent greenhouse gas, in that it traps
heat even more readily and abundantly than carbon dioxide. In fact animal production is responsible for
about 18% of the world’s climate change and to put that in perspective that is even more than all of the
world’s transportation. (Source: United Nations)

15. Meat raised under stressful conditions has a negatively altered biochemistry, that negatively
alters ours
Just think about yourself and what happens to you in times of stress. The number one thing that happens
to all animals under stress is an elevation of stress hormones, which initialize a whole slew of other
biochemical reactions that lead away from an animal’s healthy balanced state. This of course leads to
various diseases. When we consume this meat, whether you embrace the Eastern views of karma, qi
energy changes and thus chakra disruptions or not, eating meat from stressed animals has been shown
to be linked to various negative mental and emotional states of being in us as well.

So perhaps it will be for your health, perhaps for the environment, or perhaps for the animals that you give
this topic some serious consideration if you are currently consuming meat. Whatever your choice or
actions are today or tomorrow, my hope is simply this, that each of us starts taking accountability for our
own personal health and starts being the change that we want to see on this Earth.