25-07-2015, 06:56 PM
Top question about veganism from meat eaters:
Aren't humans natural carnivores?
While humans have eaten meat throughout history, there is significant evidence that we are better suited to a vegan diet. Carnivorous animals have long, curved fangs, claws, and a short digestive tract. Humans have flat, flexible nails, and our so-called “canine” teeth are minuscule compared to carnivores’. Human teeth are better suited to biting into vegetables, fruits, and grains than tearing through tough hides.
When you see dead animals on the side of the road, are you tempted to stop and snack on them? Does the sight of a dead bird make you salivate? Do you daydream about killing cows with your bare hands and eating them raw? If you answered no to these questions, congratulations—like it or not, you’re an herbivore.
According to biologists and anthropologists who study our anatomy and our evolutionary history, humans are herbivores who are not well suited to eating meat. Humans lack both the physical characteristics of carnivores and the instinct that drives them to kill animals and devour their raw carcasses.
In addition, the health problems associated with meat consumption—a leading contributor to heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, and obesity—should be an indication that we aren’t “meant” to eat meat. In addition, humans are capable of making ethical decisions. We can get all the nutrients we need from plant sources, which means that billions of animals are unnecessarily slaughtered every year at the expense of our health and the environment.
If I stop consuming dairy products, won’t that put me at greater risk for osteoporosis?
High-protein foods, such as meat, eggs, and dairy products, produce poisonous byproducts when they are broken down so the body buffers the toxins with calcium before they are eliminated. This leaches calcium from the body, including from the bones, resulting in a loss that cancels out the dietary intake of calcium from animal products. In countries where dairy products are not generally consumed, there is less osteoporosis than in the United States, where dairy consumption is among the highest in the world. The Harvard Nurses’ Health Study followed 78,000 women for 12 years and found that milk did not protect them against bone fractures. In fact, those who drank three glasses of milk per day had more fractures than those who rarely drank milk. To learn more, please visit PCRM.org.
Can a vegan diet provide adequate protein for sound human health?
Absolutely. Unlike animal protein, plant-based protein sources contain healthy fiber and complex carbohydrates. Animal products are often high in artery-clogging cholesterol and saturated fat, and the consumption of animal protein has been linked to some types of cancer. There’s no need to eat animal products to maintain good health, as a quick study of the facts about plant protein and nutrition shows.
Don’t humans have to eat meat to stay healthy?
Both the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the American Dietetic Association have endorsed vegetarian diets. Studies have shown that vegetarians have stronger immune systems than meat-eaters and that meat-eaters are almost twice as likely to die of heart disease, 60 percent more likely to die of cancer, and 30 percent more likely to die of other diseases. Consumption of meat and dairy products has been conclusively linked with diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis, clogged arteries, obesity, asthma, and impotence.
What about Vitamin B12?!
It is true that animal products contain B12, and strict vegetarians/vegans are at risk for B12 deficiency, but absorbing B12 from animal products is a very complex process and people who eat meat may be at equal or greater risk for B12 deficiency. Understanding why people who eat animal products may have low B12 levels requires a little knowledge of how we get B12. It is made by bacteria that live in soil and in the guts of animals. Cattle and other grass-eating animals get B12 and B12 producing bacteria from clumps of dirt around the grass roots that they pull up. Chickens and other birds get B12 from pecking around for worms and other insects. These animals store B12 mostly in their livers and muscles and some B12 pass into milk and eggs.
But, cattle no longer feed on grass and chickens do not peck in the dirt on factory farms. Even if they did, pesticides often kill B12 producing bacteria and insects in soil. Heavy antibiotic use kills B12 producing bacteria in the guts of farm animals. In order to maintain meat a source of B12 the meat industry now adds it to animal feed, 90% of B12 supplements produced in the world are fed to livestock. Even if you only eat grass-fed organic meat you may not be able to absorb the B12 attached to animal protein. It may be more efficient to just skip the animals and get B12 directly from supplements.
Is it ok to eat organic animal products?
We’ve all seen the grocery store packages of meat, eggs, and dairy products decorated with reassuring phrases such as “natural” and “free-range” and pictures of happy animals running near quaint country barns. But people who buy organic or “free-range” animal-derived food because they think that the animals are treated well are sadly mistaken.
Many organic and “free-range” farms cram thousands of animals together in sheds or on mud-filled lots to increase profits, just as factory farms do, and the animals often endure the same mutilations—such as debeaking, dehorning, and castration without painkillers—that occur on factory farms.
Organic, “natural,” “humane,” and “free-range” eggs, milk, and meat are filled with artery-clogging saturated fat and cholesterol just like conventional animal products. Major studies link the consumption of animal-derived food to heart disease, cancer, and other major health issues.
The only truly humane foods are those that don’t come from animals.
Seafood is high in fatty acids and low in fat, so it's healthy, right?
Much of the fish we find in the grocery store is factory farmed, which means they are given antibiotics and growth hormones with a highly unnatural corn diet. Because of that, they are not actually healthy. Many sea creatures also have super high cholesterol levels. And, any toxins in the water get passed onto humans, so they are often very high in chemicals.
The Bible says we should eat meat?!
There are thousands of different perspectives on the interpretation of the Bible, but nowhere does it say that humans are require to eat animals. In fact, a common view is that God put Adam and Eve in Eden to represent how he wanted humans to behave, and they ate no animal products while there.
Aren't you hurting plants by cutting them down?
Plants do not have nervous systems or anything structural that perceives pain. Additionally more plants are cut down to feed farm animals than to feed humans, so by being a vegan, you are still killing fewer plants than as a meat-eater.
Quotes: http://www.peta.org http://www.vegan-nutritionista.com/vegan-FAQs.html http://baltimorepostexaminer.com/carnivo...2013/10/30
Aren't humans natural carnivores?
While humans have eaten meat throughout history, there is significant evidence that we are better suited to a vegan diet. Carnivorous animals have long, curved fangs, claws, and a short digestive tract. Humans have flat, flexible nails, and our so-called “canine” teeth are minuscule compared to carnivores’. Human teeth are better suited to biting into vegetables, fruits, and grains than tearing through tough hides.
When you see dead animals on the side of the road, are you tempted to stop and snack on them? Does the sight of a dead bird make you salivate? Do you daydream about killing cows with your bare hands and eating them raw? If you answered no to these questions, congratulations—like it or not, you’re an herbivore.
According to biologists and anthropologists who study our anatomy and our evolutionary history, humans are herbivores who are not well suited to eating meat. Humans lack both the physical characteristics of carnivores and the instinct that drives them to kill animals and devour their raw carcasses.
In addition, the health problems associated with meat consumption—a leading contributor to heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, and obesity—should be an indication that we aren’t “meant” to eat meat. In addition, humans are capable of making ethical decisions. We can get all the nutrients we need from plant sources, which means that billions of animals are unnecessarily slaughtered every year at the expense of our health and the environment.
If I stop consuming dairy products, won’t that put me at greater risk for osteoporosis?
High-protein foods, such as meat, eggs, and dairy products, produce poisonous byproducts when they are broken down so the body buffers the toxins with calcium before they are eliminated. This leaches calcium from the body, including from the bones, resulting in a loss that cancels out the dietary intake of calcium from animal products. In countries where dairy products are not generally consumed, there is less osteoporosis than in the United States, where dairy consumption is among the highest in the world. The Harvard Nurses’ Health Study followed 78,000 women for 12 years and found that milk did not protect them against bone fractures. In fact, those who drank three glasses of milk per day had more fractures than those who rarely drank milk. To learn more, please visit PCRM.org.
Can a vegan diet provide adequate protein for sound human health?
Absolutely. Unlike animal protein, plant-based protein sources contain healthy fiber and complex carbohydrates. Animal products are often high in artery-clogging cholesterol and saturated fat, and the consumption of animal protein has been linked to some types of cancer. There’s no need to eat animal products to maintain good health, as a quick study of the facts about plant protein and nutrition shows.
Don’t humans have to eat meat to stay healthy?
Both the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the American Dietetic Association have endorsed vegetarian diets. Studies have shown that vegetarians have stronger immune systems than meat-eaters and that meat-eaters are almost twice as likely to die of heart disease, 60 percent more likely to die of cancer, and 30 percent more likely to die of other diseases. Consumption of meat and dairy products has been conclusively linked with diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis, clogged arteries, obesity, asthma, and impotence.
What about Vitamin B12?!
It is true that animal products contain B12, and strict vegetarians/vegans are at risk for B12 deficiency, but absorbing B12 from animal products is a very complex process and people who eat meat may be at equal or greater risk for B12 deficiency. Understanding why people who eat animal products may have low B12 levels requires a little knowledge of how we get B12. It is made by bacteria that live in soil and in the guts of animals. Cattle and other grass-eating animals get B12 and B12 producing bacteria from clumps of dirt around the grass roots that they pull up. Chickens and other birds get B12 from pecking around for worms and other insects. These animals store B12 mostly in their livers and muscles and some B12 pass into milk and eggs.
But, cattle no longer feed on grass and chickens do not peck in the dirt on factory farms. Even if they did, pesticides often kill B12 producing bacteria and insects in soil. Heavy antibiotic use kills B12 producing bacteria in the guts of farm animals. In order to maintain meat a source of B12 the meat industry now adds it to animal feed, 90% of B12 supplements produced in the world are fed to livestock. Even if you only eat grass-fed organic meat you may not be able to absorb the B12 attached to animal protein. It may be more efficient to just skip the animals and get B12 directly from supplements.
Is it ok to eat organic animal products?
We’ve all seen the grocery store packages of meat, eggs, and dairy products decorated with reassuring phrases such as “natural” and “free-range” and pictures of happy animals running near quaint country barns. But people who buy organic or “free-range” animal-derived food because they think that the animals are treated well are sadly mistaken.
Many organic and “free-range” farms cram thousands of animals together in sheds or on mud-filled lots to increase profits, just as factory farms do, and the animals often endure the same mutilations—such as debeaking, dehorning, and castration without painkillers—that occur on factory farms.
Organic, “natural,” “humane,” and “free-range” eggs, milk, and meat are filled with artery-clogging saturated fat and cholesterol just like conventional animal products. Major studies link the consumption of animal-derived food to heart disease, cancer, and other major health issues.
The only truly humane foods are those that don’t come from animals.
Seafood is high in fatty acids and low in fat, so it's healthy, right?
Much of the fish we find in the grocery store is factory farmed, which means they are given antibiotics and growth hormones with a highly unnatural corn diet. Because of that, they are not actually healthy. Many sea creatures also have super high cholesterol levels. And, any toxins in the water get passed onto humans, so they are often very high in chemicals.
The Bible says we should eat meat?!
There are thousands of different perspectives on the interpretation of the Bible, but nowhere does it say that humans are require to eat animals. In fact, a common view is that God put Adam and Eve in Eden to represent how he wanted humans to behave, and they ate no animal products while there.
Aren't you hurting plants by cutting them down?
Plants do not have nervous systems or anything structural that perceives pain. Additionally more plants are cut down to feed farm animals than to feed humans, so by being a vegan, you are still killing fewer plants than as a meat-eater.
Quotes: http://www.peta.org http://www.vegan-nutritionista.com/vegan-FAQs.html http://baltimorepostexaminer.com/carnivo...2013/10/30