I think I want to try being a vegetarian, and I'm wondering what benefits any former meat eaters who are now vegetarians have noticed. Physical benefits? Better Mood? Does it affect smoking in any way? Was the transition hard?
your body will begin to waste from a lack of protein and other essential nutrients that are most commonly found in meat. 90% of the vegetarians I know, their doctors tell them they HAVE to eat meat every once in a while. This is not necessarily true of people who have been vegetarian since a young age. Your Body can eventually adapt, and if you learn the proper foods to eat to supplement meat you can be ok, it's just not that easy. Most of the vegetarians I know are so because of the meat industry, not because they don't believe in eating meat so they'll occasionally find meat from animals gotten in a more "humane" way.
This isn't exactly true, while you can get depleted from lack of protein, its easy to get your daily protein by eating nuts and soy products, usually infused with some sort of protein, if your smart you can get your daily requirements. People who have allergies to these are a different story... Other benefits that I hadn't thought of before are the fact that you are eating lower on the food chain, this saves resources (think of how much water a cow consumes and how much land area it takes to feed a cow before you eat, and how much energy it takes to transport cows etc) Just something to think about, not necessarily something you were asking about, but I thought I would add it.
I think it is perfectly possible to live healthy off a moderate vegetarian diet. That is with some animal protein added, say from milk and eggs. From free-range cows and hens if you so wish if the vegetarianism is motivated from some anti-industrial-agriculture agenda. Oh, and the occasional fish-meal now and again. Those fish-fats are good for you. And for obese people, such a diet would be perfect. Granted with some excersize too burn built up fat. But to me it is a simple matter of taste, and nobody can wane me off burgers, spare ribs, beef and what have you. Just taste too good. And nobody can accuse me of being fat (approx. 180cm/70kg)
Protien is abundant in things like Hemp seed and milk/eggs (the OP didn't say he was going vegan). The things that vegetarians will miss is some of the B vitamin complex.
Uh, no, I think he was trying to say that you can feed more people using the same resources if those resources were spent on producing vegetables rather than meat. Though I'm not certain of the ratio, I think it is somewhere between 5x to 10x. That is for each person you can feed with meat, using the same resources you can feed between 5 and 10 people with vegetables alone. But it still doesn't change meat being yummy
I have never heard of that statistic before but then again I have never looked into becoming a vegetarian. I get my fair share of green
Well I am a Vegetarian. I do not eat meat except for fish and i do eat milk and eggs. My health has only improved since becoming a vegetarian but that's not to say it is for everyone. I quit eating meat because of the Meat Industry. Mass-Produced meat from the giant slaughter houses is bad for you because of the anti-biotics and other chemicals pumped into the animals to stay alive. Even being a vegetarian i still get alot of protein in my diet from beans, soy, and fish. I can personally attest to the benefits of vegetarianism but it's not for everyone and i suggest consulting a physician before taking such drastic steps. If you are going to become a vegetarian keep in mind it will be kind of hard when you get cravings for meat, i found the best way to fight those cravings was to eat something filling like cous-cous (which expands in your stomach so a little bit fills you up quick). Also, it helps to live in a city conducive to that lifestyle because it can be hard to find places to eat if you are a vegetarian living in a small town or something. I would like to point out i have nothing against eating meat or killing animals for food, humans are meant to eat meat.
All this talk of evolution...... Sounds like you are devolving we are at the top of the food chain for a reason. my dumb conclusion =D
I think eating meat at least some of the time is important anyways, as the above poster said, humans are meant to eat meat... humans are a predator species, look at yourself in a mirror, binocular vision, sharp teeth up front, and just fast enough for us to be excellent as a combination pack hunter and ambush predator. and once more, consider this, if our more primitive cousins had not started eating meat as a major part of their diet as hunter-gatherers... we would not have evolved nearly the level of intelligence we possess now.
Something you have to watch out for when becoming vegitarian is that you don't fill up on non-meat gross snacky food. I've heard of some kids doing that. It doesn't help your health at all. Also listen to your body. When you crave things, it sometimes means that's what your body needs. Like it holds those nutrients. Idk what to say about us girls that crave meats/sweets during their lady-times, but I know it's proven that the brain craves what vitimens it needs.
you have to remember though lorusso that not ALL animals that will become food are mistreated. As we do in my household, try to find an honest supplier of meat that raises their own livestock. I go to farms where I see happy as ever chickens running around that I know will soon be on my plate( ok thats a little disturbing) Don't buy meat at supermarkets because they all use factory farms. By supporting local farms and whatnot and eating their food you're helping more than not eating meat at all. plus they tast 100% better than factory meat.
It's clear to me from the above passage that Humans are meat eaters. There was no such thing as "B-12 fortified foods" during the last Ice Age.
B-12 isn't a Vitamin. It's a Bacteria. Neither plants or animals can synthesize it. Animal foods are rich in B12 only because animals eat foods that are contaminated with it or because bacteria living in an animal's intestines make it. From what I've read we can get B-12 from nutritional yeast (yeast being a bacteria), or fortified foods, or supplements. Or just like all the tomatoes (in the past spinach) you can wash them with animal contaminated water and some bacteria will get on the veggies, but you might get other diseases too. The way I see it: Humans have evolved to eat meat. But we operate most efficiently with an Herbivore diet of raw foods. Herbivore traits of the human body: - Long intestines (cats, a carnivore, have short intestines to quickly pass rotting flesh) - The jaw can move and chew left to right (notices how cats' only go up and down) - Most of our teeth are flat. (we only need to rip flesh when we turn into zombies) - Nutrient assimilation is easier/more efficient with raw foods. - Slightly acidic stomach acids (cats have high acidity in stomach to quickly break down food) - Our saliva is alkaline (cats have acidic saliva for same reason as above) - Zero need for cholesterol (cholesterol is only found in animal based foods) - The need for Fiber to help food move along our intestines. (cats don't need fiber) back to the thread topic. There are lots of benefits to going veg*an/herbivore. I've noticed over the years that I get sick less than others (but I also do some exercise, and this is a big part of it). I don't have to eat as much (when you get rid of toxins+buildup you can assimilate nutrients better and not pass so much vitamins and minerals right back out). I have a lot less/rarely get acne/breakouts (I think a lot of this was from cutting dairy foods). I could write an entire website about this, but it's already out there on the web. Just keep searching and doing the best you can. If you have any Q's, just ask.