Meat & Vegetarianism

There are countless amounts of people who consider themselves as animal lovers, but then have the audacity to go into a McDonald’s restaurant and eat a hamburger. Seems contradictory right? Many of the animals that people eat on a day to day basis, such as pigs, cow, and chickens, are being sacrificed just to fulfill the human appetite. But many people do not understand that there are other ways to get the full dietary supplements, like all the different types of vitamins and protein needed to function, and live a healthy life, with out having to kill an animal. By not eating meat one can substantially improve their health, the environment and animals. Many people do not realize that there are many different types of vegetarians. The most common type is the normal “vegetarian” who chooses not to consume meat or fish products. The other type is a vegan, vegans do not eat meat, fish, or any type of dairy foods. Finally there are the flexitarians which many people do not know about, flexitarians try to be on a non-meat diet, but occasionally eat meat at times. People choose to be vegetarians for many different types of reasons. Three of the main reasons are; health, animal cruelty, and religion. By being a vegetarian people have a much healthier diet and have longer life expectancies. Another reason is the animal cruelty involved, many people do not think it is correct to kill an animal just for the consumption Staying healthy is the key to having a prolonged life. By not consuming meat, one is able to improve their life expectancy by a dramatic increase. A recent study was done by people who eat little to no meat, the study showed an increase in the human lifespan by approximately four years. (Faloon) Another study that was quite similar to the one above was of the Seventh Day Adventists who also do not consume meat. (Faloon) In this study of pure vegetarians, the increased lifespan was about seven years in men and about four years in women. (Faloon) The

Cited: Carlson, Royce. "15 Reasons to Stop Eating Meat". zenzibar. February 25, 2001. Web. 13 November 2010 Faloon, William. "Do Vegetarians Live Longer?". LE Magazine. January 2006. Web. 11 November 2010. Johnson, Carla K. "Study: Lots of Red Meat Increases Mortality Risk." Spartanburg Herald-Journal: n.p. SIRS Researcher. Web. 12 November 2010. Matthews, Christopher. "Livestock a major threat to environment". fao newsroom. 29 November 2006. Web. 12 November 2010. Motavalli, Jim. "The Case Against Meat." E Magazine Jan. 2002: 26-33. SIRS Researcher. Web. 11 November 2010.  "Vegan Outreach | Why Vegan? | If Slaughterhouses Had Glass Walls." Vegan Outreach | Working to End Cruelty to Animals. Web. 15 Nov. 2010.