Food is the foundation of life. Many people live to eat, but truly we eat to live. It serves us to eat foods that nourish our bodies and minds, without taking more than we need or creating more suffering in the world.

One of the biggest ongoing debates about food surrounds the question of eating meat. Some people claim that humans are intended to be carnivores based on our history as hunters and nomads. Others believe that we are intended to be herbivores because of our relatively long digestive tracts, small wide teeth, and other biological markers. There are many health and sustainability factors to consider if you consume meat.

More than Just Meat

One of the biggest health risks with meat consumption is that in most cases you are not just getting a cut of meat. Incredibly high percentages of meat (50-85% depending on the meat and country of origin) are contaminated with a wide variety of diseases. Specimens that made it all the way to the grocery store have been found to be contaminated with staph, E. coli, MRSA, and other antibiotic resistant bacteria.

Additives and Hormones

Even when the meat is relatively free of dangerous bacteria, it is still often grown and processed with things you probably would not want in your body. In conventional meat production the animals are usually given hormones to speed growth in unfavorable conditions. The hormones used in beef production in particular increase the risk of developing breast cancer and prostate cancer.

Antibiotics and Other Chemicals

Conventionally raised animals are routinely given antibiotics to counter the foul unhygienic conditions in which they live and die. Four times as many antibiotics are sold for use in animals as are sold for human consumption.

One of the many chemicals found in red meat is called L-carnitine, which has been found to cause hardening of the arteries.

Heart Health

As mentioned above, the L-carnitine in red meat contributes to clogging and hardening of the arteries. But so does the saturated fat found in all types of meat, especially red meat. Saturated fat from animal meat increases the production of HDL cholesterol, the type of cholesterol that leads to heart disease.

Cancer Risk

A review of multiple studies done by the World Cancer Research Fund found that consuming meat, especially red and processed meat like hot dogs and cold cuts, significantly increases the risk of developing colorectal cancer. Meat consumption is also a contributing factor for pancreatic, esophageal, stomach, and endometrial cancers.

Diabetes

People who regularly consume meat are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes. The saturated fat in meat increases the production of triglycerides, which negatively affect sugar metabolism.

Inflammation

Frequent meat consumption has been linked to increased systemic inflammation. The higher the fat content of the meat, the more severe the inflammation. Inflammation is an immune response that causes or contributes to many diseases.

Life Span

In study after study, regular meat eaters were shown to have shorter life spans than vegetarians or people who only consumed meat occasionally. Some researchers indicate this may be the case because people who eat less meat tend to eat more vegetables. It might be the reduced risk of developing cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. Or it could be the reduced exposure to artificial hormones, bacteria and other toxins.

Sustainability

In addition to the health risks of meat consumption, there is the environmental toll to consider. Meat requires significantly more land, water, energy, and other resources to produce than vegetarian food. It takes four times more farmland to feed a (land-based) meat eater than a vegetarian, and meat production uses exponentially more fossil fuels than vegetable growing.

Humanity

The last factor to consider is the treatment of conventionally raised animals. In factory farms the animals raised for meat production live in terrible conditions. In many cases they live their entire lives in small pens and cages with no room to move, trapped in their own excrement. This is why they are given so many antibiotics, the conditions in which they are raised make them prone to disease.

Animals are often mutilated and dismembered while still alive to make more room in the cages or keep them from hurting each other more in their cramped quarters. The entire animal life cycle from how they are born to how they are slaughtered is often horrendous. Purchasing meat from these producers is a way of approving this kind of treatment with your money.

At MHLC we have seen countless people thrive on vegetarian and vegan diets. The switch to a vegan living foods lifestyle is one of the primary factors for my incredible health improvement, so I speak from personal experience when I extol the virtues of living animal-free. But we each have our own path, so here are some of the health and environmental reasons you might want to stop eating meat.