Why Vegetarianism is Better than Meat Eating: Health, Environmental, and Ethical Reasons

A new diet called vegetarianism has been quite a hot topic in the recent news. Surprisingly, it is not as recent as most would think. Vegetarians were first introduced in ancient Greece and India around the end of the 6th century, BC. This diet was created mainly for religious reasons, back in that time. Recently, there have been countless studies that have taken place, proving that a vegetarian is significantly healthier than an individual who consumes meat. A vegetarian is someone who does not consume meat, on any basis. They get all their necessary nutrients that one requires from fruits, vegetables, and grains. Many have taken up this lifestyle for various reasons such as, “economic, religious, ethical, and health considerations” (Kumar Kaushik). Becoming a vegetarian does not only benefit an individual for health reasons, but also benefits the planet environmentally and also reduces how many animals are slaughtered for our meals. Vegetarianism should be a worldwide lifestyle not only because vegetarians are healthier than meat-eaters, but also to aid the environment for the near future. These are only a few of the many reasons a vegetarian lifestyle is superior for health, environmental, and ethical reasons.

Those who practice a vegetarianism lifestyle are significantly healthier than those who eat meat. Consuming meat is not necessary for a healthy diet, all vitamins and supplements can still be achieved by eating the correct vegetables, fruits, and grains. “The American Dietetic Association, a pretty centrist group, has proclaimed that ‘appropriately planned vegetarian diets are healthful, are nutritionally adequate and provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases’”. Vegetarians are proven to have a much lower risk of cancer, heart disease, mortality, strokes, and diabetes than meat-eaters. Many fruits and vegetables have “cancer-protective properties”. Some examples of those foods being, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, tomatoes, grapes, berries, etc. These same fruits and vegetables also reduce the mortality rate caused by heart disease. Nuts and grains consumed at a higher number are connected with lower chance of developing diabetes. Not only do vegetarians have lower risk of health detriments, but this diet is also beneficial for those who want to reduce their weight. “It has been shown that properly applied vegetarian diet is the most effective way of reducing body mass (expressed as BMI)...”. Obesity is more common in those who eat meat, than in vegetarians. Meat is filled with saturated fats, and not to mention a multitude of additives and preservatives, making most people weary of eating meat. The health benefits of vegetarianism are very compelling considering the lower rates poor health conditions and reducing body weight, just by eating fruits, vegetables, and grains.

Another reason vegetarianism is considered a better lifestyle is because it is better for the environment in many different ways. In the article, “There’s No Reason to Eat Animals”, written by Lindsay Rajt, she explains how horrific the meat industry is for the environment. “Animal agriculture is one of the world's largest sources of CO2 and the largest source of methane, which is more than 23 times more powerful than CO2 when it comes to trapping heat in the atmosphere”. These animals produce significant amounts of these harmful gasses, such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, into the air causing many environmental problems. One of the main environmental problems of the meat industry is causing global warming/ climate change from all of the carbon dioxide. When an individual substituts meat for vegetables, fruits, and grains, it not only lowers the emission of carbon and other harmful gasses, but also reduces the effects of climate change. Another reason why a vegetarian lifestyle is better for the environment is because the meat industry causes pollution. This pollution happens in the water and is caused from animals’ feces and added hormones and antibiotics. The crops that are used to feed these animals, also count to a significant amount of pollution, from pesticides and fertilizers. According to Downtoearth.org, it explains, “Farmed animals produce about 130 times as much excrement as the entire human population of the United States. Since factory farms don't have sewage treatment systems as our cities and towns do, this concentrated slop ends up polluting our water, destroying our topsoil, and contaminating our air”. The pollution caused from feeding these animals, and coming from these animals, are extremely dangerous to our waterways and ecosystems. As these pollutants enter the waters, it can lead to algae blooms, killing off large amounts of fish, and negatively affecting human life. The effects that the meat industry causes to the environment, is not only extremely dangerous, but also preventable, by switching to a plant-based diet.

The last reason vegetarianism is superior is for ethical reasons involving animals. In the meat industry the way animals are treated are inhumane. These animals are fed drugs to speed up growth and to keep alive. The conditions they are kept in would kill them, but the drugs they are forced to take somehow keep them alive. Some examples of what drugs these animals are given include: penicillin, erythromycin, and inorganic arsenic. According to Downtoearth.org it explains how negatively these antibiotics/drugs affect humans. “USDA researchers have found that ‘…eating two ounces of chicken per day — the equivalent of a third to a half of a boneless breast — exposes a consumer to 3 to 5 micrograms of inorganic arsenic, the element’s most toxic form.’ Daily exposure to low doses of arsenic can cause cancer, dementia, neurological problems, and other ailments in humans” The risks of even eating meat is extremely dangerous to an individual. Not only do animals get fed harmful drugs and antibiotics, but are continually suffering in these places and treated inhumanely. These animals have almost identical feelings to a human, so they suffer immensely to pain. In the book, Vegetarianism, Miller explains some examples of how inhumanely these animals are treated. “In an egg factory, male chicks (economically worthless) are summarily run through a grinder” (Miller pp. 135). “Milk cows are repeatedly impregnated through artificial insemination, confined to milking stalls and milked to yield 15 times the amount of milk they would produce under normal conditions”. That is only a couple examples of the mistreatment these animals go through to provide us with meat.

Some popular misconceptions about vegetarianism explains that vegetarians do not get all the right vitamins and nutrients from only eating vegetables, fruits, and grains; and red meat is not unhealthy for an individual. It is true, a diet consisting of only vegetables, fruits, and grains provide a significant amount of almost all the necessary nutrients, but it does miss some important nutrients from not consuming meat. “Moreover, some of the important nutrients found in meat are not found in plants or only can be obtained in limited amounts by people on plant-based diets, according to David Klurfeld, chairman of the Department of Nutrition and Food Science at Wayne State University in Detroit”. The way vegetarians get around this obstacle is by taking supplements/vitamins of those important nutrients. However, the health benefits of becoming a vegetarian do outweigh the negatives of missing a couple important nutrients. Vegetarians have to do a little more work to make sure that they consume all the necessary nutrients from their diet. In the article, ”Diet and Health”, Mangels, an advisor at the Vegetarian Resource Group, explains some options to getting those certain nutrients, “’You can take a supplement, or there are many fortified foods, from soy milk to cereal that will give you B-12, calcium and other things you might not get enough of in a plant-based diet’”. When done correctly, vegetarians are significantly healthier than those that consume meat. Also, in the same article, “Diet and Health”, it explains that red meat is important in a healthy diet. “Even the fat in meat is — in some respects — healthy according to Huffman”. While a small amount of saturated fat is good for the body, meat contains an unruly amount of it. Consuming meat on a regular basis, gives the chance of many health problems, such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. A plant-based diet offers more benefits than harm, making vegetarianism a healthier lifestyle.

In conclusion, vegetarianism is superior for health, environmental, and ethical reasons. Individuals who follow a plant-based diet have a significantly lower risk of cancer, heart disease, mortality, strokes, and diabetes than meat-eaters. Vegetarians are proven to be better for the environment by lowering the amounts of harmful gasses, pollution, and the effects of climate change. Lastly, vegetarianism is superior for ethical reasons involving the inhumane mistreatment of animals. When an individual decides to live a vegetarian lifestyle, it not only benefits that person’s health, but it also favors the environment and reduces the amounts of animals put into the meat industry.