Vegetarian Myths
I believe very strongly in everyones right and duty to make informed rational decisions which are based in reality. The propaganda promoting vegetarian diets impedes this very important right-which leads to bad decisions affecting not only our health but the world at large. There seems to be a black and white dichotomous thinking in the vegetarian/vegan community: either animals are abused, tortured, treated with disrespect or they cannot be used for food at all. I think this is extreme, irrational and detrimental. There should be a balance. We can respect and treat animals with compassion without sacrificing ourselves. The fact is we do need animal nutrition (and many other animals do as well) for good health and wellbeing, at least in the long run. We are animals too and it seems counter intuitive and counter productive to remove ourselves from nature, from the food chain. We are a part of it, like it or not. We however have the intelligence and empathy to allow us to raise and kill food animals humanely, give them food and shelter and protect them from not so humane predators, illness, bad weather conditions, and ensure the survival of their species by breeding them rather than hunting on a whim to extinction (as our paleo ancestors did) It can be very difficult coming to terms with having to take life in order to have life, but it is the necessary and inescapable condition in which all life has been born in. If you prevent the taking of one life, you cause the suffering and eventual death of another. Imagine what would happen if you deprived a lion, a tiger, a dog or a cat of animal nutriton: it would become very ill and die. Predators also serve an important function-keeping the population of prey animals in check. This ensures balance.
As for the ecological aspect, we'd be much better off using more natural methods like allowing animals to graze rather than growing monocrops to feed them and us. Grain, corn, and soy isn't good for them or us and it destroys the land and ecosystem.
Myths of Vegetarianism
Vegetarian Health:
Vegetarian Studies:
"death rates in vegetarians and non-vegetarians were significantly lower than in the general population (which supports the notion that health food shoppers are a generally health-conscious bunch). However, overall risk of death in vegetarians and non-vegetarians the same [2]."
"the researchers also found a higher rate of colorectal cancer - a disease linked with eating red meat - among the vegetarians"
Miscellaneous:
Nutrient Issues:
"Thiamine is stable at low pH (pH under 7), but decomposes when heated particularly under non-
acidic conditions. Protein-bound thiamine, as found in animal tissues, is more stable. Thiamine is
stable when stored frozen; however, substantial losses occur during thawing."
PETA:
I want animals to be treated humanely and know there are abuses, but PETA unfortunately has a history of presenting misinformation in order to gain converts. They're distoring reality rather than giving us an accurate view of it. We should educate ourselves about the real abuses (not invented/staged ones) and what's really going on in factory farms on a normal basis so we can pinpoint areas that need improvment. PETA wants to end animal husbandry altogether: they want everyone on the planet to be vegans-not vegetarians-vegans. And they'll do ANYTHING to achieve that end, even torture and kill animals themselves. If everyone were to go on a vegan diet, you would see a lot of very ill people, not to mention children, and especially carnivorous pets. What PETA does is absolutely nothing short of evil and hideous. They pay people or have their undercover agents brutally torture (skinning alive for example) animals while they film it to make shocking footage that will emotionally manipulate and persuade people to buy into their propaganda. How in the hell could people who claim to care so deeply about animals actually perpetrate such abuse and stand by filming it as it happens? And not only that but they expose young children to this gorey, grotesque traumatizing footage that THEY STAGED THEMSELVES! What kind of sick twisted deraged people are they? We need sane, rational, legitimate organizations that look out for the welfare of animals, not violent crazed lunatics.
Misc: