You are What You Eat
What if you thought you were doing a good deed and it was benefiting your
health? A simple change in diet and lifestyle cannot only make you feel better
about yourself mentally, but it also is better for you physically. When someone
becomes a vegetarian, they are not in taking all of the hormones, antibiotics,
and steroids that all of the meats obtain due to the meat processing business.
Many just do because they may think the treatment of animals is wrong and do not
want to contribute to the act. Even to make a slight impact by limiting a
growing industry’s profit by only one person. Being a vegetarian is not only a
better way to eat, it’s a better lifestyle.
In order for animals to grow to productivity and ensure
profitability animals are pumped full of different hormones and antibiotics.
According to “We are what we eat”, “Most of the antibiotics sold in the United
States, 70 percent, go to the animals we eat, especially pigs and chickens.”
Although there are bills in the process to ensure that providing, animals with
antibiotics are illegal unless deemed necessary or at least limit the amount of
antibiotics provided to these animals. Farmers are actively fighting the bill
because it would lower the productivity of what they think of these animals as a
commodity. These animals are given
antibiotics in their daily food supply; the antibiotics are then absorbed into
the blood and meat of these animals (which is what a medication is supposed to
do). In the end when animals are being processed and shipped out, they still are
full of these antibiotics that then we as consumers ingest. Our bodies build up
immunities to antibiotics as we take them more and more. When someone is getting
antibiotics through their meats and milk then they are less likely to be able to
fight an infection and take care of it when they are already slowly becoming
immune to more and more antibiotics to get rid of their infections.
The meat industry also gives these animals growth hormones and steroids
so there muscles can grow bigger faster. Meat consumers are then also eating
steroids and hormones, causing puberty to start younger for adolescents and our
hormones to be not as stable as they should be (Neuman).
Many people stop eating meat because it lowers their chances of receiving
a food borne illness drastically. Due to animals’ tight living conditions they
spread disease to one another rapidly, if one walks in contaminated feces its
spread to the other animals directly on top of that animal. This is how bacteria
such as salmonella, botulism, mad cow disease, listeria, colostrum, and E- coli
virus are spread around. These Bacterial infections make the host experience
symptoms much like a stomach flu such as; vomiting, diarrhea, fever, headache,
and muscle weakness. Most symptoms last only a few days but if the bacteria is
strong enough then the infected may need to be hospitalized. People die every
year in America due to food borne illness ingested through contaminated meat
products (Vegetarian Times).
When someone stops eating meat, they tend to take in a significant less
amount of fats, calories, and cholesterol. People still need a form a fat intake
but don’t need to consume nearly as much as what over fifty percent of the
United States population consumes. In general fruit and vegetables have a much
smaller calorie count, do not contain saturated fats and does not have an as
concentrated cholesterol count. Cholesterol is only obtained from animal
products, and is monitored because it is a wax like substance that builds up in
arteries and can lead to heart disease (Adams).
There are some benefits to eating meat products. The main health
advantages are the proteins, vitamins, and minerals you get from eating it. The
protein in meat helps repair and build muscle tissue. The amount of protein in 3
oz. of meat is half of the daily required needs for an adult. (Ipatenco)
Proteins help the body be physically active, produce hormones, and keep the
immune system healthy.
The other main nutrient found mainly in meat products is iron. Iron is
essential for the body in many ways. Iron helps transport oxygen throughout the
body. Iron makes hemoglobin which helps transport oxygen throughout the body
from the lungs. If there is a lack of oxygen throughout the body then it cannot
perform at a normal level, people will begin to feel very
lethargic.
Meat is a great source of protein and iron; however, there are many other
foods that supply high amounts or these nutrients. The recommended daily intake
for protein for men is 56 grams and for women 46 grams. The food that carries
the highest amount of protein is parmesan cheese; which has 41.6 grams of
protein of every 100-gram serving. Other foods with high protein content include
soybeans, which have 39.6 grams per 100 grams, seeds (pumpkin, squash,
watermelon), lentils, pulses, and peanuts (Health Aliciousness. com).
It is a personal decision to be a vegetarian, vegan, or not eat
meat. But people do need to be more educated on the products they are eating and
how they are made. If they are comfortable with the way animals are treated,
having an unhealthy diet, and taking in hormones and steroids there will always
be a meat industry and people to help run and support it. As long as they know,
you are what you eat.
Works
Cited
Adams,
C. Help my Child Stopped Eating Meat. New York: The continuum
international publishing group,
1996.
Health
Aliciousness. com. Top ten foods highest in Protein. n.d. 30 November
2012.
<http://www.healthaliciousness.com/articles/foods-highest-in-protein.php>.
Ipatenco,
Sara. The health beifits of eating red meat. 28 March 2011. 16 November
2012.
<http://www.livestrong.com/article/407839-the-health-benefits-of-eating-red-meat/>.
Neuman,
W. F.D.A. and dairy industry spar over milk testing. 25 January 2011. 16
November 2012. <
http://www.nytimes.com>.
Peta.
Factory Farming: Cruelty to Animals. 2011. 16 November 2012.
<http://www.peta.org >.
Vegetarian
Times. Vegetarian Time vegetarian beginners guide: everything you need to
know to be a healthy vegetarian. New York: Macmillian,
1996.
What if you thought you were doing a good deed and it was benefiting your
health? A simple change in diet and lifestyle cannot only make you feel better
about yourself mentally, but it also is better for you physically. When someone
becomes a vegetarian, they are not in taking all of the hormones, antibiotics,
and steroids that all of the meats obtain due to the meat processing business.
Many just do because they may think the treatment of animals is wrong and do not
want to contribute to the act. Even to make a slight impact by limiting a
growing industry’s profit by only one person. Being a vegetarian is not only a
better way to eat, it’s a better lifestyle.
In order for animals to grow to productivity and ensure
profitability animals are pumped full of different hormones and antibiotics.
According to “We are what we eat”, “Most of the antibiotics sold in the United
States, 70 percent, go to the animals we eat, especially pigs and chickens.”
Although there are bills in the process to ensure that providing, animals with
antibiotics are illegal unless deemed necessary or at least limit the amount of
antibiotics provided to these animals. Farmers are actively fighting the bill
because it would lower the productivity of what they think of these animals as a
commodity. These animals are given
antibiotics in their daily food supply; the antibiotics are then absorbed into
the blood and meat of these animals (which is what a medication is supposed to
do). In the end when animals are being processed and shipped out, they still are
full of these antibiotics that then we as consumers ingest. Our bodies build up
immunities to antibiotics as we take them more and more. When someone is getting
antibiotics through their meats and milk then they are less likely to be able to
fight an infection and take care of it when they are already slowly becoming
immune to more and more antibiotics to get rid of their infections.
The meat industry also gives these animals growth hormones and steroids
so there muscles can grow bigger faster. Meat consumers are then also eating
steroids and hormones, causing puberty to start younger for adolescents and our
hormones to be not as stable as they should be (Neuman).
Many people stop eating meat because it lowers their chances of receiving
a food borne illness drastically. Due to animals’ tight living conditions they
spread disease to one another rapidly, if one walks in contaminated feces its
spread to the other animals directly on top of that animal. This is how bacteria
such as salmonella, botulism, mad cow disease, listeria, colostrum, and E- coli
virus are spread around. These Bacterial infections make the host experience
symptoms much like a stomach flu such as; vomiting, diarrhea, fever, headache,
and muscle weakness. Most symptoms last only a few days but if the bacteria is
strong enough then the infected may need to be hospitalized. People die every
year in America due to food borne illness ingested through contaminated meat
products (Vegetarian Times).
When someone stops eating meat, they tend to take in a significant less
amount of fats, calories, and cholesterol. People still need a form a fat intake
but don’t need to consume nearly as much as what over fifty percent of the
United States population consumes. In general fruit and vegetables have a much
smaller calorie count, do not contain saturated fats and does not have an as
concentrated cholesterol count. Cholesterol is only obtained from animal
products, and is monitored because it is a wax like substance that builds up in
arteries and can lead to heart disease (Adams).
There are some benefits to eating meat products. The main health
advantages are the proteins, vitamins, and minerals you get from eating it. The
protein in meat helps repair and build muscle tissue. The amount of protein in 3
oz. of meat is half of the daily required needs for an adult. (Ipatenco)
Proteins help the body be physically active, produce hormones, and keep the
immune system healthy.
The other main nutrient found mainly in meat products is iron. Iron is
essential for the body in many ways. Iron helps transport oxygen throughout the
body. Iron makes hemoglobin which helps transport oxygen throughout the body
from the lungs. If there is a lack of oxygen throughout the body then it cannot
perform at a normal level, people will begin to feel very
lethargic.
Meat is a great source of protein and iron; however, there are many other
foods that supply high amounts or these nutrients. The recommended daily intake
for protein for men is 56 grams and for women 46 grams. The food that carries
the highest amount of protein is parmesan cheese; which has 41.6 grams of
protein of every 100-gram serving. Other foods with high protein content include
soybeans, which have 39.6 grams per 100 grams, seeds (pumpkin, squash,
watermelon), lentils, pulses, and peanuts (Health Aliciousness. com).
It is a personal decision to be a vegetarian, vegan, or not eat
meat. But people do need to be more educated on the products they are eating and
how they are made. If they are comfortable with the way animals are treated,
having an unhealthy diet, and taking in hormones and steroids there will always
be a meat industry and people to help run and support it. As long as they know,
you are what you eat.
Works
Cited
Adams,
C. Help my Child Stopped Eating Meat. New York: The continuum
international publishing group,
1996.
Health
Aliciousness. com. Top ten foods highest in Protein. n.d. 30 November
2012.
<http://www.healthaliciousness.com/articles/foods-highest-in-protein.php>.
Ipatenco,
Sara. The health beifits of eating red meat. 28 March 2011. 16 November
2012.
<http://www.livestrong.com/article/407839-the-health-benefits-of-eating-red-meat/>.
Neuman,
W. F.D.A. and dairy industry spar over milk testing. 25 January 2011. 16
November 2012. <
http://www.nytimes.com>.
Peta.
Factory Farming: Cruelty to Animals. 2011. 16 November 2012.
<http://www.peta.org >.
Vegetarian
Times. Vegetarian Time vegetarian beginners guide: everything you need to
know to be a healthy vegetarian. New York: Macmillian,
1996.