15 Reasons to Stop Eating Meat

There are plenty of very good reasons to stop eating meat including environmental, nutritional and cruelty. Global meat consumption has significantly increased from just under 50 million tons annually to well over 200 million tons. This has all taken place in less than 50 years. Did you know that animal manure that is produced in the United State alone is 130 times greater than human waste? This is causing more health and environmental problems than ever. Here are 15 solid reasons to just stop eating meat. For those that aren't ready to take the plunge....at least cut down!

Health Reasons

1. Reduced Risk of Cancer - According to The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, vegetarians are nearly 50% less likely to get cancer than those who consume meat.

2. Reduced Risk of Heart Disease - Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn and Dr. Dean Ornish, two researchers, have suggested that those that avoid meat have a reduced risk of heart disease. Not to mention, a vegetarian and vegan diet reduces cholesterol.

3. Reduced Risk of Osteoporosis - Studies suggest that having too much protein in your diet can cause bone calcium loss. Meat eaters typically consumer far more protein than their bodies need.

4. Reduced Risk of Kidney and Gallstones - Calcium is leached from your bones because your body is constantly trying to neutralize acids that are produced by consuming too much protein. These can result in the formation of gallstones and kidney stones.

5. Farmed Animals Often Carry Disease - You may not know but according to the FDA, the number one cause of food-borne illness is poultry. Even though there is an alarming amount of antibiotics and pesticides used, nearly 60 percent of supermarket-sold chickens are infected with some amount of live salmonella bacteria. Additionally, roughly 30 percent of sold pork products contain toxoplasmosis. The population is increasingly at risk from dangerous and highly contagious diseases such as Foot and Mouth Disease and Mad Cow Disease from sheep and cattle.

6. Farmed Animals Can Contain Toxic Chemicals - There are alarming accumulations of chemicals, including pesticides in meat products, much more than what is found in plant products. Do you know that half of the United States' antibiotic supply is used to treat farm animals? Not for healthy purposes but merely as growth promoters and ways to preserve and make more profit.

7. Inefficient Use of Agriculture - 70 percent of grain production in the United States is used to solely feed farm animals. The mass amount of grains and soybeans that are fed to animals that are consumed by one average American in one year's time could easily feed seven hungry people for the same amount of time.

8. Inefficient Use of Water - It requires 2,640 gallons of water just to produce one pound of beef. The water that is used to raise animals solely to be slaughtered for food is far more than half of the water that is used in the United States.

9. Inefficient Use of energy.

• Calories of fossil fuel that is needed to produce only 1 calorie of protein found in beef: 28.
• Calories of fossil fuel that is needed to produce only 1 calorie of protein found in soybeans: 2.

10. Environmental Pollution - Whether you want to realize it or not, raising animals for food slaughter accounts for the largest amount of topsoil and water pollution. Factory-farmed animal's waste horribly pollutes the ground as well as groundwater.

11. Destruction of Natural Habitat - It requires less land to grow plants. Rain forests are being destroyed just to make room for enormous cattle ranches, for animals that going to be fed, tortured and killed. Coyotes and many other animals are being shot and poisoned by cattle ranchers who are under the assumption that federal land belongs to them for grazing animals. .

12. Animals Living on Factory Farms are too Overcrowded - These poor innocent and scared animals spend their short and horrible lives in ammonia-filled, crowded conditions. Many of them are so cramped that they are unable to EVER turn around in their pen or spread their wings.

13. Animals are Tortured - Within only days of birth, chickens have their beaks literally seared off using a hot blade. Many animals are hung and then have their throats sliced open, while they're completely conscious. What gives anyone the right to harm an animal in this way?

14. Animals are Treated Like Machines - Animals are pumped up with toxic drugs, forced to eat their own waste and manipulated to produce or grow faster than what is remotely healthy or safe. They are subjected to living under 24-hour artificial lighting, crammed into disgusting tiny cages, often one right on top of another, just to make it easier for farmers to harvest.

15. YOU DON'T NEED ANIMALS IN YOUR DIET! - Most Americans don’t eat animals for survival but rather because they choose to. Subjecting animals to horrible acts of torture, destroying the environment and subjecting yourself to an increased risk of many diseases just to satisfy your desires is a want, not a need.

You do not need to eat meat to have a well-balanced diet. Vegetables contain plenty of protein and don't forget, too much protein is not good for you. Legumes, grains and soybeans also contain protein. Why not try a vegan diet and give the animals and the environment a break. It's a WIN situation for everyone and everything involved.