Once and for all, eating meat does NOT cause cancer

[derby378]

Time to put an urban legend to rest - namely the dogmatic medical myth that "Cancer cannot grow in an alkaline body."

Your stomach contains a 5% solution of hydrochloric acid at all times. This acid is necessary for the breakdown of foods in your stomach so that your intestines can absorb the nutrients your body requires to maintain optimal health and well-being.

No food can change the pH of your body or anything inside your body except your urine. In fact, anything you ate that actually could change your body's pH can sicken you or even kill you.

For more information on this subject from a credible source:

http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/DSH/coral2.html

In other words, if you are a vegetarian or a vegan and you are able to maintain your health with your diet, more power to you.

On the other hand, if you consume meat, enjoy!

But whatever you eat, try to do so in moderation. Overweight and obesity do have their drawbacks.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. You can trace a lot of this back...

To the turn of the century, The Kellogg Institute in Battle Creek MI and Dr. Cotton and his "focal sepsis" hypothesis. It all started there.

[knitter4democracy]

84. Oh sure.

Blame us in Battle Creek. ;) You're right, though, in that Kellogg had some odd theories, and they're still floating around.

[porphyrian]

85. What's odd about 3 enemas a day? - n/t

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

2. Of course it doesn't. Those meat-eater fallacies are just loopy! LOL

We are omnivores, period. We are built to eat meat. Course, no one is yet genetically engineered to handle Mickey D's, but than I'm convinced that's not quite meat anyway.

Eating meat is healthy just fine. In moderation of course, as is the case with everything including veggies.

Hey, let them eat their tofu, yay for them. I'm gonna go chomp down a 24 oz steak at my birthday lunch at 2:30 today. Yay for me...

[Ian David]

5. What ever happened to the tofu / soy estrogen concerns?

If I remember correctly, too much soy protein give six year old girls giant breasts.

[sendero]

11. As a man..

... you'd be crazy to eat much soy.

[flvegan]

66. I eat a ton of it.

I'm a man, and I have no problems with my physique.

[JVS]

111. Do they retain these breasts at a later age?

[MADem]

8. Well, basically, our bodies ARE meat on the hoof!!

And we'd be considered tasty eatin' not too long ago in some parts of the world...especially since we've all been fattened up so nicely with all of that corn syrup they put in everything!

I like meat every now and again, and I also like soy. Everything, as you say, in moderation!

[Ladyhawk]

9. But, but, but the Neanderthals, who cooked their meat, got cancer

all the time! :sarcasm:

[Touchdown]

78. MMMMM. Meatballs and Spaghetti.

I want to eat your God.:evilgrin:

[JVS]

112. No they didn't. They usually died before cancer would get them!

:-)

[beyurslf]

16. A 24 ounce steak! In one sitting?

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

24. Hell Yeah. I've even done a 48 oz once.

Funniest thing is I'm 5'6 and 115 pounds. You wouldn't know where I fit it LOL

[JVS]

113. What about the old 96er?

[PaganPreacher]

38. Only one? I ate three in one hour last night.

Of course, I spent the first 45 minutes of that having sex with my waitress.

The Pagan Preacher
Chuck Norris learned everything he knew about being a man...

from me.

[_testify_]

55. most excellent!

that Chuck Norris shit is a riot :rofl:

[LincolnMcGrath]

17. Happy Birthday

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

27. Awwww, Thanks! It's actually 12/13 but Poppa's takin me out today

Thanks for the kind wishes.

[TalkingDog]

56. McDonald's is the largest purchaser of cow eyes in the world....

So technically their burgers are %100 percent beef.

[organik]

81. We are omnivores by choice, herbivores by design...

Try reading milton r. mills The Comparative Anatomy of Eating and let me know if you still think we are built to eat meat.

Also, when true omnivores eat cholesterol, their blood cholesterol level does not rise, when humans eat it, their blood cholesterol does rise, another suggestion that humans are herbivores.

So much misinformation out there... the meat and dairy industries have had such a grip on us for so long, can't really blame people for not knowing the truth. Remember the four food groups thing - the dairy industry gave you that. Much of my grade school "health education" was funded by these industries.

But hey, eat what you want. Not my place to tell anybody what to do, just know that the environmental impact of animal agriculture DOES affect all of us.

[TahitiNut]

3. Please!! STOP eating meat!

Then the price will drop and I can chow down on sirloins and strip steaks! :evilgrin:

[Craig3410]

95. Bingo!

More :evilgrin:

[DanCa]

4. I miss the days when we all minded each others buisness *sigh*

Pretty soon surf and turff will mean water and grass.

[Ladyhawk]

12. Most the vegetarians I know mind their own business.

It's one of the reasons I felt comfortable asking them about their diet preferences. This new development on DU is pissing me off, especially all the pseudoscience being injected into the discourse. It's like the misinformation introduced into the Tookie threads. I have mixed feelings about the death penalty, but the spreading of falsehoods by the pro-Tookie contingent made me less likely to listen to the pro-Tookie arguments. I don't like lies.

I've about decided that proselytization is the number 1 way to turn someone off, especially proselytization presented with pseudoscience and misinformation.

You're entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts.

[derby378]

21. Thank you!

Science, after all, is not a democratic process - it's an observatory process, and the good news is that anybody can do it. But you gotta take what nature throws at you and work with it as best as you can instead of fudging the figures.

[DanCa]

25. delete dupe

[DanCa]

26. Agree how are you doing on the whole lady hawk?

I am little stronger now. :hug:

[name not needed]

39. Unfortunately, none of them post on DU.

[Raine]

61. What does a meat eater expect

when they put up a thread like this?

[brentspeak]

48. One vegetarian I knew in college did NOT mind his own business

He ran unopposed for the student seat on the college's food board committee. Once he was elected, he unilaterally got rid of all the hotdogs and hamburgers from the cafeteria, and replaced them with togu dogs and tofu burgers.

It was a sort of "vegetarian fascism".

[alarimer]

50. It is the misinformation that is the worst part

I mean, people can choose to be vegetarians or not. It is their choice. For some it is better for them. For me, on the other hand (not being a vegetable fan- and that is a problem really that I need to correct) I would starve or, more likely, binge on the stuff that is bad for me. I do not have the discipline to maintain it. I know that, so I choose to eat what I want in moderation.

In any case, injecting a lot of pseudoscientific BS into the discussion is not helpful and does not advance the cause of vegetarianism at all.

[Critters2]

105. Try Ornish

The Ornish diet, low-fat vegetarian, allows you to eat as much as you want of any food. As long as it's low fat and not meat, eggs, or full-fat dairy. Me, I live on pretzels. Well, not really, but I eat 'em, as part of my diet. And I've lost both weight and cholesterol points.

Now, put down that burger. Here, have a pretzel!

[misanthrope]

6. What about meat...

...that has been "grown" under bombardment from growth hormones?

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

13. All the more tasty. Mmmmmmmmm

Hey, if it makes the steak juicier and meatier, yum yum...

[derby378]

14. I'm talking about meat in general, but you've got a point

If you haven't see The Corporation yet, I highly recommend it - they don't talk about hormones in meat, but they do discuss rBGH in milk. That's why, ever since seeing that movie, I try to drink only organic, antibiotic-free, pesticide-free, rBGH-free milk. And it tastes so good. (I recommend Organic Valley if you can get it.)

[TX-RAT]

70. What part of the industry does that? stock yards.

I've been raising cows in West TX for over 25 years, not once have i ever given growth hormones to my cows. I know most if not all the ranchers in this area, they don't use them either.Heres a hint for those worried about hormones. If at all possible by local live stock, go to your butcher or processing facility, most use locally raised animals. If possible several of you go into together and purchase a whole or half beef. If you by out of the big chain stores, your buying stockyard beef.

[Critters2]

106. Depends where you live

Where I lived in Iowa, buying "local" could still mean factory farmed crap. My county had the most factory farms in the state--a state with a lot of 'em.

[Vinnie From Indy]

7. Enjoy your "man boobs" as well!

The amount of chemicals injected and fed to most cattle in America cannot be safe in the long term. Everything from massive doses of antibiotics to hormones to God knows what else is being used to maximize profit. I eat meat, but I search out organic meat products as much as possible.

[Richard D]

10. Number one . . .

. . . I don't believe too much from Quackwatch.
Number two, if you do a search of Medline on colon cancer and meat, you'll find evidence based studies that correlate excess meat consumption and decreased fiber consumption to increased risk of colon cancer. The alkaline/acid stuff may be a myth, but the (excess) meat part is not. Not to mention the added hormones and antibiotics in commercial meat.

[laruemtt]

15. sometime you should compare

the smell of carnivores' poops compared with herbivores' poops. a healthy herbivore has large, rather fluffy poops that glide out easily that don't stink. carnivores have smaller, harder to come by poops that stink to high heaven~

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

19. Hey, I'd rather tasty in and stinky ass out than blah in and blah out.

Hey, a good stinky shit is the ultimate sign of a well eaten steak IMHO. If your shit don't stink, somethins wrong with ya LOL

[stray cat]

23. Then vegetarians who think their shit doesn't stink are right

And not just the epitome of arrogance (sarcasm)

[Endangered Specie]

68. Isnt that half the enjoyment of a nice piece of steak?

Only a few things in life are better, (and they all start with "S" too).


Why am I not suprised some of the more militant vegans think their shit dont stink?

[beyurslf]

20. I think I will just take your word on that one :)

[tuvor]

22. We feed our dogs raw meat and veggies.

Virtually no odour, and the stools break down quickly.

I'm tempted to say your post might therefore be a load of crap, but I won't. :D

[AirmensMom]

31. If they're eating a species-appropriate diet, it doesn't stink.

Our cats used to have the biggest, smelliest poops I'd ever seen when they were on commercial cat food. Since we put them on raw meat and bones, their poops are very small and barely smell at all. Add veggies, and it's stinky again. So, I disagree with the part of your statement that carnivore poops "stink to high heaven".

[TallahasseeGrannie]

37. Are floofie poops truly our goal?

I mean fluffy. But floofie is an interesting word as well, maybe it will catch on; especially in regards to poops.

[Codeine]

49. I have to call shenanigans on this one.

I've been a vegan since 1989 and when I shit it's not safe to be in the same house, let alone the bathroom. Veggie poop can stink just as bad as anybody else's - just ask my wife!

[BrklynLiberal]

52. and only ;herbivore poop can be used for fertilizer(cow, sheep, etc)

[noamnety]

53. Since I usually flush it away

instead of using it for potpourri, I'm not sure this is a major concern to me.

[crispini]

102. SNORK!

[A Simple Game]

57. Never been down wind of a liquid cow manure spreader

have you?

[Inland]

73. Oh, man, I know MY OWN stink and veg. meals bring it on!

I'm not a vegetarian, but there are days or meals where I am eating exclusively vegetables and fruits and high fiber cereals, and I caught myself thinking that there MUST be some way that I could be in a different room from myself.

And I've hear similar comments from other people living with vegetarians.

So whatever it means for cows, I know what it means for people.

[Craig3410]

96. Wow; you literally think your shit don't stink.

;)

:)

[johnnie]

18. Then eat meat

Why does everyone give a shit what people do to their own bodies? The only thing I will support in the meat/no meat argument is when someone takes the morality angle, other than that it should be nobody's business what other people eat.

I eat meat by the way, but these threads on what meat does to your body are just a way to flame each other, I don't think they will change people's lives or what they eat. People don't like to be told they are wrong at the decisions they make in their personal life.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

28. A weakened immune system, stress and toxins cause cancer.

The cruciferous vegetables have some of the most powerful anti-cancer components known to man.

Your mileage may vary, not available in all 50 states.

[OzarkDem]

80. More likely environmental pollutants

Vegetables don't cure cancer, either.

[LeftyMom]

29. Yes, meat can and does cause cancer

I don't think anybody here's ever claimed being veg makes one cancer-proof, only that consuming animal flesh increases cancer risk.

Here are a few very mainstream links on the subject:

http://www.cancer.org/docroot/NWS/content/NWS_1_1x_Eating_Lots_of_Red_Meat_Linked_to_Colon_Cancer.asp

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3149062.stm

[johnnie]

32. Yes but

Those links are a reliable source like quackwatch. :evilgrin:


To the OP, I kid I kid. I respect your opinions and where you get your information is fine by me. :hi:

[derby378]

33. I appreciate the links

I admit I haven't heard of Neu5Gc before now, but let's see how the research holds up. As Varki suggests, our species may have developed a tolerance after hundreds of thousands of years of eating meat. Evolution is a funny thing sometimes.

[LeftyMom]

35. That was a new one to me, too

The meat-colon cancer link has been known for decades, though. There appears to be a link between breast cancer and meat consumption too, but it's not as well established as with colon cancer.

Here's a link with a summary of study results on the subject. (Note: This is an organization connected with PCRM so it's not as unbiased as the other links I've provided. However all the studies cited are footnoted and you can check their validity yourself, so it's still useful info.)

http://www.cancerproject.org/survival/cancer_facts/meat.php

[BrklynLiberal]

54. When man first ate meat it was eaten immediately after it was killed, not

days, and perhaps weeks later. Not to mention all the chemicals and hormones that the farmed animals are being treated with, and the inhumane and unsanitary circumstances of the slaughtering, cutting, storing and packaging.
In reality, eating meat products, and not getting ill, is the miracle.
I've heard people say that if slaughterhouses had windows, no one would eat meat.

[TX-RAT]

71. When man first ate meat it was eaten immediately after it was killed,

When man first ate meat it was most likely off of old kills made by predatory animals. He learned to kill at a later date.

[WindRavenX]

62. yup-- lots of carcinogenic chemicals in meat

And grilling meat causes carcinogenic chemicals to appear.

Animal flesh in moderation= fine. But Western diets, particularly American diets, have seen a strong correlation with colon cancer and the amount of red meat consumed.

Limit the red meat consumption. It's bad for you, and it's an ecological waste.

[spundit]

30. On the other hand, if you consume meat, enjoy!

On that note, I have a big, fat steak waiting on the table :)

[DanCa]

34. wouldnt moderation of the amount of meat you eat and the preparation you

eat be afactor. For instance the very thought of steak tartar makes me ill.

[spundit]

36. I'll second that

I like to burn the f*ck out of my steaks.

[derby378]

40. I'll settle for a burger, medium-well...

...made with organic meat if you've got it. Nice and simple.

There is one old Roman recipe I wouldn't mind trying - supposedly, the first true hamburger was cooked in the Roman Republic. The meat is infused with a pinch of salt, a pinch of garlic, some pine kernels, and some sort of white wine that the Romans used for cooking. Then cook it over an open flame and serve it sandwiched between two halves of a whole-grain roll. Yum.

[TX-RAT]

72. organic meat ?

Whats your definition of organic meat.

[nosmokes]

89. in general, organically raised meat is

beef/lamb/goat that has been pastured and grass fed, which is a ruminants natural diet, and has never been *finished off* in a feed-lot standing around with thousands of other head of cattle in a pool of shit almost knee deep, esentially being force fed corn and other grains that has been liberally laced with antibiotics and other drugs and crap to keep them all from dying from the infections that are rampant under such conditions. pork specs are generally the same, although more leeway as far as other greenstuffs, like corn stalks after harvest and such. with poultry it means that the birds have access to outside and sunlight.

[TX-RAT]

98. Sounds like 90% of the beef raised here.

[organik]

41. T. Colin Cambell's "China Study"

T. Colin Cambell has basially proven that it is possible to turn on or off cancer growth with animal protein, in all stages of cancer growth.

Animal protein is a bigger factor in cancer formation and growth than any other single factor, toxins, heredity, etc.

I know meat eaters, it's a hard pill to swallow.

The China Study : The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-Term Health

Vegan Links.org (my site)

I highly recommend this book, it might save your life!

[derby378]

45. Let him submit his research for peer-review...

...and let's see where it goes. You'll no doubt have some physicians squawking over the data, but that's to be expected. We all know the Adkins diet has proven to be a flop because of its own health implications; the "low-carb" shops around here are going out of business because people realize it's not normal to pee your own blood.

But, once again, the medical and scientific community deserves the chance to pick Campbell's study apart. If they cannot, we just might have a new paradigm of health on our hands.

[organik]

46. Sounds good to me - more about Mr. Campbell

His story is interesting because he was one of the "protein pioneers" that sought to alleviate third world hunger with animal protein. He now feels he was completely wrong on that one...

His book is a good read because he was an "establishment" scientist who was shunned because his findings contradicted with what the animal ag industry wanted to hear. Very interesting the bits about corporate influence on the FDA and USDA.

[TX-RAT]

74. He now feels he was completely wrong on that one...?

It's sustained man for many thousands of years, and now it's wrong?

[organik]

79. Sustained on animal protein? Not true. A little info about your body....

I don't understand this mythology of meat eating you people subscribe to.

Many researchers are abandoning the classic "hunter gatherer" idea of early man, and suggesting that the women did much of the gathering, plant foods were the bulk of the diet, and meat was a supplement, should more likely be "gatherer, with occasional hunting". Some researchers even argue that early man was vegetarian for many thousands of years.

Not everyone is aware of the fact that humans are built herbivorous.

Human characteristics are in every way like other fruit eating animals (even similar to grass-eaters in several respects), and very unlike the meat eaters and omnivores, as is clearly shown in the table below. The human digestive system, tooth and jaw structure, and bodily functions are completely different from carnivorous animals. As in the case of the anthropoid ape, the human digestive system is twelve times the length of the body; our skin has millions of tiny pores to evaporate water and cool the body by sweating; we drink water by suction like all other vegetarian animals; our tooth and jaw structure is vegetarian; and our saliva is alkaline and contains ptyalin for predigestion of grains. Human beings clearly are not carnivores by physiology -- our anatomy and digestive system show that we must have evolved for millions of years living on fruits, nuts, grains, and vegetables.

Furthermore, it is obvious that our natural instincts are non-carnivorous. Most people have other people kill their meat for them and would be sickened if they had to do the killing themselves. Instead of eating raw meat as all flesh-eating animals do, humans boil, bake, or fry it and disguise it with all kinds of sauces and spices so that it bears no resemblance to its raw state. One scientist explains it this way: "A cat will salivate with hungry desire at the smell of a piece of raw flesh but not at all at the smell of fruit. If man could delight in pouncing upon a bird, tear its still-living limbs apart with his teeth, and suck the warm blood, one might conclude that nature provided him with meat-eating instinct. On the other hand, a bunch of luscious grapes makes his mouth water, and even in the absence of hunger he will eat fruit because it tastes so good."

Scientists and naturalists, including the great Charles Darwin who gave the theory of evolution, agree that early humans were fruit and vegetable eaters and that throughout history our anatomy has not changed. The great Swedish scientist von Linné states: "Man's structure, external and internal, compared with that of the other animals, shows that fruit and succulent vegetables constitute his natural food."

Try reading Milton R. Mills The Comparative Anatomy of Eating and tell me you don't think humans evolved on a primarily, if not entirely vegetarian diet.

[TX-RAT]

82. Maybe Milton R Mills can explain this.

The millions of flint points, blades, and other tools used for killing and processing their kills, for the last 30000 years. I have over 3000 points and blades in my collection alone, and thats just what i've found locally.


(Some researchers even argue that early man was vegetarian for many thousands of years.)
What time period was this?


(Most people have other people kill their meat for them and would be sickened if they had to do the killing themselves.)
And they would be the first to die, if they had to fend for themselves.

[organik]

86. he was merely discussing anatomy

I'm not arguing that humans do not have a long history of hunting, killing, and eating meat - I'm saying we're not designed for it.

Human kind and its ancestors evolved for 8 million years on a predominantly vegetarian diet until the ice age - Australopithecus & Homo Habilis were predominantly vegetarian, as were later humans.

I am sure you do not kill all the meat you eat? Do you? Gorillas do not kill, any meat they eat is scavenged...do you think they have trouble defending themselves? This "weak" image of vegetarians is totally unfounded - there have been vegan decathletes, body builders, elephants & gorillas are vegan..

I've been vegetarian for 5 years and vegan for 10 after that - if we really needed meat in our diets, as carnivores do, shouldn't I have dropped dead by now? Instead, I feel great, have no problem maintaining a healthy weight, extremely low cholesterol, lots of energy. I also work at a physically demanding job as a stagehand, unloaded large set pieces, lots of lifting, long hours - I have no problem keeping up with my meat eating coworkers.

Read any of these three books then we'll talk about animal based diets:

Vegan: The New Ethics of Eating by Erik Marcus

The China Study : The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-Term Health by T. Colin Cambell

Plant Roots : Reasons Why the Human Diet Is Rooted Exclusively In Plants by Rex Bowlby

[flvegan]

67. Okay, hold on...

T. Colin Campbell, a celebrated EXPERT on diet, nutrition, etc versus physicians. Are these the same physicians that receive little or no training on nutrition in school?

Just wondering.

Let 'em squawk. It'd be like me squawking about something I have no idea about, like quantum physics.

[orwell]

42. Anecdotal Evidence...

...When I was a vegetarian, for two years over a decade ago, I had no body odor, bad breath, or smelly stools. For what that is worth.

One other thing, since I radically increased my dietary fiber intake from 5 to 10 grams a day to over 35 grams a day about two and a half years ago, I have not been sick once. This is from someone who reliably got 3 to 4 nasty colds per year for over 40 years.

[Left Is Write]

44. Also anecdotal...

I eat 25-30 grams of dietary fiber daily, and I *still* get 2-3 nasty colds a year!

[Marr]

43. You know, I hear Abraham Lincoln at meat. Now he's dead!

Ditto Galileo. DaVinci. Napoleon ate meat as well, and is also now dead!

See a pattern!?!

:D

[brentspeak]

47. Red meat linked to increased COLON cancer risk

http://www.cancer.org/docroot/NWS/content/NWS_1_1x_Eating_Lots_of_Red_Meat_Linked_to_Colon_Cancer.asp

[GrumpyGreg]

51. I never even knew meat was supposed to cause cancer and if

I did know it I wouldn't care.

Sooner or later everyrhing will make the "Causes Cancer" list.

[IronLionZion]

58. I know some pretty fat, unhealthy vegetarians

Pizza, freedom fries, doughnuts, and ice cream are probably not the best vegetarian foods.

[CrispyQ]

91. Yep, it's amazing how much delish vegan junk food there is!

:9

[Itchinjim]

59. How about smoking meat?

Its got to be bad for the lungs.

[leeroysphitz]

60. "eating meat does NOT cause cancer"

Nope! Eating meat only causes Yummi-yummi-happy-tummy-itis!!!
and the ONLY cure is ICE CREAM!!!!

[tlsmith1963]

63. They Had a Report on CNN Just Recently

about areas of the world where people live the longest.
A common thread with all the people is that they had very little meat in their diets. Makes you think.

Tammy

[flvegan]

64. Quackwatch? Are you kidding me?

You're taking statements, as fact, from an org that has one sole mission, and that's to debunk ANY form of alternative medicine.

Hey, big Big Pharma's bullhorn. Have at it.

It's quite the rethuglican thing to do...

[NC_Nurse]

65. "Everything causes cancer"

Dontcha remember the old Joe Jackson song?

So true. ;-)

[ProfessorGAC]

76. Absolutely

In addition, the NIH, about 6 years ago commissioned a complete statistical analysis of population v. health conditions that caused death, from 1900 - 1998. I wasn't involved, but i know someone who was.

One of the conclusions was that the probability of mutagenicity in the human body is such that eventually every human being alive will get cancer. Now, for some people, that mutation might not be a sustainable one until they are 400 years old, in which case, they won't actually ever get cancer. But, if they could live to 400, they would get it. I peer reviewed a small portion of the study, (my colleagures portion and one other) but read quite a bit of it.

So, not only does "everything give you cancer" (as you remembered from Joe), but if anybody lives long enough they'll get some form of it.
The Professor

[TreasonousBastard]

110. A conclusion that would seem to be intuitive...

live long enough and you'll get some kind of a cancer.

When I moved to Florida mucho years ago, the bank gave me a "Welcome Kit" with lots of coupons, guides, factbooks...

One interesting factoid was that back then heart disease was lower than the national rate, but cancer was much higher. Aside from amy environmental causes for these discrepancies, my first thought was that while it was nice that you had less of a chance of dropping dead from a heart attack, that just gave you more time to get a cancer.

Hobson's choice, innit?

[the other one]

69. No one should die so that I can enjoy my food.

OK I am a Vegetarian. Not for health reasons or for spiritual reasons. I think meat tastes great. I enjoy the taste of meat. But just because I enjoy something doesn't make it right. When an idiot person makes me angry, I enjoy causing them physical discomfort. But it is wrong. No matter how much someone deserves to be punched, no matter how much I enjoy it, it is wrong.
I am a vegetarian for the same reason. No matter how much I enjoy a nice filet mignon, it doesn't make up for the fact that a living creature had to die for my enjoyment. The health benefits can be derived elsewhere, so it is inevitable to conclude that the consumption of meat is a decadent and selfish act. Yes, it is harder to be a vegetarian, and it is less enjoyable, but it is the right thing to do.

[rd_kent]

75. Thanks for informing me

Now, thanks to you, I will have to eat TWICE the amount of meat to make up for you. I will make sure the enjoyment you would have gotten from eating meat does not go to waste. I hope I don't get cancer because of you!!!

[Inland]

77. Did you ever read the Hitchhiker's Guide books?

The only thing I remember is the restaurant at the end of the galaxy, where the specially bred cattle were genetically inbred to WANT to be eaten, and further bred to be able to TELL you they wanted to be eaten. A cow took the table's order for steaks.

[DanCa]

83. It all leads back to the chimp.

Is it really the beef or is it the cheap feed that bush co uses? Is it the fish that's causing us cancer or the mercury that's bush co poisoning the oceans with, is it the vegetables or is it the pesticides that bushco is spraying the plants with? Hell everything is giving us cancer thanks to murder inc - shrub co. Place your anger and blame where it belongd back at this administration.

[Beaverhausen]

87. Eating meat DOES CAUSE CANCER

http://www.cancer.org/docroot/NWS/content/NWS_1_1x_Eating_Lots_of_Red_Meat_Linked_to_Colon_Cancer.asp

http://www.webmd.com/content/article/99/105158.htm

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=41398


not to mention the environmental damage done:

http://www.daweifood.com/

[Critters2]

107. I don't know about cancer

but it certainly causes heart disease. This is well documented. And both the Pritikin and Ornish diets (low-fat, Ornish vegetarian, Pritikin little lean meat) have been shown in perr-reviewed journals to not only prevent but reverse heart disease. I find that impressive. But then, the idea of putting dead flesh in my mouth makes me retch. So what do I know?

[organik]

88. What is meat, really?

Meat is muscle tissue - all it is is protein, fat, cholesterol.

All of your meat worship is ridiculous, meat has too much protein, too much cholesterol, and too much fat - and no fiber!

All that high quality protein is completely unnecessary, and when your body can't use it all, guess what - it's CANCER FOOD!

Read T. Colin Campbell's The China Study : The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-Term Health to learn more.

So what's good about it again?

[TX-RAT]

99. Then i highly recommend you not eat any, i will.

[organik]

101. Good plan, hey by the way, what the hell are we discussing this on DU for?

Aren't there better things to do, like get rid of the criminal Bush administration? Or perhaps expose the massive election fraud of the last two presidential elections (and 2002 midterm).

[Beelzebud]

90. Bill Hicks and Jim Fixx.

Bill Hicks, Stand up comedian - Ate meat. smoked. Did drugs. Dead

Jim Fixx, Fitness guru - helped to popularize jogging as excercise - Died while jogging.

My point?

I'll live my life, you live yours, however we want.

[The Stranger]

92. How reactionary of you. Guess you really showed them, huh?

With all of the evidence that red meat does cause cancer, in particular, colon cancer, the certainty posted here seems extremely reactionary.

[Catchawave]

93. Maybe not the meat itself.....

but the hormones and antibiotics food animals are injected with at CAFO's (aka Factory Farms) can be passed along and absorbed by humans.

If you must eat meat, please choose organically grown. That also goes for your dairy and egg products, which are now readily available in grocery stores.

[crispini]

103. Yup, Catch.

I don't consider myself a vegetarian, but I'd say my diet is 90% veggie. Precisely because of the reason that you state-- I did a little reading a few years ago on factory farms, slaughterhouses, the way that food animals are raised, and all I can say is: DISGUSTING! NASTY! GROSS ICK HORRIBLE! After that it was very easy for me to say, "I'll have a vegeburger." Especially if I don't know where the meat is coming from. Now, that's not to say I don't trot over to Whole Foods and get myself a nice piece of organic grain fed farm raised beef from time to time, or some eggs from cage-free hens. Mmmmm! And organic food is so much tastier too!

[derby378]

104. I find myself eating more veggie burgers, too...

It's a tasty way to get more vegetables into my diet, and I love 'em.

Eggs from free-range chickens, check. Real organic milk, check. It's an ongoing process, and I'll admit to grabbing an occasional bottle of the corporate rBGH stuff once in a while, but I am trying to make more conscious decisions in what I get at the store.

And that fair-trade organic dark chocolate from Equal Exchange? Yum.

[edbermac]

94. Meat eater, vegan, who cares? One day we'll get sick and die...

Enjoy it while you can, for cryin' out loud...:shrug:

[Beaverhausen]

100. well I have a long history of colon cancer in my family

giving up meat was a no brainer. I enjoy my health a lot more than I miss eating meat.

[Craig3410]

97. Hey, we're all gonna die one day..

given a choice of dying at 65 eating meat or dying at 68 not eating meat, I'll take the latter.

Besides, given the amount of stress I'm under, I'll be lucky to make it to 30. :)

[rman]

108. Depends what's in it, doesn't it

growth hormones, anti-biotics. Monsanto and milk.... (google it) - the meat industry probably isn't much better. If it doesn't give you cancer it'll give you something else, sooner or later.

[tritsofme]

109. Hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill tonight

Its above freezing in Chicago, and beautiful night for a BBQ.