Not only does the United States eat 60% more meat than Europeans, but Americans also consume more meat than any other country in the world. In general, Americans tend to consume cheap, genetically modified animals that contain pesticides, growth hormones, antibiotics and other dangerous additives.
Contrary to popular belief, meat is not an essential part of the human diet. Some of the risks associated with eating meat involve food poisoning, excessive intake of saturated fats, and residues of chemicals used in animal production.
Animal Cruelty
In order to satisfy the economic demands of profitability, the meat industry has adopted very low standards in terms of health and hygiene.
Cattle are raised in highly concentrated areas, exposed to disease and injury. They are often fed meat and bone meal, an inappropriate food source for the naturally vegetarian cattle. The major concerns of the meat production industry are the harsh living conditions, excessive hormone injections, and inappropriate diets.
Hormones
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved several steroid hormone drugs since the 1950s. By increasing the animal’s growth rate, these drugs promote high profits and lean meat. These steroid hormones are used in beef cattle and sheep. They include estrogen, progesterone and testosterone.
Since every type of meat is from the female animal, the meat contains synthetic female hormones that are given to the animals in order to make them develop faster and bigger. These synthetic hormones cause female reproductive area cancers in women and prostate and testicular cancer in men. By consuming synthetic hormones from an animal, the human’s hormonal balance becomes disrupted. This can lead to several health conditions including the premature onset of puberty and development of children.
Since 1989, Europe has refused to import U.S. meat products because they fear the health effects associated with hormone treated meat.
Fat
Saturated fat is responsible for major weight gain. Today’s meat is higher than ever in fat because the animals are raised in unnatural environments with no exercise or grazing capabilities. Since they sit in a cage and are over fed, the animal meat contains an exceedingly high amount of unhealthy fat deposits. Meat is a very calorie-dense nutrient that can easily lead to weight gain if eaten regularly.
Saturated fat can cause potentially fatal fat deposits in the arteries. High blood pressure is a result of this happening and can eventually lead to artery damage.
Red Meat
Red meats are particularly unhealthy and contain high amounts of saturated fats that raise blood cholesterol and increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and other compounds that can promote cancer. In fact, red meat consumption has been known to increase your risk of developing colorectal, lung, stomach, pancreatic, esophageal, and endometrial cancers.
The by-product of meat consumption is uric acid, which causes inflammation and creates excess mucus in the body. Essentially, uric acid acidifies the body. If you consume meat, you are putting yourself at risk for catching Mad Cow Disease.
Frequent red meat eaters face a higher risk of developing colon cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and endometriosis.
Humans are not supplied with the appropriate enzymes for digesting meat, fur, wool, or feathers. Human beings are herbivores by nature, but society has crafted everyone into a meat-eating carnivore.
Consuming more of a plant-based diet can substantially reduce the risk of developing a chronic disease and dying prematurely.
Protein
Most people eat meat because they are under the assumption that you must eat meat protein to be healthy. If eating meat makes you big, meaty, or healthy, then why are most of the biggest creatures vegetarians? The elephant, giraffe, horse, cow, buffalo, ox, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, and gorilla are very large animals that consume a lot of protein without eating meat. The truth is, you don’t have to eat meat in order to have meat on your body.
Processing and Cooking
When cooked, meat produces harmful compounds called carcinogens. When animal meat is cooked at high temperatures, heterocyclic amines form because the amino acids and creatine react. Cooking red meat can release nitrosamines, increasing your risk of developing cancer.
There are six main treatments of meat products that apply to the various processing technologies.
- Fresh processed meat products
- Cured meat pieces
- Raw-cooked products
- Pre-cooked cooked products
- Raw (dry)- fermented sausages
- Dried meat
Solutions
In order to digest an adequate amount of protein without eating animal meat, we suggest that you turn to raw roods. Very rich in protein, raw foods are healthy alternatives, cruelty free food products. By slowly replacing animal meat with other alternatives, you can quickly adjust your diet towards a vegan lifestyle. Though you may find it difficult to imagine your life without meat, you will become accustomed to new foods and you will no longer crave animal meat.
Dherbs does not suggest using soy products unless they are used temporarily during the transition to raw food diet or vegan diet.
Vincent Stevens is the senior content writer at Dherbs. As a fitness and health and wellness enthusiast, he enjoys covering a variety of topics, including the latest health, fitness, beauty, and lifestyle trends. His goal is to inform people of different ways they can improve their overall health, which aligns with Dherbs’ core values. He received his bachelor’s degree in creative writing from the University of Redlands, graduating summa cum laude. He lives in Los Angeles, CA.
