Why Do People Become Vegetarians?
If you have been considering giving up meat, you may well be asking yourself if it is worth becoming a vegetarian. You might wonder how much of a difference one additional person can make. It is true just one person won’t make a huge difference but if you multiply this by millions of people who make the choice then the effect becomes much more significant. People who eat large quantities of meat as part of their regular diet are more likely to suffer form heart disease; this is especially true for Americans.
It is the cholesterol in meat, eggs, milk, cheese and other dairy items that contribute to the problem of heart and circulatory conditions. The figures speak for themselves when a person who eats meat is four times as likely to suffer a heart attack as someone who is a vegetarian. As for people who are pure vegans, it gets even lower: they have less than 1/10 the chance of having a heart. The heart is only one organ that benefits from a vegetarian diet because there are other health advantages.
Preservatives which are used a great deal in meat are reduced and so are the incidences of cancer. As a vegetarian you won’t be exposed to various hormones (that are packed into animal feed), which often disrupt normal hormonal processes in the body. And you won’t consume as much lactose, which most people cannot digest properly and which some dietitians have suggested is a cause of digestive problems. The health advantages to becoming a vegetarian are unquestionable but there is also the fact that many animals will not lose their lives to feed you either.
Studies suggest that the average United States citizen will consume more than two thousand seven hundred animals throughout their life. Just in a couple of decades, many hundreds of animals would not need to loose their lives if you were to make this commitment. The suffering of many cows and battery farmed hens would also be reduced if you were to give up eggs and milk as well. It is difficult to ignore the impact that eating meat has on the planet and makes the case for becoming a vegetarian stronger. It is hard to ignore the facts and the number of animal lives that would be saved is huge, not to mention the reduction in your chances of contracting a heart condition or cancer.
