12 Reasons I Should Eat More Meat...

...and why they're bogus.

Meat. Delicious, not always unhealthy, but entirely unnecessary.

I get on kicks once in a while. Everyone does. Since I'm a big health, food and exercise nut, I usually alternate between the three when I'm on a kick. Lately my kick has been veganism. I'm not a vegan. I'll never be a vegan (knock on wood, I said that about becoming a vegetarian!!), but I love, love, LOVE reading about how plants, these beautiful plants that decorate our earth, can provide humans with all the nutrients and vitamins they could ever need. It fascinates me!

Anyway, I have been reading a ton of articles advocating veganism, and why meateating is unhealthy, but I have been more fascinated by the counterarguments--those that have commented on the articles saying that taking meat out of the diet is unhealthy and unacceptable, and that it could harm you. I advocate researching and reading credible information on both sides of arguments, so I did a Google search on "Why You Shouldn't Eat Meat"... just to brush up on this supposed supporting "research" for these counterarguments. There are some blogs out there that legitimately are making the argument that meat is somehow necessary for good health. Take a look at this blog article I read in particular:

12 Reasons You Should Eat More Meat

The point of this post isn't to negate every single reason listed by this blogger. The point of this post isn't to tell you, like many of the articles I was reading, that meat is unhealthy. My argument has never, ever been that meat-eating is inherently unhealthy. It's not. My argument is that meat-eating is not necessary. Eating the wrong meat (and there is a lot of it out there) is what is unhealthy. Factory farmed meat (I don't care if that is all you can afford, it is garbage), farmed fish, lunch meat, hot dogs, sausage, bacon... is, indeed, unhealthy...both for our bodies and the Earth. And just because a person might eat it in moderation doesn't make it suddenly healthier. That is a cop-out. I choose not to eat it for a variety of reasons, namely because I personally believe that it is healthier for my body, the environment, and more ethical to not consume it... so I don't. So I'm really not out there fighting against meat-eating. I'm fighting against those who say that meat is necessary for health.

For those who believe it IS necessary... I do have to point out that I know very few other vegetarians/near-vegans (like myself) in general... and fewer still that "do it right". One thing that this blogger and many people I know completely leave out in their arguments that "meat is essential" is illustrated in this scenario:

If it's someone I know and they're sitting in front of me telling me flat-out that I NEED meat to be healthy, that my digestive system won't work right if I don't eat it, it makes me want to scream, "LOOK AT ME!!! I am fitter than you, get sick less often than you, have more muscle than you and my digestive system works juuuuuust fine. What do you make of that?" I haven't eaten meat in almost two years and have had several conversations of this sort where people try to push my logic into a corner by using stuff they have heard, without taking into account exactly who they're talking to.

Seriously. What do you make of it? What do you make me (if you know me)? Of all the incredibly healthy vegetarians and, especially, healthy vegans out there?  What about all the celebrities and athletes? There are lots of athletes that don't eat meat. And celebrities? Ellen DeGeneres, Natalie Portman (who is healthy enough to have a baby!), Alicia Silverstone... the list goes on. Are these people unhealthy? No.




P.S. Did you know that 65-70% of Americans are overweight and have no idea what is considered moderate exercise? Many Americans believe that cooking or taking a walk after dinner counts as moderate exercise! A future post will detail what counts as exercise, and how much you really need to have a healthy heart.