My personal interest is in encouraging the reduction of reliance on meat protein sources, so as to reduce livestock production and the impact of factory farms on the environment, as well as, reducing obesity. And there is plenty of science to back up my point of view.
“Vegetarian” is defined as avoiding all animal flesh, including fish and poultry. Vegetarians who avoid flesh, but do eat animal products such as cheese, milk, and eggs, are ovo-lacto-vegetarians (ovo = egg; lacto = milk, cheese, etc.). The ranks of those who eschew all animal products are rapidly growing; these people are referred to as pure vegetarians or “vegans“.
Vegan Diets Healthier For Planet, People Than Meat Diets - The average American diet requires the production of an extra ton and a half of carbon dioxide-equivalent, in the form of actual carbon dioxide as well as methane and other greenhouse gases compared to a strictly vegetarian diet, according to a study conducted by the University of Chicago’s Gidon Eshel and Pamela Martin.
“We say that however close you can be to a vegan diet and further from the mean American diet, the better you are for the planet. It doesn’t have to be all the way to the extreme end of vegan. If you simply cut down from two burgers a week to one, you’ve already made a substantial difference.” …
“The adverse effects of dietary animal fat intake on cardiovascular diseases is by now well established. Similar effects are also seen when meat, rather than fat, intake is considered. To our knowledge, there is currently no credible evidence that plant-based diets actually undermine health; the balance of available evidence suggests that plant-based diets are at the very least just as safe as mixed ones, and most likely safer.”
Livestock and the Environment
Animal agriculture’s dependence on higher yields accelerates topsoil erosion on farmlands, rendering land less productive for crop cultivation, and forcing the conversion of wilderness to grazing and farm lands. Animal waste from massive feedlots and factory farms is a leading cause of pollution in our groundwater and rivers.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has linked animal agriculture to a number of other environmental problems, including: contamination of aquatic ecosystems, soil, and drinking water by manure, pesticides, and fertilizers; acid rain from ammonia emissions; greenhouse gas production; and depletion of aquifers for irrigation.
In a time when population pressures have become an increasing stress on the environment, there are additional arguments for a vegan diet. The United Nations has reported that a vegan diet can feed many more people than an animal-based diet. For instance, projections have estimated that the 1992 food supply could have fed about 6.3 billion people on a purely vegetarian diet, 4.2 billion people on a 85% vegetarian diet, or 3.2 billion people on a 75% vegetarian diet.
From wikipedia - A study by Gidon Eshel and Pamela Martin, assistant professors of geophysics at the University of Chicago, compares the CO2 production resulting from various human diets. They find that a person switching from the typical American diet to a vegan diet would, on average, reduce CO2 production significantly more than switching to a hybrid vehicle. They go on to recommend a vegan diet for this reason, as well as the potentially adverse health effects of dietary animal fats and proteins.[37] They go on to support their claims by referencing various studies linking animal fats to cardiovascular diseases and animal proteins to cancer.
The United Nations released a ground breaking report in November 2006 linking animal agriculture to environmental damage. The report, titled “Livestock’s Long Shadow–Environmental Issues and Options,“concludes that the livestock sector (primarily cows, chickens, and pigs) emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to our most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global. It is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gases - livestock is responsible for 18% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions as measured in CO2 equivalents. By comparison, all transportation emits 13.5% of the CO2. It produces 65% of human-related nitrous oxide (which has 296 times the global warming potential of CO2) and 37% of all human-induced methane (which is 23 times as warming as CO2). It also generates 64% of the ammonia, which contributes to acid rain and acidification of ecosystems.
Health
Vegan foods, such as whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and beans, are low in fat, contain no cholesterol, and are rich in fiber and nutrients. Vegans can get all the protein they need from legumes (e.g., beans, tofu, peanuts) and grains (e.g., rice, corn, whole wheat breads and pastas); calcium from broccoli, kale, collard greens, tofu, fortified juices and soymilks; iron from chickpeas, spinach, pinto beans, and soy products; and B12 from fortified foods or supplements.
With planning, a vegan diet can provide all the nutrients required. For more on vegan diets, visit the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine website.
The consumption of animal fats and proteins has been linked to heart disease, colon and lung cancer, osteoporosis, diabetes, kidney disease, hypertension, obesity, and a number of other debilitating conditions. Cows’ milk contains ideal amounts of fat and protein for young calves, but far too much for humans. And eggs are higher in cholesterol than any other food, making them a leading contributor to cardiovascular disease. The American Dietetic Association reports that vegetarian/vegan diets are associated with reduced risks for all of these conditions.
Eating Fruits And Vegetables Associated With Reduction In Cardiovascular Disease, But Not Cancer - To evaluate the relationship between fruit and vegetable consumption and the incidence of cardiovascular disease and cancer, Walter C. Willett, M.D., of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, and colleagues analyzed data from more than 100,000 participants in two large cohort studies, the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals’ Follow-up Study.
Researchers found an inverse association between total fruit and vegetable intake and the risk of cardiovascular disease but no relationship with cancer incidence. In an analysis of different groups of fruits and vegetables, consumption of green leafy vegetables showed the strongest inverse association with both cardiovascular disease and major chronic disease–that is, cancer and cardiovascular disease combined.
In an editorial, Arthur Schatzkin, M.D., Dr.P.H., and Victor Kipnis, Ph.D., of the National Cancer Institute write, “the evidence is simply inadequate at this time to determine whether fruit and vegetable intake confers modest protection against cancer. Researchers should recognize this uncertainty in nutrition and cancer epidemiology and do what it takes to move ahead, especially when it comes to improving exposure assessment in observational studies.” [Editorial: Schatzkin A, Kipnis V. Could Exposure Assessment Problems Give Us Wrong Answers to Nutrition and Cancer Questions? J Natl Cancer Inst 2004;96:156465.] [See Also Article: Hung H-C, Joshipura KJ, Jiang R, Hu FB, Hunter D, Smith-Warner SA, et al. Fruit and Vegetable Intake and Risk of Major Chronic Disease. J Natl Cancer Inst 2004;96:157784.]
From wikipedia: Studies have strongly correlated a plant based diet with better health benefits than the Standard American Diet.[22][23][24] Vegans note additional health benefits are gained by not consuming artificial substances such as growth hormones and antibiotics, which are often given to farmed animals.[25][26][27][28]
The American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada state that
“well-planned vegan and other types of vegetarian diets are appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including during pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence. Vegetarian diets offer a number of nutritional benefits, including lower levels of saturated fat, cholesterol, and animal protein as well as higher levels of carbohydrates, fiber, magnesium, potassium, folate, and antioxidants such as vitamins C and E and phytochemicals. Vegetarians have been reported to have lower body mass indices than nonvegetarians, as well as lower rates of death from ischemic heart disease; vegetarians also show lower blood cholesterol levels; lower blood pressure; and lower rates of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and prostate and colon cancer.”[29]
Are Intelligent Children More Likely To Become Vegetarian? - A a study published online by the British Medical Journal says recent evidence suggests that vegetarianism may be linked to lower cholesterol levels and a reduced risk of obesity and heart disease. This might help to explain why children who score higher on intelligence tests tend to have a lower risk of coronary heart disease in later life. Alternatively, the link may be merely an example of many other lifestyle preferences that might be expected to vary with intelligence, but which may or may not have implications for health.
The study revealed vegetarians were more likely to be female, to be of higher occupational social class and to have higher academic or vocational qualifications than non-vegetarians, although these differences were not reflected in their annual income, which was similar to that of non-vegetarians.
Higher IQ at the age of 10 years was associated with an increased likelihood of being vegetarian at the age of 30. This relation was partly accounted for by better education and higher occupational social class, but it remained statistically significant after adjusting for these factors. There was no difference in IQ score between strict vegetarians and those who said they were vegetarian but who reported eating fish or chicken.
References
United Nations FAO Livestock a major threat to environment
United Nations FAO The State of World Hunger
Livestock’s long shadow
Animal Studies Suggest Vegetables May Reduce Hardening Of Arteries (June 18, 2006)
Higher Intake Of Vegetable Protein Associated With Lower Blood Pressure Levels (January 19, 2006)
Today’s Teens Slacking On Fruit, Veggie Intake (January 28, 2007)
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The Raw and Living Food Vegan Diet
Environmental Effects Of Livestock Production Increasingly Serious
Livestock generate 18 percent of world’s greenhouse gases
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Americans: The Fattest People on the Planet
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Commons committee shocked by childhood obesity
