Arguments Against Vegetarianism

The typical American diet is Omnivorism. This word defines the diet of someone who eats animal products such as meat, fish, poultry, eggs, and dairy products, and any item with animal byproducts in it. For many years

Note: For the purpose of this essay, vegetarians are people who do not eat meat, fish or egg. They consume milk products, plants and plant products.

Thesis statement: There should be meat free alternatives and more awareness of the benefits of choosing a vegetarian lifestyle as eating less meat is better for an individual’s health and the environmental.

Vegetarianism is a custom practiced in six out of the seven continents and has become more popular over the years. Vegetarianism can be defined as the exclusion of animal products such as meat and fish from one’s diet. Dairy products and eggs are often times excluded as well. Although there are many reasons one may decide to become a Vegetarian or follow such a code of ethics, the most common include: moral, religious or health reasons.

Vegetarianism has been around since as early as the seventh century B.C.E.. The civilization was the Indus Valley Civilization, they practiced tolerance towards all living things. Several Indian cultures and various religions (such as a ahimsā) also practice non-violence towards animals (“Vegetarianism”, Wikipedia.com). This used to be the sole purpose for being vegetarian, but nowadays people are becoming vegetarian for several more reasons. The ethical aspect is still a big reason in the decision. Health benefits and environmental aspects have now also become big reasons for the controversy over vegetarianism. People say that killing animals for food is not morally wrong and, is in fact, a crucial part of our lives. Another aspect is that, while in some ways vegetarianism is beneficial to the environment, it can also hurts the environment. Also, despite all of the health benefits involved with vegetarianism, there are also several health concerns connected with it.

There are two main lifestyles that we as human beings practice that impact our eating habits. One being a Vegetarian, a person who chooses not to eat meat. The other being a Meat Eater (also known as an Omnivore), a person who chooses to eat both meat and vegetables. A controversial debate continues to go on, evaluating the pros and cons of each group, along with the reasons behind their choice. In the end it all depends on the individual’s outlook on life that makes the decision.

Donald Watson, on 1944 had a meeting with non-dairy vegetarian, Elsie Shrigley, to talk about the lifestyle and diet of non-dairy vegetarian diets. These pioneers were the first people to discover a new movement – although resistant. They felt that they needed a new name, something more brief than “non-dairy vegetarians”. “vitan”, “dairyban”, and “benevore” were some of the rejected words. They settled on “vegan”, because it had the first 3 and the last 2 letters of “vegetarian”. In Donald Watson’s words, it marked “the beginning and end of vegetarian”.

With research and supplementation, a life free of the cruelty of meat, or even all animal products, can be safe and healthy for all kinds of people from infants, to athletes. On top of the fact that the are safe and healthy for humans, these diets save millions of animals from the cruelty of overcrowded slaughterhouses, and from the torture of being treated as a number on a check and nothing more. The health and moral benefits of following a vegan or vegetarian diet immensely outweigh the negatives, and improve the quality of many beings lives in many aspects including; moral and health consciousness, prevention of illness and disease, and moral respect for those who cannot battle the injustices imposed against them on a daily

Traditionally, the individuals of the Western culture find eating meat perfectly acceptable and healthy. It wasn’t until relatively recently that a movement began to gain momentum within small groups of society to promote the widespread halt of all carnivorous activity by humans. People who support this movement and choose to live without the use of animal products of any kind are called total vegans. An analysis of the reasons behind veganism reveals two main factors contributing to the life-altering decision to become a total vegan: moral and ethical values primarily regarding animal welfare and health concerns involved in the consumption of red meat.

One of the biggest myths perpetuated by non-vegans is that vegans will suffer from some protein deficiency and eventually experience a failure to thrive. Not only do we not need animal protein, we don't need the huge amounts of protein typically found in the

Many people make this shift for numerous reasons, whether that be for health or ethical reasons.

As we can now observe, vegetarianism has become something fashionable, and the number of people who reject eating meat is constantly increasing. In Britain, for instance, over 5 million people have done it so far. It is obviously connected with the recent animal diseases, but this tendency is likely to spread on the other regions of the world. However, it is not only a fashion or fear of illnesses. I myself became a vegetarian about 2 years ago, and I can see a number of reasons why people should stop eating meat. They are mainly of ethic, economic and health type. Those who think in an ecological way should also be aware of how this meat consumption ruins our environment. I don’t have an intention

Having a healthy dietary method can reduce the chances of receiving many health diseases. These health diseases include obesity, heart disease, and cancer. By consuming certain foods and nutrients in one’s diet the risk factors for these health diseases can be reduced. A healthy dietary method that is beneficial to reducing and/or improving these health diseases is the vegetarian diet. The vegetarian diet follows a dietary pattern that is characterized by the consumption of plant-like foods and the avoidance of flesh foods (meat, poultry, and fish). The foods in this diet provide the body with many essential nutrients. This is why many health benefits have been associated with the vegetarian

Different people follow different forms of vegetarianism. A true vegetarian eats no meat at all, including chicken and fish. A lacto-ovo vegetarian eats dairy products and eggs, but excludes meat, fish, and poultry. Also, that a lacto vegetarian eats dairy products but

The term “vegetarian” is quite often misunderstood. Vegetarian simply means a plant-based diet. There are several kinds of vegetarian diets, defined by what types of foods are consumed. I for example am a Lacto-vegetarians which includes dairy products in their diet. Lacto-ovo- vegetarians also eat dairy products, eggs and some including me don’t eat fish either.