How Does Food Impact Health - Free Essay Example

Once Gandhi stated To my mind, the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of human beingI should be unwilling to take the life of a lamb for the sake of the human body. As foodis directly related to our health, it is very important to know what we are eating. Some wonder how many calories are in a plate of chicken, steak, beef, or other meat dishes. Everyone wants to have a healthy and fit life, so why not try to go for vegetarianism. Vegetarianism was not common in United States until when Francis Moore bestsellerA Small Planetwas published in the year of 1971. The book encouraged the American people to eat more vegetarian food than meat. Becoming vegetarian became so controversial in U.S. some people started to eat less meat and more vegetarian food. Vegetarian food is healthy and better for the health than consuming meat because it gives complete nutrition, reduces the risk of cancer, reduces the greenhouse emissions, unethical to kill animals, and increases the life span of the person.†¹The first reason is that vegetarian diet provides complete nutrition and provides all nutrients. Avegetarian diet provides proteinand improves health. It also providesnecessary nutrients like vitamins, fats, calcium, carbohydrates, iron andminerals and can improve the health.Meat is not essential part of the meal (ProCon.org). Food like grains, fruits, beans, and vegetables. Carbohydrates provide energy and vitamins for the brain and muscles. Grain products such as whole grains, are very important because they provide the carbohydrates, fiber, and many vitamins that every human body needs. Vegetarians also need to include sources of fat,and many vitamins that every human body needs. Vegetarians also need to include sources like fats such as nuts, oils and avocados. Vegetarians have to be careful not to just cut out the meat with high-protein vegetarian foods (Center for womens Health). Protein is also found in dairy foods such as milk, yogurt, and cheese. The vegetarian meal reduces the chances of occurring kidney stones. According to the research a high animal protein is responsible for high rates of kidney stones (Mandi-Lou Schantz).Eating vegetarian food helps to build strong bones because vegetarians have more ability to take on calcium than meat eaters. Non-vegetarians have high renal acid in their body which neutralize by leaching calcium from the bones. There are many vegetarian sources that provides calcium such as kale, spinach, broccoli, and as well as fortified cereals.Look at the Nutrition Facts Label to find out which brand has the highest calcium and which has artificial calcium added to the food (Vegetarianism).Vegetarians gain lot of nutrients by being vegetarian but also have less chances of cancer.The second reason is that eating meat develops cancer. Cancer researchers report that vegetarianism reduces the risk of cancer. A recent study among fifty thousand vegetarians emphasized results that have shocked the world in the field of cancer research. The study clearly shows that this g roup presents a low percentage of people with cancer. People say that saturated fat from meat does not cause serious diseases like cancer, heart diseases, and obesity (Hammock). According to World Cancer Research, eating processed meat increases the chances of cancer. A recent studyover cancer shows that diets that has high animal protein were associated in cancer death risk compared to diets that are produced from plants.(Proctor).Twenty-two experts from ten countries reviewed more than 800 studies to reach their conclusions. They found that eating fifty grams of meat daily increases the risk of colorectal cancer by 18 percent. That is equal to about four strips of bacon or one hot dog. The AmericanCancer Society recommends eating fish, poultry, or beans instead of eating red meatand processed meat (Motavalli).Eating meat not only reduces the risk of cancer but it also reduces animal waste and greenhouse gas emissions.The third reason is vegetarian diet lowers the greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse emissions are created by animal fart and animal burps (ProCon.org).According toAgriculture Organization raising animals creates gas emissions.Animal agriculture is also responsible for local pollution from animal waste and chemical use and for greenhouse emissions from the energy-intensive process of growing feed and raising livestock (Hammock). Global warming is the biggest threat to the health of the planet, and meat consumption plays a bigger role in greenhouse gas emissions than even many environmentalist s realize. Animals, especially cattle release gases like methane and nitrous oxide that that are up to thirty times more damaging than carbon dioxide (Vegetarianism). The Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that meat is only half of the U.S. agriculture share of domestic greenhouse gases and that the entire agriculture industry produces 7.56 percent of the contribution. This is less than the transportation sector. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates roughly 29 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emission (Hammock). Whether it is air pollution, water pollution, land degradation, or a negative effect on biodiversity, there is no getting around the fact that animal agriculture is destroying environment (ProCon.org).Being vegetarian decreases the animal waste, local pollution, gas emissions and also reduces the chances of animals to be killed.†¹The fourth reason it is cruel and unethical to kill animals for food when vegetarian options are available. They have emotions too. Scientific studies show that cattle, pigs, chickens, and all warm-blooded animals can experience stress, pain and fear. In United States about thirty four million cows, hundred and fifteenmillion pigs, and eightbillion birds are killed for humanbody needseach year.Meat eaters say that being vegetarian also kills animals like rabbits, ants, mice and many more but those animals are not killed on purpose they are killed accidently while farming but meat eaters kill cows, pigs, birds and many other animals on purpose because they consider having meat at least twice a day in their meal (ProCon.org). We do not need to eat animals to survive.United States produces fifty percent of meat that comes from CAFOs where animals lives in unhygienic and overcrowded places. CAFOs staff cuts off animal tails, birds beaks, remove cow horns and tails with no painkillers.Life of animal and is full of pain and fear (Kongs). The meat production industry is highly unfriendly to the environment. It has been proved that the results of these mindless actions are extremely harmful to the whole planet (Motavalli). A cow can eat 16 pounds of food, and only one pound becomes the meat that people can eat. The other 15 pounds are waste. It has been proved that decreasing global meat production by ten percent would allow us to feed more 60 million people (Kongs).†¹The fifth reason is that vegetarian lives longer. A vegetarian diet can expand the life span of a person to 20 years. Eating meat causes heart diseases and to cure those diseases it takes lot of antibiotics and lot of antibiotics is not good for the health and many of them have lots of side effects. But being vegetarian and eating vegetarian food reduces the risk of heart diseases (Center for young womens health). The National Institute of Environmental Health Science found that vegetarian diet reduces the overuse of antibiotics (ProCon.org). Meat ea ters says that it is myth that vegetarians do not live longer because they believe that vegetarians are very health conscious, eating more balanced diet and exercising more. According to doctor, eating more healthy vegetarian diet and exercising more does helps the heart and the internal organs to stay healthy and fit (Proctor). Meat eaters have an average body mass index (BMI) 8.3 percent higherthan vegetarians. Another 2006 Meta- study that compiled data form 87 studies also found that vegetarian diet does helps a person to live longer (Motavalli). Vegetarian food is healthy and good for the health than eating meat. The first reason vegetarian food is good because it provides nutrition like proteins, vitamins, calcium, carbohydrates, and iron. The second reason is that vegetarian food reduces the chances of cancer. The third reason is vegetarian food lowers the local pollution, animal waste, and chemical use for greenhouse emissions. The fourth reason is that it is cruel and unethical to kill animals, and the last reason is that being vegetarian increases the life span of the person. Vegetarian food can be very healthy. It provides all the nutrients to the body that meat fails to provide sometime. By eating foods like grains, fruits and vegetables can provide nutrients that body needs from non-meat eating source. As Gandhi said, the life of an animal is just as precious as the life a human.