Which is better: Vegetarians or Meat Eaters?

[SilentBird]

Humans started killing animals for food because of the need to survive in environments where no other food source was available. Most humans who now eat meat not because they need to but because their culture has conditioned them to do so. To them it is delicious and a convenient source of protein. There are alternative sources of protein that are adequate and available. People just need to be educated.

The degree of world meat consumption is contributing to the world hunger problem. It takes approximately ten times as much land to produce the same amount of meat products as vegetables. Rainforests are being destroyed to raise animal stock in order to provide for the demand of meat.

Our digestive systems are much more similar to those of vegetarian beings than to carnivorous ones; We have the flat teeth and long digestive tracts that are characteristic of plant-eating animals. Meat eating animals generally have many sharp teeth and short digestive tracts that allow their waste products to be expelled quicker because digested flesh putrifies more quickly than digested vegetable matter.

Fact.

 

[MikeyC]

Our digestive systems are much more similar to those of vegetarian beings than to carnivorous ones; We have the flat teeth and long digestive tracts that are characteristic of plant-eating animals. Meat eating animals generally have many sharp teeth and short digestive tracts that allow their waste products to be expelled quicker because digested flesh putrifies more quickly than digested vegetable matter. So, I am against eating
meat not only because I think it's morally wrong, but also because a vegetarian diet is much easier and more appropriate for our digestive systems.

I agree with this in the sense that we don't have the correct physical features of meat-eating creatures. I have heard that our flat teeth are not meant for eating meat.

However, I would argue that eating meat for the last million years has made our digestive system cater for that due to evolution and Darwinism. Plus we have the technology to cook meat tenderly, unlike those of eons past.

 

[coyote]

i thought we had BOTH flat, fibre-chewing, and sharp, flesh-ripping teeth - like most omnivores

our digestive tract is, again, neither as long as a cud-chewer, nor as short as a carnivore - but somewhere in the middle - again, like an omnivore

i think we're healthier when we eat a primarily plant-based diet, with the addition of some meat as well - seems to be the animal we have evolved into being

what's most important to me is eating natural, unprocessed food - real food

processed grains, dairy, and much of the meat supplied to us by the food industry is not the sort of things that our bodies are designed to eat

eating nothing but ranch-flavored Doritos technically makes you a vegetarian - but it certainly doesn't make you very healthy

 

[MikeyC]

what's most important to me is eating natural, unprocessed food - real food

processed grains, dairy, and much of the meat supplied to us by the food industry is not the sort of things that our bodies are designed to eat

Absolutely. It is the reason we get crabby sometimes, why we're out of energy, tired, sick, and so forth. Our bodies are processing foods that are not normal.

I have eaten McDonald's and have been hungry an hour later. I'm talking a meal with nuggets on the side and such. Then I can have home-cooked pasta and be full for 3 or more hours.

Even still, I know the bad food I eat is bad, yet I continue to eat it. I think I like sabotaging myself.

 

[Remus]

Did you know that the human body now takes longer to decay after death, due to preservatives in food.

 

[Remus]

Humans started killing animals for food because of the need to survive in environments where no other food source was available. Most humans who now eat meat not because they need to but because their culture has conditioned them to do so. To them it is delicious and a convenient source of protein. There are alternative sources of protein that are adequate and available. People just need to be educated.

We originated by the West African shoreline, we were beachcombers. This is why fish is so good for us but red meat isn't.

 

[MikeyC]

Did you know that the human body now takes longer to decay after death, due to preservatives in food.

Sounds about right. Pretty soon we'll be talking about the decay of human bodies in half-lives.

 

[coyote]

Did you know that the human body now takes longer to decay after death, due to preservatives in food.

my will specifies that there'll be a barbecue

 

[MsBuzzkillington]

Did you know that the human body now takes longer to decay after death, due to preservatives in food.

I don't think that's true! It really depends on the environment that the body is in.

Also, our teeth are actually best designed for eating fruits. I just recently learned that in class haha. But as far as our digestive system and teeth, we are built to be omnivores. If you look at a planet eater, they sleep ALL the time because their bodies take so long to digest the food. We need more energy to get us through the day, more energy to give our brain what it needs to function... meat gives us those added calories that plants can't give us. This mostly coming from an evolutionary aspect, more so than we is available for us today. We are definitely built to be omnivores, not vegetarians.

 

[MikeyC]

my will specifies that there'll be a barbecue

I call dibs on those protein-filled biceps.

 

[BlackPuma]

Speaking from a personal perspective, I couldn't do without either veggies nor meat. Not so much from a nutrition level, but more motivational. I have a huge passion for food, as well as for cooking/baking.

I do care a lot about source. Meaning meat from animals that didn't suffer tormenting conditions, and vegetables and plant products (coffee beans, rice, ect) from farmers that are paid a fair price for their products.

 

[EscapeArtist]

Don't have much an opinion on that one, but I've never heard of a vegetarian animal before because all animals eat bugs, so if I had to pick one to work better long term I'd said meat eating. Meat is definitely better to get your B12, cholesterol, selenium, etc from than eggs/dairy. Veganism can work too. All depends on the person.

 

[Aletheia]

Speaking from a personal perspective, I couldn't do without either veggies nor meat. Not so much from a nutrition level, but more motivational. I have a huge passion for food, as well as for cooking/baking.

I do care a lot about source. Meaning meat from animals that didn't suffer tormenting conditions, and vegetables and plant products (coffee beans, rice, ect) from farmers that are paid a fair price for their products.

Awesome perspective.

 

[AGR]

The best diet for me is this:
Quinoa,brown rice,carrots,tomatoes,spinach,broccolli,sometimes sea weed ,fish,meat,chicken,sometimes oysters ,its mostly not meat,like 80% not meat,out of the meats that I eat I choose one to eat with ALL the other things I meantioned,the most significant choice was quinoa and brown rice,I really felt diferent and dont feel really tired much anymore.

Fruits are,papaya,kiwi,blueberry and strawberries.
Nuts are walnuts,cashew nuts and almonds,I eat everyday at work,sometimes with honey at home.
I also eat oats with honey and peanut butter when I feel like it,this also makes a big difference.

Try it out this diet sometime,just to see what it feels like,I guarantee that you will feel better,if I dont eat junk food,I lose weight really quick with this and still feel really good.

Liquids 95% of what I drink is water.

 

[AGR]

By the way when I stoped eating meat I felt sick and very weak and in the winter I got really weak,so maybe you dont need meat but I do,so dont tell me what I need.

 

[Invisibleman]

I tried vegetarian once,I ate dirt. No seriously, I face planted because I was so f**king weak. Meat all the way.

 

[OvidiuDanut]

I can tell you this. Since i became about 90% vegetarian and started to drink freshly juiced vegetables and fruits every day the quality of my life improved dramatically and the energy level skyrocketed. For those who think vegetarian meals are crap they should try a good restaurant.

 

[Apotheosis]

Depends on what you want to do.

Meats are the greatest source of useable protein over any other method. You can eat nuts and certain vegetable pasts to recoup the losses from going vege, so it's up to you to make the end choice.

So you can pretty much ignore the health effects because they're null, and just go for moral justifications (those I won't get into, I could write a paper on that)

Basically neither have any great advantageous over the other, so its more a question of wanted lifestyle than of need.

 

[GhastlyCC]

^
This!

Well said.

 

[upndwn]

I'm a meat eater and proud of it. I dislike animal cruelty as much as the next guy, but there's no beating evolution. We are meant to it meat. It's a fact. We need protein's to survive, and meat gives us a lot of it. Even hard vegans who despise eating even fish and dairy products have to take substitution pills to make up for the lost nutrition from not eating meat, and a lot of these products are made from ingredients made from animals, making the entire lifestyle hypocritical and pointless.