In a bid to render the meat trade more lucrative, animals are stuffed, injected with hormones to stimulate eating, growth, and given antibiotics, pain relievers and various chemical mixtures for food.
An article in the New York Times stated: "The grave danger to consumers' health are hidden pathogens, known as bacteria such as salmonella and residues. when using pesticides, nitrates, sodium, hormones, antibiotics and other chemicals”.
There are many chemicals that have been found to cause cancer and in fact many animals have died from the drugs before they were slaughtered. Studies show that many chemicals in meat and fish can cause cancer, heart disease, birth defects, and great harm to pregnant women and children.
The obvious fact is that if animal meat is left to nature, it will go stale after a day. Therefore, the food industry has tried to preserve and hide the discoloration of meat by adding sodium, nitrate and other preservatives.
Those preservatives keep the meat fresh for a long time. But it is a dangerous killer because it contains carcinogenic substances that cause cancer. William Lijinsky, a famous American cancer researcher said: "I never even feed my cat foods with nitrates."
The most convincing argument that people adhere to a meat-free diet is the irrefutable link between eating meat and cardiovascular disease. This is the most common disease of modern society with many meat-eaters such as the US, Canada and Western Europe.
The price to pay for the environment
If everyone on earth eats meat as much as people in the US (the average American consumes 120 kg of meat/year, ranking first in the world), there won't be enough land and not enough water to grow crops. enough food to feed the necessary livestock. The urgent question is how to reverse this trend.
The above statistics show that the cost to the environment and the global economy for the production and consumption of meat is clearly huge.
And if current trends continue, more and more meat will be produced and the result is more environmental damage. This is an unsustainable trend and inevitably leads to disaster. Eating plant-based foods (or being vegetarian) or at least reducing meat consumption is the answer to this problem.
Reduce meat consumption for the environment and health
Scientists at Harvard University confirmed that: The average blood pressure in vegetarians is much more stable than in those who eat salty foods. In the United States, cardiovascular disease is the leading killer. Half of all deaths are from heart disease or related to blood vessel disease.
More and more doctors in the US are recommending a meat-restricted diet for heart patients or convincing patients to stop eating meat altogether.
The Journal of the American Association published: "Vegetarian diets can prevent 90-97% of cardiovascular disease (clogged blood vessels and coronary artery occlusion)".
Research by scientists from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) shows that harmful emissions from livestock and meat production account for one-fifth of all greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. It is estimated that by 2050, the world's total meat production will reach 456 million tons, double the amount of meat in 2001. For this reason, scientists recommend that the world's people abstain from favorite foods from the world and consume meat up to a maximum of two days a week to help save our Green Planet.
Info Source : New York Times, WION, Journal of the American Association
Science & Life : Excessive MEAT Consumption Hazardous For Health And... The Environment
