Personal
Health
- No
Deficiencies. There is no nutrient necessary for optimal human functioning
which cannot be obtained from plant food.
- High Fat Plus Cholesterol.
Animal foods are higher in fat than most plant foods, particularly saturated fats.
They contain cholesterol; plants do not.
- Carbohydrate Deficient.
Meat is deficient in carbohydrates, particularly the starches, which are so essential
to proper health.
- Vitamin Deficient. Except for the B-complex,
meat is largely deficient in vitamins.
- Agricultural Chemicals.
Being higher on the food chain, animal foods contain fat higher concentration
of agricultural chemicals than plant foods, including pesticides, herbicides,
etc.
- Exposure to Livestock Drugs. There are 20,000 different
drugs, including sterols, antibiotics, growth hormones, and other veterinary pharmaceuticals
that are given to livestock animals. I consume these drugs when I consume animal
foods. The dangers therein, particularly in secondary consumption of antibiotics,
have been well documented.
- Pathogenic Micro-Organisms.
There are a host of bacteria and viruses, some quite dangerous, that are common
to animals. When I eat meat, I eat the organisms present in the meat. Micro-organisms
are present in plant foods, too, but ther number and potential danger to human
health is by no means comparable. This is because animals are so close to us both
anatomically and physiologically.
- Worms and Other Parasites.
Also common to animals. The same argument applies here as that for Pathogenic
Micro-Organisms.
- Shelf-Life Differential. Plant foods
"last" longer than animal foods. Try this experiment: leave out a head of lettuce
and a pound of hamburger for one full day. Which one will make you sick?
- Organoleptic
Indications of Pathogens. Plant foods tend to give tell-tale signs of
"going bad" much sooner than animal foods. Did you ever hear of somebody getting
sick from "bad broccoli"?
- Heart Disease. Meat-eating increases
the risk of heart disease, the No. 1 killer in the U.S. The correlation is an
epidemiological fact.
- Cancer Prevention. Of all the natural
cancer prevention substances found: Vitamin C, B-17, hydroquinones, beta-carotene,
NDGA -- none has been found to be animal-derived. Yet most meats, when cooked,
produce an array of benzenes and other carcinogenic compounds. Cancer is infinitely
easier to prevent than to cure. Soybeans, for one, contain protease inhibitor,
a powerful anti-cancer compound. You won't find it in useful quantities in animal
food.
- Disease Inducing. The correlation between meat consumption
and a wide range of degenerative diseases is well-founded and includes...
- Osteoporosis. Strong correlation.
- Kidney
Stones and Gallstones. Strong correlation.
- Diabetes.
Strong correlation.
- Senile Dementia. Meat-eaters are up to three
times as likely to suffer from dementia in old age; in addition, there's a strong
correlation with multiple sclerosis.
- Arthritis.
Strong correlation.
- Gum Disease. Compelling correlation.
- Acne. Aggravated by animal foods.
- Obesity.
Vegetarians tend to be thinner than meat-eaters, and studies contain it. Obesity
is considered by many doctors to be a disease in itself.
- Intestinal
Toxemia. The condition of the intestinal flora is critical to overall
health. Animal products putrefy in the colon.
- Transit Time.
Wholesome food travels quickly through the "G.I. tract," leaving little time to
spoil and incite disease in the body. Animal products uniformly have longer transit
times.
- Fiber Deficient. Fiber absorbs unwanted, excess
fats; cleans the intestines; provides bulk and aids in peristalsis. Plant food
is high in fiber content; meat, poultry and dairy products have none.
- Body
Wastes. Food from animals contain their waste, including adrenaline,
uric and lactic acid, etc. Before adding ketchup, the biggest contributors to
the "flavor profile" of a hamburger are the leftover blood and urine.
- Excess
Protein. The average American eats 400% of the Recommended Daily Allowance
(RDA) for protein. This causes excess nitrogen in the blood that creates a host
of long-term health problems.
- Longevity. To increase
one's risk of getting degenerative disease means decreasing one's chance to live
a naturally-long, healthy life. Huzas and other peoples with large centenarian
populations maintain lifestyles that require little or no meat.
- Well-Being.
I just feel better since "giving up" meat and becoming a vegetarian.
Environmental / Ecological 
- Conservation of Fossil Fuel. It takes 78 calories of fossil
fuel to produce 1 calorie of beef protein; 35 calories for 1 calorie of pork;
22 calories for 1 calorie of poultry; but just 1 calorie of fossil fuel for 1
calorie of soybeans. By eating plant foods instead of animal foods, I help conserve
our non-renewable sources of energy.
- Water Conservation.
It takes 3 to 15 times are much water to produce animal protein as it does plant
protein. As a vegetarian I contribute to water conservation.
- Efficient
Use of Grains. It takes up to 16 pounds of soybeans and grains to produce
1 pound of beef and between 3 and 6 pounds to produce 1 pound of pork, turkey
and egg. By eating grain foods directly, I make the food supply more efficient
and that contributes to the environment.
- Soil Conservation.
When grains and legumes are used more efficiently, our precious topsoil is automatically
made more efficient in its use. We use less agricultural resources to provide
for the same number of people.
- Saving Our Forests. Tropical
forests in Brazil and other tropic regions are destroyed daily, in part, to create
more acreage to raise livestock. By not supporting the meat industry I directly
reduce the demand to pillage these irreplaceable treasures of nature. Since the
forest land "filters" our air supply and contains botanical sources for new medicines,
this destruction is in many ways irreversible.
- Aesthetics.
Decaying animal parts, whether in a freezer case or served in public restaurants
can never be as aestheically pleasing to the senses as the same foods made from
wholesome vegetable sources. Only habit can allow one not to perceive this; a
change in diet makes this self-evident.
Personal
Finances- Health Care Cost. Being healthier
from a vegetarian diet means spending less on health care.
- Food
Costs. Vegetarian food tends to cost less than meat-based items.
Ethics  - Love
of Animals. I love animals myself. I have no desire to kill them or cause
them harm, just as I have no desire to have someone kill or harm me.
- Stance
Against Factory Farming. I cannot make a statement about the inhumanity
of factory farming if I, myself, eat animals.
- Respect for Sentient
Life. I show gratitude to my Creator by eating as low on the food chain
as possible.
- "Economic Vote." I support the meat industry
and the way they operate when I purchase and use their products. I do not wish
to do this.
- Small Sacrifice. The sacrifice I make is
nothing compared to the poor animal's.
Spirituality  - God-Given
Diet. Our hands, teeth, feet, intestinal tract... even our body chemistry
is that of an herbivore. As it states in Genesis: "Behold I have given you every
fruit of every seed... and to you it shall be for meat."
- Reciprocity.
As you sow, so shall you reap. If I partake of the slaughter of animals, I will
have to repay my contribution to that act.
- "Protecting the Temple."
"Whatever affects the body has a corresponding effect on the mind and soul." (E.G.
White)
- I Believe in Non-Violence. There is nothing
non-violent about the senseless slaughter of animals, when more nutritious protein
foods are available in their stead.
- World Peace. There
can never be peace among men while men are declaring war on other highly developed
life forms. This, too, is the Law of Return, and I prefer to contribute
to World Peace.
- Clear Conscience. I know I'm doing right.
I feel good inside about my decision to remain "meatless."
- Example.
To live in this way is to project the underlying spiritual values to those around
me.
- Easy Substitutes. There is now a vegetable-based
substitute for every meat product imaginable.
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