Americans are obsessed with animal products. We love our protein, dairy products and animal products even though these products are some of the leading causes of heart disease and cancer. There is an epidemic going on, yet Americans do not seem interested in cutting down on animal product consumption. In fact, “Nine billion animals are raised and slaughtered for human consumption each year in the U.S. alone” (“Farm Sanctuary”). People are scared to enforce this idea because making people change is  a lot harder than trying to hide the fact of how detrimental to our lives our diets are. “In the U.S. alone, animals raised on factory farms generate more than 1 million tons of manure per day — three times the amount generated by the country’s human population.” (“Farm Sanctuary”) Although protein and calcium are necessary for a healthy diet, in reality, they are not as important as we think.

 

We are the only species who drinks the milk of another animal. We are the only species that continues to drink milk after weaning. Yet this seems to be justified, just like how we have justified to ourselves that taking the milk from a calf is okay. Why do we drink the breast milk for a infant who is supposed to have so much fat and nutrients it can grow to be two hundred pounds in its first year. We drink the milk of cows but why not drink the milk of  chimp, which we are more closely related to. People are disturbed and disgusted at the thought, but it would be more genetically right. Cows are pumped full of growth hormones so it possible for them to produce so many gallons of milk, so we as consumers can have copious amounts of cheese, milk, ice cream, and other products in our stores. “Higher calcium intake, the higher risk for osteoporosis”(Siewierski).We have been pushed by companies to drink milk, the slogan “Got Milk” has been wired into all of our brains. What is the truth, why are we told calcium is so important from the dairy industry and we always need it if it can actually hurt us more than help.  

 

Dairy products are some of  the hardest for people to give up because it is an addiction. It is hard to give up something that is a part of many peoples everyday meals. It should not be hard when people learn that dairy products are high in fat, high in cholesterol and has no dietary fiber. Dairy products themselves are even linked to cancers, for instance milk is linked to prostate cancer (Siewierski). Dairy products have no sort of health benefits and should even be seen as worse than meat itself. People should not desire these cow secretions so much, because that is what they are, but they still do. We all need to begin to make conscious choices about what we are actually putting into our body, how can we think its right, we need to actually all see milk for what it is. Milk is cows breast milk, there is no reason for us to be taking milk from calves for our own consumption.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eggs are everywhere in meals. They are used in a majority of foods we consume on a daily basis which some people may not even realize. Eggs can be found in breads, baked goods, candies, soups, sauces, and even various types of coffees. Eggs are regarded as a healthy food in today's world, seen as a healthy way to start the morning with protein and fiber, right? Wrong. Eggs are the most concentrated source of dietary cholesterol in an average person's diet (Siewierski). The eggs that a majority of Americans are eating are not organic or home raised, they are factory farmed. Factory farming is one of the worst ways to raise animals, they are usually kept in horrible conditions with little to no space, fresh air, or sun exposure. “Animals on factory farms are regarded as commodities to be exploited for profit.” (Farm Sanctuary) These animals are shown no care they are neglected and pumped full of and feed antibiotics,  feed genetically modified corn a soy which as a result affect microbiome of chicken. “Factory farms dominate U.S. food production, employing abusive practices that maximize agribusiness profits at the expense of the environment, our communities, animal welfare, and even our health” (“Farm Sanctuary”). These chickens eggs are not healthy and are in no way a good source of any nutrients. Omega 6 is in commercial chicken egg not omega 3 like many people think it is. Omega 3 is the healthy beneficial fat which helps support heart and even mental health; whereas Omega 6 is is a fatty acid which promotes inflammation (Siewierski). Both Omegas are necessary for a healthy diet, but as long as, like for anything, there is a balance. Commercial eggs may not be the healthy food we thought of them as and this comes as a shocker to many because they are so falsely advertised as such wonder foods.Why all of the sudden has there been such a protein push. Everywhere we see it in shakes, in bars, and on meat packages, “great source of protein” they say,  but why? Protein in reality is only a new phenomenon. In 1839, protein was first discovered and it began to gain traction. It has been discovered that humans do not need a lot of protein in their diets. Too much protein stretches the kidney, and liver. Free radicals which are from consuming animal products are highly reactive molecules which stimulate aging and cancer cells production. Even the production of wrong hormones estrogens in women has been reported contracting breast cancer from eating copious amounts of meat. We are all ignoring this problem because people feel like they do not need to change their diets when in reality many Americans are nutrient defiant themselves.

 

Too much excess calories, sodium, and cholesterol fat are found in processed food and animal foods yet we do not change. “Reducing heavy red meat consumption — primarily beef and lamb — would lead to a per capita food and land use-related greenhouse gas emissions reduction of between 15 and 35 percent by 2050. Going vegetarian could reduce those per capita emissions by half” (Magill). The solution is not to eat less red meat and eat more white meat like, turkey, chicken, and fish. Poultry and fish and beef are all just muscles of animals. The only way eating any of these different types of meat could be healthier than one another is simply based on how the actual animal itself lived. The meat we eat is as only healthy as the animal is. “These foods and other animal derived foods can be high in saturated fats and cholesterol, both of which medical studies show contribute to cardiovascular diseases and higher incidence of various forms of cancer. Doctors may prescribe a vegetarian diet for either short-term or long-term use to combat specific health problems. Many dietary activists have recommended vegetarianism for general health reasons” (“Stabler”). Less is more when it comes to ones meat consumption. A conscious diet is a healthy diet, one should be aware of the process their food is made in and the result of what effects from the meat would inevitably harm them.  A diet in whole plant based foods can help to cut back on the effects that may cause heart disease. “Some vegetarians who follow very strict diets, such as vegans, do not consume any animal product. Vegans may avoid meat, honey, leather, eggs, all dairy products, foods containing gelatin, and other products produced by animals or derived from their slaughter.” (Stabler) We all know fruit and vegetables are good for us, but so little people feel the need to eat them. No heart disease, colon, and breast cancer, multiple scholars inflammation, it used to be this way before we replaced starches for large amounts of meat and dairy.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Vegetarians also may chose their diet for health and medical reasons. Consumption of meat, especially what is known as red meat from cattle, hogs, sheep, and goats, has been linked to a variety of health problems.” (Stabler) Only in the vegan world do people worry about  others protein and calcium intake and if they are nutrient deficient. But in the unhealthy world full of fast food burgers and milkshakes, no one questions it. It is rare to hear one meat eater to another ask if he or she is getting enough protein and fiber because since they eat meat it is assumed that they are reaching all their daily nutritional intake requirements. In reality that is just not the truth. Ninety percent of Americans do not get the daily minimum intake of fiber and around ninety eight do not get the daily minimum of potassium (Siewierski). This needs to be changed. Many would think they need to supplement, pile on the vitamins and pills to get to the right levels. “A vegan diet contains no cholesterol and very little fat, so it is quite healthy as long as sufficient nutrients are obtained, especially vitamins B12 and D, calcium, and quality protein.”(Stabler) But no, the thing these Americans need is fruits and vegetables. We all know it is important to get a daily intake of fruits and vegetables but so little of us actually do reach the minimum intake levels.Our bodies are going through stress because of the animal products we each eat as a society. These products are really not as great as they are all cut out to be. So instead of cutting into a 24 oz steak and chicken breast, we need to be cutting into leafy greens, and  heart healthy beans, so that we can be getting our nutrients the right and healthy way. Still there is an epidemic going on yet no one wants to push the idea of Americans cutting down on the animal product consumption. We are eating meat which it from stressed out unkempt animals who are pumped with antibiotics, “They undergo painful mutilations and are bred to grow unnaturally fast and large for the purpose of maximizing meat, egg, and milk production for the food industry. Their bodies cannot support this growth, which results in debilitating and painful conditions and deformities.” (Farm Sanctuary)  “The United Nations has reported that a vegan diet can feed many more people than an animal-based diet. For instance, projections have estimated that the 1992 food supply could have fed about 6.3 billion people on a purely vegetarian diet, 4.2 billion people on a 85% vegetarian diet, or 3.2 billion people on a 75% vegetarian diet.” (“We Certify”). It is important that as whole we eat less meat because our bodies will keep suffering, deteriorating, and change needs to happen.                     

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“It is only by softening and disguising dead flesh by culinary preparation that it is rendered susceptible of mastication or digestion, and that the sight of its bloody juices and raw horror does not excite intolerable loathing and disgust.”The words of Percy Bysshe Shelly the 18th-19th century English Romantic poet and advocate for a vegetarian diet.” (Mann) The idea of how strange and grotesque it can be to eat upon an animal is no new discovery and neither is the Vegetarian diet. Vegetarian and Vegan ways are not a new craze, they have been around and they should be here to stay. There is no harm in trying these diets out, if they are done correctly. The worst u can is make a difference and it is not like you can not go back to old habits. It is about progression, change, and trying something new. A big glass of cows breast milk and an even bigger cut of animal muscle is what every American wants for  dinner because it is not the “right way” to eat. Some form or change or education needs to be made before it is too late. Nutritional ignorance is one of the leading causes for Americans poor diets and poor overall health.

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