If you’re thinking of going vegetarian (or at least flexitarian, for
those who want a side of meat with their plants), this list is all the
motivation you’ll need. The health and environmental costs of our
meat-based food system might be enough to make you want to swap that
steak for a salad—for good.
1. Eating meat hardens blood vessels
A compound found in red
meat (and even used as an additive in some energy drinks) called
carnitine has been found to cause atherosclerosis, the hardening or
clogging of the arteries, according to a
study published in the journal
Nature Medicine.
The research, which included more than 2,500 vegans, vegetarians, and
omnivore cardiac patients, suggests that carnitine converts to a
heart-damaging compound, trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO), via bacteria in
the intestine. Researchers found that increased carnitine levels
predicted increased risks for cardiovascular disease.
2. Your vegetarian friends might outlive you
A study from
Harvard School of Public Health found an association with red meat
consumption and increased risk of a shortened lifespan. Eating healthier
protein sources such as fish, poultry, nuts, and legumes was associated
with a lower risk of mortality. “We know processed red meat like hot
dogs and salami are the worst,” says Larry Santora, MD, medical director
of the Dick Butkus Center for Cardiovascular Wellness, Saint Joseph
Hospital, Orange, California. The cause is not clear, but it may be in
the preparation, since charring meat increases toxins (nitrosamines)
that can lead to cancer of the stomach, says Dr. Santora.
3. You’re eating pink slime
The meat industry refers to it as “lean finely textured beef (LFTB),” but the public knows it as
pink slime.
This meat additive contains fatty bits of leftover meat that’s heated,
spun to remove the fat, and then treated with ammonia gas to kill
bacteria. It’s then shipped off to grocery stores and meat packers,
where the slime is added to ground beef (70% of supermarket ground beef
contains the additive).
And the ammonia treatment may allow pathogens into the food supply.
“The real danger comes from the preparation and the likelihood that the
bacteria will spread in your kitchen,” says Michael Schmidt, PhD,
professor at the department of microbiology and immunology at the
Medical University of South Carolina. (Pink slime's not the only gross
thing in your food—check out these
6 others that'll turn your stomach.)
4. That expensive filet may be “glued” together scraps
Binding together smaller cuts of meat into a larger serving can be done with a “
meat glue”
called transglutaminase, an enzyme formerly harvested from animal
blood, but now produced through fermentation of bacteria. When added to
meat, it forms an invisible bond, making a round filet mignon shape out
of smaller pieces. Although it’s on the USDA’s GRAS (Generally
Recognized as Safe) list, the more pieces of stuck-together meat you're
eating, the higher the risk of contamination. “The question to ask is
how many cows are in the ‘glue’ you’re eating,” says Dr. Schmidt. The
more cows, the greater the risk. (Vegetarians, you’re not quite off the
hook here: transglutaminase can be used in some meatless products like
tofu, yogurt, and cereal, so buy products as close to their natural
states as possible.)
5. Livestock production impacts the planet in a huge way
If
you drive a fuel-efficient car and use reusable cloth grocery bags to
shop, you can further help the planet by cutting out meat as well. Meat
impacts the environment more than any other food we eat, mainly because
livestock require much more land, food, water, and energy than plants to
raise and transport. Producing a four-ounce (quarter pound) hamburger,
for example, requires 7 pounds of grain and forage, 53 gallons of
drinking water and irrigating feed crops, 75 square feet for grazing and
growing feed crops, and 1,036 BTUs for feed production and
transport—enough to power a microwave for 18 minutes.
6. You can get sick from E. coli
Foods most likely to sicken you with
E. coli
include unpasteurized (raw) milk and unpasteurized apple cider,
according to the CDC, but cattle also present a major threat. Similar to
the way the “meat glue” risk works, the risk of
E. coli
depends largely on the number of cows making up your ground beef. “Your
burger may contain meat from fewer than 10 cows or more than 1,000. The
only way to know is ask the butcher—most states have laws in place
against fudging these facts that will not let them lie,” says Dr.
Schmidt. The greater the number of cows in the hamburger, the greater
the chance of contracting something that wasn't intended to be in the
meat, he says.
E. coli can cause dehydration, abdominal cramps, and kidney failure.
7. The animal cruelty factor is sickening
It’s
sometimes easy to forget that the steak on your plate was part of a
living creature. But the path from livestock to entrée can be fraught
with unbelievable animal cruelty, says Paul Shapiro, vice president of
farm animal protection at the Humane Society of the United States. “From
locking animals in tiny cages, to slicing parts of their bodies off
without any pain relief, to genetically selecting them to grow so obese
and so fast that many become lame, it’s by far the biggest cause of
animal suffering in the world.” (Learn more with
The 8 Cruelest Foods You Eat.) Vegetarian protein sources provide nutrition without any such torture.
8. Eating meat ups your risk of type 2 diabetes
According to a report published by JAMA Internal Medicine,
eating red or processed meat can, over time, increase the risk of
developing type 2 diabetes. “Specifically, 3.5 ounces of red meat or 1.8
ounces of processed meat (e.g. a hot dog or 2 slices of bacon) daily
led to a 19% and 51% increase in diabetes risk, respectively,” says Dan
Nadeau, MD, endocrinologist at Mary and Dick Allen Diabetes Center at
Hoag Hospital in Irvine, California. “Diets rich in animal products
contribute to the increased risk incidence of obesity as well as type 2
diabetes in the U.S.”
9. Meat puts your colon and brain at risk
Meat
contains a whole lot of iron which, when eaten in excess, can raise
levels of iron in the brain and may increase the risk of developing
Alzheimer’s disease, according to a recent study from UCLA. When iron
accumulates in the brain, myelin—a fatty tissue that coats nerve
fibers—is destroyed. This disrupts brain communication, and signs of
Alzheimer’s appear.
Eating red and processed meats also greatly increases the risk of
colorectal cancer in people with a genetic predisposition. Affecting one
in three individuals, the gene plays a role in the immune system,
according to researchers. If you have this gene, eating and digesting
meat may trigger an immune or inflammatory response.