Does It Really Matter If I Become A Vegetarian?
Question: Does It Really Matter If
I Become A Vegetarian? As a
prospective vegetarian, you probably question whether or not it really matters if you stop eating meat. You might
wonder how much of a difference one additional vegetarian can make.
And while it might be true that one vegetarian wont make huge statistical difference
in a world of meat-eaters-- and while it is also true that one more vegetarian probably isn't going to turn the
tide in the movement-- you can do a lot as an individual that will be good for you and good for hundreds of
animals.
Take, for instance, the number one cause of death in the United States and other
countries with meat-centered diets: heart disease.
If it weren’t specifically for meat, eggs, and dairy products--which are the three
largest sources of cholesterol--heart attacks and other heart and circulatory problems would be far less revalent.
, the average vegetarian has about 1/4 the chance of having a heart attack as the average non-vegetarian. As for
people who are pure vegans, it gets even lower: they have less than 1/10 the chance of having a heart attack as
non-vegetarians.
In addition to heart health, you will get a number of
other health benefits as a vegetarian. For instance, you wont be exposed to nearly as many preservatives, which are common in meat
and are linked to cancer . You wont be exposed to
various hormones (that are packed into animal feed), which often disrupt normal hormonal processes in the body.
And you wont consume as much lactose, which most people cannot digest properly--and which some dietitians have
suggested is a cause of digestive problems.
In addition to health benefits you will receive as an individual, you will also
reduce your share of the suffering human beings inflict on
animals.
According to veganoutreach.org, the average American consumes 2,714 land animals in their
lifetime. If you quit eating meat now, you could literally prevent
the suffering and death of hundreds of animals of the course of a couple decades.
In addition to this, if you stop eating eggs and drinking milk, you will also reduce
your share in the suffering and death of battery hens and their offspring, as well as dairy cows and their
offspring, too.
So the Question, Does It Really Matter If I Become A Vegetarian?
So the answer is yes: it does matter whether or not you become a vegetarian. It
matters to the thousands of animals you could potentially save and it matters to you as an individual because you
can greatly reduce your chances of getting cancer and heart disease.
| 
