1. Reduced Risk of Cancer – According to The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine,vegetarians are nearly 50% less likely to get cancer than those who consume meat.
2. Reduced Risk of Heart Disease – Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn and Dr. Dean Ornish, two researchers, have suggested that those that avoid meat have a reduced risk of heart disease. Not to mention, a vegetarian and vegan diet reduces cholesterol.
3. Reduced Risk of Osteoporosis – Studies suggest that having too much protein in your diet can cause bone calcium loss. Meat eaters typically consumer far more protein than their bodies need.
4. Reduced Risk of Kidney and Gallstones – Calcium is leached from your bones because your body is constantly trying to neutralize acids that are produced by consuming too much protein. These can result in the formation of gallstones and kidney stones.
5. Farmed Animals Often Carry Disease – You may not know but according to the FDA, the number one cause of food-borne illness is poultry. Even though there is an alarming amount of antibiotics and pesticides used, nearly 60 percent of supermarket-sold chickens are infected with some amount of live salmonella bacteria. Additionally, roughly 30 percent of sold pork products contain toxoplasmosis. The population is increasingly at risk from dangerous and highly contagious diseases such as Foot and Mouth Disease and Mad Cow Disease from sheep and cattle.
6. Farmed Animals Can Contain Toxic Chemicals -There are alarming accumulations of chemicals, including pesticides in meat products, much more than what is found in plant products. Do you know that half of the United States’ antibiotic supply is used to treat farm animals? Not for healthy purposes but merely as growth promoters and ways to preserve and make more profit.
7. Inefficient Use of Agriculture – 70 percent of grain production in the United States is used to solely feed farm animals. The mass amount of grains and soybeans that are fed to animals that are consumed by one average American in one year’s time could easily feed seven hungry people for the same amount of time.
8. Inefficient Use of Water – It requires 2,640 gallons of water just to produce one pound of beef. The water that is used to raise animals solely to be slaughtered for food is far more than half of the water that is used in the United States.
