Preventive medicine expert advocates a plant-based diet

[EdEarl]

 

MedicalXpress.com

 

Eating meat is bad for our health and bad for our planet, according to Randall Stafford, MD, PhD, professor of medicine at the Stanford Prevention Research Center.

 

Studies show that vegetarians and vegans have lower rates of heart disease and cancer, and that nearly 15 percent of all planet-warming greenhouse gases comes from raising cattle, pigs, poultry and other animals. The upshot is that the estimated greenhouse gas emissions of a vegetarian diet are half those of a meat-based diet. To improve public health and combat climate change, China recently released national dietary guidelines whose goal is to cut national meat consumption in half by 2030.

 

"The health benefits of specific components of plants have been documented, as have the harms associated with constituents largely unique to meat," he wrote. "Vegetarian diets have been associated with a reduction in cardiovascular disease mortality by as much as 29 percent and cancer incidence by 18 percent."

Reduce your carbon footprint and improve your health at the same time.

[Moontanman]

Everytime i see the whole eat plants thing it reminds me of the joke where the guy asks his doc how long he can expect to live. The doc asks him if he eats meat, the guy says no, do you drink and or smoke? The guy says no, do you stay out late and run around with women? The guys says no. The doc says why do you care?

 

I have read studies that refute the whole carbon foot print thing and humans are not meant to eat just plants, our big brains which allowed us to fight to the top of the food chain was fueled by meat. I am a top predator, I eat anything that looks good and is too slow to get away...

[StringJunky]

, ....our big brains which allowed us to fight to the top of the food chain was fueled by meat. I am a top predator, I eat anything that looks good and is too slow to get away...

Yes, when we started barbecuing meat in fire our calorie intake shot through the roof and made us what we are. You are what you eat and I don't want to be a vegetable.

[John Cuthber]

I can't fault the logic and I accept that the numbers are reasonable- I guess they are close enough, even if they are not exact.

I'm also not unmoved by the animal welfare argument(s)

But I don't care- I still like bacon.

[EdEarl]

You are what you eat and I don't want to be a vegetable.

Must have had one too many dogs.

Edited July 13, 2016 by EdEarl

[StringJunky]

If animals weren't consumed they wouldn't have evolved into what they are today; would they have evolved at all?

[Lyudmilascience]

if we would not eat the animals we raise they would go extinct so I would think if someone cares about thoes animals we should keep rasing them and eating them. we can lower our carbon foot print from deacreasing the population and changing our fuel source in our vehicles.

[StringJunky]

if we would not eat the animals we raise they would go extinct so I would think if someone cares about thoes animals we should keep rasing them and eating them. we can lower our carbon foot print from deacreasing the population and changing our fuel source in our vehicles.

We should eat beans, stick pipes up our bottoms and bottle it to run our cars.

 

Ed: You are an Envangelist fisher of omnivores spreading the vegetarian gospel.

Edited July 23, 2016 by StringJunky

[EdEarl]

Mr. Junky, I pass on healthful tips for climate and humanity. As I'm old enough to check out any day (not expecting to), it will affect me very little whether humanity conquers climate change and learns to live a healthful long life. I think of passing such information an ethical duty. I don't fish; I let someone else catch my fish and make fillets. I've tried to be vegan, because I think it is good for me, but sometimes eat meat or fish.

[Lyudmilascience]

We should eat beans, stick pipes up our bottoms and bottle it to run our cars.

 

Ed: You are an Envangelist fisher of omnivores spreading the vegetarian gospel.

why? I do not like beans.

Mr. Junky, I pass on healthful tips for climate and humanity. As I'm old enough to check out any day (not expecting to), it will affect me very little whether humanity conquers climate change and learns to live a healthful long life. I think of passing such information an ethical duty. I don't fish; I let someone else catch my fish and make fillets. I've tried to be vegan, because I think it is good for me, but sometimes eat meat or fish.

then why arnt you vegan? how is veganism healthy?

[StringJunky]

why? I do not like beans.

I was being playfully sarcastic.

[Lyudmilascience]

I was being playfully sarcastic.

oh sorry I didnt get it.

[DrmDoc]

I can't fault the logic and I accept that the numbers are reasonable- I guess they are close enough, even if they are not exact.

I'm also not unmoved by the animal welfare argument(s)

But I don't care- I still like bacon.

 

Mmmm, bacon!

[EdEarl]

then why arnt you vegan? how is veganism healthy?

I grew up eating pork chops, cheese burgers, and ice cream made with milk from our cow. My Md has recommended a vegan diet, and research I've done suggests a vegan diet is very healthful. I may go for a week or month without eating meat, but I am weak and give in to a hunger for meat.