Eating Meat: Is it healthy?

 

Cooked animal flesh is a part of the diet of most human beings. Americans, in particular, eat a large amount of meat every day. In fact, the American culture is such that most people expect the main course of both lunch and dinner to contain primarily meat. However, there are many people who exclude meat from their diets entirely, and this practice is growing in popularity. Some of these object to eating meat because they care about animals and believe that killing animals is murder, while others simply argue that eating meat is not good for the human body.

My position is that eating meat is unhealthy. I will not argue that meat should always be excluded; rather, I will say that eating meat can be excluded from a human’s diet without consequence to health. Furthermore, I contend that meat contains harmful elements and since meat is both unnecessary and harmful to the body, it is therefore unhealthy. The following is my argument in standard form:

1) If a balanced diet that excludes a food still provides the body with enough of the nutritious elements within that food, then that food is nutritionally unnecessary.

2) A balanced diet that excludes meat still provides the body with enough protein.

3) Meat is nutritionally unnecessary.

4) If a food often contains substances that harm the body and it is nutritionally unnecessary, then it is unhealthy.

5) Meat often contains substances that harm the body.

6) Meat is unhealthy.

Certain foods are not needed for a healthy body to function. Ice cream is a good example. While many people eat ice cream, they recognize that it is not a necessary part of a balanced diet. There are no special vitamins or minerals in ice cream that are essential to the human body. The same could be said for tomatoes or blueberries. Actually, most individual foods can be excluded from one’s diet without ill effects, as long as the nutrients found in those foods are gained by eating other foods. One of the blessings of God’s creation is the abundance of nutrients in a variety of foods.

While people realize that avoiding the ingestion of ice cream or tomatoes would not be harmful, they often believe at the same time that meat is essential to the body. This is simply not the case. The element in meat that our body needs most, protein, is present in many kinds of vegetables, fruits, and whole-grains. The best sources of protein outside meat are beans, nuts, lentils, and legumes. These plant proteins contain the same twenty-three amino acids as animal proteins contain, which is evident when you consider that an animal’s body builds its protein from the plants it eats. So, animal proteins are in no way superior to plant proteins. As long as people eat a wide variety of healthy foods, their bodies will be provided with enough protein even if they do not eat meat.

Meat is not essential to health. Since the part of meat that the body needs, protein, is found plentifully in other types of foods, meat is unnecessary just like ice cream and tomatoes. Meat and tomatoes are different in that the term “meat” encompasses many individual foods, while tomatoes are a particular food. However the principle stays the same. Since no single meat contains any nourishing element that cannot be found elsewhere, there is no dietary reason that people have to eat any meat. There may be reasons to eat meat, but nutrition cannot be one of them.

Ice cream is distinguishable from tomatoes in that ice cream contains substances that can harm the body. This is why health-conscious people feel a twinge of guilt when eating ice cream that they do not feel when eating tomatoes. Most people know that ice cream is an unhealthy food because it is both unnecessary and harmful. Tomatoes, on the other hand, are not unhealthy because though they are unnecessary, they are not usually harmful to the body. But if a food is both unnecessary and harmful, it is considered unhealthy.

Animal flesh is a food that often contains harmful elements. Meat is usually high in both cholesterol and saturated fat. The body needs very small amounts of these, and so it is not very hard for us to provide our bodies with the necessary amounts. The average meat-eating person is eating too much cholesterol and saturated fat, both of which contribute to heart disease and obesity. Additionally, other chemicals such as pesticides and preservatives are found in most meat products which can have adverse effects on body chemistry. According to a study done by the American Cancer Society, harmful chemicals in grilled meats can increase the risk of cancer.[1] Lastly, eating meat that is not fully cooked is risky because of diseases like E. coli. While nutritionists often differ on their recommendations, most would agree that meat often contains substances that harm the human body.

Since meat normally contains damaging materials and is not essential to health, it should be placed in the same category as ice cream. In other words, meat is unhealthy. Certainly, some types of meat are worse than others, but I am speaking generally of meat as a category. To summarize, animal flesh does not have to be eaten, and is generally detrimental.

Some may object to the idea that meat is harmful to the body. They might say that any food can be harmful to the body, if it is overeaten. Take the example of tomatoes. In and of themselves, tomatoes are not harmful to the body. However, if someone were to eat five pounds of tomatoes in one sitting, then his body would obviously react negatively. Eating small amounts of meat, just like tomatoes, is not a health problem.

In response to this objection, it is important to remember that I am speaking of the average meat-eater in America today. If someone were to eat only one small organic fish a week, the fish would probably not harm the person’s body. On the other hand, eating meat as the main dish in both midday and evening meals on a consistent basis is eating enough meat to cause adverse effects. If ice cream was the main course at a daily meal, most would recognize this as a health problem. Since meat is unhealthy like ice cream is unhealthy, there is a problem with the amount of meat being eaten.

Once again, my contention is that eating meat is unhealthy. Meat is unnecessary nutritionally because protein can be found in many other foods. Meat is harmful because it is high in cholesterol and saturated fat. These two facts combined lead me to conclude that eating meat is bad for the human body. I am a vegetarian for this very reason. However just because meat is unhealthy does not mean it has to be eliminated. Ice cream is unhealthy too, but people still eat it. I understand that many people enjoy the taste of meat and could not give it up entirely. But I hope that people will at least think about eating less meat as a result of the argument I have made.

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[1] Ted Gansler, MD, MBA, “Harmful Chemicals in Grilled Meats,” 2003, <http://www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/PED_11_1_Harmful_Chemicals_in_Grilled_Meats.asp> (7 October 2003).