Sunday, August 29, 2010

The best argument I have heard in support of vegetarianism.

I was having a chat with my nutritionist the other day and we were talking about the pros and cons of being vegetarian. I thought the main reason for her being so was for noble reasons such as sparing life etc. However she shared with me a point of view which I had never heard of before. Animals when taken to slaughter can sense and know what is awaiting them. And just like the human body releases chemicals such as adrenaline when under pressure, the bodies of these animals too have chemicals released which transfer to our bodies when we consume the carcasses. And these chemicals can be toxic and harmful to us. Amazingly this was the first argument I heard about this subject which made a lot of sense and I am seriously considering cutting down my meat consumption and dipping my toe into the life of being a vegetarian. One day and one meal at a time. Somehow for a carnivore like me it is easier said than done. Sigh!

3 comments:

Dee said...

hm... actually, my lecturer who did a subject on the environment was saying..in the food chain, only 10% of energy gets passed down.

as in a rabbit eating grass would get 100% ofthe plant's energy. where as a fox eating the rabbit would get 10% of that energy. that is why most carnivorous have energy in spurts but not all the time. (I.E Lions a prime example)

his view was that even being veg makes a person more energetic and that is a myth that u need meat to be 'strong'.

of course this contradicts with the fact that our brain evolved to this extent since we get rounded nutrients from being omnivours.

I suppose, now that we have a choice we can always cut down on the red meat. white is healthy, but maybe go for happy hens and happy eggs (organic)

I ALSO read that free roaming chickens eat leafy veg in farms and therefore their eggs contain valuable nutrients rather than a cooped on.

Ok long comment. lol. long story short, I've gone off chicken. :D yay!

Anonymous said...

I am a vegetarian and have been for a long time, its solely a selfish decision. I doubt it that adrenaline and toxics that your friend talks about makes a difference. If it did then 96.8% of the world population should be contaminated and should suffer effects of the alleged toxins.

Anonymous said...

Obvious logical problem: Those chemicals were in the animal's body already. Unless the glands that release them are somehow separated during butchering, it wouldn't matter anyway.

Also, the chemical is probably just adrenaline, which your own body has and you feel every time you're scared, nervous, etc.