Hey everyone!
Before I start I want to apologize. If I offend you, I am not sorry. This post contains many of my personal opinions and there are many people that are bound to disagree with me (which is fine). This post mostly informs you on my opinion on the reasons people give convincing others to not be a vegetarian. This post is not meant to insult those who are not vegetarians. If you eat meat, I do not hate you! I just dislike you a lot (kidding!) But seriously I do not have a problem with those who choose to eat meat, I myself did it for over 19 years.
I hear a lot of concern from people (including my mother) that being a vegetarian is unnatural and unhealthy because oh man! Where will I get my iron? And oh gosh! Where, oh where, shall I find enough protein? Yet, when I googled “reasons to not be a vegetarian” I did not read a single article mentioning it is unhealthy due to lack of protein or iron.
I read many articles claiming that vegetarians are whiny little [insert inappropriate word here] who are failing at saving animals because a few people not eating meat does not make any difference. I like to believe in the simple supply and demand model I learned in my high school economics class, which states that less demand will lead to less supply. So less people eating meat will mean a lower demand and thus a lower supply, which means less animals we have to raise just to then kill for food purposes. The rest of the article were just a long lists of people claiming vegetarianism is actually very unhealthy or that there is no proof that it is healthier than a non-vegetarian diet.
First lets focus on the reasons that I have received in person which are the lack of iron and protein that vegetarian diets can have.
A quick google search of “Why do we need iron” will leave you with a lot of complicated, big, medical words such as “hemoglobin”. Long story short, most of our iron lives in our red blood cells that transport oxygen throughout our bodies(1). So yes, it is pretty important to have. Even though this is so important there are many, many people in the United States (and other countries too) that are iron deficient, so much that is has become most common nutrient deficiency in the United States!(2) This happens most often in women. Why? You ask. Well the answer is simple, women lose more iron than men, for example during our monthly visit from mother nature (menstruation)(3). I also want to point out that these iron deficient people are not all vegetarians because there are many ways to get iron without killing a cow! How? I will tell you in just a minute.
What happens when you do not get enough iron? Well you get tired, pale, short of breath, cannot stop fidgeting, have headaches, to sum it all up you will feel pretty shitty(2).
Now what about protein? When i think protein I think peanut butter, So what exactly is it and why do we need it? Well to be honest, protein is even more complicated than iron, but often they are referred to as the “building blocks” of our cells. What do they do? They repair and make new cells. Why do we need it? Almost self explanatory after we read what is does right? It helps us heal, develop, grow, etc...(4)
What happens when we do not have enough protein? Similarly to iron deficiency, protein deficiency makes you feel bad. You’re tired, weak, you lose muscle, and your body is not good at repairing itself anymore.5
How do ‘normal people’ a.k.a. animal killers get their protein and iron??
Iron: most commonly known to be found in red meat, but you can find it in piggies, chickens, fish, and also beans.
Protein: again meat, fish, cheese, yogurt, and lentils.
Now here is where vegetarians can get their protein and iron:
Iron:
Now Protein:
Now this does not mean that these are the only things you can eat. There are many more vegetarian friendly foods that contain protein or iron. And not every food you eat has to have protein or iron in it. I am a healthy vegetarian, and I rarely eat meat replacers such as tofu or fake meats because they taste like cardboard with a hint of vomit. I am not iron or protein deficient. For those who are worried about protein or iron deficiencies, there are always other ways to take in iron or protein, for example protein powder or iron pills. I personally do not like the idea of adding this to my diet because I aim to avoid artificial supplements.
In my opinion iron and protein or used as scare tactics and excuses, this does not mean that I do not think protein and iron are important because i know they are. Scare tactics for those who think vegetarianism is stupid and cannot be bothered to actually research it, those who want to keep others from participation in what they believe is nonsense. And excuses for those who feel bad for animals but do not want to give up meat, there is also the possibility they just use this because they actually do not want to be a vegetarian but do not want to say that out loud and sound like an ass.
I will post more additional information on why reasons to not be a vegetarian are bull in a later post. There are many results that I found during my internet search for “reasons to not be a vegetarian” that I have not yet addressed much. However to keep you, my viewers, and myself awake I shall stop here and save the rest for later! So stay tuned for part II.
Also comment or email me any questions, concerns, opinion, and any reasons why you think people should be vegetarian or even your reasons why people should not be vegetarian because who would I debate with if no one disagreed with me.
Have a nice day!
XOXO A
P.S. You guys can check my resources by clicking on these links below.
1 WebMD
2 Health
3 Better Health Channel
4 Medline Plus
5 No Meat Athlete
Before I start I want to apologize. If I offend you, I am not sorry. This post contains many of my personal opinions and there are many people that are bound to disagree with me (which is fine). This post mostly informs you on my opinion on the reasons people give convincing others to not be a vegetarian. This post is not meant to insult those who are not vegetarians. If you eat meat, I do not hate you! I just dislike you a lot (kidding!) But seriously I do not have a problem with those who choose to eat meat, I myself did it for over 19 years.
I hear a lot of concern from people (including my mother) that being a vegetarian is unnatural and unhealthy because oh man! Where will I get my iron? And oh gosh! Where, oh where, shall I find enough protein? Yet, when I googled “reasons to not be a vegetarian” I did not read a single article mentioning it is unhealthy due to lack of protein or iron.
I read many articles claiming that vegetarians are whiny little [insert inappropriate word here] who are failing at saving animals because a few people not eating meat does not make any difference. I like to believe in the simple supply and demand model I learned in my high school economics class, which states that less demand will lead to less supply. So less people eating meat will mean a lower demand and thus a lower supply, which means less animals we have to raise just to then kill for food purposes. The rest of the article were just a long lists of people claiming vegetarianism is actually very unhealthy or that there is no proof that it is healthier than a non-vegetarian diet.
First lets focus on the reasons that I have received in person which are the lack of iron and protein that vegetarian diets can have.
A quick google search of “Why do we need iron” will leave you with a lot of complicated, big, medical words such as “hemoglobin”. Long story short, most of our iron lives in our red blood cells that transport oxygen throughout our bodies(1). So yes, it is pretty important to have. Even though this is so important there are many, many people in the United States (and other countries too) that are iron deficient, so much that is has become most common nutrient deficiency in the United States!(2) This happens most often in women. Why? You ask. Well the answer is simple, women lose more iron than men, for example during our monthly visit from mother nature (menstruation)(3). I also want to point out that these iron deficient people are not all vegetarians because there are many ways to get iron without killing a cow! How? I will tell you in just a minute.
What happens when you do not get enough iron? Well you get tired, pale, short of breath, cannot stop fidgeting, have headaches, to sum it all up you will feel pretty shitty(2).
Now what about protein? When i think protein I think peanut butter, So what exactly is it and why do we need it? Well to be honest, protein is even more complicated than iron, but often they are referred to as the “building blocks” of our cells. What do they do? They repair and make new cells. Why do we need it? Almost self explanatory after we read what is does right? It helps us heal, develop, grow, etc...(4)
What happens when we do not have enough protein? Similarly to iron deficiency, protein deficiency makes you feel bad. You’re tired, weak, you lose muscle, and your body is not good at repairing itself anymore.5
How do ‘normal people’ a.k.a. animal killers get their protein and iron??
Iron: most commonly known to be found in red meat, but you can find it in piggies, chickens, fish, and also beans.
Protein: again meat, fish, cheese, yogurt, and lentils.
Now here is where vegetarians can get their protein and iron:
Iron:
- Beans (for canned make sure they are vegetarian) (black, pinto, lima, soy, black-eyed...)
- Dark leafy things (spinach, kale, arugula…)
- Dried fruits (raisins, apricots, peaches...)
- Tofu (yuk!)
- Lentils
- Nuts and seeds (cashews, peanuts, pistachio, pumpkin, sunflower, and go on and on)
- Vegetables (brussel sprouts, potatoes, broccoli, and more)
- Cereal and oatmeals
Now Protein:
- Eggs
- Quinoa
- Brown rice
- Beans
- Peanut butter
- Nuts and seeds (flax, walnut, almond, pine, chia, and many more)
- Cheese
- Vegetables (asparagus, spinach, broccoli, potato)
- Cereals and oatmeals
Now this does not mean that these are the only things you can eat. There are many more vegetarian friendly foods that contain protein or iron. And not every food you eat has to have protein or iron in it. I am a healthy vegetarian, and I rarely eat meat replacers such as tofu or fake meats because they taste like cardboard with a hint of vomit. I am not iron or protein deficient. For those who are worried about protein or iron deficiencies, there are always other ways to take in iron or protein, for example protein powder or iron pills. I personally do not like the idea of adding this to my diet because I aim to avoid artificial supplements.
In my opinion iron and protein or used as scare tactics and excuses, this does not mean that I do not think protein and iron are important because i know they are. Scare tactics for those who think vegetarianism is stupid and cannot be bothered to actually research it, those who want to keep others from participation in what they believe is nonsense. And excuses for those who feel bad for animals but do not want to give up meat, there is also the possibility they just use this because they actually do not want to be a vegetarian but do not want to say that out loud and sound like an ass.
I will post more additional information on why reasons to not be a vegetarian are bull in a later post. There are many results that I found during my internet search for “reasons to not be a vegetarian” that I have not yet addressed much. However to keep you, my viewers, and myself awake I shall stop here and save the rest for later! So stay tuned for part II.
Also comment or email me any questions, concerns, opinion, and any reasons why you think people should be vegetarian or even your reasons why people should not be vegetarian because who would I debate with if no one disagreed with me.
Have a nice day!
XOXO A
P.S. You guys can check my resources by clicking on these links below.
1 WebMD
2 Health
3 Better Health Channel
4 Medline Plus
5 No Meat Athlete
Please enjoy this picture of a cute calf!