Being an Occasional Vegetarian in Middle Georgia
This article was originally written for and posted in my column, The Fitness Corner, in The Macon Telegraph. I have abbreviated it, so if you want to read the full post, click the link.
I challenge you this week — yes, you — to consider becoming a vegetarian … well, an occasional vegetarian at least.
There are several good reasons for doing so. For one, eating less meat helps reduce the massive impact that the mass production of meat has on the environment. Another reason is that you’ll save yourself a few dollars. I can’t think of many folks who wouldn’t want to save some money every now and then.
For this article, however, the main reason I want to discuss is how occasional vegetarianism is a great step for your health.
We Eat A LOTTTTTTTT Of Meat Around Here
We all could stand to eat less meat. The average American diet is meat-based, and our meat consumption is steadily increasing. According to a USDA study, in the year 2000, Americans were eating 195 pounds of meat per person, per year, up from an average of 138 pounds in the 1950s.
That’s not all. According to National Public Radio, the average per person/per year meat consumption in our country in 2007 was up to a whopping 270 pounds.
To put this in perspective, that number for India in the same year was 7.1 pounds of meat per person. Unbelievable, isn’t it?
Excess Meat and Disease
There’s a lot of evidence these days linking high meat consumption to many of the chronic and deadly diseases common in our Western society, including heart disease, obesity and many cancers.
A study called “The China Study” by T. Colin Campbell details the results of a decades-long study that he conducted with others on the effects of animal protein consumption on people in China. The links drawn in the study between high meat consumption and disease are quite compelling. Considering our high meat consumption in the U.S., our high rates of these diseases aren’t very surprising.
So, hopefully I’ve convinced you to practice vegetarianism at least sometimes. I do so myself and definitely feel better because of it. Replacing meat with nutritious foods such as vegetables, beans and whole grains is a great practice.
