Benefits Of Vegetarianism: Vegetarians Live Longer

Vegetarians Live Longer

The battle has long been waged, and will certainly continue in spite of this study. Are humans designed/evolved to eat everything and at risk of malnutrition as vegetarians? Or is vegetarianism the healthy and ethical choice? The most impressive data arises from a study of 1904 vegetarians over 21 years by the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsche Krebsforschungszentrum). The study's shocking results: vegetarian men reduced their risk of early death by 50%! Women vegetarians benefit from a 30% reduction in mortality.

Long-term Study of Vegetarians
The participants of the the German Cancer Research Center study included 60 vegans (no animal products consumed), 1165 vegetarians (eating eggs, milk but no meat) with the remainder described as "moderate" vegetarians who occasionally ate fish or meat. The health of these study participants was compared with the average German population. Living longer seems not to be exclusively related to eating meat, though, as the results for moderate vegetarians was not statistically different from those for vegan or strict vegetarian diets.

To the argument that it is not vegetarianism but a general interest in a healthier lifestyle which leads to such notable results, scientists reply with evidence that the majority of vegetarians do not cite health reasons for their lifestyle, but make their choice based on ethical commitment, environmental concerns or simply personal taste.

Vegetarians and Malnutrition
Research by a team led by Professor Ibrahim Elmadfa at the University of Vienna found a much better than average intake of Vitamin C, Carotinoides, Folic acid, fiber and unsaturated fats. Where shortcomings may arise is for Vitamin B12, calcium und Vitamin D in a vegan diet. Astoundingly, however, study participants did not suffer from diseases, such as osteoporosis, typically related to inadequate intakes of these micro-nutrients.

More on Vegetarians
How to Become a Vegetarian
Hollywood's Sexiest Vegetarians
Jessica Simpson Offends Vegetarians
Cut Back On Carbon By Cutting Back On Meat

Via Die Welt (german)
Image: copyright Getty images

Comments

[mathme]

05:36 PM on 07/17/2008

I don't doubt that vegetarians live healthy lives, but I'd like to know more about the methodology. Was the life-span that was used as a control normalized for the age of participants? If you don't do that, you're going to be comparing the group of, most likely, adult participants (I think that it's fair to say that most people don't make dietary choices like vegetarianism until they're well out of childhood). If you look at mortality statistics, once you reach a certain age, your expected life-span grows. If you don't factor out, say, infant mortality, children who die in accidents, etc. the life span of the 'average' person isn't the same as it is for a person who has reached, let's say, 30.

The limitation pointed out, that vegetarians are more interested in living healthfully in general, is an important one, too.

This is definitely leafy-green food for thought.

[JohnMayer]

12:46 AM on 07/18/2008

Well, plainly you are not a vegetarian, since you’re straining at a gnat. The article - did you read it? - specifically refuted the “living healthfully in general” hypothesis thus: “...scientists reply with evidence that the majority of vegetarians do not cite health reasons for their lifestyle, but make their choice based on ethical commitment, environmental concerns or simply personal taste.“ And I know plenty of vegetarians, who, indeed, are not particularly sedulous about health habits in general such as regular exercise. As to the methodology, we know only that the cohorts were matched to minimize other factors; presumably both groups had already escaped the perils of crib death.

And this is just one of a long line of studies that invariably conclude: fruits and vegetables good; meat bad. Even if the vegetarian group had been no more healthy than the meat-eaters, that alone would be significant. If vegetarianism is not detrimental to health, as many would have you believe, then the wastefulness of feeding grain to meat animals instead of people, the green house effect of meat production (greater than all forms of transportation), other forms of pollution (such as non-point source water pollution), the spread of antibiotic-resistant diseases (through massive overuse of antibiotics in feedlots), extinction of species and loss of rain forest (through clear-cutting for cattle ranches) and, for those who care, the unspeakable horrors of the factory farm and standard slaughter practices, leave us with stark moral choices.

[Rmtns]

07:55 PM on 07/20/2008

It just seems longer!

[10000Lakes]

03:04 PM on 07/17/2008

Let's take inventory. For the vegetarians, Albert Einstein, who said "Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet." For the meat eaters we have Ted Nugent who said, well, who cares what he said.

I think I'll take Einstein over Nugent.

[10000Lakes]

02:42 PM on 07/17/2008

Surprised that no one has pulled the People Eating Tasty Animals bit, or maybe I missed it. They think that is SOOOO funny. Well, I think it's kinda funny when I learn that Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy's and the triple hamburger, has to have his chest busted open to reroute his heart. Likewise for the co-founder of Baskin Robbins ice cream. And Ditto for Ben Cohen of Ben and Jerry's ice cream.

Eating the American way is just insane, for our health and the global community's health. We are so fat, and growing so sick on this diet that it is amazing the outrage is so muted.

I support PETA and their 'get in your face' tactics 100 %. It is much more effective than just hoping and wishing that people would change.

[mathme]

05:37 PM on 07/17/2008

You can get fat eating just about anything. Cows are fat-- they eat grass and grains.

[Jonahson]

08:29 PM on 07/17/2008

Very true grains contain carbohydrate and eating too much of that can make you fat. The ideal is moderation in what you eat. Eat to live and not the otherway around.
There are more serious complications for meat eaters. Humans may not be designed to eat animals.
Check out this story to find out why; http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/07/08/scimolecule108.xml

[10000Lakes]

08:46 PM on 07/17/2008

Cows don't eat grain by nature - they eat grass. And if left to their own defenses, they would be lean, not fat. You are obviously thinking of cows on feedlots.

Oh, and try getting fat on apples or celery.

[Jonahson]

08:22 PM on 07/16/2008

Here's an interesting article from Roger Highfield science writer for Telegraph.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/07/08/scimolecule108.xml

[L.J.]

07:30 PM on 07/15/2008

When I became vegan in college, my meat-loving family was shocked. They thought all I would eat is plain salad every day. When they came and visited recently, I cooked them huge feasts with recipes from some of my favorite veggie cooking blogs... yummy noodle stir fries, tacos, guac, chocolate cupcakes, you name it! They couldn't believe it! Seriously, check out VeganYumYum (http://veganyumyum.com/) and other great veg blogs and try to tell me vegans don't eat like kings!

[brooklyncitizen]

09:48 PM on 07/15/2008

Right on...it's amazing how good food can tastes...the american starchy diet is not about flavor at all......being vegan really openned up my palette and expanded my diet.... there is so much good food to eat.

[1freedom]

01:15 PM on 07/15/2008

So......most of the bloggers didn't see this part: "Living longer seems not to be exclusively related to eating meat, though, as the results for moderate vegetarians was not statistically different from those for vegan or strict vegetarian diets.Reread the first sentence. Now, read it again. Now why the two-sides debating over wha the article didn't say? If we had to summarize or analyze the article, wouldn't the logical end be sensibility, education and MODERATION?

[TheBlackCat]

02:47 PM on 07/15/2008

I agree that MODERATION in meat eating is the key! I've been a vegetarian for most of my life. I do think us veggies should work as hard as possible to end factory farming and inhumane treatment and containment of animals. But when it comes to getting people to become vegetarians, I find that most of my veggie brethren are completely unrealistic in their expectations. When I am traveling in developing nations, most people i meet cannot even grasp the concept of vegetarianism.

Expecting everyone to actually BECOME vegetarian is unrealistic. Most meat eaters would gladly trade longer life spans for being able to eat a big juicy steak whenever they want. Educating people about the environmental, food scarcity, and health consequences of meat eating and encouraging them to REDUCE the amount of meat they eat is the only sane way to go. I don't know anyone who has been encouraged by my lifestyle to become vegetarian. However I have several friends and family members who have reduced their meat in take and will only buy local, free range meat because of my influence. And for me that's just fantastic! I don't ram my ideology downt heir throats, I don't harp on them for not becoming vegetarians. I appreciate the efforst they HAVE made. Who knows, maybe centuries down the road, cutting back little by little, the human race could indeed be vegetarians. But expecting all humans to go cold turkey (no pun intended) is just unrealistic.

[Jonahson]

09:46 PM on 07/15/2008

It is call addiction, don't be mistaken that only drugs and cigarettes cause addiction. For example if you are used to eating rice, pasta or bread as a staple diet and if you stop eating it for a day or a week no problem. But longer than that you will crave for it.
Twenty years ago I could not eat a meal without meat, eventually I wow to give up eating meat altogether after an incident on a fishing trip that invoke my compassion towards all creatures, realizing that all living creatures value their life and fearful of suffering.
The first week of giving up meat was difficult, the craving was there especially if it is lunch time and the aroma of fried bacon from a restaurant wiffs by. I turned to my personal committment to overcome this problem. Eventually I manage to overcome my craving for meat.
As a full time vegetarian I have never asked people to become a vegetarian knowing the difficulties meat lovers will face. But those friends who have health problem such as cancer, I do advice them to give up meat. Wether it is for health, ecological or spirtual reason being a vegetarian is a very personal choice. Of course there are lots of good side effects being a vegetarian.

[brooklyncitizen]

09:54 PM on 07/15/2008

"When I am traveling in developing nations, most people i meet cannot even grasp the concept of vegetarianism."

Ever travelled in India? it is a vegetarian paradise...seriously if I could afford it I would hire my own South Indian chef... even though we get "good" Indian food in NYC it can't compare to what I had in India ...and people eat well and plentiful...dishes are varied from simple to elaborate...best food ever...all vegetarian millions of them.

[Moka]

08:04 PM on 07/15/2008

We saw it.

[DSizzle]

12:42 PM on 07/15/2008

"Yes, but here's the thing: Women, Minorities and Gays are not animals. (I find it a little insulting that you don't seem to notice the difference."

The point is that in the past, they were considering sub-human animals by oppressors.

And go ahead and be insulted. I don't notice the difference when it comes to giving them moral consideration. In that way, I am in accord with Cesar Chavez, Martin Luther King, Coretta Scott King, Alice Walker, Isaac Bashevis Singer, George Shaw, Mahatma Gandhi, Mark Twain, Henry David Thoreau, Thomas Edison, Leonardo Da Vinci, Carl Sagan, Thomas Jefferson and many more. Being aware of animals' rights is not an insult to humans. Only cruel humans, like yourself.

[NYCBear]

12:54 PM on 07/16/2008

I get pretty upset with those who think that animals other than humans should have rights and be treated with respect, but who then juice carrots and saute kale with abandon.

You think animals are better than plants? You think dogs should be treated better than beans? Hypocrite.

"Oh," you say, "beans can't feel pain" - as if mammalian pain was the only consideration worthy of your concern. You're right, beans can't scream - but just eating things that can't scream doesn't seem like a high moral position to me.

[DSizzle]

03:08 PM on 07/16/2008

I'm sure you think you're funny. But making light of others' suffering is a sign of psychopathic tendencies and/or immaturity.

There are substantive differences between animals and plants when it comes to pain and emotions. The central nervous system for one. Also, plants have evolved to be eaten in order to spread their seeds.

To scoff at an animal's suffering and compare it to a bean shows the same callous disregard for others as "bomb bomb Iran." I hope there is some justice in this world and next time you find yourself at the mercy of someone stronger who wishes to hurt you for their own selfish ends, there's someone nearby to run humorous color commentary on your pain.

[jagoneely]

01:11 AM on 07/17/2008

I agree with the poster who stated that you shouldn't shove your ideals down people's throats. It never works anyway; not with theology, and not with vegetarianism. For me it was a really slow, gradual process. I didn't just wake up one day and "decide". It was a personal choice. I am a vegetarian, but my husband and children are not. But as a result we all eat a larger variety of veggies, and my hubby takes in less fat and cholesterol. I like the choice for me. It was as much a spiritual choice as a food choice. As for the carrot joke, ha ha. But other mammals really aren't that different from us. They nurse their young just like I did. I feel a kindship to mammals that I can't explain. I don't expect everyone to understand, but that's okay. I do think It would be great if we'd stop looking at other living things as objects, but baby-steps, you know?

[NMdonkey]

12:36 PM on 07/15/2008

Personally, I don't know any vegetarians who try to force their lifestyles on others or preach to them. On the other hand, I am occasionally asked why I became a vegetarian- and most recently, a woman I work with asked for information on adopting a vegetarian diet. She's interested in changing her eating habits as a way to control her Type II Diabetes. I am also frequently subjected to rude comments from meat eaters about how "risky" my diet must be or worse, if I get sick or am feeling cold, it's probably because I don't eat meat.
I often wonder about issues of ethics and morality. If you did to your pets what is done to factory farm animals, you would be charged with animal cruelty. Americans (myself included, as I have 3 canine companions) are often disgusted to learn of how dogs are killed and consumed in other countries, but really why is it any less disgusting how cows, pigs, etc., are treated in this country?

[TheBlackCat]

03:13 PM on 07/15/2008

Oh, the preachy ones are out there. I'm a vegetarian and not preachy, as you say, will just gladly answer any questions people ask me about my vegetarianism.
I am Italian, and vegetarianism to Italians is practically sacrilige, so I get hassled a LOT by my family, though less and less as the years go on. I never bring it up but various relatives tease me or harangue me every time we're around a dinner table and i pass the chicken parm.
But I went to college, and there were vegetarians there who acted like anyone who ate meat must be evil. And unfortunately, we live in a country in which one person is often seen as representative as a whole. People meet ONE preachy self righteous vegetarian and assume we're all like that. Also, PETA has also done a huge disservice to the vegetarian movement. Yes they may have gotten some converts, but their insufferable self righteousness, not to mention fanatacism, has made meat eating people even more turned off to vegetariaism because they judge ALL vegetarians by PETA.

[jagoneely]

01:27 AM on 07/17/2008

I have also felt that way about PETA. There is actually more than one reason to become a vegetarian. It's really a personal choice.

[10000Lakes]

03:32 PM on 07/17/2008

About PETA, you are way off, BlackCat. How many times in the media is PETA mentioned? It's all about exposure. PETA has changed the way Americans think dramatically for the better. Oh sure, some get whizzed off and hate 'em. So what? Those people wouldn't change anyway. Obviously YOU don't like PETA, but the animals do.

They do a lot of good for the young people, for the next generation. Changing meat eaters is very difficult, if not impossible. Most of them only change after a heart attack, and even then they most likely won't. Please, just tell me one other organization that has lifted vegetarianism up, just one.

With meat and dairy consumption killing people every day (heart attacks, cancer and diabetes to name a few) is it better just to lower our heads and say 'oh, that's ok what you eat'. I don't think so. What if we just did the same for cigarette smoking? huh?

[KoolBreez]

11:58 AM on 07/15/2008

Meat kills more Americans than does any other substance.

[NYCBear]

01:01 PM on 07/16/2008

You will find that all Americans who died in the last year drank hundreds of gallons of water in the year preceding their death. Both meat-eaters and vegetarians. Ipso facto, if you drink water you will die.

[JohnMayer]

02:22 AM on 07/18/2008

Well, if each of those Americans drank the recommended eight glasses a day, at eight ounces each, that would be 64 ounces a day, or half a gallon, so two days to drink a gallon of water, 365 divided by two = 182.5 gallons a year, 183 on leap year, less than “hundreds.” Regardless, more Americans who drank water lived than died, suggesting water helps prevent death, which, in fact, it does. None-the-less, your conclusion, though not following from your arguments, is correct. Scientific study, however, shows that the vegetarians, doomed though they are, will live longer, healthier lives than the meat-eaters while doing less harm.

I’m no rhetorician, but I’m guessing this attempt to challenge the study would be the False Analogy fallacy. Much of what’s wrong with this country can be attributed to our inability to think logically; makes us an easy target for corporate shills who want to placate us about the dangers of smoking or of global warming. Or fast food, for that matter.

[mymatrix]

10:32 AM on 07/15/2008

Vegetarians are threatening to meat eaters because it calls in to question the meaters choices. I've rarely seen a vegetarian being self-righteous about their choice but I've sure seen a lot of meaters going out of their way to negatively comment on some aspect of vegetarianism.
In a perfect world there is nothing wrong with killing an animal and eating it. But in the real world you are eating something that has been "grown" in misery just for you, slaughtered in a filthy, exploitive business with a high rate of injury and callousness. And, environmentally, it just sucks.
Moral choices are hard and every week at the grocery store I am confronted with those choices. My choice is to NOT buy meat or prepare it but if visiting someone who serves meat, I might have a little, like a taste treat. A little fish.

[brooklyncitizen]

09:59 PM on 07/15/2008

Ditto,

[mymatrix]

10:21 AM on 07/15/2008

When you don't eat meat, you have to eat something else. Right? And most of that is the good stuff they say we need to eat more of : legumes, veggies, fruit, whole grains.
Our family of five have been vegetarians for 20 years and it is no big deal. Most of us are not interested in the meat substitutes, prefering a little tofu, cheese, eggs and beans. Beans are simple (a few tasty tablespoons alongside your meal?) And we drink a lot of milk. Meat is simply a hassle.

[LCRover001]

08:06 AM on 07/15/2008

Well whoopty do!!!

You can live on moment loner, good for you. Many who live to be One hundred long for death.

You are just prolonging the inevitable, what is it about you guys that makes you fear death?

Eat what you like, live life and enjoy it. Our lives are so short why quibble over a few years more by denying yourselves pleasures.

You don't want to eat something with a face fine but I see in the near future the we know best crowd outlawing hamburgers, French fries, and sugar.

No ne care about your self righteous BS. You are just as mush killers as we. You kill to survive just like we do. You justify it because you meal never had a face, but you have ended the live of a living thing just as much as we have.

[Tabasco]

01:16 PM on 07/15/2008

Uh. Dude... relax. Take a slow breath.

Making an assumption that we don't enjoy food because it ain't meat or that 'denying' ourselves 'pleasures' is equated with meatless diets is one of the funniest things I've read in a while.

Sounds like you fear vegetarians as much as George Bush fears 'th terrists'.

Eat whatever the hell you want. The article was about a German study of diet, not some invisible moral movement that forces good old patriotic meat eaters like yourself to eat tofu.

Go to McDonald's. Clog your arteries. Whatever makes you happy. Have a triple-decker on me.

My neighbor has been a vegetarian since the 1950s. He is a WWII Vet who was told to cut back 20% on red meat. Eventually he just lost interest in it. And he's 91, works outside constantly, walks a mile every day with his 62 year old wife, laughs like hell and tells the funniest jokes I've ever heard.

But according to you, he must be miserable and he must be longing for death.

[LCRover001]

07:44 AM on 07/16/2008

The only thing I fear is more oppression by the we know better crowd.

As far as assumptions go I’m making none. Eat what ever you enjoy, just stay out of my kitchen. I know you didn’t say it but there are those who would like nothing more than to ban the eating of meat. We have become a country of the do as we say not a country of the free and it is only a mater of time before more and more laws are passed concerning what we can and can not eat.

Hey glad to hear the old guy is enjoying life. I bumped into an older gentlemen on my way back down the mountain the other day who had climbed Mt. Laconte over 1000 times. He was enjoying life too and he was a meat eater just like me.

I've known people who smoked every day of their lives that grow to a ripe old age and they are as spry as they ever were. I also know folks who ate right did everything their doctors told them and are a broken down as the rest. So please spare me the, I know this one guy who stories.

[mymatrix]

08:06 PM on 07/15/2008

LCR, I think the focus is more on quality of life than lifespan. It isn't fun to have heart disease and diabetes or have to radically alter your diet at age 55 due to your high cholesterol and BP. Varicose veins and CVA's are not exactly quality of life to live with.
I work with doctors and the majority of the patients are there for eating a crappy American diet and then not exercising. When you eat like crap, you don't want to exercise.
And living thing is not the point, it is "sentient" creature that matters. Have a dog or cat? Many of the farm animals you eat are just as sentient if not more so than your pets.

[LCRover001]

07:27 AM on 07/16/2008

Hey I could care less about what people eat.

You guys want to be vegetarians fine, but read some of the comments on this page and you'll find most of you guys try to paint the rest of us as evil.

What does sentiality have to do with ending life? It amazes me how you guys justify your beliefs off of this moot point. The point is you kill. I have to say if it ever can down to it I would eat my pet it would break my heart, but keeping my family alive is more important to me than my pet. I have raised plenty of livestock and enjoyed every morsel.

Eating like crap as you say has nothing to do with the want to exercise it is a matter of personal will power.

Life is what you make of it. People choose not to exercise it isn't a mater of what they eat but what they choose to do. I'm sure cutting out junk food and eating only vegetables can help but telling people it will keep them from getting this or that is false. There are way more factors than just eating habits where health concerns are applied. Genetics is one major one, environment and stress are others.

[Suzie2]

06:58 AM on 07/15/2008

I think there should be a study on "Living with Vegetarians" and if that makes you live longer. I am a vegetarian, and even though I don't preach, when I live with someone they usually start eating less meat themselves. I've met people who couldn't imagine a meat-less meal, but get to liking the lighter fare pretty quickly after seeing the tasty meals I eat. No meat substitutes for me, except for Garden-Burgers, I think they are hideous.

[StrayTalk]

09:42 AM on 07/15/2008

Lightlife Smartdogs are pretty good. Kids seem to like them too

[brooklyncitizen]

10:01 PM on 07/15/2008

yeaha i never quite got the "meat substitue"...processed food is just gross.

[axt113]

03:31 AM on 07/16/2008

who said anything about processed, you can make your own

[10000Lakes]

02:16 PM on 07/17/2008

If you didn't have to go the meat substitue route, good on you. For a lot of people, escpecially men, it is VERY helpful to use these products. They can bring them to a BBQ and not feel left out.

A much better way to go is just to make a radical change (compared to the Standard American Diet) and go to mostly raw food type eating, with copious amounts of fruits and vegetables.

As for the meat-substitues - anything from the Tofurkey folks is good by me. Even their new brat line is good.

[Zen66]

05:39 AM on 07/15/2008

All the crowing aside, let us take a gander at that study.

Dear me, but it seems this German study is over one hundred years old. It also appears lobster sided in the presentation of its information. These 'smarter' veggies should have asked ham better questions about it. Like, what constituted a meat diet in 1904 Germany? were the dangers of gathering meat in 1904 taken into account? what roll did beer play - steer-iously it is a factor of German life? how did proper food handling come into this? Certainly there are many moo-re I haven't thought of.

I won't be cowed by nay sayers on this. Until a better, more through study comes along I suggest you don't pigeonhole us meat eaters. I would hate to grill you on the subject until you were a nice golden brown.

Who's hungry?

[charlot]

06:38 AM on 07/15/2008

Zen66, please tell me you're joking. This study is based on consumers who NUMBER 1904; it's not from the YEAR 1904.
Nice puns, but your whole point is moot. :o)

[Triangle1]

03:40 AM on 07/15/2008

I've been a vegetarian for the last 5 years. It makes me wonder why anyone even bothers with meat. You can get pretty good meat substitutes, and if the market was 100% of the population instead of a few percent, in less than a year you couldn't tell the difference between real make and soy meat. I don't think it's about meat, I think it's about all of those chemicals they inject into farm animals and the mammal virus transfer from animal to man. If we had to hunt our own natural wild animal food, I don't suspect the vegetarians would be living longer than the meat eaters. If it has eyes, I personally just don't want to be putting its body parts into my mouth.

[Jonahson]

05:12 AM on 07/15/2008

I am also a vegetarian, beware of those meat substitiute especially if it is from Taiwan. These mock meat contain preservatives and monosodium glutamate. Basically these mock meat are either made from processed soya or flour which are tasteless so a rich helping of flavouring is required to make it taste like the real thing. A heathier way is to make your own substitiue meat, you can check it out on some of the vegetarian websites on how to make them.

[yesyoucaned]

08:38 PM on 07/15/2008

I agree that there is a lot of that type of mock meat out there. My favorite Chinese restaurant makes all kinds of mock dishes and are strictly vegan. They don't even use onions and garlic and they stress purity. I ask them if they use msg and they said no very quickly. I think its more of a texture thing rather than a flavor thing. They wrap there mock fish in nori to give it a sea flavor and add there thin glaze and steamed veggies and that's it.

[TimmySlagle]

05:26 AM on 07/15/2008

Actually, this study makes ME wonder why anyone bothers to be a vegetarian:

"the results for moderate vegetarians was not statistically different from those for vegan or strict vegetarian diets."

This proves that there is nothing unhealthy about eating a little meat from time to time.

[axt113]

05:49 AM on 07/15/2008

Why even bother with the little? As a veg I probably eat better than you do and I don't have to bother with gross meat

[brooklyncitizen]

10:07 PM on 07/15/2008

sure...believe what you want....they didn't delve into the quality of life and that is unfortunate....processed meat contributes to pancreatic cancer....meat in general contributes to heart condition...and not to mention that the US govt under Bush has become so lazy that the food supply (mostly meat) is not monitored or regulated...mad cow anyone? salmonella? mercury in fish? it is a risk...aside from the immorality of eating another sentient being it simply isn't healthy....these animals are pumped full of hormones that make it into your body....how healthy is that?