want to become vegetarian?

Glynda Darrin: Good facts - Vegetarian Foods: Powerful for HealthPhysicians Committee for Responsible Medicinehttp://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vegetarian_food...

Danette Slotnick: WHY?!?! LOVE MEAT ! all your gonna eat is bread and pasta and fruit and veggies ! what about burgers and fried chicken?!?

Arlene Maycumber: There are thousands of health facts out there. Here are a few:1. Health: "Vegetarians in the U.S. have a lower incidence of heart disease than the general U.S. population...Vegetarians generally have a lower incidence of high blood pressure and a lower rate of Type 2 diabetes than do nonvegetarians." (Holly Alley, MS, RD, LD, Nutrition Specialist, Department of Food and Nutrition) American Dietetic Association said “Appropriately planned vegetarian diets are healthful, are nutritionally adequate and provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases.” Check out http://www.fitness-equipment-health.com/vegetarian! ... It has actual numbers concerning obesity, hypertension, and cancer.2. Animal cruelty: I won't put statistics on here because they are quite disturbing but you can go to http://www.veganoutreach.org/whyvegan/animals.html or the PETA website (be careful because there are really terrible things out there. I don't like to think about it, but I think that people who say it's not important should. Look at the second source too, scroll down to "Caring About Animals." There are statistics about cage size.3. The environment and world hunger: Oregon State University agriculture professor Peter Cheeke said factory farming was “a frontal assault on the environment, with massive groundwater and air pollution problems... A 10-acre farm can support 60 people growing soybeans, 24 people growing wheat, 10 people growing corn and only two producing cattle. Britainâ€"with 56 million peopleâ€"could support a population of 250 million on an all-vegetable diet. Because 90 percent o! f U.S. and European meat eaters’ grain consumption is indire! ct (first being fed to animals), westerners each consume 2,000 pounds of grain a year. Most grain in underdeveloped countries is consumed directly ...Energy-intensive U.S. factory farms generated 1.4 billion tons of animal waste in 1996, which, the Environmental Protection Agency reports, pollutes American waterways more than all other industrial sources combined...The average meat eater is responsible for the deaths of some 2,400 animals during his or her lifetime." (see second source)Einstein, Shaw, Tolstoy, etc. were vegetarian too. Make sure to eat enough calories, protein, iron, and vitamin B-12 and your health will be fine (that's what most families worry about). Some more quotes about health:"The beef industry has contributed to more American deaths than all the wars of this century, all natural disasters, and all automobile accidents combined. If beef is your idea of `real food for real people,' you'd better live real close to a real good hospital." ~~Neal D. Barnar! d, M.D., President, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, Washington, D.C."If you step back and look at the data, the optimum amount of red meat you eat should be zero." ~~Walter Willett, M.D., of Brigham and Women's Hospital, director of a study that found a close correlation between red meat consumption and colon cancer. "When we kill the animals to eat them, they end up killing us because their flesh, which contains cholesterol and saturated fat, was never intended for human beings." ~~William C. Roberts, M.D., editor of The American Journal of Cardiology"All red meat contains saturated fat. There is no such thing as truly lean meat. Trimming away the edge ring of fat around a steak really does not lower the fat content significantly. People who have red meat (trimmed or untrimmed) as a regular feature of their diets suffer in far greater numbers from heart attacks and strokes." ~~Michael Klaper, M.D., Medical Director, EarthSave Foundation, Santa Cruz, Californ! ia...Show more

Lyndon Mattas: I think it's a good idea and if you! truly want this you should do it.I've been wanting to become a vegetarian for a while now but it'll be very hard to eat with my family so i have the same problem.Not eating meat would be saving many animals and their families. :)...Show more

Asa Soho: There are TONS of reasons to go veg!1. Meat's not green. Factory farming is responsible for about half of all greenhouse gases. It produces more pollution than cars, planes, boats, and trains COMBINED.2. Animal suffering. From the conditions they're raised in to what goes on in the slaughterhouses is reason enough for most vegetarians. Have everyone sit down and watch the movie Earthlings to get things into perspective. The full movie is available to watch for free on their website.3. Diseases! From e coli to mad cow, there's a lot that can go wrong with your meat. Especially now, a hamburger patty can contain meat from up to 1000 different cows, which increases your chances of contracted something by up t! o 1000 times. In addition, animals are pumped full of antibiotics to keep them alive in such horrendous conditions, which are often passed to humans reducing the effectiveness of antibiotics to treat ailments in humans. This is one of the main reasons why staph infections are so difficult to treat.4. You don't need meat. Millions of people have kept meat out of their diet successfully without an impact on health. Of those that don't, the average American dies with about 9 pounds of undigested meat in their colon, which shows how hard it can be on your body. If you stop eating meat for a while, even just a few weeks, most people will become sick resuming meat consumption. What does that tell you about the effect meat has on your system?...Show more

Dana Russian: Lower cholestorol, lower rick for some cancers and heart disease (and other diseases), its healthier, better for the planet, you wont become as risistant to anit-biotics (snce people who eat meat are mo! re reisitant to them since animals they eat are injected with tons of t! hem), weight loss (not a bad amount, but a nice amount so long as you dont gorge on junk food), you'll feel better, not supporting animal cruelty (as much, snce by eating milk eggs and cheese you still are. Just not asmuch as those who eat meat), veggies and fruts fight off premature aging signs, longer life span (on average), omnivoreds are at risk of getting too much protien, there are tooons of reasons.Some books/sites that have great reasons:Diet for a new americaskinny b*tcheating animalsConscious eatinggoveg.comThe vegetarian solution...Show more

Claudio Drullard: Cheese pizza is satisfactory. Vegetarian chili (sans meat) is satisfactory. Vegetarian lasagna is top notch. Mashed potatoes with vegetable gravy...Tacos! Nachos. Something I love is a meatball sub with out the meatballs- simply the marinara sauce, cheese, mayo and sizzling peppers. I'm no longer satisfactory with the nutrients part of being vegetarian, however I do realize what tastes well. :)

P! am Rampadarat: No you dont.

Jeannetta Gaffigan: Well from a personal experience i say its hard to go from being a meat lover to a straight up vegetarian. But i say good luck with that and hopefully you succeed. I really don't know any facts about it but you might loose weight if you do it the right way. Bad side is you have to find other sources of protein & you're never going to be satisfied with the foods you eat since you're so used to meat