by Chelsea Greathouse

Fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, and nuts lower our risk for cancer because they produce high levels of white blood cells that naturally attack cancerous cells.

They are also rich in fiber and other nutrients that are healthy for our bodies. A variety of plant derived foods are not only enjoyable to eat, but are healthy for our bodies.

Farmed animals obtain thirty times the antibiotics than they should be receiving.  The antibiotics absorbed into their bodies promote fast growth with less food.

By ingesting this meat, we are more prone to new strains of MRSA and E. Coli that are developing in animals. The new strains are then transferred to humans. Ian Sample, a science correspondent, and other scientists in the UK discovered a new strain of MRSA that has spread to humans from cattle. This life-threatening and drug resistant strain was found in cows’ milk through a study of the udder infection mastitis.

The meat that we eat daily comes from animals that could be cancerous and yet we push the fact aside because we are ‘in the mood’ for steak. Meat is not clean or safe to eat because of the way it is processed. Just think about the number of cattle, pigs, and poultry that are in the world and sold every day. Imagine how difficult it would be to check if every single piece of meat was diseased. Jim Lynn states that millions of pounds of contaminated meat have been passed through processing plants. The meat industry is currently satisfied with cutting off the part of the animal that is diseased and selling the rest. You could have a diseased piece of meat sitting in your refrigerator.

The meat that we eat stays in our intestines and takes much longer to process because our intestines are about twenty-eight feet long. Too much meat in our diet causes cholesterol levels to rise. Over time this can be harmful because of plaque build-up which narrows the arteries pathway when breaking down food, soon clogging the arteries. This process can lead to heart disease. Carnivorous animals can metabolize an all meat diet without any trouble, while humans do not have the ability to produce one-twentieth the amount of acid.

Fruit and vegetable consumption protect the risk of heart disease. For example in “Health Benefits of Vegetarian Diets,” Winston Craig stated, “The many flavonoids in fruits, vegetables, nuts and whole grains, have extensive biological properties that reduce the risk of heart disease.”

Nutritionists renowned a vegetarian diet to lower a person’s blood pressure in the 1900s. Plants are lower in fat and sodium, and contain no cholesterol. A high intake of vegetables and fruits in a person’s diet holds a rich amount of potassium which lowers one’s blood pressure tremendously. The American Diabetes Association established a vegetarian diet to be nourishing and nutritionally sufficient.