Saturday, March 28, 2009

Fish Contains High Amount Of Mercury

Many people think if they just eliminate red meat and poultry from their diets, they are eating healthier. This is partly true, but there are hazards to eating fish and seafood as well. The harm that humans have done to the environment has had a direct effect on the fish and seafood we eat.

There are elements of fish and shellfish are an important part of a healthy diet. Fish and shellfish contain high-quality protein and other essential nutrients, are low in saturated fat, and contain omega-3 fatty acids. A well-balanced diet that includes a variety of fish and shellfish can contribute to heart health and children's proper growth and development. So, women and young children in particular should include fish or shellfish in their diets due to the many nutritional benefits.

However, nearly all fish and shellfish contain traces of mercury. For most people, the risk from mercury by eating fish and shellfish is not a health concern. Yet, some fish and shellfish contain higher levels of mercury that may harm an unborn baby or young child's developing nervous system. The risks from mercury in fish and shellfish depend on the amount of fish and shellfish eaten and the levels of mercury in the fish and shellfish.

Therefore, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are advising women who may become pregnant, pregnant women, nursing mothers, and young children to avoid some types of fish and eat fish and shellfish that are lower in mercury.

Is this anyway to eat? In fear of what unhealthy elements are lurking in the food we eat? Eliminating red meat and eating a more vegetarian diet is an excellent start on the road to healthier eating. Eliminating fish and seafood is one of the final steps towards eating a complete vegetarian diet and the health benefits that are your reward for making that change.

Pig Farming : Naked Brutality

Pig Farming : Naked BrutalityMany people reject eating pork and other meats derived from pigs for religious reasons or health reasons. When people start eating a more vegetarian diet, red meat is usually the first thing they eliminate from their diets. When they do, various health indicators generally start to improve, such as their cholesterol levels and blood pressure readings. Health is one of the most compelling reasons to eat vegetarian, but the inhumane treatment of the animals mass-produced for human consumption is another reason many people are rejecting a carnivorous diet.

Pig farming follows the same processes that chicken farming and other animal farming employ. The pigs are kept in small crates with limited movement. They’re overfed so they can be slaughtered more quickly. Their living conditions can be dirty and they’re fed growth hormones to stimulate weight gain and antibiotics to ward off diseases that are the results of their living conditions.

They’re forced to live in unnatural conditions and they exhibit signs of chronic stress that other animals produced for human food do. They chew on the bars of their cages or worry with their water bottles excessively. Their limited range of movement prevents the rooting behavior that’s natural for a pig.

The pigs pay an extremely high price to feed us. And we pay a high price for eating pork and other red meat. We’re basically not made to eat meat. Our teeth weren’t developed to rip and tear meat. We evolved from herbivores and it’s still the better way for us to eat.

When we eliminate red meat and other meats and animal products from our diet, we get healthier more lean and fit, less tired and sluggish. And there’s the added psychological benefit of knowing that we’re not contributing to the suffering of innocent animals.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Red Meat Ups Death Risk

Red meat ups death riskRaises Chances Of Heart Disease, Cancer Among Other Illnesses

People who eat the most red meat and the most processed meat have the highest overall risk of death from all causes, including heart disease and cancer, US researchers reported.

The National Cancer Institute study is one of the largest to look at the highly controversial and emotive issue of whether eating meat is indeed bad for health. Rashmi Sinha and colleagues looked at the records of more than 500,000 people aged 50 to 71 who filled out questionnaires on their diet and other health habits.

Even when other factors were accounted for eating fresh fruits and vegetables, smoking, exercise, obesity the heaviest meat-eaters were more likely to die over the next 10 years than the people who ate the least amount of meat.

“Red and processed meat intakes were associated with modest increases in total mortality, cancer mortality, and cardiovascular disease mortality,” Sinha and colleagues wrote in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

They divided the volunteers into five groups, called quintiles. Between 1995 and 2005, 47,976 men and 23,276 women died.

The quintile who ate the most red meat had a higher risk for overall death, death from heart disease and cancer than the men and women who ate the least red meat. The researchers said thousands of deaths could be prevented if people simply ate less meat.

“For overall mortality, 11% of deaths in men and 16% of deaths in women could be prevented if people decreased their red meat consumption to the level of intake in the first quintile,” Sinha’s team wrote.

Many studies have previously shown that people who eat less meat are healthier in many ways, and Sinha’s team noted that meat contains several cancer causing chemicals, as well as the un-healthiest forms of fat.

Barry Popkin, an expert in nutrition and economics at the University of North Carolina, said the study was unusually thorough and careful. Eating less meat has other benefits, he said, for instance, farming animals for meat causes greenhouse gas emissions that warm the atmosphere and uses fresh water in excess, he said.

Read...................... LOL........................................??????????????????? Are you Crazy...??? Change Yourselves!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is why i say become vegetarian and use Vegetarian's diet

Monday, March 23, 2009

Stop Eating Turkeys to Stop Barbaric Practices

Stop Eating Turkeys to Stop Barbaric PracticesThe consumption of turkeys in the U.S. has escalated through the years. It’s no longer eaten primarily at Thanksgiving and Christmas, but throughout the year. The process of mass-producing turkeys for human consumption is as barbaric, if not more so, than the process of mass-producing chickens.

Turkeys are kept in cramped, dark spaces to discourage the naturally aggressive behaviors that occur when an animal is kept confined without space to roam and feed freely. They’re overfed to the point where their legs can’t support the weight of the breast tissue. And this animal which normally has a 10-years life span is generally slaughtered at about 2 years of age.

Unhealthy and overcrowded conditions mean that disease amongst commercial turkeys is widespread, resulting in approximately 2.7 million turkeys dying in their sheds every year. Foot and leg deformities, heat stress and starvation caused by the inability of immature birds to find the feed and water troughs are commonplace. Ulcerated feet and hock burns are common caused by continual contact with litter contaminated by urine and feces.

Can you really sit at dinner on your next holiday and look at a roasted turkey the same way? Turkeys come with the same recommendations for cleanliness and cooking that chickens do. You have to be sure they’re cooked to a specific temperature to ensure that any disease causing bacteria are completely killed. You should clean up any counter space with bleach, again to kill all bacteria.

It makes a compelling case for switching to a vegetarian diet, doesn’t it? Suddenly, the jokes about vegetarian dinners, with nut loaves and vegetables, instead of meat, seem to make more sense, not only from a health standpoint, but from a humane issue as well.

Why do we persist in eating in such a way that makes us unhealthy and is inherently bad for us? For you next holiday dinner, consider the possibilities of an all-vegetarian menu. So much of the dinner is vegetable- based to begin with; it’s a small change to replace turkey with a plant-based main course as well.

You Are What You Eat

You Are What You EatYou’ve certainly heard the expression many times, you are what you eat. Have you ever really thought about what it means? And do you think about it when you’re making food choices?

In some ways, we do become what we eat, literally. Have you ever seen an example of your blood plasma after eating a fast food hamburger? What was previously a clear liquid becomes cloudy with the fat and cholesterol that’s absorbed from eating a high-fat hamburger.

And when you think about it, we also become what we don’t eat. When we switch from eating meat to a vegetarian-based diet, we become less fat, less prone to many types of cancers. Our cholesterol can improve. When we’re leaner and eating fewer animal products, then many other health and fitness issues are reduced. The incidence of Type II diabetes is reduced. Blood pressure falls into normal ranges. When you’re healthier, you’re taking fewer medications. Even if you have a prescription drug benefit in your health plan, you’re still saving money with fewer co-payments on medications.

If you have a family history of high cholesterol or high blood pressure, then it’s particularly incumbent on you to revise your eating habits. Moving towards a more vegetarian diet has been shown statistically to reduce the incidence of so many of the diseases of industrialized countries. Vegetarians are statistically healthier than omnivorous persons; they’re leaner and live longer.

Isn’t it time to think about what you want to be and to eat accordingly? Do you want to be sluggish and fat? Do you want the risk that goes with eating animal products, with their high fat content? Or do you want to look like and be what vegetarians are? Leaner and fitter with a longer anticipated lifespan. It’s never too late to change what you’re doing and increase your chances for a longer, fitter life.

Why Vegans Don't Eat Eggs

Vegans are vegetarians who do not eat eggs or any other animal product. This is the strictest form of vegetarianism.

Many people feel that this is too extreme and too restrictive. They prefer a form of vegetarianism that includes eggs and other animal products that do not involve the death or harm of living creatures.

Vegetarians cooking for children are often advised to include some eggs in their diet. Pregnant women who are vegetarians often do the same. The advantage of eggs is that they are highly nutritious. They contain the same nutrients as meat because they are the food supply for the embryonic chick.

But modern farming techniques are convincing an increasing number of people that it is unethical to eat eggs. The battery farms in which most of the eggs available on supermarket shelves are produced cause harm and suffering to millions of hens. They are kept in confined conditions without space to move and engage in natural behavior. As a result they peck one another and have to be de-beaked. Their legs are malformed and they lose their feathers.

Some of us opt for free range eggs but there is no agreed definition of what free range means. Without visiting the farm it is very hard to know how the hens that produced the eggs have been treated. Even in a free range setting the chicks have been selected to ensure that they are female. A huge number of male chicks are discarded in this process and go into industrially prepared foods.

You might decide to raise your own hens. Backyard poultry keeping is becoming increasingly popular. But even here there are ethical decisions to be made. Hens that are no longer laying eggs traditionally go into the pot. That is fine if you are a carnivore but not if you are a vegetarian.

There are also strong health reasons for not eating eggs. Eggs are a source of saturated fat. They can raise you cholesterol level. So if you are worried about your heart health and have been told to reduce you cholesterol level it may be worth thinking about a vegan diet. It is possible for an adult to eat a balanced diet that does not include eggs.

Why Vegans Don't Consume Dairy Products

Why Vegans Don't Consume Dairy ProductsBecoming a vegan means giving up milk and dairy products such as butter and cheese. This a major change for people who are used to a European diet that historically has always used dairy produce.

But in many cultures dairy produce is eaten at all or only rarely. A vegan diet is common in some non-Western societies. It is therefore entirely possible to eat a balanced vegan diet that does not include dairy produce.

The emphasis on dairy produce in the Western diet has produced an enormous industry to stock our supermarket shelves. The nature of this industry is perhaps one of the best reasons for becoming a vegan and cutting milk and dairy produce out of your diet.

What was once a treat for high days and holidays has become a daily staple. There are powerful commercial interests involved in encouraging us to eat more dairy produce. That change in our diet has had serious effects on health. The same changes can be seen in other cultures that are in the process of changing to a Western diet.

The demand for milk has created an intensive dairy industry in which cows are treated as units of production not living creatures. Dairy cows are selectively bred for the highest milk yield. They are impregnated every year so that they continue to produce milk.

Cows in intensive dairy units are treated with antibiotics and hormones. Some of them never set foot on grass. The old image of the placid dairy cow in a green field is a thing of the past.

Calves are no more than a by-product of the process of producing milk. They are taken from their mothers within weeks of their birth. Male calves are disposed of as uneconomic or are sent for veal production.

More humane farming systems are used on some farms. Vegetarians who wish to consume dairy produce should seek out milk produced on farms with high welfare standards. But even if you can source good quality dairy produce from farms with high welfare standards you may wish to eliminate dairy produce from your diet and become a vegan. A vegan diet is a realistic option and for many people a vegan diet is an ethical option.