The Benefits of a Vegetarian Diet

Sybil Pritchard

12-3-13

Photo Credit: Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine

Dear Mr. Keene,

As you requested, this is my major report on The Benefits of a Vegetarian Diet. As a

nutrition major, and in the light of the United States’ current health epidemics, I felt this topic

was relevant and needed.

This report covers the definition and description of a vegetarian diet, and differentiates

between the different kinds of vegetarians. In the section heath benefits it explains in moderate

detail the health hazards of the typical meat-centered diet, and how health can be improved by

eliminating meat from the diet. The next section is animal benefits and is divided into three sub

catagories, “chicken, pig and cow” which explains the treatment of these animals in a typical

factory farm. The section environmental benefits explain how wasteful the animal agriculture

system is and other environmental factors involved in producing meat. The last section is the

process portion, which enables the reader to take what they have learned and apply it to their

own lives if they choose to do so.

Much of this report is my own knowledge I have learned over the years. The books that I

have included in the bibliography are some that I used for direct data, an others are where I got

my general knowledge- although they were not quoted directly.

I hope you find the information in this report as interesting and motivating. Please feel

free to contact me on my cell phone, 865-765-2237, if you have any questions about this report.

Thank you,

Sybil Pritchard

The Benefits of a Vegetarian Diet

Sybil Pritchard

Summary

This is a professional report describing the benefits of a vegetarian diet. It explains what a

vegetarian is first, followed by the benefits under three main categories: Health, Animal, and

Environmental. The report ends with a process on how to transition to this diet.

Table of Contents

Introduction …………………………………………………………...... I

1. Definition and Description ………………………………………….. 1

2 .Health ……………………………………………………………….3

3. Animal ………………………………………………………………..9

Chicken

Pig

Cow

4. Environmental ………………………………………………………17

5. Process ………………………………………………………………20

Where do you get your Protein?

Replacing Eggs

Replacing Dairy

Taking on the World

List of illustrations

Page Illustration

Cover ……………………….Power Plate from Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine

2 …………………………….Albert Einstein; quoteswave.com

3 …………………………….Paul McCartney; PETA.org

8……………………………. Healthy eating quote.www.aleandaramos.com

12 ………………………….. Battery cage hens.www.james-mcwilliams.com

13 ………………………….. Forks Over Knives screen shot

14 ………………………….. Caged pigs;www.think-differently-about-sheep.com

16 ………………………….. Cows; www.foodfreedom.wordpress.com

19 ………………………….. Meat-eating Environmentalist; Pinterest.com

20 ………………………….. USDA Food Guide Pyramid

21 ………………………….. Plant-basedProtien; holisticheather.com

22 …………………………..Ener G Egg Replacer; iherb.com

Introduction

Chances are we have all know someone who has had heart disease, type II

diabetes, or cancer. These are all too common among developed countries, and the top

three killers in the United States today. The good news is, these are all diet related

diseases, and the occurrence can be decreased if people adopt a healthy lifestyle.

Diets recommended by the American Heart Association and the American

Diabetes Association all call for less saturated fat and dietary cholesterol. People can buy

low fat versions of their favorite products, and trim excess fat away from their meat all

they want, but the bottom line is this is not enough of a dramatic change. Meat and

animal products are the only source for saturated fat and dietary cholesterol. If you are

serious about getting healthy, then you should try eating more plant-based meals, and

fewer animals based ones. The benefits from this kind of diet are not only amazing for

your health, but they also have positive impacts on both the animals and the environment.

In this report, I hope to clearly explain these benefits and how to make changes in

your own life. You own it to yourself to live the most health conscious you can.

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Definition & Description

Vegetarianism is a movement that is gaining popularity in a world full of unhealthy

choices, unpredictable climate change, and sad farming practices. Despite its growth, many

people are unsure of what a vegetarian diet is, or they are under a misconception. I may be

helpful to debunk a few of these misconceptions upfront. Beans have plenty of protein; no, salad

is not the only food we eat, and no, the world will not be overrun with cows if we all went

vegetarian. In explaining what this diet is and why it is a great decision, I also hope to show that

you are in good company if you do decide to be a vegetarian!

A vegetarian diet is essentially a diet that does not contain meat. There are a few different

types of vegetarian diets, all having the same eschew for meat, but varying in other ways. For

example, the most common type is ovo-lacto vegetarians, who still eat eggs and dairy. Then you

can have ovo-vegetarians (still eating eggs, but no dairy) or lacto-vegetarians (still eating diary,

but no eggs). Some would argue that there are also pesco-vegetarians, who still eat fish, but in

my opinion theyare not true vegetarians. A good rule of thumb in deciding what kinds of foods

are definitely off the menu for all vegetarians is this: If it has a face or a mother, it’s not food!

Lastly there are vegans, the most strict of all vegetarians, who eat no animal products

whatsoever.

The reasons why someone would choose to avoid meat are as numerous as there are

people in this world. Some religions do not eat meat, like Buddhists or Hindus that believe in

reincarnation. Some people simply do not like the taste of meat, or were raised in a culture or

household where meat was not eaten. Others have learned of the health risks involved with high

saturated fat and cholesterol, and eliminating meat is the easiest way to eliminate those things.

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There are also environmental reasons, because it takes more water, energy, and fossil fuels to

produce meat than it does to produce plants. Also, another reason many choose to become

vegetarian is compassion for animals.

Figure D1: Albert Einstein. quoteswave.com

Vegetarian diets have been around for a long time, but the term vegetarian was first

coined in 1847 by the first vegetarian society established in London (O’Connell, Anne. Early

Vegetarian Recipes). It has steadily grown in popularity ever since, with 5% of Americans

identifying as a vegetarian, according to a poll conducted by Vegetarian Times Magazine. Many

famous people are among the veggie lovers, such as Albert Einstein (see figure D1), Leonardo da

Vinci, Mahatma Gandhi, Upton Sinclair, Paul McCartney (see figure D2), Mr. Rogers, Bill

Clinton, Steve Jobs, Ellen DeGeneres, Natalie Portman, and Brad Pitt among many, many

others!

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Figure D2: Paul McCartney. PETA.org

The benefits of eating a vegetarian diet are enormous, and not just for the person eating!

Your actions ultimately affect what is around you, and you may not realize that cutting meat out

of your diet would help so many other problems in the world. Not only would your own health

improve, but bigger problems could be addressed like global warming, and you wouldn’t be

participating in a cruel and inhumane industry like factory farming. Not only is this solution do-

able, it has never been more delicious!

Health

“If diet is bad, medicine is no good. If diet is good, medicine is not needed.”

-Ayurvedic proverb

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A vegetarian diet that consists of whole foods(as close to their natural state as

possible)has enormous health benefits. Vegetarians typically weigh less than their meat eating

counterparts. They also live on average of 10 years longer than meat eaters. John Robbins wrote

a book called Healthy at 100, where he explored the lives of people who lived in a village with

the most centenarians (people 100 years of age and over) in the world. What I learned most from

this book was that what most of the people had in common was their diet and activity level. They

lived in a mountainous region where they had to hike to get everywhere. They also ate a

vegetarian diet with very little animal protein. These elders he described had no symptoms of age

related ailments. They were not deaf, forgetful, and had no joint pain. Perhaps this could become

more common in the United States if more people were to learn about the health benefits of a

vegetarian diet.

The wonderful thing about eating a truly healthful diet is that it will benefit you across

the board. Some diets are intended to be followed part time (like the Adkins diet, which requires

you take a few weeks “off” so you can eat carbohydrates to avoid dangerous health

complications) or are only intended to be followed until you reach your goal (cabbage soup diet,

anyone?). If you want to know if a diet is truly good for you, ask yourself this question: Could I

follow this diet the rest of my life and be healthy? If the answer is no, than that means is it

missing necessary nutrients or doesn’t provide enough calories to sustain regular activities. You

should not ask yourself: Does it work? This is because most diets will “work” if you are looking

to lose weight simply because they decrease the total number of calories you take in. So many

people are fooled by the Adkins diet, for example, because people will lose weight on it. But

severely limiting the number of carbohydrates you eat for a long period of time will cause

ketoacidosis. Ketoacidosis is caused by the body breaking down proteins and fats for energy

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because carbohydrates are either not present in the diet, or an ailment like type I diabetes impairs

glucose (from carbs) from absorbing. In the simplest terms, Ketoacidosis means that your blood

is too acidic. Blood pH needs to be about 7.4 (scale is 1-14 with everything below 7 being acidic

and everything over, basic). If blood pH is too acidic for too long, complications can arise

including coma and death. Therefore, you may lose weight on the Adkins diet, but you cannot

stay on the diet for the rest of your life - unless you plan on having a very short life.

Other diets are really good at some things, but cause problems in other areas. For

example, take the Paleo Diet. The Paleo Diet consists of meat, eggs, vegetables, fruits, and

nuts/seeds. It excludes all packaged products, sugar, beans/legumes and all grains. This diet has

many healthful benefits because it cuts out packaged products and sugar, and focuses on whole

foods (meaning foods as close to their natural form as possible). But, the emphasis on meat and

eggs without enough fiber (which is abundant in the beans and grains they exclude) can cause

high cholesterol or atherosclerosis (clogging of the arteries).

The vegetarian diet on the other hand, can not only help you lose weight if that is your

goal, but it can also improve you overall health without putting you at risk for other ailments. In

other words, the healthy properties in this diet are not just good for one thing, they are good for

everything!

Let me explain this further; let’s say for example that you want to eat a more heart

healthy diet. First you would cut out saturated fat and cholesterol which is found only in animal

products, and increase your fiber which is found only in plant foods. Fiber is important because

cholesterol binds to fiber and fiber is not digested. When you expel fiber you also expel excess

cholesterol, keeping it out of your arteries.

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However, the vegetarian diet isn’t just a one-hit-wonder diet. The same diet that helps

your heart will also improve your colon health. This is because fiber also helps clean out your

colon. Some foods like animals products, take a long time to travel through your colon. Some

parts of the waste can even get “hung up” in one of the many wrinkles in your colon and it can

stay there for a long time. If enough waste builds up in that one wrinkle pocket, your colon can

start to bulge out, creating an ulcer. If an ulcer ruptures, it spills out all the toxic waste your body

was trying to get rid of. Reducing your intake of animal products will help prevent this problem

in the first place, and by eating lots of whole vegetables you will provide your body with plenty

of fiber which will act as a cleaning brush for you colon, keeping it clear of dangerous waste. See

how heart health and colon health are intertwined, and both can benefit from the same diet?

That is certainly not all of the health benefits. Vegetarians also have a lower risk of type

II diabetes, certain cancers such as colon, breast and prostate, osteoporosis, and other diseases of

affluence.

The foods that feed things like cancer cells are animal based foods. Cancer cells love an

acidic environment. More basic foods like plant foods slow and can even halt the growth of

cancer. In the book The China Study by Dr. T. Colin Campbell, he explores the effect animal

protein has on cancer. Born a farm boy, Dr. Campbell was raised to believe that protein,

particularly from animals was the most important nutrient. He began a study testing the effect

milk protein had on lab rats. The rats were all given cancer cells, and he adjusted the amount of

milk protein in each rat’s diet. Some got 5% and some got 20% of total calories in milk protein.

The rats that received the 5% milk protein had no cancer tumor growth, but the rats that got 20%

did. Dr. Campbell went on the switch the rat’s diets around, giving the 5% rats the 20% diet and

vice versa. Just as was expected, the rats that had previously had a large amount of milk protein

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and were suddenly given a small amount, had stopped cancer tumor growth. The other rats that

had previously had no cancer tumors began to grow them after the new diet. In other words, Dr.

Campbell discovered that he could literally turn on and turn off cancer growth in lab rats based

on the percentage of milk protein given to them. He also tried the study with plant protein. Plant

proteins did not encourage cancer growth, no matter what percentage was given to them. Plant

protein did not act the same way that animal protein did. You can get more than enough protein

on a plant based diet, but if you get more than enough protein from animal foods it begins to

cause problems.

Ironically, osteoporosis is another aliment that is not helped by animal protein. It does not

matter how much milk you drink - in fact, milk is not that good for you when it comes to calcium

absorption. Did you know that humans are the only mammal to drink the milk of another

speciesand to continue to drink milk into adulthood? Have you ever wondered what it was about

cow’s milk in particular (or goats or sheep) that is so good for us? As Coleen Patrick Gurdrau put

it, why don’t we humans drink hyena’s milk for example? It’s really high in calcium and in

protein. You probably know already where I’m going with this. Cows are herd animals and are

naturally passive. They can easily be over powered and manipulated to get milk. There is nothing

special about the properties of cow’s milk that is not already provided for us in our own mother’s

milk. We donot continue to drink our own mother’s milk into adulthood, we are weaned. Even

baby calves donot drink their own mother’s milk after they grow up, so it seems a bit silly that

humans would. The reason we do drink cow’s milk is because we are led to believe that it is the

only place to get an adequate amount of calcium. But where do cows get calcium from? Ideally

from the grass they eat, but factory farmed dairy cows are given calcium supplements because

they are not allowed to graze. Why don’t we just skip the middle animal and get our calcium

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from the plants too? Leafy greens and beans/legumes have lots of calcium and you absorb more

of that calcium than you would from milk. Humans absorb only 30% of the calcium in cow’s

milk, but more like 50-60% of the calcium in plants. Also, cow’s milk, being an animal protein is

naturally more acidic in our blood. To counter act this acidity, minerals are taken from our bones

to reestablish homeostasis. Calcium is not absorbed when we drink milk but literally

leechedfrom our bones. That is why the United States, which has the highest dairy consumption

in the world, also has the highest rate of osteoporosis.(Robbins, Diet for a new America) You

would think that if milk helped build strong bones (like it is advertised) we would be seeing

different statistics in the U.S. Also, countries that do not have diets focused on dairy, like poorer

Asian and African countries, have lower rates of osteoporosis.

The health benefits are enormous on a plant based diet. That was reason enough for me to

cut out meat. When I began to dig a little further into what else might be effected by my new

lifestyle choice, I was only more convinced into believing it was the right choice.

Healthy eating quote. www.aleandaramos.com

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Animal Benefits

It goes without saying that if you don’t eat animals then there will be benefits to them.

Supply meets demand, and if enough people are not demanding meat then there will be a

decrease in the supply. You are probably thinking that one person cannot make a big difference

in the overall numbers of animals killed a year, but there is still a difference nonetheless. Ninety-

five farm animals are spared every year from one person’s choice to not eat meat. It may be a

small number, but it makes a big difference to those ninety-five individuals.

The horrendous cruelty involved just to produce meat is so despicable, that I believe if

more people knew about it, they would chose more compassionately. Most people don’t know

what happens at factory farms, which is how 99% of farmed animals are raised.The meat

industry has a lot to lose if more people knew the truth, so they go to great lengths to ensure that

the average customer believes that farm animals grow up on land similar to “Old MacDonald’s

farm”, or “Charlotte’s Web”. Pictures in the grocery store and on the packaging suggest this kind

of small farm where the animals are grazing in the sunlight. This could not be further from the

truth.

After the invention of the assembly line, the same process was converted to manage farm

animals. There is no grass, no sunlight, not even fresh air. They are not treated like sentient

beings, but products. Their health and wellbeing is not taken into consideration and farm animals

are not protected under any animal welfare laws. You would think that a little more respect

would be given to an animal that we know was going to have a short life anyway, and for our

own selfish purposes, but that is not the case.

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Chickens

A battery cage hen has arguably the most inhumane life of all farmed animals. Hens are

crammed into tiny cages for their entire life. They have roughly sixty-seven square inches of

space, which is smaller than this sheet of paper. Chickens are much bigger than this size, so not

all of them sit on the bottom of the cage; some are sitting on top of the other chickens. What you

need to understand about chickens is they do not do well in this close proximity to each other.

There is literally a “pecking order” among the hens and they are constantly pecking each other to

gain more space. This could be prevented by giving the chickens more space to do what comes

natural to them, but extra space for the hundreds of chickens would mean more money has to be

spent on their welfare. Chickens, and all the other farmed animals don’t have basic animal rights

or even rules about what can and can’t be done. Profit is the most important variable in this

business, even if it means other lives have to suffer. Because no welfare measures are taken, the

birds are living in crammed cages completely unnatural to what their instincts would dictate. It is

not unknown for them to even cannibalize each other. It is a common practice to “de-beak” hens

when they are infants (searing off the end of the beak with a hot blade while the animal is

awake).This practice is often botched, leaving the bird with little or no beak at all. These

unfortunate individuals die because they cannot eat or drink. But this is not a true solution to the

behavioral issue like providing more space could be; it merely renders the act of pecking

harmless to other birds while keeping the hens in their cramped conditions a little longer.Birds

that are unfortunate enough to wind up on the bottom sometimes get their feet caught in the

metal cage and are unable to wiggle free. These hens will either starve to death because they

can’t get to the food and water or they are trampled by the other birds.

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Something that is also not commonly known about chickens is they don’t naturally lay an

egg every day of the year. They go through a molting phase where their body will recuperate

from their continued egg production. In the natural world, this phase takes place during the

winter when food sources are scarce and hatching eggs would be counterproductive because it

would be harder for chicks to survive in the winter. This is supposed to be a time to rest and

conserve energy. Egg producers know this, so when the chickens start to wane in egg production,

they force them to molt by keeping them in the dark and starving them for a month at a time.

This simulated winter acts as a reset button, so when the farmers turn the lights back on and start

giving the chickens food again, egg production returns to the desired rate. Many hens do not

survive this treatment. Hens that do not produce what is expected are sent to slaughter. These

particular hens are not the fat or attractive ones in the supermarket; they are scrawny and scarred,

so their meat is made into processed frozen dinners or packaged soups.

Thousands of chicks are hatched in incubators every day to become laying hens. There is

only a fifty percent chance that they will get a desired female, and males are useless in the

industry. Male chicks are separated, and put in plastic bags where they suffocate to death or they

are ground up alive. The bodies of the males are then mixed with corn and fed back to their

mothers, because that is high quality protein that the business does not want to waste.

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Battery cage hens. www.james-mcwilliams.com

Chickens raised for meat, or “broiler chickens” live in very cruel conditions as well.

These chickens are crammed into barns by the thousands, with no windows or air circulation.

Workers have to wear masks over their faces in order to breath because of the smell of ammonia

is so strong. These chickens are fed a steady diet of antibiotics because without them they would

surely die of the filthy conditions in which they live in. They have also been genetically modified

to grow much faster than anormal chicken. Their bones cannot support their bodies because of

the rapid weight gain, so the chickens cannot walk and develop bone and heart problems. After

six weeks they are sent to slaughter which is still the age of a baby chicken.

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Still shot from the Forks Over Knives documentary depicting the fast growing rate in a modern factory

farmed hen.

Pigs

Pigs are gentle and intelligent creatures. They have an I.Q. higher than almost any other

animal, including dogs. The stereotype that pigs are smelly, dirty and glutinous could not be

further from the truth. If allowed to live in a natural habitat, pigs are just as clean as any other

animal. They do not defecate in the same area that they eat or live in. They do wallow in the

mud, butfor the purpose of cooling down on hot days or to seek refuge from the flies (as do

elephants and other animals living in hot conditions).

Pigs in factory farms endure cruel and harsh conditions. Hundreds of thousands of pigs

will be in one building, each one in a single stall where they do not have enough room to turn

around. The stench of ammonia and methane from their waste is so strong and toxic that it causes

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respiratory problems for the animals and the workers.Pigs will also develop deformed feet and

skeletons from standing on hard metal or concrete floors. They are genetically modified to favor

larger than average size so that their weight grows at such a fast rate that their skeletonsliterally

crumble from it. Straw bedding would alleviate this pressure, but this is seen as an extra cost.

Another common practice on pig factory farms is “tail-docking”. This standard was put in

place after it became a problem for pigs to bite the tails of the pig in front of them. This is not

some playful biting, but bites that would take huge chunks out of the pig’s backside, creating

infectious sores that can kill the pigs. If they don’t die from the sore itself, they may die from the

biting pig continuing to cannibalize the pig in front of it. This is not normal behavior, but

behavior that comes from pigs that have been literally driven mad from the conditions they live

in. Pigs are also not given adequate food and clean drinking water. They are often given recycled

garbage and manure laced with vitamin supplements for food, and liquid waste runoff from the

factory manure pits as water. Sometimes this will be the only nourishment they have. The

accounts in this paragraph are taken from John Robbin’s book, Diet for a New America.

Caged pigs. www.think-differently-about-sheep.com

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A female sow on a factory farm is kept pregnant almost her entire life. She is artificially

inseminated and given a cocktail of hormones to promote large litters. She has so many piglets

that she doesn’t even have enough teats to feed them all. After about two weeks the piglets are

removed (any sooner and they would die) and given a milk formula. After the piglets are taken

away, the mother then can “dry up” and be impregnated again. Some piglets do not thrive on a

formula diet and stay small and weak. In the farmer’s eyes, it would be wasteful to continue to

feed a piglet who will not provide much profit. The runt piglets are then disposed of in the most

cost effective way, usually by a worker throwing them full force towards a concrete wall,

stomping on their heads, or bashing their bodies with a concrete block. This is the norm, and not

an isolated incident. I have seen this treatment for myself through undercover footage, most

notably through the documentary Earthlings.

Cows

Beef cattle are generally raised on a pasture for a few months before they are sent to a

factory farm to be “finished”. This means they are fed an unnatural diet of corn, because

consumers like the marbled look it gives the meat. Just like with all factory farms, cows are not

given enough space and are fed a steady diet of supplements to keep them from dying. They

stand knee deep in their own waste and grow so fast that their bodies cannot support their own

weight. Cows that happen to be rescued and taken to farm sanctuaries will continue to grow well

beyond the normal slaughtering weight of a typical cow. Since the factories count on the animal

being dead before it reaches a certain weight, many of the cows don’t grow to become the

massive giants you see at the sanctuaries. It is truly an astonishing and frightening feat of modern

science and technology.

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Cows fed growth hormones standing in excrement.www.foodfreedom.wordpress.com

Growing up, I never really thought about why a cow “gives” milk. I assumed that they just did it

all the time and that somehow their utters would burst if they were not milked. I’m ashamed to

admit it, but I was an adult before I knew a cow had to be pregnant before it gave milk. I’m sure

I amnot alone. There are other people like me who just didnot think about it. But the truth is, a

female cow is kept constantly pregnant so she will continue to give milk all year round. Under

normal conditions cows can live about twenty years, but a modern dairy cow is exploited so

much that she has to be sent to slaughter after four years.Her calves are just a byproduct. At one

or two days old the caves are taken away from the mother, because they don’t want the baby to

drink any of the profit. He (it is a “he,” because female caves are kept as future dairy cows) is

then sold to a veal producer. These calves are kept in tiny cages so they can’t move in order to

keep their muscles soft. They are also given an iron deficient milk supplement diet so their flesh

stays white in appearance. After a few weeks they are slaughtered. Meanwhile the mother cow

endures stress from the separation from her calf. Recently, a story made the news of many people

calling the police in Newbury Massachusetts about “strange noises” coming from a nearby dairy

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farm. Upon investigation, it was discovered that the noises were from the mother cows lamenting

the loss of their babies and the cries could be heard for miles.

Because the demand for dairy milk is high, cows are given growth hormones to increase

milk production. This causes her utters to enlarge and become swollen and sore. She will

develop sores on her nipples and when the machine milks her, these sores burst and get puss and

blood in the milk. The FDA knows this is a side effect of modern milk production and that

avoiding blood and puss entirely is impossible. According to Jane Goodall’s book, Harvest for

Hope,U.S. regulations allow for a larger puss cell concentration in milk than any other country,

approximately twice the international average.Growth hormones in the milk can also cause more

problems than puss. Goodall also recounts the story of a two year old little girl living in South

America who started to grow breasts. The growth hormones given to the cows were winding up

in the milk in large quantities. This was not an isolated incident and other countries have seen

this same problem. Some countries like those in the European Union have banned growth

hormonesfor these reasons.

Environmental Benefits

When I spoke to my dad about how the best way to have a positive impact on the

environment was to reduce his meat consumption, he was confused. What did meat have to do

with the environment? Surprisingly, a lot of people don’t know how many environmental things

are impacted by a meat centered diet. The most shocking statistic I’ve ever heard is from

Jonathan SafranFoer’s book, Eating Animals. This is where I first learned that animal agriculture

contributes to global warming 40% more than all the world’s transportation (cars, trucks, planes,

boats, trains,…etc.) COMBINED.In The Food Revolution, John Robbins says that if every meat

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eater in the U.S. replaced meat with a vegetarian optiononce a week, it would be the equivalent

to taking half a million cars off the road. These statistics are true because the modern animal

agriculture system is extremely wasteful. It wastes water, land and fossil fuels, while creating

toxic waste, deforestation, massive CO2 emissions and contributes to the extinction of ocean and

rainforest wildlife.

Environmental activist Alicia Silverstone says in her book, The Kind Diet, that almost

half of the fresh water available to us in the United States is used for agriculture. The chairman

of the Food Science and Human Nutrition Department at Michigan State University says that

2,500 gallons of water is used to produce 1 pound of beef. That isn’t for one cow, but one pound.

That is the equivalent of six months’ worth of showers to get one 16oz steak.

Precious rainforest is also being cut down to make fields for grazing cattle. In The Kind Diet, it

states that 2.4 acres of rainforest are being cut down per second. That’s 75 million acres per year.

The rainforests used to cover 14% of the earth and now it is only 6%. Rainforests supply our

planet with precious oxygen and help to cancel out carbon emissions, so at this current rate of

destruction we will not have clean air to breath.

Factory farms are not good at waste management. Usually on a well-managed farm,

everything works together. The cows eat the grass and then in turn fertilize the land. The animals

and the land form a symbiotic relationship, benefiting one another. But on a factory farm there

are too many animals in one space to adequately manage all of their waste. There is just too

much for it to go back into the earth, so it runs off and pools into giant toxic lagoons. This waste

is so dangerous that if you fall into the lagoon it will kill you instantly, as described in a first-

hand account from Foer’s book Eating Animals.

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Eating meat also contributes to species extinction. Not only are species being lost from

the rainforest, but over fishing is causing many species of marine life to become extinct. When a

fishing boat casts its nets they can count on getting more than the one species of fish that they

intended to catch. The unintended fish are called “bycatch” and are discarded. They are thrown

back into the ocean, dead or dying. This accounts for tons of dead animals including sea turtles,

sea horses, sharks, dolphins and other exotic animals. Many species have already become extinct

or endangered because of over fishing and our oceans simply do not have enough fish left in

them to feed everybody. The figure below sums up some of the greatest problems a meat-

centered diet has on the planet:

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Process

There is no one way to transition into a vegetarian lifestyle. However you choose to stop

eating meat and/or animal products, the end goal is the same. Those foods are just not part of

your diet anymore. But how do you do it? How do you live? What do you eat? For far too long,

meat has been at the center of the meal. If that goes away, what is left? Side dishes? Who can

live on that? Do me a favor, picture the food guide pyramid. (See figure P1) See the little box

labeled meat and beans group? Just take out the meat and leave the beans. Look at what else is

left: Bread and grains, vegetables, fruit, dairy (or dairy substitute), beans, legumes, nuts, seeds,

and in some cases eggs. Literally think outside the box, and think about all the other food choices

available.

Figure P1: USDA Food Guide Pyramid

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True story: I eat more variety now than before I went vegetarian. Don’t think about what

you are giving up as much as what you are adding to your diet. My best advice for a strategy to

transition into a more plant based diet is this: eat more vegetables. Don’t think about labeling

yourself as vegetarian or vegan. Just focus on making vegetables the center of the meal.Don’t

forget the whole grains, they have complex carbohydrates that digest slow and keep you feeling

full longer. Another word of advice, don’t go hungry! I’ve heard people complain about being

hungry on a vegetarian diet, and giving up because they think they are not getting enough

protein. The great thing about plant foods is that it takes more of them to equal the same number

of calories in a smaller portion of meat. You can eat more, while getting the same number of

calories. So if you feel hungry, eat! I’ve never heard of anyone getting fat from too much

broccoli.

Where do you get your protein?

Plant foods have protein too! See figure P2 for examples. It’s a myth that you can only

get all your essential amino acids from animal foods. Yes, animal foods have all nine essential

amino acids, but you know what else does? Soy and quinoa. Also, any grain combined with any

bean/legume will have all nine collectively, making them complete a protein. Don’t let that

worry you, though. It is not like you have to match your foods at every meal to ensure you get all

your amino acids. As long as you eat a variety of foods every day, you will get what you need.

You don’t even have to consume them at the same meal, although you might without even

thinking about it because these foods are commonly eaten together anyway. A peanut butter

sandwich on whole grain bread is a complete protein. Cajun red beans and rice are also a

complete protein. Chinese stir-fry with brown rice and tofu, yes it is a complete protein too!

Protein deficiency disease is so uncommon in developed countries that it is virtually unheard

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of.Really, have you heard of Kwashiorkor? Me neither! There are so many plant foods that

contain lots of protein, and what is even better is they are free of cholesterol and saturated fat. It

is so easy to get enough protein on a vegetarian diet that your biggest worry will be explaining to

everyone else where you do get your protein!

Figure P2: holisticheather.com

Plant based eating is not about depravation or limitations. You can have your cake and

eat it too - which brings me to my next point. What if you want to stop eating all animal products

but are worried that that means you can no longer bake again. Aren’t all brownies and cookies

made with butter and eggs? No. Vegan baking is easy and fun and you can also eat the raw batter

without fear of salmonella!

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Replacing Eggs

Eggs are easier to replace than you may think in baking. The main reason you use eggs in

baking are for two purposes: binding and leavening. There are many plant options that achieve

this same result without the extra fat and cholesterol. Usually baked treats are an indulgence

anyway, so why not make them without some of the guilt? First, binding your batter can be

achieved with any of these options: (all are equivalent to one egg)

• ½ banana, mashed

• ¼ cup applesauce

• ¼ cup pumpkin puree

• 2 tablespoons ground flax seeds, vigorously mixed with ¼ cup water

• Commercial egg replacer product such as Ener G Egg Replacer (figure P3), mixed

according to package instructions

Figure P3: Ener G Egg Replacer; iherb.com

For leavening, the chemical reaction between baking soda or powder and vinegar does the

trick! Just add about two tablespoons vinegar to your wet ingredients, and increase the baking

powder to a tablespoon.

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If this proves to be too “sciencey” for you, just google a vegan version of your recipe and there

will be one out there.

Replacing Dairy

This one is easy. There are about ten different kinds of plant based milk on the market,

from soy milk to rice milk, coconut to almond, hemp to oat. All of them are usually fortified with

calcium and vitamin D, making them excellent replacement for dairy milk. They also come in

sweetened and vanilla varieties, depending on your personal preference. Need buttermilk? Just

add a teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice to a cup of non-dairy milk and let it sit for about five

minutes to curdle.

There are also a number of ways around butter. The most obvious would be to use

margarine instead, but make sure you get a non-hydrogenated margarine such as Earth Balance

Buttery Spread, because trans fats are even worse for your health that saturated fat. A cheaper

alternative would be to use canola oil, but you may need to cut back on the liquid a little bit,

because this will make the batter runnier. A much healthier option would be to use applesauce in

the place of butter or oil, but a word of caution; this tends to make baked goods a little dryer, so

my advice would be to use half oil, half applesauce.

Taking on the world

Okay, so you have mastered the art of plant based eating at home, but what about when

you go out to eat? Luckily, the world has shifted slightly in favor of the vegetarians. You can

now get a veggie burger at Burger King. You can order a veggie sub at Subway or a veggie pizza

at any pizza place. You can even get a basic bean burrito at Taco Bell. Most restaurants offer

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vegetarian options, especially if they serve ethnic food. Chinese, Thai, Indian, Italian and

Mexican are all easy options.

Inevitably, people will be curious about your new lifestyle. Some will react with polite

curiosity, but others will feel threatened or judged because they are choosing to eat meat when

you are not. It is imperative to remember that other people’s eating habits are their own. It is not

your job to convince your uncle at the Thanksgiving table why eating turkey can increase his

chances of getting heart disease. Be confident with your decision and why it makes you happy. If

someone wants to know more you can explain why you made your choice, but please, not at the

table. Others are more likely to be defensive or feel judged if discussions are happening over a

meal. There is nothing more annoying than being self-righteous or holier-than-thou, and it gives

all us vegetarians a bad name.

It is safe to say that there is no right or wrong way when transitioning to a vegetarian diet.

Everyone is different and adapts to change in different ways. A lifestyle choice is a personal one.

Just remember, there are a lot of food options available when choosing to forgo meat. It is not

about restrictions, but about opening new doors and exploring new possibilities with food.

In conclusion, a vegetarian diet has many benefits for you, the animals and the planet. I

hope this report has been thought-provoking and inspiring. Now that you are armed with

healthful information, may you continue to make conscious food choices in line with your own

values and health goals.