Meaty.

Why Is meat bad for you?

How I decided it was bad for me           

About two years ago, while in a serious relationship with an avid meat-eater, I decided meat just wasn’t my thing anymore. Weird. As a steak loving, bacon devouring Texan, I had a difficult time coming to terms with my new beliefs in how I should carry on my lifestyle. I felt this inner obligation to consume meat with every meal, and was led to believe for almost my entire life that meat was what helped you survive. Now, I’m embarrassed of my past, where I was sure to eat and drink everything in my path soobliviously. Oblivious to the lack of nutrients, and surplus of preservatives loaded into every product I consumed. It hadn’t occurred to me for 21 years of living that food is my fuel, and if I fill it with nothing, I will feel like nothing. Which leads me to why I explored different dieting practices in the first place- shall we…

            While fluctuating 10-15 lbs. here and there throughout my young adult life, I began to feel my self-esteem plummet. Loathing my new found discomfort, I discovered a Groupon for a local pole fitness class. It was $50, which was like, ALL of my beer money for the weekend. “Is it worth it?” I asked. I listed the pros and cons, and decided to buy the damn thing already. I am so glad I made that $50 investment toward my future in pole fitness, because without it I would not be where I am today. That being said, my new found love and passion for the pole (yeah yeah, laugh it up) required some self-discipline. Meaning, if I wanted to get my happy ass upside down in the air, dangling by a single knee pit, I needed to get lighter, and gain BOAT LOADS of more energy. But that’s not all…

            Most of you know my mother passed away in 2007 while I was a junior in high school. What you may not know, is how she passed away. A week after she was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes she had been mis-perscribed for her new illness, in combination with other existing illnesses. This led me to research the causes and effects of Type 2 Diabetes and how I could prevent me and my loved ones from further getting it. Know what I found? Eating a whole foods, plant based diet not only prevents cancerous diseases, but also reverses them. That’s right-living, breathing people existing in this world have reversed their Type 2 Diabetes by cleaning up their diet completely. And it all makes so much sense when you look at it from a bird’s eye view in a political perspective, but that’s for a separate blog post completely… But onward to the facts.

I’m going to do my best to cover all misconceptions of vegetarianism in this simple little post, but forgive me if I leave some out, because there are just too many haters out there to cover it all…

1.) You need meat to live
This one makes me smile it’s so dumb. You need certain nutrients to survive(carbohydrates, fats, fiber, proteins, water, vitamins) which can all be obtained with a vegetarian life style. If you actually pay attention to your portions and what your food literally consists of, you will be just fine. While red meat is an excellent source of Iron, Foods such as spinach, kale, cauliflower and potatoes provide all the necessities as well. Women typically need 18 MG of iron per day due to their period every month, while Men really only need 8 MG. Whatever.

2.) If you don’t eat meat you won’t have energy and appear malnutritioned
On the contrary! First of all, what even GIVES humans energy? Food. The cleaner you eat, the better your body can digest all the nutrients it needs to fuel your 8 hour work day, 2 hour workout-sesh in time to drag yourself into the tub for an Epsom salt bath. Inhaling a #1 from the chick-fil-a drive through before putting in a wasteful hour on the treadmill will have you running in place. No pun intended, OHHHH.

3.) You will be protein deficient
Did you know the daily allowance of protein is .36 grams per pound (of body weight), and about .63 grams for athletes? Did you also know that the typical American diet is overflowing in ‘precious’ protein? Did you ALSO, also know that men, later to be diagnosed with cardiovascular disease (caused by bad dieting) experience erectile dysfunction, meaning even MORE pills?! I don’t know about you, but if a man eating a salad prevents that kind of thing, then bring on the spinach.  Moral of the story, we get enough protein as long as we’re not eating Cheetos and spaghetti all day. Read more here!

So here’s my question to you:
Why is meat bad for you?

Beside the fact that it’s loaded with saturated fat and sodium, there is also con’s regarding the way the meat was raised. Let me going ahead and state that I am not a vegetarian because I believe eating meat is cruel to animals-sorry. My concerns consist of questions like: Were the animals fed a healthy diet? Or were they fed corn, loaded in unnecessary, cheap and convenient sugars that are then passed onto the human? Were the animals raised in FDA approved (joke!), sanitary conditions? Or were they chain linked ankle-to-ankle, paralyzing, and forcing them to live and eat their own waste? Yeah, I wouldn’t want to think about it either. So I don’t!

There are many ways you can perceive a vegetarian-But ‘dumb’ or ‘lazy’ are not one of them.
It takes time and effort to self-educate as well as maintain self-discipline (in the beginning).   In fact, I think vegetarians are the complete opposite of dumb and lazy, aren’t they/we? Do we not consider each meal carefully by its contents and how it will benefit our nutrient intake for the day? Do we not go lengths to ensure our vegetables come from a reliable source? I’ve spent 2 hours, TWO HOURS at a grocery store reading the labels and googling their entire EVERYTHING-on more than one occasion.

I think the real problem meat eaters have with vegetarians is that-
1.) Some of us may impose our lifestyle upon others-as do members of any particular groups or religion. Understandable.
2.) They are not educated on the topic, and think food is just a thing that you do.

So when you ask, “Jonna, why don’t you eat meat?” I probably will give you some vague answer, and later on send you this link. I don’t avoid meat because the animal itself is bad for you; I avoid meat because people don’t know how to safely get it to the farm and onto my plate in a humane fashion. From the unsanitary living conditions, to the preservatives and genetically modified plant/animal feed-there are so many disgusting and eerie details involved in how exactly you got that burger from the drive-thru window. In an effort to stay out of the Dr.’s office that America so romantically clings to, I stay a step ahead of the game and remain aware of the nutrients I’m feeding my body, as well as the toxic I’m shielding out. And if I could do anything with my continuing hunger for knowledge regarding human health, I would go back in time and help my mom make the right decisions so that she could be here to see me dance today.

Rest in peace Kristin Dawn Page