The question "why did you choose to become a vegetarian?" is constantly proposed to vegetarians, and we are very happy to explain why we made the plunge into the non-meat world. We can speak for hours of animal mistreatment and hormone additions, yet you would almost never hear a vegetarian say that they changed their lifestyle in order to reduce their cancer risk. American society is centered around an addiction to meat, but it is also centered around the sad truth of an abnormally high incidence of cancer. Could the American addiction to meat be linked to the nearly 600,000 cancer deaths each year?
In a 2010 cohort study, the link between a carnivorous diet and cancer risk was interestingly found. Meat-eaters were not only found to have a higher relative risk of cancer: they were found to have lower survival and remission rates than their vegetarian counterparts battling the same cancer. Current science points out that the process of cooking meat imparts cancer-causing proteins into the body, and also that consumed meat essentially rots within one's colon which also increases cancer risk. Compounded with the fact that vegetarians have an average body weight 3-20% lower than that of meat-eaters when it is known that high body weight is directly proportional to increased cancer risk, the case for a vegetarian lifestyle is solidified.
Although there is solid evidence that a long-time vegetarian diet results in lowered cancer risk, it is easy to see how this fact would likely be downplayed and hidden by the media. The meat industry in this country is unbelievably large, and country-wide talk of any study that would discourage Americans from eating meat is considered taboo. With famous advertisements like "Where's the Beef?" ingrained in the minds of Americans, it is clear that progress toward a vegetarian society is relatively impossible.
Questions for Reflection:
Even though a meat-free society is highly idealistic and improbable, important questions can be made. Should cancer treatments include vegetarian diet restrictions, or is the damage already done? Also, what are the true motivations for people to buy meat instead of alternatives such as tofu and tempeh? Does the motivation lie deeper than the idea that meat tastes better than the alternatives?
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Hi Ross! I really enjoyed reading your blog post, especially because it concerned a topic that I have had little prior exposure to. As an individual who does not eat red meat, I have always been aware of the heart conditions that may arise if one consumes high levels of cholesterol. But at the same time, the concept of being a vegetarian has perplexed me for years, mostly because I can't understand how one can live without chicken! I never would have thought that there is such a startling correlation between diet and cancer rates. With this new knowledge, I may consider eating as a vegetarian for a period of time! I can definitely see how this blog post could be expanded into a quality research project!
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