Meat is Suicide

Many chronic diseases prevalent today in the United States, such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and osteoporosis, are due to excess meat consumption. Considering that heart disease, cancer, and diabetes were three of the six leading causes of death in 2000, together resulting in over half the deaths that year (Butler), and fractures in patients with osteoporosis were the fourth leading cause of death in postmenopausal women (Carlson), it seems that a choice to eat meat is a choice to die prematurely.

Vegetarians have a significantly lower rate of heart disease, the most important health issue today in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, heart disease was the leading cause of death in 2000, ending over 700,000 American lives (Butler). The American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada submit:

An analysis of five prospective studies involving more than 76,000 subjects showed that death from ischemic heart disease [problems caused by lack of oxygen to the heart muscle due to narrowed arteries] was 31% lower among vegetarian men compared with nonvegetarian men and 20% lower among vegetarian women compared with nonvegetarian women. (1)

The healthy hearts of vegetarians are due to their lower level of cholesterol buildup. When cholesterol travels through the heart, it is deposited on the arterial walls where it oxidizes, forming a hardened plaque which restricts the flow of blood, thereby preventing oxygen from reaching the heart (University). Blood cholesterol levels are 35% lower in vegans, who eat no animal products, including dairy products and eggs, than in those who eat meat due to several factors. Vegans consume no cholesterol, nor animal protein, which raises cholesterol levels (Mangels). They do, however, consume 2 to 3 times as much fiber as omnivores, twice the amounts of beta-carotene and vitamin E, and 50% more vitamin C (Weisburger). While fiber binds with cholesterol in the stomach, preventing cholesterol from reaching the bloodstream, beta-carotene and vitamins C and E are all antioxidants, which prevent cholesterol from oxidizing (Mangels).

The second leading cause of death in the US is cancer, which claims over half a million lives annually (Butler), and the epidemic is increasing. Each year 1.3 million new cases are diagnosed (Harris) and the number of deaths rises by an average of 7,000 (Butler). The relationship between animal consumption and cancer is evident, as William Harris, M.D explains:

Epidemiologically, the intake of animal source food correlates with the country-by-country incidence of six types of cancer. Although none of the reporting countries can be assumed to have large vegan or even vegetarian populations, it appears that the less animal source food per capita, the lower the cancer rate. (1)

Similarly, it appeared in the Harvard Health Letter that vegetarians were 40% less likely to die of cancer than omnivores (Eat).

While researchers have not come to an agreement on the essential mechanism in meat that causes cancer, two theories have come to the forefront promoting vegetarianism. First, vegetarians eat much more fiber, which is only found in plants. Fiber has been found to decrease the risk of colon and prostate cancers (White) by binding with carcinogens and increasing peristalsis, which lessens their contact time with the intestinal wall, binding with bile and irritants which predispose the intestinal wall to cancer, and promoting healthy intestinal bacteria, leading to overall colon health. Fiber also binds with estrogen, which has been linked to stomach, breast (Sears), and ovarian cancers in women (Cerrato).

The second theory is based on the higher antioxidant intake in a vegetarian diet. When the body uses oxygen, it creates oxidants (unstable “free radicals”) that harm genetic material by “stealing” electrons from other molecules (Nisly). This damaged genetic material can ultimately lead to cancer. Antioxidants neutralize oxidants, rendering them harmless. Nicole Nisly, distinguished physician and Associate Professor at the University of Iowa, writes, “There is considerable evidence that antioxidants slow or possibly prevent the development of cancer” (1).

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, diabetes led to nearly 70,000 American deaths in 1999 (About), having doubled since 1980, ranking it as the sixth leading cause of death in the US (Butler). But these numbers are conservative, informs the National Institutes of Health:

Diabetes was listed as a contributing cause of death on an additional 141,265 death certificates [in 1999]. However, many decedents with diabetes do not have the disease entered on their death certificate; only about 35 to 40 percent have it listed anywhere on the certificate and only about 10 to 15 percent have it listed as the underlying cause of death. (About)

For people with diabetes, the risk of untimely death is twice that of the general population, and the rate of heart disease and stroke is two to four times higher (About).

Several studies implicate meat consumption as a precursor to diabetes. A Harvard study revealed that regular consumption of processed meat resulted in a 46% higher rate of type two diabetes (Andrews), the form of the disease that accounts for 85-90% of all diabetes cases (Australia). Weight is an even more significant determinate; over 80% of diabetes cases are due to being overweight (Andrews). Data in the Oxford Vegetarian Study concludes vegeterians were leaner in every age group for both men and women (Appleby). Lastly, volunteers in the Nurses' Health Study whose intake of whole grains (which are rich in fiber) was the highest were 38% less likely to develop diabetes than those with the lowest intake (Andrews).

Vegetarianism is also important for managing diabetes. Because heart disease is the most common complication of diabetes, the reduced cholesterol buildup of a vegetarian diet (see heart disease, page 2) is crucial (Andrews). Fiber, besides reducing cholesterol, delays the entry of glucose into the bloodstream, reducing blood sugar peaks (GlucoMenu). Even iron depletion, often touted as a nutritional threat to vegetarians, is an ally to diabetics. Low levels of iron are directly related to efficient glucose metabolism due to increased insulin sensitivity, while iron overload is known to cause diabetes (Gaby).

Osteoporosis is a progressive disease characterized by decreasing bone mass. Currently in the US, 44 million (or 55% of) people over the age of 50 have osteoporosis or low bone mass, and this number is expected to grow by 1 million annually. The National Osteoporosis Foundation emphasizes the fact that “osteoporosis is a disease…, not [a] part of normal aging although many people continue to believe this is true” (1). As the disease progresses, the risk of broken bones increases, which, in old age, can lead to death. Ninety percent of all hip fractures occur in patients with osteoporosis, and the death rate in the year following a hip fracture is 30% for men and 20% for women (Osteoporosis).

Low bone density has been linked to animal and animal product consumption in several studies. Harvard’s twelve year Nurse’s Health study, involving 78,000 women, revealed that women who had milk with every meal broke more bones than women who only rarely drank milk, and a study of women over 50 found those who ate meat had twice the bone loss of the vegetarians (Physicians).

The primary reason for the discrepancy is that meat-based protein has a higher percentage of sulfur-containing amino acids than plant-based protein, which results in a higher acid ash content. Acid ash is buffered by the calcium already in our bodies, eventually leaching calcium from our bones (Pawlak).

Another important factor involves the ratio of calcium to phosphorous. Progressive bone loss occurs when our phosphorous intake is too high, especially when we consume less calcium than phosphorous. Furthermore, sodium negatively affects calcium homeostasis, which in turn creates an excess of phosphorous. Lower amounts of both phosphorous and sodium are found in produce than are found in meat (Pawlak).

It’s not only what vegetarians don’t eat that matters. Despite the lower amount of calcium in a vegetarian diet, vegetarians are provided with higher amounts of many other nutrients positively associated with bone density, such as potassium, magnesium, vitamin C, and vitamin K (For).

Our current life expectancy is extremely long in this new millennium. We have plenty of time to develop chronic diseases such as those discussed in this paper that might never have disturbed our ancestors long dead. With the growing bulk of information at hand notifying us of the health risks of meat, what was once a cornerstone of a balanced diet, is now more akin to a cigarette habit: a meager thrill guiding one into an early grave.

Jake Enlow

9 March 2005

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