Tea Time 3-12-18

Lettuce Talk About Vegetarianism

Recently, I had an encounter with a cashier at one of my local grocery stores that changed my entire perspective on diet. I got into a conversation about vegetarianism that sparked a sudden curiosity within me. After this simple encounter I began intense research. I went to a bookstore and read up on a plant-based meal plan, used my laptop and read for hours about a vegetarian diet, and consulted Netflix to find any documentary I could about the effects of meat on my body. Soon, I was convinced that much of what I had been told my whole life was a façade. I was shocked to find that processed meats are the major cause of diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, and that processed meats are categorized as a Group 1 carcinogen in the same group as cigarettes. This research truly intrigued and terrified me as I realized I had been a carnivore my whole life.

Quickly, I realized that meat-eating was harming my body which is supposed to be a temple for God as it says in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies."

It is also harming our earth which we are instructed to keep unpolluted which is said in Numbers 35:33, “You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.” Still, I realized my carnivorous diet also contributed to animal cruelty and inhumane practices that are, unfortunately, common within the meat industry and obviously looked down upon in God’s Word. One can see this in Proverbs 12:10, “Good people take care of their animals,~but even the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel.”

Looking further into this issue I realized that my diet was nothing I was proud of, especially in front of God. Now, I am not supposing or suggesting that if a person eats meat their eternal salvation will be void, but I do believe that due to our modern production of meat God would support a plant-based diet, only to make our time on earth more healthful, extended, and humane. Multiple studies show that people who adopt a vegetarian or vegan diet live on average seven to thirteen years longer than meat-eaters! Still, switching to a vegetarian diet also benefits the environment. Dioxins, one of the major pollutants which contributes to cancer, asthma, and also deteriorates the ozone layer, are found in alarming amounts in beef specifically and our bodies have no way to rid itself of dioxins. Only pregnant women can get rid of dioxins in which the dioxins are transferred to the baby. Becoming vegetarian has other incredible benefits besides the ones I’ve already mentioned, such as: contributing to alleviating world hunger, building healthier bones, conserving water, lowering green house gas emissions, saving animal life, reducing the amount of harmful antibiotics in your body along with lower risk of stroke, obesity, and cardiovascular disease. As my father once wisely said, “Health is not what you eat, but what you don’t eat.”

If my article has peaked your interest in adopting a vegetarian diet I have combined a few of my favorite resources that helped me come to the conclusion of vegetarianism:

• How Not To Die by Gene Stone and Michael Greger
• What the Health- Netflix documentary
• In Defense of Food- Netflix documentary
• Cowspiracy- Netflix documentary
• Forks Over Knives- Netflix documentary

Sources:

Editors, Vegetarian Times. “16 Reasons You Should Go Veg.” Vegetarian Times, 15 June 2007, www.vegetariantimes.com/health-and-nutrition/why-go-veg-learn-about-becoming-a-vegetarian.

“Vegetarian ProCon.org.” ProConorg Headlines, vegetarian.procon.org/.

Andersen, Kip and Keegan Kuhn, directors. “What the Health.” 2017.