Carnivore to vegetarian!

I have always been a finicky, picky meat eater. I don't like anything chewy in my mouth. Anything I can see fat on. Anything on the bone or grissly in my mouth. My dad took me and my sister to see a pig butchered when I was young with a hog roast afterwards. Before that I remember when I begged to eat the heart or gizzard of the chicken, but after the slaughter that was enough. When I got older we butchered chickens on the farm. I know where meat comes from now, and no thank you. My choice in meat is very peculiar and difficult to explain, but I liked chicken nuggets, turkey breasts, hamburger, pepperoni, meat on pizza, but not chicken legs, steak, pork chops, roast, etc. The latter all are on bone or have chewy fat in it.

Recently I was reading a book, and it covered the meat topic. I always thought vegetarians were these humanitarian types that equated animals to humans. Although I don't like eating meat, I had believed that God created meat for us to eat. It does have all the amino acids our bodies need, so it only made sense. Then I started reading non-humanitarian reasons not to eat meat.

Animals were made to eat each other. They were created with speed, strong jaws, claws, and canine teeth. Could you imagine us running at lightening speeds, catching a rabbit with wolf like jaws, and tearing it apart with our dull teeth and flimsy fingernails? No?!?! lol! Me neither. Animals have 10x more hydrochloric acid than humans in their stomachs to digest the meat.

Half of the antibiotics every year administered to animals for their infested sore and wounds infected by their own feces and urine, causing antibiotic resistance in us. The University of California Berkley linked eating beef to urinary tract infections in women, the most infectious disease among women. Meat has also been linked to obesity, cancer, liver, kidney, lung, and reproductive disorders, birth defects, miscarriages, and nervous system disorders.

In a book, Diet for a Poisoned Planet, it is reported that of the toxic chemicals found in food, 95 to 99% come from meat, fish, dairy, and eggs. The FDAs own study found 48 pesticide residues in bacon, 102 industrial pollutants and pesticides in bologna and luncheon meats, 123 in hotdogs, and 82 in ground beef. Meat contains 14 times more pesticides than plant foods, and dairy has 5 times more pesticides than plant foods.

Fads like the Atkins diet help lose weight through water weight, meaning you pee a lot. Why is this? It's because our bodies metabolize protein, and the nitrogen waste is excreted from the body through urine. Eat too much protein and you are at risk for developing kidney stones, premature aging, kidney failure, because they must work twice as hard to break down the protein to remove it from your body. In a study involving 1500 patients with diabetes, most had lost 50% of kidney function due to high protein intake. If you are a diabetic, think twice about this, because you are already at risk for kidney disease (renal disease). The majority of those who reach End Stage Renal Disease die within 5 years of being on dialysis if a kidney transplant doesn't happen. 

Blah blah blah about all these risk factors, it's not enough to get me to stop eating meat! Perhaps this will put it away for you.......

The USDA is responsible for providing safety to the consumer on meat, poultry, and egg products, but at the same time those who rank up there in the business are employed in the meat and dairy industries. Conflict of interest for sure.

 In 2003 only 20,000 of the 35 million cows slaughtered were tested for Mad Cow disease. I did the math and that is 0.06%.  Not even ONE percent!!!! Testing is purely voluntary, so if a farmer has his cows die he can turn a blind eye and say it wasn't Mad Cow only because he didn't have it tested. 

My dad once worked for Hormel, the number one maker of your pepperoni. If you love pepperoni, it's more than likely Hormel pepperoni on your pizza. When the machines chopped off factory worker's fingers, it wasn't retrieved out, it was processed. How's that for protein and cannibalism? Oh and do you like eating those chicken nuggets at Mickey D's. Have you seen this picture yet all over Facebook?

Ever wonder why school lunches require to include milk? It's a contract with the USDA to benefit them at our nation's expense. I recently read an article that parents are now receiving notes from schools if they don't send a “balanced” diet to school in their sack of lunches. I'm definitely not sending cow's milk to school with my children. Want to know why, read my blog on the 750,000,000 cow pus cells allowed in a gallon of milk by law. http://aimeezinglife.blogspot.com/2010/06/milk-it-does-your-body-good-or-not.html

Under a current law, the USDA cannot demand a recall on contaminated meat. So lets fill our bellies with salmonella and Mad Cow, and green meat. In 1999, a ground beef plant failed a series of USDA tests for salmonella. 47% of the company's beef contained salmonella---a proportion 5 times higher than the USDA regulations allow. Despite the fact that this indicated high levels of fecal contamination, the USDA continued to buy thousands of pounds for distribution in schools. In fact is one of the largest suppliers for the school meals, providing as much as 45% of the program's ground meat. Freedman and Barnouin

If you want to continue to eat meat, be my guest it is your choice. These hormones in the meat are causing you far beyond what has been mentioned above. It's causing weight gain and acne as well. I have yet to blog on so many topics that have been way overdue, but you ask what can I eat to get my protein. Soy is the big craze for complete proteins, but it is not good for you. “Spit out Soy its bad for you” http://aimeezinglife.blogspot.com/2011/07/spit-out-soy-is-bad-for-you.html Foods with complete proteins are: quinoa (pronounced keen-wa if you go to the store asking for it), spirulina, but eating a combination of beans, legumes, and grains will get you all the complete proteins you need.

Currently there is a new product on the market called Shakeology. It is now being recommended by physicians for their patients. It helps lower cholesterol and regulate blood sugars for you insulin dependent diabetics. As a gluten free advocate, this product is gluten free, dairy free, and contains all the complete proteins you would otherwise receive from meat. In the past I have drank my wheat grass in orange juice. Most people weren't willing to taste it because it looked like grass juice, but it was good. I love Bolthouse Farm's Green Goodness, which is also as green as it gets. Green colored drinks have always been mighty tasty to me, but I'm not going to lie, the greenberry Shakeology was nasty, but the chocolate flavor was like chocolate mousse.  I have yet to try the tropical flavor.   Very good and fulfilling. I mixed it with my coconut milk, and it was so fulfilling that I had a difficult time finishing it off. It is to serve as a meal replacer, so if you find yourself running out the door in the morning and not eating breakfast, mix it up and drink it in the car. It's will get your metabolism going, so that you don't gain weight from not eating breakfast.  If interested, let me know, and I can get you a 25% discount on it each month.

Read  Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin.  Running Press, Philadelphia.  2005.  Most of meat resource came from this book.