Consequences of Meat and Dairy

If you still believe this, then reading Diet for a New America could be the dietary equivalent of hearing 500 years ago that the Earth isn't flat. After reading this book, it is easy to get the feeling that everything we have been programmed to believe about meat, dairy and eggs is wrong. And this revelation comes from a somewhat unlikely source, because author John Robbins -- who was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for this 1987 book -- was the heir to the Baskin-Robbins ice cream fortune.

This extremely well-documented book -- with 777 footnotes -- cites hundreds of articles from major medical journals, nutritional experts and comprehensive medical studies that link meat and animal products with heart attacks, cancer, strokes, diabetes, high blood pressure, gout, kidney stones, gallstones, asthma and more.

You will also read about the creative and almost criminal ways the meat, dairy and egg industries -- which are primary sources of nutritional information for our schools, doctors and dietitians -- have fought to prevent the public from understanding the relationship of animal products to heart disease, cancer and other plagues of modern society.

But the reasons Robbins provides for turning away from a meat-centered diet are not limited to merely an attempt to avoid these often-fatal diseases. In fact, it would be hard to imagine another book that has so many different reasons for not doing something that so many people do every day.

Ethical reasons for abstaining from animal products are provided in this book by exposing the inhumane and unhealthy conditions by which a half-million animals are slaughtered in the U.S. every hour. The book begins with a touching collection of true stories from newspaper accounts and books about how dogs, dolphins, and even a canary, pig and giant sea turtle have gone out of their way to save human lives. Read why the town of Edinburgh, Scotland erected a statue in honor of a stray terrier named Bobby. Then Robbins reveals the realities of the slaughterhouse, which are so gruesome that it is understandable why anyone contributing to this appalling ordeal would prefer to pretend they don't exist. And you'll see how modern " factory farms" cram chickens, cattle and pigs into overcrowded, unnatural pens that often allow practically no movement and are breeding grounds for disease, infections and mass hysteria. Even those unconcerned about the welfare of animals should be concerned that government and industry surveys have found between 33 and 90 percent of commercial chickens are contaminated with salmonellosis, and 80 percent of pigs have pneumonia at the time of slaughter. Health officials have told Congress, " The meat we buy is grossly contaminated with both coliform bacteria and salmonella."

Our Natural Resources are being wasted, as we feed 80 percent of the corn and 95 percent of the oats grown in this country to livestock. Feeding grain to livestock and using these animals for meat results in only 10 percent of the calories being available for human consumption, compared to eating the grain directly. Less than half of agricultural acreage harvested in the U.S. is used to grow food for direct human consumption. For every 16 pounds of grain and soybeans fed to beef cattle, we get back only one pound of meat. To supply one person's meat-centered diet for one year, it requires 3 1/4 acres; to supply one pure vegetarian's food for one year, it requires only one-sixth of an acre, meaning 20 times as many people could be fed from a given acreage if they converted from the standard American diet to being a pure vegetarian. This is no minor detail, considering 60 million human beings starve to death in the world every year. Robbins cites author Frances Moore Lappe as showing enough grain is eaten by American livestock daily to provide every human on earth with two loaves of bread. Department of Agriculture statistics show one acre of land can grow 20,000 pounds of potatoes, while that same acre used to grow cattle feed can only produce 165 pounds of beef.

Over half of the water consumed in the U.S. is used to irrigate land growing feed and fodder for livestock, and an average of 2,500 gallons of water is required to produce a single pound of meat. That's as much water as the typical family uses for its household purposes in a month. If the cost of this water was not subsidized by U.S. taxpayers, the cheapest hamburger meat would cost more than $35 a pound. It takes over 4,000 gallons of water to produce one day's food for a meat-eater, compared to only 300 gallons for a pure vegetarian. U.S. livestock also have an impact on the water they don't consume, because they produce 20 times as much excrement as this country's humans.

A 1978 study by the U.S. Departments of Interior and Commerce found one-third of all raw materials used for all purposes in the U.S. go to production of meat, eggs and dairy. Ohio State University agricultural engineers found corn or wheat provides 22 times more protein per calorie of fossil fuel expended than feedlot beef, and soybeans produce 40 times more.

Environmental reasons are given by showing the impact meat eating has on our planet. More than 260 million acres of U.S. forests have been clear-cut to sustain our meat-centered diet. If this deforestation continues, the U.S. would be stripped bare of all its forests in only 50 years. We import 10 percent of our beef, and 90 percent of that is from South and Central America. As of 1985, more than 50,000 of Central America's 130,000 square miles of rain forest had been cleared to raise beef, most of which is exported to the U.S. These lush rain forests support 80 percent of the earth's land vegetation and half of all animal species. As of 1985, 1,000 animal species were becoming extinct every year, most due to destruction of rainforests. These rain forests are essential for offsetting the emission of carbon dioxide in the burning of fossil fuels. One quarter of our medicines are derived from raw materials from the rainforests.

Pesticides and other dangerous chemicals accumulate in increasingly dangerous quantities in the bodies of animals higher up on the food chain. Meat contains 14 times more pesticide residue than plant foods, and dairy products contain 5 1/2 times more. As early as 1966, Congress was told no milk on the market in the nation is free of pesticide residues. The EPA estimates fish can accumulate up to 9 million times the level of PCB's that exist in the water in which they live. Government studies have found significant concentrations of DDT and PCB's in over 99 percent of the mother's milk tested and PCB's in 100 percent of the human sperm samples tested. A 1975 study found meat and dairy products account for over 95 percent of the population's intake of DDT. A 1976 EPA study found breast milk of the average vegetarian mother contained only 1-2 percent of the pesticide contamination of the national average. Tufts University's Diet and Nutrition Letter published a study of the offspring of 242 women who ate varying amounts of fish from Lake Michigan, showing the more fish the mothers had eaten, the more their babies showed abnormal reflexes, general weaknesses, slower response to stimuli and signs of depression. " Even mothers eating the fish only two or three times a month produced babies weighing seven to nine ounces less at birth, with smaller heads," Robbins notes. A follow-up study in 1986 found a correlation between brain damage and low I.Q.'s in those same children of mothers who had eaten the fish as little as once a month.

We know toxic chemicals weaken our immune system, and many scientists believe the AIDS epidemic is partly a result of the toxic pollution that has compromised the efficiency of our immune systems.

And if you are relying on the government for its U.S.D.A. inspection of your meat, good luck! The U.S.D.A. tests only one out of every quarter-million slaughtered animals for toxic chemical residues, and then it tests for only 10 percent of the toxic chemicals known to be present in meat. Robbins advises, " The most effective way to reduce your intake of toxic chemicals is to minimize or eliminate your intake of meats, fish, dairy products and eggs. Choosing organic or unsprayed produce would be the next step."

Growth hormones are another hazard in modern meat. Hormones are naturally secreted in minute quantities by the glands of all animals. For an idea of how sensitive our bodies are to these powerful substances, Robbins quotes one author as explaining, " If our taste buds were as sensitive to flavor as our target cells are to hormones, we could detect a single grain of sugar in a swimming pool of water." Yet these powerful hormones are added to animal feed to increase profits by ensuring the animals mature faster than normal and grow fatter than normal, with little understanding or concern for what their effect will be on the humans who consume them.

One of the serious social problems from these hormones is that they cause girls who eat meat and dairy to reach puberty, and childbearing capabilities, much younger than normal. A number of studies have found meat- and dairy- consuming girls have a much earlier onset of menses than vegetarian girls.

The protein myth is an old argument for consuming animal products. Dating back to 1914, this theory began with experiments that found rats grew faster when fed a diet of animal protein than vegetable protein. This led nutritionists to classify meat, dairy and eggs as " Class A" proteins, plant food as " Class B" proteins and the egg as closest to the ideal protein. It took awhile, but nutritionists eventually realized there is a difference between nutritional needs of rats and humans. For example, human breast milk is 5 percent protein, compared to 49 percent in rat milk. The theory that animal protein is superior to plant protein has generally been discarded by nutritionists, although many people are not aware of that. We also now know that for hard work, it is actually carbohydrates, not protein, that we need. We need protein for other purposes (growing hair, rebuilding blood cells, replacing enzymes, producing antibodies, etc.), but protein combustion is no higher during work than rest. Robbins also cites results from three studies conducted to compare the endurance and stamina of meat-eaters versus vegetarians. The vegetarians surpassed the meat-eaters in all three studies, even when it was sedentary vegetarians compared to meat-eating athletes.

The link between meat and heart disease is a well-established fact in medical literature. Robbins has a good layman's explanation of " atherosclerosis," which is the cause of almost all heart attacks. Atherosclerosis is a narrowing or clogging of the arteries with fatty, waxy deposits on their inner walls, which reduce the size of the openings through which blood can flow. When a clot forms, it causes either a heart attack or a stroke, depending on its location. Heart attacks and strokes cause 50 percent of all deaths in America. Medical understanding of this process has developed over the past 30 years to the extent that most all major medical organizations agree that diets high in saturated fat and cholesterol raise the level of cholesterol in blood, produce atherosclerosis and lead directly to heart attacks and strokes. To avoid the idea that this is a controversial opinion, Robbins cites 45 different articles in medical journals for this one footnote (which is just one of his 777 footnotes).

Early evidence that atherosclerosis is related to diet rather than just growing old came during the Korean War. Autopsies of American soldiers found 77 percent had blood vessels that were narrowed, but no such damage was found in the arteries of the opposing forces of the same age group. From 1963 to 1965 a massive worldwide study examined over 20,000 autopsied bodies, and an unmistakable pattern emerged: People who lived in regions where consumption of saturated fat and cholesterol were high had more atherosclerosis, more heart attacks and more strokes. Robbins cites an avalanche of studies since that time that have shown the same result. This is not good news for the meat and dairy industry, because animal products are the only dietary source of cholesterol, and the primary source of saturated fat .

Robbins cites a 1961 editorial from The Journal of the American Medical Association: " A vegetarian diet can prevent 97 percent of our coronary occlusions." A federal study described as the broadest and most expensive research project in medical history -- taking 10 years and $1.5 million to complete -- concluded in 1984 " for every one percent reduction in total cholesterol level, there is a two percent reduction of heart attack risk." Robbins notes, " We know today how to prevent heart attacks and strokes... But most of us, thanks to the dedicated endeavors of the meat, dairy and egg industries, have not gotten the good news. We still think we must eat animal products in order to be healthy." This book contains an interesting assortment of " nutritional information" and advertising claims (some prohibited after they were ruled " false, deceptive and misleading" ) these industries have used to continue marketing their products to consumers and school children. Robbins quotes Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, as saying, " Over the years, the 'fat lobby' -- the meat, dairy and egg industries, and their academic and political allies -- has not only influenced our nation's food and nutrition policies, it has determined those policies."

The link between meat and cancer has also been well-established. Dr. Gio B. Gori, Deputy Director of the National Cancer Institute's Division of Cancer Cause and Prevention, testified before Congress that nutrition is the key to prevention and control of cancer, and that evidence " makes this notion not only possible but certain (that) dietary factors responsible (are) principally meat and fat intake." We also know the less fiber in people's diet, the more often they get colon cancer. (Animal products have no fiber.)

Read the embarrassing answer given to a Senate committee by the director of the National Cancer Institute in 1976 when asked why his organization spends only 1 percent of its budget on the area of diet. Robbins quotes two-time Nobel Prize Winner Dr. Linus Pauling as stating, " Everyone should know the war on cancer is largely a fraud." Robbins notes, " Today, treating cancer is a huge business. Every 30 seconds another American is diagnosed as having the disease. Typical cancer patients spend over $25,000 to try to treat their condition." Because treatment is more profitable than prevention, Robbins says, " We are losing a war we could prevent."

Robbins envisions a time when people understand the consequences of a meat-centered diet, and make a change for the sake of their own personal health, for the sake of animals, and for the sake of our environment. With decreased personal costs for food, medical care and insurance, more efficient use of natural resources and less dependence on foreign oil, he sees potential for major economic benefits. But, he notes:

"At the present time, when most of us sit down to eat, we aren't very aware of how our food choices affect the world. We don't realize that in every Big Mac there is a piece of the tropical rain forests, and with every billion burgers sold another hundred species become extinct. We don't realize that in the sizzle of our steaks there is suffering of animals, the mining of our topsoil, the slashing of our forests, the harming of our economy, and the eroding of our health. We don't hear in the sizzle the cry of the hungry millions who might otherwise be fed. We don't see the toxic poisons accumulating in the food chains, poisoning our children and our earth for generations to come."

For five years, the Hallelujah Acres ministry has written health information and given it away. For More Articles Like This One, Click Here.