Health of Body, Health of Existence

Never in recorded history has man fully renounced the tradition of including meat in a basic diet (Yount). The practice of vegetarianism has grown in popularity in recent years, causing many to speculate as to whether this is a beneficial choice to make. The arguments are not limited to health problems, but also include moral objections and human anatomical problems. Vegetarianism may seem like an advantageous decision to make, as the arguments for it are quite convincing. Most of the reasoning only accounts for short-term effects, and even then they are inadequately defended. The long-term effects are nothing short of disastrous and could be the eventual destruction of mankind. Vegetarianism is a dangerous decision for both the participant's body, and human existence.

The health problems alone should be sufficient evidence to persuade one against solely including plants in his or her diet. The absence of meat in a human's eating habits causes them to be unusually pale and weak. The reasons for these changes include Vitamin D and B-12, iron, and amino acid deficiency; all of which are important parts of one's diet (Alley). The argument that eating meat causes obesity is weak, in that most vegetarians are lacto-ovo vegetarians, meaning that they eat or drink dairy products and eggs, while disregarding other animal products. In fact, these diets are higher in fat than if meat were included (Alley). The practice of vegetarianism is especially harmful in children, causing them to be much smaller and weaker than other children. The reason being that plants simply do not contain enough calories to provide a child with enough energy to live a healthy lifestyle (Alley).

Some argue that studies have shown less heart attacks and lower blood pressure in vegetarians. This is actually true. However, Holly Alley, a nutrition specialist, argues that this research does not rule out other lifestyle habits common among vegetarians that affect health; therefore the research is inconclusive and unreliable. The fact is, the reason the health statistics are higher for vegetarians is that they choose to follow other healthy habits, such as not smoking or drinking, whereas most non-vegetarians do smoke and drink (Alley). Vegetarianism does not cause them to do this; their mindset does. A person could be non-vegetarian and follow healthy habits, causing them to be just as healthy.

Vegetarians often use the argument that the human anatomy simply is not designed to eat meat (Knapp). This argument could not be more flawed. They say that human teeth are not able to sufficiently eat meat. Our teeth are intended for meat eating. Humans have canines and molars, which are found in all carnivores of the animal kingdom. Canines are used for tearing meat, while the molars are used to grind up the food, which could be meat or plant (Fitzroy). Herbivores do not eat meat because they are unable to. They do not possess the ability to kill and eat other animals. Humans, on the other hand, do have body parts such as opposable thumbs and sharp teeth that allow them to kill and eat animals. Simply put, humans are made to eat a balanced diet of both meat and plants.

The aforementioned arguments for not solely eating plants are all short-term reasons. Vegetarians' moral objections are that they are against the killing of animals. They have no moral objections, however, against destroying the entire human race and all animals. If most people are converted into vegetarians, logic dictates that the population of all animals would eventually skyrocket.