The Lincoln Log

When I was growing up, my parents put my health first. They always worried if I was eating right and eating enough. I always ate what my parents had giving me. As I am getting older, I see more of an increase of vegans and vegetarians. Why are they shunning meat and dairy?

If you didn’t know, vegetarians can’t have any meat product. This includes any type of seafood, red meat, white meat or anything that has those products in it. Vegans, in addition to not eating meat products, cannot have any dairy products. Dairy products include milk, cheese, ice cream, and butter.

However, I do not oppose these eating habits. But I do think that some of the reasons people do it are half-baked.

Some people state that they are doing it for the animals. Animal cruelty is horrible. Don’t get me wrong I love animals. I really do love all living creatures. However, animals are meant to be eaten for survival. Back when humans first ruled the earth, they hunted to stay alive. It isn’t any different now. We hunt to survive.

Some people say it’s a healthier way to live. But what you are really doing is depriving your body from the natural nutrients that you get from eating meat. Yes, of course you should eat veggies and fruit. But there are nutrients that you don’t get from a fruit that you get in meat. Of course you can take supplement pill so you aren’t losing any of those nutrients. But those pills are man made. It’s just not the same as eating the meat. Because you aren’t eating meat, you often turn to unhealthy fatty foods. For example, if you are at a party and they only food they are serving that fits your diet are the chips. You check if there are any products that went into it that you can’t eat. You find that it’s free of dairy and meat. You are starving and proceed to eat the whole bag and then another bag and then another. Is that really healthy?

Now I know when for those who are vegan and vegetarians will be outraged at me for writing this. But this is how I feel. We are growing adults. We need our vitamins. I respect that you can refrain yourself from eating meat. However, we have our whole life to have these boundaries. We shouldn’t make our bodies adjust to our eating habits. We should give what our bodies need. Just because I think we shouldn’t tell our body not to eat the piece of steak doesn’t mean that I think everyone should eat their weight in meat. Like I said, I love animals, I don’t wear any fur and I don’t believe in animal cruelty. But I think we should only eat what we need. Just enough for energy and to survive.