Vegetarianism and going green

Have you ever thought about what you eat in your efforts of going green?  Besides going organic we should avoid or at least limit the amount of meat we consume.  A friend of mine shared the following:  (I will post the link and content because I hate having to navigate away from what I am doing)

http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/66075/

"People are drawn to vegetarianism by all sorts of motives. Some of
us want to live longer, healthier lives or do our part to reduce
pollution. Others have made the switch because we want to preserve
Earth's natural resources or because we've always loved animals and are
ethically opposed to eating them.

Thanks to an abundance of
scientific research that demonstrates the health and environmental
benefits of a plant-based diet, even the federal government recommends
that we consume most of our calories from grain products, vegetables
and fruits. And no wonder: An estimated 70 percent of all diseases,
including one-third of all cancers, are related to diet. A vegetarian
diet reduces the risk for chronic degenerative diseases such as
obesity, coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and
certain types of cancer including colon, breast, prostate, stomach,
lung and esophageal cancer.

Why go veg? Chew on these reasons:

1.
You'll ward off disease. Vegetarian diets are more healthful than the
average American diet, particularly in preventing, treating or
reversing heart disease and reducing the risk of cancer. A low-fat
vegetarian diet is the single most effective way to stop the
progression of coronary artery disease or prevent it entirely.
Cardiovascular disease kills 1 million Americans annually and is the
leading cause of death in the United States. But the mortality rate for
cardiovascular disease is lower in vegetarians than in nonvegetarians,
says Joel Fuhrman, MD, author of Eat to Live: The Revolutionary Formula
for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss. A vegetarian diet is inherently
healthful because vegetarians consume no animal fat and less
cholesterol and instead consume more fiber and more antioxidant-rich
produce -- another great reason to listen to Mom and eat your veggies!

2.
You'll keep your weight down. The standard American diet -- high in
saturated fats and processed foods and low in plant-based foods and
complex carbohydrates -- is making us fat and killing us slowly.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and a
division of the CDC, the National Center for Health Statistics, 64
percent of adults and 15 percent of children aged 6 to 19 are
overweight and are at risk of weight-related ailments including heart
disease, stroke and diabetes. A study conducted from 1986 to 1992 by
Dean Ornish, MD, president and director of the Preventive Medicine
Research Institute in Sausalito, California, found that overweight
people who followed a low-fat, vegetarian diet lost an average of 24
pounds in the first year and kept off that weight 5 years later. They
lost the weight without counting calories or carbs and without
measuring portions or feeling hungry.

3. You'll live longer. If
you switch from the standard American diet to a vegetarian diet, you
can add about 13 healthy years to your life, says Michael F. Roizen,
MD, author of The RealAge Diet: Make Yourself Younger with What You
Eat. "People who consume saturated, four-legged fat have a shorter life
span and more disability at the end of their lives. Animal products
clog your arteries, zap your energy and slow down your immune system.
Meat eaters also experience accelerated cognitive and sexual
dysfunction at a younger age."

Want more proof of longevity?
Residents of Okinawa, Japan, have the longest life expectancy of any
Japanese and likely the longest life expectancy of anyone in the world,
according to a 30-year study of more than 600 Okinawan centenarians.
Their secret: a low-calorie diet of unrefined complex carbohydrates,
fiber-rich fruits and vegetables, and soy.

4. You'll build strong
bones. When there isn't enough calcium in the bloodstream, our bodies
will leach it from existing bone. The metabolic result is that our
skeletons will become porous and lose strength over time. Most health
care practitioners recommend that we increase our intake of calcium the
way nature intended -- through foods. Foods also supply other nutrients
such as phosphorus, magnesium and vitamin D that are necessary for the
body to absorb and use calcium.

People who are mildly
lactose-intolerant can often enjoy small amounts of dairy products such
as yogurt, cheese and lactose-free milk. But if you avoid dairy
altogether, you can still get a healthful dose of calcium from dry
beans, tofu, soymilk and dark green vegetables such as broccoli, kale,
collards and turnip greens.

5. You'll reduce your risk of
food-borne illnesses. The CDC reports that food-borne illnesses of all
kinds account for 76 million illnesses a year, resulting in 325,000
hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths in the United States. According to
the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), foods rich in protein such
as meat, poultry, fish and seafood are frequently involved in
food-borne illness outbreaks.

6. You'll ease the symptoms of
menopause. Many foods contain nutrients beneficial to perimenopausal
and menopausal women. Certain foods are rich in phytoestrogens, the
plant-based chemical compounds that mimic the behavior of estrogen.
Since phytoestrogens can increase and decrease estrogen and
progesterone levels, maintaining a balance of them in your diet helps
ensure a more comfortable passage through menopause. Soy is by far the
most abundant natural source of phytoestrogens, but these compounds
also can be found in hundreds of other foods such as apples, beets,
cherries, dates, garlic, olives, plums, raspberries, squash and yams.
Because menopause is also associated with weight gain and a slowed
metabolism, a low-fat, high-fiber vegetarian diet can help ward off
extra pounds.

7. You'll have more energy. Good nutrition generates more usable
energy -- energy to keep pace with the kids, tackle that home
improvement project or have better sex more often, Michael F. Roizen,
MD, says in The RealAge Diet. Too much fat in your bloodstream means
that arteries won't open properly and that your muscles won't get
enough oxygen. The result? You feel zapped. Balanced vegetarian diets
are naturally free of cholesterol-laden, artery-clogging animal
products that physically slow us down and keep us hitting the snooze
button morning after morning. And because whole grains, legumes, fruits
and vegetables are so high in complex carbohydrates, they supply the
body with plenty of energizing fuel.

8. You'll be more "regular."
Eating a lot of vegetables necessarily means consuming more fiber,
which pushes waste out of the body. Meat contains no fiber. People who
eat lower on the food chain tend to have fewer instances of
constipation, hemorrhoids and diverticulitis.

9. You'll help
reduce pollution. Some people become vegetarians after realizing the
devastation that the meat industry is having on the environment.
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), chemical and
animal waste runoff from factory farms is responsible for more than
173,000 miles of polluted rivers and streams. Runoff from farmlands is
one of the greatest threats to water quality today. Agricultural
activities that cause pollution include confined animal facilities,
plowing, pesticide spraying, irrigation, fertilizing and harvesting.

10.
You'll avoid toxic chemicals. The EPA estimates that nearly 95 percent
of the pesticide residue in the typical American diet comes from meat,
fish and dairy products. Fish, in particular, contain carcinogens
(PCBs, DDT) and heavy metals (mercury, arsenic, lead, cadmium) that
can't be removed through cooking or freezing. Meat and dairy products
can also be laced with steroids and hormones, so be sure to read the
labels on the dairy products you purchase.

11. You'll help reduce
famine. About 70 percent of all grain produced in the United States is
fed to animals raised for slaughter. The 7 billion livestock animals in
the United States consume five times as much grain as is consumed
directly by the American population. "If all the grain currently fed to
livestock were consumed directly by people, the number of people who
could be fed would be nearly 800 million," says David Pimentel,
professor of ecology at Cornell University. If the grain were exported,
it would boost the US trade balance by $80 billion a year.

12.
You'll spare animals. Many vegetarians give up meat because of their
concern for animals. Ten billion animals are slaughtered for human
consumption each year. And, unlike the farms of yesteryear where
animals roamed freely, today most animals are factory farmed -- crammed
into cages where they can barely move and fed a diet tainted with
pesticides and antibiotics. These animals spend their entire lives in
crates or stalls so small that they can't even turn around. Farmed
animals are not protected from cruelty under the law -- in fact, the
majority of state anticruelty laws specifically exempt farm animals
from basic humane protection.

13. You'll save money. Meat
accounts for 10 percent of Americans' food spending. Eating vegetables,
grains and fruits in place of the 200 pounds of beef, chicken and fish
each nonvegetarian eats annually would cut individual food bills by an
average of $4,000 a year.

14. Your dinner plate will be full of
color. Disease-fighting phytochemicals give fruits and vegetables their
rich, varied hues. They come in two main classes: carotenoids and
anthocyanins. All rich yellow and orange fruits and vegetables --
carrots, oranges, sweet potatoes, mangoes, pumpkins, corn -- °©owe
their color to carotenoids. Leafy green vegetables also are rich in
carotenoids but get their green color from chlorophyll. Red, blue and
purple fruits and vegetables -- plums, cherries, red bell peppers --
contain anthocyanins. Cooking by color is a good way to ensure you're
eating a variety of naturally occurring substances that boost immunity
and prevent a range of illnesses.

15. It's a breeze. It's almost
effortless these days to find great-tasting and good-for-you vegetarian
foods, whether you're strolling the aisles of your local supermarket or
walking down the street at lunchtime. If you need inspiration in the
kitchen, look no further than the Internet, your favorite bookseller or
your local vegetarian society's newsletter for culinary tips and great
recipes. And if you're eating out, almost any ethnic restaurant will
offer vegetarian selections. In a hurry? Most fast food and fast casual
restaurants now include healthful and inventive salads, sandwiches and
entrées on their menus."

Nine and Ten should really get you thinking!