Meat-Eating Is Maladaptive

A commenter recently asserted, “Being a vegan is basically maladaptive.” He tried to argue ethics based on evolution, saying whatever was good for a species was moral and whatever was bad for a species, immoral. It’s a simplistic and unrealistic perspective that is essentially speciesist.

But… that’s not the topic I’ll cover right here, right now. Rather, I’ll show how meat-eating (in today’s society) is “maladapative.”

1. “vegetarians have only about half the cancer risk of meat-eaters” (source)
2. “The bacterium - a strain of Escherichia coli - makes a toxin that does its worst by latching onto a sugar molecule that humans don’t have naturally. We can, only acquire it by eating red meat or dairy products.” (source)
3. “Consuming dairy foods can increase the risk of prostate cancer.” (source)
4. “Researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, have published a study in the journal Arthritis Research and Therapy showing that eating a vegan, gluten-free diet may reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes in rheumatoid arthritis patients, as well as reducing the severity of the disease.” (source)
5. “The members of the group who followed a vegetarian diet (defined as eating no red meat, poultry, or fish)had lower incidences of many diseases, including obesity, hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, colon cancer, prostate cancer, and ischemic heart disease than the nonvegetarians (Fraser, 1999).” (source)
6. “Most E. coli O157:H7 infections have been associated with eating undercooked, contaminated ground beef.” (source)
7. “in 1999, Key, et al., analyzed the combined results from five studies involving a total of more than 76,000 people that compared the incidence of disease among vegetarians (defined as eating no red meat, poultry or fish) to that of nonvegetarians with similar lifestyles. Mortality from ischemic heart disease was 24% lower in vegetarians than nonvegetarians (Key, et al).” (source)
8. “Salmonella is a bacterial infection that can be passed on to humans from domestic and wild animals, including poultry, pigs, cattle, and pets. But most often, it is caused by drinking unpasteurized milk or by eating undercooked poultry and poultry products such as eggs.” (source)
9. “Countries with a higher intake of fat, especially animal fat, have a higher incidence of breast cancer. Even within Japan, affluent women who eat meat daily have an 8.5 times higher risk of breast cancer than poorer women who rarely or never eat meat.” (source)
10. “people consuming approximately 1 ½ eggs per week had nearly 5 times the colorectal cancer risk compared with individuals consuming less than 11 eggs per year. And, the World Health Organization analyzed data from 34 countries and determined that egg consumption was significantly and positively correlated with mortality from colon and rectal cancers in both men and women.” (source)
11. “The male hormone testosterone that determines sexual development and interest has been found to be 13 % higher in vegans (a strict plant diet – no animal products of any kind) than in meat-eaters. Meat-eaters are likely to become impotent because of damage caused to the artery system that supplies their penis with the blood that causes an erection. Erectile dysfunction is more often seen in men with elevated cholesterol levels and high levels of LDL “bad” cholesterol– both conditions related to habitual meat-eating.” (source)
12. “Food poisoning often occurs from eating undercooked meats, dairy products, or food containing mayonaise” (source)
13. “people who ate the most animal-based foods got the most chronic disease. Even relatively small intakes of animal-based food were associated with adverse effects. People who ate the most plant-based foods were the healthiest and tended to avoid chronic disease.” (source)


From : http://www.vegansoapbox.com/meat-eating-is-maladaptive/

I love the 11th