Fine, do what you want - that just leaves more for us meatatarians!!!

Excellent article - "food" for thought. The habits of a lifetime are tough to change, but raising the awareness of the public will make a difference, bit by bit (bite by bite?)

I stopped eating meat 16 years ago primarily for the reasons cited in this article. It amazes me that these facts and arguments don't get more airplay, but I'm always appreciative when someone steps up and shines a light on them.

Most informative article. Like your sister I don't think I'll be giving up meat entirely as I firmly believe "everything in moderation",but possibly eating a bit less by everyone would help ease the negative environmental impact. A thoughtful and well-written piece;hey,that tuition was well spent!

It is well known that red meat isn't very good for you at all. Eating meat as a delicacy, say once a week or so and replacing meat proteins with a little fish and legumes goes a long way in helping sustain both the environment and one's waistline. Whaddya know! The ancients who ate meat in small portions had it right after all!

Its not a question what one gives up but what one eats instead. Meat is classified as "first class protein" with vegetable sources such as beans and legumes (by the way, fish is also meat, they wiggle and try to get away) as second class protein. This description is about how efficiently the human body is able to transform a food into itself and its more efficient and easier to convert animal protein into ourselves than it is to convert a bean or legume.

In every traditional culture when someone suffers from mal-nutrition the recommendation is to eat animal protein -- and that can include dairy.

Lack of protein is a major cause for sweet cravings because both sugar and meat are recognized by the body as sweet. When we crave sweets, as most vegetarians do, it is usually a frustrated craving for protein -- but the vegetarian then eats more carbohydrates instead (which includes beans, which are mostly carbohydrates) -- so is it any wonder that diabetes is rampant in East Indian vegetarian cultures. It is also now rampant in North American meat eating cultures but the reason is the same for both -- to many refined carbohydrates as well as unrefined carbohydrates.

We have our ideals, our philosophies, our religion on the one hand and these emanate from our mind, while on the other hand, our body may have distinctly different needs for different reasons. Unfortunately the two don't often coincide but it is dangerous to feed our bodies based on the inclinations of our mind.

Too much carbohydrates, especially refined carbohydrates are the bane of both the North American and East Indian diets. Insufficient protein, especially first class protein (again I include dairy as first class protein) is necessary to repair the wear and tear from both physical and emotional stress. When our diet is protein deficient, over time it grows weaker.

So if a vegetarian eliminates protein from the diet, where do they get this vitally important macronutrient from? Eating beans and grains together help a lot but over time, this is still too much carbohydrate for the amount of protein our bodies may require -- and different bodies have different needs.

Having said that, a lacto-vegetarian can do acceptably well but its a matter of enough dairy. I think it verges on criminal neglect to raise a child with insufficient protein.

Then there is the lack of fats. Good quality fats may be the greatest nutritional need. Again, within the cultural tradition of vegetarianism, ghee, derived from milk fat is considered one of the most important elements of the Hindu Lacto-vegetarian diet and one of the most wonderful of fats to consume regularly.

As to whether avoiding meat is a higher spiritual practice -- consider how Tibetan Buddhists, who believe in absolute non-killing, non-violence (ahimsa), yet because they live in high mountain regions where vegetable foods may not be so plentiful, where the higher amount of iron necessary for the absorption of sufficient oxygen at high altitudes depends on eating animal protein, particularly red meat. Tibetan Buddhist monks crave and eat a lot of meat, however because of their philosophical-religious perspective will not kill animals even for food. This is left to lower caste members of Tibetan society.

Having said that it is good to cut down and even eliminate all animal protein for short periods of time. Its a denser nutrient and one can have too much of a good thing. Catholics would designate one day a week to not eat meat, though its traditional to substitute fish.

The Hunzas and people who live in the mountains traditionally would run short on all stored food and there is a tendency to eat less and eat less animal protein because its seasonally not so available. I think this has great health benefits. The problem is that we are so separated from the influence of the seasons that all foods are available and consumed all of the time.

Lacto-vegetarian seems fine, except that one is left with the awkward problem of what to do with the newborn male cows when they are not needed for tilling the soil. Its not pretty, nor in my book is it non-violent, but they are either sold to the Muslims in India to slaughter and eat or they are neglected in their stalls, poorly fed and made to die of malnutrition before they reach maturity.

There is no evidence that meat isn't a good food. But good quality meat, including all parts, with organ meat being the most nutritious is the fastest way for most people who are weak and run down to regain their strength.

Its true that vegetarians may be less prone to certain common diseases but on the other hand more prone to others -- that's the problem with studies.

What the author of this article is overlooking is that we can't necessarily solve one dilemma, excess livestock on the planet releasing gas and causing pollution, by creating another, insidious protein and other necessary nutrients only derived from animal sources causing insidious human malnutrition.

I've learned that complex problems are not always so easy to solve as we think. Eggs are by far the cheapest and best protein one can include in the diet. They are plentiful, and relatively cheap and lessens one's nutritional need for meat of all kinds. I think an ova vegetarian diet with a little fermented yogurt is a wise choice and compromise and will not lead to the kinds of protein deficiency, excess carbohydrate consumption that is at the root of so many chronic deficiency diseases.