15 Reasons for being a vegetarian

I think there are two varieties of vegetarians, those who will and have never eaten dead animals and then there are those who will eat small amounts of meat from time to time. Choosing not to eat meat can be difficult for many reasons. We do not live in a time where we must procure our own meat by killing it. I suspect if we were to be transported to a time where we must procure our own meat a large majority of us will have to reduce the amount of meat we eat.

I have noticed that some vegetarians and vegans walk around feeling important and more worthy than meat eaters. It’s a personal choice and I do not think by choosing to eat meat you automatically become a worse person that those who are vegetarians. I have eaten meat in the past and do occasionally enjoy smoked salmon with cream cheese on a nice, toasted bagel.

There may be ethical reasons to not eat animals but on the other hand, our ancestors were shrewd hunters. We as humans are in this position on top of the food chain because our meat-eating ancestors were able to get dense caloric foods in meat and fats with the help of fire. We should be in gratitude to those ancestors so that we can now choose not to eat meat. Numerous cave paintings depict hunting scenes.

Here are the 15 reasons to eat vegetables over meat!

1. You can retire sooner. On average, meat products are more expensive than vegetables.
2. You will get plenty of fiber when you eat beans and lentils. Happy morning!!
3. Health benefits like reduced cancer risks.
4. Leaner body weight.
5. You don’t need to store your fresh fruits, vegetables, and your dried beans in a fridge. Great perk if you are a “prepper”!
6. Imagine a beef smoothie for breakfast.
7. Chutneys and Achars! Need I say more?
8. Your foods are wonderfully aromatic.
9. Can reheat vegetarian meals in a microwave without getting that weird reheated chicken smell.
10. Fewer carbon emissions
11. It’s easy to get meat substitutes nowadays.
12. Live longer.
13. Cleaning is far easier.
14. Can you imagine Mark Whatney in the movie “The Martian” eating growing farm animals instead of potatoes? No possibility of that happening!
15. Despite not having the genetic risk for Alzheimer’s, meat-eating has been associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer’s.