Non Vegetarian:

Vegetarians are those people who do not eat meat while non vegetarians are those who include meat in their diets. The following essay will explain the benefits of being a non vegetarian over a vegetarian.

The first aspect to consider is the issue of nutrition. Eating meat comes with numerous health benefits that cannot be derived from any vegetarian meal. To start with, meat contains high quality proteins with all the essential amino acids. Proteins are very useful in body building and thus persons relying only on plant foods for proteins are more vulnerable to retarded growth and a weak body than a non vegetarian. A well cooked chicken provides amino acids that protects from common influenza and enhances a person’s immune system against common ailments and allergies. Meat contains creatinine which is necessary for building the body muscle mass for locomotion and other physical practices. Most vegetarian infants exhibit stunted growth (Brown, 2008).

Iron which is a crucial mineral in hemoglobin formation and the consequent blood level sustenance especially for menstruating women is present in huge quantities in red meat than from any plant source. Animal liver for instance, contains 6000 mcgm per every 100 grams as opposed to 325 mcgm per every 100 grams of carrots. Bone marrow and soup is also a very rich source of iron as compared to green vegetables. Vegetarians are more likely to suffer from iron-deficiency anemia due to a low iron level.

The phosphorus content found in cereals and legumes is normally in the form of phytic acid. This means this kind of phosphorus has to be hydrolyzed first before it can be absorbed into the body. On the contrary, the phosphorus found in meats is easily absorbed in body tissues indicating that non vegetarians are more likely to have the desirable levels of phosphorus in the body than vegetarians. Meat also contains high levels of vitamin B12 which is absent in plant foods. Deficiency of vitamin B12 may lead to Macrocytic Anemia in infants of vegetarian mothers. Strict vegetarians face the risk of nutritional deficiencies such as riboflavin, zinc, iron, calcium and essential amino acids like lysine and methionine. Vegetarian children face the risk of energy deficiency in calories (Brown, 2008).

Fish, milk and milk products are very rich in calcium which is important for ensuring strong bones and teeth. Children lacking meat in their diets normally have problems in teeth formation and their bones are weak often resulting to frequent fractures and limb deformations and rickets due to lack of vitamin D. The calcium quantities in plant foods are minute and unreliable when it comes to proper bone and teeth formation. Osteoporosis may result due to calcium deficiency and cause bone demineralization

Some fish types such as tuna and salmon contains omega 3 acids which are very useful in mental health and general physical health. Omega 3 acids also have good anti-cancer properties. Fish also contains vitamin A well known for its ability to boost human memory and thus intelligence. Children fed with fish supplements are found to perform better academically than those who depend entirely on plants for their food.

The nutrients concentration in meat is high as compared to that in plant foods and hence little quantity of food is required in non vegetarian diets than in the vegetarian ones. This has the advantage of reducing the cases of food shortages if all people would adopt the concept of having meat as part of their diets and the resultant savings on food would be channeled to other financial needs. The good thing with non vegetarians is that they consume both plant foods as well as meat thus it is easier for them to attain a balanced diet than those who cannot eat meat. Patients who eat meat are found to recover more quickly than those who don’t since meat helps to speed up the repair of damaged body cells and formation of new cells.

Vegetarians face a higher rate of lack of food choices since restaurants still do not provide a wide range of vegetarian foods and preparing the food separately may be time consuming and expensive. Also a person is more likely to miss vegetarian food options when they drop at a friend’s house for dinner. On the contrary, a non vegetarian cannot suffer such food option limitations since they can feast on both plant foods as well as meat.

Vegetarians will have more hard times eating out with friends since it is much easier to arrange meals for everyone in the group rather than making separate meals for people who don’t eat meat. A non vegetarian will find it uncomfortable to eat from the same table with people eating meat which is not the case with a non vegetarian who can eat any kind of food on the table (Brown, 2008).

Ecological issue is another aspect to consider when thinking of the benefits of being a non vegetarian. Man makes part of the ecological food web that is responsible for balancing the natural occurrence of living things; animals and plants. If all people were to stop eating meat from animals, the population of herbivores would drastically increase resulting to lack of pasture and fodder for the domestic animals due to over competition. This would in turn result to starvation of the livestock and their eventual death. This explains the essence of man having to include animal meat in their diet to maintain a balance on the number of herbivores feeding on plants at any given time.

Animal products such as skins, hides, fur and bones are useful in production of leather items, clothing and adhesives. This implies that having meat as part of the human diet comes with other benefits of the by products. It is ironic that people are against non vegetarian practices yet they are quick to use leather products obtained after these animals are slaughtered.

Most of the religious beliefs that make people not to eat meat are based on the belief of reincarnation. Most Asian religious groups that do not eat meat believe that when a person dies, they reincarnate in form of an animal. This makes them believe that eating meat would mean eating their ancestors or those who have just died. The truth about this belief is very questionable since their mythical theory cannot explain why the animal population is still low in comparison to the number of people who have died. Animals are born and develop just like humans do and never do they emerge from reincarnation as alleged.

In a biblical point of view, God created man and gave them dominion over all animals. He did bless the animals for human consumption and hence eating meat should not be considered as sin. The Quran also allows its followers to have meat as part of their food. Animals cannot be fully personified to possess “human rights” of not being killed for human consumptions.

Owing to the above benefits associated with eating meat, it is therefore more logical and beneficial for all people to become non vegetarians, and assume the full benefits that come with the consumption of meat.

Reference:

Brown E. (2008). Nutrition Now: Cengage Learning, 2008