What benefits do you get from being Vegetarian?

[Thyunda]

Vegetarianism only seems to HAVE drawbacks. I can't actually understand it. One of my friends is vegetarian simply because he doesn't like the taste of any meat he's tried. But, to choose not to eat meat for any other reason...it just doesn't make sense to me. Why would you deliberately restrict what you can do simply because you think it somehow makes a difference?

I will eat anything. If I've never tried it before, I have no reason to say no, regardless of what the food is. Unless it's halal meat. I won't be a part of that. I accept that slaughtering animals for food is...well...It's not 'bad', per se. We have to eat. We are built to eat meat, eggs and vegetables in equal measure, and that's what I intend to do. The only way to meet the demand is to control the slaughtering of animals. Some level of cruelty is unavoidable.
Halal meat, however...No. Unnecessary. Just...why?! Why do it? Just kill the bloody thing and eat it. I don't see how you people find this hard to understand! There is absolutely no need for your religious methods of killing.

Anyway. I went off-track. I meant to say I HAVE tried Quorn. It does not compare to the real thing. I have tried eating like a vegetarian...and I can't do it. It felt like having my batteries taken out and replaced with potatoes. Sure, it's the 'humane' option, but the payoff was pathetic!

And to you guys saying you're perfectly healthy despite being vegetarians...well. If you've never eaten meat, how do you know you're at your peak? All that energy you have...a good steak and you could be on top of the world. You have canines for a reason.

And one final point. If meat causes more weight gain, how come all the vegetarians I know are worryingly large? The aforementioned friend eats regular, mid-sized meals, and refrains from snacking during the day. I'm constantly eating. I can't ever seem to fill up. Yet the size difference between us....good God. He must just eat McDonalds vegetables or something.

 

[Combustion Kevin]

unless you're allergic/intollerant to meat, I think you may be missing the point of the vegetarian lifestyle.

it's purely idealistic, not there is anything wrong with idealism, mind you.

 

[ACman]

Food's cheap and you consume less saturated fat.

I'm not vegetarian but those are the obvious pros that I can appreciate.

Problem is that's it's cheaper and you have to eat alot more since protein has a higher caloric value than fruits or vegetables.

There's no real advantage either way but full vegans need to supplement their diet with extra calcium and vitamin D to keep their bones and teeth healthy.

Still don't understand the cruel part of the modern slaughter. They kill the animals in less than a second and with no evident suffering.

OP isn't talking about vegans. We're talking about vegetarians. So we are allowed cheese, eggs and honey.

Yes, you have to eat more; but there is no denying that it's cheaper energetically to be vegetarian.

 

[Dystopia]

I was vegetarian for 12 years and have just started eating meat again. I gave up meat because my hippy friend in school decided to go vegan and I wanted to support her, but there was no way I was going THAT far.

It mostly became a habit, though I did learn a lot about animal cruelty, plus I'm not really a big fan of meat. I don't like bacon, pork, beef, turkey, ham and most types of seafood. In restaurants, the veggie option always seems to be better.

 

[Nihilism_Is_Bliss]

The benefit of being a vegetarian?

The supposed moral high-ground.

 

[Ruwrak]

I dunno really, I eat Tofu from time to time mixed with some garlic peppers and some salad on the side. And it tastes good. The same goes for other soj based products (except for one or two things).

However.

Meat tastes just... well good. Serve me an argentina steak for 120? (yeah I had that. God it was good x.x. Was out with a girlfriend, she had the money to say 'oh imma treat you to something tasty'.) and I'll eat on it for about 45 - 1 hour (heated plates ftw.).

From my point of view, eating or not eating meat does not influence the health -that- much. Since meat also contains things a body needs (but can also extract from veggies, albeit it needs more of it to get the same amount.) I find it an important part of the diet. It's the eating to much of it what is the problem.

And why am I not a vegetarian if I like the healthy soj food things so damn much? Well... You can hop high or low, but I just like meat alot. Especially stakes. Does it make me evil? Not really. Does it make me someone with a different point of view on life? Certainly.

Now I'm not going in on the 'you eat meat, you're an animal maltreatant' or things like that. It's my opinion and I am entitled to it (as much as you (the one who is already writing an angry reply.) have a right to yours.). But bear in mind, I'm not condemming anything or approving anything else but my own points of perspective.

I maintain a general rule that when someone says "You should " to counter that with "I'll decide that for myself, no need to force or try to make me do ".

[DISCLAIMER] Please do read. Lotsa people been nagging me recently about trivial matters which could have been avoided

Written in all due respect to everyone and their believes about meat, diets and eating vegetarian (or not). If anyone is offended or angered by this, well... Take a chill before writing a reply.

[/DISCLAIMER]

Edit: I forgot to answer the original question: What benefits you from beeing a vegetarian?
Well for one I lose weight 5x as fast when I stick to soj based meat products like Tofy or Quorn (I hate the minced meat though. The sausages are fine, along with any cheeseburgers or Valess products.). So I guess it's good for my weight somewhat?

 

[MasterOfHisOwnDomain]

Even though you pointed out it was a joke, its still pretty accurate based on every vegetarian I know. Most go to great pains to tell me how horrible it is how meat is prepared or the issues around how animals are killed and so on.

That isn't just because they're vegetarians, it's because those people are self-righteous twats. Ignore them. I'm a pescetarian (no meat but fish) and I've never preached. In fact, I only ever talk about it when people explicitly ask me...

The benefits of a vegetarian diet are:

• 
  - A vegetarian diet tends to be lower in total fat.
  - It is far, FAR better for the environment.
  - Quite a number of vegetarian meals are cheap and easy to make.

 

[grizzlyAssuager]

Our bodies are designed to eat both so it doesn't matter. We have four sharp canine teeth in our mouth and it sure as hell isn't for tearing apart the skin of an apple. We also have the ability to survive without eating meat and you should not be against it. We are designed as predators though, so don't ever let someone who doesn't eat meat tell you otherwise. Our eyes sit in the front of our skull, not off to the side. Our ears are small, like most meat eaters.

What? "eyes to the front, must be a predator."? Those canine teeth are little pathetic stumps compared to those of dogs, cats, or even bears and pigs, who are omnivores. Actually, all our teeth are shitty little things, barely capapble to raise fear in the hearts of apples and pears.
People are good at a. picking fruit and herbs and b. walking after some animal until it falls down from exhaustion. And then cooking it, because shitty little teeth and ifficient digestive tract.
The cool thing is, we aren't designed as anything, and form does not always define function.(but most of the time it does). Humans are a bit strange when it comes to the characteristics of their digestive tracts. Also, things evolve and change! Our ability to digest lactose (for some, at least) is a relatively recent thing, that only started when we were keeping cattle. What I'm trying to say is that it's not exactly clear, from using comparative anatomy, what humans are "supposed" to eat, or were eating in the past. We are strange/awesome like that! We can eat anything! As long as we cook it seriously and wash our vegetables.

I am not vegetarian. It is proven though that a vegetarian diet is the easiest way to a. loose weight and b. prevent heart disease. Those are serious benefits!

 

[Flopus]

Our bodies are designed to eat both so it doesn't matter. We have four sharp canine teeth in our mouth and it sure as hell isn't for tearing apart the skin of an apple. We also have the ability to survive without eating meat and you should not be against it. We are designed as predators though, so don't ever let someone who doesn't eat meat tell you otherwise. Our eyes sit in the front of our skull, not off to the side. Our ears are small, like most meat eaters.

actually, we've devolved from predators, we've lost all the natural weapons we had when we were apes, we're now something completely unique and new, surviving with our brains instead of our bodies, which is why we have the right to choose what we want to eat

not to continue fueling a flame war... (just kidding I'm totaling fanning the flames)

that's actually not correct, either of you, what would be a proper way of looking at it would be to see humans as apes (scavenging omnivores) who evolved larger brains due to increased meat in our diets and then used that to hunt the everlasting shit out of everything. We hardly devolved from predators as much as became the apex of all predators. So basically we started as scavengers who learned to be predators who realized that we should eat everything we can.

 

[Marmooset]

I enjoy the fact that some people seem to take my being a vegetarian as a personal affront, or even as their business.

 

[MasterOfHisOwnDomain]

So basically we started as scavengers who learned to be predators who realized that we should eat everything we can.

And I like to think we've now learnt that we actually don't have to eat everything we can, because you can go to Tesco, or Wal-mart or wherever and subsist perfectly happily on non-meat products... Just going to throw that out there. Feel free to shoot me down.

 

[pirateninj4]

Actually science doesn't care either way. You can get just as much protein from vegetables and alternative sources as you get from meat, and it's a lot more digestable.

Don't forget that you aren't supporting the bloated and horrendously evil mass farming industry.

 

[jam.on.the.toasts]

Halal meat, however...No. Unnecessary. Just...why?! Why do it? Just kill the bloody thing and eat it. I don't see how you people find this hard to understand! There is absolutely no need for your religious methods of killing.

What do you think they do to the animal because like I pointed out earlier the method of slaughter is quite humane and the religious element basically comes down to facing the animal in a certain direction

also for the vegetarians out there at what definition do you use for 'meat' would be eat for instance products made from micro organisms and like the guy earlier mentioned synthetic meat.

and from what I can see aside of the benefits of having a higher fruit and veg intake you have to just make sure you get protein and can deal with people yelling at you to stop claiming you have the moral high ground.

 

[Scars Unseen]

Just to make it clear I'm not interested in a meat vs no meat forum war

You silly mammal, you. Futility at its finest.

 

[Hoplon]

Expand my mind people, expand away!

Just to add more knowledge; Veggies process through your body easier. Eating RAW diets (if you've ever heard of vegan raw, for example) yields you the maximum nutritional beneficent from your food, as a significant portion of those nutrients are lost during cooking. Can't do that with meat.

Utter balls, we have been eating cooked food for so long that we get more out of it than raw food. over cooking is bad, but so is too a lot of raw food, you can starve to death eating nothing but raw food.

Also, easier digestion, which leads to more energy. A steak you ate for dinner may well leave your body by lunch time the next day. That's just in your system, rotting. Your body is spending loads of energy processing this meal until it leaves your system. If you remove meat from the equation, the same person will probably be rid of their dinner before bed time (assuming they eat at a respectable time ^_^). And your body will have saved energy processing food, and put it to use like keeping you active.

Again, what do you think digestion is? some mythical process that turns all food in to what you need? it's all rotting, meat is vastly easier to digest, the closer it is to human flesh, or more in more palatable terms human proteins, the less work that goes in to digesting it.

When people talk vegetarian/vegan VS meat, I often hear about nutritional benefits, problems or concerns, etc. I thought you might want to hear something outside the usual rhetoric.

So you provided pro vegetarian propaganda instead. most of which is totally erroneous.

 

[jam.on.the.toasts]

well if by carve you mean very quickly and cleanly and by slowly and painfully you mean swiftly and fairly painlessly I suppose you are correct

and so far as not being humane for most of history that would have been the most humane and cleanest way

 

[flamingjimmy]

The only benefit to being a vegetarian is a warm smug feeling that you're better than everyone else.

 

[jam.on.the.toasts]

Uhm, halal and kosher religious slaughter practises do not use sedation

and stunning an animal with a bolt gun doesn't either, stunning is more about having the animal hold still than avoiding pain.